Towards on energy-saving separation of ethylene glycol mixture from production plants based on energy, exergy, economic, environmental, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental analyses

Abstract

Reduction in energy conservation and consumption have long been research hotspots with the aggravation of energy problem. Herein, we propose a novel energy-saving method, simulated using experimental data, for separating ethylene glycol mixtures from production plants. We developed an integrated cooling and power system by driving low temperature waste heat from the proposed method, and assessed it using energy, exergy, economic, environmental, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental analyses. Results showed that this novel method can reduce steam consumption by 26.11%, as compared to the currently used methods. This method showed 7.18% lower than that of the basic process, which is mostly attributed to its multi-effect evaporation unit. Economic analysis showed that the proposed system had the lowest total annual cost. And the operating cost was lower $2.45 × 105 than that of the basic process. New equipment cost of this proposed process is $10.6 × 105, accounting for 25.22% of the total equipment cost. Furthermore, environmental analysis showed that CO2, SO2, and NOx emissions as well as the integrated cooling and power system costs were decreased by 25.71%. These findings indicate that this system has a strong energy saving potential, which could accomplish clean manufacturing of ethylene glycol goods and provide a strong reference for further industrial applications.