Process Modeling & Simulation Lab Report
Experiment # 07:
Procedure:
1. I launched the Aspen HYSYS software and clicked on the "New" button to create a blank
simulation case for the Week-7 lab report task.
2. I navigated to the "Fluid Packages" folder within the Properties environment and clicked
the "Add" button to set up a new thermodynamic property package for the simulation.
3. I accessed the "Component Lists" folder and added the necessary pure components for the
reaction from the HYSYS databanks: Methane, Oxygen, Nitrogen, CO, Hydrogen, and
CO2.
4. I navigated to the "Reactions" tab and configured "Rxn-1", entering the stoichiometric
coefficients for Methane (-1), Oxygen (-0.5), CO (1), and Hydrogen (2). I then set the Base
Component to Methane with an overall reaction phase and specified the conversion value
(Co) as 0.5500.
5. I configured the second conversion reaction, "Rxn-2", by inputting the stoichiometric
coefficients for Methane (-1), Oxygen (-1), CO2 (1), and Hydrogen (2). I then selected
Methane as the Base Component and set the conversion value (Co) to 0.4500.
6. I grouped both "Rxn-1" and "Rxn-2" into a single reaction set ("Set-1") and clicked the
"Add to Fluid Package" button. I then linked this set to "Basis-1" to properly integrate the
reactions with the Peng-Robinson property package.
7. I added a Conversion Reactor to the flowsheet and named it "2022-CH-13". Under the
Connections tab, I assigned "Methane" and "Air" as the inlet streams, and defined "Vap"
and "Liq" for the vapour and liquid outlets.
8. I accessed the Conditions section under the reactor's Worksheet tab to specify the inlet
stream parameters. I set the temperature to 50.00 °C and pressure to 5.000 bar for both
"Methane" and "Air", entering their molar flows as 100.0 kgmole/h and 260.0 kgmole/h,
respectively.
9. I opened the Composition section under the reactor's Worksheet tab to define the inlet
mole fractions. I set the Methane stream to 1.0000 methane and the Air stream to 0.2100
oxygen and 0.7900 nitrogen, allowing the system to calculate the product compositions.
10. I navigated to the Reactions tab within the conversion reactor to verify the attached "Set-
1" details. Under the Stoichiometry section for "Rxn-1", I confirmed the component
coefficients and ensured the Balance Error was exactly 0.00000, indicating a correctly
balanced reaction.
11. I navigated to the "PF Specs" section under the reactor's "Worksheet" tab to verify the
stream specifications. I confirmed that both the "Pressure Spec Active" and "Flow Spec
Active" checkboxes were enabled for the inlet streams (Methane and Air), and reviewed
the configured values for Pressure (5.000 bar) and Molar Flow (100.0 and 260.0
kgmole/h). This ensures the simulation correctly applied these parameters to calculate the
final material balance.
12. I returned to the "Connections" section under the reactor's "Design" tab for a final review
of the equipment setup. I verified that the status bar at the bottom displayed a solid green
"OK", confirming that the conversion reactor had successfully solved the material and
energy balances based on the specified parameters.
13. I inspected the main Flowsheet to visually confirm that the conversion reactor (2022-CH-
13) was correctly connected to its feed ("Methane", "Air") and product ("Vap", "Liq")
streams.
14. I returned to the Properties environment to verify that reaction "Set-1" was successfully
attached to the "2022-CH-13" unit, finalizing the simulation setup.
Results:
The simulation successfully computed the final component flow rates and stream conditions at
50°C and 5 bar. The output emerged entirely in the vapor phase with a total molar flow rate of
361.3 kgmole/h, while the liquid flow rate remained at 0 kgmole/h. The combined 100%
conversion from the two parallel reactions resulted in the complete consumption of the methane
feed, yielding a final product mixture of CO, CO2, Hydrogen, and unreacted Air.
Discussion:
This exercise demonstrated the use of a Conversion Reactor in Aspen HYSYS to model multiple
parallel reactions. By defining the stoichiometry and assigning specific conversion percentages
(55% for Reaction 1 and 45% for Reaction 2), the software effectively calculated the material
balances and overall product distribution. This approach allows for the rapid estimation of exit
stream compositions and flow rates based entirely on known stoichiometric conversions,
bypassing the need for complex kinetic data.