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Manufacturing of DME from Methanol
Research · January 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3461.2245
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Galal Nasser Abdullah Al Madani

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals SGS Bangladesh Limited
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King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Saudi Electronic University
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Chemical Engineering Department
CHE 495- Senior Design Project
Final Report
Manufacturing of DME from

Methanol
Prepared for
Dr. Muataz Ali Ateah

By
Number Name
1 Galal Atef Ahmed
2 Abdullah Almadani
3 Abdullah Ba- Shammakh
4 Salman Noaman
5 Mohammed Qasem
Year: 2014-2015
Table of Contents
Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Litterateur Review .................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4
What is DME?.................................................................................................................................. 4
Historical Background of Methanol: ............................................................................................... 5
Importance and applications of DME: ............................................................................................ 6
Thermo and Physical Properties of Methanol and DME................................................................. 7
Review ............................................................................................................................................. 8
DME from Syngas: ........................................................................................................................... 8
Dehydration of Methanol: ............................................................................................................ 10
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) .............................................................................................. 12
Methanol (CH4O): ......................................................................................................................... 12
Dimethyl ether (DME) ................................................................................................................... 14
Conclusion about literature review .............................................................................................. 15
Mass and Energy Balance ..................................................................................................................... 16
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Mass balance..................................................................................................................................... 17
Mass balance around the reactor (R -201): .................................................................................. 17
Mass balance around the first distillation column (T -201): ......................................................... 20
Mass balance around the second distillation column (T -202): .................................................... 22
Recycle Stream and the Mixing Point ........................................................................................... 25
Energy balance .................................................................................................................................. 26
Energy Balance around the reactor (R-201): ................................................................................ 26
Energy balance around pumps: .................................................................................................... 30
Energy Balance around First Distillation Column (T-201): ......................................................... 32
Energy Balance around Second Distillation Column (T-202): ....................................................... 39
Energy Balance around the Pre -Heater (E—201) ........................................................................ 45
Energy Balance on the Cooler (E-203) .......................................................................................... 48
Energy Balance on the Cooler (E-208) .......................................................................................... 51
Energy balance around mixer ....................................................................................................... 52
Simulation ............................................................................................................................................. 55
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 56
Sequential Process description of DME production: .................................................................... 57
Process Simulation ............................................................................................................................ 58
Step by step build-up for non-optimized process:........................................................................ 58
Optimized process: ....................................................................................................................... 69
Case Study1 (Finding the adequate fresh molar flow): ................................................................ 70
Mass and Energy Balance Comparison: ............................................................................................ 72
Mass Balance Comparison: ........................................................................................................... 72
Energy Balance Comparison: ........................................................................................................ 75
Comparison around the Distillation Column 2 (T-202): ................................................................ 76
Alternatives: .................................................................................................................................. 77
First Alternative:............................................................................................................................ 77
Second Alternative: ....................................................................................................................... 81
Third Alternative: .......................................................................................................................... 84
Conclusion about simulation ............................................................................................................ 87
Equipment Design ................................................................................................................................. 88
Reactor Design .................................................................................................................................. 89
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 90
Design equations:.............................................................................................................................. 91
Design equation of PBF in term of conversion: ............................................................................ 92
Stoichiometry relationship:........................................................................................................... 93
Volumetric flow rate as a function of conversion:........................................................................ 94
Concentrations in term of conversion in a variable volume: ........................................................ 95
Pressure drop: ............................................................................................................................... 95
Writing the rate of reaction in term of conversion: ..................................................................... 96
Catalysts information: ....................................................................................................................... 97
Coolant: ................................................................................................................................................. 98
Isothermal reactor: ........................................................................................................................... 99
Parameters necessary to evaluate isothermal reactor’s equations: .......................................... 100
Solving the differential equation using polymath: ..................................................................... 102
Polymath cod: ............................................................................................................................. 103
Results and discussion: ................................................................................................................... 104
Effect of changing in tube diameter on tube length and weight of catalyst: ............................. 106
Change in concentration, pressure, conversion, and flow rate with weight of catalyst or tube
length and other parameters: ..................................................................................................... 106
Determination of shell dimension and reactor layout: .................................................................. 111
Tube specification: ...................................................................................................................... 111
Sizing of reactor length: .............................................................................................................. 111
Material of construction: ................................................................................................................ 113
Equipment summary:...................................................................................................................... 113
Reactor instrumentation:................................................................................................................ 114
Molten salt Vs. water ...................................................................................................................... 115
Conclusion and recommendation about reactor design ................................................................ 115
Distillation columns......................................................................................................................... 117
Distillation Column 1 (T-201) .......................................................................................................... 118
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 118
SHORTCUT METHOD CALCULATIONS ......................................................................................... 118
Minimum Number of Stages at Total Reflux............................................................................... 118
Minimum Reflux Ratio ................................................................................................................ 119
Theoretical Number of Stages .................................................................................................... 121
Column diameter ........................................................................................................................ 123
Column Height ............................................................................................................................ 125
Tray Hydraulics ............................................................................................................................ 125
The Required Head of Liquid....................................................................................................... 128
Weir Correction Factor ............................................................................................................... 128
Liquid Crest Height ...................................................................................................................... 129
Under Downcomer Head ............................................................................................................ 130
Downcomer Head ....................................................................................................................... 130
Liquid Residence Time ................................................................................................................ 130
Flooding Check ............................................................................................................................ 130
Weeping Check ........................................................................................................................... 131
COLUMNS' SUMMARY TABLES.................................................................................................... 133
CONTROL LOOP OF DISTILLATION COLUMNS ............................................................................. 136
Second Distillation Column 2 (T-202).............................................................................................. 137
Introduction: ................................................................................................................................... 137
Design.............................................................................................................................................. 138
Column Diameter ........................................................................................................................ 138
Shortcut calculations................................................................................................................... 140
Minimum Reflux .......................................................................................................................... 141
Theoretical number of stages ..................................................................................................... 142
Actual number of stages ............................................................................................................. 144
Column Height ............................................................................................................................ 144
Summary Tables for Column (T-202): ......................................................................................... 151
Tray Layout:................................................................................................................................. 152
Column Horizontal Cross-Sectional Area .................................................................................... 153
Control Loop................................................................................................................................ 153
Conclusion about second column ............................................................................................... 154
Heat Exchanger Design ....................................................................................................................... 155
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 156
Specification for Shell and Tube Exchangers Design....................................................................... 157
Design Calculation........................................................................................................................... 158
E-208: .......................................................................................................................................... 158
E-201: .......................................................................................................................................... 165
E-203: .......................................................................................................................................... 167
E-204: .......................................................................................................................................... 169
E-205: .......................................................................................................................................... 171
E-206: .......................................................................................................................................... 173
E-207: .......................................................................................................................................... 175
Conclusion about Heat exchanger Design ...................................................................................... 177
Pumps and Pipes Design ..................................................................................................................... 178
INTRODUCTION: .............................................................................................................................. 179
Procedure........................................................................................................................................ 180
The procedure to design pipe: .................................................................................................... 180
Pump Sample Calculation: .......................................................................................................... 183
Calculating the thickness of the pipe: ......................................................................................... 185
Determining the inside and the outside diameters, schedule number and the nominal size.... 185
Pump design.................................................................................................................................... 188
Pumps calculations: .................................................................................................................... 188
Plant Layout .................................................................................................................................... 190
How to get a good Layout (features) .......................................................................................... 190
How to increase the profitability using plant layout .................................................................. 190
Best location for building the plant ............................................................................................ 192
Heat Integration .............................................................................................................................. 194
Calculate interval heat balances ................................................................................................. 196
Cascade the balances as heat flows ............................................................................................ 196
HYSYS Heat Integration ............................................................................................................... 199
SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT AND HAZOP ................................................................................................. 200
Economic Design ................................................................................................................................. 203
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 204
In this report, CAPCOST is used to perform the economic analysis of the proposed DME plant.
Also, the cash flow diagram is important to show the relations with the production profitability204
Cost of operating Labor .............................................................................................................. 204
Economic Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 206
Economic Analysis for Alternative: ............................................................................................. 211
Conclusion about Economy Analysis........................................................................................... 214
Conclusion and Recommendation ...................................................................................................... 215
Appendices.......................................................................................................................................... 216
Simulation Appendix ....................................................................................................................... 216
Energy and Mass balance Appendix ............................................................................................... 217
List of figures
Figure 1.molecular structure of DME...................................................................................................... 4

Figure 2. Molecular structure of methanol............................................................................................. 6
Figure 3. Main Routes for DME Production ............................................................................................ 8
Figure 4. PDF for Synthetic Gas to DME Process .................................................................................... 9
Figure 5. PDF for Hydration Process ..................................................................................................... 11
Figure 6. Methanol Safety Logo ............................................................................................................ 12
Figure 7.DME Safety Logo ..................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 8. Reactor (R-201) ...................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 9. First distillation Column (T-201)............................................................................................. 20
Figure 10. Second Distillation Column (T-202) ................................................................................. 23
Figure 11. Pump .................................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 12. First Distillation Column (T-201) .......................................................................................... 32
Figure 13. Second Distillation Column (T- 202)..................................................................................... 39
Figure 14. Pre-Heater (E-201) ............................................................................................................... 46
Figure 15. Cooler (E-203) ...................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 16. Selection of components ..................................................................................................... 58
Figure 17. Fluid Package selection ........................................................................................................ 59
Figure 18. Selection of reaction type and stoichiometry ...................................................................... 59
Figure 19. Reaction conversion selection ............................................................................................. 60
Figure 20. Fresh Feed stream building .................................................................................................. 61
Figure 21. Simulating Pump (P-201) ..................................................................................................... 62
Figure 22. Heater (E-201) installation ................................................................................................... 62
Figure 23. Reactor (E-201) Installation ................................................................................................. 63
Figure 24. PFD up to r-201 .................................................................................................................... 64
Figure 25. Column C-201 installation .................................................................................................... 65
Figure 26. Column C-201 installation .................................................................................................... 65
Figure 27.C-202 installation .................................................................................................................. 66
Figure 28. C-202 installation ................................................................................................................. 67
Figure 29. Overall PFD up to second distillation column ...................................................................... 67
Figure 30. Overall process with recycled stream .................................................................................. 68
Figure 31. Final PFD of the DME production......................................................................................... 69
Figure 32 : DME Mass Flow vs. Fresh Feed .......................................................................................... 70
Figure 33 : PFD of the First Alternative ................................................................................................. 80
Figure 34 : PFD Foe the Second Alternative ......................................................................................... 83
Figure 35 : PFD for the Third Alternative .............................................................................................. 86
Figure 36. Conversion versus weight of catalyst at different number of tubes at tube diameter of
0.06 m. ................................................................................................................................................ 105
Figure 37. Conversion against the weight of catalysts at total number of tube of 1500 ................... 107
Figure 38. concentrations against the weight of catalysts at total number of tube of 1500 ............. 107
Figure 39. Reactor volume against the length of a single tube .......................................................... 108
Figure 40. Pressure (P/Po) against the length tube ............................................................................ 108
Figure 41. Flow rates against tube length........................................................................................... 109
Figure 42. Reaction rate vs. tube length ............................................................................................. 109
Figure 43. Selectivity Vs. tube length .................................................................................................. 110
Figure 44. Weight of catalyst Vs. tube lenght ..................................................................................... 110
Figure 45. Shell inside diameter Vs. Bundle diameter ........................................................................ 112
Figure 46. Bsice control schem for Packed Bed Reactor..................................................................... 115
Figure 47: Fair’s Correlation ................................................................................................................ 126
Figure 48. Distillation Column 2 (T-202) ............................................................................................. 137
Figure 49 : Gilliland correlation........................................................................................................... 142
Figure 50 : Fair's Correlation ............................................................................................................... 146
Figure 51: Weir correction factor ....................................................................................................... 148
Figure 52 : Distillation Column Layout Details ................................................................................... 152
Figure 53 : Tray Design Details ............................................................................................................ 153
Figure 54 : Control System for T-20 .................................................................................................... 154
Figure 55 the typical shell and tube heat exchanger .......................................................................... 156
Figure 56 Different pattern of tube arrangement .............................................................................. 157
Figure 57 Different baffle configuration ............................................................................................. 157
Figure 58. Dimethyl ether production process ................................................................................... 180
Figure 59. Maximum allowable stress ................................................................................................ 182
Figure 60: controlling of pipes ............................................................................................................ 183
Figure 61.Cold and Hot Composite Curves ......................................................................................... 197
Figure 62: shifted Cold and Hot Composite Curves .......................................................................... 197
Figure 63: Grand Composite ............................................................................................................... 198
Figure 64: Grand Diagram ................................................................................................................... 198
Figure 65: Actual Stream..................................................................................................................... 199
Figure 66 : Economics table for main PFd........................................................................................... 209
Figure 67 : Discounted Cash Flow for main PFD ................................................................................. 210
Figure 68 : Economics table for Alternative ........................................................................................ 212
Figure 69 : Discounted Cash Flow for Alternative............................................................................... 213
List of tables
Table 1. Comparison between DME and Diesel Properties .................................................................... 5

Table 2. Properties of Methanol and DME ............................................................................................. 7
Table 3. Methanol MSDS ...................................................................................................................... 13
Table 4. DME MSDS............................................................................................................................... 14
Table 5. The Distillate Compositions of the First Distillation Column (T-201) ...................................... 17
Table 6. Flow rate and compositions of streams entering and leaving the reactor. ............................ 20
Table 7. Molar flow, Mass flow and Compositions of streams Entering and Leaving the First
Distillation column (T-201).................................................................................................................... 22
Table 8. Molar flow, Mass flow and Compositions of streams Entering and Leaving the Second
Distillation column (T-202).................................................................................................................... 24
Table 9. Compositions, Molar Flow Rate and Mass Flow of Fresh Feed Stream, Recycled Stream and
After mixing stream .............................................................................................................................. 26
Table 10. Flow and Enthalpies of the Reactor (R-201).......................................................................... 27
Table 11. Energy Table for the Reactor (R-201) .................................................................................... 30
Table 12. Molar Flow and enthalpies of Vapor, Reflux and Distillate for (T-201) ................................ 33
Table 13. Molar flow and Enthalpies of Feed, Distillate and Bottom Product for (T-201) ................... 36
Table 14. Molar Flow and Enthalpies of Vapour, Reflux and Distillate for (T-202) .............................. 40
Table 15. Molar flow and Enthalpies of Feed, Distillate and Bottom Product for (T-202) ................... 43
Table 16. The Molar flow and Enthalpy of the Pre-Heater (E-201) ...................................................... 46
Table 17. The Molar flow & Enthalpy for (E-201) ................................................................................. 48
Table 18. Molar flow and enthalpy for the Inlet and Outlet Streams for Cooler (E-203) ..................... 49
Table 19. The Molar flow and Enthalpy for the Inlet and Outlet Streams for Cooler (E-203) .............. 51
Table 20. Molar flow and Enthalpy for the Inlet & Outlet Streams for Cooler (E-208) ........................ 51
Table 21. Summary of energy balance around mixer ........................................................................... 53
Table 22.Conditions required for the Fresh Feed stream. .................................................................... 60
Table 23 .DME Mass Flow& Fresh Feed ................................................................................................ 71
Table 24 : Mass Comparison around the Reactor................................................................................. 72
Table 25 : Mass Comparison around Distillation Column 1 .................................................................. 73
Table 26 : Mass Comparison around Column 2 .................................................................................... 73
Table 27 : Mass Comparison around the Heater - 201 ......................................................................... 74
Table 28 : Mass Comparison around Cooler - 203 ................................................................................ 74
Table 29 : Mass Comparison around Cooler - 204 ................................................................................ 75
Table 30. Energy balance comparison around the pump ..................................................................... 75
Table 31 : Energy Comparison around the Reactor .............................................................................. 75
Table 32 : Energy Comparison around Column 1 ................................................................................. 76
Table 33. Energy balance around Column 2 ......................................................................................... 76
Table 34 : Energy Comparison around Coolers and Heaters ............................................................... 77
Table 35 : Compositions table of the first alternative .......................................................................... 78
Table 36 : Energy table of the first alternative .................................................................................... 78
Table 37 : Material Streams table of the first alternative.................................................................... 79
Table 38: Compositions table of the Second alternative ...................................................................... 81
Table 39 : Energy table of the Second alternative ................................................................................ 81
Table 40 : Material Streams table of the Second alternative ............................................................... 82
Table 41: Energy table of the third alternative ..................................................................................... 84
Table 42 : Compositions table of the third alternative ......................................................................... 84
Table 43 : Material Streams table of the third alternative ................................................................... 85
Table 44. Zeolite catalyst properties..................................................................................................... 97
Table 45. Different molten salts properties obtained from (Justin W. Raade and David Padowitz) .... 99
Table 46. Weight of catalyst, number and length of tubes at a tube diameter of 0.06m .................. 105
Table 47. Number of tubes, tube length, initial flow rate of methanol and weight of catalyst at a tube
diameter of 0.0776 m. ........................................................................................................................ 106
Table 48. Tube specification ............................................................................................................... 111
Table 49. Triangulr and square pich................................................................................................... 112
Table 50. Reactor configuration.......................................................................................................... 113
Table 51. Material Summary ............................................................................................................... 113
Table 52: K-Value and Relative Volatility of the LK and HK in the Distillate and Bottom Product .... 118
Table 53: Mole Fraction of LK and HK Components in Feed and Distillate ........................................ 119
Table 54: Mole Fraction, K-Value and Relative Volatility Of LK and HK Component of Feed ............. 120
Table 55: Mole Fraction, K-Value and Relative Volatility Of LK and HK Component of Distillate ...... 120
Table 56: Viscosity of D and B ............................................................................................................. 122
Table 57: Some Properties of Top and Bottom Products ................................................................... 123
Table 58: Summary of Number of Trays and Feed Plate Calculations ................................................ 133
Table 59: Summary of Diameter, Height and Tray Hydraulics Calculations ....................................... 134
Table 60: Summary of Tray Hydraulics Calculations ........................................................................... 135
Table 61:Summary of Final Design Specifications............................................................................... 135
Table 62. Top Section Data ................................................................................................................. 138
Table 63. Bottom section data ............................................................................................................ 139
Table 64 : Average Relative Volatility ................................................................................................. 140
Table 65. Composition of LK and HK ................................................................................................... 141
Table 66 : 4. Summary Tables for Column (T-202) .......................................................................... 151
Table 67 : Design Table ....................................................................................................................... 151
Table 68. The calculated overall heat transfer coefficient ................................................................. 163
Table 69. The summary results for E-208 ........................................................................................... 164
Table 70. Summary results for E-201 .................................................................................................. 166
Table 74. Summary results for E-206 .................................................................................................. 174
Table 75. Summary of E-207 ............................................................................................................... 176
Table 76. how to estimate the diameter for fresh feed ..................................................................... 183
Table 77: design of pipes (liquid phase) ............................................................................................. 186
Table 78: design of pipes (vapor phase) ............................................................................................. 187
Table 79: design of pipes (aqueous phase) ......................................................................................... 187
Table 80: pump design ........................................................................................................................ 189
Table 81. Information needed for Utility Process Streams for Exchanger’ Tube Side ....................... 195
Table 82: information used for Utility Process Streams for Exchanger’ Shell Side............................. 195
Table 83: Shifted Process Streams Temperature ................................................................................ 196
Table 84.comparison before and after integration ............................................................................ 199
Table 85 : Number of Equipment........................................................................................................ 205
Table 86 : Raw Material Expenses and Product Revenues with SF = 95% .......................................... 206
Table 87. Cost of units for main PFD ................................................................................................... 207
Table 88. Cost of utilities for main PFD ............................................................................................... 208
Table 89. Cost of Materials for main PFD ........................................................................................... 208
Table 90. Cash Flow table ................................................................................................................... 210
Table 91. Cost of units for Alternative ................................................................................................ 211
Table 92. Cost of utilities for Alternative ............................................................................................ 211
Table 93. Cost of Material for Alternative .......................................................................................... 211
Table 94. Cash Flow table for Alternative ........................................................................................... 213
Summary
In this report, a preliminary design for the production of Dimethyl Ether (DME) from
methanol has been performed. This report is a final report of the integrated designed
course which is considered as a senior project of chemical engineering students assigned by
the Chemical Engineering Department at KFUPM. It is a result of several progressed reports
that have been reported during the term. The purpose of this report is to test the students’
understanding of the theory and concepts that have been taught since the first course in
chemical engineering has been taken. The process of DME production shall be designed to
produce 100,000 ton of 99.5 wt. % of DME.
This report start with a detail literature review, mass and energy balance by hand,
simulation of the process using Aspen Hysys simulator, detail equipment design, hazops,
heat integration and economy analysis.
In the literature review section, the chemistry of the dehydration of Methanol to DME, the
kinetic, the type of catalysts used and different alternatives have been studied. Zeolites
catalysts are the most common type of catalysts used in the dehydration of methanol. Along
the present alternatives, the indirect route-DME from methanol- is going to be designed.
The second section of this report is the mass and energy balance. In this part, a detail
mass and energy balance using hand calculation was performed. The conservation law of
mass and energy was applied. Try and error procedure has been used in order to obtain the
desired amount of DME with specifications requirement. The flow of energy around each
equipment was calculated using the concept of energy balance.
Simulation of the process was the third task of this report. In this part, we used Aspen
Hysys simulator to simulate the process. First we gave a detail step by step build up for the
non-optimized process. Then, the process was optimized and a final Process Flow Diagram
(PFD) was constructed. Hand calculation of mass and energy balance was compared to the
ones we got from the simulator. The comparison for mass balance was very accurate and
almost we got 0 % of difference around the equipment, while there were some differences
when the hand calculation and Hysys results of energy balance were compared.
1
The fourth section of this report is the detail design of process equipment. This part has
been divided into 5 main parts. The first part is designing the reactor which is the heart of
most chemical engineering processes. Theories explained in the reactor design course
combined with heat exchanger design have been used. The reactor is a fixed bed reactor
which is similar to the heat exchanger design. The length of the reactor and the reactor
diameter were found to be 9.5 and 4.66 m, respectively. Secondly, two distillation columns
have been designed. For each column, the minimum number of trays, optimum feed stage,
reflux ratio, overall tray efficiency….etc. were calculated. For example, the diameter of the
column was 4 and 3 ft. for the Rectifying section and stripping section, respectively, of the
second column. Furthermore, heat exchangers, pumps and piping and plant layout were
designed.
The fifth section is the economy analysis. In this section, we analysed the profitability of
Dimethyl Ether production process. First the profit margin was calculated for the raw
material (Methanol) and Dimethyl Ether (DME). Cost of raw material was considered as (.35
$/kg) while it is (.836 $/kg) for DME. Profit margin was found to be ($ 31,673,782). Then the
cost of operating labor was calculated based on the number of equipment’s and found to be
. Then Capcost was used to find the discounted payback period, Revenue, Rate
of Return and the other parameters for the main PFD and the alternative process. It was
clear from the discounted cash flows of both PFDs that the alternative process is more
profitable.
2
Litterateur Review
3
Introduction
What is DME?
DME, Dimethyl Ether, is the simplest non-toxic colorless gaseous ether. It is also known as
wood ether, methyl ether and dimethyl oxide. DME has the Formula CH3OCH3 which is
considered as the suitable precursor to other organic compounds. It has many Features that
makes it more profitable among other organic compounds on of which is that It can be
derived from many sources some of which are considered as renewable. Biomass (waste
and agricultural products), natural gas and cool are the most known renewable sources used
for the DME production.
It is accounted as a clean source of energy since it doesn’t generate sulfur oxides or smut
during combustion. In addition, it is liquefied easily when lightly pressurized which makes it
more profitable. Due to the properties’ similarity between DME, butane and propane, LPG
processing technology is applied to DME.
Figure 1.molecular structure of DME
In 2011, the global production rate of dimethyl ether was estimated to reach 11.3 tons by
2012. Huge production facilities exist in Japan, Korea and Brazil but China produces the
majority of DME global Production.
It was discovered in the Eighty’s and around fifty thousand tons of DME were produced in
the west of Europe in 1985. In 1992, Russians started to use DME as a diesel substitute. Two
years later, it was used in other countries such as Austria and the U.S. As a fuel, Denmark
and Russia started to test diesel cars and buses with DME in the period between 1997 and
4
2000. By the start of the twenty first century, a new production technology emerged to
directly synthesize DME from natural gas. Between 2002 and 2007, the program of Moscow
city started aiming to implement alternative types of motor fuel for transportation.
The Following table compares the properties of Diesel and DME.
Table 1. Comparison between DME and Diesel Properties
Historical Background of Methanol:

Methanol is quite an old organic product. It was discovered in the early seventy’s. It is also
known as wood alcohol and has the formula CH3OH. The reason why it is named “wood
alcohol’ is that it is a byproduct of wood’s destructive distillation. Later, it was produced by
the catalytic process of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. It is present in
quite small amounts in our environment due to the anaerobic metabolism of many types of
bacteria.
5
Figure 2. Molecular structure of methanol
Importance and applications of DME:
The significance of DME appears when it comes to talk about its application as a substitute
fuel for diesel cars and trucks since its less negative environmental effects. Many countries
are developing trucks that are fueled by DME. There are three significant applications for
DME in the industry. The first is that it is used as a supplement for propane in cocking gas.
The second is its usage as a propellant for aerosol spray-can solvent. The third is power
generation. China is the prime producer and consumer for DME.
6
Thermo and Physical Properties of Methanol and DME
Table 2. Properties of Methanol and DME
Property Methanol Dimethyl Ether
Appearance (25°C),color liquid, colorless Gas, colorless
Molecular weight 32.04 g/mole 46.068 g/mol
Melting point -97.8°C -141.49 °C
** 107.168 kJ/kg
Latent heat of fusion (1,013 bar, at melting point)
Relative liquid density ** 0.73
0.7918 g/cm3 735.2 kg/m3

Liquid density (1.013 bar at boiling point)
64.5°C -24.81 °C
Boiling point
Latent heat of vaporization (1.013 bar at boiling
37.43 kJ/kg 461.55 kJ/kg
point)
12.3 kPa 5.0924 bar
Vapor pressure (at 20 °C or 68 °F)
Critical temperature 240°C 127.15 °C
73.76 bar 53.4 bar

Critical pressure
Gas density (1.013 bar at boiling point) ** 2.3622 kg/m3
0.224 0.97735
Compressibility Factor (1.013 bar and 15 °C)
0.7915 1.59
Specific gravity
0.5207 m3/kg
Specific volume (1.013 bar and 25 °C)
Heat capacity @ constant pressure (1.013 bar and 25
81.08 J/(mol K) 0.0681 kJ/(mol.K)
°C)
Heat capacity @ constant volume (1.013 bar and 25
** 0.0588 kJ/(mol.K)
°C)
0.808 mPa·s 8.2865E-05 Poise
Viscosity (1.013 bar and 0 °C)
200 mW/(m.K) 15.616 mW/(m.K)
Thermal conductivity (1.013 bar and 15 °C)
7
Review
Dimethyl ether is produced mainly by two distinctive processes from 5 different feed stocks.
The main five feed stocks are methanol, coal, natural gas, organic waste and biomass. The
type of catalyst used in the process is the main factor that has an effect on the DME
production. The focus will be on Methanol due to the project requirements. The following
figure shows the two main routes for DME production:
Figure 3. Main Routes for DME Production

DME from Syngas:
Production of Dimethyl ether from synthesis gas is a combined process between methanol
synthesis and dehydration in a single reactor. The first step in this process is the synthesis of
methanol from carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Such reactants are renewable which lets
the process to be more promising. The second step is the dehydration of methanol into
Dimethyl ether. This process is favorable due to its profitability and the low cost of raw
materials needed.
Synthetic gas has many sources that have a very low cost such as organic wastes, biomass,
coal and reformed natural gas. Each of these raw materials is processed by a different
process to produce synthesis gas.
The combined process goes through two main reactions as Follows:
3CO + 3H2 → CH3OCH3 + CO2

(Reaction 1)
2CO + 4H2 → CH3OCH3 + H2O
8
(Reaction 2)
Reaction 1 involves 4 basic reactions:

CO+2H2↔CH3OH ΔH298 K°=−90.4 kJ/mol (methanol synthesis from CO)
CO2+3H2↔CH3OH+H2O ΔH298 K°= −49.4 kJ/mol (methanol synthesis from CO2)
CO+H2O↔CO2+H2 ΔH298 K°=−41.0 kJ/mol (water gas shift)

2CH3OH↔CH3OCH3+H2O ΔH298 K°= −23.0 kJ/mol (methanol dehydration)
The following PDF clarifies the production of DME from synthesis gas process:
Figure 4. PDF for Synthetic Gas to DME Process
9
Dehydration of Methanol:
Process Description:
As an indirect method, dimethyl ether has been produced by a process called the
dehydration of methanol over a solid-based acidic catalyst. Water molecule is removed
from every two methanol molecules which results in the formation of DME. Regarding
operations done, crude methanol is fed to the stream (mostly not 100% pure) then sent
through a pump to more than one heat exchanger to gain the adequate temperature for the
reaction. Then reactants are fed to a fixed bed reactor (or backed bed) with a suitable
catalyst to form dimethyl ether. Due to the exothermic mode of the reaction, the effluent
has to be cooled before separation of DME. In the first distillation column, DME is
separated, as a distillate, from other components. Another distillation column is used to
separate unreacted methanol, because conversion is not 100%, which will be sent back as a
fresh feed to the process through a recycle stream.
The main reaction in the dehydration process is:
2CH3OH =CH3OCH3+H2O ΔH (298 K°) =−23.5 kJ/mol, (ΔG = -12.1 kJ, 250 C)
At the temperature range of normal operation, there are no significant side reactions so
they are ignored. Also, at normal operations with same temperature range, the reaction is
kinetically controlled. Majority of investigations done on the mechanism of dehydration
process agreed that it follows either Langmuir – Hinshelwood or Eley – Ridel models.
The equilibrium equation for the hydration reaction is:

2708.6317
ln K  2.205 
T
The following PFD shows the hydration of methanol process to produce DME:
10
Figure 5. PDF for Hydration Process
11
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
In the hydration of methanol process to produce Dimethyl Ether (DME), there are two
organic chemicals that we have to be aware of so that we can avoid and expected hazards.
The first is the feedstock of the plant, Methyl Alcohol (Methanol) and the other is our
desired product DME. Each of these chemicals has to be carefully labeled and its hazard
should be properly shown.
One of the most known labeling systems is the science lab system. Its labels are coded
based on the color so that each color stands for a special type of hazard. The system has
four colors red, blue, yellow and white. Blue color shows a health hazard while red
represents fire. Yellow stands for the reactivity of the chemical, but white represents
personal protection needed. Hazard level is shown by a number from zero to four so that
the greater the number, the more hazardous.
Methanol (CH4O):
Methanol is an ethylic hydrocarbon that has a physical state as a light, volatile, colorless,
liquid with a distinguished odor similar to ethanol. Its freezing and boiling points are ()
respectively. Science lab ratings of methanol are three, one and zero for Fire, Health and
Reactivity hazards as shown in figure 6:
Figure 6. Methanol Safety Logo
12
Table 3. Methanol MSDS
Methanol
PERSONAL PROTECTION
Splash goggles
Lab coat
Vapor respirator
Boots
Potential Acute Health Effects
skin contact (irritant)
eye contact (irritant)
Over-exposure can result in death.
Potential Chronic Health Effects
skin contact (sensitizer)
toxic to eyes
toxic to blood, kidneys, liver, brain
prolonged exposure can produce target organs damage
may produce general deterioration
First Aid Treatment
Inhalation remove to fresh air
artificial respiration if not breathing
immediate medical attention
skin contact flush skin with plenty of water
Cover irritated skin with emollient
Wash clothing before reuse
eye contact remove any contact lenses
flush eyes with running water,Get medical attention
Ingestion Loosen tight clothing, Get medical attention
As far as toxicity is concerned, it has a serious toxicity in human’s body and can cause
harmful diseases to those who are exposed frequently. Normally, it takes hours for the
toxicity’s effects to appear. Blindness, coma and death are the most famous results for
Methanol exposure. More interestingly, it is hard to differentiate between the odor and
color of ethanol and methanol.
13
Dimethyl ether (DME)
Dimethyl ether (C2H6O), the simplest ether, is an organic compound with a colorless,
gaseous and highly flammable physical state with a sweet odor. It becomes liquid when
slightly pressurized (up to .5 bars). Its boiling and freezing points are () respectively. The
ratings for DME are four, two and one for the Fire, Health and reactivity hazards as shown in
figure 7:
Figure 7.DME Safety Logo

Table 4. DME MSDS
Dimethyl Ether
PERSONAL PROTECTION
Ventilation
Eye Protection( wear goggles, eye wash fountain)
Clothing (cold insulating clothing for liquid)
Insulated Gloves
Potential Health Effects
Inhalation
Short term exposure Long term exposure
irritation ,difficulty breathing drowsiness
headache
blurred vision
Skin Contact
irritation (maybe severe) No info. Of severe
Eye Contact
irritation (maybe severe) No info. Available
14
First Aid Treatment
remove to uncontaminated area
Inhalation artificial respiration
skin contact flush with plenty of lukewarm water
DO NOT USE HOT WATER
gently wrap affected parts in blanket
eye contact flush eyes with plenty of water
Ingestion If large amount: get medical attention
Conclusion about literature review

To sum up, this report aimed to present the literature review for the production of Dimethyl
ether (DME) from methyl alcohol (Methanol). First, it gave an introduction that answers the
question “What is DME”?. Also it presented the history of the reactant (Methanol) and the
product (DME). In addition, it was obviously clarified that the demand of DME is increasing
with time due to its favorable features. Moreover, the costs of both reactants and products
were cited. After that, the thermo and physical properties of the reactant and the product
were listed. Then, both processes applied to produce DME were described accompanied
with descriptive PDFs. Furthermore, assigned process was discussed in details. Finally, the
material safety data sheet was shown clarifying safety guidelines and how hazard are the
chemicals included in the process.
15
Mass and Energy Balance
16
Introduction
Mass balance (material balance) and energy balance are very crucial techniques to be used
during the design of chemical engineering processes. They are direct applications of the
conservation laws “mass or energy neither be created nor destroyed”. Chemical engineers
invested these two laws in the design of chemical processes. Energy and mass balance can
be utilized to perform calculation of mass flow, molar flow, energy flow and compositions of
a stream. The conservation law applied for a chemical engineering process is best described
by the following equation, equation (1).
(1)
̇ ̇ ̇ ̇ ̇ (2)
Mass balance
In this work, our purpose is to produce 100,000 tons / year of 99.5 wt.% Dimethyl ether
(DME). It’s best to work on the SI units, so the (tons / year) and the (wt.% ) given in the
problem statement is changed to Kgmol/h and (mol % ) as follow:
The compositions in wt.% of the distillate are changed as follow:
Table 5. The Distillate Compositions of the First Distillation Column (T-201)
Distillate composition of first column

wt.% MW mole mol%
DME 0.995 46.07 0.021598 0.993
Methanol 0.005 32.04 0.000156 0.007
Total 1 78.11 0.021754 1
So, we need to produce 248.36 Kgmol/h of (99.3 mol%) DME.
Mass balance around the reactor (R -201):

Reactor is the heart unit in the process and it is designed to produce 248.36 Kgmol/h of
(99.3 mol%) DME, but we don’t know how much reactants we should feed in order to get
the desired amount of DME. So, we need to assume a basis in a clever way in order to get an
17
amount match the desired amount and reduces the number iteration (Here, we have
iteration because of the recycle stream). How to do that?
As we have the composition of the feed, conversion and the amount of the methanol
reacted (calculated from the stoichiometry), we will be able to find the total amount fed,
which is our basis, to the reactor. This is the way how we chose our basis. After calculation it
was found to be 635.5094 Kgmol/h.
The following assumptions were applied when mass balance was performed around the
reactor:
1) The base of calculation was sat to the stream

entering the reactor (stream number 5) NOT to the
fresh feed. Fresh feed stream flow will be calculated
after we calculate the recycle stream flow rate.
2) Composition of the reactor feed was assumed as
given in the problem statement, neglecting the
amount contributed from the recycled stream at
first.
3) Only one reaction, methanol to DME.
Figure 8. Reactor (R-201)
4) Ethanol is an inert.
There are three methods can be followed to perform mass balance. Only the extent of
reaction method will be used:
2CH3OH  CH3OCH3  H 2O
(3)
The feed to the reactor (stream#5) is 635.5094349Kgmol/h consisting of 2mol% ethanol,

1mol% water and 97 % methanol. Stream# 6 is the effluent of the reactor and it contains the
products (H2O & DME), the inert (ethanol) and the unreacted methanol.
Because conversion is given, we can calculate the amount of methanol reacted. For
simplicity, let methanol = A, DME= B and H2O= C. So, equation (1) becomes:
(4)
18
, where:
: The amount of methanol entering into the reactor
: The amount unreacted of methanol.
The amount of methanol reacted = . From the
stoichiometry of the reaction equation, the amount of DME produced = 246.5777 kgmol/h.
Similarly, the amount of H2O coming out from the reactor = (0.01*635.509) + 246.5777
=252.9328 kgmol/h.
As assumed, ethanol is an inert in the process and the amount come in into the reactor
leave the reactor. So, the amount of ethanol in the feed and product is 12.7102Kgmol/h.
because the process is simple the calculations were done using stoichiometry. However the
mass balance techniques can be used. To confirm that, we are going to use the extent of
reaction (ξ) method.
Mass balance around the reactor using the extent of the reaction (ξ):
(5)
(6)
(7)
Degree of Freedom (Fd) Analysis:
So, the
19
By taking equation (5) and substitute and , the
extent of reaction is found to be
The following table, table2, summarizes the composition and flow rate of streams entering
and leaving the reactor.
Table 6. Flow rate and compositions of streams entering and leaving the reactor.
Reactor Feed Reactor out
Component Composition Molar Flow Mass Flow Composition Molar Flow Mass Flow
(mol.%) (Kgmol/h) (Kg/h) (mol.%) (Kgmol/h) (Kg/h)
Methanol 0.97 616.444 19750.871 0.194 123.2888 3950.174
DME 0 0 0 0.388 246.5777 11359.833
Ethanol 0.02 12.7102 585.5584 0.02 12.7102 585.5584
Water 0.01 6.3551 114.5188 0.398 252.933 4557.848
Total 1 635.509 20450.948 1 635.509 20453.4136
Mass balance around the first distillation column (T -201):

The first distillation column in the flow process diagram of DME production is designed in
order to separate DME from other components coming out of the reactor. Figure 2 is a
representative diagram for the distillation
column.
Let A=methanol, B= DME, C=WATER,D=ethanol
Assumptions:
 All DME goes in the distillate

 Only trace amount of methanol goes in
the distillate.
 All water and ethanol goes in the bottom
Specifications: Figure 9. First distillation Column (T-201)
20
It has been specified in the problem statement that the purity of DME is 99.5 wt.%, so 0.5
wt.% is methanol. Table 1 shows the compositions in mol.%.
Degree of freedom (Fd) analysis:
So
Components balance:
1) DME components balance
Where:
So,
2) Overall mass balance:
3) Methanol mass balance:
By rearranging this equation, the methanol composition in the bottom is calculated:
21
4) Water mass balance:
SO,
5) Ethanol mass balance:
So,
Simply, it can be found by
The composition and the flow rate to and out of the first distillation column are summarized
in the following table, table3.
Table 7. Molar flow, Mass flow and Compositions of streams Entering and Leaving the First Distillation
column (T-201)
First Distillation Column
Feed Distillate Bottom
components Compositions Molar Mass Compositions Molar Mass Compositions Molar Mass
(mol. %) Flow Flow (mol. %) Flow Flow (mol. %) Flow Flow
(Kgmol/h) (Kg/h) (Kgmol/h) (Kg/h) (Kgmol/h) (Kg/h)
Methanol 0.194 123.289 3950.174 0.007 1.738 55.692 0.314 121.579 3895.384
DME 0.388 246.578 11359.833 0.993 246.578 11359.833 0.000 0.000 0.000
Ethanol 0.020 12.710 585.558 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.033 12.777 588.654
water 0.398 252.933 4557.848 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.653 252.837 4556.130
Total 1.000 635.509 20453.414 1.000 248.316 11415.525 1.000 387.194 9040.168
Mass balance around the second distillation column (T -202):

The second distillation column in the flow process diagram is designed to separate methanol
from other components coming out from the bottom of the first distillation. The distillate
(almost methanol) of the second column is recycled back to the front of the process, while
the bottom (almost water and ethanol) is sent to waste treatment. Figure 3 is a
representative diagram for the second distillation column.
22
For simplicity, let A, B, C and D represent methanol, DME, water and ethanol, respectively.
Assumptions:
The problem statement didn’t provide us with any kind of specification for the distillate or
bottom, so we are going to assume the compositions of the distillate and the amount of
either the distillate or the bottom. It is really desirable to have all the methanol in the
distillate but the reality is that the mixture (methanol, ethanol and water) is difficult to
separate, to have all the methanol in the distillate.
Degree of freedom analysis:
So, Figure 10. Second Distillation Column

(T-202)
It appears that this problem cannot be solved due
to the lack of information given. As mentioned
above, we are going to assume the compositions of
the distillate (Fd = 1) and either the fraction
recovery of one of the distillate components or the
bottom or the distillate rate. Doing that Fd will
equal to zero (Fd=0). We did the assumptions with
the help of Aspen Hysys simulation tool in order to
get the best assumptions. So, the flow rate of
distillate was found to be 107.3 Kgmole/hr.
Components balance:
6) Overall Mass balance
D= 107.3 Kgmole /hr , yA=0.9323,yC=0.0045
2) Component Mass Balance
a) Methanol
23
By rearranging this equation, the methanol composition in the bottom is calculated:
b) Water
SO,
c) Ethanol
Simply, it can be found by
Table 8. Molar flow, Mass flow and Compositions of streams Entering and Leaving the Second
Distillation column (T-202)
Second Distillation Column
components Comp. Molar Mass Comp. Molar Mass Comp. Molar Mass
(mol. Flow Flow (mol. Flow Flow (mol. Flow Flow
%) (Kgmol/h) (Kg/h) %) (Kgmol/h) (Kg/h) %) (Kgmol/h) (Kg/h)
Methanol 31.39 121.542 3889.344 93.23 100.036 3201.152 7.70 21.552 689.664
DME 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Ethanol 3.28 12.700 584.2 6.32 6.781 311.926 2.11 5.906 271.676
water 65.33 252.958 4558.303 0.45 0.483 8.704 90.19 252.442 4549.005
Total 100 387.2 9031.847 100 107.3 3521.782 100 279.9 5510.345
24
Recycle Stream and the Mixing Point
It is clear that the recycle is essential for this process since significant amount of methanol
coming out with the Distillate in the second distillation column cannot be thrown away as
shown in the PFD. Then, the recycled stream is mixed with the fresh feed.
The recycled stream has the following composition : R =107.3 Kgmole /hr , X A= 0.9323 , XD=
0.0632 , XC=0.0045 0
-Overall mass balance around the mixing point
Fresh Feed(f)=635.5094349
Feed after mixing (F) = ?
Recycled stream(R)= 107.3
F= f-R= Kgmole/hr
-Component mass balance around the mixing point:
a) methanol
b) Ethanol
c) Water
25
Table 9. Compositions, Molar Flow Rate and Mass Flow of Fresh Feed Stream, Recycled Stream
and After mixing stream
Mixing Point
Fresh Feed Stream Recycled stream After Mixing Stream
Compone Comp Molar Mass Flow Comp. (mol. Molar Mass Flow Comp. Molar Mass
(mol. %) Flow (Kg/h) %) Flow (Kg/h) (mol. %) Flow Flow
nt
(Kgmol (Kgmol/h (Kgmol/ (Kg/h)
/h) ) h)
Methanol 97 616.44 19750.870 93.23 100.036 3201.152 97.77 516.430 16525.76

4
DME 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Ethanol 2 12.710 585.558 6.32 6.781 311.926 1.12 5.916 272.136
water 1 6.355 114.519 0.45 0.483 8.704 1.11 5.863 105.651
Total 100 635.5 20450.94 100 107.3 3521.782 100 528.20 16903.5
Finally, after we finished mass balance around all the equipment, we did iterations. The
iterations for mass balance are provided in the appendix.
Energy balance
Energy takes many forms, such as heat, kinetic energy, chemical energy, potential energy
but because of inter-conversions it is not always easy to isolate separate constituents of
energy balances. However, under some circumstances certain aspects predominate. Energy
balance was computed for the reactor and two distillation column respectively. Also the
duty of heater, cooler and pumps were calculated.
Energy Balance around the reactor (R-201):
To calculate the change in the enthalpy (∆Ḣ), hence, the removed heat (Q) for the reactor of
the single reaction .The following equations will be used:
∑ ̀ ∑ ̀
̂ ∫ ∫
Where:
26
: The heat of reaction
ἐ: The extent of reaction
: Number of outlet moles
: Number of inlet moles
̀ : The enthalpy of the inlet compound
̀ : The enthalpy of the outlet compound
THhe change of the enthalpy of the component
The flowing table is the energy table and it shows information got from mass balance and
unknown enthalpies to be calculated.
Table 10. Flow and Enthalpies of the Reactor (R-201)
inlet outlet
Component ni (mol/Hr) Hi (KJ/mol) ni (mol/Hr) Hi (KJ/mol)
Methanol 616.4616 Hmeth. 123.3182 Hmeth.
Ethanol 23.8743 Hethan. 23.8743 Hethan.
Water 6.6641 Hwater 253.2358 Hwater
Dimethyl ether 0 HDME 246.5717 HDME
Now, we need to calculate the Hi for each components in the feed and outlet of the reactor.
Firstly, we calculate Hi for the feed stream:
1) Hmeth.:
To get ̀ the reference should be taken. For example at this calculation the reference is
(25c◦, 1atm)
So the enthalpy path will be used :
H (L,25c◦,1atm)→H(L,64.7,1atm)→H (V,64.7,1atm)→H(V,250,1atm)→(V,250,15.50bar) as
you know: 1atm ≈1bar therefore :
27
̂ ∫ ∫
Where :
Where :
a=75.86*E-3 &b=16.83( for liquid methanol)
a=(42.93*E-3)& b=(8.301*E-5) &c =(01.87*E-8 ) &d=(-8.03*E-12) (for gas methanol)
Therefore:
̂ =∫ ( ) ∫
+[(4.045E-5)M³/mole*(15.50-1) atm * ((1*E5)N/m²)/(1 atm )

*kJ/1000J ]
So the answer is :=(3.311 + 35.27+ 10.287 + 0.059436) KJ/mol= 48.9274 KJ/mol
2) Hethan.:
The same way will be used as in steps 1:
H (L,25c◦,1atm)→H(L,78.5,1atm)→H (V,78.5,1atm)→H(V,250,1atm)→(V,250,15.50bar)
̂ ∫ ∫
3) Hwater:
H (L,25c◦,1atm)→H(L,100,1atm)→H (V,100,1atm)→H(V,250,1atm)→(V,250,15.50bar)
̂ ∫ ∫
4) HDME
28
H (V,25c◦,1atm)→H(V,250,1atm)→H (V,250,15.50 bar≈ atm)
̂ ∫
Where C1=25940& C2=178.46 & C3= -.186 & T at K
=(15.0937+ .0.042) KJ/mol = 15.13569 KJ/mol
Second, we calculate Hi for the outlet stream:
The calculations for this section are not shown but summarized in the following table, table
4.
Extent and heat of reaction:
The extent of reaction
The heat of reaction ∑ ∑ = -11770 kJ/kmol
=246.532358( mole/hr)* (Kmole/1000mole) *-11770 KJ/Kmole =-2901.685854
∑ ̀ =( (123.3182*48.9274 )+(23.8743* 61.04)+(253.2358* 51.57)+(246.5717

*15.13569 ))(Kmole/hr)*(1000mole/Kmole)*KJ/mole =24282329.19 KJ/Hr
∑ ̀ =((616.4616*48.9274 )+( 23.8743* 61.04)+( 6.6641* 51.57)+(0 *15.13569

))(Kmole/hr)*(1000mole/Kmole)*KJ/mole =31962818.2 KJ/Hr
So :
∑ ̀ ∑ ̀ =-7683390.696 KJ/Hr
Therefore Q = = 7683390.696 KJ/hr
29
Table 11. Energy Table for the Reactor (R-201)
inlet outlet
Component ni (mol/Hr) Hi (KJ/mol) ni (mol/Hr) Hi (KJ/mol)
Methanol 616.4616 48.9274 123.3182 48.9274
Ethanol 23.8743 61.04 23.8743 61.04
Water 6.6641 51.57 253.2358 51.57
Dimethyl ether 0 - 246.5717 15.13569
Energy balance around pumps:

Pumps are important equipment used to move fluids from on unit to other or from one
tanks to other. Also, it can be used to create a pressure difference for any purpose. In order
a pump to do its job, energy must be supplied. Energy change around pumps is studied by
the mechanical energy equation:
Where:
E = Internal energy
P = Pressure
ρ = Density
g = Gravitational force constant
z = Height
v = Fluid velocity
∑F = Sum of all frictional forces
Qh = Heat generated
Ws = Shaft work
30
Figure 11. Pump
For the production of DME process we have three pumps:
1) Pump P-201: used to move the feed to the reactor and to maintain the pressure of
the feed.
2) Pump P-202: used to maintain the pressure of the reflux and to transfer the distillate
and the reflux.
3) Pump P-203: used to maintain the pressure of the reflux and to transfer the reflux
and the recycle stream.
Pumps P-202 and P-203 are related to the distillation columns T-201 and T-202, respectively.
Energy balance around these two pumps will not be carried as the pressures of the outlet
streams are not clear.
We are not going to use the above equation and we will use an equation obtained from the
synthesis and design book by Richard Turton and his co-workers. The equation is given as
follow:
[ ( ) ]
Where:
[ ( ) ] [ ( ) ]
So,
31
Energy Balance around First Distillation Column (T-201):
The first distillation column was mainly inserted in
the process to separate the raw material (DME)
from the reactor effluent (methanol, ethanol and
water) mixture. It is required to produce 100000
ton of DME per year with a purity of 99.5 wt%.
The energy balance around the second distillation
column is done to calculate Q , Q C and Q r.
Assumptions:
1- Reflux ratio equals 3.
Figure 12. First Distillation Column (T-201)

2- All input and output streams are liquid.
3- Condenser is total and reboiler is partial.
The fundamental energy balance equation for the distillation column is:
̇ ̇ ̇ ̇ ̇
Where ̇ ̇ ∑ ̇ ̇ ∑ ̇ ̇
And H1 = ni1 Hi1+ni2 Hi2+ni3 Hi3
Where Hi ∫
Where numbers stands for components as follows:

1= methanol 2 = (ethanol) 3= (water) 4=(DME)
32
Part 1: Calculation of Q C
Reference: 25 °C, 1 atm.
Table 12. Molar Flow and enthalpies of Vapor, Reflux and Distillate for (T-201)
Vapor (V) (C, bar) Reflux (L) (C, bar) Distillate (D) (C, bar)
Component
ni Hi ni Hi ni Hi
Methanol 6.9552 Hv1 5.2164 Hl1 1.7388 Hd1
ethanol 0.09936 Hv2 0.07452 Hl2 0.02484 Hd2
Water 0 Hv3 0 Hl3 0 Hd3
DME 986.545 Hv4 739.909 Hl4 246.636 Hd4
Q C = H D+ H L – H V
Hi = n1H1+n2H2+n3H3
Calculation of Distillate’s Enthalpy (H D):
For HD T = 46.83 °C and P = 10.3 atm.
HD = n1 DH1 D+n2 D H2 D+n3 D H3 D
Enthalpies of each component are found using the component’s specific heats
HD (methanol) = ∫
=∫ + (10.3 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
HD (methanol) = 1.787 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +38108.699
= 39895.7 (KJ/kmole)
33
HD (ethanol) = ∫ =∫ + (10.3 -1)
(1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
HD (ethanol) = 3.466(KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +55004.01
= 58470.01 (KJ/kmole)
HD (water) = ∫ =∫ + (10.3-1) (1)

(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
HD (water) = 1.645 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +16980.65 (KJ/kmole)
= 18625.65 (KJ/kmole)
HD (DME) = ∫ = 2294.86 + (10.3-1) (1.493) (4668.04275)

(KJ/kmole)
HD (DME) = 7689.5 KJ/mole) +64815.31 (KJ/kmole)
= 72504.81 (KJ/kmole)
n1= 1.7388 (kmole/hr), n2 = 0.02484 (kmole/hr),n3= 0 (kmole/hr) and
n4= 246.636 (kmole/hr)
HD = (1.7388 * 39895.7) (KJ/hr) + (0.02484 * 58470.01) (KJ/hr)
+ (246.636 * 72504.81) (KJ/hr)
HD = 1.8 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Component enthalpies for the reflux and distillate are the same So HL is calculated as
follows: HL = (5.2164 * 39895.7) (KJ/hr) + (0.07452 * 58470.01) (KJ/hr)
+ (739.909 * 72504.81) (KJ/hr)
HL = 5.4 *E 7
Calculation of Vapor’s Enthalpy (H V):
For HV T = 46.83 °C and P = 10.3 atm.
HV = n1 VH1 v+n2 V H2 V+n3 V H3 V
34
HV (methanol) = ∫ + ̇V
=∫ + (10.3 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
+ 32570 (KJ/kmole)
HV (methanol) = 1.787 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +38108.699 + 32570
= 72465.7 (KJ/kmole)
HV (ethanol) = ∫ + ̇V = ∫ + (10.3 -
1) (1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole) +38580
HV (ethanol) = 3.466(KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +55004.01 +38580
= 58470.01 (KJ/kmole)
HV (water) = ∫ ̇V = ∫ + (10.3-1) (1)

(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole) + 40656
HV (water) = 1.645 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +16980.65 (KJ/kmole) + 40656
= 59281.65 (KJ/kmole)
HV (DME) = ∫ ̇ V = 2294.86 + (10.3-1) (1.493)
(4668.04275) (KJ/kmole) +18310 (KJ/kmole)
HV (DME) = 7689.5 KJ/mole) +64815.31 (KJ/kmole) +18310
= 90814.8 (KJ/kmole)
n1= 6.9552 (kmole/hr), n2 = 0.09936 (kmole/hr),n3= 0 (kmole/hr) and
n4= 986.545 (kmole/hr)
HV = (6.9552 * 72465.7) (KJ/hr) + (0.09936 * 58470.01) (KJ/hr)
+ (986.545 * 90814.8) (KJ/hr)
HV =9 * E7 (KJ/hr)
35
Q C = H D+ H L – H V = 1.8 * E7 +5.4 *E 7 -9 * E7 = -1.8 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Part 2: Calculation of Q
Table 13. Molar flow and Enthalpies of Feed, Distillate and Bottom Product for (T-201)
Feed (F) ( 100 C, 15.5 Distillate (D) ( 46.83 C, Bottom (B) ( 139.1 C,
Component bar) 10.4 bar) 7.4 bar)
ni Hi ni Hi ni Hi
Methanol 123.3182 Hf1 1.7388 Hd1 121.5496 Hb1
ethanol 23.8743 Hf2 0.02484 Hd2 23.8588 Hb2
Water 253.2358 Hf3 0 Hd3 253.2410 Hb3
DME 246.5717 Hf4 246.636 Hd4 0.0002 Hb4
From part1: H D = 1.8 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Calculation of Bottom’s Enthalpy (HB):
For HB T = 139.1 °C and P= 7.167 atm.
H B = n1 B H1 B+n2 B H2 B+n3 B H3 B
HB (methanol) = ∫
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
HB(methanol) = 10.2244(KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +25270.57469
= 35494.97469 (KJ/kmole)
36
HB (ethanol) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1)
(1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
HB (ethanol) = 18.11908 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +36474.16709
= 54593.24709 (KJ/kmole)
HB (water) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1) (1)

(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
HB (water) = 8.60314 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +11260.1804 (KJ/kmole)
= 19863.3204 (KJ/kmole)
n1= 121.533 (kmole/hr), n2 = 23.836 (kmole/hr) and n3= 253.151 (kmole/hr)
H B = (35494.97469 * 121.533) (KJ/hr) + (54593.24709 * 23.836) (KJ/hr)
+ (253.151 * 19863.3204) (KJ/hr)
H B = 1.0644 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Calculation of feed’s Enthalpy (H F):
For HF T = 100 °C and P = 15.3 atm.
H F = n1 FH1 F+n2 F H2 F+n3 f H3 F
HF (methanol) = ∫
=∫ + (15.3 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
HF (methanol) = 6.4739 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +58597.246
= 65071.12 (KJ/kmole)
HF (ethanol) = ∫ =∫ + (15.3 -1) (1.267)

(4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
HF(ethanol) = 19.41 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +84576.1
= 103986.1 (KJ/kmole)
37
HF (water) = ∫ =∫ + (15.3-1) (1)
(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
HF (water) = 5.5875 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +26110.03 (KJ/kmole)
= 31697.5 (KJ/kmole)
HF (DME) = ∫ = 7689.5 + (15.3-1) (1.493) (4668.04275)

(KJ/kmole)
HF (DME) = 7689.5 KJ/mole) +99662.25 (KJ/kmole)
= 107351.75 (KJ/kmole)
n1= 123.3182 (kmole/hr), n2 = 23.8743 (kmole/hr), n3= 253.2358 (kmole/hr) and
n4= 246.5717 (kmole/hr)
HF = (123.3182 * 65071.12) (KJ/hr) + (23.8743 * 103986.1) (KJ/hr)
+ (253.2358 * 31697.5) (KJ/hr) + (246.5717 * 107351.75) (KJ/hr)
HF = 4.5 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Q = H D+ H B – H F
Q = 1.8 * E7 +1.0644 * E7 - 4.5 * E7 = - 1.6* E7
Q=Qr+QC
Qr=Q–QC
Q r = - 1.6* E7 – (-1.8 * E7) =0 .2 *E7 (KJ/hr)
38
Energy Balance around Second Distillation Column (T-202):
The second distillation column was mainly
inserted in the process to separate the raw
material (Methanol) from the organic waste
(ethanol and water) mixture after which it will
be recycled to the back front of the process to
be mixed with the fresh feed. Separation is
intended to discard some the ethanol with the
waste so that it will not accumulate in the
process since it enters continuously with the
fresh feed with a 0.02 mole %. The energy
balance around the second distillation column is
done under constant pressure to calculate Q , Q
C and Q r.
Assumptions:
Figure 13. Second Distillation Column (T- 202)
1- Reflux ratio equals 3.
2- All input and output streams are liquid.
3- Fractional recovery for water in the waste stream equals 100%.
The fundamental energy balance equation for the distillation column is:
̇ ̇ ̇ ̇ ̇
Where ̇ ̇ ∑ ̇ ̇ ∑ ̇ ̇
And H1 = ni1 Hi1+ni2 Hi2+ni3 Hi3
Where Hi ∫
Where numbers stands for components as follows:

1= methanol 2 = (ethanol) 3= (water)
39
Part 1: Calculation of Q C
Table 14. Molar Flow and Enthalpies of Vapour, Reflux and Distillate for (T-202)
Vapor (V) ( 126.2 C, 7.4 Reflux (L) ( 126.2 C, 7.4 bar) Distillate (D) ( 126.2 C, 7.4
Component bar) bar)
ni Hi ni Hi ni Hi
Methanol 416.65 Hv1 312.42 Hl1 104.14 Hd1
ethanol 53.175 Hv2 39.88 Hl2 13.294 Hd2
Water 5.4648 Hv3 4.986 Hl3 1.3662 Hd3
Q C = H D+ H L – H V
Hi = n1H1+n2H2+n3H3
Calculation of Distillate’s enthalpy (H D):
For HD T = 126.2 °C and P=7.167 atm.
H D = n1D H1D+n2D H2D+n3D H3D
Enthalpies of each component are found using the component’s specific heats:
HD (methanol) = ∫
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
HD (methanol) = 8.96465 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +25270.57469
= 34235.22469 (KJ/kmole)
HD (ethanol) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1)

(1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
HD (ethanol) = 16.071 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +36474.16709
40
= 52545.16709 (KJ/kmole)
HD (water) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1) (1)

(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
HD (water) = 7.64048 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +11260.1804 (KJ/kmole)
= 18900.66 (KJ/kmole)
H D = n1D H1D+n2D H2D+n3D H3D
H D = (104.14 * 34235.22469) (KJ/hr) + (52545.16709 * 13.294) (KJ/hr) + (18900.66 *

1.3662) (KJ/hr)
HD = 4.29 * E6 (KJ/hr)
Calculation of Reflux’s Enthalpy (H L):
For HL T = 126.2 °C and P = 7.167 atm.
Enthalpies of each component are found using the component’s specific heats:
(L/D) = 3 & D = 118.8 (mole/hr) => L = 3 * D = 3 * 118.8 = 356.4 (mole/hr)
HL(methanol) = ∫
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
HL (methanol) = 8.96465 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +25270.57469
= 34235.22469 (KJ/kmole)
HL (ethanol) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1)

(1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
HL (ethanol) = 16.071 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +36474.16709
= 52545.16709 (KJ/kmole)
41
HL (water) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1) (1)
(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
HL (water) = 7.64048 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +11260.1804 (KJ/kmole)
= 18900.66 (KJ/kmole) = 1157.651287 (KJ/hr)
H L = n1 L H1 L+n2 L H2L+n3 L H3 L
= (312.42 * 34235.22469) (KJ/hr) + (52545.16709 * 39.88) (KJ/hr) + (18900.66 * 4.986)

(KJ/hr)
HL = 1.289 *E7 (KJ/hr)
Calculation of Vapour’s Enthalpy (H V):
For HV T = 126.2 °C and P = 7.167 atm
V = D + L = 118.8 + 356.4 = 475.2 (mole/hr)
HV (methanol) = ∫ ̇V
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)

+35.27 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol)
HV (methanol) = 8.96465 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +25270.57469 + 35270
= 69505.22469 (KJ/kmole)
HV (ethanol) = ∫ ̇V
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
+ 38.58 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol)

HV (ethanol) = 16.071 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +36474.16709 +38580
42
= 91125.16709 (KJ/kmole)
HV (water) = ∫ ̇V
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1) (1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
+40.656 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol)

HV (water) = 7.64048 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +11260.1804 (KJ/kmole) + 40656
= 59556.6604 (KJ/kmole)
= (416.65 * 69505.22469) (KJ/hr) + (53.175 * 91125.16709) (KJ/hr)
+ (5.4648* 59556.6604) (KJ/hr)
HV = 3.413 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Q C = H D+ H L – H V = 4.29 E6 + 1.289 E7 - 3.413 * E7= (- 1.695 * 10^7) (KJ/hr)
Part 2: Calculation of Q

Table 15. Molar flow and Enthalpies of Feed, Distillate and Bottom Product for (T-202)
Feed (F) ( 139.1 C, 7.4 Distillate (D) ( 126.2 C, 7.4 Bottom (B) ( 151.9 C, 7.4
Component bar) bar) bar)
ni Hi ni Hi ni Hi
Methanol 121.533 Hf1 104.14 Hd1 18.559 Hb1
ethanol 23.836 Hf2 13.294 Hd2 11.261 Hb2
Water 253.151 Hf3 1.3662 Hd3 268.08 Hb3
From part1: H D = 4.29* E6 (KJ/hr)
Calculation of Bottom’s Enthalpy (H B):
For HB T = 151.9 °C and P = 7.167 atm.
H B = n1 B H1 B+n2 B H2 B+n3 B H3 B
43
HB (methanol) = ∫
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
HB (methanol) = 11.5081 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +25270.57469
= 36778.67469 (KJ/kmole)
HB (ethanol) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1)

(1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
HB(ethanol) = 20.15172 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +36474.16709
= 56625.88709 (KJ/kmole)
HB (water) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1) (1)

(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
HB (water) = 9.56826 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +11260.1804 (KJ/kmole)
= 20828.4404 (KJ/kmole)
HB = (18.559 * 36778.67469) (KJ/hr) + (11.261 * 56625.88709) (KJ/hr)
+ (268.08 * 20828.4404) (KJ/hr)
HB = 6.904 *E6 (KJ/hr)
Calculation of Feed’s Enthalpy (H F):
For HF T = 139.1 °C and P= 7.167 atm
H F = n1 F H1 F+n2 F H2 F+n3 F H3 F
HF (methanol) = ∫
=∫ + (7.167 -1) (1.263) (3244.4256) (KJ/kmole)
44
HF (methanol) = 10.2244(KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +25270.57469
= 35494.97469 (KJ/kmole)
HF (ethanol) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1)

(1.267) (4668.0427) (KJ/kmole)
HF (ethanol) = 18.11908 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +36474.16709
= 54593.24709 (KJ/kmole)
HF (water) = ∫ =∫ + (7.167 -1) (1)

(1825.8765) (KJ/kmole)
HF (water) = 8.60314 (KJ/mole) *(1000mole/ 1kmol) +11260.1804 (KJ/kmole)
= 19863.3204 (KJ/kmole)
H F = (35494.97469 * 121.533) (KJ/hr) + (54593.24709 * 23.836) (KJ/hr)
+ (253.151 * 19863.3204) (KJ/hr)
H F = 1.0644 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Q = H D+ H B – H F
Q = (4.29* E6) + (6.904 * E6) – (1.0644 * E7) = 5.5 * E5 (KJ/hr)
Q=Qr+QC
Qr=Q–QC
Q r = 5.5 * E5 – (- 1.695 * 10^7) = 1.75 * E7 (KJ/hr)
Energy Balance around the Pre -Heater (E—201)

The Heater is essential in the process to prepare the feed material to enter the reactor. To
achieve that, The feed material which are liquid must be converted to vapor with high
pressure steam. The Pressure drop for this heater is zero. The following figure is explained
the condition of the inlet and outlet stream used to find the duty Q for the Heater.
45
Figure 14. Pre-Heater (E-201)
From first law of thermodynamics:
Table 16. The Molar flow and Enthalpy of the Pre-Heater (E-201)
Reference: (L,45 °C,1 bar) for all components
Component Molar Flow In (nin) Enthalpy (Hin) Molar Flow out Enthalpy (Hout)
(Kgmole /hr) (KJ/mole) (nout) (KJ/mole)
(Kgmole /hr)
Methanol 616.44 0 616.44 H1
Ethanol 23.88 0 23.88 H2
Water 6.67 0 6.67 H3
H1=∫ ∫
46
∫
H1=48.852KJ/mole
H2=∫ ∫
H2=58.622 KJ/mole
H3=∫ ∫
47
H3=51.544 KJ/mole
Table 17. The Molar flow & Enthalpy for (E-201)
Reference (L,25 °C,1 bar) for all components
(Kgmole /hr)
Methanol 616.44 0 616.44 48.852
Ethanol 23.88 0 23.88 58.662
Water 6.67 0 6.67 51.544
Q=
Energy Balance on the Cooler (E-203)

The First cooler in this process is designed to prepare the products which are coming out
from the reactor to appropriate temperature for the separation. The following figure is
explained the condition of the inlet and outlet stream used to find the duty Q for the Cooler.
Figure 15. Cooler (E-203)
From first law of thermodynamics :
48
Table 18. Molar flow and enthalpy for the Inlet and Outlet Streams for Cooler (E-203)
Reference: (V,25 °C,15.5 bar) for all components
(Kgmole /hr)
DME 246.58 0 246.58 H1
Methanol 123.289 0 123.289 H2
Ethanol 23.88 0 23.88 H3
Water 253.25 0 253.25 H4
H1=∫ ∫
H1=-21.35-26+13.884= +33.466 KJ/ mol
49
H2=∫ ∫
H3=∫ ∫
H3=50.898 KJ/mol
H4=∫ ∫
H4=5.23-40.656 =45.886 KJ/mol
50
Table 19. The Molar flow and Enthalpy for the Inlet and Outlet Streams for Cooler (E-203)
Reference: (V,25 °C,15.5 bar) for all components
(Kgmole /hr)
DME 246.58 0 246.58 33.466
Methanol 123.289 0 123.289 42.373
Ethanol 23.88 0 23.88 50.898
Water 253.25 0 253.25 45.886
Energy Balance on the Cooler (E-208)

The same procedure for the previous cooler is applied. Table 5 summarizes the values of the
enthalpy.
Table 20. Molar flow and Enthalpy for the Inlet & Outlet Streams for Cooler (E-208)
Reference (V,151.9°C,7.400) for all the components
(Kgmole /hr)
Methanol 17.444 0 17.444 43.086
Ethanol 10.570 0 10.570 49.837
Water 251.870 0 251.870 48.097
51
Energy balance around mixer
It’s difficult to calculate temperature of output of mixer by integration but via Hysis we can
.so the value of temperature for the output of mixer via Hysis is 45.13C.by the way, the
process around mixer is adiabatic.
To calculate the enthalpies for the tow steams before the mixer and the stream after the
mixer, we need some information:
For pressurized feed:
The bath is: ( L,25C,1 bar)→ ( L,25.01C,1 bar)→ ( L,25C,1.145bar)
So : ̂ ∫ ∫
̂ methanol=-2.394*E 005 KJ/Kgmole
̂ KJ/Kgmole
̂ water=-2.380*E005 KJ/Kgmole
̂ dimethyl ether=-1.842*E005 KJ/Kgmole
The same thing for the inlet stream (to mixer)
̂ ∫ ∫
̂ methanol=--2.269*E 005 KJ/Kgmole
̂ KJ/Kgmole
52
The same thing for the outlet stream of mixer (preheater)
̂ ∫ ∫
̂ methanol=--2.380*E 005 KJ/Kgmole
̂ KJ/Kgmole
Therefore, the results will be summarized in the following table:
Table 21. Summary of energy balance around mixer
inlet outlet
Pressurized stream To mixer stream To preheater stream
Component ni Hi ni Hi ni Hi
(kgmol/Hr) (KJ/Kgmol) (Kgmol/Hr) (KJ/Kgmol) (Kgmol/Hr) (KJ/Kgmol)
Methanol 512.645 -2.394E5 103.794 -2.269E5 616.4616 -2.380E5
Ethanol 10.57 -2.2781E5 13.3194 -2.615E5 23.8743 -2.962E5
Water 5.285 -2.849E5 1.38645 -2.772E5 6.6641 -3.121E5
Dimethyl 0 -1.842E5 0 -1.768E5 0 -2.120E5
ether
And from the two following law:
: ∑ ̀ ∑ ̀
Q=
The duty will be calculated as the following:
53
The inlet enthalpies equal:
∑ ̀ ∑ ̀ =-127172426.5-
27418205= -154590631 KJ/h
And the outlet enthalpies for stream of preheater equal: ∑ ̀ =-155868627.7 KJ/h
Finally ,the duty will be equal ∑ ̀ ∑ ̀ =-1277996.16 KJ
54
Simulation
55
Introduction
HYSYS is a software program created by not only software engineer or chemical engineer
but a cooperation between both, chemical and computer since engineers. Hysys is a process
modeling system that is used by chemical engineering companies in order to design an
entire process as completely and accurately as possible. HYSYS has very extensive property
database that helps handle multiphase flow modeling, gas processing and refinery reactors
for optimization of hydrocarbon processes.
Engineers use HYSYS to generate several alternative processes to best optimize the
products. Any changes in the process should be applied on HYSYS before applying on the
real process. It contains a large database for the almost all chemical components used in
industry. Physical and chemical properties (density, molecular weight, specific gravity,
boiling point, etc.) are assigned for each component. Also, HYSYS contains several
thermodynamic packages for dealing with Vapor-Liquid equilibrium, Liquid-Liquid
equilibrium, enthalpy calculation and other thermodynamic properties. HYSYS performs
mass and energy balances and handles different types of reactions.
HYSYS is a very important and powerful tool to perform repetitive chemical engineering
calculations efficiently. Moreover, Engineers can play with the operation conditions of the
process many times and HYSYS can deal with these changes efficiently and accurately. This
will save money, time and effort.
Advantages of using HYSYS:
 Accurate design information.
 Mass and energy balances and process flow diagrams.
 Multiple design cases at a fraction of the cost.
 Process optimization, finding the processes’ maximum performance point.
 Sensitivity analyses, determining the process' key control variables and degree of
operating stability.
For the production of DME, we are going to simulate the process using Aspen Hysys.
56
Sequential Process description of DME production:
DME is produced by the catalytic dehydration of methanol in a fixed bed reactor. The
production of DME from methanol is explained in the following sequence. First of all, a
Fresh stream with composition of 97% methanol ,2% ethanol and 1% water @ T=25 0C and
1 atm is pumped to a mixer where it is mixed with the recycled stream containing 87.59%
methanol ,11.24% ethanol and 1.17 % water. The mixed stream which has a temperature of
45.13 0C and pressure of 1.15 atm with a composition of 95.28% methanol, 3.27 % ethanol
and 1.03 % water is heated up to 250 oC by a heater using high pressure steam in order to
fulfill the specified isothermal conversion reactor inlet conditions. The inlet to the reactor
stream has a condition of 250 oC and 15.5 bar with single pass conversion of 80% due to
equipment constraints. The outlet stream of the reactor (which consists of 38.11% DME,
19.06% methanol, 3.69% ethanol and 39.14% water) is passed through a cooler to be cooled
to 100 oC before being sent to the first distillation column. The first distillation column is
designed to separate the desired product which is DME from the mixture. For the first
column, It was assumed that the reflux ratio was 3 and 100% fractional recovery of DME in
the distillate. The overhead stream consists of 99.3 % DME (99.5 wt. %) and the rest is
methanol (.007 mole %) with temperature of 46.83 C and pressure of 10.40 atm. The
bottom stream is transferred to the second distillation in order to separate the unreacted
methanol from water and ethanol. After separation, the distillate stream which contains
87.66 % methanol is recycled back to the mixer via pump. However, the bottom stream
which is mostly water is cooled down to 25 oC and sent to waste treatment to remove trace
amounts of organic compounds.
57
Process Simulation
The process simulation is divided into two main parts; (i) step by step build-up for non-
optimized process and (ii) process optimizations.
Step by step build-up for non-optimized process:

NOTE: The assumptions used in this section are the same as those used in the mass balance
report.
The first step in using Hysys is to select the components, fluid package and reaction. For the
DME process production described in the introduction, we have four components:
 DME
 Methanol
 Ethanol
 Water
Figure 16. Selection of components
58
Regarding the fluid package, a UNIQACK was selected as shown in figure2.
Figure 17. Fluid Package selection
In order to add the reaction, the following need to be selected:
 Type of reaction: Conversion Reaction

 Stoichiometry: -2, 1 and 1 were selected for methanol, DME and water respectively.
 Conversion: 80
Figure 18. Selection of reaction type and stoichiometry
Once reaction conversion is selected the reaction will be defined as shown in figure 4. One
more important thing is to add the reaction set the simulation environment.
59
Figure 19. Reaction conversion selection
Now we are ready to build up the process units and streams:
Fresh Feed stream:

Assumptions: a molar flow of 635.5 kgmol/h was assumed.
In order to define the Fresh Feed stream, Hysys need to be provided with the information
summarized in the following table.
Table 22.Conditions required for the Fresh Feed stream.
Overall
Temperature Pressure Compositions
component flow rate
(degree) (bar) (mol.%)
(kgmol/h)
DME 0
Methanol 0.97
25 1 635.5
Ethanol 0.02
Water 0.01
60
Figure 20. Fresh Feed stream building
Pump (P-201):
Pump was selected and connected to the Fresh Feed as an inlet and Pressurized Feed
Stream as an outlet streams. For the pumps, only the difference in pressure needs to be
provided. The outlet should be 15.5 bar, so the difference in pressure should equal to 14.5
bar or 14500 kPa.
61
Figure 21. Simulating Pump (P-201)
Heater (E-201):
For the heater, the Pressurized feed stream was connected as an inlet and the outlet feed
stream named as “To Reactor”. The difference in pressure and the outlet temperature was
sat equal to 10 kPa and 250 oC, respectively.
Figure 22. Heater (E-201) installation
62
Reactor (R-201):
A conversion reactor was installed. In the conversion reactor, connection streams
(Reactor_Out_V for outlet vapor and Reactor_Out_L and outlet liquid) were attached. In
order to have the reactor working, a reaction set and outlet temperature must be
determined. This means that the reactor operating isothermally, so an energy stream
named Q was also attached. After doing this, the reactor was defined as shown in the
following figure.
Figure 23. Reactor (E-201) Installation
Before moving to the next step, it is interesting to see the overall PDF up to the reactor,
figure 9 shows the PDF for the so far built process.
63
Figure 24. PFD up to r-201
First Distillation column (C-201):
The outlet of the reactor at 250 oC and 15.4 bar, so the it should be cooled to a temperature
where the two phases co-exist. The temperature found to be 100o C, so a cooler needed to
lower the temperature. Indeed, the cooler was not shown because the installation is similar
to the heater presented above in step 3.
It is well known that two degree of freedom is left when installing the rigorous distillation
column. After installing the C-201 by following the required steps of stream and energy
labeling, determining the pressure of the distillate and re-boiler, we provided Hysys with the
reflux ratio (R=3) and component fraction of methanol in the distillate (0.007mol %). By
doing this and increasing the number of trays to 22, a separation met to the required
specification was achieved. The following figures show the installation of C-201.
64
Figure 25. Column C-201 installation
Figure 26. Column C-201 installation
65
Second Distillation Column (C-202):
The same procedure as in C-202 was followed except that the specification is different. The
bottom flow rate was specified in order to have large enough of methanol goes in the
distillate. Figures 12 and 13 show the installation of the second column(C-202).
Figure 27.C-202 installation
66
Figure 28. C-202 installation
Overall process flow diagram up to the second distillation column.
Figure 29. Overall PFD up to second distillation column
67
Recycle Stream and Mixer:
Up to the second distillation column, the main units were simulated and now we are left
with recycle and mixer that mix the Fresh Feed stream and recycled stream. The distillate of
the second distillation column was recycled and mixed in a mixer with the Fresh Feed
stream. Figure 15 shows the PDF of the process with recycled stream. The final PFD of the
process is shown in figure 16.
Figure 30. Overall process with recycled stream
68
Figure 31. Final PFD of the DME production
Optimized process:
The above section was about building the process step by step starting from the fresh feed
up to the recycle stream and hence a mixer between the recycled and fresh feed stream. As
illustrated in the previous report (mass and energy balance report), the base for the mass
balance calculations was selected in such a way to give the desired amount of DME (100,000
ton/year). However, when the recycled stream combined with the fresh feed, the
compositions and the flow rate of the feed to the reactor will change and hence the desired
amount of DME. As a result of this, the process needs to be optimized.
The optimization is very simple and it is not needed to build up the process again from the
start. Only we need to set a flow rate for the fresh feed that gives the exact amount of the
desired product. Actually this was done in the mass and energy balance report but by
iteration method using excel sheet. In this report, we are using the Aspen Hysys simulator
instead of the iteration method. This can be done in two ways; either by (i) case study or by
(i) Adjust bottom. The case study method will be explained.
69
Case Study1 (Finding the adequate fresh molar flow):
We made a case study in Hysys to find the adequate fresh feed flow rate to produce exactly
100 thousand tons of DME with 0.995 wt. % purity. To do so, we specified the two
parameters for the case which are the molar flow of the fresh feed and the mass flow of the
DME stream (Distillate of Column1). Selecting the fresh feed molar flow as the independent
parameter and Mass flow of DME as the dependent, Hysys did the iterations in the range
between 520 and 545 kgmole/hr as shown in figure 17 and table 2. From the graph and
table of iterations shown below, it is obvious that the adequate fresh feed flow rate will be
around 528 kgmole/hr. It was also found that the exact needed fresh flow rate is
527.5kgmole/hr so that we produce 100 thousand tons of DME per year. The following
figure shows the graph of DME mass flow in the first distillation column versus the molar
flow of fresh feed.
Figure 32 : DME Mass Flow vs. Fresh Feed
70
Table 23 .DME Mass Flow& Fresh Feed
71
Mass and Energy Balance Comparison:
Mass Balance Comparison:
Regarding the mass balance, we used the non-optimized process in our calculations.
Comparison will follow the PFD sequence.
Comparison around the Reactor (R-201):

Table 24 : Mass Comparison around the Reactor
Reactor - 201
Component Hand Calculation Hysys Calculations % error

Molar Flow (Kgmole/hr) 635.509 635.5 0.001416
Molar fraction of Methanol 0.97 0.97 0

Feed
Molar fraction of ethanol 0.02 0.02 0
Molar fraction of Water 0.01 0.01 0
Molar fraction of DME 0 0 0
Molar Flow (Kgmole/hr) 635.5 635.5 0

Reactor Out
Molar fraction of DME 0.388 0.388 0
As shown in the table above, the mass balances in both types of calculation are almost the
same since the same type of properties were used.
72
Comparison around the first Distillation Column1 (T-201):
Table 25 : Mass Comparison around Distillation Column 1
Distillation Column 1 (T-201)

Feed
Molar fraction of ethanol 0.02 2.00E-02 0


Molar fraction of Methanol 0.007 7.00E-03 0
Distillate
Molar fraction of ethanol 0 0.00E+00 0

Molar fraction of Water 0 0.00E+00 0

Molar fraction of Methanol 0.314 0.3139 0.03185728
Bottom
Molar fraction of ethanol 0.033 3.28E-02 0.6097561

Molar fraction of Water 0.653 0.6532 0.03061849
Molar fraction of DME 0 0.00E+00 0
When compared, the mass balance calculations around the first distillation column are
nearly the same with a maximum error of .6 % for the ethanol mole fraction in the bottom.
Comparison around the second Distillation Column (T-202):

Table 26 : Mass Comparison around Column 2
Distillation Column 2 ( T-202)

%
Component Hand Calculation Hysys Calculations error
Feed


Distillate


Bottom

73
As far as the mass balance comparison is concerned, all streams have the same molar flow
rates and component mole fractions.
Mass balance Comparison around Heater (E-201):

Table 27 : Mass Comparison around the Heater - 201
Heater E-201
%
Component Hand Calculation Hysys Calculations
error
Since the molar flow to the heater equals the molar flow out of the heater, we got similar
results in both Hysys and hand calculations.
Comparison around Cooler (E-203):

Table 28 : Mass Comparison around Cooler - 203
cooler E-203
74
Similar results were found around the cooler in both ways of calculations.
Comparison around Cooler (E-204):

Table 29 : Mass Comparison around Cooler - 204
cooler E-204
Energy Balance Comparison:

For the hand calculation of the energy balance, we used the optimized process using ideal
component properties to compare both hand and Hysys calculations.
Comparison around the pump (P-201):

Table 30. Energy balance comparison around the pump
Pump Power (kW) 14.76 14.73 0.203666
Nearly zero difference percentage was found between the hand and Hysys calculations.
Comparison around the Reactor (R-201):

Table 31 : Energy Comparison around the Reactor
Reactor - 201
Heat Duty (KJ/hr) -7674817.861 -5030000 52.5809
The reactor’s heat duty difference percentage was found to be 52.5%. The most obvious
reason for the differences is that Hysys used real properties while we were using ideal
component properties. Moreover, in hand calculations, we didn’t consider the heat of
mixing because it was difficult to find the heat of mixing of our system at the specified
conditions.
75
Comparison around the first Distillation Column (T-201):
The Following table shows the energy balance comparison between the hand calculations
and HYSYS calculations for the first distillation column, taking HYSYS data as the reference
Table 32 : Energy Comparison around Column 1

unit Component Hand Calculation Hysys Calculations % error
Heat removed from Condenser (Qc) -18000000 -18470281.14 2.54615039

Duty
Heat added to reboiler (Qr) 2000000 17647111.16 88.6667003

Heat duty(Q) -16000000 -823169.9753 94.8551877
The error percentage in the total heat duty for the first distillation column was found to be
nearly 95%. Difference between the values of the real component properties and ideal
component properties used in the Hysys and calculations, respectively, is the major cause of
the percentage error. In addition, we didn’t account for the heat of mixing.
Comparison around the Distillation Column 2 (T-202):

The Following table shows the energy balance comparison between the hand calculations
and HYSYS calculations, taking HYSYS data as the reference.
Table 33. Energy balance around Column 2
Distillation Column 2 ( T-202)

Hand Hysys
Component Calculations Calculations % error
Feed Heat Flow (KJ/hr) -10644000 -103500000 89.71594
Distillate Heat Flow (KJ/hr) -4290000 -27490000 84.39433
Bottom Heat Flow (KJ/hr) -6904000 -75940000 90.90861
Heat removed from Condenser
-16950000 -14570000 16.33493
(Qc)
Duty
Heat added to reboiler (Qr) 17500000 14820000 18.08367

Heat Duty (Q) 550000 250000 120
As shown in the table above, the percentages of error in the heat flows for the inlet and
outlet streams are in the range of 84 -90%. Also, the heat removed and added for the
condenser and reboiler, respectively, don’t differ much (nearly 20%). However there is a
76
quite high error (120%) in the column heat duty. The significant reason for the difference is
that the UNIQUAC fluid package uses ideal component properties while we were using ideal
properties.
Comparison around Coolers and Heaters (E-201,203,204):

Table 34 : Energy Comparison around Coolers and Heaters
Unit Component Hand Calculation Hysys Calculations % error
Heater E-201 Heat Duty (KJ/hr) 31850000 31060000 2.543464
cooler E-203 Heat Duty (KJ/hr) 26312244 24140000 8.998525
cooler E-204 Heat Duty (KJ/hr) 13392560.66 2938000 78.06245
The heat duties of preheater and effluent cooler are nearly equal with error percentage
errors 2.5, 9 % respectively. For the waste stream cooler, there is quite higher error
(78.06245) because we assumed the outlet temperature of the stream to be 25 0C while the
inlet was 151.9 0C. The clearest reason for the error is the difference in the values of the
properties in the fluid package and the Berry’s Handbook.
Alternatives:
First Alternative:
For the first alternative, we removed the second distillation Column (T-202), Cooler (E-203),
recycle and Mixer (Mix – 201). Since Methanol has a low price and the amount of methanol
leaving the bottom stream of the first distillation column, it is more economical to through
the unreacted methanol with the inert ethanol and water to the waste tank.
The first alternative is more economical in the way that it minimized the cost of process
units by (2078625 SR) .
The Following tables show the stream compositions, Material streams and energy of the
first alternative:
77
Table 35 : Compositions table of the first alternative
Table 36 : Energy table of the first alternative
78
Table 37 : Material Streams table of the first alternative
79
PFD of the first alternative:
80
Figure 33 : PFD of the First Alternative
Second Alternative:
In the second alternative, we added a purge stream for distillate of the second distillation
column to purge ethanol and water aiming to prevent the accumulation of ethanol and
water in the process.
second alternative:
Table 38: Compositions table of the Second alternative
Table 39 : Energy table of the Second alternative
81
Table 40 : Material Streams table of the Second alternative
82
PFD of the Second Alternative:
83
Figure 34 : PFD Foe the Second Alternative
Third Alternative:
As far as the third alternative process is concerned, we changed the type of reactor from
isothermal to an adiabatic reactor. As it is obvious from the alternative process PFD, a pre-
heater is used to heat the feed to the reactor from 45.24 oC to 190. Then, The reactor
effluent will enter the heat exchanger in the shell side so that it heats the “Pressurized
Feed” stream form 190 oC to the specified reactor feed temperature (250 oC). This
alternative process is more economical than the Isothermal in that we will use medium
pressure steam instead of High pressure for the Heater (E-201) which will, by default,
minimize the cost of heating energy.
Also, we added a valve after “Bottom 2” stream to decrease the Pressure from 7.4 bar to
1.013 bar which will decrease the temperature of the stream consequently from 152 oC to
90.4 oC. Then the cooler will cool the stream from 90.4 oC to 25 oC instead of cooling from
152 oC to 25 oC. Adding a valve decreases the cooling energy of the cooler.
third alternative:
Table 41: Energy table of the third alternative
Table 42 : Compositions table of the third alternative
84
Table 43 : Material Streams table of the third alternative
85
PFD of the Third Alternative:
86
Figure 35 : PFD for the Third Alternative
Conclusion about simulation
The main purpose of the report is to compare between the hand calculations of the mass
and energy balance and those found by HYSYS simulation. Regarding the mass balance,
results of hand calculations are almost similar to HYSYS results. For the energy balance,
results from HYSYS are slightly different with small percentage error. The main cause of the
differences in the energy balance calculations between hand calculations and Hysys is that
the fluid package is using real component properties while we were using ideal properties.
Finally, three suggested alternatives process are presented with a clarification of how more
economical the alternative is.
87
Equipment Design
88
Reactor Design
89
Introduction
Reactors are the most important units in the chemical process industries. They are the heart
of the process. Reactors are equipment where reaction takes place. There are many types of
reactors. The use of a reactor depends on the nature of reactions, nature of reaction, the
amount of desired product, specifications of products, the need to use catalyst, effect of reaction
nature on catalysts …etc. When designing reactors many parameters such as temperature, pressure,
flow rate, catalyst weight and reactor configuration should be studied carefully. When great a
chemical engineer takes great care in designing a reactor, other operations such as separation will
be easier. It’s well known that when you pay much for the reactor you pay less in separation.
In this report, we are going to design a Packed Bed Reactor (PBR) to be used in the catalytic process
of methanol conversion to DME with 80% conversion. It is desired to produce 100,000 ton per year
of 99.5 wt. % of DME. A zeolite catalyst with a void fraction, diameter and bulk density of 0.5, 3 mm
and 940 kg/m3 ,respectively, is going to be used to facilitate the reaction. The reaction equation that
describes the reaction is given by:
This reaction is exothermic and an efficient coolant system is required to keep the
temperature considerably unchanged as the reaction will operate isothermally. This will
require a high flow rate of the coolant. So, a fluid with high conductivity such as molten salts
shall be use.
90
Design equations:
Before proceeding in equation derivations, let equating (1) be a general reaction equation
for all derivations in this section.
(1)
In this section a details background about equations derivation necessary for the design of
Packed-Bed Reactor (PBR) will be given. The conservation law of mass state that “mass can
neither be created nor destroy. For the Packed-Bed Reactor system, the mole balance can
be applied as follow:
(2)
Let us apply the above equation on a differential segment of the PBR shown in figure 1.
Equation (1) becomes:
́ (3)
By dividing equation (2) by and taking the limit as , the following differential
form of the mole balance equation is obtained:
( ) (4)
If equation (4) rearranged and integrated over the boundary conditions:
When W=0,
91
and when W=W, , the integral form is obtained:
∫ ∫ ⇒ ∫ (5)
Design equation of PBF in term of conversion:

Why do we need to express the design equation (equation (4)) in term of conversion? To
answer this question, we need to inspect in the configuration of the Packed-Bed Reactor;
when the reactants enter the reactor at a volume 0 m3 or catalyst weight of 0 kg, the
conversion equal to zero. As the reactants move along the reactor, the conversion increases.
So, it’s necessary to express the design equation in conversion form.
(6)
Where is the amount of A not reacted. So, equation (6) becomes:
(7)
by differentiation:
(8)
Substituting equation (8) in (4):
( )
By rearranging:
(9)
92
The rate of reaction or rate of consumption ( ) of species A is a function of temperature
and concentration. For irreversible first order reaction, the rate of reaction can be written
as:
(10)
The rate expression is not directly given in term of conversion, so we need to write the
concentration in term of conversion. The relation between flow rate and concentration is
given by:
(11)
From stoichiometry, we can write in term of conversion.
Stoichiometry relationship:
For the chemical reaction given in equation (1), the concentration of the reactants and
products species can express as follow:
At steady state:
( ) ( )
(12)
By applying equation (12) on reactants and products in equation (1):
In the same manner, the other reactant and products of equation (1) are expressed as
follow:
93
The summation of the above equation will give the total flow rate :
(12)
Let the summation of the coefficients of equation (12) to be represented by symoble.
(13)
Now we can substitute the flow rate of all species in equation (11) to get the concentrations
in term of conversion. Before doing that, does the volumetric flow rate in equation (11)
constant or variable as the reaction progressed? It is constant for the liquid phase reactions
and some gas phase reactions in which the total number of moles react equal the total
number of moles produced. For the case the total number of moles react don’t equal the
total number of moles produced, the volumetric flow rate does change as the reaction
progressed. As a result of this, it’s required to express the volumetric flow rate as function
of conversion.
Volumetric flow rate as a function of conversion:

This can be achieved by applying the ideal gas law at an initial condition at a time = 0
(entrance of the reactor) and at a condition at a time = t.
(14)
For a flow system and in term of concentration at the reactor entrance:
̇
(15)
Similarly at a time t:
̇
(16)
Relating equation (15) and (16), the volumetric flow rate (v) at any instance, neglecting any
change in the compressibility factor, is given by:
( ) ( ) (17)
94
Dividing equation (12) by :
(18)
Where
By substituting equation (18) in equations (17):
( ) (19)
Concentrations in term of conversion in a variable volume:

The concentrations in term of conversion for a reaction given in equation (1) are
summarized in the following equations.
( ) (20)
( )
( )
( ) (21)
( )
( )
( ) (22)
( )
( )
( ) (23)
( )
( ) (24)
( )
If the reaction taking place in the reactor is isothermal and isobaric, then the terms and
( ) in the above equations equal to 1. In case there is a change in pressure and
temperature, more equations need to be derived.
Pressure drop:
When substituting the concentration in the rate equation and then in the design equation,
an equation to relate the pressure drop and weight of catalysts is required. H. Scott Fogler
employed the Ergun equation to derive an equation relating weight of catalyst and pressure
drop. The final equation is given by:
95
(25)
Where:
( )
Pressure (kPa)
Porosity =
For a metric system it is = 1.
Diameter of particle in the bed, ft. (m).
Viscosity of gas passing through the bed,
Gas density,
Superficial mass velocity,
Writing the rate of reaction in term of conversion:

Now the concentration is in term of conversion and by substituting equation (20) in rate
equation, we can get the rate of reaction of A species in term of conversion. For the
production of DME, the rate of reaction per unit volume was given in the problem
statement as:
( ) Where A denote for Methanol.
Actually
96
From ideal gas law: by substituting the pressure in the
rate equation equation:
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
So,
( ) ( ) (26)
Catalysts information:
The catalyst to be used is a zeolite catalyst. Zeolites are a microspores material consist
mainly of Aluminum and Silicon atoms connected by oxygen atom. Zeolites are called
aluminosilcates minerals because they mainly consist of aluminum and silicon atoms. The
SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedral are connected with oxygen atoms to form what is called
framework of zeolites [1][29]. The tetrahedral SiO4 is neutral in charge while the AlO4
tetrahedral has a net negative charge[2]. So each tetrahedral of AlO4 has a total negative
charge and need to be neutralized with a cation and this will promote zeolite to be acidic
catalyst.
The zeolite properties are summarized in following table:
Table 44. Zeolite catalyst properties
Diameter Bulk Void

density
(kg/m3)
33 mm 970 0.5
97
Coolant:
The reaction is exothermic and reactor is operating isothermally at 250˚C. That means, the
temperature should be 250˚C constant along the reactor. For highly exothermic reaction, it
is difficult to maintain a constant temperature. However, for reactions that are moderately
exothermic such as the dehydrogenation of methanol to DME, coolant with high heat
transfer is highly needed. Cooling by molten salt can be used instead of water.
There many types of molten slats used as a heat transfer fluid. The molten salt should be
stable at higher temperature for highly exothermic reactions. In our case the reaction
temperature for isothermal reactor is not very high (250 ˚C). So the Hitec salt ( Justin W. Raade
and David Padowitz) which has a melting temperature of 142 ˚C and stable up to 538 ˚C, is
appropriate to be used as a coolant. The heat capacity of the Hitec salt found to be 223
J/g.˚C). The inlet and outlet temperature of the coolant can be assumed as 220 and 230 ˚C,
respectively. This assumption corresponds to a high flow rate of the coolant. The require
flow of coolant is calculated as follow:
98
Table 45. Different molten salts properties obtained from (Justin W. Raade and David Padowitz)
Isothermal reactor:
The equations derived in the above section will be used to design a packed bed reactor
operating isothermally for the DME process production. The DME reaction equation is given
by:
(27)
This equation can be written in the form of equation (1) as:
(28)
Where A= , C= and D= .
For isothermal reaction, we need to solve equation (9) and equation (25) either numerically
or analytically using appropriate software. Analytical solution will be used with the help of
polymath software. To do that, equation (9) and equation (25) are going to be solved
simultaneously.
( ) ( )
99
Parameters necessary to evaluate isothermal reactor’s equations:
It is necessary to highlight that the number of tubes for the following calculation was
assumed to be 1000 tubes. This assumption is made in order to proceed in calculation and
will be changed if necessary later on when the reactor length and shell diameter are
calculated.
For the isothermal reaction ( )
( )
So,
For a single tube
So, the above equations will be simplified to:
( )
Cross sectional area of a single pipe, where d is the diameter of the

pipe. For the current calculation, it will be assumed to be . This
diameter will be changed, if necessary, later on.
( ) , the parameters of are evaluated at the

entrance condition.
Gas viscosity at the entrance obtained from Hysys.
100
̇
This mass flow rate for the total number of tubes, but we want for a
single tube. So, we assume that the total number of tube is 1000. The mass flow rate
per tube is
Given, from the problem statement.
Given, from the problem statement.
As we are using SI units.
Evaluated at the entrance and obtained from Hysys
̇
Where ̇ the volumetric flow rate = ̇ so
̇
the this for the total number of tubes,
for a single tube
T= 250 ˚C + 273.15 K= 523.15 K
After substituting all the parameters in equations (24, 14 and 9) become:
( ) ( )
101
So, the rate of reaction simplified to:
( )
[ ( )]
( )
( )
( )
Length of a tube (L):
( )
So, (28)
Solving the differential equation using polymath:

From the above section, the following equations will be used in the polymath:
To see the effect of catalyst weight on conversion
To account for the pressure drop.
102
Equation 20-23 will be used to see the change in concentrations of reactants and products
as the reaction proceed:
Polymath cod:
POLYMATH Report
Ordinary Differential Equations
Calculated values of DEQ variables

Variable Initial value Minimal value Maximal value Final value
1 Ac 0.004766 0.004766 0.004766 0.004766
2 alpha 4.73E-05 4.73E-05 4.73E-05 4.73E-05
3 CA 337.1739 26.94118 337.1739 26.94118
4 Ca0 337.1739 337.1739 337.1739 337.1739
5 cat_den 1880. 1880. 1880. 1880.
6 CC 0 0 154.877 154.877
7 CD 3.631363 3.631363 158.5032 158.5032
8 CI 4.855304 4.84841 4.855304 4.84841
9 Fa 0.114 0.0091219 0.114 0.0091219
10 Fa0 0.114 0.114 0.114 0.114
11 Fc 0 0 0.0524391 0.0524391
12 Fd 0.0012312 0.0012312 0.0536703 0.0536703
13 FI 0.0016416 0.0016416 0.0016416 0.0016416
14 L 0 0 11.16061 11.16061
15 ra -0.0048019 -0.0048019 -0.0003837 -0.0003837
16 reaction_rate 0.0048019 0.0003837 0.0048019 0.0003837
17 selectivity 0 0 0.9770599 0.9770599
18 volume 0 0 0.0531915 0.0531915
19 w 0 0 60. 60.
20 x 0 0 0.9199835 0.9199835
21 y 1. 0.99858 1. 0.99858
103
Differential equations
1 d(y)/d(w) = (-alpha) / ( 2*y)
2 d(x)/d(w) = -ra/Fa0
Explicit equations
1 ra = -0.0048019*(1-x)*y
2 alpha = 0.0000473
3 Fa0 = 0.114
4 Ca0 = 337.1739
5 CA = Ca0*(1-x)*y
6 CC = Ca0*(0+(0.5*x))*y
7 CD = Ca0*(0.01077+0.5*x)*y
8 CI = Ca0*0.0144*y
9 reaction_rate = -ra
10 Fa = Fa0*(1-x)
11 Fc = Fa0*(0+0.5*x)
12 Fd = Fa0*(0.0108 + 0.5*x)
13 FI = Fa0*0.0144
14 selectivity = Fc/Fd
15 Ac = 0.004766
16 cat_den = 1880
17 L = w/(0.6*cat_den*Ac)
18 volume = L*Ac
General
Total number of equations 20
Number of differential equations 2
Number of explicit equations 18
Elapsed time 0.000 sec
Solution method RKF_45
Step size guess. h 0.000001
Truncation error tolerance. eps 0.000001
Results and discussion:

It was found that there are a strong relation between the number of tubes, tube diameter,
tube length and the amount of catalysts used per single tube. Actually, this is reasonable
because as the number of tubes increases the flow rate of reactant for a single tube
decreases. At first, it was assumed (as explained in the above calculation) the number of
tubes to be 1000. Because we don’t know the optimum number of tubes, different numbers
of tubes have been varied. Table 1 shows the number of tubes, initial flow rate of methanol,
and weight of catalyst and the length of tubes necessary for 80% conversion of methanol at
a tube diameter of 0.06 m.
104
Table 46. Weight of catalyst, number and length of tubes at a tube diameter of 0.06m
# of tubes Fa0 W(kg) α(1/kg) L (m)
400 0.428073 166.4 0.002861665 62.60921

500 0.342458 121 0.001846014 45.52713
600 0.285382 98 0.001292057 36.87321
700 0.244613 83 0.000956688 31.22935
800 0.214036 72 0.000738147 27.09052
900 0.190254 63 0.000587718 23.70421
1000 0.171229 57 0.000479688 21.44666
1100 0.155663 52 0.000399442 19.56538
1200 0.142691 46 0.000338168 17.30783
2000 0.085615 28 0.000129 10.5
Figure 36. Conversion versus weight of catalyst at different number of tubes at tube
diameter of 0.06 m.
As shown in table 1, at the assumed value of the number of tubes, the weight of catalyst
and tube length is very high and not reasonable. However, as the number of tubes
increases, a reasonable amount of catalyst and length of tube was obtained. What about if
the tube diameter is increased to 3.068 in (0.0776 m)?
105
Effect of changing in tube diameter on tube length and weight of catalyst:
The effect of an in increase in the tube diameter is illustrated in the following table, table 2.
Selection of the optimum number of tubes and tubes diameter will be analyzed in the
reactor layout and shell dimensions determination.
Table 47. Number of tubes, tube length, initial flow rate of methanol and weight of catalyst at a
tube diameter of 0.0776 m.
Fa0 (mol/s) W(kg) α(1/kg) L (m) number of tubes
0.171229 57.4 1.00E-04 10.67672 1000
0.142691 47.6 7.14E-05 8.853868 1200
0.131715 43.9 6.15E-05 8.165647 1300
0.122306 40.9 5.37E-05 7.607631 1400
0.114153 38.22 4.73E-05 7.109135 1500
0.107018 35.87 4.20E-05 6.672022 1600
0.100723 33.5 3.77E-05 6.231189 1700
0.095127 31.85 3.40E-05 5.92428 1800
0.092556 31 3.23E-05 5.766175 1850
0.090121 30.17 3.08E-05 5.61179 1900
0.085615 28.5 2.81E-05 5.301161 2000
0.068492 22.9 1.90E-05 4.259529 2500
0.057076 19 1.39E-05 3.534107 3000
Change in concentration, pressure, conversion, and flow rate with weight of catalyst or
tube length and other parameters:
After using the polymath, necessary parameters such as conversion, reaction rate, pressure
drop, weight of catalysts, selectivity and reactor volume have been plotted in the following
figures.
106
Conversion Vs. Weight of Catalysts
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
Conversion
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
W(kg)
Figure 37. Conversion against the weight of catalysts at total number of tube of 1500
350
concentratons vs. weight of catalyst
300
Concentra
250 tion of
concentratin (mol/m3)
methanol
200 Concentra
tion of
DME
150
Concentra
tion of
100 water
Concentra
50
tion of
Ethanol
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
W(kg)
Figure 38. concentrations against the weight of catalysts at total number of tube of 1500
107
reactor volume Vs. tube length
0.06
0.05
volume (m3)
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
L (m)
Figure 39. Reactor volume against the length of a single tube
P/Po. VS. tube length

1.0002
1
0.9998
0.9996
P/Po.
0.9994
0.9992
0.999
0.9988
0.9986
0.9984
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
L (m)
Figure 40. Pressure (P/Po) against the length tube
108
0.12 Flow rates vs. tube legnth
Flow
0.1 rate of
methan
ol
Flow rate (mol/s)
Flow
0.08 rate of
DME
Flow
0.06 rate of
water
0.04 Flow
rate of
Ethanol
0.02
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
L (m)
Figure 41. Flow rates against tube length
Reaction rate Vs. tube length

0.006
reaction rate (mol/kg cat. s)
0.005
0.004
0.003
0.002
0.001
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
L (m)
Figure 42. Reaction rate vs. tube length
109
Selectivity Vs. tube length
1.2
0.8
selectivity
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
L (m)
Figure 43. Selectivity Vs. tube length
Weight of catalys Vs. tube length

70
60
50
W (kg)
40
30
20
10
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
L (m)
Figure 44. Weight of catalyst Vs. tube lenght
110
Determination of shell dimension and reactor layout:
The reactor used in DME production is a fixed bed reactor, contains of (N) number of tubes
arranged either in a triangular or rectangular mode and placed in a shell with a diameter (D).
In this section, the shell diameter, total reactor length and the fashion of tubes arrangement
will be determined.
Tube specification:
The 3-inch Schedule Number 40 was chosen to avoid large pressure drop inside the tubes.
The pipe size specifications are shown in table 4.
Table 48. Tube specification
Nominal Outside Diameter Schedule Wall Thickness Inside Diameter

Size (in) Number (in) (in)
(in)
3 3.5 40 0.216 3.068
Sizing of reactor length:

A triangle pitch configuration was selected for the bank of tubes. One pass was selected
since the process gas is to enter from the top and exit straight from the bottom. The
following figure was obtained from
( ) ( ) where is the tube outer diameter, the total
number of tubes =1500, and and n1 constants obtained from table 5 for the triangular
pitch.
( )
The clearance, distance between the baffles and the shell wall can be obtained from figure
10 for fixed-heat exchange reactors by extrapolation as follow:
111
Figure 45. Shell inside diameter Vs. Bundle diameter
Table 49. Triangulr and square pich
The above calculations were only for 1500 tubes, the calculations for different number of
tubes are summarized in table 7. From table 7, the optimum number of tubes that give
reactor length of around 9 m and ratio of reactor length to reactor diameter around 2 is
1500 tubes.
112
Table 50. Reactor configuration
Reactor w(kg) Reactor Reactor Tube Shell Bundle Bundle Outside Number
volume length length length diameter diameter diameter tube of tubes
clearance
(m3) /shell (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) diameter (Nt)
diameter (m)
39.641 19.000 0.921 5.930 3.530 6.438 0.072 6.366 0.089 3000
39.865 22.900 1.126 6.660 4.260 5.913 0.066 5.847 0.089 2500
39.678 28.500 1.445 7.700 5.300 5.329 0.061 5.268 0.089 2000
39.899 30.170 1.540 8.010 5.610 5.203 0.059 5.143 0.089 1900
39.929 31.000 1.589 8.166 5.766 5.139 0.059 5.080 0.089 1850
39.644 33.500 1.747 8.630 6.230 4.940 0.057 4.883 0.089 1700
39.948 35.870 1.889 9.070 6.670 4.802 0.055 4.747 0.089 1600
39.921 38.220 2.041 9.510 7.110 4.660 0.054 4.606 0.089 1500
39.828 40.900 2.216 10.000 7.600 4.513 0.053 4.460 0.089 1400
39.757 43.900 2.425 10.570 8.170 4.359 0.051 4.308 0.089 1300
39.753 47.600 2.679 11.250 8.850 4.200 0.050 4.150 0.089 1200
43.047 57.400 3.603 13.900 11.500 3.858 0.046 3.812 0.089 1000
Material of construction:
Determination of material of construction is very crucial. The selection of material of
construction depends on the configuration of the reactor and conditions. For example,
which fluid should be in the shell side and tube side? The tube side is in contact with both
the cooling salt and the process fluid while the shell side is only in contact with the cooling
salt. As a result of this, when specification tube material of construction require special
concern. Factor such as resistance to the cooling salt, economic value of material, resistance
to temperature difference …etc should be considered. To account for these entire factors,
stainless steel-34 has been chosen.
Equipment summary:
Table 51. Material Summary
Equipment Summary
Parameters Shell Tube

MOC Stainless steel 34 Stainless steel 34
113
Temperature (ᵒC) 225 250
Pressure (bar) 5 bar 15.4
Diameter (m) 4.66 0.0762
Height 9.5 7.1
Total Reactor Volume (m3) 39.9
Number of passes 1 1
Total of Weight of Catalyst (Ton) 57
Flow rate (kg/s) 0.62655 0.003886
Cooling Fluid Molten salt: consisting of sodium nitrate, potassium
nitrate and sodium nitrite
Duty (kJ/S) 1397.22
Reactor instrumentation:
Reactor instrumentation or reactor control loop is very important. The importance of
instrumentation is explained well by Richardson and Coulson. The importance is
summarized in the following steps
1) Safe plant operation; this include maintaining the process variable in the designed
limit.
2) Production rate; to the process operating at the designed flow rate.
3) Product quality; to maintain the product composition within the stated quality
standards.
4) Cost, it lowers the number of operators.
Figure 11 is representative control loop.
114
Figure 46. Bsice control schem for Packed Bed Reactor
Molten salt Vs. water

This section will compare the type of coolant; molten salt and water:
Th,in 250
Th,out 250
Tc,in 220
Tc,out 230
Δ T1 20
Δ T2 30
ΔTlm (˚C) 24.663
substance Flow rate (kg/year) cost

$/year
Molten 18771147.98 26842742
salt
water 1001666747 14824.67
Conclusion and recommendation about reactor design

The Packed Bed Reactor for the production of DME by dehydrogenation of methanol has
been designed to produce 100000 ton / year of DME. The acid zeolite catalyst with diameter
of 3 mm and void fraction of 0.5 has been utilized to facilitate the reaction. Necessary
design equations such as the mole balance equation and momentum balance equation to
115
account for the pressure drop have been derived. Then, the system of differential equations
have solved with the help of polymath software. A tube diameter of 0.0776 and 1500 tubes
have been used. This resulted in reactor length of 9.5 m. the ratio of the total reactor length
to diameter found to be 2.05.
The total reactor length and the ratio of total reactor length to the reactor diameter were
on border allowable region stated in literature. So, it is recommended to have two reactors
in parallel in order to produce the desired amount equipment range specifications.
116
Distillation columns
117
Introduction
Equipment Design is a critical step in the establishment of any chemical plant since it requires
not only science but even people with wealthy experience from operation point of view.
Moreover, the importance of equipment design arises from the fact that it is the first step in
converting paper work, theoretical calculations and software simulation to a real operating
chemical plant which can be invested to make huge profits. In this report, first distillation
column is used to separate our desired product (DME) from other components with a purity of
99.5%.
SHORTCUT METHOD CALCULATIONS
In this unit, shortcut method is used to determine the number of trays and external reflux
ratio. However, some assumptions are made and summarized as follows:
 The light key (LK) is DME , heavy key (HK) is Water , heavy non key is ethanol (HNK)
 Fenske shortcut method assumes total reflux and the stages are equilibrium stages.
 Underwood equations deal with minimum vapor and liquid flow rates, hence minimum
reflux ratios.
Minimum Number of Stages at Total Reflux

Fenske shortcut method is applied to find the number of stages for multicomponent system.
Table 1 summarizes the mole fraction and relative volatility of the light key and heavy key
components in the distillate and bottom product.
Table 52: K-Value and Relative Volatility of the LK and HK in the Distillate and Bottom Product

Properties T (K) 412.15 T (K) 319.97 T (K) 412.25
P (bar) 15.3 P (bar) 10.4 P (bar) 7.4
Component DME Water DME Water DME Water
K-Value 7.882 0.2593 1.006 0.02016 17.32 0.5379
αLK_HK 30.397 49.9 32.5
α(LK-HK)avg 36.55
118
19
α(LK-HK)avg √ √
Minimum number of stages will be calculated based on mole fraction of DME in the top
and bottom product.
⁄ ⁄
( ) ( )
⁄ ⁄
( )
Table 53: Mole Fraction of LK and HK Components in Feed and Distillate
Components Molar Composition

Feed Distillate
LK: DME 0.3809 0.9939
HK: Water 0.3913 2.06E-7
⁄
⁄ ( )
( ) ⁄
( )
Minimum Reflux Ratio
Underwood’s shortcut method will be used to find the minimum reflux ratio assuming
Constant Molal Overflow (COM ).
119
Table 54: Mole Fraction, K-Value and Relative Volatility Of LK and HK Component of
Feed
Feed
Properties T (K) 412.15

P (bar) 15.3
Component DME Water Methanol Ethanol
Mole 0.3809 0.3913 0.1905 0.0374

fraction
K-Value 7.684 0.2569 0.8575 0.8972
αi-HK 29.9 1 3.34 3.49
Table 55: Mole Fraction, K-Value and Relative Volatility Of LK and HK Component of
Distillate
Distillate
Properties T (K) 319.97

P (bar) 10.4
Component DME Water Methanol Ethanol
Mole 0.9930 0 0.007 0

fraction
K-Value 1.006 0.0202 0.0959 0.0534
αi-LK 49.9 1 4.747 2.64
kmol/h
Now, will be calculated
120
∑
kmol/h
kmol/h
Theoretical Number of Stages
Where:
Liddle (1968) fitted Gilliland equation into three equations based on the range of the
abscissa. One equation will be used to find theoretical number of stages ( for (
0.01 < x 0.9 )
121
Now, theoretical feed stage ( will be calculated:
(Feed enters DME tower at stage 9)
Efficiency
Table 56: Viscosity of D and B
Viscosity (µ)
Distillate Bottom
0.07383 0.1749
µavg (cP) 0.124
Drickamer-Bradford correlation for overall efficiency
The use of the equation is restricted to the range of data below, and is intended mainly
for hydrocarbon mixtures.
Average temperature: (69.4 – 215 ) oC

Pressure: (1- 25)
Liquid viscosity: (0.066 - 0.355) cP
Overall Efficiency: 41 - 88 %
= 13.3 – 66.8 log (0.124) = 73 %
( ) ( )
122
Column diameter
Column diameter is very important in controlling the costs and has to be estimated even
for the preliminary design. This method is applicable to sieve, valve and bubble-cap trays.
As shown in the table, the properties have been obtained from ASPEN HSYSY to calculate
the diameter of the column.
Table 57: Some Properties of Top and Bottom Products
L V
(lb/ft3 (lb/ft3 MW (kmol/hr) (kmol/hr) (dyne/cm T(K)
) )
Top 1.113 35.63 45.9 633 881.8 8.893 319.97
7
Bottom 0.3886 48.66 24 460.9 61.25 36.75 412.25
Enriching Section:
̅̅̅̅̅̅
√ ( )√ ( )√
̅̅̅̅̅̅
Capacity Factor Method : ( has to be calculated for 18 inch tray spacing using Kessler
and Wankat correlation in order to find the diameter of the distillation tower:
( )
( )
Also, flooding velocity ( will be calculated:
( ) √
123
( ) √
After rounding off to next (1/2 feet= 0.1524 m) (Wankat,1987)
Stripping Section
̅̅̅̅̅̅
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
̅̅̅̅̅̅
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
The design of tower will be based on the larger diameter which is the bottom diameter.
However, the top diameter and bottom diameter are almost the same and we will based on
top diameter = 1.6 m
124
Column Height
The height of a tray column is calculated by multiplying the number of (actual) stages by
the tray separation. In addition to the space occupied by the trays, height is needed at the
top and bottom of the column. The total of height added to the top and bottom will
usually amount to about 15% or so added to that required by the trays.
Now, (Height/ Diameter) ratio will be calculated in order to decide whether this ratio is
acceptable or not. From the heuristic, the ratio will be accepted when it is less than 30
Tray Hydraulics
Entrainment
The entrainment (e) is not a problem until the fractional entrainment is in the range of
85 % to 100%. Thus, a 75% of flood value should be a negligible correction for
entrainment..
125
Figure 47: Fair’s Correlation
From Figure 47:
Total Area of Trays:
126
Down Comer area
Where, is assumed to be 0.9
Weir Length
In order to find the weir length ( ), the ratio of ( ) for =0.9 is found from
Wankat table (10-1) to be 0.726
Active Area Estimation
( )
Total Area of the Holes
Where, is assumed to be 0.1
Vapor Velocity through Tray Holes
Orifice Coefficient
127
For a 14 gauge standard tray material ( = 0.0780 ) and ( = 3/16 inch), where these
values will be used to find the value of orifice coefficient.
( ) ( )
⁄ ⁄
( ) ( )
The Required Head of Liquid

( )
Weir Correction Factor
1- Liquid load on tray ( ):
1- Weir Length ( ):
Which is found to be
Abscissa:
128
Figure 2: Bolles (1964)
Now, the weir correction factor ( ) will be found from the Figure 2
Liquid Crest Height
The Liquid Crest Height ( ) will be calculated using Francis weir equation
(Wankat,1987).
( ) ( )
129
Under Downcomer Head
Where, the gap above the tray is assumed to be 1 inch as a standard
( )
Now, under downcomer head will be calculated using the following equation
Downcomer Head
Where,
was chosen to be 2 inch and was assumed to be 0 since its value is very small
Liquid Residence Time

liquid residence time ( is the time needed for the liquid to flow from a tray to another
is. It depends on the downcomer. Also, ( should be between 3 to 7 seconds.
Flooding Check
The total aerated head pressure ( ) on the downcomer must be checked in
order to check flooding.
Where, relative froth density ( ) was assumed to be 0.5 (Fair,1984)
130
As the total aerated head pressure ( is smaller than the tray spacing which is
18 inch by 5 inch, we can say that there will be no flooding.
Weeping Check
Weeping conditions are very difficult to check. However, (Kessler and Wankat, 1987)
provided the following estimated correlation in which excessive weeping is avoided:
Where,
is a surface tension head
the inequality is satisfied and hence, there will be no weeping.
131
132
COLUMNS' SUMMARY TABLES
Table 58: Summary of Number of Trays and Feed Plate Calculations
Parameter Symbol Unit Value
Average Relative Volatility α(LK-HK)avg ------ 36.55
Minimum Number of Trays stages 7
Minimum Feed Stage stages 5
Change in the Feed Vapor Flow Rate kmol/h
Fai ------ 10.53
Distillate Flow Rate kmol/h 248.7
Minimum Vapor Flow Rate kmol/h 311.58
Minimum Liquid Flow Rate kmol/h 62.58
Minimum Reflux Ratio ------ 0.25
Reflux Ratio R ------ 0.375
Theoretical Number of Trays ------ 15
Theoretical Feed Stage ------ 9
Overall Tray Efficiency % 73.8
Actual Number of Trays ------ 23
Actual Feed Stage ------ 15
133
Table 59: Summary of Diameter, Height and Tray Hydraulics Calculations
Top Section
Property Symbol Unit
(18 inch)
Flow Parameter ------ 0.108

Capacity Factor ------ 0.25
Surface Tension dyne/cm 22
Flooding Velocity m/s 0.43
Fraction of Cross-Sectional % 10
Area of Vapor Flow
Top Diameter m 1.44
Corrected Diameter m 1.5924
Bottom Diameter m 1.4676
Bottom Diameter m 1.62
Height m
Corrected Height m
------
Relative Entrainment ------ 0.08200

Entrainment e kmol/h 12.9
Total Liquid with Entrainment L+e kmol/h 646
2
Total Area of the Trays m 2.01
2
Downcomer Area m .201
Weir Length m 1.1616
Active Area m2 1.608
Holes Area m2 0.1608
134
Table 60: Summary of Tray Hydraulics Calculations
Property Symbol Unit Top

Section
(18 inch)
Vapor Velocity Through Holes ft/s 12.89
Orifice Coefficient ------ 0.75899
Total Head of Liquid inch 0.996
Weir Height inch 2
Liquid Load on Tray gal/min 229
Abascissa ------ 8.08
Weir Correction Factor ------ 1.04
Crest Height or Head inch 1.45
Area Under Downcomer inch2 0.3175
Under Downcomer Head inch 1.44
Downcomer Head inch 6.495
Liquid Residence Time s 4.8
Aerated Downcomer Head inch 13
Table 61:Summary of Final Design Specifications
Design Item Specification
Material of Construction Carbon Steel

Tray Type CS Sieve Trays
Number of Trays 23
Reflux Ratio 0.375
Feed Tray 15
Number of Tray Passes Single
Downcomer Type Vertical Straight Segment
Tary Efficiency 73.8%
Tray Spacing 18 inch
Tray Thickness 0.078 inch
Hole Diameter 3/16 inch
Hole-Hole Spacing 0.1725
Top Column Diameter 1.6 m
Column Height
135
CONTROL LOOP OF DISTILLATION COLUMNS
The control loop of distillation column is important to maintain the quality of a product or
the flow rates at required conditions. For example, if the product quality is not at specified
conditions, the control valve will automatically decrease the valve opening. As a result of
that, the reflux ratio will increase until the product quality achieves the required. Also, it is
necessary sometimes to regulate the pressure .This can be done by five different methods
1. Vent to Atmosphere.
2. Cooling Water.
3. Flooded Condenser.
4. Flooded Condenser.
5. Partial Condenser.
136
Second Distillation Column 2 (T-202)
Introduction:
Distillation is the most common separation process among other processes such as
extraction. Based on selective vaporization and condensation, it separates the component
substances from a liquid mixture. Separation can be of two kind; complete or partial, so in
later the concentration of selected components will be increased. Components’ volatilities
are the main factor of separation. High volatile component (s) goes to the upper stream of
the column whereas the less volatile component (s) goes downward as the bottom product.
For the dehydration of methanol process, the second distillation column is mainly installed
to separate the three-component system (methanol, ethanol and water) , so that most of
the unreacted raw material (methanol) can be recycled to the front side of the process as a
fresh feed.
Designing the distillation column is a significant point in understanding the process in the
plant. Based on a technical analysis and relative assumptions, column design parameters are
calculated. Calculations involve finding the diameters of the two sections of the column,
calculating the number of stages needed and the hydraulics of the column. A main
condition that has to be fulfilled is that all calculated values have to agree with heuristics.
Figure 48. Distillation Column 2 (T-202)
137
Design
Column Diameter
Top Section
Table 62. Top Section Data
V 1056.67 lbmol/hr MWV = 33.47 ρV .465 lb/ft3

= =
L= 792.56 lbmol/hr MWL = 33.47 ρL = 42 lb/ft3
√ √
Assuming 24 tray spacing,
Calculating C sb, f for 24 spacing:
(0.1)
Calculating uflood,
( ) √ (0.2)
( ) √
138
Selecting the flooding fraction = 0.75 and the cross-sectional area fraction of vapor flow to
be = 0.9,
√ (0.3)
After rounding to the next ½-foot (Wankat, 1987),
Bottom Section:
Table 63. Bottom section data
Vbot = 1056.67 lbmol/hr Csb,f,bot = .3314 ρV, bot = .3995 lb/ft3

Tbot = 415.95 K σ bot = 39.97 MWV, bot = 29.92 lb/ lbmole
Ttop = 399.4 K σ Top= 14.41
( )
(0.4)
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
After rounding to the next ½-foot (Wankat, 1987),
139
Shortcut calculations
Shortcut calculation method was used to find the number of stages and reflux ratio and
proved to be useful for our column.
Minimum number of stages
For the calculation of the minimum number of stages, we will use the Fenske’s shortcut
method of calculation which is proven as the most suitable way:
Table 64 : Average Relative Volatility
K-Values First stage Reboiler

A. Methanol (LK) 1.013 1.897
B. Water (HK) .3316 .6799
αAB 3.0549 2.790
The geometric average for the relative volatility (αavg) is computed as,
(0.5)
Bothe Fractional recoveries for “Methanol” “Water” were assumed to be .999 to find the
minimum number of stages (Nmin).
{ }
(0.6)
( )
{ }
To find the minimum feed stage, N f, min,
140
Table 65. Composition of LK and HK
Composition zi at F xi at D
Methanol (LK) 0.349 0.8738
Water (HK) 0.6345 0.012
[( )⁄( )]
(0.7)
[( )⁄( )]
Minimum Reflux
To calculate the minimum reflux ratio, the following assumptions were used:
 Light Non-Key is undistributed.

 Constant Molal Overflow (CMO) for both the Stripping and Rectifying
sections.
(0.8)
Where q = 1 for saturated liquid feed
∑ (0.9)
By solving the equation for the unknown
141
.589
So Vmin will be calculated from:
( )
∑ (0.10)
Where D = 264.7 Ibmole/hr
( ) ( )
Theoretical number of stages

To find the theoretical number of stages, two ways of calculation will be used. The first way
is by using Gilliland correlation figure which was modified by Liddile. (Wankat, 1987)
Figure 49 : Gilliland correlation
142
( )
( ) ( )
= .326
so = .37
Then N = 22.64
7.43
OR, to find the theoretical number of stage, Liddle (1968) using fitted equation of Gilliland
correlation (Wankat, 1987).
An assumption was made for R = 1.18 * Rmin,
Using the fitted equation for 0.01 < x < 0.9,
(0.11)
And this is proved not to be much different from the value found using the first method.
Efficiency
To find the efficiency of column, fitted equation for O’Connell correlation was used (Kessler
and Wankat, 1987).Data required for the calculation of efficiency were taken from Aspen
HYSYS.
143
αAB = 2.5919 µ= .1749 cP
(0.8)
Actual number of stages

Column efficiency is then used to calculate the actual number of stages (Wankat, 1987).
(0.9)
By adding a safety factor of 10% to the number of trays (Turton, 1998),
For the feed stage,
Adding a safety factor of 10% (Turton, et al., 1998),
Column Height
Height of the tower can be directly related to the actual number of stages by the following
equation (Douglas, 1988):
Htower = 2.3 Nactual [ft]
= 2.3 * 39.9 = 91.77 ft = 27.972 m.
144
OR
As assumed earlier, tray spacing is 24 inches. Turton declared that for a distillation column
with a diameter of 3 ft, a mandatory addition of 4 ft at the top as for vapor release and
another 6 ft should be added due to reboiler return and liquid level. (Turton,1998)
So
Either way used, the height of the distillation column is nearly the same .
The ratio of height to diameter should lie between 20 and 30 (Turton, et al., 1998).
As shown above, the ratio of the height to the column diameter is in the range of (20, 30),
so that the calculated numbers are acceptable.
Tray Hydraulics
Detailed calculations for the column hydraulics will be computed for the top section and the
results for both sections will be shown later in the summary tables.
Column Cross-Sectional Area
Down-comer Area
Here, was assumed to be 0.9 , as recommended in (Wankat, 1987)
(0.12)
145
Entrainment
Using fair’s correlation to find the entrainment at 75%, Flv = ,
Figure 50 : Fair's Correlation
Weir Length
For :
From table 10.1 (Wankat, 2nd Edition), the ratio of Iweir/D is taken from to be 0.726,
146
Active Area
(0.13)
Total Area of the Holes
(0.14)
β was taken to be 10% or ( 0.1 fraction ) as a reasonable first guess ,
The 14 gauge standard tray material (ttray = 0.0780) with hole diameter (d0= 3/16 inch):
Thus, ⁄
Vapor Velocity through Tray Holes
̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ (0.15)
Orifice Coefficient
( ) ( ) (0.16)
Total Head of Liquid\
( ) (0.17)
( )
147
Weir Height and Weir Correction
To keep the down-comer sealed and to retain the liquid, the weir height was chosen to be 2
inch. Also it will keep the residence time above minimum (more than 3 seconds).
Using Bolles (1946) method, the weir correction factor was computed and found to be
̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
(0.18)
To use the correlation, this ratio was taken from (Wankat, 1987),
Figure 51: Weir correction factor
As a result,
148
Liquid Crest Height
The height was calculated using Francis weir equation (Wankat, 1987),
( ) (0.19)
( )
Liquid Fractional Loss
It is the loss caused by the flow in and under the down-comer. To calculate the area under
the down-comer, the following equation is used:
(0.20)
Assuming the gap above the tray to be 1 inch as a standard value,
( )
The under down-comer head is found as follows:
(0.21)
Flooding Check
Total “aerated” head pressure on the down-comer is checked for flooding check.
Summation of heads is calculated to find the total pressure head
(0.221)
According to Wankat, the value of is ignored since it is so small.
149
(0.232)
Value was assumed to be 0.5 for normal operation (Wankat, 1987),
Comparing the value to tray spacing, there is no flooding. The same goes for the bottom.
Liquid Residence Time
It is mainly defined as the time needed to flow from a tray to another which depends on
many components such as the down-comer. It should fall in the range of 3-7 seconds.
(0.24)
̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
Weeping Check:
Due to the difficulty of checking weeping, we will use the estimated correlation provided by
Kessler and Wankat so that excessive weeping is avoided (Kessler and Wankat, 1987):
(0.25)
In which, x = hweir + hcrest + hgrad, and
= (0.26)
x = hweir + hcrest + hgrad =
So equation (3.14) is satisfied and there is no weeping. The same situation goes for the
bottom section of the distillation column.
150
Summary Tables for Column (T-202):
Table 66 : 4. Summary Tables for Column (T-202)
Property Symbol Unit Rectifying section Stripping section
Diameter D ft 4 3
Total Area Atot ft2 9.843 7.069
Down-comer Area Ad ft2 .9843 .7069
Weir Length Iweir ft 2.57 2.463
Active Area AActive ft2 7.8744 5.6552
Holes Area Ahole ft2 .9843 .7069
Weir Head hweir Inch 3 2
Velocity through Holes v0 ft/s 21.46 31.097
Orifice Coeff. Co - .759 .759
Liquid Head hΔp,dry Inch 1.6 6.0167
Liquid load on tray Lg gal/min 77.586 126.3
Crest Height hcrest inch .946 1.384
Area under “dc” Adu ft2 .2124 .2053
Down-comer Head hdu inch .3644 1.0513
Liquid residence tres seconds 3.1 2.012
Table 67 : Design Table
DESIGN ITEM SPECIFICATION

Material of Construction Carbon Steal
Tray Type CS Sieve Trays
Flow Type Gas-liquid Counter-flow
Number of Trays 40
Reflux Ratio 1.698
Feed Tray 18
Number of Tray Passes Single
Down-comer Type Vertical Straight Segment
Tray Efficiency 62.3%
Tray Spacing 24 inch
Tray Thickness 0.078 in
Hole Diameter 3/16 in
151
Hole – Hole Spacing 0.1725 in
Hole – Wall Spacing 2.5 in
Hole – Weir Spacing 4 in
Top Column Diameter 4 ft
Bottom Column Diameter 3 ft
Column Height 92 ft
Tray Layout:
Column Vertical Cross-Sectional Area
Active Area
7.8744 ft2
Weir Height
Pressure Drop
2.57 in
Liquid Head
1.6 in
Down-comer Head
.3644 In
Liquid crest Height

2 in
Down-comer Area
.9843 ft2
Figure 52 : Distillation Column Layout Details
152
Column Horizontal Cross-Sectional Area
Holes Diameter
3/16 in
Weir Length
2.57 in
0.173 In
2.5 in Column Diameter

4 ft.
Down-comer Area
.9843 ft2
Figure 53 : Tray Design Details
Control Loop
The main parameter of the distillation process is the liquid mole fraction of LK in the distillate since
we want to recover as much as possible from the raw material and recycle it back to the front of the
process. So as the mole fraction of Methanol decreases in the distillate, control system will respond
to the change by decreasing the flow of the distillate by changing the range of the control valve. By
doing so, the level of condenser will increase which leads to the increase of reflux ratio.
153
Figure 54 : Control System for T-20
Conclusion about second column

Designing the distillation column is one of the most critical steps in plant design process. It
has to be based on critical analysis of the treated components and their properties. Also it
should rely on experimental data. The design process depends on significant assumptions
that determine the reason for using a specific method of parameters’ calculation.
This design designing is of a special shape since it has different parameters in both the top
and bottom sections which will affect the cost of manufacturing. However, all parameters
calculated are acceptable and in the range of heuristics.
It should be noted that all data and properties used for calculation were taken from Hysis.
154
Heat Exchanger Design
155
Introduction
Heat exchangers are considered one of the most important equipment in any plant. It is
crucial for the most important industry. The main function of the heat exchanger is to
transfer heat between two or more fluids. Shell and tube heat exchangers are common
among other types due to the larger area provided in small volume. The range of the
materials used to construct the heat exchanger is varied but the most popular one is the
stainless steel due to the low cost compared with other types.
A shell and tube exchanger consists of a number of tubes mounted inside a cylindrical
shell. Figure 1 illustrates a typical unit that may be found in a petrochemical plant. Two
fluids can exchange heat, one fluid flows over the outside of the tubes while the second
fluid flows through the tubes. The fluids can be single or two phase and can flow in a parallel
or a cross/counter flow arrangement.
Figure 55 the typical shell and tube heat exchanger
The simple design of a shell and tube heat exchanger makes it an ideal cooling solution for a
wide variety of applications. One of the most common applications is the cooling
of hydraulic fluid and oil in engines, transmissions. With the right choice of materials they
can also be used to cool or heat other mediums, such as swimming pool water or charge air.
156
Specification for Shell and Tube Exchangers Design
Tube Arrangement
The tubes in an exchanger are set in three different patterns square , triangular and rotated
square. As shown below, in triangular arrangement, the tube can be arranged with different
angle such as 30o and 60 o
Figure 56 Different pattern of tube arrangement
Baffle and Baffle cuts
The function of baffle is to increase the fluid velocity and improve the heat transfer rate.
Furthermore the baffle cuts expressed as percentage between 15% and 45% which is the
height of the segments removed to put the baffle.
Figure 57 Different baffle configuration
157
Design Calculation
E-208:
The calculation for this heat heat exchanger is simple since there is no phase exchange. The
mixture which compose of methanol-ethanol-water is entered in the tube side and
thecoolingwater entered the shell side as follow:
Tin (0C) Tout (0C)

Mixture 151.8 50
Cooling water 30 45
Justification of putting the cooling water in the shell side:
 less flow rate

 small value of fouling
 higher pressure drop occurs in tube side
1) Accourding to BWG = 13 , assume d0 = .01905m , di =.014 m and 2.5 m length

2) Fouling factor of .0002 m2.°C /W
3) Selecting stainless steel as material of construction which has thermal conductivity of 16
W/m.°C.
4) From Hysys , the mass of steam needed to produce 3.15E6 J/s is 18250Kg/hr
5) LMTD for counter current flow
LMTD = 47.8°C
Justification for using counter current it is more efficient
6) The temperature correction factor
158
For 1 shell two tube passes the following relation for Ft is applicable
However, for one shell, two tube or more pass the following chart is used
Ft =0.975
7) The mean temperature difference Tm= Ft*LMTD =50.467 °C

8) Assuming the overall heat transfer coefficient to be 480 W/m2°C
9) Provisional area ,
With safety issue 25% = 35m2
10) Number of tubes ,
11) Tube pitch , pt= 1.25*d0 = .024 m
Bundle diameter, ( )
159
12) Choosing the split-ring floating head
Justification:
It is easy for cleaning and maintenance
Bundlediameter clearance, BDC= .058m
13) Shell diameter. Ds =Db+BDC =0.473 m

14) Baffle spacing. Bs=0.4Ds =0.189 m
15) Area for cross-flow ,
16) The shell side mass velocity as:
Shell side flowrate (kg / s)

Gs   587kg/m2s
As
17) The shell equivalent diameter, de(m) based on the type of tube arrangement
Square pitch arrangement is selected

Justification:
Square pitch arrangement is selected because it is easy for mechanical cleaning
160
de 
1.27 2
do
 
pt  0.785d o2 =0.0188 m
18) The shell-side Reynolds number:
Gs d e  us d e
Re    14300
 
19) The Prandtl number:
cp
Pr   .202
k
19) The shell-side heat transfer coefficient from the Nusselt number
0.14
hd   
Nu  s e  jh Re Pr1 / 3  
kf  w 
Where the heat transfer factor, jh may be obtained from Figure below
20) The pressure drop in the shell

0.14
D   L  u s2   
Ps  8 j f  s       .0183bar
 de   lB  2   w 
Where L = tube length,lB = baffle spacing.
The friction factor, jh may be obtained from figure below
161
21) The number of tube per pass: Ntpp= Nt/number of passes= 91tubes
22) The tube side mass velocity
Tube  side flowrate (kg / s)
Gt   107.85Kg/m2.s
N tpp * d i2 / 4
Gt
23) The tube side velocity: v   0.119m / s
i
24) The tube-side Reynolds and Prandtl numbers:
cp Gd  vd
Pr   0.0072 Re  s e  i i  54790
k  
25) The tube-side heat transfer coefficient from the Nusselt number
 kf 0.33  d i 
0.33
  
0.14
1.86 Re . Pr      , for Re  2100 La min ar flow 

 di  L   w 
 0.14
 d    
0.7
 kf
hi  0.023 Re 0.8 Pr 0.33 1  i    , for Re  2100 Transition and Turbulent regimes 
 di  L   w 
 0.14
 j k f Re Pr 0.33    , by ana log y.
 h di  
  w
For our case, we will consider turbulent flow

hi = 1187 W/m2.K
26) The overall heat transfer coefficient Based on inside diameter
162
1
Ui   
do ln do di
 497.1 W/m²·K
1
hi  h1di  2 kw  dodhi o  dodhi di
Table 68. The calculated overall heat transfer coefficient
U iteration
1st 497.1
2st 515.1
3st 515.8
4st 516.3
5st 516.5
All results above is for the first iteration.
It is acceptable value because it lay within the range 250-750 W/m²·K
27) The tube side pressure drop is equal to
  8 j f L      i v 2
m

P  1.5  N t 2.5       0.695bar W/m²·K
  di 
 w    2
 
The value of the pressure drop is reasonable and within the range
The most important parameters for design and the specification for the shell and tube heat
exchangers is shown in table 2:
163
Table 69. The summary results for E-208
Parameters Value Unit Parameters Value Unit
Outside Tube Diameter 0.019 m Shell Side Calculation
Inside Tube Diameter 0.0142 m Tube Pitch 0.024
BWG 15 Bundle diameter 0.403
Tube length 2.5 m BDC 0.058
Rdi (Fouling Factor) 0.0002 shell diameter ds 0.462
Rdo (Fouling Factor) 0.0002 Baffle spacing Bs 0.185
Ar
Stainless
Material of construction 0.017
steel
ea of cross flow
Thermal conductivity K 16 Shell mass velocity Gs 619.6
Mass of cold fluid mc 11.1 kg/s Equivalent Diameter De 0.0188
o
Tc.out 45 C Shell Reynolds number Re 1.51E+4
o
Tc.in 30 C Shell Prandtle number Pr 0.202
Shell heat transfer coefficient

Mass of hot fluid mh 1.56 kg/s 4140
Hs
o
Th.out 50 C Tube Side Calculation
o
Th.in 151.5 C Tube side mass velocity 115.8 ⁄
o
LMTD counter current 51.8 C Tube side Velocity 0.128
TEMP correction factor 0.970 Tube Reynolds number Re 58719
o
DTm 50.47 C Tube Prandtle number Pr 0.007
Tube heat transfer coefficient

Duty qc 6.85E+5 W 1256.9
hi
164
Overall heat transfer coefficient U 516.5 Ui with dirt 516.5
Area 25.5 Pressure drop Calculation
Area after sefty factor 31.25 △Pshell 0.204 bar
Number of tubes 170 △Ptube 0.747 bar
E-201:
The calculation for this heat heat exchanger is little complex since there is a phase change in
the side. The mixture which composes of methanol-ethanol-water is entered in the shell
side and the HPS entered the tube side as follow:
exchangers is shown in table 70
Tin (0C) Tout (0C)

Mixture 45.3 250
Cooling water 380 375
165
Table 70. Summary results for E-201
Tube length 4 m BDC 0.062
Stainless
Material of construction Area of cross flow 0.081
steel
Thermal conductivity K 16 Shell mass velocity Gs 63
Mass of cold fluid mc 6 kg/s Equivalent Diameter De 0.0364

o
o
Tc.in 45.3 C Shell Prandtle number Pr 0.2
Shell heat transfer

coefficient Hs
o
o
Th.in 380 C Tube side mass velocity 130
o
LMTD counter current 63 C Tube side Velocity 15
TEMP correction factor 0.97 Tube Reynolds number Re 1.63E+05

o
Tube heat transfer

Duty qc 3.15E+06 W 3650
coefficient hi
Overall heat transfer

860 Ui with dirt 820
coefficient U
166
Area 121 Pressure drop Calculation
E-203:
The calculation for this heat heat exchanger is little complex since there is a phase change in the
side. The mixture which composes of DME methanol-ethanol-water is entered in the tube side and
the cooling water entered the shell side as follow:
Tin (0C) Tout (0C)

Mixture 250 100
Cooling water 30 45
exchangers is shown in table71
167
Carbon
steel
o
o
Shell heat transfer coefficient

Hs
o
o
Th.in 250 C Tube side mass velocity 115.8 ⁄
o
o
Duty qc 6.73E+6 W Tube heat transfer 1256.9
168
coefficient hi
Overall heat transfer coefficient

U
Area 110.9 Pressure drop Calculation
E-204:
The calculation for this reboiler is little complex since there is a phase change in the side.
The mixture which compose of DME methanol-ethanol-water is entered in the shell side
and the MPS entered the tube side as follow:
Tin (0C) Tout (0C)

Mixture 134.9 139.1
MPS 184 179
exchangers is shown in following table in the next page:
169
Stainless
steel

o
Tc.out 134.9 C Shell Reynolds number Re 1.79E+04
o
Tc.in 139.1 C Shell Prandtle number Pr 0.2
Shell heat transfer

coefficient Hs
o
o
Th.in 179 C Tube side mass velocity 130
o
LMTD counter current 47.8 C Tube side Velocity 15
Tube Reynolds number

TEMP correction factor 0.97 58719
Re
o
Tube heat transfer

Duty qc 3.15E+05 W 3650
coefficient hi
Overall heat transfer 880 Ui with dirt 826
170
coefficient U
Area after sefty factor 148 △Pshell 0.02 bar
E-205:
the side. The mixture which composes of DME methanol-ethanol-water is entered in the
tube side and the cooling water entered the shell side as follow:
Tin (0C) Tout (0C)

Mixture 49 46
Cooling water 30 45
171
Stainles
s steel
o
o
Shell heat transfer

coefficient Hs
o
Th.out 46.7 C Tube Side Calculation
Th.in 49.1 o
C Tube side mass velocity 115.8 ⁄
o
o
172
Tube heat transfer
Duty q 5.41E+5 W 1256.9
coefficient hi

coefficient U
E-206:
The calculation for this reboiler is little complex since there is a phase change in the side.
The mixture which compose of methanol-ethanol-water is entered in the shell side and the
MPS entered the tube side as follow:
Tin (0C) Tout (0C)

Mixture 142 151
MPS 184 179
173
Table 74. Summary results for E-206
Material of Stainless
Area of cross flow 0.019
construction steel
Equivalent Diameter
Mass of cold fluid mc 6 kg/s 0.0192
De
o Shell Reynolds number

Tc.out 151 C 1.79E+04
Re
o Shell Prandtle number

Tc.in 142 C 0.2
Pr
Shell heat transfer

coefficient Hs
o
o Tube side mass

Th.in 184 C 130
velocity
o
LMTD counter current 34.9 C Tube side Velocity 15

Re
o
DTm 33.9 C
Tube Prandtle number 0.83
174
Pr
Tube heat transfer

Duty qc 4.93E+06 W 3650
coefficient hi

coefficient U
Area after safety factor 52 △Pshell 0.25 bar
E-207:
the side. The mixture which compose ofmethanol-ethanol-water is entered in the tube side
and the cooling water entered the shell side as follow:
Tin (0C) Tout (0C)

Mixture 49 46
Cooling water 139.2 126.3
175
Table 75. Summary of E-207
Stainless
steel
o Shell Reynolds number

Tc.out 45 C 1.90E+04
Re
o
Shell heat transfer

coefficient Hs
o
Th.out 46.7 C Tube Side Calculation
o
Th.in 49.1 C Tube side mass velocity 115.8
o
LMTD counter current 34 C Tube side Velocity 1.73

Re
o
Tube heat transfer

Duty q 5.41E+05 W 1256.9
coefficient hi
Overall heat transfer 521 Ui with dirt 493
176
coefficient U
Area after sefty factor 72 △Pshell 0.003 bar
Conclusion about Heat exchanger Design

Heat exchangers are most common equipment to achieve the temperature required for the
materials to enter the reactor or the distillation. The first heat exchanger is used to prepare
the mixture to the desired reactor temperature. However, the second heat exchanger
function is to cool down the mixture in order to enter the distillation column. The third heat
exchanger job is to prepare the waste to be discharged to meet the environmental
regulations. All the the other heat exchangers are considered to be condenser and reboiler
for the first and the second distillation column.
177
Pumps and Pipes Design
178
INTRODUCTION:
Any chemical plant does have pipes and pumps. Therefore, pipes and pumps are necessary
and critical parts for producing petrochemicals. In order to show the importance of pipes at
the plant, pipes work as transcribers for flow rate between the unit operations and
equipment. Therefore, a few parameters such as the size and the type of the pipes should
be taken in consideration during the design stage. By the same token, designing pumps
requires the pressure drop, power and the type of pump as input parameters. All these
characteristics (type of material, diameter and thickness of pipes as well as the type of
pump) are chosen based on the conditions of fueling the plant. Therefore, each diameter
and thickness of the pipes and the material of construction will be suggested and calculated
according to those conditions. In the plant under consideration, we have 20 streams and
one pump as shown in figure 1. Also, in this process, Aspen HYSES program, the heuristics
from analysis synthesis and design of chemical engineering book and fluid mechanics for
chemical engineering book were used to provide all the needed information. To summarize,
the objective of this report is to:
 Calculate:
 The size of pipes (diameter and thickness )in the operation unit
 The power of the plant pumps (The power and shaft power )
 Find:
 The proper and the convenient material for construction the pipes
 The type of pump
 Design
 Plant layout
 Heat integration
179
Figure 58. Dimethyl ether production process
Procedure
The procedure to design pipe:
Many methods are found to calculate the thickness and diameter of the pipes. The
heuristics rules will be used in this report for calculations. There are different equations in
heuristics rules for suction and discharge of liquids and gasses. To begin, the diameter of the
pipe is estimated, and then the velocity is calculated from the HYSYS results. The equations
required for that:
For calculating the velocity from HYSYS:
Where
Ua: actual velocity (ft/s)
Q: volumetric flow rate (ft3/s)
A: the area (ft2)
Next, the velocity is calculated using the heuristics from the two following equations (3&4)
180
For calculating velocity from heuristics:
Liquid pump section

Gasses or steam flow:
Then, the results (the velocity from Hysys and heuristics) of calculations will be compared .If
there is a big difference in the result, another diameter will be suggested and used in try and
error until the deference becomes smaller. Then, the diameter will be chosen for calculation
at the least deference. Next, the thickness of pipe can be calculated from the following
equation:
For calculating thickness of pipe:
Where:
t: the thickness (in).
the maximum pressure (atm).
:the allowable tensile stress (atm).
And the number of 2at the dominator is the safety factor .
For obtaining Allowable stress ( )
since each of stainless steel grade304 (SSG.304)and carbon steel grade 55(CSG.55) were
chosen to use in this pipes design process according to temperature and pressure of every
stream ,the maximum allowable stress of them can be obtained from the following figure
based on their own temperatures.
181
Figure 59. Maximum allowable stress
182
Controlling the pipes
The following figure shows how the streams are controlled
Figure 60: controlling of pipes
Pump Sample Calculation:

Pipe calculation:
Estimating the diameter
For stream of fresh feed (liquid phase) as example:
For estimating the diameter of fresh feed .As I said: the diameter is suggested until the
deference between velocity calculated from Hysis and the velocity calculated from
heuristics becomes smaller as shown in the table below:
Table 76. how to estimate the diameter for fresh feed
Diameter (in) Diameter (ft) Ua Uh(heuristics) deference

(calculated)(ft/s) (ft/s)
0.25 0.020833333 62.179944 1.341667
60.83827713
0.5 0.041666667 15.544986 1.383333
14.16165262
0.75 0.0625 6.9088826 1.425
5.483882644
1 0.083333333 3.8862465 1.466667
2.419579821
1.5 0.125 1.7272207 1.55
0.177220661
2 0.166666667 0.9715616 1.633333
0.661771711
183
2.5 0.208333333 0.6217994 1.716667
1.094867229
3 0.25 0.4318052 1.8
1.368194835
3.5 0.291666667 0.3172446 1.883333
1.566088722
4 0.333333333 0.2428904 1.966667
1.723776261
4.5 0.375 0.1919134 2.05
1.858086593
5 0.416666667 0.1554499 2.133333
1.977883474
5.5 0.458333333 0.128471 2.216667
2.088195708
6 0.5 0.1079513 2.3
2.192048709
6.5 0.541666667 0.0919822 2.383333
2.291351168
7 0.583333333 0.0793112 2.466667
2.387355514
7.5 0.625 0.0690888 2.55
2.480911174
Calculating area
After the diameter was estimated by try and error, the proper diameter was chosen to be
1.5 in and Q= 0.021185 ft3/s from HYSIS. So the area can be calculated:
Calculating the actual velocity
Then, the actual velocity can be calculated:
Calculating the heuristics velocity
Next the heuristics velocity can be calculated:
Calculating the error
The error:
184
Calculating the thickness of the pipe:
As I said: Carbon Steel grade 55(CSG.55) and stainless steel grade304 (SSG304) were chosen
based on many parameters conditions such as temperature and pressure .So, the maximum
allowable tensile stress for two material (CSG55&SSG304) are chosen from the figur2
.however the number of 2at the dominator is the safety factor .Therefore, Sa (allowable
tensile stress) equals 930 atm for fresh feed stream. Then, thickness is:
So:
Determining the inside and the outside diameters, schedule number and the nominal size
The inside and outside diameters are found from The book of fluid mechanics for chemical
engineers according to the thickness and schedule number of the pipe. For instance, The
closest value of thickness of in (for the fresh feed) from standard nominal sizes
is 0.109 in .So the schedule number is 40 and the nominal size is 1/2.And inside diameter is
0.622 in and outside diameter is 0.84 in . This way is applied for the rest of streams. As a
result; the designed pipes are shown and summarized in the following tables in details:
185
Table 77: design of pipes (liquid phase)
Name of stream fresh feed to mixer 1 to pump pressurized feed R-outL DME bottom1 Distillate2 Bottom2 waste water wast St. Tank.L St. Tan.L
Phase Liquid Liq Liq Liq Liq Liq Liq Liq Liq Liq Liq Liq
Material(MOC) CSG.55 CSG.55 CSG.55 CSG.55 SSG304 CSG.55 CSG304 SSG304 SSG304 CSG.55 CSG.55 CSG.55
Sa (atm) 930 930 930 930 850 930 950 1015 950 930 930 930
Flow rate (tonne/y) 1.49E+04 1.49E+05 1.84E+05 1.84E+05 0.00E+00 1.00E+05 8.41E+04 3.52E+04 4.89E+04 4.89E+04 4.89E+04 1.00E+05
Flow rate (Kg/s) 0.472476 4.724759 5.844115 5.844115 0 3.177321 2.666159 1.116502 1.549658 1.549658 1.549658 3.177321
density (kg/m3) 787.7 787.7 766.9 767.1 1210 570.7 779.5 672.6 859.3 971.5 971.5 570.7
Vol Flow rate (m3/s) 0.0006 0.005998 0.00762 0.007618 0 0.005567 0.00342 0.00166 0.001803 0.001595 0.001595 0.005567
Vol Flow rate (ft3/s) 0.021185 0.211854 0.269153 0.269082 0 0.19664 0.120806 0.05863 0.063696 0.056339 0.056339 0.19664
P (atm) 1 1 1 15.5 15.4 10.4 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.3 10.4
Inside D (in) Assumed 1.5 4.5 5 5 0.25 4.5 3.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 4.5
Inside D (in) Market
Outside D (in) 1.845 5.563 6.625 6.625 0.840 5.563 3.76 2.938 2.938 2.938 2.938 5.563
t (in) 8.06452E-4 .00242 .00269 0.04167 0.00226 .02516 .01363 .00911 .00974 .00981 .00981 .02516
Nominal Sizes(in) 1.5 6 6 6 0.5 6 4 3 3 3 3 6
Schl No. 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40
186
Table 78: design of pipes (vapor phase)
To Wast St.
Name of stream Tank1 V reactor R-outV Tank.V St. Tan.V
Stream # 1 2 3 4 5
Phase Vap Vap Vap Vap Vap
Material CSG.55 SSG304 CSG.55 CSG.55 CSG.55
Sa (atm) 930 850 930 930 930
Flow rate (tonne/y) 0.00E+00 1.84E+05 1.84E+05 0.00E+00 0.00E+00
Flow rate (Kg/s) 0 5.844115 5.844115 0 0
density (kg/m3) 1.296 11.48 11.48 7.843 18.01
Vol Flow rate (m3/s) 0 0.509069 0.509069 0 0
Vol Flow rate (ft3/s) 0 17.98024 17.98024 0 0
P(atm) 1 15.4 15.4 7.3 10.4
Inside D (in)
Assumed 1 5.5 5.5 1 1
Outside D (in) 1.315 5.58 5.58 1.315 1.315
t (in) .000538 .049824 .045538 .003925 .005591
Nominal Sizes(in) 1 6 6 1 1
Schl No. 40 40 40 40 40
Table 79: design of pipes (aqueous phase)
To Mixer Reactor-
Name of stream 2 Out-V To C1
Stream # 1 2 3
Phase Aqus Aqus Aqus
Material SSG304 CSG.55 CSG.55
Sa (atm) 1015 930 930
Flow rate (tonne/y) 3.53E+04 1.84E+05 1.84E+05
Flow rate (Kg/s) 1.1190386 5.84411466 5.844115
density (kg/m3) 652.6 219.9 219.9
Vol Flow rate (m3/s) 0.0017147 0.02657624 0.026576
Vol Flow rate (ft3/s) 0.0605643 0.93866838 0.938668
P (atm) 7.4 15.4 15.4
Inside D (in)
Assumed 1 2 2
Outside D (in) 1.315 2.375 2.375
t (in) 0.003645 0.016559 0.016559
Nominal Sizes(in) 1 2 2
Schl No. 40 40 40
187
Pump design
To calculate the power from the heuristics, some parameters (molecular weight, inlet
pressure, inlet temperature, outlet pressure, flow rate, density, and the efficiency) are
needed.
Calculation of the volumetric flow rate (m3/min)
The volumetric flow rate (m3/min) is calculated using the following equation:
(6)
Calculation of the fluid pumping power (KW)
The fluid pumping power (KW) is calculated using the next equation:
PF = 1.67 x ∆P(bar) x [Vol Flow rate(m3/min)] (7)
Calculation of the shaft power (KW):
The shaft power (KW) is calculated using the following equation:
(8)
Determining the type of pump
The type of pump depends on the value of shaft power
Pumps calculations:
For example: P-201:
The Properties of P-201:
Mass flow rate (Kg/h) =21037, Efficiency =75%, density (Kg/m3) =766.9 and pressure
drop=14.50
Calculation of the volumetric flow rate:
Calculation of the fluid pumping power (KW)
188
Calculation of the shaft power:
However, P=14.731 from HYSYS. So the error (%):
Where the shaft power is 14.755, the best pump for that is Reciprocal .To summarize the
designed pump in details, the following table shows that:
Table 80: pump design
Name of the pump P-101

Reciprocating
Type of pump /Electric
Efficincy 0.75
Flow rate (tonne/y) 1.84E+05
Flow rate (Kg/h) 21038.81279
Density (Kg/m3) 766.9
Vol. Flow rate (m3/min) 0.457226339
∆P (Kpa) 1450
∆P (bar) 14.5
Power (KW) Calculated 11.07173581
Power (KW) HYSYS 14.731
Shaft Power (KW) 14.76231441
Error % 0.212124017
189
Plant Layout
Definition:
Plant layout is a floor plane which shows the distances among operations units, furniture,
tools, working machines, equipment etc. So the design of physical arrangement (plant layout)
is very necessary to achieve economically the quantity and quality for the required output.
How to get a good Layout (features)

Many ways are used to plan the plant layout however there are features should be
considered to get a good plant layout.: Suitable and efficient utilization of available floor
space, To make sure that work takings from one point to another point without any
interruption, Shrink material handling costs, Provide enough production capacity, Reduce
hazards to personnel, Utilities labor efficiently, Increase employee morale, Reduce accidents,
Provide for volume and product flexibility ,Provide ease of supervision and control and
reduce manufacturing costs through improved plant layout ( an effective way to improve
profitability).
How to increase the profitability using plant layout

To increase the profitability, reducing the cost of manufacturing through the plant layout
should be taken into account .for example; the following figure shows the layout of dimethyl
ether plant.
190
Where the numbers above in the graph are shown below in the following table
191
The wind is going to be south west .This is taken from google. In area of 16, the distribution
of the equipment .
Best location for building the plant .

Where the methanol is the raw material for manufacturing dimethyl ether so the best
location for building the plant for production of dimethyl ether is at the area next to the area
where the methanol is produced .Therefore, Jubail city is a choice since the methanol is
produced there. However this choice cab be changed according to many reasons such as:
market, location of production of methanol and so on. The two following figures shows the
location of city of Jubail
192
.
193
Heat Integration
Definition:
Heat integration means briefly: recovering the heat the process plants. To show, using the
maximum recoverable heat loads is the goal that we are aiming to achieve.
Target
To determine the minimum heating and cooling utilities, we will use specifically process-to-
process streams heat integration using a numerical method called problem table algorithm,
(PTA) as shown in the next graph:
Task Identification
Targeting
Setting ∆Tmin value
Shift the process

streams temp.
Set up temp.
Intervals
Calculate interval
heat balances
194
Cascade the heat
flows
Determine
min min
Q h,Q c
Heat integration solving steps
All the rest of the steps above will be explained as the following:
Step 3:
The process streams are selected and shown below in the following table since the analysis
involved only process-to-process streams heat integration.so utilities streams (e.g. cooling
water) are excluded.
Table 81. Information needed for Utility Process Streams for Exchanger’ Tube Side
Cp
Flow Ti
Tube Side To (C) (kJ/kmol*.C
(kmol/hr) (C)
)
E-201 Pressurized Feed 648.8 46 250 144.5
E-203 R-outV 648.4 250 100 81.45
E-204 Bottom 2 279.9 152 25 66.14
Table 82: information used for Utility Process Streams for Exchanger’ Shell Side
Flow Cp
Shell Side Ti (C) To (C)
(kmol/hr) (kJ/kmol*.C)
E-201 Steam 22280 250 210 40.74
E-203 Cooling Water 972 30 120 95.38
E-204 Cooling Water 9304 30 70 95.38
195
Setting ∆Tmin value
We have to set the ∆Tmin,(To achieve the targets for minimum heating and cooling utilities
.10 or 15 oC. is the appropriate value of ∆Tmin,
Shift the process streams temperatures
The next graph shows information needed for shifted process steam temperature
Table 83: Shifted Process Streams Temperature
Btu(IT)/°F Ti To To*(C
Fluid Flowing Ti*(C)
s (C) (C) )
H1 Steem 60.216 250 210 242.5 202.5
C1 Cooling Water 9.216 30 120 37.5 127.5
C2 Cooling Water 58.876 30 70 37.5 77.5
Calculate interval heat balances

Organizing Temperature intervals in descending order . After that calculating the interval
heat balances for each temperature interval
Cascade the balances as heat flows

Constructing the problem heat cascades . The information needed for Cascade the balances
are shown below:
For problem and cascade
Shift T(i+1)-
mCp net DH
Temperature Interval Ti
kW/K kW
°C °C
242.5 1 40 114.36 4574.25 surplus
202.5 2 60 0.0 0.0 demand
142.5 3 15 30.90 463.45 surplus
127.5 4 35 13.40 468.80 surplus
92.5 5 15 -17.50 -262.53 demand
-
77.5 6 40 -129.31 demand
5172.54
196
Plotting the graph for hot and cold composite curves
Figure 61.Cold and Hot Composite Curves
Plotting the graph shifted hot and cold composite curves
Figure 62: shifted Cold and Hot Composite Curves
197
Plotting the graph for Grand composite
Figure 63: Grand Composite
Getting Grid diagram
Figure 64: Grand Diagram
Representing the actual steams
198
Figure 65: Actual Stream
HYSYS Heat Integration
Hysys program can be used for showing the difference between the process before heat
integration and after heat integration.
Comparison before and after integration
The following table shows the comparison before and after integration as the following:
Table 84.comparison before and after integration
Before Integration After Integration

Overall cooling duty (kW) 3.5E+07 1.7E+07
Overall Heating duty (kW) 4.7E+07 -
Cooling water (kmol/h) 10760 5961
Cooling water ($/h) 2.828 1.567
Saving percentage for Cooling (%) 45 %
Saving percentage for Heating (%) 100%
Conclusion about Heat Integration:
Since the process heat integration is recovering the heat in the process plant, so it is very
important to produce high quality and profitable products .Also, the processing facility
reduces wasting of energy and attainable consumption. The Problem Table Algorithm (PTA) is
usually used to integrate heat exchanger network. And 0 kW &71 kW were values of the
minimum heating utility and the minimum cooling utility respectively .and the range between
250oC to 235oC was for the pinch temperature as well as 45% was the rate of return on
investment is updated to be after the plant reached its study state
199
SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT AND HAZOP
A Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP) is a systematic approach to find each element of a
process to identify all of the ways in which parameters can deviate from the intended design
circumstances and create hazards or operability problems.
A Hazop Study typically involves using the piping and instrument diagrams (P&ID), or a plant
model, as a clear guide for examining every unit and component of a process. A HAZOP
team consisting of experienced and knowledgeable people, brainstorms potentially
hazardous situations that could arise in each section of pipe, each valve, and each vessel in
the system.
Definitions of HAZOP Term
When describing the HAZOP methodology, the following definitions are important:
TERM Definition
Hazard Potential source of harm. Deviations from design or operational
intent may constitute or produce a hazard
Harm Physical injury or damage to the health of people or damage to
property or the environment. Harm is the consequence of a
hazard occurring and may take many forms: patient or user
safety, employee safety, business
risks, regulatory risks, environmental risks
Risk Combination of probability of occurrence of harm and the
severity of that harm
Guide Word Meaning

NO Invalidation of the design specifications. For Example, no flow or no
pressure when there should be.
LESS A physical property is less than what it should be. For example, lower
flow rate or pressure.
MORE A physical property is more than what it should be. For example, higher
flow rate or pressure.
PART OF Composition of the stream is different than the designed specification.
For instance, less amount of a basis component.
AS WELL AS More components are present in a specific stream. For instance,
existence of impurities in product stream.
REVERSE A property is opposite of its designed specification. For example,
reverse flow or back pressure.
OTHER THAN Complete substitution. For instance, transferring a material to a
location other than specified in the design.
200
The following are the safety procedure to prevent hazardous in the plant:
Reactor
Unit:
(R201)
Node: Inlet flow of Methanol
Parameter: Flow
Guide Word Deviation Cause Consequence Action

Use of micrometer
1) Pump damage Low quality of production
No inlet in the reactor
No
flow Leak in pipes, pressure Regular inspection
2) Pipes blockage
drop for pipes
1) Close of feed
Low quality of production Regular inspection
less Inlet valve and failure
Less
flow 2) Plugging of
Damage of pumps Use control valve
pipelines
1) Leak in heat Use of sensor after
Low quality of production
More exchanger tubes mixture
More
inlet flow 2) Open feed valve Accumulation for feed, Use of flow meter,
and failure increase in pressure control valve
Unit: Heat Exchanger (E-203)
Node: Inlet stream

To preheater
Parameter: Flow
Guide
Deviation Cause Consequence Action
Word
1) Pumps damage No heat exchange Use od backup pumps
No No feed flow
2) Pipe blockage Deficient product Regular inspection
1) Close of feed Low quality of
Regular inspection
valve, and failure production
Less Less feed flow Pumps and
2) Plugging of Use filters, and regular
compressors
pipes due dust inspection
damage
1) Open of feed Excess of feed, Use of flow meter, and
More feed valve, and failure and accumulation control valve
More
flow Low quality of Use backup filters, and
Failure of filters
production regular maintenance
201
Pump (P-
Unit:
201)
Node: inlet stream (2)
Pressure
Parameter:
drop
Guide
Word
Undesired outlet stream
1) Pump failure Use backup pumps
High properties
High
pressure 2) Damage of pressure
Deficient control system Regular inspection
transmitter
Regular inspection, and
1) Pump damage Low quality of product
Low maintenance
Low
pressure 2) No feed flow to the
Pumps damage Regular inspection
flash drum
Unit: Distillation Column (T-201)

Node: Column top area (Reflux)
Parameter: Flow
Guide
Word
Disturbances of Use a micrometer in
1) Pump damage
No reflux desired product the reflux section
No
flow Accumulation in
2) Pipes blockage Regular inspection
the distillation
1) Accumulation in Leakage in the
Less Use a level controller
distillate stream tank
Less reflux
flow Low quality of
2) Condenser fouling Regular inspection
product
1) disturbances of recycle Use flow meter before
More Flooding
stream distillation
More reflux
flow 2) Fluctuation of pressure Low quality of
Regular inspection
drop in the pumps product
202
Economic Design
203
Introduction
The goal of any manufacturing company is to make money. This is realized by producing
products with a high market value from raw materials with a low market value. The
companies in the chemical process industry produce high-value chemicals from low-value
raw materials. The cost associated with day-to-day operation of a chemical plant must be
estimated before the economic feasibility of a proposed process can be assessed. Before
proceeding to the construction stage, detailed economic analysis is performed. The design
will be approved if the process is profitable.
After the design of the process, we need to determine the feasibility of the project in terms
of capital cost and cost of manufacturing for DME production process. The cost of
manufacturing covers the following:
1) Direct Manufacturing Cost.

2) Fixed Manufacturing Cost.
3) General Expenses.
In this report, CAPCOST is used to perform the economic analysis of the proposed DME plant.
Also, the cash flow diagram is important to show the relations with the production
profitability
Cost of operating Labor

The technique used to estimate operating labor requirements is based on the number of
equipment to find the number of labors needed. According to this method, the operating
labor requirement for chemical processing plant is given by:
Where:
 Nol: number of labors needed to run the process unit per shift.
 P is the number of processing steps involving handling of particulate solids ( In our
project P = 0 ).
 Nnp is the number of non-particulate processing steps which includes (compressors,
towers, reactors, heaters and exchanger).
204
A single operator works for 49 weeks a year (3 weeks’ time off for vacation and sick leave),
five 8-hour shifts a week. These amounts to (49 weeks/year 5 shifts/week) which equals
245 shifts per operator per year. Moreover, a chemical plant normally operates 24
hours/day. This requires (365 days/year 3 shifts/day) which equal 1095 operating shifts per
year.
The number of operator needed in the plant in any time is given by;
Table2 demonstrates the number of equipment’s used in the process:
Table 85 : Number of Equipment
Equipment Type Number of Nnp

Equipment
Exchangers 7 7
Pump 3 -
Reactors 1 1
Towers 2 2
Vessels 3 -
Total 16 10
In our plant, number of labors needed to run the process unit per shift is given by:
The number of operators required per shift = 2.93 ≈3

Operating labor = 3 (4.5) = 13.5
The number is rounded up to 14 labors, where each labor will receive an average salary of
$ 50000/yr , As a result, the total cost of operating labor will be as follows
205
Economic Analysis
There are many factors determining the profitability of a plant. The most important factor is
how much the final product contributes to the current economy. The ability to profit from
investing money is the key to our economic system. The principle of economic analysis
required to evaluate project profitability:
Money + Time = More Money
The cost of raw material is considered the largest manufacturing cost, thus obtaining
accurate prices is critical. In this analysis, CAPCOST is used to perform the economic analysis
of the proposed DME plant. The raw material methanol costs $ 0.350 /kg is used to produce
high grade DME with a purity of 99.5 wt% to be sold for $ 0.836 /kg. (CEPCI = 579 in 2014)
Table 86 : Raw Material Expenses and Product Revenues with SF = 95%
Material Name Classification Price ($/kg) Flow rate (kg/h) Annual Cost
Methanol Raw Material $ 0.350 16427 $ 47,846,922
Dimethyl Ether Product $ 0.836 11430 $ 79,520,704
Before proceeding to the project, preliminary cost estimation is needed to determine the
Profitability of the process. This is done by calculating the profit margin:
PM = Value of the Product - Cost of Raw Material
PM = $ 79,520,704 - $ 47,846,922= $ 31,673,782 (Project is Noticeably Profitable).
For the main PFD:
CAPCOST software was used to find the economical analysis for the production of dimethyl
ether. All the equipment is listed in the CAPCOST in which the main parameter such as the
surface area pressure and kind of equipment are specified. The prices of the raw materials
which is mainly methanol is obtained and found to be 0.35$/Kg. However, the main product
of the process which is DME has a price of 0.836$/Kg.
206
Table 87. Cost of units for main PFD
207
Table 88. Cost of utilities for main PFD
Table 89. Cost of Materials for main PFD
208
Figure 66 : Economics table for main PFd
209
Table 90. Cash Flow table
Figure 67 : Discounted Cash Flow for main PFD
210
Economic Analysis for Alternative:
Table 91. Cost of units for Alternative
Table 92. Cost of utilities for Alternative
Table 93. Cost of Material for Alternative
211
Figure 68 : Economics table for Alternative
212
Table 94. Cash Flow table for Alternative
Figure 69 : Discounted Cash Flow for Alternative
213
Conclusion about Economy Analysis
Two suggested scenarios are used in this project one is the original and the other is the
alternative .All these two ways are profitable however, it is clear from the results above that
the alternative process is more profitable than the original. The most obvious reason is that
the cost of units will decrease significantly in the alternative process. In the recent years,
such projects are investable in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in industry. Finally, the
alternative way should be used in this process instead of the original as a recommendation.
214
Conclusion and Recommendation
The production of DME by dehydration of methanol, catalyzed by acidic zeolites catalyst, was
designed. The plant was designed to produce 100 thousands of 99.5 wt. % DME per year. The
required fresh feed flow rate for this amount of production is 635.5 kmol/hr. both hand
calculation and Aspen Hysys were used to calculate the flow of mass and energy balance.
Detail design of reactor, distillation columns, coolers, heaters, pumps and piping and
instrumentation were performed. Also, economy analysis in order to calculate the
profitability of the plant was conducted. Finally, the plant layout and heat integrations were
sketched.
For economic reason, three alternatives have been suggested. These alternatives do lower
the cost of the plan and it’s recommended to study them in more details and could replace
the main process. Finally, form the designed part, it’s recommended to have two reactors in
parallel.
215
Appendices
Simulation Appendix
Other Alternative (Heat Integration):
216
Energy and Mass balance Appendix
The iterations for mass balance are summarized in the following table:
Bottom of
Distillate Bottom of
Mixed Reactor first
Distillate of second second
Fresh Feed Out =Feed column
Stream Name of first column column
Feed =Reactor to first =Feed to
column =Recycled (waste
Feed distillation second
stream water)
column
Stremas # 1 3,4,5 6,7,8,9 10 11,12 13 15
Compositions
DME 0 0 0.386 0.993 0 0 0

Iteration number 2
(mol.%)
Methanol 0.97 0.965 0.193 0.007 0.3112801 0.9164388 0.0764701

ethanol 0.02 0.026 0.026 0 0.0658228 0.0812497 0.0275115
water 0.01 0.009 0.395 0 0.6461862 0.0023116 0.8960185
DME 0 0 286.63434 286.6343 0 0 0
components
(kgmol/h)
flow rate
Methanol 616.435 716.5858 143.31717 2.020584 141.29658 116.28864 25.00794

ethanol 12.71 19.30698 19.306976 0 19.306976 10.309925 8.9970508
water 6.355 6.683184 293.31752 0 293.31752 0.2933175 293.0242
Bottom Bottom
Distillate
Mixed Reactor of first of
Distillate of second
Fresh Feed Out =Feed column second
Stream Name of first column
Feed =Reactor to first =Feed to column
column =Recycled
Feed distillation second (waste
stream
column water)
Stremas # 1 3,4,5 6,7,8,9 10 11,12 13 15
Compositions
DME 0 0 0.384785 0.993 0 0 0

(mol.%)
Iteration number 3
Methanol 0.97 0.961 0.192392 0.007 0.30968 0.904781 0.076304

ethanol 0.02 0.03 0.03003 0 0.076453 0.092942 0.031807
water 0.01 0.008 0.392793 0 0.641291 0.002277 0.891889
DME 0 0 293.0634 293.06 0 0 0
components
(kgmol/h)
flow rate
Methanol 616.435 732.6586 146.5317 2.0659 144.47 119 25.56886

ethanol 12.71 22.87176 22.87176 0 22.872 12.2 10.65824
water 6.355 6.099135 299.1626 0 299.16 0.3 298.8634
217
Bottom of Bottom
Distillate
Mixed Reactor first of
column =Recycled
stream
column water)
Stremas # 1 3,4,5 6,7,8,9 10 11,12 13 15

DME 0 0 0.3836 0.993 0 0 0
compositions
(mol.%)
Iteration number 4
Methanol 0.97 0.959 0.1918 0.007 0.30813 0.89902 0.07596

ethanol 0.02 0.032 0.032 0 0.08151 0.09871 0.03385
water 0.01 0.009 0.3926 0 0.63973 0.00227 0.89019
DME 0 0 294.18284 294.183 0 0 0
components
(kgmol/h)
flow rate
Methanol 616.435 735.457 147.09142 2.0738 145.01762 119.3511 25.66652

ethanol 12.71 24.5408 24.5408 0 24.5408 13.104787 11.43601
water 6.355 6.9021 301.08494 0 301.08494 0.3010849 300.7839
Bottom
of first Distillate Bottom
Mixed Reactor
Distillate column of second of second
Fresh Feed Out =Feed
Stream Name of first =Feed column column
Feed =Reactor to first
column to =Recycled (waste
Feed distillation
second stream water)
column
Stremas # 1 3,4,5 6,7,8,9 10 11,12 13 15

DME 0 0 0.383 0.993 0 0 0
compositions
(mol.%)
Iteration number 5
Methanol 0.97 0.96 0.192 0.007 0.308 0.896161 0.075929

ethanol 0.02 0.03 0.033 0 0.084 0.10158 0.034925
water 0.01 0.01 0.392 0 0.638 0.002259 0.889146
DME 0 0 294.396 294.3961 0 0 0
components
(kgmol/h)
flow rate
Methanol 616.435 735.99 147.198 2.0753 145.123 119.438 25.68513

ethanol 12.71 25.3525 25.3525 0 25.3525 13.5382 11.81426
water 6.355 6.68384 301.08 0 301.08 0.30108 300.7788
218
Bottom of Bottom
Distillate
Mixed Reactor first of
column =Recycled
stream
column water)
Stremas # 1 3,4,5 6,7,8,9 10 11,12 13 15

compositions
DME 0 0 0.3829 0.993 0 0 0

(mol.%)
Iteration number 6
Methanol 0.97 0.957 0.1915 0.007 0.307 0.9 0.08

ethanol 0.02 0.034 0.034 0 0.087 0.1 0.04
water 0.01 0.0087 0.3916 0 0.637 0 0.89
DME 0 0 294.3 294.3 0 0
components
(kgmol/h)
flow rate
Methanol 616.435 735.72 147.1 2.075 145 119.4 25.68

ethanol 12.71 26.138 26.14 0 26.1 13.96 12.18
water 6.355 6.6884 301 0 301 0.301 300.7
Bottom Bottom
Distillate
Mixed Reactor of first of
column =Recycled
stream
column water)
Stremas # 1 3,4,5 6,7,8,9 10 11,12 13 15

DME 0 0 0.383 0.993 0 0 0
compositions
(mol.%)
Iteration number 7
Methanol 0.97 0.957 0.191 0.007 0.307 0.891 0.076

ethanol 0.02 0.035 0.035 0 0.089 0.107 0.037
water 0.01 0.009 0.391 0 0.636 0.002 0.887
DME 0 0 294.431 294.431 0 0
components
(kgmol/h)
flow rate
Methanol 616.435 736.077 147.215 2.076 145.14 119.452 25.688

ethanol 12.71 26.92 26.92 0 26.92 14.375 12.545
water 6.355 6.692 301.122 0 301.122 0.301 300.821
219
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Manufacturing of DME from Methanol

Research · January 2016

Galal Nasser Abdullah Al Madani

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Mohammed Qasem Abdullah Ba Shammakh

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Synthesis and modification FAU zeolite View project

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Manufacturing of DME from

Dr. Muataz Ali Ateah

1 Galal Atef Ahmed

3 Abdullah Ba- Shammakh

Figure 1.molecular structure of DME...................................................................................................... 4

Table 1. Comparison between DME and Diesel Properties .................................................................... 5

Figure 1.molecular structure of DME

The Following table compares the properties of Diesel and DME.

Table 1. Comparison between DME and Diesel Properties

Historical Background of Methanol:

Table 2. Properties of Methanol and DME

Property Methanol Dimethyl Ether

Appearance (25°C),color liquid, colorless Gas, colorless

Molecular weight 32.04 g/mole 46.068 g/mol

Melting point -97.8°C -141.49 °C

0.7918 g/cm3 735.2 kg/m3

73.76 bar 53.4 bar

Gas density (1.013 bar at boiling point) ** 2.3622 kg/m3

Figure 3. Main Routes for DME Production

3CO + 3H2 → CH3OCH3 + CO2

2CO + 4H2 → CH3OCH3 + H2O

Reaction 1 involves 4 basic reactions:

CO2+3H2↔CH3OH+H2O ΔH298 K°= −49.4 kJ/mol (methanol synthesis from CO2)

CO+H2O↔CO2+H2 ΔH298 K°=−41.0 kJ/mol (water gas shift)

Figure 4. PDF for Synthetic Gas to DME Process

The main reaction in the dehydration process is:

2CH3OH =CH3OCH3+H2O ΔH (298 K°) =−23.5 kJ/mol, (ΔG = -12.1 kJ, 250 C)

The equilibrium equation for the hydration reaction is:

Figure 6. Methanol Safety Logo

Figure 7.DME Safety Logo

Conclusion about literature review

The compositions in wt.% of the distillate are changed as follow:

Table 5. The Distillate Compositions of the First Distillation Column (T-201)

Distillate composition of first column

So, we need to produce 248.36 Kgmol/h of (99.3 mol%) DME.

Mass balance around the reactor (R -201):

1) The base of calculation was sat to the stream

The feed to the reactor (stream#5) is 635.5094349Kgmol/h consisting of 2mol% ethanol,

: The amount of methanol entering into the reactor

: The amount unreacted of methanol.

The amount of methanol reacted = . From the

Degree of Freedom (Fd) Analysis:

extent of reaction is found to be

Reactor Feed Reactor out

DME 0 0 0 0.388 246.5777 11359.833

Ethanol 0.02 12.7102 585.5584 0.02 12.7102 585.5584

Water 0.01 6.3551 114.5188 0.398 252.933 4557.848

Total 1 635.509 20450.948 1 635.509 20453.4136

Mass balance around the first distillation column (T -201):

Let A=methanol, B= DME, C=WATER,D=ethanol

 All DME goes in the distillate

Specifications: Figure 9. First distillation Column (T-201)

Degree of freedom (Fd) analysis:

a=(42.93E-3)& b=(8.301E-5) &c =(01.87E-8 ) &d=(-8.03E-12) (for gas methanol)

+[(4.045E-5)M³/mole(15.50-1) atm ((1*E5)N/m²)/(1 atm )

∑ ̀ =( (123.318248.9274 )+(23.8743 61.04)+(253.2358* 51.57)+(246.5717

∑ ̀ =((616.461648.9274 )+( 23.8743 61.04)+( 6.6641* 51.57)+(0 *15.13569