321

14

Processes with Nonconventional Solids

As described in Chapter 7, solids involved in process
technology can be divided into conventional solids
with known chemical formula and nonconventional
solids with unknown chemical formula. Nonconven-
tional solids are a large group of solids participating in
different types of technologies. Food processing, drying
of solids, solid fuel combustion, coal, biomass and solid
waste pyrolysis, and gasification are examples of pro-
cesses involving nonconventional solids. In this chapter,
design and simulation of processes with nonconventional
solids using Aspen Plus is presented.
Simulation of processes with nonconventional solids
has its limitation because of the lack of equilibrium
and physical property data. Aspen Plus characterizes
nonconventional solids in terms of empirical factors
called Component Attributes. Component attributes
represent component composition by one or more con-
stituents. Table 14.1 presents the most used component
attributes available in Aspen Plus.
Nonconventional solids in Aspen Plus do not partici-
pate in phase and chemical equilibrium calculations (1).
They are characterized only by enthalpy and density
models. The Aspen Physical Property System has two
built-in general enthalpy and density models. The den-
sity of any nonconventional solid component is given by
1 Plus simulation, an appropriate stream class has to be
𝜌si = ∑ wij
i 𝜌s
ij
𝜌sij = aij1 + aij2 T + aij3 T 2 + aij4 T 3
where wij is the mass fraction of the jth constituent in
component i and 𝜌ij is the density of the jth constituent
in component i.
The general enthalpy model is given by
∑
hsi = wij hsij (14.3)
i
T Basic information on solid drying modeling in Aspen
hsij = Δf hsj + s
CP,j dT
∫ tion on solid drying is available in many chemical
298.15
s
CP,j = aij1 + aij2 T + aij3 T 2 + aij4 T 3
where hsi is the specific enthalpy of solid component i,
Δf hsj is the specific enthalpy of constituent j formation,
and CP,js is the heat capacity of the jth constituent in com-
ponent i.
For coal and similar solid fuels, the Coal general
enthalpy model HCOALGEN can be used. This model
includes different correlations for the calculation of heat
capacity, heat of combustion, and heat of formation. The
heat of formation is calculated based on the heat of com-
bustion of the fuel and the heat of formation of the
products.
Δf hs = Δc hs + Δf hsCP (14.6)
To calculate the heat of combustion, the HCOALGEN
model uses proximate and elemental composition of the
fuels and different types of correlations such as the Boie
correlation, Dulong correlation, Grummel and Davis cor-
relation, Mott and Spooner correlation, and IGT (Insti-
tute of Gas Technology) correlation. These correlations
with their coefficient values are available in the Aspen
Helps (2). There is also an option to input heat of com-
bustion by the user; this option is often used for noncoal
solid fuels.
When nonconventional solids are present in Aspen
(14.1) selected. Table 14.2 shows the available stream classes in
Aspen Plus.
Material streams are divided into three substreams:
(14.2) MIXED, CI SOLID, and NC SOLID, any nonconven-
tional solid has to be included into the NC SOLID
substream.
14.1 Drying of Nonconventional Solids
Plus is provided in Section 7.1. Additional informa-
(14.4)
engineering textbooks. In this chapter, we focus on the
(14.5) application of the convective drying model described in

Chemical Process Design and Simulation: Aspen Plus and Aspen HYSYS Applications, First Edition. Juma Haydary.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/Haydary/ChemDesignSimulation Aspen
322 Chemical Process Design and Simulation

Table 14.1 Component attributes in Aspen Plus Section 7.1 for nonconventional solids drying. However,
it must be noted that in case of nonconventional solids,
Attribute Description Elements the simulation results are bound with the assumed char-
acterization of the feed used in the simulation; so, we
GENANAL General constituent 1 Constituent 1 have to be careful in applying the results for other feeds
analysis, weight % 2 Constituent 2 and processes.
Enthalpy and density .
of constituents has . Example 14.1 20 t⋅h−1 of wet waste agricultural
to be defined 20 Constituent 20 biomass with the characterization given in Table 14.3 is
PROXANAL Proximate analysis 1 Moisture (moisture- dried in a convective dryer. The moisture content has to
of a solid fuel, including basis) be reduced from 20% (wet basis) to less than 8% (wet
weight % 2 Fixed carbon (dry basis). The dryer length is 10 m, and the residence time
basis)
3 Volatile matter (dry of the biomass in the dryer is 5 min. Assume the dry-
basis) ing kinetics, mass and heat transfer coefficients given
4 Ash (dry basis) in Table 14.4. Biomass enters the dryer at 25 ◦ C and 1
ULTANAL Ultimate analysis, 1 Ash (dry basis) bar. Air at 200 ◦ C and 2 bars enters in the countercur-
weight % 2 Carbon (dry basis) rent direction to the biomass flow. Heat losses of 100 kW
3 Hydrogen (dry basis) can be assumed. Calculate the mass flow ratio of air to
4 Nitrogen (dry basis)
biomass required to reach the final moisture content of
5 Chlorine (dry basis)
6 Sulfur (dry basis) biomass and temperature of the outlet gas at this ratio.
7 Oxygen (dry basis)
Solution:
SULFANAL Forms of sulfur 1 Pyritic (dry basis) r Start Aspen Plus with a solid simulation type using
analysis, weight % of 2 Sulfate (dry basis)
metric units.
original fuel 3 Organic (dry basis)
r Select WATER and AIR as conventional components
and choose Nonconventional type for biomass as indi-
cated in Figure 14.1.
Table 14.2 Types of stream classes in Aspen Plus
r In Specification tab under Methods, select IDEAL as
the property method.
Stream class Use when
r In the NC Prop tab under Methods, specify property
methods for nonconventional components as shown
CONVEN Only conventional components are present in Figure 14.2. For enthalpy, select the HCOALGEN
MIXNC Nonconventional solids are present but no model. The coal general enthalpy model requires
particle size distribution (PSD) component attributes: PROXALAL, ULTANAL,
MIXCISLD Conventional solids are present but no PSD SULFANAL (see Aspen Help (2), by pressing F1,
MIXNCPSD Nonconventional solids are present with PSD for details on the option codes for the HCOALGEN
MIXCIPSD Conventional solids with PSD are present model). The first code specifies the model for combus-
tion heat; use 6 (USER input) for this simulation. For
MIXCINC Both conventional and nonconventional solids
without PSD are present density, select the DNSTYGEN model, which requires
GENANAL attribute.
MCINCPSD Both conventional and nonconventional solids r Following the steps shown in Figure 14.3, define new
with PSD are present
parameters of the nonconventional component. These

Table 14.3 Characteristics of used biomass

Proximate and elemental composition (wt%), dry basis

Moisture (wet basis) Volatiles Fixed C Ash C H N Cl S O

20.00 83.18 13.11 3.71 49.02 5.74 0.71 0.20 0.22 40.40
Heat of combustion 17 MJ⋅kg−1 Average density 470 kg⋅m−3
Particle size distribution
Size (mm) 3–4 4–5 5–6 6–8 8–10
% 10 20 30 20 10
 14 Processes with Nonconventional Solids 323

Table 14.4 Drying curve parameters of used biomass correlation coefficient is specified. Each parameter has
to be defined separately.
Critical moisture content (dry basis) 1.2
r Move to the Simulation environment and specify the
Equilibrium moisture content (dry basis) 0.02 stream class as MIXCNPSD following the steps shown
in Figure 14.5.
Drying curve data r In the Solid tab under Setup, create a particle size dis-
Normalized moisture content Normalized drying rate
tribution (PSD) mesh from 1 to 10 mm; for details see
0.0000 0.0330 Example 7.1.
0.0678 0.1594 r Create the process flow diagram as shown in Fig-
0.1525 0.3049 ure 14.6.
0.2373 0.4366
r Define parameters of DRY-AIR stream under Mixed
substream; consider initial air moisture content of
0.3220 0.5545
0.002 (wet basis). For 20 t⋅h−1 of biomass, use an initial
0.4068 0.6586
air mass flow of 80 t⋅h−1 .
0.4915 0.7488 r Parameters of wet biomass (WET-B stream) have to
0.5763 0.8252 be defined under NC Solid substream, besides tem-
0.6610 0.8878 perature, pressure, and mass flow, specify component
0.7458 0.9366 attributes: PROXANAL, ULTANAL, and SULFANAL,
as well as PSD (Figure 14.7).
0.8305 0.9716 r Define dryer parameters; on the Specification page,
0.9153 0.9927
set the dryer type as Counter current, as the Input
1 1 specifications select Length and Solid residence time
Heat transfer coefficient 50 kW⋅m−2 ⋅K−1 and enter values of dryer length (10 m) and solid
Mass transfer coefficient 0.02 m⋅s−1 residence time (5 min). On the Heat/Mass Transfer
page, set the values of mass transfer coefficient (0.02
m⋅s−1 ), heat transfer coefficient (50 kW⋅m−2 ⋅K−1 ) and
new parameters are Heat of Combustion (HCOMB), heat losses against inlet (100 kW). On the Drying
and Density Temperature Dependence Correlation Curve page, set the drying curve information includ-
Coefficient (Figure 14.4). Since the average value of ing critical moisture content and equilibrium moisture
density will be used in this simulation, only the first content.

Figure 14.1 Selecting nonconventional component type

324 Chemical Process Design and Simulation
Figure 14.2 Specifying property methods for nonconventional components
r Run the simulation and check the initial results in
the Results and Stream Results tabs under Dryer
block.
r As indicated by the results (Figure 14.8) for the air to
biomass mass flow ratio of 4, the solid outlet moisture
content reached the value of 0.1097 (dry basis), which
equals to 0.0988 (wet basis). Exhaust gas temperature
at these conditions is 46 ◦ C. To reach solid moisture
content below 8% (wet basis), the mass flow of gas has
to be increased.
Figure 14.3 Defining parameters of nonconventional components
r Define a sensitivity block for observing the relation of
the air to biomass mass flow ratio and the solid outlet
moisture content as well as the gas outlet temperature.
r As Vary in the sensitivity block, select Mass flow of
inlet air stream.
r Define Moisture content of the solid outlet stream,
Temperature of gas outlet stream, Mass flow of
biomass inlet stream, Mass flow of gas outlet stream,
and local parameter N as Variables under Define. For
biomass stream, select the NCPSD substream.
 14 Processes with Nonconventional Solids 325

Figure 14.4 Parameters input for nonconventional components

Figure 14.5 Specifying stream class

326 Chemical Process Design and Simulation
WET-AIR
DRYER
WET-B DRY-B
DRY-AIR
Figure 14.6 Biomass drying process flow diagram
r Figure 14.9 shows the sensitivity analysis results, which
indicate that to reach the solid outlet moisture con-
tent below 8% (wet basis), the mass flow of air has to
be increased to above 100 t⋅h−1 , corresponding to the
air to biomass mass flow ratio of 5.15. The outlet gas
temperature at these conditions is 73 ◦ C. At N values
below 4, the calculated outlet gas temperature is below
45 ◦ C and the simulation can fall down because of air
saturation.
Figure 14.7 Specifying NC solid substream
14.2 Combustion of Solid Fuels
Example 14.2 Dried biomass from Example 14.1 is
combusted in a boiler to produce hot water for district
heating. In the combustion process, 8.5 kg of air is used
for each kilogram of dry biomass. The temperature of
flue gases after heating water from 25 to 90 ◦ C at 7 bar
decreases to 500 ◦ C. The flue gases are used in the pro-
cess of wet biomass drying. Calculate the amount of hot
water that can be produced for district heating.
Solution:
r Add CO2 , CO, H2 , N2 , O2 , C (solid), S, Cl2 , SO, SO2 ,
NO, NO2 , HCl, NH3 , H2 S and ASH (nonconventional)
to the list of components.
r In the simulation environment under Setup–
Specification, change the stream class to
MCINCPSD.
r Prepare the process flow diagram as shown in Fig-
ure 14.10.
The biomass boiler model consists of a RYield model,
an RGibbs model, a solid separator, flue gas cooler, and