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Retrofit of distillation columns in biodiesel production plants

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  • Nguyen, Nghi
  • Demirel, Yaşar

Abstract

Column grand composite curves and the exergy loss profiles produced by the Column-Targeting Tool of the Aspen Plus simulator are used to assess the performance of the existing distillation columns, and reduce the costs of operation by appropriate retrofits in a biodiesel production plant. Effectiveness of the retrofits is assessed by means of thermodynamics and economic improvements. We have considered a biodiesel plant utilizing three distillation columns to purify biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) and byproduct glycerol as well as reduce the waste. The assessments of the base case simulation have indicated the need for modifications for the distillation columns. For column T202, the retrofits consisting of a feed preheating and reflux ratio modification have reduced the total exergy loss by 47%, while T301 and T302 columns exergy losses decreased by 61% and 52%, respectively. After the retrofits, the overall exergy loss for the three columns has decreased from 7491.86kW to 3627.97kW. The retrofits required a fixed capital cost of approximately $239,900 and saved approximately $1,900,000/year worth of electricity. The retrofits have reduced the consumption of energy considerably, and leaded to a more environmentally friendly operation for the biodiesel plant considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Nguyen, Nghi & Demirel, Yaşar, 2010. "Retrofit of distillation columns in biodiesel production plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 1625-1632.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:35:y:2010:i:4:p:1625-1632
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2009.12.009
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    2. Liu, X.G. & He, C. & He, C.C. & Chen, J.J. & Zhang, B.J. & Chen, Q.L., 2017. "A new retrofit approach to the absorption-stabilization process for improving energy efficiency in refineries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1131-1145.
    3. Poddar, Tuhin & Jagannath, Anoop & Almansoori, Ali, 2017. "Use of reactive distillation in biodiesel production: A simulation-based comparison of energy requirements and profitability indicators," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 985-997.
    4. Nguyen, Nghi & Demirel, Yaşar, 2011. "Using thermally coupled reactive distillation columns in biodiesel production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 4838-4847.
    5. Santori, Giulio & Di Nicola, Giovanni & Moglie, Matteo & Polonara, Fabio, 2012. "A review analyzing the industrial biodiesel production practice starting from vegetable oil refining," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 109-132.
    6. Chen, Ting & Zhang, Bingjian & Chen, Qinglin, 2014. "Heat integration of fractionating systems in para-xylene plants based on column optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 311-321.
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    8. Khoobbakht, Golmohammad & Kheiralipour, Kamran & Rasouli, Hamed & Rafiee, Mojtaba & Hadipour, Mehrdad & Karimi, Mahmoud, 2020. "Experimental exergy analysis of transesterification in biodiesel production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

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