Simulation And Optimization Of Acrylic Acid Separation Process

Acrylic acid and its esters is an important kind of chemical raw materials, they are used widely, such as they can be applied in coating、hygiene products、textiles、adhesives、paper、 rubbers, Especially they can be used as super absorbent resin (SPA). The demand of acrylic acid and its ester will greatly increase as the living standard rise ceaselessly, so the research of acrylic production and purification is an important subject.The synthesis、application and the production process of acrylic acid have been discussed. At present, propylene oxidizing is the main production method to generate acrylic acid. And the thermodynamic method、rectification principle and the application of simulaiton also have been illustrated. What’s more, the NRTL-RK method has been chosed because it can descript the phase equilibrium relationship of acrylic acid system more accurately.Simulation and optimization of the process of acrylic acid refined unit has been researched by Aspen Plus software which is a sizable chemical engineering process simulation software, it can realize the optimization, sensitive analysis and economic evaluate. The quench tower、light component separation tower、acetic acid tower、recovery tower、 purification tower have been more deeply optimized. The effect of some various operating parameters such as theoretical number、feed stage、reflux ratio、distillation rate on the energy consumption and product purity have been researched, in order to get the optimization technological process.In addition, as absorbing agent, the water which comes from the water phase of light component separation tower goes back into the quench tower, the simulation result demonstrates that it can reach the technical requirement. The process can consume less energy and reduce the cost. The results can be used as basis on process reconstruction of industry or the design of new process plant.