CHEMICAL ENGINEERINGV i r g i n i a C o m m o n w e a l t h U n i v e r s i t y

VCUTeam Members:

Michelle Halye

Michael Hanks

Krunal Patel

Desired Product

Reaction

Equipment List

Design of Experiment

• Pfaudler RT-14-10 Jacketed Reactor

• 5 Stage Batch Distillation Tower

• Adjustable Pressure Steam Boiler

• Water Tower & Reservoir

• 3 Pressure Regulators

• 2 Condensers

• 5 Pumps

• 10 Fail Close Ball Valves

• 5 Fail Close Needle Valves

• 4 Fail Open Needle Valves

Primary Company Use for Product

Pilot Process Design

Factors Responses

  patternTime

(Hours)Temperature

(°C)Agitation

(rpm)Done?

Yield, ethanol

GC/MS, %

1 + - - 2 135 100 8-Dec 18.6 0.45

2 --+ 1 135 150 10-Dec 21.2 0.51

3 + + - 2 145 100 10-Dec 24.9 0.46

4 - + + 1 145 150 10-Dec 22.2 0.44

5 + + + 2 145 150 12-Dec 22.9 0.44

6 - + - 1 145 100 16-Dec 8.4 0.34

7 - - - 1 135 100 15-Jan 16.7 0.47

8 + - + 2 135 150 20-Jan 28.1 0.52

8b + - + 2 135 150 13-Feb 80.9 0.44

mid N/A 1.5 140 125 30-Jan 15.6 0.40

• For experiment 8b, the diethyl carbonate was in a 2:1 ratio with the Tris(hydroxymethyl)ethane

Advisors:

Dr. Kenneth Wynne

Dr. Wei Zhang

Mr. Rudy Krack

HEL SimularTM P&ID

Economic Analysis

10 Gallon Reactor

Ethanol Storage

Tris(hydroxymethyl)

EthaneStorage

DiethylCarbonate

Storage

Sodium HydroxideStorage

Pump 1

Pump 2

FC-1

FC-2

FC-3

FC-4

Waste Storage

P-1

P-2

P-3 P-4

P-5

P-6P-7 P-8

P-48

P-9

P-10

BoilerSteam

P-11

Pressure Regulator

1

P-65

FC-5

P-9

Water Tower

Water Reservoir

Pump 3

P-63

P-64

FC-6 Condenser 1

P-12

P-15

T

Temp-1

F

Flow-1

P-13 P-14

DEC & Ethanol

Crude Product

P-17 P-18P-21

FC-8

FC-7

P-19

P-22

P-23

P-20

P-49

P-54

FO-1

P-52

Level-1

DistillationTower

Purified Product

P-24

P-26

P-27

P-25

Condenser 2

FO-3

FC-11

FC-12

FC-14FC-16

FC-15

P-50

P-51

FO-2

P-45

P-47

Pump 4

P-46

FC-13

Pump 5

P-44

P-40

P-36

P-39

P-30

P-31

P-33

P-41P-42

P-43

P-35

P-28

P-34

P-32

P-38P-37

P-60

P-62

Pressure Regulator

3

P-67

T

Temp 2

P-16

FC--9

FC-10

F

Flow 2

P-29

T

Temp-3

P-59

T

Temp-4P-53

T

Temp-5

P-61

P-55

P-51

FO-4

P-56

T

Temp-6

P-57 P-58

Pressure Regulator

2P-66

Walk and Dump (Solid Component)

Multiple Component Pipeline

All other Pipelines colors correspond to their respective holding tank colors

LEGEND

Computer

WinISO2384

JulaboF32

Internal Heater

Thermocouple

Heating Oil

Round Bottom Flask

Water in

Water out

• The cost per gram of product is $12.56 if the plant produces 10 gallons or 38.8 kg of product per yea

• However, if the coating goes from 2 wt% to 100 wt%, the demand would go to 500 gallons or 1949 kg per year, that would take the price down to $.25 per gram.

• Both of these prices allow for payback in 4.7 years

•The yields were calculated based on the amount of ethanol driven off by the reaction

•The distillate contained more diethyl carbonate than was expected

- A subsequent experiment with diethyl carbonate in excess showed significantly improved results

- Due to time and material constraints, we were unable to perform a full suite of DOE experiments with diethyl carbonate in excess

•The DOE analysis was performed using the JMP statistical analysis software package

- The results showed that increasing the time or the agitation speed independently increased the yield substantially.

- However, the results did not show any synergistic effect from increasing these two parameters simultaneously

• We performed a 3 factor, 2 level full factorial Design of Experiment

• The DOE was performed only on the first step to:

- Keep the DOE manageable

- The HEL SimularTM had a temperature restriction preventing it performing the second step

• The co-polyoxetane the monomer is used in is still in research

- It has potential to be an anti-fouling paint coating additive with 2 wt% polymer

- The polymer is unique in that it becomes more hydrophobic the wetter the polymer becomes

Block Diagram

Profitability

Return on investment, ave. %/y -10.1

Payback period, y 4.7

Net return, 106$ -0.52 at mar = 15.0 %/y

• Assuming this paint coating would be put on all current naval and commercial ships, we estimated that 10 gallons a year of product would be needed

Distillation Tower for Step one

Reactor

Product Storage

Carbon Dioxide Release

Distillation Tower for Step two

Diethyl carbonate return stream

Waste

Ethanol Storgae

Diethyl Carbonate

Storage

Tris. Storage

Sodium Hydroxide Storage

Production, kg/y 38.8Cost,

thousand $/yType Item

Variable Cost

Raw materials 1.25

Operating labor 57.6

Utilities 0.138

Maintenance and repairs

20.3

Operating supplies 2.03

Subtotal: 81.3

Fixed CostTaxes 40.5

Insurance 20.3

Subtotal: 60.8

Plant Overhead 7.79

Total Manufacturing Cost: 150