Mathematical model and energy analysis of ethane dehydration in two-layer packed-bed adsorption--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Tavan, Y., Hosseini, S. H., Ahmadi, G., & Olazar, M. (2019). Mathematical model and energy analysis of ethane dehydration in two-layer packed-bed adsorption. Particuology, 47, 33-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2018.11.001

Mathematical model and energy analysis of ethane dehydration in two-layer packed-bed adsorption

Yadollah Tavan ^a *, Seyyed Hossein Hosseini ^b, Goodarz Ahmadi ^c, Martin Olazar ^d *

a Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Av., Tehran, Iran
b Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ilam University, 69315-516 Ilam, Iran
c Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699-5725, USA
d Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain

10.1016/j.partic.2018.11.001

Volume 47, December 2019, Pages 33-40

Received 11 August 2018, Revised 27 October 2018, Accepted 23 November 2018, Available online 25 March 2019, Version of Record 7 December 2019.

E-mail: yadollahtavan@gmail.com; yadollah.tavan@che.sharif.edu; martin.olazar@ehu.es

Highlights

• An industrial ethane dehydration unit was mathematically modeled.

• The effects of particle size and a two-layer system were investigated.

• A 33.8 % reduction in energy was achieved in the proposed system.

Abstract

The 3A zeolites are excellent adsorbents for industrial-scale gas dehydration because of the low energy required for regeneration and ease of operation. A computational study of the dehydration of an industrial feed stream containing ethane and water was performed using an in-house code that included an appropriate equilibrium adsorption isotherm. The validated computational model was used to examine the impact of particle size on the process dynamics and the corresponding pressure drop. The water concentration along the adsorption column was also investigated. To increase the process capacity, the packed adsorption bed was divided into two distinct layers, which were operated with different particle sizes. The length of each layer was determined by a parametric study. The best breakthrough time, i.e., 107,800 s, at the allowed pressure drop was obtained when the lengths of the first and second layers were 4.5 and 1 m, respectively. The results showed that the new two-layer adsorption bed could save around 33.8% in total energy requirement in comparison to that of a single bed.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Molecular sieve; Breakthrough; Adsorption; Ethane dehydration; Mathematical model

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