TABLE OF CONTENTS

NO

INDEX

PAGES

PROCEDURES

PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

3-4

WORKBOOK

QUESTION & ANSWER

DISCUSSION

7-8

1 | Page

1.0 PROCEDURES
1. Aspen HYSYS V8.6 software was selected.
2. A new case was opened and clicked the new in toolbar.
3. The specified fluid package was entered as Peng-Robinson and the components were nheptane, toluene and hydrogen.
4. Reaction was added and conversion type of reaction was choose.
5. Name the Feed 1 for the heater, temperature was added as 65 oF and molar flow was 100
Ibmole/hr.
6. At Feed 1, the composition of the three component was added.
Component
n-Heptane
Toluene
Hydrogen

Composition
1.000
0.000
0.000

7. The heater was added so that temperature of the feed increase to 800 oF.
8. At the outlet of the heater, we labeled as Outlet 1 which the conditions of the outlet was
800 F and the pressure of 101.3 kPa.
9. A conversion reactor was added after the heater with following values.
Name
Temperature (oF)
Molar Flow (Ibmole/hr)

Conversion Reactor
800
100

10. A condenser was added with the following conditions temperature of 65 oF and pressure
of 101.3 kPa.
11. The composition of the components in the entering and leaving stream of the condenser
was calculated by Aspen HYSYS software
12. After the product from condenser produced, it was purged into a separator stream to
remove hydrogen gas at least up to 96%. The conditions of the separator was the same as
in the condenser.
13. The compositions for the overhead and bottom products of the separator was calculated
separately by the Aspen HYSYS software.
2.0 PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM (PFD)

2 | Page

Figure 1 : Process Flow Diagram

Table 1 : Result calculated in Aspen HYSYS

Table 2 : Result calculated in Aspen HYSYS

3 | Page

Table 3 : Result calculated in Aspen HYSYS

3.0 WORKBOOK

4 | Page

4.0 QUESTION & ANSWER

1. What is the phase of n-heptane at the inlet and outlet of the heater?
- The phase of n-heptane at the inlet is Liquid phase because the vapor fraction of nheptane in Feed 1 is 0.
- The phase of n-heptane at the outlet is Vapor phase because of the vaporization after the
temperature is increase by the heater from 65 oF to 800 oF.
2. What is the mole fraction for each component after conversion of 15% of n-heptane?
Component
n-Heptane
Toluene
Hydrogen
5 | Page

Mole Fraction (V1)

0.5312
0.0937
0.3750

Mole Fraction (L1)

0.5303
0.0936
0.3761

3. What is the phase and temperature of the separator feed stream?

-The phase and the temperature of the separator feed stream are vapor-liquid mixture and
65 oF.
4. Determine the mole fraction for each component at the outlet of the separator.
Component
n-Heptane
Toluene
Hydrogen

Mole Fraction (V2)

0.0384
0.0058
0.9558

Mole Fraction (L2)

0.8488
0.1504
0.0009

5.0 DISCUSSION
Toluene

reacts

as

normal aromatic

hydrocarbon in electrophilic

aromatic

substitution. Because the methyl group has greater electron-releasing properties than
a hydrogen atom in the same position, toluene is more reactive than benzene to electrophiles.
It undergoes sulfonation to give p-toluenesulfonic acid, and chlorination by Cl2 in the
presence of FeCl3 to give ortho and para isomers of chlorotoluene. Importantly, the
methyl side chain in toluene is susceptible to oxidation. Toluene reacts with Potassium
permanganate to

yieldbenzoic

acid,

and

with chromyl

chloride to

yield

toluene benzaldehyde (tard reaction). The methyl group undergoes halogenation under free
radical conditions.
The objectives of this laboratory are to install and converge a conversion reactor also to
simulate a process involving reaction and separation. In industry, the production of toluene
came from many processes and reactions such as decarboxylation, Friedel-Craft reaction,
6 | Page

Wurt-Fittig reaction and reaction using Grinard reagent. In this process, it was carried out
hydrogenation of n-heptane over Cr2O3 as catalyst absorbed on Al 2O3 to produce toluene.
Some hint was introduced while conducting this laboratory by assuming there was no
pressure drop in all equipments. Fluid-package of Peng Robinson is used to satisfy
thermodynamics parameters and conditions in this unit operation.

C7H16 C7H8 + 4H2

Besides, according to process flow diagram (PFD), the first equipment is heater (E-100)
with composition of n-heptane is 1.000, temperature 65 oF and 100 Ibmole/hr. Function of the
heater is to increase the temperature of n-heptane from 65 oF to 800 oF in outlet 1. After the
temperature of the outlet 1 is increase, it was feed to the conversion factor (CRV-100). In
this reactor, Cr2O3 catalyst is taking part in the reaction which is it will change the rate of reaction by
interacting with reactant molecules. The reactor operates isothermally and converts 15% of n-heptane
to toluene. Next, the composition of n-heptane at the outlet of the catalytic reactor is 0.5312mol
(vapor stream) and 0.5303 (liquid stream). The cooler is needed to cool back the temperature from the
effluent stream of the catalytic reactor back to 65 oF. The flash separator is used to remove

hydrogen at least up to 96%. For the flash separator, there are two outlet streams produced
which call overhead product (V2) and bottom product (L2). At the V2, hydrogen-rich vapor
(0.9558) was purged out in this stream while at the L2, it rich with n-heptane (0.8488).
There a few recommendation that can be follow to ensure our experiment runs smoothly.
It is recommended that when insert the values in the process, make sure the values was
correct in order to avoid calculation error. It is recommended that always check the Active
button is pressed so that the simulation process is run and if the button still in Hold mode, it
can run the answer. It is recommended that user must make a good and correct selection of
the model of the equipment because it will be affect the simulation process especially in
calculating the properties of the equipment. It is also recommended that the Fluid Packages
was choose correctly in order to avoid calculation error because every Fluid Packages have
their certain conditions that have to follow.

7 | Page

As a conclusion, the objectives of this project has achieved. All of the unit operations in
the process flow diagram has converged in HYSYS simulation and the conversion of the
product stream is dependent on the temperature. As the temperature decreased, the
conversion of the effluent will increase.

8 | Page