Table of Contents

Abstract.....................................................................................................................................2
1. Introduction and Process Description........................................................................2
2. Objectives......................................................................................................................5
3. Process Simulation (Methodology).............................................................................5
4. Results and Discussions.............................................................................................11
5. Conclusions.................................................................................................................15
6. References.....................................................................................................................3

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Abstract
This simulation makes use of Aspen HYSYS to model the drying oil production process. The
which includes important unit operations like heat exchangers, reactors, separators, and
distillation columns. The precise chemical formula and thermodynamic behaviour of drying
oil production are adhered to by the selected fluid packages and component selection.
Reactors are used in the simulation to simulate the reaction of chemicals, while separators
help with the natural phase separation that occurs during the process. The simulation results
produce 100 % recovery of DO in the distillate. The energy and economic analysis is also
carried out to reflect the energy recovery and economics of the process. By the implication of
these unit operations, successful separation and purity of the products were achieved.

1. Introduction and Process Description

Drying oils are essential additives in the composition of paints and varnishes, serving a
pivotal role in expediting the drying and curing processes when these coatings are applied to
diverse surfaces. Through a chemical transformation known as polymerization, drying oils,
such as linseed oil, tung oil, and walnut oil, undergo cross-linking of unsaturated fatty acids
upon exposure to air. This results in the formation of a solid film that imparts protective and
aesthetic qualities to the coated surface. The polymerization process enhances drying times,
allowing for swift application of subsequent layers and ensuring the surface becomes touch-
dry promptly.
Furthermore, the cross-linked structure of the drying oil film contributes to the coating's
adhesion, flexibility, and durability, preventing issues like cracking and peeling over time.
Beyond functional benefits, drying oils enhance the color intensity and transparency of
pigments in paints, resulting in vibrant and visually appealing coatings. Their resistance to
weathering and UV radiation makes them particularly valuable for outdoor applications,
where protection from environmental factors is crucial.
Process Description:
The process flow diagram is shown in Figure 1. ACO is fed from a holding tank, V-501,
where fresh feed, Stream 1, has been mixed with recycled ACO, Stream 14. The combined
ACO, Stream 2, is pumped to reaction pressure of 300 kPa and then heated to reaction
temperature in a fired heater, H-501. The reaction does not require a catalyst since it is
initiated at high temperatures. Typical reaction temperatures are in the range of 300 to 380°C.
At temperatures higher than 380°C, some of the trace components in the drying oil degrade
and give rise to an undesirable color change in the product.
The acetylated castor oil (ACO) feed is mixed with recycled ACO and is fed to the reactor. In
the reactor, reactions in Eqs. (1) and (2) occur. Immediately following the reactor, there is a
filter that removes any solid gum formed in the reactor. Following the filter, there are two
distillation columns that purify the ACO for recycling, the drying oil (DO) for sale, and the
acetic acid (AA) for sale as a by-product. The reactions are given below:
(1)

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 (2)
The reaction effluent, Stream 5, contains vapor that must be separated in V-502, and sent to
the Separation Equipment Block. The liquid leaving V-502 is quenched in E-501.

Figure 1: Process Flow Diagram (PFD) for Drying Oil Production

The raw material is acetylated castor oil, which will be modeled as palmitic acid
(C16H31COOH). The primary reaction is one in which the acetylated castor oil is thermally
cracked to the drying oil (which we will model as tetradecene, C 14H28) and acetic acid
(CH3COOH). There is an undesired reaction (2) in which the drying oil dimerizes to form a
gum, which we will model as C28H56.
Stream summary tables are shown below:

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Utility Summary Table is given below:

Major Equipment Summary is given below:

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 2. Objectives:
The main objectives of this project are given below:
 To understand the purpose of all the process units implemented for the production
process of drying oil (DO) from ACO
 To develop the flowsheet diagram for the production process of drying oil in Aspen
HYSYS to demonstrate the use of simulation tools
 To purify the desired product to obtain 99% purity of DO
 To perform energy analysis to identify the heating and cooling requirements by the
process using Aspen Energy Analyzer
 To perform economic assessment for the costs of production, utilities and installations

3. Process Simulation (Methodology):

Software: Aspen HYSYS (V10) & Aspen Energy Analyzer (V10)
Raw Materials:
 1-Tetradecen:1-tetradecene (C14H28) – DO (Drying Oil)
 1C16oicAcid: (Palmitic) Hexa-decanoic Acid (C16H31COOH) – ACO (Acetylated
Castor Oil)
 1-C28= : 1-Octacosene – Gum
 Acetic Acid: CH3COOH
The production process is simulated using the following steps:
a. To carry out a simulation process, open the Aspen HYSYS software.
b. After the program runs, a home window/main interface appears. On this window,
click ‘new’.
c. Now add the following components as shown:

Figure 2: Components List for Process

Here, the components are defined below:

 1-Tetradecen: 1-tetradecene (C14H28) – DO (Drying Oil)
 1C16oicAcid: (Palmitic) Hexadecanoic Acid (C16H31COOH) – ACO (Acetylated
Castor Oil)
 1-C28= : 1-Octacosene – Gum

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  Acetic Acid: CH3COOH
d. Now, select a suitable method as fluid package from the methods section. ‘PENG-
ROBINSON’ is selected as a property model for this problem.
e. After selection, the status bar turns ‘green’ which indicates that the package is defined
completely.
Now, the reactions are required to be defined. The reactions and reaction kinetics are as
follows:

where the conversions are calculated using the equation:

C out −C ¿
X=
C¿
f. Switch to reactions, and define two conversion type reactions as shown below:

Figure 3.1: Reaction 1 Information Figure 3.2: Reaction 2 Information

g. After defining the reaction info, the status bar turns ‘green’ which indicates that the
reaction is ready.
h. After the reactions are added, select ‘Add to FP’ from the reaction set.
i. Now switch to simulation environment. Add a mixer (MIX-100) from the model
palette and attach input and output streams to mixer. Enter the following inlet
specifications and the composition is 100% ACO.

Figure 4: Feed Stream Specifications

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j. Now add a pump (P-100). Attach the outlet of the mixer to the inlet of the pump as
shown. Enter pump specifications. The outlet pressure of the stream from the pump
must be 230 kPa i.e. pressure change of 120 kPa.

Figure 5: Pump (P-100) Model

k. Now add a heater (E-100) from the model palette and attach the outlet stream of the
pump with the inlet of heater. The outlet (heated stream) should have a temperature of
380 degrees and pressure of 195 kPa.

Figure 6: Heater (E-100) Model

l. Now add a conversion reactor (CRV-100). Attach the output of heater with the inlet of
the reactor. Specify two product streams as ‘liquid’ and ‘vapor’ outlet. Attach reaction
set to the reactor. Specify the reactor geometry from the ‘rating’ tab as given, and
pressure drop of 12 kPa:

Figure 7: Conversion Reactor (CRV-100) Model

Figure 8: Reactor Geometry Specifications

m. Now add another mixer and attach both the outlet streams from the reactor to the inlet
of the mixer.

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 Figure 9: Mixer (MIX-100) Model

n. Add a cooler (E-100) from the model palette. Attach the outlet (mixed stream 2) with
the inlet of the cooler. The cooler should cool down the stream to a temperature of
175 degrees and the pressure to 148 kPa. Specify this condition for the outlet cooled
stream.

Figure 10: Cooler (E-101) Model

o. Now add a component splitter from the model palette. The component splitter acts as
a filter for separating the solid gum from the other reactant/products. Connect the
outlet cooled stream from the cooler to the inlet of the filter. Specify two outlet
streams from the filter.

Figure 11: Component Splitter (X-100) Model

p. The component splitter reduces the pressure of the incoming stream to 136 kPa.
Specify the split fraction for the components such that all the gum should go into the
bottom stream while the rest are leaving in the top mixed stream.

Figure 12: Specifying Split Fractions for the Component

Splitter

q. Now, add a distillation column (T-100) from the model palette. Attach the top outlet
of the component splitter to the inlet of distillation column. Specify the inlet and
outlet streams for distillate and bottom products.

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 Figure 13: Distillation (T-100) Model

r. Now specify the number of stages and pressures of condenser and reboiler. Also
specify the number of feed stage. Then under the rating tab, specify the column
internals. Under the internals tab, specify the column sizing.

Figure 14: Distillation Column Design Specifications

Figure 15: Distillation Column Internal Design

Figure 16: Distillation Column Tower Sizing

Now, there are actually 3 components coming into the distillation tower.
 ACO (unreacted) – 351 C  DO – 251 C
 Acetic Acid – 117.9 C

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So, here DO and Acetic Acid will separate out in the distillate stream, whereas ACO
(unreacted) will be present in the bottom product. Separation is based upon differences in
boiling points.
s. To monitor the component fraction recovery in the column, switch to design tab and
select monitor. Enter the reflux ratio as 0.20. Now to monitor component recovery in
bottom, click on ‘add spec’ and select ‘column component fraction’. Then select
‘reboiler’ and add ‘hexadecanoic acid’ as the bottom component. Enter the specified
value of 0.99.

Figure 17: Spec Monitoring for Component Fraction

Recovery
t. Now, run the distillation column and check for the convergence of the results.
u. Two outlet streams emerge from the distillation column. One from the distillate,
which is a mixture of DO and acetic acid, while the bottom product is ACO.
v. Add another distillation column from the model palette. Connect the outlet DO +
Acetic acid as the inlet of the new distillation column. Specify the number of stages as
35 and pressures of condenser and reboiler. Also specify the number of feed stage.
Then under the rating tab, specify the column internals. Under the internals tab,
specify the column sizing.
w. To monitor the component fraction recovery in the column, switch to design tab and
select monitor. Enter the reflux ratio as 0.520. Now to monitor component recovery at
the top, click on ‘add spec’ and select ‘column component fraction’. Then select
‘condenser’ and add ‘acetic acid’ as the top component. Enter the specified value of
0.99.
The results can be seen from the composition of each distillation column.
x. Add pump from the model palette and attach the outlet of first distillation column to
the inlet of the cooler. The pressure should be 65 kPa and outlet temperature of 170
degrees.

Figure 18: Cooler (E-101) Model

y. Add another pump and specify the outlet pressure as 110 kPa.

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 Figure 19: Pump (P-101) Model

z. Finally add recycle to the model. Attach the outlet of the pump to the inlet of the
recycle model. Connect the outlet of recycle to the inlet of the mixer of the feed
stream.

Figure 20: Recycle (RCY-1) Model

aa. The final flowsheet looks like:

Figure 21: Process Flowsheet Diagram (PFD) for Drying Oil Production
Process
bb. The utilities used for each heating and cooling unit are high pressure steam and
cooling water respectively.

4. Results and Discussions:

The results from the first distillation column are shown below:

Figure 22: Result of Simulation from the 1st Distillation Tower

The results from the second distillation column are shown below:

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 Figure 23: Result of Simulation from the 2nd Distillation Tower

Discussions:
The undesired product i.e. 1-octacosene (gum) having sticky nature was filtered out by the
component splitter (filter). The remaining components were separated in the subsequent
distillation towers situated after the splitter. The results of the filter can be seen below:

Figure 24: Results of the Filter

From the results of 1st distillation tower (fig. 22), it can be seen that at the inlet the
compositions of the DO, ACO and acetic acid were 15.71 mol %, 69.26 mol % and 0.1503
mol % respectively. After distillation, these components were separated into distillate and
bottom products stream. The composition of these individual components are given below:
Components Distillate Recovery (mol %) Bottom Recovery (mol %)
Drying Oil (DO) – C14H28 0.4996 0.01
ACO – Hexadecanoic Acid 0 0.99
Acetic Acid 0.5004 0
Table 1: Compositions of Components in Distillate and Bottom after 1st Distillation
Hexa-decanoic Acid (ACO), having a higher boiling point as compared to the other two components,
separates out in the bottom product, whereas the others leave the column as the distillate product. The
other two products occurring in distillate still needs to be recovered which happens in the second
distillation tower. So the recovery for the second distillate and bottom products are shown below in
Figure 23.

Components Distillate Recovery (mol %) Bottom Recovery (mol %)

Drying Oil (DO) – C14H28 0.01 1
ACO – Hexadecanoic Acid 0 0
Acetic Acid 0.99 0
Table 2: Compositions of Components in Distillate and Bottom after 2nd Distillation
Herein, Acetic acid being more volatile leaves the distillation tower in the distillate product whereas
the DO, being heavier, is taken out from the bottom product. Hence 100 percent recovery of DO was
observed after distillation.

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Energy Analysis:
Since different utilities were utilized for heating and cooling purposes, the energy needs to be
analyzed to identify potential areas for maximum energy recovery and report the findings
about heating and cooling requirements in the process. From Aspen Energy Analyzer, the
exported stream analysis was carried out. The process and utility streams are defined below:

Figure 25: Process Streams Data from Production Process

Figure 26: Utility Streams Data from Production Process

The composite curve diagram for the process at dTmin = 10oC is shown below:

Figure 27: Composite Curve for the Production Process

The energy targets and area targets for the process are:

Figure 28: Energy & Area Targets for the Production Process

It shows that sufficient amount of cooling and heating are required by the process to recover
maximum energy.
The Grand Composite Curve (GCC) for the process is shown below:

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 Figure 29: Grand Composite Curve (GCC) for Production Process

Incorporating the utilities, the utility composite curve can be represented as:

Figure 30: Utility Composite Curve for the Process

The heat exchanger network (HEN) design for this process will be:

Figure 31: Heat Exchanger Network (HEN) Design

Overall, the energy plots for the process shows that there is still a sufficient scope to improve
the energy transfer between the hot and cold streams by substituting utilities and using an
alternative path sacrificing extra energy consumptions and optimize the production process.
Hence maximum amount of energy can be recovered in this way.
Economic Analysis:

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The economic analysis for the production process created by Aspen HYSYS is shown below:

Figure 32: Economic Analysis for the Production Process

5. Conclusion:
In conclusion, the simulation of the drying oil production process using Aspen HYSYS was
modeled. Various unit operations were added, and each unit played a vital role in the
flowsheet development and then the units were connected together to form the process flow
diagram. The results demonstrated effective separation, purification, and energy utilization. A
100 percent recovery of the product in the distillate was observed. Different utilities were
used in the process for heating and cooling purposes. The comprehensive analysis of results,
energy requirements, and economic considerations provided valuable insights for process
optimization and feasibility. It was observed that there was a considerable scope of improving
the energy recovery from the hot streams, and appropriate use of utilities would enhance the
liability of maximum energy recovery. The economic considerations reflected the installation
cost for the plant and costs of utilities associated with the production. Hence, the process
could be optimized in several ways.

6. References:

i. Turton, R., Bailie, C., R., Whiting, B., W., Shaiewitz, A., J., Bhattacharyya, D.
(2018). Analysis, Synthesis and Design of Chemical Processes. 4 th Edition.
Pearson Education Inc.
ii. Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, and Thermodynamics Fall 2003 Design Project
Production of Drying Oil. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://cbe.statler.wvu.edu/files/d/cbf80c97
iii. Yang, Han, & Liu. (2019). Numerical Simulation Study of Drying Oil Production
by Using In-Situ Combustion. Processes, 7(9), 621. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7090621

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