Bottom Production Research Articles

A simplified multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm

Particle swarm optimization is a popular nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm and has been used extensively to solve single- and multi-objective optimization problems over the last two decades. Several local and global search strategies, and learning and parameter adaptation strategies have been included in particle swarm optimization to improve its performance over the years. Most of these approaches are observed to increase the number of user-defined parameters and algorithmic steps resulting in an increased complexity of the algorithm. This paper presents a simplified multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm in which the exploitation (guided) and exploration (random) moves are simplified using a detailed qualitative analysis of similar existing operators present in the real-coded elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm and the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The developed algorithm is then tested quantitatively on 30 well-known benchmark problems and compared with a real-coded elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm, and its variant with a simulated binary jumping gene operator and multi-objective non-dominated sorting particle swarm optimization algorithm. In the comparison, the developed algorithm is found to be superior in terms of convergence speed. It is also found to be better with respect to four recent multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithms and four differential evolution variants in an extended comparative analysis. Finally, it is applied to a newly formulated industrial multi-objective optimization problem of a residue (bottom product from the crude distillation unit) fluid catalytic cracking unit where it shows a better performance than the other compared algorithms.

Finding Better Limit Cycles of Semicontinuous Distillation. 1. Back Stepping Design Methodology

Semicontinuous ternary zeotropic distillation is a periodic process that is carried out in a single distillation column and a tightly integrated external middle vessel. In the state-of-the-art design procedure of this process, a continuous distillation process that separates the top and bottom products to the desired purity is used to generate an arbitrary initial state for simulating the dynamics of the semicontinuous distillation process. Although this method is useful in estimating the limit cycle, it was later found that the operation of the process in this limit cycle was economically suboptimal. In this study, a new algorithmic design procedure, called the back-stepping design methodology, is proposed to find better limit cycles for zeotropic ternary semicontinuous distillation using the aspenONE Engineering suite. The proposed methodology was applied to two different case studies using feed mixtures with different chemical components. A comparison with the current design procedure for the two case ...

Development of suitable product recovery systems of continuous hybrid jig for plastic-plastic separation

A modified jig called the hybrid jig was recently developed to separate mixed-plastics with similar specific gravities effectively using the concepts of bubble attachment, surface wettability and gravity separation. This method was effective in a batch-type jig setup, but when applied to a continuous-type jig setup, the efficiency of the process dramatically decreased. This drop in efficiency was attributed to the unintended negative effects of air bubbles on separation especially close to the screw-type extractor at the product end though this type of product recovery system was successfully applied to the RETAC and reverse jigs. To address this problem, a better product recovery system for continuous-type hybrid jig is proposed in this study, and the effects of air injection rate at different positions of the hybrid jig separation chamber were evaluated. The results showed that fluidization behavior of particles in the hybrid jig was influenced by not only water pulsation but also the rising motion of air bubbles. To improve the purity of heavy materials in the bottom layer products, two product recovery systems are proposed: (1) a screw-type extractor with one “separating” single-screen, and (2) a screw-type extractor with modified air injection and water pulsation (i.e., upward flow period was shortened).

Continuous segregation of homogeneous binary mixture of solids by a liquid fluidised bed classifier

ABSTRACTContinuous segregation of homogeneous binary mixture of solids was experimentally investigated in a liquid fluidised bed with water as the fluidising medium. Experiments were conducted to study the influence of operating variables such as feed rate of solids, feed composition and liquid superficial velocity on pressure drop, entrainment and discharge rates of solids, and purity of top and bottom products. The fluidisation phenomenon was observed through pressure drop measurements and the liquid velocity range for the classification of solids was identified. Correlations are proposed for the entrainment rate of solids, and purity of top and bottom products. When solid particles are in a fluid-like state, there exists an equilibrium between released flotsam component and residual jetsam component at steady state.

Valuable Chemicals Derived from Pyrolysis Liquid Products of <i>Spirulina platensis</i> Residue

With a motto of preserving nature, the use of renewable resources for the fulfillment of human needs has been seen echoing these days. In response, microalgae, a water-living microorganism, is perceived as an interesting alternative due to its easy-to-cultivate nature. One of the microalgae, which possess the potential for being the future source of energy, food, and health, is Spirulina plantesis. Aiming to identify valuable chemicals possibly derived from it, catalytic and non-catalytic pyrolysis process of the residue of S. plantesis microalgae has been firstly carried out in a fixed-bed reactor over the various temperature of 300, 400, 500, 550 and 600 °C. The resulting vapor was condensed so that the liquid product consisting of the top product (oil phase) and the bottom product (water phase) can be separated. The composition of each product was then analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). In the oil phase yield, the increase of aliphatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the decrease of the oxygenated have been observed along with the increase of pyrolysis temperature, which might be useful for fuel application. Interestingly, their water phase composition also presents some potential chemicals, able to be used as antioxidants, vitamins and food additives.

Simulation Study of an Oxy-Biomass-Based Boiler for Nearly Zero Emission Using Aspen Plus

Bioenergy integrated CO2 capture is considered to be one of the viable options to reduce the carbon footprint in the atmosphere, as well as to lower dependability on the usage of fossil fuels. The present simulation-based study comprises the oxy bio-CCS technique with the objective of bringing about cleaner thermal energy production with nearly zero emissions, CO2 capture and purification, and with the ability to remove NOx and SO2 from the flue gas and to generate valuable byproducts, i.e., HNO3 and H2SO4. In the present work, a simulation on utilization of biomass resources by applying the oxy combustion technique was carried out, and CO2 sequestration through pressurized reactive distillation column (PRDC) was integrated into the boiler. Based on our proposed laboratory scale bio-CCS plant with oxy combustion technique, the designed thermal load was kept at 20 kWth using maize stalk as primary fuel. With the objective of achieving cleaner production with near zero emissions, CO2 rich flue gas and moisture generated during oxy combustion were hauled in PRDC for NOx and SO2 absorption and CO2 purification. The oxy combustion technique is unique due to its characteristic low output of NO sourced by fuel inherent nitrogen. The respective mechanisms of fuel inherent nitrogen conversion to NOx, and later, the conversion of NOx and SO2 to HNO3 and H2SO4 respectively, involve complex chemistry with the involvement of N–S intermediate species. Based on the flue gas composition generated by oxy biomass combustion, the focus was given to the fuel NOx, whereby different rates of NO formation from fuel inherent nitrogen were studied to investigate the optimum rates of conversion of NOx during conversion reactions. The rate of conversion of NOx and SO2 were studied under fixed temperature and pressure. The factors affecting the rate of conversion were optimized through sensitivity analysiês to get the best possible operational parameters. These variable factors include ratios of liquid to gas feed flow, vapor-liquid holdups and bottom recycling. The results obtained through optimizing the various factors of the proposed system have shown great potential in terms of maximizing productivity. Around 88.91% of the 20 kWth boiler’s efficiency was obtained. The rate of conversion of NOx and SO2 were recorded at 98.05% and 87.42% respectively under parameters of 30 °C temperature, 3 MPa pressure, 10% feed stream holdup, liquid/gaseous feed stream ratio of 0.04 and a recycling rate of the bottom product of 20%. During the simulation process, production of around four kilograms per hour of CO2 with 94.13% purity was achieved.

Measurement of charm and bottom production from semileptonic hadron decays in p+p collisions at s=200 GeV

Measurements of the differential production of electrons from open-heavy-flavor hadrons with charm- and bottom-quark content in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV are presented. The measurements proceed through displaced-vertex analyses of electron tracks from the semileptonic decay of charm and bottom hadrons using the PHENIX silicon-vertex detector. The relative contribution of electrons from bottom decays to inclusive heavy-flavor-electron production is found to be consistent with fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log perturbative-QCD calculations within experimental and theoretical uncertainties. These new measurements in $p$$+$$p$ collisions provide a precision baseline for comparable forthcoming measurements in A$+$A collisions.

Design of heat-integrated columns: Industrial practice

Heat integration of distillation columns offers a significant potential to reduce energy costs and carbon footprint in process plants. The conceptual design for heat integration is straightforward: candidate columns may be identified simply by evaluation of the vapor pressure curves of their top and bottoms products. Once the energy and cost savings potential is estimated, the easy part is over and the real challenge for the designers begins. Successful implementation of heat integration will have a strong impact on the overall plant setup intensifying interactions between equipment design, plant layout, instrumentation, process control, and safety concept. In order to master this increased project complexity, the design team needs to begin to tackle these questions in early project stages and find sustainable solutions in the pre-basic engineering phase already.The paper outlines a useful methodology for the successful design of heat-integrated column systems. The guidelines provided help the practitioner to anticipate and solve typical problems, avoid pitfalls and find practical solutions resulting in cost-effective, reliable designs near the energy optimum. The methodology has been successfully applied in industrial practice and is demonstrated using a recent project as an example.

Simulasi Optimasi Reactive Distillation untuk Membuat Bioaditif (Triasetin) dari Gliserol dan Asam Asetat dengan Katalis Asam Sulfat Menggunakan Software Aspen Plus

Biodiesel is one product to avoid the energy crisis in the front mass. Oil from plants such as oil palm, coconut, jatropha, or used cooking oil produces glycerol as a by-product of about 10 wt% of biodiesel products. The excess amount of glycerol must be converted into high-value products. Because if glycerol is not processed properly, the price of glycerol in the market will drop and it will become a waste that can pollute the environment. One of the derivatives of glycerol which has a high value is triacetin which is a good bio-additive as an anti-knock substance in vehicles. From this study, the synthesis of triacetin is from glycerol and acetic acid using sulfuric acid as a catalyst using the Reactive Distillation (RD) process. RD can be used as a reaction place and at the same time as a product refining place. RD can separate water with acetic acid as a distillate product for about 75% on the bottom product. The bottom product of RD will produce triacetin and other derivatives which will be separated again using the second column to obtain high purity triacetin. The purpose of this study is to simulate using Aspen Plus software to model the optimization of RD with a continuous system. The feed capacity of 96% glycerol was 4336.4550 kg/hour and 98% acetate acid was 8659.79 kg/hour in the liquid phase with the help of a sulfuric acid catalyst of 115.4592 kg/hour. The feed enters continuously into RD with a temperature of 115 °C and a pressure of 1 atm. The simulation results show that triacetin products can reach 99% as many as 10150.8561 kg/hour with glycerol conversion of 99.8% and 30 stages in RD. Besides that, the simulation results can also show the flow rate of each stage and the dimensions of RD.

Enhanced separation of maximum boiling azeotropic mixtures with extractive heterogeneous-azeotropic distillation

In the separation industry the extractive heterogeneous-azeotropic distillation (EHAD) is a new and powerful innovation, that is capable of making the separation of highly non-ideal mixtures feasible and economical. In the last years there has been much attention paid to the separation of the minimum boiling homogeneous azeotropes. Although maximum boiling azeotropes are fewer in numbers than the minimum boiling ones but their separation is more complicated but it could be solved with the EHAD, too. Since EHAD is not limited to the separation of minimum boiling azeotropes, the separation of the maximum boiling azeotropes is studied in this work. Our work is motivated by industrial problems because there are such maximum boiling azeotropes in the liquid wastes of the fine chemical industry. The separation of highly non-ideal Water–Acetone–Chloroform–Methanol and Water–Ethyl Acetate–Chloroform–Ethanol quaternary mixtures are investigated and optimized in professional flowsheet simulator environment. Total Annual Costs are also determined. The purity requirement is 99.5 m/m% for Chloroform and the bottom product should be as clear as possible in water so that less liquid organic waste has to be incinerated. It is also an important merit of the EHAD that the chemicals in the distillate can be usually reused supporting sustainability. Different solutions for the separations supplemented with heat integration are examined. On the basis of the computer simulations and the experimental verification it can be concluded, the first time on the literature, that the separation efficiency of EHAD is superior also for the separation of the maximum boiling azeotrope mixtures.

Energy analysis of the ethanol industry considering vinasse concentration and incineration

Nowadays, the ethanol represents the most consolidated biofuel in Brazil. Despite presenting environmental advantages in comparison with non-renewable fuels, the concern for the ethanol process residues is increasing. Among these residues, the vinasse, bottom product of distillation process, is the most important since its characteristics such as BOD, acidic nature and large volume make its disposition difficult and costly. The aim of this study is the integration of a vinasse concentration and incineration system to a conventional sugar, ethanol and electricity production process. For this study, the Aspen Plus® software was used to simulate the production process. Assuming a sugar-ethanol production plant, different scenarios were analysed considering vinasse concentration with a multiple-effect evaporator system, vinasse incineration with salt recuperation, and heat integration. In scenarios that do not assumed heat integration, the main results show that vinasse incineration is necessary to contribute to the steam generation in order to cover the steam demand of the process, including the vinasse concentration. Regarding the heat integration procedure, an appropriate placement of evaporators was achieved through the reduction of the number of effects on both the vinasse and juice evaporation systems; thus promoting a meaningful reduction in the steam consumption of the integrated process.

Measurements of μμ pairs from open heavy flavor and Drell-Yan in p+p collisions at s=200 GeV

PHENIX reports differential cross sections of $\mu\mu$ pairs from semileptonic heavy-flavor decays and the Drell-Yan production mechanism measured in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV at forward and backward rapidity ($1.2<|\eta|<2.2$). The $\mu\mu$ pairs from $c\bar{c}$, $b\bar{b}$, and Drell-Yan are separated using a template fit to unlike- and like-sign muon pair spectra in mass and $p_T$. The azimuthal opening angle correlation between the muons from $c\bar{c}$ and $b\bar{b}$ decays and the pair-$p_T$ distributions are compared to distributions generated using {\sc pythia} and {\sc powheg} models, which both include next-to-leading order processes. The measured distributions for pairs from $c\bar{c}$ are consistent with {\sc pythia} calculations. The $c\bar{c}$ data presents narrower azimuthal correlations and softer $p_T$ distributions compared to distributions generated from {\sc powheg}. The $b\bar{b}$ data are well described by both models. The extrapolated total cross section for bottom production is $3.75{\pm}0.24({\rm stat}){\pm}^{0.35}_{0.50}({\rm syst}){\pm}0.45({\rm global})$[$\mu$b], which is consistent with previous measurements at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in the same system at the same collision energy, and is approximately a factor of two higher than the central value calculated with theoretical models. The measured Drell-Yan cross section is in good agreement with next-to-leading-order quantum-chromodynamics calculations.

Design of Adaptive Internal Control Model on Binary Distillation Column

The binary distillation column is one of the most important operating units in chemical engineering. Wood & Berry binary distillation columns separate feed streams (F, XF) into top products (D, XD) and bottom products (B, XB). The control design in the binary distillation column has several constraints caused by non-linearity of the process, multivariable interactions, and presence of a disturbance. Based on that constraints, it needs a modern control method that can make the system response to track the set point change and reduce or eliminate the disturbances, so the product composition output as desired. Adaptive Internal Model Control 2 Degree of Freedom (AIMC 2 DoF) method is one of the modern control methods that are capable of controlling multivariable plants and reduce or eliminate existing disturbances. Based on all the tests performed, the AIMC 2 DoF controller using Skogestad filter parameter tuning method has the smallest IAE value compared to the other methods.

OPTIMALISASI KINERJA KOLOM FRAKSINASI DI PT X

Abstract Fractionation column in PT X is a unit of equipment that aims to separate the gas component wherein the composition is primarily a mixture of propylene and propane C3 to C4 mixture. Based on the calculation of the operating data obtained results C3 on product purity level of 98.92% upper and purity levels of C4 in the bottom product of 86.27%. From the correlation analysis of process variables on the dependent variable that is used as a parameter optimization are purity levels of C3 in the top products and product purity C4 at the bottom of the results showed that the most significant process variables influence is a bottom temperature and the amount of reflux flow. Of the two variables are then conducted regression analysis to optimize the parameters to obtain the objective function. Based on the results of the objective function obtained optimal condition is a bottom temperature of 108,04oC and reflux amount of 61.44 tons/hour. Then the results obtained purity levels of C3 in the upper part of the product is 99.99% and purity of C4 at the bottom of the product by 97.00%. Of the economic calculation under optimal conditions fractionation column will be obtained potential profit of Rp 44,346,666 /day. Keywords: Optimization, Performance, Fractionation

PROSA PDFs and Astrophysical Applications

The PROSA parton distribution function fit was the first one appeared in the literature incorporating data on open charm and open bottom production at LHCb, in order to reduce the uncertainties on gluons and sea quarks at low $x$'s ($x$ $<$ $10^{-4}$). We discuss aspects of the PROSA PDFs of particular relevance for their usage in the field of Neutrino Astronomy, and their application in the computation of prompt neutrino fluxes.

Colloidal stability and hot filtration test of residual fuel oils based on visbreaking and ebullated bed residue H-Oil hydrocracking

Six H-Oil-based residual fuel oils, two H-Oil atmospheric tower bottom products, two H-Oil vacuum tower bottom products, one visbreaker-based residual fuel oil, and three different straight run vacuum residual oils were studied in this work. The colloidal stability parameters S-value (ASTM D7157), and separability number (ASTM D7061), along with SARA-based colloidal instability index, and the solubility parameters of asphaltene and maltene fractions of the studied residual oils were tested to correlate with the residual oil sediment content. It was found that none of the colloidal stability parameters correlated with the residual oil sediment content, while correlations were found between the different colloidal stability parameters. This study has shown that only the residual oil samples whose S-value has been at minimum of 1.375 kept their sediment contents without change with the course of time. [Received: August 1, 2016; Accepted: December 4, 2016]

Barium Sulphate Deposits

The exploitation of field naturally, leads to decrease the productivity of wells, to continue this exploitation with the best conditions, it is essential to pass to the stage of secondary recovery.The injection of water in reservoir is the most used method in the recovery of oil; unfortunately, there is an incompatibility between the injection water and the reservoir water, which poses a lot of problems such as training mineral deposits.The reservoir waters may contain alkaline ions and be brought into contact with the wash water which contains sulfate ions.The injected water eventually reaches the producing wells and in these wells the mixture is made and the precipitation of barium sulfate (BaSO4) takes place. The crystals then stick in the walls of the tubings, in a process that may be similar to that of sodium chloride, but this time the problem is more serious because it is a very compact deposit insoluble in the water also in acids.Deposits which formed during production and shipping represent a real calamity against which oil producers have been fighting for several decades, deposits causing irreversible damage particularly dangerous for bottom production facilities such as surface and sometimes for the rock itself.

Simulation and optimization of reactive packed distillation column for biodiesel production using heterogeneous catalyst

It is important to simulate a process to see how its production would be in real time. However, there is a few simulation study in literature on continuous flow-biodiesel production in reactive distillation (RD) column. In this study, simulation and optimization of continuous flow-biodiesel (FAME) production in RD column packed with cheaper heterogeneous basic CaO catalyst by using Aspen HYSYS 3.2 software was investigated to contribute to the literature. In study, low-priced waste cooking oil (WCO) and methanol were fed separately into first stage at top of RD column. In the literature, transesterification was considered as pseudo-first order forward reaction, and activation energy (Ea) and frequency factor (A0) for WCO of 79 kj/mol and 2.98 x 1010 min-1 were determined, respectively. After discovering composition of WCO by GC, a set pseudo-first order forward reaction based on triglyceride (as tripalmitin, tristearin, triolein and trilinolein) were written to the simulator. The developed model using General NRTL fluid package was simulated to converge by Sparse Continuation Solver. After simulation, optimum conditions were determined by Optimizer tool and Box algorithm. In the optimization, objective function was selected so as to maximize the sum of conversion and mole fraction of m-oleate in bottom product. As a result, optimum values were determined as reflux ratio of 0.1, reboiler duty of 17.9 W, total feed flow rate of 11.2x10-4 kgmol/hour and methanol/WCO molar ratio of 6.42 for maximum conversion of 99.97% and mole fraction of 70.69%. Consequently, good results were very compatible with literature, thus showing suitability of suggested model, economically feasible biodiesel production and Aspen HYSYS 3.2 capability of handling this process successfully.

Effects of particle size on properties and thermal inertization of bottom ashes (MSW of Turin’s incinerator)

The aim of this study is twofold: (i) characterization of the bottom ashes from the Incinerator plant of the city of Turin (northern Italy), in terms of their chemical/phase compositions and capacity to release heavy metals in leachates, as a function of particle size; (ii) investigation of thermal treatments’ efficacy to promote inertization of the same bottom ashes, exploring time-temperature ranges with t ≤ 6 h and T ≤ 1000 °C. Special attention is paid to macro-sampling techniques in order to have samples that are representative of the average bottom ashes production. Micro-XRF, ICP-OES, SEM-EDS, Ion Chromatography and X-ray powder diffraction were used to investigate bottom ashes and leachates. Bottom ashes are mainly constituted by an amorphous phase, ∼66–97 wt%, regardless of particle size; the remaining phases are quartz, calcite, Fe-oxides, melilite and other minor crystalline materials. The amorphous phase exhibits a relevant dependence on particle size, and undergoes dissolution in water up to 20 wt%, thus being the most important component in affecting chemical species release. The smaller the bottom ashes’ particle size, the more the heavy metals (major species: Zn, Cu, Ti, Pb) and calcium contents increase, whereas silicon’s decreases. Electrolytic current observations in combination with phase/chemical composition and metals release as a function of particle size, suggest that bottom ashes partition into two classes, i.e. ≥1 and <1 mm, for inertization purposes. Thermal treatments exhibit partial efficacy to curb heavy metals mobility: whilst they reduce Cu release, they lead to a inverse effect in the case of Cr.

Temperature inferential control of a reactive distillation column with double reactive sections

Abstract Temperature inferential control (TIC) is studied for a reactive distillation column with double reactive sections (RDC-DRSs) processing a hypothetical two-stage consecutive reversible reaction (A + B ↔ C + D, C + B ↔ E + D with αD > αB > αC > αA > αE). Because of the complicated dynamic behaviors, the controlled stages by sensitivity analysis lead to great steady-state deviations (SSDs) in top and bottom product purities. Since TIC involves considerably reduced settling times in comparison with direct composition control, small SSDs in product qualities correspond generally to small transient deviations (TDs) in product qualities. An objective function that measures SSDs in product qualities is formulated to represent the performance of a TIC system and an iterative procedure is devised to search for the best control configuration. The application of the procedure to the RDC-DRS gives considerably suppressed TDs and SSDs in top and bottom product qualities as compared with the one by sensitivity analysis. The method is simpler in principle and less computationally intensive than the current practice. These striking outcomes show the effectiveness of the proposed principle for the development of TIC systems for complicated reactive distillation columns.