Design and simulation of 30 000 tons per year of cumene plant from natural gas field

The research considers the design and simulation of 30 000 tons per year of cumene plant using Aspen HYSYS as the simulation tool. The feed (material content) used is the characterized natural gas from Utorogu Gas Field with composition of 0.9019 methane, 0.0694 ethane, 0.0209 propane, 0.00361 n-butane, 0.00414 i-butane, 0.00005 n-pentane and 0.00007 i-pentane. The cumene plant consist of the cryogenic distillation column, de-hydrogenator (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor), Alkylator (Plug Flow Reactor), storage tanks, separators, pumps, heat exchanger and mixers. The size/design models of basic plant units such as de-hydrogenator, alkylator, separators, storage tanks and distillation column were developed using the principles of mass and energy balance. The result of design or size specifications in terms of equipment diameter of basic plant units obtained from HYSYS simulation are 0.8 m and 0.319 m for the cryogenic and cumene columns; 1.931 m, 2.244 m and 1.366 m for the propane, propene and cumene storage tanks; 1.868 m and 2.076 m for the de-hydrogenator and alkylator; 1.931 m and 2.146 m for propene and cumene separators respectively. The power or capacity of propane and propene pumps configured in the plant are 0.02 kW and 0.005 kW respectively. The result of the reactor and distillation column thickness specification to withstand corrosion, pressure or stress during plant operation in terms of cylindrical shell and ellipsoidal doomed head are 17.36 mm and 4.31 mm respectively. The economic evaluation (overall cost) including the cost of utilities, catalyst, operating, and maintenance for entire plant is $ 3.004 M.