Offgas Scrubber

Siswand Bin Mohd Ali, A0072029L Team 20

Introduction
Properties of gas to be scrubbed Possible options Detailed design of Adsorber packed columns with activated carbon as adsorbent Suggested operating cycle Optimisation of best configuration Costings involved Conclusion

Gas to be scrubbed
Mainly from 3 oxidation reactors Each with different conditions Gas stream is condensed to recover as much cumene possible

Offgas from concentrator is cumene-rich (> 93wt% cumene) Therefore fully condensed for recovery and recycle
Environmental regulations requirement for vent off gas
50ppm for cumene 200ppm for methanol

Possible options
Absorption
Use of a suitable solvent, i.e acetone, to remove cumene and methanol from gas stream Utilises a tray or packed column May require a solvent recovery unit Will be expensive since involves heavy pump duty

Possible Options
RTO
Involves combusting the cumene and methanol to produce carbon dioxide and other compounds Heat generated can be recovered to produce steam However, the reacted gas will still need to be cleaned up May not be economical given that the cumene mass fraction in offgas is very minimal (0.0014)

Recommended Design
Adsorption using activated carbon

Detailed Design
Activated carbon is reported to have an adsoprtion capacity of 0.459 g cumene per g of activated carbon Various sources reported around the same range The temperature for gas stream is comparable to those used in literature, but the pressure is higher at about 3 bar Therefore, reasonable to work based on the same adsorption capacity Also assumed that methanol will meet the environmental regulation since methanol concentration is 7 times lesser than cumene and that the allowable vent off concentration is 4 times more Given the gas flowrate and cumene concentration, the minimum mass of activated carbon required is 27058.3 kg A safety factor from 1.2 to 2 times has been recommended The most conservative safety factor of 2 has been used

Detailed design
Fixing the recommended superficial velocity of 80ft/min or 0.4m/s, and given the bulk and particle densities of activated carbon, The dimentions of the packed bed and adsorber column is obtained. Packed bed Diameter: 3.93m Packed bed Height: 8.98m D:H ratio = 1:2.28 The above is for 24hr adsorption operation using one adsorber column

Detailed Design
Varying the different operational configurations possible, the following sizes and costs are obtained:
24 hour operation No. of activated carbon Adsorber bed Superficial Velovity, V, (m/hr) Gas volume flowrate into each adsorbed bed, Q, (m3/hr) Cross Sectional Area, A (m2) Total Mass of cumene to be adsorbed by each bed (kg) Bed Volume (m3) Bed Diameter, D, (m) Bed Height, H, (m) H:D atio Adsorber column height (m) Adsorber volume (m3) Cost of 1 adsorber column (USD) Total cost of adsorber columns (USD) 1 1463.00 17782.00 12.15 12419.76 109.11 3.93 8.98 2.28 11.98 145.61 1052853.04 2105706.09 2 1463.00 8891.00 6.08 6209.88 54.55 2.78 4.49 1.61 7.49 45.52 387800.60 1551202.40 3 1463.00 5927.33 4.05 4139.92 36.37 2.27 2.99 1.32 5.99 24.28 238223.58 1429341.46 4 1463.00 4445.50 3.04 3104.94 27.28 1.97 2.24 1.14 5.24 15.94 175478.30 1403826.40 5 1463.00 3556.40 2.43 2483.95 21.82 1.76 1.80 1.02 4.80 11.66 141328.03 1413280.26 36 hour operation 1 1463.00 17782.00 12.15 18629.64 163.66 3.93 13.47 3.42 16.47 200.18 1414635.73 2829271.46 2 1463.00 8891.00 6.08 9314.82 81.83 2.78 6.73 2.42 9.73 59.16 480406.62 1921626.50 48 hour operation 1 1463.00 17782.00 12.15 24839.52 218.21 3.93 17.96 4.56 20.96 254.76 1780457.34 3560914.68 2 1463.00 8891.00 6.08 12419.76 109.11 2.78 8.98 3.23 11.98 72.80 571726.54 2286906.15

Detailed Design
Desorption cycle Recommended to use low-pressure steam to remove adsorbed cumene. Desorption efficiency is a design variable Assuming use 100% removal of desorbed cumene, mass of steam required per kg of cumene is higher However, it allows for many cycles of operation with minimal accumulation of cumene on activated carbon

Costings
Low pressure Steam costs: USD 29.29 per ton Considering a cycle of 24hour adsoprtion phase followed by 12 hour desorption phase:
Based on Activated Carbon Desired desorption of cumene (%) 100 95 90 Steam required per kg of cumene (kg) 27.8 23.6 20.5 Total mass of cumene to be desorbed 12419.76 12419.76 12419.76 in 24 hour operation (kg) Mass of steam required per hr (kg/hr) 28772.44 24425.53 21217.09 No. of hours of steam required in one 2666.667 2666.667 2666.667 year (hr) Cost of steam per year (USD) 2247320 1907797 1657196 Assuming we replace activated carbon bed once capacity reaches 60% full 2.5 No of cycles packed bed can last 9.958916 4.848359 years full 2.5 Duration packed bed can last (hours) 358.521 174.5409 years No. of full replacement required in 22.3139 45.83452 one year Cost of activated bed per year (USD) 905370.7 20202348 41497234

Conclusion
Adsorber module consist of 8 Adsorber columns of diameter 1.97m and height 5.24m

Cost of Adsorber columns : USD 1,403,826

Cost of Steam per year: Average Cost of activated carbon per year: