Energy and Exergy Analysis of a Pre-distillation Unit

Abstract

Energy and exergy balances were evaluated for the pre-distillation unit (Un-0100) of an aromatics plant from a Portuguese refinery. The main objective of the study was to find out the relevant thermal energy losses in order to implement energy recovery procedures, without questioning the operating processes of the plant. In its overall analysis, the Un-100 obtained an energy efficiency of 13.4% and an exergy efficiency of 2.3%. The equipment that has higher energy losses in this unit is the air coolers, representing 59.9% of the energy losses, i.e., most of the energy lost in this unit is due to the cooling process. The irreversibility observed in these equipment groups was 11.2%. Moreover, the furnace represents 15.6% of energy losses, but this component stands out in the irreversibility analysis, with 56.3% of the total. Based on these values, it can be said that this equipment presents a high potential of improvement of its energy and exergy performance. These results, concern a small part of a more general case study about the performance of the aromatics plant, and clearly show the need to establish complementary energy and exergy balances in order to increase the energetic performance of the unit.

A comprehensive assessment of energetic and exergetic performance for the dehumidification system of a processed pistachio production unit

“…Several scholars conducted assessments on the energy and exergy efficiencies within diverse agricultural productions such as onion (Kaveh et al, 2021), green peas (Kaveh et al, 2020), potato (Golpour et al, 2020), wheat (Yan et al, 2023), cantaloupe (Zadhossein et al, 2023), water yam (Okunola et al, 2023) and vermicelli (Kumar et al, 2023). Vilarinho et al (2017) carried out an evaluation on the pre-distillation unit by analyzing its energy and exergy. They found that the energy and exergy efficiency of this unit were 13.40% and 2.30%, respectively.…”

Advanced exergy analysis of the natural gas liquid recovery process

“…Song et al, [9] employed extended exergy analysis to investigate a typical cement production chain in China. Vilarinho et al, [10] appraised exergy and energy analysis for a pre-distillation unit (Un-0100) of an aromatics plant from a Portuguese refinery. Navarro et al, [11] evaluated the exergetic performance of Amine Treatment Refinery Unit in Colombia.…”