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Koya University
Faculty of engineering
Chemical engineering department

4th stage Semester 07th 2021-2022

2022-2023
Process Simulation

By: Mr. Ribwar K. Abdulrahman,

Natural Gas Processing Engineering, the UK

ProMax Process Simulation/ Topic 3

Exercise 2: Distillation

Introduction
Distillation is a common unit operation that separates components based on volatility differences in
a boiling liquid-vapor mixture. It is applied to a wide range of industrial processes such as natural gas
liquids recovery, air separation, crude oil fractionation and alcoholic beverage production.

There are a number of different configurations for distillation unit operations. These configurations can
include reboilers, condensers, varying the number of stages in the distillation column, the type of trays
or packing, and the location of the inlet line. Process simulation can evaluate the performance of these
different configurations to determine the best setup to achieve a desired separation.

Background
This exercise returns to the natural gas plant in Alberta, Canada to investigate what happens to the
high-pressure hydrocarbon liquid leaving the inlet separator. This liquid stream contains a large quantity
of light (C4 and below) components which will vaporize when pressure is reduced. As the propane and
butane components vaporize, they pull valuable heavier hydrocarbons along with them, reducing the
quantity of liquids and affecting the financial success of the operating company. The evaporated vapors
require recompression or will contribute to environmental pollution if released to the atmosphere.

Stabilization is a means of removing lighter hydrocarbons from the liquids stream without losing the
valuable heavier components and without venting to atmosphere. The basis of stabilization is a
distillation column as seen in Figures 1 and 2. When considering the column internals shown in this
diagram it is helpful to know the following terminology

 Tray: a physical plate welded to the interior of the distillation column that brings vapor and
liquid into close contact. 

 Packing: a set of rings or plates with a high surface area-to-volume ratio that brings vapor and
 liquid into close contact. 
  Downcomer: an open area where liquids can flow down from one tray to the next.
 Weir: a raised edge which keeps a quantity of liquid on the tray and prevents it from drying.
 Figure 2: Detail of a Distillation Column Tray

Figure 1: Design of a stabilizer column

Figure 3 shows the process flow diagram for the stabilizer system in use at the natural gas processing
plant. The liquid stream is cooled to reach the desired operating temperature and flashed across a
Joule-Thompson valve. It then enters the stabilizer column which has four theoretical stages. A reboiler
provides heat to the bottom of the column, creating the vapor stream needed. Finally, the bottoms
product is cooled for storage.

Figure 3: Process flow diagram for the stabilizer system

The feed to the stabilizer is the light liquid outlet from the inlet separator in the previous exercise. If
required, the composition and properties are provided in Tables 1 and 2, on the following page. Table 3
provides the necessary operating parameters for modelling the unit.

Table 1: Inlet Stream Composition Table 2: Inlet Stream Properties

Component Mole Fraction Temperature 24.9 oC

Nitrogen 0.14 % Pressure 2490 kPa
Hydrogen Sulfide 2.66 % Flow Rate 1100 kg/h
Carbon Dioxide 0.53 %
Methane 9.60 %
Ethane 4.42 %
Propane 6.05 %
n-Butane 11.84 %
n-Pentane 23.50%
n-Hexane 22.73 %
Heptane 13.58 %
Octane 7.79 %
Water 0.04 %

Table 3: Operating Parameters

Low Pressure Separator Outlet Pressure 800 kPa (a)

Feed Cooler Pressure Drop 5 kPa
Feed Cooler Outlet Temp 18.5 oC
JT Valve Outlet Pressure 300 kPa (a)
Stabilizer Number of Stages 4
Stabilizer Pressure Change 15 kPa
Stabilizer Bottoms Temp 110 oC
Reboiler Pressure Drop 0 kPa
Product Cooler Pressure Drop 5 kPa
Product Cooler Outlet Temp 80 oC

Part 1 Simulating the Stabilizer Column

To begin, create an environment with the Peng-Robinson property package and the components listed
in Table 1. The first piece of equipment is a two-phase separator, which is similar to the separator
covered in the previous exercise but without the heavy liquid draw. Next is a single sided heat
exchanger, which can be dragged onto the flowsheet from the ProMax Heat Exchangers panel. The
pressure drop is specified in the exchanger while the outlet temperature is a stream property and
therefore specified in the stream.

The next piece of equipment is the Joule-Thompson valve. ProMax has a number of different valve icons
but they all perform the same calculation, so any choice from the Valves panel will work.
When adding the distillation column, choose the “Distil R” option. This selection has the column,
reboiler and associated streams already connected, saving the task of adding each individually. When
the column is first opened, a window will appear asking for the number of stages as in Figure 4. Here,
enter the number of stages and other options for the column.

A number of tabs are available to enter and view

distillation column parameters and options. If an
incorrect number of stages were entered,
modifications to the column can be made under the
Connections tab. To add or delete stages, right-click
on a particular stage in the column, and select either
Add Stage(s) or Delete Stage(s). With Add Stage(s),
there is a choice to add 1-10 stages, 11-20 stages, 50
stages or 200 stages at a single time. This is shown in
Figure 5 below.
Figure 4: Column Stage Information Window

To delete stages, select Delete Stage(s) from the same context menu. Please note that it is not possible to
delete a stage that has a stream connected to it. In order to delete multiple stages at a single time, hold
down the Ctrl button, left-click to select multiple stages and then select Delete Stage(s).

Figure 5: Adding and deleting stages on the distillation column using the Connections tab
The column pressure change can be entered under the Stage Data tab, on the Summary grouping, as
shown in Figure 6. Other groupings like Hardware and Efficiency allow entry of additional Stage Data
parameters – these do not need to be modified immediately. Take some time to explore the column
setup in Project Viewer.

On the Specifications tab, it can be seen that the column has one degree of freedom. ProMax cannot
solve a column unless there are exactly zero degrees of freedom. The stabilizer bottoms temperature
can be added as a new specification to use the remaining degree of freedom by clicking the Add button,
as shown in Figure 7. Choose type “Phase Property” and give the new specification a name. On the next
window, the details of the specification can be entered as in Figure 8. Remember to make the
specification active by checking the box in the bottom right.

Figure 6: Entering Pressure Change on the Stage Data tab

 Figure 7 Adding a specification to the distillation column

The final step in completing the model is to add

a Fin-Fan exchanger from the ProMax Heat
Exchangers panel to the bottoms product. With
that, the Stabilizer model is ready to run.

Figure 8: Completing the column specification

Part 1 Questions
What is the mass flow of the bottoms product (the stabilized liquids)? How does this compare with the
inlet mass flow?

What is the molar composition of the stabilizer overhead vapor stream?

The Boilup Ratio is the quantity of vapor entering the reboiler which is subsequently vaporized
and returned to the column. What is the Boilup Ratio for this distillation column?
Part 2 Graphing Column Performance
Since distillation columns are complex pieces of equipment, it is useful to get a graphical view of how
the columns are operating. ProMax can provide this information by opening the column in Project
Viewer and selecting the Plots tab. The data shown on the plot can be changed using the Edit Plot
button as shown in Figure 9. Two profiles are available: Properties (temperature, pressure, flow, etc)
and Composition.

Figure 9: The Plot Edit window for the distillation column

Part 2 Questions
Generate a plot of temperature on each stage of the column. Considering the position of the cool feed
at the top of the tower and the hot reboiler at the bottom, does this temperature plot match
expectations?

Generate a plot of the mole fraction of propane in the vapor and liquid phases. Does this plot suggest
the stabilizer is working correctly or that there is an operational problem? Explain why.
 Part 3 Using Callouts and Property Tables
Sometimes it is helpful to include information right on the flowsheet, rather than having to access the
Project Viewer to view it. There are two ways to do so: Callouts and Property Tables.

Callouts are found under the ProMax Streams panel and can be quickly connected to the connection
point on any stream as shown in Figure 10. Double-click to configure which properties, analyses and
compositions to display.

Property Tables are also found in the ProMax Streams panel. They take a little more time to configure
than Callouts, but can display a wider range of data, including data from heat exchangers and distillation
columns. Double-click to configure a Property Table and take a moment exploring different ways to
show data. The View Selection option, highlighted below in Figure 11, is particularly powerful in
changing the way that variables are selected and displayed.

Figure 10: Attaching

a callout to a stream

Figure 11: Configuring a Property Table

Part 3 Questions
Attach a callout to show the mass fraction vapor, the mass fraction (light) liquid, and the total mass
flow of stream 3. What are these values?

Create a property table to show the heat duties of the Feed Cooler and Product Cooler, in units of kW.
What are these values?
Part 4 Adjusting Column Specification
The assignment of the reboiler temperature to 110 OC was somewhat arbitrary. Gas plants typically
operate the stabilizer and reboiler to meet a particular pipeline or sales specification on the liquids. In
this case, the specification is that the liquids should have a True Vapor Pressure at or below 5 kPa (g).

Part 4 Questions
With the True Vapor Pressure specification set, what is the mass flowrate of liquids from the
product cooler?

What is the new reboiler temperature, and how much energy is required by the reboiler?

Part 5 Adding an Analysis

An analysis allows the calculation of a variety of stream properties beyond what is usually reported for
a stream under the Properties tab in the Project Viewer, using correlations built into ProMax. To add an
Analysis, open a stream in Project Viewer and navigate to the Analysis Tab. Click the Add Analysis
button, and choose the desired type of analysis.

After an analysis has been added, click the Solve button on the upper right corner execute it.

Figure 12: Adding a Phase Envelope Analysis to Stream 1

Part 5 Questions
Generate a pressure-temperature phase diagram for the inlet stream (1)

Hint: Add a Phase Envelope Analysis, solve it, and then navigate to the Plots tab.

What is the critical point for the inlet stream (1) fluid?