Simulation, Optimization And Study On Energy Saving In O-cresol Refining Process

Phenols, one kind of chemical product, are important raw material in chemical, pharmaceuticals and pesticide industry. Due to lack of large-scale chemical synthesis device, the main source of o-cresol is separated from coal tar in our country. This process requires a great quantity of energy, so the exploration of energy-saving technology in o-cresol refining process has vital practical significance.Adopting conventional column model, simulation and optimization of distillation column used in o-cresol refining process have been accomplished with Aspen Plus, one kind of simulation software utilized in chemical technology process. Energy consumption in the two different separation sequence process has also been compared by this software.Every possible heat integration scheme has been analyzed using column system heat integration technology. Design conditions and operating parameters of each scheme have been optimally analyzed. Simultaneously, the advantages and disadvantages of different schemes are compared and analyzed. Base on the above analysis, the most suitable process scheme adopted in engineering has been selected.Whole thermal coupling column model(Petlyuk column) has been built with two ordinary distillation columns utilizing the Rad Frac module of Aspen PLUS software. The design conditions and operating parameters of the column model have been optimized by sensitivity analysis function of the software in order to investigate the application prospect of the thermal coupling distillation column in the o-cresol refining process.