Process Modeling & Simulation Open Ended Lab
Report-1
Experiment # 08:
To simulate the production of Dimethyl Ether (DME) via the dehydration of methanol using a
Conversion Reactor in Aspen HYSYS, and to evaluate the material and energy balances based
on an 80% fractional conversion.
Procedure:
1. I launched the Aspen HYSYS (V11) software. Upon opening, the "Start Using Aspen
HYSYS" dialogue box appeared on the screen. I clicked on the "New" file icon located
on the left navigation pane to initialize a new, blank simulation case for the project.
2. I navigated to the "Component Lists" section in the Properties environment and created a
new component list. Using the search bar, I identified and added three pure components
to the list: Water (H2O), Methanol, and Dimethyl Ether (diM-Ether), which are the
required species for this process.
3. I navigated to the "Fluid Packages" section in the left navigation pane and added a new
fluid package (Basis-1). From the Property Package Selection list, I selected the
"UNIQUAC" thermodynamic model. The software automatically linked this package
to "Component List - 1," and the status indicator at the bottom turned green with an
"OK" message, confirming that the fluid package was successfully configured.
4. I created a "Conversion" reaction (Rxn-1) under a new Reaction Set. In the
Stoichiometry tab, I assigned coefficients: Methanol (-2), Water (1), and diM-Ether (1),
yielding a zero balance error. In the Basis tab, I selected Methanol as the base
component and set the conversion to 80%.
5. I returned to the main Reaction Set window (Set-1). I clicked the "Add to FP" button
to link the configured reaction set to the active fluid package (Basis-1). The status
indicator turned green and displayed "Ready," confirming the reaction set was
successfully attached.
6. I entered the Simulation environment and added a Material Stream to the flowsheet,
naming it "Methanol Feed". In the Worksheet's Conditions tab, I specified the initial
feed parameters: a temperature of 25 °C, a pressure of 1 bar, and a molar flow rate of
100 kgmole/h. The status bar turned green, indicating the stream was fully defined.
7. I navigated to the Composition tab of the "Methanol Feed" stream. I specified the
mole fraction of Methanol as 1.0000, representing a pure methanol feed. The mole
fractions for H2O and diM-Ether remained at 0.0000. Upon entering the values, the
total normalized to 1.0000 and the status indicator turned green ("OK"), completing
the full definition of the feed stream.
8. I added a Pump (P-100) to the flowsheet from the model palette. In the Design tab
under Connections, I selected "Methanol Feed" as the inlet stream. I then defined the
outlet stream as "Pump Out" and the energy stream as "Pump Q". The status bar
displayed "Unknown Duty," indicating that the outlet pressure still needed to be
specified.
9. I navigated to the Worksheet's Conditions tab for the pump. I specified the discharge
pressure for the "Pump Out" stream as 15.00 bar. The pump solved automatically,
calculating the required energy duty, and the status bar turned green ("OK").
10. I added a Heater (E-100) to the flowsheet from the model palette. In the Design tab
under Connections, I selected "Pump Out" as the inlet stream. I then defined the outlet
stream as "Reactor Feed" and the energy stream as "Heater Q". The status bar
displayed "Unknown Delta P," indicating that the pressure drop across the heater still
needed to be defined.
11. I navigated to the Worksheet's Conditions tab for the heater. I specified the outlet
temperature for the "Reactor Feed" stream as 250.0 °C and its pressure as 15.00 bar.
The unit solved automatically, calculating the required heat flow, and the status bar
turned green ("OK").
12. I added a Conversion Reactor (CRV-100) to the flowsheet from the model palette. In
the Design tab under Connections, I selected "Reactor Feed" as the inlet stream. I then
defined the vapour outlet stream as "Reactor Vap" and the liquid outlet stream as
"Reactor Liq". The status bar displayed a red warning indicating that a reaction set
was required to proceed with the calculations.
13. I navigated to the Reactions tab and selected the Details sub-tab within the Conversion
Reactor window. From the Reaction Set dropdown menu, I selected "Set-1". Upon
attaching this reaction set, the reactor successfully calculated the mass balance based
on the defined stoichiometry and 80% conversion, and the status bar turned green
("OK").
14. I added a Cooler (E-101) to the flowsheet from the model palette. In the Design tab
under Connections, I selected "Reactor Vap" as the inlet stream. I then defined the
energy stream as "Cooler Q" and the outlet stream as "Cooler Out". The status bar
displayed "Unknown Delta P," indicating that the pressure drop parameter still needed
to be defined.
15. I navigated to the Parameters sub-tab under the Design tab for the cooler (E-101). I
specified the pressure drop (Delta P) across the unit as 0.0000 bar. The status bar then
updated to display "Unknown Duty," indicating that the outlet temperature still
needed to be defined for the calculations to proceed.
16. I navigated to the Worksheet's Conditions tab for the cooler. I specified the outlet
temperature for the "Cooler Out" stream as 50.00 °C. The unit solved automatically,
calculating the required cooling duty, and the status bar turned green ("OK").
17. I added a Separator (V-100) to the flowsheet from the model palette. In the Design tab
under Connections, I selected "Cooler Out" as the inlet stream. I then defined the
vapour outlet stream as "DME Product" and the liquid outlet stream as "Liquid
Byproduct". The unit solved automatically, separating the phases, and the status bar
turned green ("OK").
18. I reviewed the final process flowsheet displaying the completely integrated system.
The diagram illustrates the sequential connection of the pump (P-100), heater (E-100),
conversion reactor (CRV-100), cooler (E-101), and separator (V-100). All streams and
unit operations successfully converged, as indicated by the dark blue material streams
and the "Solver (Main) - Ready" status, confirming the complete simulation of the
Dimethyl Ether production process.
Results:
The steady-state simulation successfully modeled Dimethyl Ether (DME) production from a 100
kgmole/h pure methanol feed. The conversion reactor achieved the specified 80% conversion,
and the final flash separator effectively divided the effluent into a vapor DME product stream
and a liquid byproduct stream containing water and unreacted methanol.
Discussion:
The process design demonstrates the critical role of thermal regulation, utilizing a heater to
reach the required 250 °C reaction temperature and a cooler to drop the reactor effluent to 50
°C. This specific cooling step is essential for the final phase separation, leveraging the higher
volatility of DME to isolate it in the vapor phase away from the heavier liquid components.