Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Abstract:
In this work, an approach based on thermodynamic analysis was proposed to assess and improve the energy efficiency of a debutanizer column. The approach is hinged on the application of exergy analysis. Use is made of the exergy loss profiles obtained from Aspen Plus to assess the performance of the debutanizer and suggest suitable modification for improvement in the column's energy efficiency. An assessment of the converged base case simulation indicated the need for more efficient operations. The scheme proposed for improvement is the splitting of the feed, preheating one and placing the two feeds at different stages in the column. The range of reduction in the total exergy losses is 12 to 21%. The range of thermodynamic efficiency for these retrofits is 63 to 66% as compared to the base case value of 58%. The retrofits thus provide less thermodynamic imperfections and a reduction in energy cost.

Keywords: exergy loss, distillation, thermodynamic efficiency, two-enthalpy feed, feed preheating and splitting

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