UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN KIMIA

PROCESS SIMULATION LABORATORY
(CPE613)

PROJECT : PRODUCTION OF PROPYLENE GLYCOL

GROUP MEMBERS & : SITI SURAYA BINTI NGADIMAN (2014667994)

STUDENT I.D : MIRA FAZIRA BINTI MOHAMED KAHAR (2014851346)
: AFIFA FIRZANA BINTI MOHD
KAMARUDDIN
(2014487038)
: NUR ISKANDAR ISLAHUDIN BIN
MOHAMED
(2014421628)

SEMESTER :5
PROGRAM : EH241/5A
No. Title Allocated Marks (%) Marks
1 Procedure 20
2 Process Flow Diagram (PFD) 20
3 Workbook 30
4 Questions & Discussions 30
TOTAL MARKS 100

Remarks:

Checked by: Rechecked by:

------------------------------- -----------------------------------
( ) ( )
Date: Date:
1. PROCEDURE

1. On desktop, Hysys was accessed and the new case opened.

2. Then the simulation Basis (fluid package) was defined

i. Go to the View and click the Property Package.
ii. Chemical system Categories >> All Property Package
iii. Thermodynamic Model >>UNIQUAC
iv. The Apply button was hit to acknowledge the selection.

3. Then the components that needed in this reaction were filled up.
i. The Components >> find Propylene Glycol(C3H8O2), Propylene
Oxide(C3H6O) and Water(H2O)
ii. The Apply button was clicked to acknowledge the selection without leaving
the thermodynamic property package environment.

4. After that simulation was build.

i. Materialstreams >> Add Materialstreams. The material stream immediately

pops up.
ii. The stream are Stream 1 and Stream 2.
iii. The following conditions (temperature, pressure, mass flow and molar
composition) values were being entered into their specific row.
Stream 1

Composition at stream 1
Stream 2

Composition at stream 2

Summary :

Stream 1 Stream 2
Temperature (oC) 25 25
Pressure (kPa) 100 100
Molar flow rate (kg/h) 3952 4990
Composition (%) Propylene Oxide 1.0 Propylene Oxide 0.0
Water 0.0 Water 1.0
Propylene Glycol 0.0 Propylene Glycol 0.0

Table 1:Values of temperature, pressure, flow rate and

composition.
5. Mixer
MIX-100 was created. It was connected to Stream 1 and Stream 2 for the feed
while Stream 3 for outlets.

6. Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor(CSTR)

(CSTR-1) was created. It was connected to Stream 3 for the feed while Stream 5
for outlets. Assumption are made for a CSTR with a volume of 8,000 L and liquid
volume of 85%. The outlet temperature of CSTR is 60 oC. For reaction kinetic, tab
Kinetic are clicked and molar fraction been choose.

1.7 1013
kf= ( h ) (exp
75362 kJ /kgmole
RT )

The parameter

Figure 1 : Figure of CSTR

7. Distillation Column
T-100 was selected. The column was connected to S5 for input and Stream 6 and
Stream 7 for output. The distillation columns have 10 stages with feed inlet at
stage 5. For vapor stream Total Condenser were selected. Pressure of reboiler and
condenser are 1 bar while reflux ratio is 1.

Figure 2 : Figure of input for distillation column

 Figure 3 : figure of input distillation column

8. All readings have been showed on the table for each component
by double click on it and it showed solved with green color.
2. PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM (PFD)

Figure 4 : PFD from ASPEN HYSYS

Figure 5 : Shortcut column T-100

3. WORKBOOK

ASPEN HYSYS
CALCULATION

We used shortcut distillation to find the minimum number of trays, actual

number of trays, optimal feed stage an also the composition of propylene glycol. First
the Rmin is already calculate when we substitute the data from the distillation column.
We made comparison the value of reflux ratio between 1.0-1.5. Which of the constant
will give the accurate or nearest value to the final product of propylene glycol. We
want to achieve the objective of this lab which is to produce a final product containing
99.5% propylene glycol.

When constant = 1.0

Given Rmin = 0.046
Substitute into formula, R = 1.0 Rmin
= 1.0 (0.046)
= 0.046
From the figure above, we can see the number of stage for the feed and actual number is too
big. We cannot take the value to get the composition of propylene glycol.

When constant = 1.5

Given Rmin = 0.046
Substitute into formula, R = 1.5Rmin
= 1.5(0.046)
= 0.069
For the constant 1.5,
The feed stage is 5
The actual number of trays is 13. The result is :
 The product of propylene glycol at the stream 7 is 0.9950. So its valid and the lab was
success to achieve the objective.

4. DISCUSSION

This lab simulation is about production of propylene glycol. The goal

is to produce final product containing 99.5% propylene glycol. Hysys
was used in order to conduct this simulation where it able to
determine the parameter for each stream and equipment and the
composition of the component. The production of propylene glycol
was produced from water and propylene oxide. It is via the
hydrolysis of propylene oxide which is usually accelerated by acid or
base catalysis. This process uses three main material simulation
components which is mixer, continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR)
and distillation column. In this process, 3952 kg of propylene oxide
and 4990 kg of water were fed at 25 oC and 1 bar. Uniquac equation
of state was chosen as the fluid package.

Initially, the propylene oxide and water were mixed together in

a mixer. Then it entered into the CSTR. The reaction takes place in
both liquid phases of both reactants. The mixture was convert into
 three main components which is propylene oxide, propylene glycol
and water and the temperature had change into 60 oC at the output
of CSTR. Next, it entered the distillation column. At distillation, it is
set that there were 10 stages with feed inlet at stage 5. The pressure
of reboiler and condenser are 1 bar while reflux ratio is 1. As for that,
the product at reboiler ( stream 7) is propylene glycol with 0.9950
mole fraction while at condenser ( stream 6) is mostly water with
1.0000.

Figure 5 : The composition of components

The equipments have their own purpose. Mixers play an

important role in many different production processes, at the
beginning or at the end. Some processes require several feed
streams to be properly mixed before a reaction is commenced in a
reactor. Materials in all physical states are capable of being mixed
together, whether it is gas mixing, liquid mixing, gas-liquid mixing. 1
The mixer in its simplest terms is to mix the different types of liquid.
There is no reaction occurs. It just the different types of component
mix into one component.
Next is continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). Reactor is
where the chemical reaction takes place with continuous flow of
reactants and products. While for distillation column, it is to separate
vapor and liquid mixture where it undergoes separation process.
Finally , the shortcut distillation utility within HYSYS allows
users to quickly ,model a distillation separation of a stream with
relatively little known information. Once the user attaches a fully
defined inlet stream to the shortcut distillation column, the essential
information that must be specified are as follows :
The vapor/liquid quality of the top product

1 https://processdesign.mccormick.northwestern.edu/index.php/Mixer_and_Splitter
 The light key component and composition in the bottoms
product
The heavy key component and composition in the
distillate (top) product
The condenser pressure
The reboiler pressure
The external reflux ratio
With this information, the utility will run and if possible converge on
a solution that will meet the key component specifications. The
critical information that the utility will calculate are as follows:
Fully specified distillate product stream
( temperature, pressure, flow rate , composition)
Fully specified bottom product stream ( temperature,
pressure, flow rate , composition)
Condenser operating temperature and heat duty
Reboiler operating temperature and heat duty
Minimum number of trays
Optimum feed tray
The primary purpose of the shortcut distillation is to allow for users
to perform a
first pass estimate on the performance requirements of a given
system for a
specified reflux ratio. The values gathered from the shortcut
distillation utility can
be used to assist the user setting up the complete distillation utility
in HYSYS, or when attempting to find reasonable column properties
such as number of trays.2

The physical properties for each of components are :

Component Propylen Water Propylene

/ properties e oxide glycol
Chemical C3H6O H2O C3H6O2
formula
Molar mass 58.07914 18.01528 76.09442g.mo
g.mol-1 g.mol-1 l-1

2 https://processdesign.mccormick.northwestern.edu/index.php/Column
 Melting -112 oC 0 oC -60 oC
point
Boiling point 34oC 100 oC 187.6 oC

As for this simulation, we used UNIQUAC as our fluid package.

It is very suitable because it show more significant number for each
value like the molar composition each of equipment. Moreover,
Uniquac is applicable to a wide variety of liquid mixtures. As we
know, our simulation was assumed that the reaction takes place in
both liquid for both reactants. Its application is Activity coefficients can be used to
predict simple phase equilibria (vapourliquid, liquidliquid, solidliquid), or to
estimate other physical properties (e.g. viscosity of mixtures). Models such as
UNIQUAC allow chemical engineers to predict the phase behavior of multicomponent
chemical mixtures. They are commonly used in process simulation programs to
calculate the mass balance in and around separation units3. So, it is suitable for this
simulation and application in industry.

For this simulation, we had done by Aspen Hysys.

From table above, we can say that from aspen hysys it totally
converts into water as the overhead product while from Icon, there is
still small amount of other component. The other values are same.
The main we need to check is the final product composition of
propylene glycol. Both application get 0.9950 of mole composition of
propylene glycol and 0.0050 of water as water is the excess of
reactants. This is because, the main reaction of this process is to
produce 0.9950 of propylene glycol which the setting of the streams
and equipment input and outputs are obviously same.

The recommendation for this simulation lab is by using plug

flow reactor (PFR) with the present of catalyst. It is because we will
know either the process convert more efficiently or not with the
present of catalyst. As conclusion, the production of propylene glycol
is achieved as it converts 99.5% at the product.

Question

1. What is the conversion of propylene glycol after reaction in CSTR?

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIQUAC
 The conversion of propylene glycol after reaction in CSTR is 0.24553.

2. What is the phase of the final product obtained?

The phase of final product obtained is in liquid for both overhead and
bottom product which 0.00 fraction of vapor.

3. What is the mole fraction for each component in the final product
stream ?

The mole fraction for each component in the final product stream are
:

Component \ stream Stream 5 & 6 (overhead) Stream 6 & 7(bottom)

Propylene oxide 0.00014 0.0000
Water 0.99984 0.0050
Propylene glycol 0.00002 0.9950

4. Is the purity of the final product 99.5 %? If not, how to achieve the desired purity?

Yes it is which the purity of final product is 99.5%. If it is not we need to by using
another distillation column to separate the product to achieve higher purities.

5. Compare and discuss your result by using ASPEN HYSIS.

The result between ICON and ASPEN HYSIS are slightly different as it had been
explain detailed from the discussion.

5. REFERENCE

1. https://processdesign.mccormick.northwestern.edu/index.php/Mixer_and_Splitter
2. https://processdesign.mccormick.northwestern.edu/index.php/Column
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIQUAC