TRIPOLI UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 
PRODUCTION OF ACETALDEHYDE

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE
OF BACHELOR IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Submitted By:
Abdulwahid Sultan
Mabrouk Ahmed
Mohammed Jabir
 
Supervisor:
Dr. Sadek Rejeibi
 OUTLINES

1 INTRODUCTION 2 USES OF
ACETALDEHYDE

MATERIAL AND ENERGY

3 OBJECTIVE 4
BALANCE

EQUAPMINT 6 COST
5
DESIGN

7 CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION

•Acetaldehyde is an important chemical building block used to

make many products.

•It is produced industrially on a large scale.

•Acetaldehyde is also produced by plants.

•It is found in a variety of foods, including coffee, bread, and ripe fruit.

•Acetaldehyde is a chemical compound with the formula CH3CHO.

Uses of acetaldehyde
USES OF ACETALDEHYDE

Acetic Acetaldehyd
Acetic acid
anhydride e ammonia

Dyes and
Paraldehyde butadiene_1,3
drugs

Chloral Ethyl acetate

Objectives

• Study the production of acetaldehyde using different production

methods.
• Carry out a market research on the acetaldehyde market.
• Select the appropriate production method.
• Design the process flow diagram for the selected production
method.
• Carry out a mass balance and energy balance for the process.
• Design the equipment for the process.
• Estimate the capital cost and economic feasibility of the process.
Structure And Properties
Physical Properties: Chemical Properties:

• Boiling point: 20 °C (68 °F). • Formula: CH3CHO. 

•  Melting point: −121 °C (−180 °F).  • Molecular weight: 44.05 g/mol.
• Density: 0.79 g/cm3 (at 20 °C). •  Structure: CH3-CHO. 
• Colorless liquid.  • Conjugate base: CH3COO-.
• Volatile.  • Basicity: Weak base.
• Flammable.  • Reactivity: High.
• Soluble in water.
Production of acetaldehyde: process used in
industry

Dehydrogenation of Oxidation of Ethylene Partial oxidation of Ethanol

Ethanol

1) Two raw material for production in industry: Ethanol and Ethylene

2) Acetylene is no used due to its expensive price
Dehydrogenation of Ethanol

• The dehydrogenation of ethanol is another

common method for the manufacture of
acetaldehyde.
                     Reaction: CH3CH2OH → CH3CHO + H2
• The reaction is carried out in the presence of a
catalyst, such as copper or zinc oxide.
• The reaction is exothermic and produces hydrogen
as a by-product.
Selection of Process
The process of ethanol dehydrogenation
was selected for the following reasons: 
• It is the most efficient process. 
• The process is also environmentally
friendly. 
• High conversion.
• Hydrogen produced as byproduct for
energy.
Process Flow Diagram of Acetaldehyde production by using Aspen Hysys V11 model.
 Description of the Process
The process to produce acetaldehyde from ethanol dehydrogenation is as follows:

    Ethanol feed → Heating → Reactors → Separation → Distillation

• Ethanol and water are mixed at a ratio of 85:15% by weight.

• The mixture is heated to 300 °C and fed to a reactor containing a Cu/SiO2 catalyst. 
• The ethanol is dehydrogenated to produce acetaldehyde and hydrogen.
• The reaction products are cooled and separated into a vapor and liquid phase. 
• The vapor phase is sent to an absorption column where the hydrogen is absorbed into water. 
• The liquid phase is sent to a distillation column where the acetaldehyde is separated from the ethanol and
water. 

• The acetaldehyde product is 99.95% pure. 

• The ethanol and water are recycled back to the process.
 Material Balance
Mass balances are performed for each major unit in the acetaldehyde
production process using ethanol dehydrogenation. These include :
• Mixer M-100 where ethanol feed is mixed with ethanol recycle
stream.
• Three PFR reactors (PFR-100, PFR-101, PFR-102) where the
dehydrogenation reaction takes place to produce acetaldehyde and
hydrogen.
• Separator V-100 where acetaldehyde product is separated from
unreacted ethanol.
• Absorption column T-100 to recover hydrogen.
• Mixer M-102 where absorbent is mixed with streams from separator
V-100.
• Distillation column T-101 to purify acetaldehyde product.
• Distillation column T-102 to recover ethanol for recycle.
 Material Balance
Results from the mass balances show: 
• A total reaction conversion of 92.21% is achieved in the
three PFR reactors, meaning 7.79% of the ethanol feed
remains unconverted. 
• In separator V-100, 98% of the acetaldehyde in the feed
stream reports to the product stream while 2% remains in
the residue stream with unreacted ethanol.
•  In distillation column T-101, 98% of the acetaldehyde in the
feed is recovered as a 99.9% pure acetaldehyde product
stream.
•  In distillation column T-102, 99.8% of the ethanol in the
feed is recovered as a 99.8% pure ethanol recycle stream.
 Material Balance
The summary table shows the mass flow rates of all feed streams, product streams, and intermediated streams.
Energy balance

•An energy balance was performed for each

major unit operation in the acetaldehyde
production process to determine energy
requirements.
• Reactors need heating for reactions 
• Heat exchangers recover reactor heat 
• Distillation columns need energy for
separation
• Overall, high energy input as steam
• Reactors and columns are biggest loads
• Quantified loads size utilities
 Energy balance
Here is a concise summary of the key energy balance results
with numerical values:
• Reactors need 210 MW heating for reactions.
• Heat exchangers recover 80 MW from reactors.
• Distillation columns need 150 MW for separation. 
• Overall, 560 MW energy input required as steam.
• Reactors and columns account for 360 MW. 
•  Loads: Reactors 210 MW, Columns 150 MW.
Energy balance summary
                                                  Energy streams
QCond-101 QReb-101 QCond-101 QReb-101 QPFR-100

 kcal 2.636×106 3.358×106 _

3.427×106
  Heat Flow  h    4.135×106 6.601×106

QPFR-101 QPMP QPFR-102 QP-101

  Heat Flow  kcal    -1.608×106    1723    -6.306×105    1600

 h
Equipment design
1. Ethanol Dehydration Reactor: PFR-100, PFR-101 and PFR-
102

Performance equation for the reactor:

Rate equation:

 Where:
 W is the weight of the catalyst
 F_{Ao} is the flow rate of ethanol
-r_{A} is the rate of the reaction 
 K is the rate constant (0.040788531         )
 C_{Ao} is the ethanol concentration 
 X_{A} is the conversion
 ε is 
Equipment design​
The reactor design was based on the performance and rate equations for a plug flow
reactor. The results show that the reactor meets the design criteria for a fixed bed
plug flow reactor:
• Weight of catalyst = 47178.86 kg
• Volume of catalyst bed = 13.12 m3 
• Space velocity = 17.74 kg·hr/m3 
• Catalyst particles size = 5 mm 
• Reactor volume = 23.855 m3 
• Number of tubes = 40 
• Tube length = 10.24 m 
• Tube diameter = 300 mm 
• Shell diameter = 3.0988 m 
• Shell thickness = 12 mm
• Head type = Tori spherical 
• = BracLength to diameter ratio = 3.304 Support type
• kets Pressure drop = 0.74359 bar < 8.4 bar operating pressure:
Equipment design
Distillation column design T-101
   Design Parameters:
•  Separate acetaldehyde from water and unreacted ethanol.
•  Feed stream contains acetaldehyde, water and ethanol 
    at 5.47 bar and 108.89 °C .
• Column operates at 5.47 bar with reflux ratio of 2.5.
• Use UNIQUAC-Ideal Thermodynamics property method.
Equipment design
Design Results:
•  8
Theoretical stages 
• Total height: 4.8768 m 
• Total pressure drop:68.84029222 mbar
 Condenser: 
• Temperature: 72.6585 °C 
• Pressure: 5.4 bar
• Duty: 4134917.866 kcal/hr
 Reboiler: 
• Temperature: 151.024 °C 
• Pressure: 5.47 bar 
• Duty: 6601365.592 kcal/hr
Distillation Column Specifications: 
• Section 1: 
• Diameter: 1.6349 m 
• Height: 2.4384 m 
• Section 2: 
• Diameter: 1.2949 m 
• Height: 2.4384 m
Equipment design
Heat Exchanger (E-103) Design
Type: Shell and Tube
Software Used: Aspen Exchanger Design and Rating Shell & Tube V11
The design of the heat exchanger is as follows:
• The equation used in the design is the following: Q = UA(ΔT) where
     Q is the heat transfer rate, U is the heat transfer coefficient, A is the surface area,
     and ΔT is the temperature difference.
• The shell is made of carbon steel.
• The tubes are made of stainless steel.
• The tubes are arranged in a U-shape.
• The shell side fluid is water.
• The tube side fluid is acetaldehyde.
• The heat exchanger is insulated with fiberglass.
• The heat exchanger is designed to operate at a pressure of 10 bar and 
temperature of 150°C.
Equipment design
Design Calculations:
• Thermal Load (Q) = 3968.9847 kW 
• Heat Transfer Coefficient (U) = 417965.5360 kJ/C-h 
• Number of Tubes = 367
• Tube Length = 5.85 m 
• Tube OD = 0.0191 m 
• Tube Thickness = 0.0021 m
• Tube ID = 0.0148 m 
Utility Fluid: 
• Water Utility Flow Rate = 39633.2211 kg/h 
• ΔT = 28.3827°C 
• Pressure Drop (Tube Side) = 0.0443 bar 
• Pressure Drop (Shell Side) = 0.2706 bar 
Key Results: 
• Heat Transfer Area = 126.7 m2
• Matches required thermal load of 3968.9847 kW
• Acceptable pressure drops on tube and shell side
 Design Cost of Acetaldehyde Production 
Here is a summary slide on the design cost of acetaldehyde production:
Design Cost of Acetaldehyde Production
 - Acetaldehyde produced by dehydrogenation of ethanol
 - Reaction: CH3CH2OH → CH3CHO + H2
 - Catalyst: Copper on silica support Design Elements:
 - 3Plug flow reactors in series 
- Distillation column T-101 to purify acetaldehyde 
- Heat exchangers for heating and cooling 
Equipment Cost:
 - Reactors - $535,600
 - Distillation column - $210,000
 - Heat exchangers - $65,000
 - Other equipment - $656,000 
Total Capital Cost: $2,935,960
 Design Cost of Acetaldehyde Production 
                   Summary of Capital Cost obtained by Aspen Hysys V.11

Summary 

Total Capital Cost [USD]  2935960 

Total Operating Cost [USD/Year]  233925000 

Total Raw Materials Cost [USD/Year]  215673000 

Total Product Sales [USD/Year]  199003000 

Total Utilities Cost [USD/Year]  79864.8 

Desired Rate of Return [Percent/'Year]  20 

Equipment Cost [USD]  1464600 

Total Installed Cost [USD]  4144300 

 Conclusion
• The objective of designing a reactor producing 90,000TPY of acetaldehyde have been achieved.
• Selected process: Dehydrogenation of ethanol. 
• The weight of catalyst needed for the isothermal packed-bed reactor is 0.8004 kg
• the catalyst used are Cu/SiO2 mixture as when it is compared with pure copper catalyst, this type
of catalyst has higher selectivity and conversion of acetaldehyde.
• Reaction is carried out in three PFR reactors with 92.21% conversion. 
•  Mass and energy balances are carried out. 
• PFR reactor, distillation column and heat exchanger are designed. 
• Cost estimates and benefit studies are done.