Propane to Acrylic Acid

231 Pages·2014·2.89 MB·English

UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff PPeennnnssyyllvvaanniiaa
SScchhoollaarrllyyCCoommmmoonnss
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular
Senior Design Reports (CBE)
Engineering
4-2013
PPrrooppaannee ttoo AAccrryylliicc AAcciidd
Amanda Culp
University of Pennsylvania
Kevin Holmes
University of Pennsylvania
Rohan Nagrath
University of Pennsylvania
Dan Nessenson
University of Pennsylvania
Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/cbe_sdr
Part of the Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering Commons
Culp, Amanda; Holmes, Kevin; Nagrath, Rohan; and Nessenson, Dan, "Propane to Acrylic Acid" (2013).
Senior Design Reports (CBE). 48.
https://repository.upenn.edu/cbe_sdr/48
This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/cbe_sdr/48
For more information, please contact [email protected].
PPrrooppaannee ttoo AAccrryylliicc AAcciidd
AAbbssttrraacctt
Acrylic acid is an essential polymer raw material for many industrial and consumer products. Currently,
acrylic acid is manufactured from propylene, which is created as a by- product from fossil fuels
manufacture and industrial cracking of heavy hydrocarbons. However, the discovery of new natural gas
reserves presents new opportunities for the production of acrylic acid. A design feasibility study is
presented to analyze the economics behind producing acrylic acid from the selective oxidation of
propane to propylene over a mixed metal oxide catalyst, Mo1V0.30Te0.23Nb0.125Ox.
The proposed plant is located in the U.S. Gulf Coast and produces 200MM lb/yr acrylic acid. Since the
catalytic oxidation process has low propane conversion per pass, the process recycles unconverted
propane and propylene back to the reactor to increase overall conversion. The acrylic acid is then
separated and purified to the glacial-grade industrial standard for polymer raw material of 99.7% acrylic
acid by mass. A major challenge of the separation process is the non-ideal behavior of the components,
which produces three different azeotropes: water with acrylic acid, water with acetic acid, and acetic acid
with acrylic acid. The separation process utilizes four distillation towers to navigate around the
azeotropes.
After a thorough economic analysis, the proposed process is found to be economically viable. It has an
estimated IRR of 84.9% and NPV of $384,963,400 at a 15% discount rate using an acrylic acid price of
$1.75/lb. The process is predicted to become profitable in year 3. If the product price decreases by 45% to
$1.20/lb (the current market price of acrylic acid), the estimated IRR will be 45% with a NPV of
$114,552,700 at a 15% discount rate. The process will then become profitable in year 4.
DDiisscciipplliinneess
Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering | Chemical Engineering | Engineering
This working paper is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/cbe_sdr/48
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Senior Design Reports (CBE)
University of Pennsylvania Year 2013

Propane to Acrylic Acid
Amanda Culp Kevin Holmes
University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania

Rohan Nagrath Dan Nessenson
University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania

Propane to Acrylic Acid

Amanda Culp |Kevin Holmes| Rohan Nagrath |Dan Nessenson

School of Engineering and Applied Science
University of Pennsylvania
April 9, 2013

Advisor: Dr. John Vohs
Primary Consultant: Bruce M. Vrana

University of Pennsylvania
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
220 South 33rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
April 9th, 2013
Dear Dr. Vohs and Professor Fabiano,
Enclosed you will find the proposed process design for the industrial production of
acrylic acid as a solution to the design problem presented by Bruce Vrana of DuPont. The
proposed design uses a mixed metal oxide catalyst, Mo V Te Nb O , in a fixed bed
1 0.30 0.23 0.125 x
reactor to selectively oxidize propane to acrylic acid using propylene and acrolein inermediates.
The product is separated using a flash distillation column from leftover starting materials, which
are recycled back to the reactor. Then, the acrylic acid is purified from water, acetic acid, and
trace amounts of unreacted materials using four distillation towers. The proposed plant will be
constructed in the U.S. Gulf Coast and will produce 200 MM lb/year of industrial-grade acrylic
acid.

This report contains a detailed process design, an economic analysis, and conclusions and
recommendations for the implementation of the plant. The proposed process is found to be viable
and economically profitable with an estimated IRR of 84.9% with a total NPV of $384,963,400
at a discount rate of 15%. The process was modeled using AspenTech Plus v7.3. Economic
analysis and equipment sizing was conducted using Aspen IPE and Aspen Economic Evaluation
v7.3 along with the equations spreadsheets contained in Process Design Principles, 3rd Edition,
by Seider, Seader, Lewin and Widagdo.

Thank you for your assistance with this project.

Sincerely,

____________________________ ____________________________
Amanda Culp Kevin Holmes

____________________________ ____________________________
Rohan Nagrath Dan Nessenson
Propane to Acrylic Acid Culp, Holmes, Nagrath, Nessenson
Table of Contents
Section 1: Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Section 2: Introduction and Background Information .................................................................................. 3
2.1 Introduction and Background Information ......................................................................................... 4
2.2 Project Charter .................................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Technology-Readiness Assessment .................................................................................................... 7
Section 3: Concept Stage .............................................................................................................................. 9
3.1 Market and Competitive Analysis ..................................................................................................... 10
3.2 Customer Requirements .................................................................................................................... 11
3.3 Preliminary Process Synthesis .......................................................................................................... 12
3.4 Assembly of Database ....................................................................................................................... 16
Section 4: Process Flow Diagram & Material Balance ............................................................................... 17
4.1 Overall Process Outline .................................................................................................................... 18
4.2 Mixing Section .................................................................................................................................. 20
4.3 Reactor Section ................................................................................................................................. 22
4.4 Separation Section ............................................................................................................................ 24
Section 5: Process Description.................................................................................................................... 27
5.1 Reactor Section ................................................................................................................................. 28
5.2 Separation ......................................................................................................................................... 30
5.3 Other Assumptions ............................................................................................................................ 32
Section 6: Equipment List & Unit Descriptions ......................................................................................... 35
6.1 Unit Descriptions .............................................................................................................................. 38
6.2 Unit Equipment Sheets ..................................................................................................................... 48
Distillation Column ............................................................................................................................. 50
Flash Vessel ........................................................................................................................................ 54
Heat Exchanger ................................................................................................................................... 55
Pump ................................................................................................................................................... 70
Reactor ................................................................................................................................................ 77
Storage Tanks ...................................................................................................................................... 79
Turbine ................................................................................................................................................ 85
Section 7: Energy Balance & Utility Requirements ................................................................................... 86
Heat Integration Strategy ........................................................................................................................ 88
Work Integration Strategy ....................................................................................................................... 88
Section 8: Other Important Considerations ................................................................................................. 94
8.1 Plant Location & Start-Up ................................................................................................................ 96
8.2 Transportation & Storage .................................................................................................................. 97
8.3 Process Controllability ...................................................................................................................... 98
8.4 Maintenance and Emergency Procedures ......................................................................................... 99
8.5 Process Safety and Health Concerns ............................................................................................... 100
8.6 Environmental Considerations ........................................................................................................ 101
Section 9: Cost Summaries ....................................................................................................................... 102
9.1 Fixed Capital Summary .................................................................................................................. 104
9.2 Variable Cost Summary .................................................................................................................. 106
9.3 Fixed Cost Summary ....................................................................................................................... 107
9.4 Pricing of Wastewater and Purge Streams ...................................................................................... 109
Section 10: Economic Analysis ................................................................................................................ 109
10.1 Economic Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 112
10.2 Economic Sensitivities .................................................................................................................. 114
Section 11: Conclusions & Recommendations ........................................................................................ 118
Section 12: Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ 122
Section 13: References .............................................................................................................................. 125
Section 14: Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 129
Appendix A: Problem Statement .......................................................................................................... 130
Appendix B: Aspen Simulation Input/Report Summary ...................................................................... 132
Input Summary .................................................................................................................................. 135
Block Summary ................................................................................................................................ 140
Appendix C: Design Calculations ......................................................................................................... 172
Sample Catalyst Price Calculation .................................................................................................... 175
Dowtherm A Mass and Price Calculation ......................................................................................... 175
Sample Cooling Water Requirement Calculation ............................................................................. 175
Sample Reaction Vessel Price Calculation ....................................................................................... 175
Tray Efficiency Calculation .............................................................................................................. 177
Sample Heat Exchanger Size Calculation ......................................................................................... 178
Complete Heat Exchanger Size Calculation ..................................................................................... 179
Sample Condenser Calculation ......................................................................................................... 181