Intensification Methodology To Minimize the Number of Pieces of Equipment and Its Application to a Process To Produce Dioxolane Products

Abstract

Process intensification principles have been considered as a valuable tool to improve the economic and sustainability factors in process systems engineering. In this work, an intensification methodology that minimizes the number of equipment units required for the transformation of raw materials into products is presented. On the basis of phenomena building blocks, intensification opportunities are detected and explored to integrate tasks into fewer pieces of equipment, and the effects on process economics and sustainability metrics are assessed. The methodology is applied for the intensification of a process consisting of the aldolization of an ethylene glycol and 1,2-butanediol mixture with acetaldehyde to produce 2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane (2MD) and 4-ethyl-2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane (4EMD). It is shown how an original flowsheet with one chemical reactor and three distillation columns is gradually transformed into an intensified process that provides an alternative with superior economic and sustainability metrics.

Synthesis of 1,3-Dioxolane from Aqueous Formaldehyde Solution and Ethylene Glycol: Kinetics and Reactive Distillation

“…The overhead product of HPC (stream HPC-D), whose composition close to the binary azeotrope in high pressure is recycled to LPC. It is, however, not in the scope of the present work to optimize the operated pressures and PSD configuration in this article, and there are other options to achieve sharp separation of DOL and water such as the use of membrane unit …”

“…It is, however, not in the scope of the present work to optimize the operated pressures and PSD configuration in this article, and there are other options to achieve sharp separation of DOL and water such as the use of membrane unit. 19 4.2. Modeling.…”

“…Even though these authors also put forward a pseudohomogeneous model to explain the reaction kinetics between FA and EG; in their paper, no simulation is given, so the effects of varying process parameters on the FA conversion and reboiler duty remains unclear. Li et al have developed an idea to recover EG from the azeotropic mixture of EG and 1,2-butanediol by introducing reactions with acetaldehyde, and they have verified the idea through thermodynamics, reaction kinetics analysis, and concept design. − Such a design was taken as a basis in a recent paper to develop a reactive divided wall column system to carry out that process …”

“…16−18 Such a design was taken as a basis in a recent paper to develop a reactive divided wall column system to carry out that process. 19 To develop a reliable model for RD process, the parameters of reaction and separation should be reasonably set to meet the characteristic of the system FA-EG-DOL-water. It has long been known that the binary system of FA and water shows an unexpected feature of vapor−liquid equilibrium due the spontaneous reaction II.…”

Advancements in Optimization and Control Techniques for Intensifying Processes

“…Then, the most promising phenomena-based structures are transformed into unit operations [5,21]. Recent advancements using the PBBs methodology include the synthesis and intensification of the production of dimethyl carbonate with CO 2 utilization with consideration of operational feasibility, economics, life cycle assessment factors, and sustainability criteria [22], the dehydration of ethanol through a membrane-assisted distillation process (taking into account an economic criterion) [23], the transesterification of propylene carbonate with methanol to generate dimethyl carbonate and 1,2-propanediol (considering an economic criterion) [24], the intensification of the aldolization of an ethylene glycol and 1,2-butanediol mixture with acetaldehyde to produce 2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane and 4-ethyl-2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane [25], the esterification of isoamyl alcohol with acetic acid for the production of isoamyl acetate and the aldolization of ethylene glycol and 1,2-butanediol with acetaldehyde for the production of 2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane and 4-ethyl-2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane (taking into consideration an inherent safety assessment in addition to economic and sustainability criteria) [26], the production of ethylene glycol through the hydrolysis of ethylene oxide using an ε-constraint-based multiobjective optimization framework [27], the production of dimethyl ether from methanol (considering energy, CO 2 emissions, and sustainability indicators) [28], and the production of ethyl lactate from ethanol and lactic acid (considering economic, environmental, sustainability, and inherent safety criteria) [29]. In addition, Garg et al [30] presented the key concepts and step-by-step workflow of the phenomena-based intensification method for hybrid separation schemes along with a summary of published case studies with novel solutions for chemical and biochemical processes.…”