Simulation of the ethylene oxide production process in ChemCAD® simulator

Abstract

Ethylene oxide is an important industrial chemical compound used as an intermediate in the production of glycols and other plastics. In the present work, the process of ethylene oxide (EO) production from the catalytic oxidation of ethylene was simulated using the ChemCAD® simulator. Heat curves were obtained for each of the shell and tube heat exchangers used, while the flow rate and composition of the most important streams involved in the production process were determined. A sensitivity study was also carried out to establish the influence of a decrease in the feed temperature of the wash water to the absorbers on the amount of EO to be obtained in the distillation column. 22,163.5 kg/h of EO is obtained from the top of the distillation column with a purity of 98.29 %. The wash water should be fed to the absorbers at a temperature of 5 ºC to maximise the amount of EO to be obtained in the distillation column.