Kuwait University

Faculty of Engineering & Petroleum

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
First Semester 2012/2013

Prof. Mohamed A. Fahim

PLANT DESIGN (ChE 491)

Problem Statement Project 3
(4 Members Group)

Project Title:

Production of Aniline

Plant Capacity:

200 Million lb/yr (91,000 Metric Ton/yr) Aniline at 0.9 Stream Factor

Introduction

Aniline is a clear to slightly yellow liquid with a characteristic odor. It does not readily evaporate at room temperature. Aniline is slightly soluble in water and mixes readily with most organic solvents. Aniline is used to make a wide variety of products such as polyurethane foam, agricultural chemicals, synthetic dyes, antioxidants, stabilizers for the rubber industry, herbicides, varnishes and explosives.

Nitrobenzene is the classical feedstock for Aniline manufacture. Recently less chlorobenzene and Phenol are being used in aniline manufacturing processes in several countries. The reduction of nitrobenzene with iron turnings and water in the presence of small amounts of hydrochloric acid is the oldest form of industrial aniline manufacture. It would certainly have been replaced much earlier by more economical reduction methods if it had not been possible to obtain valuable iron oxide pigments from the resulting iron oxide sludge.

However, the increasing demand for aniline has far surpassed the market for the pigments, so that not only catalytic hydrogenation processes (both liquid- and gas-phase) but also other feedstocks have been used for aniline production. The modern catalytic gas-phase hydrogenation processes for nitrobenzene can be carried out using a fixed-bed or a fluidized-bed reactor. In this project you will find different routes available for the production of aniline. Finally you will design a plant to produce 200 Million lb/yr (91,000 Metric Ton/yr) of aniline from nitrobenzene.

Feed Nitrobenzene The fresh feed to the process consists of nearly pure (99.75 wt%) Nitrobenzene.

Feed Hydrogen The make-up hydrogen required for the process consists of 92. 5 wt% hydrogen and the rest being low boiling impurities. Mol ratio of hydrogen to nitrobenzene is maintained at 9:1.

Reactions

NO2

3 H2

NH2

2 H2O

Nitrobenzene Reactions Conditions Reactor Type Temperatures Pressure H2:Nitrobenzene ratio HNO3:Benzene mole ratio Conversion

Aniline

Fluidized-bed reactor will cooling tube bundles 275oC 20 psig 9:1 1:1 99.7%

Final Product The process should be designed to produce 200 million lb/yr of aniline in the form of a solution consisting of 99.9 wt% aniline. You are required to carry out the project by completing the

following tasks and submit a formal report on each task:

TASK LIST
Task 1: Literature Survey (Report submission date: 23/09/2012) 1. Various process routes to manufacture Aniline. 2. Properties of raw materials and final products. 3. Uses of Aniline.

Task 2:

HYSYS Simulation (Report submission date: 21/10/2012) Simulation of the production of the Aniline using one selected process flow-sheet.

Task 3:

Equipment Design (Report submission date: 18/11/2012) Perform detailed design calculations of all the major and minor equipments in your plant and report its size, construction details, material of construction and instrumentation & control.

Task 4:

Safety and Health Hazard (Report submission date: 2/12/2012) Assessment of safety features taken in the plant design and report health hazards.

Task 5:

Economic evaluation (Report submission date: 2/12/2012) Perform economic study and project evolution for the selected petrochemical plant.

Task 6:

Final Report (Report submission date: 16/12/2012) Submit final report for whole project.