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An economic study of propane propylene splitter operation
Author(s) -
Smy K. G.,
Hay J. M.
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450410115
Subject(s) - propane , splitter , distillation , process engineering , condensation , fractionating column , overhead (engineering) , liquefied petroleum gas , petroleum engineering , environmental science , materials science , chemistry , thermodynamics , waste management , computer science , organic chemistry , engineering , mathematics , physics , geometry , operating system
Abstract Detailed economic studies were prepared for the distillation of a propane‐propylene mixture to make 99% propylene: (a) low pressure operation with vapor recompression (b) high pressure with water condensation. The equipment required was calculated for various reflux ratios at both pressures. The relative economics are compared. These calculations allow a study by inference of the relative cost of the two methods of recovering propylene from a cracked gas stream. One method is to distill the individual components overhead in a series of columns. The alternative is to take a cut of C 3 's from the main stream and recover the propylene from this cut. It was found that the latter case was the most economic. In calculating the column requirements various methods were used for estimating the number of trays required. These methods are compared.