CBB 4023

PLANT DESIGN II

DESIGN OF
MALEIC ANHYDRIDE PRODUCTION PLANT

GROUP 6
AMIRAH RAIHANA BINTI HARIS FADZILAH

11885

MARYAM FARZANAH BINTI MOHD FAUZI

11971

MOHAMMAD ILHAM BIN MAT HUSSIN

12004

MOHAMMAD KHAIRULANAM BIN AZEMAN

12005

NUR SYAFIQAH BINTI ABDUL MANAN

12148

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS
SEPTEMBER 2012

CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL

CBB 4023
PLANT DESIGN II

DESIGN OF
MALEIC ANHYDRIDE PRODUCTION PLANT

GROUP 6
AMIRAH RAIHANA BINTI HARIS FADZILAH

11885

MARYAM FARZANAH BINTI MOHD FAUZI

11971

MOHAMMAD ILHAM BIN MAT HUSSIN

12004

MOHAMMAD KHAIRULANAM BIN AZEMAN

12005

NUR SYAFIQAH BINTI ABDUL MANAN

12148

APPROVED BY:

________________________________________
DR. RISZA BINTI RUSLI (Group Supervisor)
DATE: 20TH SEPTEMBER 2012

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS
SEPTEMBER 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Maleic anhydride is a versatile chemical intermediate used to make unsaturated polyester
resins, lube oil additives, alkyd resins, and variety of other products. Maleic anhydride is
frequently shortened to MAN. In order to produce MAN, the process involved is by the
oxidation of benzene or other aromatic compounds. In this case, we would use the normal
butane (n-butane) as the main feed. Regarding to this process, it will be further explain in the
next chapter as well as the process route that has been chosen in this project.
The main objective of this project is to develop a Maleic Anhydride production plant. The
development of plant should consider all the relevant criteria required in order to make the
most optimize production plant.
Throughout this project, overall document emphasized on the details of the project
background, market survey, site feasibility study, conceptual process design, process control,
safety and loss prevention, waste treatment facility as well as economic evaluation. Location
chosen for MAN production plant is at Kidurong, Sarawak. This is due to the availability of
raw materials, utilities and transportation.
In United States, MAN production rate is estimated to be about 250,000tonnes/annum.
According to the demand, the quantity of MAN is about 223,000tonnes/annum.Thus, the
proposed plant design will be justified based on the economic potential of the process, by
comparing the price of MAN and price of raw materials needed. Hence, overall process
description of this project will be further explained in the next chapters.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillah, praised to God for giving us an opportunity to complete this Plant Design
Project I and II courses after struggling with all the problems and challenges in completing
design project for the past several months.
There were about fourteen (14) weeks have been given to us in completing the design project
in Plant Design Project II (CBB4023) course under the supervision of our keen supervisor,
Dr. RiszaRusli. We as the member of this group would like to pass our highest gratitude to
Dr. RiszaRusli for all his guidance and continuous supports throughout the semester. He has
been a very supportive supervisor and willing to share his knowledge, in order to ensure that
we could learn and understand every single thing in this project. Our gratitude is also
extended to PDP 2 coordinator, Dr. Rajashekar and DrMurniMelati for their effort in
arranging and planning the course structures so that all will be run smoothly.
Last but not least, our appreciation is given to our beloved group mates, course mates and
also friends, thanks for all supports and motivations, which helps us a lot to make sure that
this project ended successfully. Not to forget to those who directly or indirectly involved in
giving us the opportunity to learn and work as a team while designing our first plant project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL .................................................................................................................. 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................................... 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 4
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................................. 8
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................................ 9
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 10
1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................... 10
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ......................................................................................................................... 10
1.3 OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................ 10
1.4 SCOPE OF PROJECT ................................................................................................................................ 11
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 12
2.1 BACKGROUND OF PRODUCT ............................................................................................................... 12
2.1.1

Product Overview: Maleic anhydride (MAN) ................................................................................. 12

2.1.2

History of MAN Production(Timothy R. Felthouse, 2001) ............................................................. 12

2.2 AVAILABLE & FEASIBLE PROCESS ROUTES TO MAN PRODUCTION ......................................... 14

2.2.1

Benzene partial oxidation to MAN (AP-42, CH 6.14: Maleic Anhydride)...................................... 14

2.2.2

N-butane partial oxidation to MAN ................................................................................................ 15

2.2.3

MAN fromphthalic anhydride recovery process ............................................................................. 15

2.3 SCREENING AND SELECTION OF PROCESS ROUTES ...................................................................... 16

2.4 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES ......................................................................................... 17
2.5 COST DATA .............................................................................................................................................. 17
2.6 SITE FEASIBILITY STUDY..................................................................................................................... 19
2.6.1

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 19

2.6.2

Selection Criteria ............................................................................................................................ 19

2.6.3

Summary of site Characteristic in Each Location .......................................................................... 20

2.6.4

Site Evaluation ................................................................................................................................ 21

2.7 POTENTIAL HAZARDS .......................................................................................................................... 23

2.7.1

Previous Accident On Similar Plant ............................................................................................... 23

2.7.2

Potential Hazards and Control Measures ...................................................................................... 24

2.7.3

Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) & Hazard .............................................................................. 26

CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL PROCESS DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS ..................................................... 30

3.1 LEVEL I: PROCESS OPERATING MODE .............................................................................................. 30

3.2 LEVEL II: INPUT-OUTPUT STRUCTURE ............................................................................................. 31

3.3 LEVEL III: REACTOR DESIGN AND REACTOR NETWORK SYNTHESIS ....................................... 32
3.3.1

Reactor Conversion Selections ....................................................................................................... 33

3.3.2

Preliminary Reactor Mass Balance ................................................................................................ 34

3.3.3

Reactor Type Selection ................................................................................................................... 36

3.4 LEVEL IV: SEPARATION SYSTEM SYNTHESIS ................................................................................. 38

3.4.1

First Process Route ......................................................................................................................... 39

3.4.2

Second Process Route ..................................................................................................................... 40

3.4.3

Process Route Selection .................................................................................................................. 41

3.5 LEVEL V: HEAT INTEGRATION ........................................................................................................... 41

3.5.1

Introduction to Pinch Analysis........................................................................................................ 41

3.5.2

SPRINT Software ............................................................................................................................ 42

3.5.3

Stream Data Extraction .................................................................................................................. 42

3.5.4

Minimum Temperature Difference .................................................................................................. 43

3.5.5

Maximum Process Heat Recovery .................................................................................................. 43

3.5.6

Heat Exchanger Network ................................................................................................................ 46

3.5.7

Energy-Saving Evaluation .............................................................................................................. 47

CHAPTER 4: INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL ............................................................................... 48

4.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 48
4.2 DESIGN OF PLANT WIDE CONTROL SYSTEM ................................................................................... 48
4.2.1

Procedures ...................................................................................................................................... 48

4.2.2

Drier Control System ...................................................................................................................... 49

4.2.3

Deisobutanizer Control System....................................................................................................... 49

4.2.4

Reactor Control System .................................................................................................................. 50

4.2.5

Heat Exchanger Control System ..................................................................................................... 52

4.2.6

Absorber Control System ................................................................................................................ 53

4.2.7

Stripper Distillation Column Control System ................................................................................. 54

CHAPTER 5: SAFETY AND LOSS PREVENTION ..................................................................................... 56

5.1 HAZARD AND OPERABILITY STUDIES (HAZOP) ............................................................................. 56
5.1.1

Introduction to HAZOP .................................................................................................................. 56

5.1.2

Study Nodes Selection ..................................................................................................................... 56

5.1.3

HAZOP Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 57

5.2 PLANT LAYOUT ...................................................................................................................................... 65

5.2.1

Site Layout ...................................................................................................................................... 65

5.2.2

Non-Process Area ........................................................................................................................... 65

5.2.3

Process Area ................................................................................................................................... 66

5.2.4

Assembly point ................................................................................................................................ 68

5.2.5

Emergency Exit ............................................................................................................................... 69

5.3 PLANT LAYOUT CONSIDERATION FACTORS .................................................................................. 69

CHAPTER 6: WASTE TREATMENT ............................................................................................................ 72

6.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 72
6.2 WASTE MINIMIZATION ......................................................................................................................... 73
6.3 WASTE AUDIT ......................................................................................................................................... 73
6.4 EFFLUENT DISCHARGE STANDARD AND REQUIREMENTS ......................................................... 74
6.4.1

Purpose of Effluent Standards ........................................................................................................ 74

6.4.2

Liquid waste .................................................................................................................................... 75

6.4.3

Gaseous Waste ................................................................................................................................ 76

6.4.4

Solid waste ...................................................................................................................................... 76

6.5 TREATMENT STRATEGY ...................................................................................................................... 76

6.6 SCREENING PROCESS............................................................................................................................ 80
6.6.1

Aerated Grit Removal ..................................................................................................................... 80

6.6.2

pH Stabilizer ................................................................................................................................... 80

6.6.3

Equalization Tank ........................................................................................................................... 80

6.6.4

Coagulation Tank ........................................................................................................................... 81

6.6.5

Clarifier .......................................................................................................................................... 81

6.6.6

Sludge Dewatering.......................................................................................................................... 81

6.6.7

Mechanical Sludge Thickener ......................................................................................................... 81

6.6.8

Sludge Storage ................................................................................................................................ 81

6.6.9

Disinfection ..................................................................................................................................... 82

6.6.10

Biopond ...................................................................................................................................... 82

6.7 GAS TREATMENT ................................................................................................................................... 82

6.8 SOLID HANDLING TREATMENT.......................................................................................................... 85
6.9 SCHEDULED WASTE .............................................................................................................................. 86
CHAPTER 7: PROJECT ECONOMICS AND COST ESTIMATION ......................................................... 87
7.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 87
7.1.1

Capital Investment .......................................................................................................................... 87

7.1.2

Total Equipment Cost (TEC) .......................................................................................................... 88

7.1.3

Fixed Capital Investment ................................................................................................................ 88

7.1.4

Estimation of Total Operating Cost ................................................................................................ 89

7.1.5

Gross Profit .................................................................................................................................... 89

7.2 PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 90

7.2.1

Start-up Period ............................................................................................................................... 90

7.2.2

Depreciation ................................................................................................................................... 90

7.2.3

Cash Flow Estimation ..................................................................................................................... 91

7.2.4

Net Present Worth ........................................................................................................................... 92

7.2.5

Internal Rate of return .................................................................................................................... 92

7.2.6

Rate of Return (ROR) Estimation ................................................................................................... 92

7.2.7

Net Present Value or Worth (NPV) Estimation............................................................................... 92

7.2.8

Pay Back Time ................................................................................................................................ 93

7.3 DISCUSSIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 93

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION ............................................................................. 94
8.1 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 94
8.2 RECOMMENDATION .............................................................................................................................. 95
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................... 96
APPENDICES..................................................................................................................................................... 98

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: THE MAIN PROCESS TECHNOLOGY FROM SCIENTIFIC DESIGN ...................... 14
FIGURE 2: REACTIONS FOR PARTIAL OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MAN ...................... 15
FIGURE 3: GLOBAL DEMAND OF MAN ACCORDING TO REGION(MALEIC ANHYDRIDE . 18
FIGURE 4: PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF MAN ACCORDING TO REGION, 2000 .................. 18
FIGURE 5: KIDURONG INDUSTRIAL AREA ........................................................................... 23
FIGURE 6: SCHEMATIC PROCESS OF AMMONIA .................................................................. 31
FIGURE 7: HEURISTIC METHOD: ONION MODEL ................................................................. 38
FIGURE 8: FIRST PROCESS ROUTE ........................................................................................ 40
FIGURE 9: SECOND PROCESS ROUTE .................................................................................... 41
FIGURE 10: COMPOSITE CURVE FOR MAXIMUM HEAT RECOVERY: ................................. 44
FIGURE 11: PROBLEM TABLE ALGORITHM BY SPRINT SOFTWARE .................................. 45
FIGURE 12: HEAT EXCHANGER NETWORK .......................................................................... 46
FIGURE 13: SELECTED STUDY NODES CONNECTED TO REACTOR .................................... 57
FIGURE 14: ISOBUTANE STORAGE TANK ............................................................................. 77
FIGURE 15: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT ............................. 78
FIGURE 16: FLOW SHEET OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT..................................... 79
FIGURE 17: NITROGEN SEPARATOR ..................................................................................... 84
FIGURE 18: WASTE OF STREAM 18 (S18) .............................................................................. 85
FIGURE 19: CASH FLOW DIAGRAM ....................................................................................... 91
FIGURE 20: PAYBACK TIME ................................................................................................... 93

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1: WORLD MAN CAPACITY BY REACTOR TYPE (MAN WORLD SURVEY, 1992) ... 13
TABLE 2: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO OPERABILITY AND ECONOMY ASPECTS .......... 20
TABLE 3: WEIGHTAGE CRITERIA IN DECIDING SITE LOCATION ...................................... 21
TABLE 4: WEIGHTAGE TABLE ON SITES .............................................................................. 22
TABLE 5: ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL HAZARDS ................................................................... 25
TABLE 6: HAZARD ANALYSIS ............................................................................................... 26
TABLE 7: GUIDELINES FOR BATCH AND CONTINUOUS PROCESS ..................................... 30
TABLE 8: PRODUCTION OF MALEIC ANHYDRIDE FROM N-BUTANE ................................. 33
TABLE 9: PRELIMINARY REACTOR MASS BALANCE .......................................................... 34
TABLE 10: MASS BALANCE WITH RECYCLE ........................................................................ 35
TABLE 11: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PACKED BED REACTOR (SMITH) . 36
TABLE 12: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR ........... 36
TABLE 13: STREAM DATA EXTRACTED ............................................................................... 42
TABLE 14: OPTIMUM T MIN IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES (PINCH ANALYSIS).................... 43
TABLE 15: UTILITIES REQUIRED BEFORE HEAT INTEGRATION ........................................ 44
TABLE 16: UTILITIES REQUIRED AFTER HEAT INTEGRATION .......................................... 45
TABLE 17: COMPARISON OF UTILITY REQUIREMENT BEFORE AND AFTER HI ............... 47
TABLE 18: DRIER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS ................................................................... 49
TABLE 19 : DEISOBUTANIZER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS .............................................. 50
TABLE 20: REACTOR CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS ............................................................. 52
TABLE 21: COOLER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS ................................................................ 53
TABLE 22: HEAT EXCHANGER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS ............................................. 53
TABLE 23: GAS ABSORBER, C-301 CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS ........................................ 54
TABLE 24: DISTILLATION COLUMN CONTROL SYSTEM ..................................................... 55
TABLE 25: STUDY NODES IN HAZOP ANALYSIS .................................................................. 56
TABLE 26: STUDY NODE #1 .................................................................................................... 58
TABLE 27: STUDY NODE #2 .................................................................................................... 60
TABLE 28: STUDY NODE #3 .................................................................................................... 62
TABLE 29: RECOMMENDED MINIMUM CLEARANCE ........................................................... 70
TABLE 30: WASTE STREAMS PROPERTIES ........................................................................... 74
TABLE 31: ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (EXTRACT) ........................................................... 75
TABLE 32: PLANT WASTEWATER AND STANDARD B VALUES OF EQA ............................ 76
TABLE 33: METHOD OF REMOVAL ACCORDING TO WASTE COMPONENT ....................... 76
TABLE 34: SUMMARY OF LIMITATIONS FOR THE GASEOUS TREATMENT STRATEGY ... 82
TABLE 35: DISPOSAL METHODS OF SOLID WASTE ............................................................. 85
TABLE 36: TOTAL EQUIPMENT COST ................................................................................... 88
TABLE 37: CAPITAL INVESTMENT FOR START-UP PERIOD ................................................ 90
TABLE 38: CUMULATIVE CASH FLOW .................................................................................. 92

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND
The final year design project team has been assigned to design a Maleic Anhydride
production plant using mixed butane as the raw material. For this semester, the team needs to
incorporate safety aspects, site selection, conceptual design, material and energy balance,
heat integration and preliminary economic evaluation in the early design of the plant. Each
team is also assigned a lecturer from the Chemical Department as a supervisor to guide the
students in designing the plant.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Maleic anhydride (MAN) is used in the production of unsaturated polyester resins. These
laminating resins have a high structural strength and good dielectric properties. These
characteristics makes maleic anhydride eligible for a variety of applications in automobile
bodies, molded boats, building panels, , chemical storage tanks, lightweight pipe, machinery
housings, furniture, luggage, and bathtubs. Maleic anhydride is also used to produce other
chemicals including fumaric acid, agricultural chemicals, alkyd resins, lubricants,
copolymers, plastics, and succinic acid.
The main feed stocks for MAN industry are benzene and normal butane. However, due to its
increasing cost of benzene and chemical hazard of benzene, the industry turned to butane as
the main feed stock because of its fewer hazards compared to benzene, low cost and abundant
source availability.
The team is assigned the task of designing a Maleic Anhydride production plant using a prespecified composition of mixed butane as the raw material. The capacity of the plant must be
determined based on the demand and worldwide market for Maleic Anhydride.

1.3 OBJECTIVES
The objective of this project is to develop a Maleic Anhydride production plant. The plant
must be cost-effective, considers all of the desired criteria in addition to dealing with relevant
issues. The team needs to recommend the best possible design, which will ultimately
convince panel of juries to verify the new plant. The objectives of this design project include
the following:

10

To integrate chemical engineering skills and knowledge in a detailed design of a

chemical plant.

To apply appropriate design codes in a detailed design work

To present a piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) and control strategy

packages

To perform detailed economic evaluation of the proposed chemical plant

To generate cost effective process options while maintaining operability, safety

and environment friendliness of the design.

1.4 SCOPE OF PROJECT

The scopes of work for FYDP II are as follows:

Making the necessary decisions, judgements and assumptions in design problems.

Performing the instrumentation and control study

Performing the process design of the major process units.

Performing the mechanical design of the major process units.

Performing the economic evaluation including capital cost estimation and

manufacturing cost estimation.

Considering the environmental and safety issues related to the plant. Material
safety data sheet (MSDS) for all the chemicals involved must be part of the safety
and environmental discussion.

Utilising the blend of hand calculations, spreadsheets, mathematical computer

packages, and process simulators to design a process

Preparing the group and individual reports as per standard format and conducting
the oral presentations.

11

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 BACKGROUND OF PRODUCT
2.1.1

Product Overview: Maleic anhydride (MAN)

Maleic anhydride is a versatile molecule that is used in many applications which requires a
number of functionalities and properties (Timothy R. Felthouse, 2001). It is considered an
excellent joining and cross linking agent due to its three active sites (one double bond and
two carboxyl groups). Besides that, due to its cross linking abilities, it is widely used in the
manufacturing of unsaturated polyester resins. Maleic Anhydride is also one of the important
intermediate in the fine chemical industry, mainly in the manufacturing of agricultural
chemicals and additives for lubricating oil. In addition, it also serves as a component for
several copolymers in the polymer sectors (Lohbeck, Haferkorn, Fuhrmann, & Fedtke, 2005).
In 1928, Diels and Alder worked on a reaction between Maleic Anhydride and 1,4-butadiene
and the work was later awarded the Nobel prize in 1950. The starting of the usage of Maleic
Anhydride in the pesticide and pharmaceutical industries was because of the studied reaction.
Several examples of the specialty chemicals that can be prepared from Maleic Anhydride
includes tartaric acid, diethyl and dimethyl succinate, malic acid, glyoxylic acid,
diisobutylhexahydrophthalate (DIBE), methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride esters and
dodecene succinic anhydride. (Lohbeck, Haferkorn, Fuhrmann, & Fedtke, 2005)
2.1.2

History of MAN Production(Timothy R. Felthouse, 2001)

Maleic anhydride was initially commercialized in the early 1930s through the selective
oxidation of benzene. The usage of benzene as the feed for the production of maleic
anhydride was dominant until 1980s. Several processes were introduced with the common
ones that were from Scientific Design. By then, there were also small amount of maleic acid
being produced as by-product in the production of phtalic anhydride that can be oxidised into
maleic anhydride.
However, the usage of benzene started to change and was replaced by n-butane in 1974
because of its toxic effects and economic aspects. The recognition of benzene as hazardous
material and deemed carcinogen substance with the rapid increase in the benzene price
opened up the search for alternative process technology specifically in the

12

United States. Later, the first commercial production of maleic anhydride from butane was
established at Monsatos J. F. Queeny plant in the year 1974.
After 1980s, the United States maleic anhydride industries underwent a conversion of
feedstock from benzene to butane. But, during the early years, the conversion to butane as
feedstock had its limitation whereby the early butane-based catalyst were not active and
selective enough for a better conversion of benzene-based plant without a significant loss of
capacity production.
However, further enhanced catalyst was developed by Monsanto, Denka, and Halcon which
led to the worlds first butane-to-maleic anhydride plant which was started up by Monsanto in
1983. The plant incorporated an energy efficient solvent-based product collection and
refining system. It was then the largest maleic anhydride production facility and later it
undergone debottlenecking project from a capacity of 59,000 tons per year to 105,000 tons
per year in 1999.
By mid-1980s, United States 100% of maleic anhydride production were using butane as
feedstock due to advances in catalyst technology, increased regulatory pressures, and
continuing cost advantages of butane over benzene.
Meanwhile, Europe has also converted from benzene-based to butane-based maleic anhydride
technology starting from the construction of new butane based facilities by CONDEAHunstman, Pantochim and Lonza. The growth in the industry turned to the butane-to-maleic
anhydride route, usually at the expense of benzene-based production.
Table below shows the worldwide maleic production capacity broken down into fixed-bed
benzene, fixed-bed butane, fluidized-bed butane, andphthalic anhydride (PA) co-product.
TABLE 1: WORLD MAN CAPACITY BY REACTOR TYPE (MAN WORLD SURVEY, 1992)

1993 Actual
Reactor (Feed)

2000 Actual

Kiloton / year,

Kiloton / year,

Fixed Bed (butane)

369

43.0

704

51.8

Fixed Bed (benzene)

325

37.9

388

28.5

Fluid Bed (butane)

127

14.8

217

16.0

Fixed Bed (PAcoproduct)

37

4.3

50

3.7

Total

858

100.0

1359

100.0

13

It can be seen from the table that both fixed-bed and fluidized-bed butane routeshave
increased dramatically with the fixed-bed route adding 336 kiloton/year capacity compared to
90 kiloton/year for the fluid-bed process. Only a few newer benzene-based fixed-bed
processes have been built with a difference of 63 kiloton/year since the early1980s and the
reason it was built was due to limited resource of butane.

2.2 AVAILABLE & FEASIBLE PROCESS ROUTES TO MAN PRODUCTION

Generally, there are 3 routes that can be considered for the commercial production of MAN.
The 3 routes are given below together with their chemical reactions:
2.2.1

Benzene partial oxidation to MAN (AP-42, CH 6.14: Maleic Anhydride)

FIGURE 1: THE MAIN PROCESS TECHNOLOGY FROM SCIENTIFIC DESIGN

Vaporized benzene and air are mixed and heated before entering the tubular reactor. Inside
the reactor, the benzene/air mixture is reacted in the presence of a catalyst that contains
approximately 70 percent vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), with usually 25-30% molybdenum
trioxide (MoO3), forming a vapor of MA, water, and carbon dioxide. The vapor, which may
also contain oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, benzene, maleic acid, formaldehyde, formic
acid, and other compounds from side reactions, leaves the reactor and is cooled and partially
condensed so that about 40 percent of the MA is recovered in a crude liquid state.
The effluent is then passed through a separator that directs the liquid to storage and the
remaining vapor to the product recovery absorber. The absorber contacts the vapor with
water, producing a liquid of about 40% maleic acid. The 40% mixture is converted to MA,
usually by azeotropic distillation with xylene. Some processes may use a double-effect
vacuum evaporator at this point. The effluent then flows to the xylene stripping column
where the xylene is extracted. This MA is then combined in storage with that from the
separator. Themolten product is aged to allow color-forming impurities to polymerize. These
are then removed in a fractionation column, leaving the finished product.

14

2.2.2

N-butane partial oxidation to MAN

FIGURE 2: REACTIONS FOR PARTIAL OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MAN

Several process technologies for butane-to-maleic anhydride was designed including

Huntsman process, Scientific Design process, Technobell Limited process, Alusuisse maleic
anhydride (ALMA) process, and Du Pont moving bed recycle based process.
Butane and compressed air are mixed and fed adiabatic reactor, where butane reacts with
oxygen to form maleic anhydride. The reaction is exothermic, therefore either a fluidized bed
reactor or a packed bed reactor with heat removal to stay close to isothermal. The reactor
effluent is cooled and sent to packed bed absorber, where it is contacted with water to remove
the light gases and all of the maleic anhydride reacts to form maleic acid. The vapor effluent,
which consists of non-condensable must be sent to an after-burner to remove any carbon
monoxide prior to venting to the atmosphere. The liquid effluent is then cooled and flashed at
101 kPa and 120C. The vapour effluent after flashed is sent to waste treatment where else
the liquid effluent, is sent to another reactor where maleic acid is broken down to maleic
anhydride and water. The reactor effluent is then sent to distillation column where maleic
anhydride and water are separated. The distillate from the distillation column is sent to waste
treatment (Production of Maleic Anhydride).
2.2.3

MAN fromphthalic anhydride recovery process (MAN as a byproduct of the

production of phthalic anhydride)

C8H10 + 7.5O2 C4H2O3 + 4H20 +4CO2H = -2518.5 kJ/mole

15

The process technology involved in this process route includes LURGI - BASF Phthalic
Anhydride Process and Technobell Limited Process.
Hot air and vaporized o-xylene are mixed and sent to a packed bed reactor. Most of the oxylene reacts to form phthalic anhydride, but some complete combustion of o-xylene occurs
and some maleic anhydride is formed. The reactor temperature is controlled by a molten salt
loop. The reactor effluent enters a complex series of devices known as switch condensers.
The feed to the switch condensers may be no higher than 180C; hence, the reactor effluent
must be cooled. The net result of the switch condensers is that all light gases and water leave
through the top while small amounts of both anhydrides, and the phthalic anhydride and
maleic anhydride leave in the bottom. The bottom stream is then purified to obtain maleic
anhydride. (Production of Phthalate Anhydride from O-xylene).

2.3 SCREENING AND SELECTION OF PROCESS ROUTES

Only two routes are compared which are the benzene route and the n-butane route since the
0-xylene route is only the recovery of maleic anhydride as byproduct.
N-butane route is chosen over the benzene route mainly due to benzenes higher hazard
properties compared to n-butane and the rapid increase in benzenes price over n-butane. In
addition, if viewed from the compounds molecular properties, n-butane route still is a better
route. The reason is because there are four carbon atoms in product maleic anhydride per6
carbon atoms in benzene. Therefore, the atom efficiency for the carbon atom is 4/6 x 100% =
66.7%. In the n-butane route, there are four carbon atoms in n-butane per four carbon atoms
in maleic anhydride thus giving 100% atom efficiency. If mass efficiency is considered, then
the mass of the product is compared to the mass of the raw materials. The molecular weight
of maleic anhydride is 98. For the n-butane route, we need 1 mole of n-butane (molecular
weight 58) and 3.5 moles of oxygen (total mass of 3.5 x 32 = 112.) Thus the total mass of raw
materials needed is 170. The mass efficiency of the n-butane route is therefore 98/170 or
57.6%. By a similar calculation, we can show that the mass efficiency of the benzene route is
only 44.4%.
As can be seen, n-butane is favourable to benzene in comparison of both atom and mass
economy.

16

2.4 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Properties
Formula

Maleic
Anhydride
(MAN)

Propane

Iso-butane

N-butane

Isopentane

C2H2(CO)2O

C3H8

C4H10

C4H10

C5H12

44.1

58.12

58.12

72.15

0.6011

0.61972

Chemical
structure
Molecular
weight
(g/mol)
Density
(g/ml)
Melting
point(C)
Boiling
Point(C)
Flash
point(C)
Appearance

98.06
1.48
52.8
202
103
White
crystal

0.584-42
-188

-138

-138

-159.9

-42.1

-11.7

-0.5

27.8

-104
Colourless
gas

-87
Colourless
gas

-60
Colourless
gas

-56
Colourless
liquid

2.5 COST DATA

In building a production plant, initial capital investment as well as cost for operation and
maintenance needs to be considered. According to Silla (2003), there are three components
that contribute to the total production cost, which are direct costs, indirect costs and general
costs. Direct costs include feedstock supply, utilities supply and labour cost (Silla, 2003).
Indirect costs cover expenses like taxes, insurance and plant overhead costs (Silla, 2003). On
the other hand, general costs include administrative costs, marketing costs, etc. (Silla, 2003).
For the early stage of the market research, studies on the current market of the main product
(MAN) and the different feeds are performed. Research on the capital investment for existing
production plant is also presented in this paper.
MAN is mainly used as a raw material in the production of polyester resins, which are largely
used in boating, automobile and construction industries. Recently, a growing market of MAN
is observed in the production of butanediol, which is used in the synthesis of plastics and as a
17

textile additive. Apart from that, it is also been greatly used in the manufacture of alkyd
resins, a significant material in paints and coatings. Other applications that make use of MAN
include manufacturing of agricultural chemicals, lubricant additives and copolymers.

FIGURE 3: GLOBAL DEMAND OF MAN ACCORDING TO REGION(MALEIC ANHYDRIDE, 2011)

Africa
1%
North America
23%
Asia
35%

North America
South & Central America
West Europe

South & Central

America
3%

East & Central Europe

Asia
Africa

East & Central

Europe
4%

West Europe
34%

FIGURE 4: PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF MAN ACCORDING TO REGION, 2000 (TIMOTHY R.

FELTHOUSE, 2001)

In relation of the market demand and production capacity according to region, demand in
most regions is proportional to the production capacity (Maleic Anhydride, 2011). For an
instance, the highest demand of MAN comes from Asia (specifically China), and Asia also
has been the topmost producer of MAN (Maleic Anhydride, 2011). In United States, the price
of MAN is reported to be between USD 1,922 2,055 per tonne in 2011 (Timothy R.
Felthouse, 2001). The production capacity in US is reported to be up to 250,000tonnes/year
while their demand is 223,000 tonnes/year (Timothy R. Felthouse, 2001).

18

Globally, among companies that supply MAN are Bartek Ingredients Inc., BASF AG,
LANXESS Corporation and Huntsman Corporation (Jose, 2008). While in Asia, Changzhou
Yabang Chemical Co Ltd, Danyang Chemical Plant, and Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd are the
companies with MAN production (Jose, 2008). One company that produces MAN in
Malaysia is TCL Industries (Malaysia) SdnBhd (Jose, 2008). TCL Industries Malaysia is a
company under Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd that produces worldwide supply of up to 60,000
tonnes per year MAN (Maleic Anhydride, 2011).
Considering the world market outlook, China is found to be the main region for future
growth. This is due to the rise in demand of unsaturated polyester resin which requires MAN
for the production. Besides than Middle East, other countries such as Saudi Arabia and UAE
also are showing growth market and an increase in import requirements (ICIS,2002).
In a plant design study by Woril Turner Dudley (2012), to build a plant that produce about
USD 500,000 for a kmol product/hour MAN requires a capital investment of USD
18,161,381. This value can provide cost estimation in the future plant design for this project.

2.6 SITE FEASIBILITY STUDY

2.6.1

Introduction

Choosing strategic plant location is one of the most crucial decisions needs to be done. The
construction of a chemical plant requires a preliminary feasibility study to be done in order to
make certain that the proposed Kidurong Industrial Estate is feasible, economically and
environmentally. The location of the plant site takes relatively high precedence and it mainly
depends on the availability of feedstock, cost of production, marketing of the products, land
availability and also the infrastructure. The right location allows maximum profit with a
minimum operating cost and allowance for future expansion.
2.6.2

Selection Criteria

Based on the study done in the selecting strategic plant location, there are several factors that
should be taken into consideration when undertaking the process of selecting a suitable site.
There are two major factors that contribute to the operability and economic aspects of a site
location for a plant, which are the primary factor and specific factor.

19

TABLE 2: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO OPERABILITY AND ECONOMY ASPECTS

Primary Factors

Specific Factors

Raw material supply for industry

Availability of low cost labor

and services

Reasonable land price

Safety and environmental

impacts

Source of utilities, such as electricity, water

and etc.

Incentives given by
government :
Pioneer Status
Investment Tax Allowance
(ITA)

Climate status

2.6.3

Wind
Rainfall
Temperature
Relative Humidity

Effluent and waste disposal

facilities

Transportation facilities
Local community
consideration

Summary of site Characteristic in Each Location

Five major locations are identified to be considered in the site selection for the construction
of Maleic Anhydride production plant. The locations are:
i)

Kidurong Industrial Area

ii)

Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park

iii)

PasirGudang Industrial Estate

iv)

PengerangIntergrated Petroleum Complex

v)

Kerteh Petrochemical Complex

The characteristics of each location are listed based on the primary and specific factors which
had been justified before. Appendix 3 shows the summary of the site characteristics for each
location.

20

2.6.4

Site Evaluation

The evaluation of each location is done based on weightage system. Table 3 below shows the
range of weighted marks for each identified criteria. The site location is evaluated based on
the guidelines.
TABLE 3: WEIGHTAGE CRITERIA IN DECIDING SITE LOCATION

Factors
Supply of raw material

7-10 Marks

4-6 Marks

Able to obtain large

Source of raw
materials from
neighbouring states or
countries with the
distance not exceeding
80km.
Uses a pipeline system
as well.

supply locally thus

saving on import cost
Having long pipeline
networks for
transportation of raw
material
Price and Area of Land

Land area exceeding

60 hectares
Price of land below
RM 20 psm

Land area below 60

hectares
Price of land more
than RM 20 psm

Local Government

Incentives from the

local organization of
country development
Incentives from
special company
Complete network
and well maintained
highways,
expressways and
roads
International Airport
facilities access to the
main location around
the world
Location near to
international port
which import and
export activities
Reliable railway lines
to remote areas not
accessible by roads

Incentives from the

local organization of
country development

Incentives

Transportation

21

Good federal road and

highway system
Limited railway
system access
More distant from the
ports
Airport facilities
which may not have
international flight
facilities- only
providing domestic
flight

0-3 Marks
Unable to obtain raw
material from close
sources with the
distance exceeding
80 km
Forced to import
from foreign
countries
Uses a pipeline
system as well.
Land area below 40
hectares
Price of land more
than RM 30 psm
No incentives from
the local organization
of country
development

Average road system

No highways or
expressway system in
close proximity
No railway system
Very distant from the
ports or harbours
Distant form the
nearest airport more
than 100km away

TABLE 4: WEIGHTAGE TABLE ON SITES

Criteria

Kidurong
Industrial
Site

Kota
Kinabalu
Industrial
Park

PasirGudang
Industrial
Estate

PengerangIntergrated
Petroleum Complex

Kerteh
Integrated
Petrochemical
Complex

Supply of Raw
Material

10

10

Price

10

Area of Land

10

Local
Government
Incentives

Transportation

10

Workers Supply

10

10

98

Utilities, water
and electricity

Type of industrial
and its location

10

10

10

Waste water
disposal

10

10

Total

84

58

70

86

73

Percent (%)

84

58

70

86

73

Based on the weight matrix, the selected location for MAN plant construction is Kidurong
Industrial site. The location is justified to be the most suitable and strategic compared to the
others based on all the criteria.
Some of the attractive information of the location is as followed:

Kidurong Industrial site is located only 20 km with approximately 15 minutes from

Bintulu Town. It is identified as the main industrial core of the whole Bintulu area
which is one of the attractions of multinationals oil and gas companies.

It consist of a few established multinational oil and gas company such as MLNG
complex, which is deemed as the world largest single gas manufacturing complex
apart from Shell and Murphy.
22

FIGURE 5: KIDURONG INDUSTRIAL AREA

Include related infrastructure such as Bintuludeepwater Port, Bintulu Airport and a

few options of power supply.

The available MLNG Complex is targeted as the main supply of raw material for
Malefic Anhydride production plant.

The land price is cheap and reasonable compared to the other established locations which are
around RM77.42. The available land is also huge and sufficient enough for the construction
of MAN plant.

2.7 POTENTIAL HAZARDS

2.7.1

Previous Accident On Similar Plant

The plant was located in Indonesia. The fire incident was started on 20th January 2004. This
chemical factory was doing processing which involved ammonia and maleic anhydride. The
plant employs some 450 people and makes chemicals used in plastics.
The blasts were sparked by a fire in several tanks. The fire caused a leak of maleic anhydride
from the top of a tank, which ignited, increasing the intensity of the fire. The fire was also
threatening some ammonia tanks. Flames were 50 meter high and smoke could be seen
several kilometers away. The blaze destroyed at least 5 nearby homes and more than 50 fire
trucks were deployed at the height of the fire but only masked firefighters could approach the
blaze. The state electricity company cut power to the area. The company shut down pipeline
that supplied gas to the industrial complex. The fire was caused by an overheated machine.
Fifty-six were injured. Most of them suffered serious burns. The death toll in the devastating
fire at a chemical plant increased to three after another victim died from severe burns in
23

hospital. A 36-year-old man sustained burns to more than 90% of his body and at last died
after several days. The man was one of the 13 victims being treated in a hospital, who
suffered more severe burns in the fire. Three other victims died hours after the fire engulfed
the chemical plant. Among them were the plant and production director. Police has evacuated
hundreds residents within 1 kilometer of the plant. More than 100 firemen and police battled
to put out the blaze. There was the sound of at least five explosions before a column of black
smoke rose into the sky. The resulting fire lasted until 2330 hours while thick black smoke
covered the sky until 1800 hours. The people have complained of eye irritations from a huge
pall of smoke. Hundreds of workers are taking indefinite vacations. It has been discovered
that the communities living in the surrounding area, have complained about water
contamination in their wells. The water has a foul smell and when used for bathing the
community reports it causes itchiness.
2.7.2 Potential Hazards and Control Measures
Production of MAN from normal butane requires a process with high pressure and
temperature. In addition to that, the reactant used in this petrochemical industry is highly
flammable and reactive with oxidizing agent. These conditions made the process plant
become relatively hazardous compared to other industries like food and manufacturing
industries. Potential hazards are grouped according to its common source, and the hazards
effects and control measures are summarized in the table below.

24

TABLE 5: ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL HAZARDS

Source

Potential Hazards

Chemical Tank, Storage &

Transportation

Dangerous chemical reaction,

overpressure, temperature above flash
point, corrosion of storage tank, release of
toxic fume, chemical spillage

Effects

Control Measures

Reactor

Overpressure, overheat, sudden

temperature rise

Fire
Explosion
Air pollution
Land pollution

Explosion

Distillation Column

Heat Transfer

Utilities (Electricity, gas, water,

etc.)

High pressure

Overpressure, fouling, overflow of

cooling or heating medium

Short circuit, ignition

Flooding

Tube rupture
Leaking
Contamination of
liquid
Thermal shock

Fire
Explosion

Create less
conducive, accidentprone workplace

Layout

Location

Environment

Unsafe layout (poor arrangement, limited

space to perform safe work)

Natural disaster, approval from local

community
Untreated waste water

Replace hazardous chemical with a less hazardous

alternative
Isolation of incompatible chemicals
Installation of pressure safety valve
Filtration of toxic fume
Warning signage/ label for chemicals
Store chemical in well-ventilated area
Utilize overpressure relief protection
Implement control system to prevent overheat and
overpressure condition
Installation of pressure safety valve
Sequence the distillation process for a minimum flow of
non-key components
Utilize overpressure relief protection
Utilize overpressure relief protection
Substitution to a less hazardous cooling or heating
medium
Use control valve to prevent thermal shock
Ensure proper connections and maintenance for
electrical components
Keep flammable material away from ignition source
Ensure safe and practical design of process plant,
considering safe operational sequence and future
expansion
Separate process and non-process area.
Ensure proper ventilation

High risk of disaster

Pollution affecting
community (noise,
air, etc.)

Selection of site with minimal risk of natural disaster

Keep safe distance between the plant site and the local
community

Water pollution

Develop a treatment system for waste water

2.7.3

Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) & Hazard

TABLE 6: HAZARD ANALYSIS

Chemicals

Maleic
Anhydride

n-butane

Propane

Flash
point

102oC

60.15oC

-104oC

Auto-Ignition
Temperature

Fire & Explosion

Reactivity

Symptoms / Effects

477oC

Combustible when exposed to heat

or flame. Material in powder form,
capable of creating a dust explosion.
When heated to decomposition it
emits acrid smoke and irritating
fumes.

Reactive with oxidizing

agents, reducing agents,
acids, moisture. Slightly
reactive to reactive with
metals, alkalis.

Exposure will cause asthma,

dermatitis
and
pulmonary
oedema; effects may be delayed.
Tumorigen.

286.85oC

450oC

Extremely flammable in the

presence of following materials or
conditions: open flames, sparks and The product is stable.
static discharge and oxidizing
materials.

Contact with rapidly expanding

gas may cause burns and or
frostbite. Acts as a simple
asphyxiant.

Explosive air-vapor mixtures may

form if allowed to leak to The product is stable.
atmosphere.

Higher concentrations may cause

dizziness and unconsciousness
due to asphyxiant. Liquid can
cause burns and frostbite if in
direct contact with skin.

Chemicals

iso-butane

isobutene

1-butene

Flash
point

-82.8oC

-76oC

-80oC

Auto-Ignition
Temperature

Fire & Explosion

Reactivity

Symptoms / Effects

460oC

May be mildly irritating to

mucous membranes. At high
concentrations, may
Flammable liquid and gas Stable. Avoid from high cause drowsiness. At very high
under
pressure.
Form temperature and incompatible concentrations, may act as an
explosive mixtures with air materials such as oxidizing asphyxiant and cause headache,
and oxidizing agents.
agents.
drowsiness, dizziness, excitation,
excess salivation, vomiting, and
unconsciousness. Lack of oxygen
can kill.

465oC

Extremely flammable.

In high concentrations may cause

asphyxiation. Symptoms may
include loss of mobility /
Can form explosive mixture consciousness. Victim may not be
with air. May react violently aware of asphyxiation. In low
with oxidants.
concentrations may cause narcotic
effects.
Symptoms
may
includedizziness,
headache,
nausea and loss ofco-ordination.

384oC

Avoid
exposure
to
incompatible materials such
Forms explosive mixtures as oxidizing agents, halogens,
with air and oxidizing agents. and acids. Avoid to elevated
temperatures, and pressures or
the presence of a catalyst.
27

Asphyxiant.
Moderate
concentrations
may
cause
headache, drowsiness, dizziness,
excitation, excess salivation,
vomiting, and unconsciousness.
Lack of oxygen can kill.

Chemicals

Neopentane

Isopentane

n-pentane

Oxygen

Flash
point

< -7oC

-51oC

-49oC

-52.2oC

Auto-Ignition
Temperature

Fire & Explosion

Reactivity

Symptoms / Effects

450oC

Severe fire hazard. Severe

explosion hazard. The vapor is
heavier than air. Vapors or
gases may ignite at distant
ignition sources and flash
back. Gas/air mixtures are
explosive.

Stable at normal temperatures

and pressure. Avoid heat,
flames, sparks and other
sources of ignition. Minimize
contact
with
material.
Containers may rupture or
explode if exposed to heat.

High concentrations can cause

eye and respiratory mucous
membrane irritation and mild
narcotic symptoms, or loss of
consciousness.
Long-term
exposure can induce mild
dermatitis.

420oC

Flammable in presence of
open flames and sparks.
Slightly
flammable
to The product is stable.
flammable in presence of
oxidizing materials.

260oC

Extremely
flammable
in
presence of open flames and
sparks, of heat. Flammable in
presence
of
oxidizing
materials. Nonflammable in
presence of shocks. Slightly
explosive in presence of heat,
of oxidizing materials. Nonexplosive in presence of
shocks.

Can causes eye and skin irritation.

Ingestion may cause central
Stable at room temperature in nervous
system
depression,
closed
containers
under characterized by excitement,
normal storage and handling followed by headache, dizziness,
conditions.
drowsiness,
and
nausea.
Inhalation may cause respiratory
tract irritation.

N/A

Oxidizing
agent
can
vigorously
accelerate
combustion. Contact with
flammable materials may
cause fire or explosion.

Extremely
reactive
or
incompatible
with
the
oxidizing materials, reducing
materials and combustible
materials.

28

Hazardous in case of eye contact

(irritant),
of
ingestion,
of
inhalation. Slightly hazardous in
case of skin contact (irritant,
permeator).

Breathing 80% or more oxygen at

atmospheric pressure for more
than a few hours may cause nasal
stuffiness, cough, sore throat,
chest
pain,
and
breathing
difficulty.

Chemicals

Flash
point

Auto-Ignition
Temperature

Water

N/A

N/A

Carbon
Dioxide

Carbon
Monoxide

None

Not
available.

None

Fire & Explosion

Reactivity

N/A

N/A

Non-flammable.

Severe fire hazard. Vapor/air

mixtures are explosive.
Containers

700 C
may rupture or explode if
exposed to heat.

29

Stable. Certain reactive

metals, hydrides, moist
cesium monoxide, or lithium
acetylene carbide diammino
may ignite. Passing carbon
dioxide over a mixture of
sodium peroxide and
aluminum or magnesium may
explode.
Stable at normal temperatures
and pressure.
Incompatibilities
withoxidizing materials,
halogens, metal oxides,
metals, combustible materials,
lithium

Symptoms / Effects
No acute and chronic health
effects.

Moderately irritating to the eyes,

skin, and respiratory system.

Harmful if inhaled, blood

damage, and difficulty breathing.
Causing blisters, frostbite, and
blurred vision.

CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL PROCESS DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS

3.1 LEVEL I: PROCESS OPERATING MODE
For any chemical process, there are two mode of operation that a plant can choose to operate;
batch process and continuous process. The choice of best mode of operation follows these
guidelines as in the table shown below:
TABLE 7: GUIDELINES FOR BATCH AND CONTINUOUS PROCESS

Guidelines
Production rate

Availability

Purpose

Batch

Continuous

Production less than 10 x 106 lb

Production more than 10 x 106 lb

per annum

per annum

Product is a seasonal product

Product is a commodity product

Raw material are limited

Raw material are always available

Suitable for research purposes

Lifetime of
Product

Suitable for mass production

(profit purposes)

Short

Long

Our selection for the mode of operation of our plant is discussed in detail for each
guideline point:
i. Production rate
Our targeted capacity is 50 000 metric ton per annum, which is bigger than 10
million pound per annum (4 535.9237 metric ton per year).
ii. Availability
Maleic anhydride is a commodity product, which need to be available all year
due to its extensive usage in the industry.
iii. Purpose
Our maleic anhydride plant obtains profit by its mass production of its product in
most economical process route as possible.
iv. Lifetime of the product
30

The demand for maleic anhydride is projected to increase and for that, the
lifetime for the product is long.
v. Operational problem
Maleic anhydride is usually produced in a gas state before being cooled and
stored as liquid product. With that, it has low operational problem.
From all the points discussed above, the best choice of mode of operation for our plant is
continuous process as the product is produced in large quantity, the product is a
commodity product, it has long lifetime and the process has low operational problem.

3.2 LEVEL II: INPUT-OUTPUT STRUCTURE

The process of ammonia is shown below. According to Douglas, to fix the input and
output structure, a box is drawn around the process. Then the focus is on what are the
feed for the process and what are the product and by-product that comes out from the
process:

FIGURE 6: SCHEMATIC PROCESS OF AMMONIA

To complete the input and output structure of the plant, some check question should be
answered in order to fix the structure above. The check questions are as shown below:
1. Should we purify the feed stream before they enter the process?
2. Should we remove or recycle a reversible by-product?
3. Should we use a gas recycle and purge stream?
4. Should we not bother to recover and recycle some reactants?

31

We will address each check question in detail in order to synthesize our plants input and
output structure.
Q1. Should we purify the feed stream before they enter the process?
By composition, our mixed butane feed consists of approximately 32% unwanted
components (such as iso-butane, propane and pentane). These chemicals, without
removing it first will affect the reactivity and selectivity of reaction in the reactor.
For that reason, the feed should be treated first before being fed into the system.
Q2. Should we remove or recycle a reversible by-product?
The by-products of MAN production are water, carbon dioxide, and carbon
monoxide. These are non-reversible product so there is no need for recycle
stream for the by-product.
Q3. Should we use a gas recycle and purge system?
The process is a high pressure process; the pressure in the MAN synthesis loop is
250kPa. Gas stream that remains after the product being recovered contain some
amount of nitrogen. Nitrogen is inert and did not take part in the MAN
conversion. They tend to accumulate in the process loop as the reaction take
place continuously. This could increase the pressure inside the loop. Therefore,
these inert should be taken out and be purged.
Q4. Should we not bother to recover and recycle some reactant?
Process air, a reactant is being used in excess in this process. Since process air is
relatively inexpensive compared to mixed butane, we are not bothered to recover
the reactant. However, water collected from the moisture separator vessel can be
reheated back to steam using the high energy transferred into the furnace, which
can be used in the system. This could save some amount of cost since steam is a
type of utility in the plant.

3.3 LEVEL III: REACTOR DESIGN AND REACTOR NETWORK

SYNTHESIS
Reactors play an important role in all plant especially chemical plant, where the chemical
reaction is taking part. As shown by onion model, reactor is said to be the heart of the
32

whole plant. In other words, reactor is the most important equipment among all in the
chemical plant. As a result, no reactor means no reaction will occur. Without any
reaction, there will be no product produced. From the reactions, mass transfer as well as
chemical kinetics and others are calculated.
3.3.1

Reactor Conversion Selections

The chemical reactions involved in the production of Maleic anhydride consist of one
main reaction and one side reaction.
C4H10 + 3.5O2 C4H2O3+ 4H2O [1]
Butane oxygen maleic anhydride water
C4H10 + 5.5O2 2CO + 2CO2 + 5H2O [2]
Butane oxygen carbon monoxide carbon dioxide water
TABLE 8: PRODUCTION OF MALEIC ANHYDRIDE FROM N-BUTANE
(BLUM & NICHOLAS, 1982)

An ideal reactor will have a high selectivity on the desired product. In evaluating reactor
performance, selectivity is more meaningful to consider than reactor yield. (Smith)
Thus, the % conversion with the highest selectivity is selected which is a % conversion
of 82.2 with a % yield of 57.6 and a % selectivity of 70. The selectivity for carbon
dioxide is 20%.(Slinkard & Baylis, 1975)
33

3.3.2

Preliminary Reactor Mass Balance

Preliminary mass balance calculation for reactor is as below.

in

out
Reactor

TABLE 9: PRELIMINARY REACTOR MASS BALANCE

Mass flow rate kg/hr

EP1

Component

In

Out

Isobutane

1287.80

1287.80

n-butane

6560.33

1167.74

Oxygen

39730.87

27884.01

Maleic anhydride

0.00

7158.16

Carbon monoxide

0.00

1168.42

Carbon dioxide

0.00

1835.85

Water

3195.32

10021.49

Nitrogen

130843.36 130843.36

= Product-Reactant
= (RM 6 566.43/ton x 51958tonne/yr)
[(RM 2858.34/ton x 56693tonne/yr)
= RM 179 130 700.3/year

Assuming that the n-butane can be recycled back as feed, the opportunity to optimize the
reactor is as below.

34

TABLE 10: MASS BALANCE WITH RECYCLE

Mass flow rate kg/hr

EP1

Component

In

recycle

Out

Isobutane

1287.80

1287.80

n-butane

5392.59

1167.74 1167.74

Oxygen

39730.87

27884.01

Maleic anhydride

0.00

7158.16

Carbon monoxide

0.00

1168.42

Carbon dioxide

0.00

1835.85

Water

3195.32

10021.49

Nitrogen

130843.36 0

130843.36

= Product-Reactant
= (RM 6 566.43/ton x 51958tonne/yr)
[(RM 2858.34/ton x 42709tonne/yr)
= RM 219 101 726.9/year

The % increase in profit is = (219101726.9-179130700.3)/179130700.3 X 100

= 22,31%
The increase in profit is mainly due to the less usage of n-butane as feed. However, the
removal of low boiling point components (nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, isobutene
and carbon dioxide) besides n-butane from the recycle stream will cause the loss of most
of the n-butane unless the stream is cooled below the boiling point temperature of n35

butane which is typically below cooling water temperature and is not preferred as
refrigeration is required which will be costly.
3.3.3

Reactor Type Selection

The choice selection of type reactor is between two types which is the fixed bed reactor
(FBR) and the fluidized bed reactor (FBR).
The advantages and disadvantages of PBR are summarized below:
TABLE 11: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PACKED BED REACTOR (SMITH)

Advantage

Disadvantage

High ratio of heat transfer area to

Difficult to control temperature due to

volume

varying heat load in bed

Can be used for multiphase reaction

Use during careful control of residence

excessive giving hot spots

time

Catalyst temperature can be locally

Off line catalyst regeneration

Have mechanical advantage at high

pressure

The advantages and disadvantages of FBR are summarized below:

TABLE 12: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR

Advantage

Good

Disadvantage
heat

transfer

and

temperature uniformity

Useful

for

regeneration
regeneration)

frequent

Attrition of catalyst can cause carryover

Back mixing on the kinetics in the reactor,

catalyst

product destruction and by-product reactions

(online

in the space above the fluidized bed

Vulnerability to large-scale catalyst releases

from explosion venting

Require a significant amount of space above

the catalyst level to allow the solids to
separate from the gases. This exposure of the
product to high temperatures at relatively
long residence times can lead to side
reactions and product destruction

36

The temperature of the reactor is around 400-500 0C due to the highly exothermic
reaction involved. At this temperature the components are in gas phase. The removal of
heat from the reactor is important and is the key to the reactor type selection.
The packed bed reactor (PBR) is chosen over the fluidized bed reactor (FBR) due to
several reasons.
As shown in the Tables 11 and 12 above, both reactors have a relatively good heat
transfer rate. Although the FBR have a slight advantage of good control of the
temperature uniformity, control of the hot spots and online catalyst regeneration but the
usage of the FBR is quite new in the industry and the understanding of the FBR model is
new and not complete as a whole. In addition, the disadvantages of the FBR such as back
mixing and catalyst venting also has an impact on the destruction of the product and
impact on the environment and safety point of view. Nevertheless, there are suggested
strategies to overcome the disadvantages like several proposed patents that claim can
control back mixing and also cooling the reactor effluent to prevent the catalyst
carryover to foul the heat exchangers. However, these strategies are relatively new and
not fully established.
Meanwhile, the existence of the PBR is since the production of MAN from benzene
before the usage of n-butane. Several strategies have been successfully implemented to
overcome the problem with the temperature control and hot spots. Among them are using
a small diameter and by using a profile of catalyst through the reactor to even out the
rate of reaction and achieve better control. Several reactors can be installed to overcome
the off line catalyst regeneration. In addition, the exothermic heat of reaction is removed
from the salt mixture by the production of steam in an external salt cooler. Efficient
utilization of waste heat from a maleic anhydride plant is critical to the economic
viability of the plant. The steam can be used to drive an air compressor, generate
electricity, or both. There is also the opportunity to have other equipment to operate at a
higher operating temperature giving a better performance of the equipment knowing that
there is excess waste. This can cut cost by reducing extra equipment for the separation
train.

37

3.4 LEVEL IV: SEPARATION SYSTEM SYNTHESIS

Having made initial specification for the reactor, attention is turned to separation of the
reactor effluent in the process route screening. This is in line with the heuristic approach
for the separation train sequence.

FIGURE 7: HEURISTIC METHOD: ONION MODEL

However, considering that the feed is not of pure n-butane, there is a need to carry out
separation before the reactor to purify the feed. A distillation column which is the
benchmark for the separating equipment is chosen to separate out the n-butane to
increase the purity of the feed.
The procedure followed in deciding the process route using the heuristic method is as
follows:

Decide on type of separator that will be likely used for the required separation

Decide on the sequencing of the separator to achieve the process requirement

38

The golden rule for separation is to separate heterogeneous mixtures as soon as it forms.
However the reactor effluent is of homogeneous mixture.
The first choice for separating homogeneous mixture is using the distillation column.
Nevertheless, separations using distillation column have circumstances not favoring
distillation as below:
1. Separation of low molecular weight materials
2. Separation of high molecular weight heat sensitive material.
3. Separation of components with low concentration.
4. Separation of classes of components
3.4.1

First Process Route

The reactor effluent mainly consists of gases like nitrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide
and carbon dioxide. Thus, separation of the gases which is a class of component cannot
be done using distillation column. Alternatives of separation include the creation of
another phase within the system by changing the temperature or pressure or by addition
of a mass separation agent. This can be done by using an absorber. Since changing the
operating parameters require the usage of heating or cooling and the component
interested to be separated is the gases, the mass separation agent is used to absorb MAN
from the effluent.
Water is usually used as the standard mass separation agent (MSA). Alternatively, there
are also other organic mass separation agents that can be used but for the first process
route, the standard water is used. The usage of other mass separation agent will be
discussed in the second process route.
The water exiting the absorber contains dissolved MAN and also maleic acid which is
the reaction of MAN and water. Water is the major component fraction in the stream
exiting the absorber. Another phase separation can be done easily by increasing the
temperature to remove a large amount of water. The flash drum is used to separate the
different phases after the temperature is increased.
After the flash drum, the maleic acid needs to be converted back to MAN before the
proceeding to further separate the water. For this purpose, a reactor is used to convert
back the acid into MAN at a specified temperature.
39

After the maleic acid reactor, a distillation column can be used to separate water and
MAN. However, according to UNIFAC thermodynamic package, MAN and water forms
azeotrope which makes the mixture hard to separate. To overcome the hard separation,
two distillation columns operating at different pressures are needed to separate the water.

FIGURE 8: FIRST PROCESS ROUTE

3.4.2

Second Process Route

The second process route considers the usage of other MSA in the absorber. Among the
commonly used mass separation agent for the process are dibutyl phthalate, dibutyl
terephthalate, dimethyl phthalate and diisopropyl phthalate. According to Chen (2002),
dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is best used for n-butane processes. Thus, it is chosen as the
MSA for the second route.
The DBP absorbs most of the MAN and small amounts of water. The MSA then needs to
be regenerated through the separation of DBP from MAN and water. Usually, a stripper
is used for the regenaration of the MSA. However, DBP can be separated from MAN
without using a gas stripper. Hence, a stripper distillation column which is a typical
distillation column is used to separate the DBP. Since the amount of water together with
MAN is relatively small, the purity of the MAN separated is at 99 weight %. So, further

40

purification will need two more distillation column to further separate the azeotrope
mixture which will be uneconomical.

FIGURE 9: SECOND PROCESS ROUTE

3.4.3

Process Route Selection

The second process route is selected over the first process route. This is because more
equipment is used in the first route due to the production of maleic acid when water
reacts with MAN. In addition, the usage of water as the MSA requires two distillation
columns to separate the azeotrope mixtures. On the other hand, the usage of dibutyl
phthalate as the MSA simplifies the separation train sequence. Although DBP is more
expensive than water, but according US Patent 5069687 and US Patent 4071540, the
usage of DBP is more energy efficient due to the avoidance of the evaporation of water
and effective in absorbing 99.4% of the MAN. Moreover, due the small amount of water,
the MAN exiting the stripper distillation column is already at more than 99 weight % so
further purification is not needed.

3.5 LEVEL V: HEAT INTEGRATION

3.5.1 Introduction to Pinch Analysis
Pinch analysis is a well-established tool that determines the minimum energy
requirement and the optimumdesign of heat exchanger network. This analysis enables a
plant design to reach the following goals:
Maximizing heat recovery of the system.
Minimizing heating and cooling utility consumption.
Optimizing the selection of utility sources.
41

 Optimizing the trade-off between energy costs and capital cost.

3.5.2 SPRINT Software
In integrating heat network into the design, SPRINT software is used. This software may
be used to develop composite curve, problem table algorithm, and grand composite curve
based on the stream data inserted by a user. This software is also capable of detecting
infeasibility of a heat exchanger network design if there is any temperature violation. In
short, SPRINT software facilitates the necessary calculations for heat integration.
3.5.3 Stream Data Extraction
The first step in performing heat integration is to extract information of streams that
require heat duty. These are streams that require change in temperature. The streams that
are selected for heat integration will exclude streams for equipment (such as reboiler and
condenser). Stream data extracted for this project can be tabulated as follows:
TABLE 13: STREAM DATA EXTRACTED

Type

Stream

Ts

Tt

CP

(C)

(C)

(kW)

(kW/C)

H1

Hot

Reactor exit

500.0000

125.0000

20,619.0904

54.9842

H2

Hot

Solvent feed

250.0000

35.0000

7,027.2561

32.6849

C1

Cold

Feed vaporizer

25.0000

85.0000

854.8509

14.2475

C2

Cold

Deisobutanizer bottom

75.8398

120.0000

320.0433

7.2473

C3

Cold

Mixer output

116.7270

310.0000

10,187.2383

52.7091

Information on supply temperature (Ts), target temperature (Tt) and heat duty (H) are
generally extracted from process flow diagram (PFD) made by iCon simulation. CP is
assumed constant at any temperature and is calculated using the following equation:

The streams extracted are categorized into hot and cold streams. A stream is defined as
hot when it is surplus in heat (requires cooling) and cold stream when it is deficit in heat
(requires heating).
42

3.5.4 Minimum Temperature Difference

Temperature difference between hot stream and cold stream is the driving force for heat
transfer between the two profiles. Minimum temperature difference, Tmin, is the lowest
potential driving force, below which heat transfer is unlikely. Tmin determines the
amount of heat recovery in a system. When Tmin is lower, the potential heat recovery
from process will be higher. However, according to application experience by KBC
Energy Service, the typical Tmin value varies according to industry (Pinch Analysis).
TABLE 14: OPTIMUM T MIN IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES (PINCH ANALYSIS)

Industrial sector

Typical

Remarks

Tmin (C)

Relatively low heat transfer coefficients, parallel

20 40

Oil refining

composite curves in many applications, fouling of

heat exchangers

Petrochemical

10 20

Chemical

10 20

Low temperature
process

3-5

Reboiling and condensing duties provide better heat

transfer coefficients, low fouling
As for petrochemicals
Power requirement for refrigeration system is very
expensive. Tmin decreases with low refrigeration T

Maleic Anhydride production plant is a petrochemical industry. Hence, the optimum

Tmin according to the table above is in range of 10C 20C. For this project, Tmin of
10C is selected so as to maximise heat recovery from the system.
3.5.5 Maximum Process Heat Recovery
Initially, the plant is designed so as all the heating and cooling requirements are satisfied
by using utilities. The table below indicates the total hot and cold utility requirement
before heat integration:

43

TABLE 15: UTILITIES REQUIRED BEFORE HEAT INTEGRATION

Type

Stream

H
(kW)

H1

Hot

Reactor exit

20,619.0904

H2

Hot

Solvent feed

7,027.2561

Total cold utility required

27,646.3465

C1

Cold

Feed vaporizer

854.8509

C2

Cold

Deisobutanizer bottom

320.0433

C3

Cold

Mixer output

10,187.2383

Total hot utility required

11,362.1325

By applying pinch analysis, we target on maximizing energy recovery from the process
so that the utility requirement can be minimized. The maximization of process heat
recovery can be visualized using a composite curve as shown below:

FIGURE 10: COMPOSITE CURVE FOR MAXIMUM HEAT RECOVERY:

With the input of extracted stream data, SPRINT software calculates the maximum heat
recovery from process streams and the minimum utility requirement. In composite curve,
the maximum process heat recovery is represented by the range of heat load where hot
44

profile and cold profile overlap. The maximum process heat recovery, minimum cold
utility (Qcmin), and minimum hot utility (Qhmin) requirements are as follows:

TABLE 16: UTILITIES REQUIRED AFTER HEAT INTEGRATION

Utility

(kW)

Minimum cold utility (Qcmin)

16,284.2140

Minimum hot utility (Qhmin)

0.0000

The values of pinch temperature, Qcmin, and Qhmin can also be obtained from problem
table algorithm (PTA). Figure below shows the PTA acquired using SPRINT software.

FIGURE 11: PROBLEM TABLE ALGORITHM BY SPRINT SOFTWARE

From the PTA, the pinch temperature,

Therefore,

45

3.5.6 Heat Exchanger Network

Based on information extracted on PTA, pinch point is located at the highest shifted
temperature (495C). This means that the overall system existed below the pinch.
Therefore, only analysis of heat integration below the pinch is relevant. Prior to decision
on the best heat exchanger network, estimation of the minimum number of heat
exchanger units, Nunit, can be made using the following equation:

Where
From the equation,
During pairing of the streams, two rules must be obeyed to ensure the network is
feasible. The rules are:

The T between a pair of hot stream and cold stream must always be 10C.

CP rule (i.e. CPhot CPcold for above pinch and CPhot CPcold for below pinch)
must not be violated unless the pair is away from pinch.

Figure below illustrate the heat exchanger network designed for this plant.
Tpinch hot, 500C
10,432 kW

H1
H2

314.72C

500

125
240.21 C

250

214.05C

35

5,852 kW

C1

85

C2

120

25

855 kW
75.8
320 kW

C3

310

116.7
10,187 kW

Tpinch cold, 490C

FIGURE 12: HEAT EXCHANGER NETWORK

After creating heat exchanger network, it can be summarized that the total number of
heat exchangers for the plant is 5 units. Process heat recovery can be sum up to
46

11,362.1325kW. The amount of cold utility requirement is 16,284.2140 kW, while no

hot utility is required.
3.5.7 Energy-Saving Evaluation
Comparison of heat utility requirements before and after heat integration (HI) can be
summarized into the following table:
TABLE 17: COMPARISON OF UTILITY REQUIREMENT BEFORE AND AFTER HI

Utility
Requirement

Heat Duty (kW)

% Saving
Before HI

After HI

Hot utility, Qh

11,362.1325

0.0000

100.0%

Cold utility, Qc

27,646.3465

16,284.2140

41.1%

Total

39,008.4791

16,284.2140

58.3%

Percentage saving can be calculated using the following formula:

Referring to the table above, it is observed that there is a huge reduction in utility
requirement after pinch analysis is applied. The plant can eliminate 100% of the
requirement for hot utility, while the amount of cold utility can be reduced up to 41.1%.
As an overall, heat integration implemented can minimize the plants operating cost by
minimizing utility requirement, as well as reducing capital cost by minimizing the
number of heat exchangers during heat exchanger network design.

47

CHAPTER 4: INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL

4.1 INTRODUCTION
A safe mode operating chemical plant requires a good control system around the
equipment by installation of relevant instrumentations in achieving its target production.
This is to ensure that the operation of the plant could be conducted in the most
economical way and avoid accidents that may lead to the upset value of the production.
The objectives of designing the control system strategy are:

To have a safer operation plants and avoid accidents such as explosion

To maintain the operational condition of the unit operation at their own

respective condition

To control the process that is in line with the production rate

To maintain the product purity as high as possible

To avoid excess usage of heating and cooling utilities

4.2 DESIGN OF PLANT WIDE CONTROL SYSTEM

4.2.1 Procedures
The four major steps in designing the plant wide control system are;
i.

The overall specification for the plant and its control system are stated.

ii.

The control system structure, which includes selecting controlled, measured and
manipulated variables, product quality, handling operating constraints, is
developed.

iii.

Detailed specification of all instrumentation, cost estimation, evaluation of

alternatives and the ordering and installation of unit operation are available.

iv.

Design and construction of the plant and plant tests (startup, operation at design
conditions and shutdowns) are known.

However, for this plant, the steps taken are only;

i.

Identification of controlled, manipulated and disturbance variables are

developed.
48

ii.

Appropriate control strategies are implemented.

The Process &Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) for the whole plant is attached in the
Appendix 2.

4.2.2

Drier Control System

The purpose of the control system is to maintain the desired water content in the air
which is fed into the reactor. The control system consists of pressure and level
controller. The drier is a flash vessel whereby flashing of the air occur at a specified
temperature and pressure to remove water.
TABLE18: DRIER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS

Controlled variable

Manipulated variable

Type of controller

Set Point

Pressure of the flash

Vapour flow rate

Feedback Control

Pressure :

vessel

1480kpa

Level of the flash

Air inlet flow rate

Feedback Controller

Level: 70%

drum

4.2.3

Deisobutanizer Control System

The control system in the deisobutanizer column is important in order to have an

accurate separation between the components and to ensure good ratio of purity. Basically
the process is applying the distillation concept; the only different is the different take off
point at the trays. The control system must be able to cause the average sum of the
product streams to be exactly equal to the average desired stream. It must also be able to
maintain the desired concentration of products at the bottom and the top streams. Control
requirements for deisobutanizer, K-1 are:

Pressure in the column

Feedback control is used to control the operating pressure at the top of the column
to avoid overpressure.

Level of the liquid at the bottom of the column

49

The liquid level is controlled by manipulating the outlet of the bottom product flow
rate using feedback control system.

Temperature of the column

The reflux temperature is controlled by manipulating the inlet flow rate of low
pressure steam (LPS) entering the reboiler by using the feedback control.

Reflux temperature
The temperature difference must not exceed the critical temperature difference. The
temperature indicator and controller installed at the condenser outlet controls the
temperature by manipulating the cool water supply (CWS) line.

Reflux ratio
A flow indicator and controller is installed at the reflux line cascaded with flow
indicator and controller of the distillate line to control the flow of the reflux back
into the column. Ratio control will maintain the ratio of the reflux line and distillate
line at the set point.
TABLE19 : DEISOBUTANIZER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS

Controlled variable

Manipulated variable

Type of controller

Set Point

Pressure in the column

Top outlet vapor flow

Feedback control

Pressure:

rate
Bottom liquid level

1100 kPa

Bottom liquid outlet

Feedback control

Level: 80 %

Feedback control

Temperature:

flow rate
Bottom temperature

Steam inlet flow rate

75.8 oC
Reflux temperature

Cooling water supply

Feedback control

55.4 0C

flowrate
Reflux ratio
4.2.4

Temperature:

Outlet gas flow rate

Ratio control

Reflux ratio: 1.8

Reactor Control System

For the control system design at the reactor, C-1, several requirements have to be made;

Feed flow rate of the two inlet streams into the reactor
The flow rate into the reactor has a certain ratio value for the ideal reaction to
occur or otherwise, accidents such as explosion may occur at any time during the
50

operation. The ratio is set at least 1.7% oxygen. Therefore, these two inlet
streams have to be adjusted at this desired value so that accident will not occur by
controlling it with a ratio controller. Both are feedforward controller and are
interconnected with a ratio controller to ensure that the desired ratio of the feed
stream can be obtained.

Temperature of the reactor

On top of that, the temperature inside the reactor is controlled by manipulating
the bypass supply stream of the refrigerant and the bypass feed flow rate to the
reactor using feedback controller. The flow rate of molten salt (MS) will
determine and change the temperature inside the reactor until it reaches the
desired set point. In addition, for further safety reason, the feed flow rate will be
decreased if the temperature goes too high.
Additional safety features includes the installation of an interlock system and
emergency shutdown system if the temperature gets extremely high. The system
is activated at the temperature of 6500C and when it is activated, the block valve
will close the flow of feed; the feed is bypassed and the blow down valve will be
opened to purge the content in the reactor to prevent contain the high
temperature.

Pressure of the reactor

The pressure of the reactor also has to be controlled just as the same priority as
the temperature in the reactor. The feed are of gaseous phase and are easily
influenced by the adjustment of the temperature as well as the pressure with
assumption that the gas is an ideal gas. Furthermore, these two parameters are
essential in the production of the maleic anhydride as the rate of the reaction is
directly dependent on the temperature and pressure of the reactor. The pressure is
controlled by regulating the outlet gas at the top of the reactor. For safety reasons,
pressure relief valve, PSV is installed should the pressure increased tremendously
in the reactor. Accidents may occur if the pressure exceeds the desired value. The
catalyst used is also being control in sense of temperature by measuring and
manipulating the pressure so that the ideal condition could be achieved.

51

TABLE20: REACTOR CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS

Controlled Variables

Manipulated Variables

Ratio of inlet flow rate

Air flow rate

Type of Controller
Ratio Control

Set Point
Flow rate ratio =
S8/S6 = 0.017

Temperature of the

Bypass MS and bypass

High selector with

reactor

feed

split range and

Temperature: 500 0C

cascade control
Temperature: 6500C

Total bypass feed and

None (use interlock

open blow down valve

and tripping system)

Temperature of the

Start-up heater flow

Feedback control

Temperature: 4000C

reactor (for start-up

bypass

Feedback Control

Pressure: 250 kPa

reactor)
Pressure of the reactor

4.2.5

Reactor outlet flow rate

Heat Exchanger Control System

The purpose of performing a control system for heat exchanger is to maintain the desired
temperature of its outlet stream either by providing heating or cooling utility. There are
two types of heat exchanger control system, depending on whether the heat exchanger
has been integrated or not.

Cooler (Single stream heat exchanger)

There is only one process stream which is experiencing heating or cooling and
the temperature of the stream is controlled by manipulating the flow rate of
utilities stream.

Double stream heat exchanger

The heat exchanger has been integrated. Therefore, there were two process
streams connected to the heat exchanger. Both process streams will experience
either heating or cooling process. Bypass stream is connected from inlet stream to
the outlet stream of the cold stream. Temperature indicator and controller are
52

installed at the outlet of the hot stream and are cascaded with the flow indicator
and controller which is installed at the bypass stream. The temperature of the cold
stream is controlled by manipulating the flow rate of bypass stream.
TABLE 21: COOLER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS

Cooler

W-6

W-9

Controlled

Manipulated

Type of

Variable

Variable

Controller

Reactor effluent

Cooling water

temperature

supply flow rate

Solvent recycle

Cooling water

temperature

supply flow rate

Feedback Control

Set point
Temperature:
125 0C

Feedback Control

Temperature:
35 0C

TABLE 22: HEAT EXCHANGER CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS

Heat

Controlled

Manipulated

Type of

Exchanger

Variable

Variable

Controller

W-4

Outlet temperature Bypass flow rate

Cascade Control

Outlet temperature Bypass flow rate

Cascade Control

Temperature:
35 0C

of W-4

4.2.6

Temperature:
204.2 0C

of pump
W-1

Set point

Absorber Control System

Absorber is used to absorb the maleic anhydride from other gases. The requirements for
absorber control system are as below:

Level of liquid in the column

The level of liquid at the bottom of the absorber is maintain at desired level by
controlling the outlet flow of rich solvent using feedback controller.

Pressure at top of the column

Feedback control is used to control the operating pressure at the top of the
column to avoid overpressure. The pressure at the top of the absorber is
maintained at desired condition by controlling the outlet flow of off-gases. For

53

safety reasons, pressure relief valve, PSV is installed should the pressure
increased tremendously in the column.

Feed flow rate of the two inlet streams into the absorber
The purpose the control system is to ensure the feed streams is at desired flow
rate. The feed to absorber are outlet of reactor cooler, W-3 and the recycled
solvent dibutyl phthalate from the outlet of heat exchanger, W-4. The ratio for
both streams must be controlled to ensure the absorption for maleic anhydride is
effective. Ratio control is implemented to ensure that sufficient amount of dibutyl
phthalate is fed into the absorber depending on the flow rate ratio set for both
inlet streams.
TABLE 23: GAS ABSORBER, C-301 CONTROL SYSTEM DETAILS

Control
Variable
Liquid level at
bottom of absorber

Manipulated
Variable
Bottom outlet flow rate

Type of
Controller
Feedback Control

Pressure in the
Absorber
Ratio of inlet flow
Rate

Off-gas outlet flow rate

Feedback Control

4.2.7

Ratio Control

Flow of dibutyl
phthalate

Set Point
Level: 80 %
Pressure:
200kPa
Flow rate ratio:
S29/S16 =
5.71

Stripper Distillation Column Control System

The control system in the distillation column is important in order to have a sharp
separation between the components in the incoming feed. The control system of
distillation column is controlled based on three purposes:
Material balance control
- The column control system causing the average sum of the product streams
(bottom and top product) to be exactly equal to the average feed rate, keeping
the column in material balance.
- Although the plant is usually designed for a nominal production rate, a design
tolerance is always incorporated because the market condition and demand may
require an increase or decrease from the current state. The control system is then
needed to ensure a smooth and safer transition from the old production level to
the newly desired production level. Its purpose is to direct the control action in
54

such a way as to make the inflows equal to the outflows and achieve a new
steady-state material balance for the plant.
Product quality control
- To maintain the desired concentration of the products at the bottom and the top
of the column.
Satisfaction of constraints.
For safety purposes, satisfactory operation of the column, certain constraints must
be understood and followed, for example:
- The column shall not flood.
- Column pressure drop should be low enough to maintain the efficiency of the
column operation in order to prevent serious weeping or dumping.
- The temperature difference in the reboiler should not exceed the critical
temperature difference.
- Avoid shock loading to the column so that overload of reboiler or condenser
heat-transfer capacity can be avoided.
- Column pressure should not exceed a maximum permissible limit.
TABLE 24: DISTILLATION COLUMN CONTROL SYSTEM

Controlled Variable
Pressure in the column
Bottom liquid level
Bottom temperature
Reflux drum level
Reflux temperature
Reflux ratio

Manipulated Variable
Top outlet vapor flow
rate
Bottom liquid flow
rate
Steam inlet flow
rate
Reflux solution flow
rate
Cooling water
supply flow rate
Reflux flow rate &
MA product flow
rate

55

Type of Controller
Feedback Control
Feedback Control
Feedback Control
Feedback Control
Feedback Control
Ratio Control

Set point
Pressure:
120 kPa
Level: 80 %
Temperature:
250 0C
Level: 50 %
Temperature:
85 0C
Ratio: 1.8

CHAPTER 5: SAFETY AND LOSS PREVENTION

5.1 HAZARD AND OPERABILITY STUDIES (HAZOP)
5.1.1 Introduction to HAZOP
HAZOP, according to Dunn (2009), is a structured procedure intended to proactively
identify equipment modifications and/or safety devices required in order to avoid any
significant danger as a result of equipment failure.HAZOP study focuses on each
pipeline and vessel shown on the respective flow sheet or line diagram. Any possible
deviations from normal operating conditions are studied.As a result, HAZOP study
enables investigation on potential mal-operation, as well as identifies their root causes,
consequences and corrective actions.
5.1.2

Study Nodes Selection

For this HAZOP studies, the selection of study nodes is based on nodes that contain
highly hazardous materials and critical process conditions. With reference to preliminary
hazard analysis conducted in the earlier stage of plant design, it is found that reactor is
one of the high-risk equipment. Due to its high temperature application and variation in
reaction activity, reactor is classified as equipment with critical condition. Furthermore,
the stream contains mixture of gaseous n-butane and air at high temperature, which may
lead to explosion if overpressure.
Therefore, three study nodes connected to reactor (C-1) is selected to be studied in this
HAZOP analysis. The study nodes are shown in the table and figure below.
TABLE 25: STUDY NODES IN HAZOP ANALYSIS

No.

Study node

Inlet to reactor (C-1) Stream 11

Outlet to reactor (C-1) Stream 12

Inlet of molten salt loop to reactor

56

Boiler
(For steam
generation)

Molten
salt
inlet
1

Molten
salt outlet
Reactor

C-1
Stream 12
(Product: MAN,
water, CO, CO2)

Stream 11
(Reactant: nbutane & air)

FIGURE 13: SELECTED STUDY NODES CONNECTED TO REACTOR

Further understanding of the process flow can be done by referring to Process Flow
Diagram (PFD) or Process Instrumentation and Control Diagram (P&ID) as attached in
Appendices.
5.1.3 HAZOP Analysis
The following tables (Table 26 - Table 28) illustrate findings from HAZOP analysis.

57

TABLE 26: STUDY NODE #1

HAZOP STUDY RECORD SHEET

PROJECT : MALEIC ANHYDRIDE PLANT

Date : 20 October 2012

MAJOR UNIT : REACTOR

System : MAN Production
Item

Guide word

Deviation

Study node: Inlet to reactor (C-1) Stream 11

Possible consequences

Possible causes

Safeguard/
Action required

1A1

Flow

More

Upsetting process

Excess air

Install high flow alarm

Uncontrolled reaction

Excess n-butane

Install dry air control valve after

Excessive heat

Valve fully open

compressor
Operator to continuously monitor
pipe/valve condition and manually
change valve position

1A2

No

No reaction

Pipe rupture

Install feed flow meter

No product

Valve fully closed

To be included in biweekly routine

Blockage
1A3

Less

checkup procedure by Inspection Team

Less pressure

Pipe leakage

Install low flow alarm

Less favorable product.

Valve partially closed

Operator to continuously monitor

pipe/valve condition and manually
change valve position

58

TABLE 26 (CONTINUED)

Item

Guide word

Deviation

Possible consequences

Possible causes

Safeguard/
Action required

1B1

Pressure

More

High velocity of

Valve failure

High pressure alarm

Overheat

Installpressure safety valve (PSV)

Dryer failure

Install high temperature alarm

Less reaction

Leakage

Insert safety valve

Less favorable product

Compressor failure

Install low pressure alarm

Uncontrolled reaction

Pressure increase

Install temperature sensor

Low pressure

Install temperature sensor

Presence of oxidizing

Insulation of pipe and equipment

reactant
Overpressure
High temperature
1B2

1C1

Less

Temperature

More

Mechanical failure
May cause explosion
1C2

Less

Less pressure, less

favorable product.

1D1

Ignition

Fire, sparks

substance
Temperature rise

59

Temperature sensor

TABLE 27: STUDY NODE #2

HAZOP STUDY RECORD SHEET

PROJECT : MALEIC ANHYDRIDE PLANT

Date : 20 October 2012

MAJOR UNIT : REACTOR

System : MAN Production
Item

Guide word

Deviation

Study node: Outlet to reactor (C-1) Stream 12

Possible consequences

Possible causes

Safeguard/
Action required

2A1

Flow

More

Upsetting process

Increase in temperature

Install high flow alarm

Increase demand for

Uncontrolled reaction

Regular monitoring by Control Team

Pipe rupture, valve

To be included in biweekly routine

solvent
2A2

No

No product

fully closed, blockage

No reaction

checkup procedure by Inspection Team

Regular monitoring by Control Team
Operator to continuously monitor
pipe/valve condition and manually
change valve position

2A3

Less

Less product form

Low reaction rate

Install low flow alarm

Decrease in

Pipe leakage

To be included in biweekly routine

temperature

Valve partially closed

checkup procedure by Inspection Team

Regular monitoring by Control Team

60

TABLE 27 (CONTINUED)

Item

Guide word

Deviation

Possible consequences

Possible causes

Safeguard/
Action required

2B1

Pressure

More

Low absorption rate

Uncontrolled reaction

Install pressure safety valve (PSV)

Install high pressure alarm

2B2

Less

Less flow rate to the

absorber

Low reaction rate

Install low flow alarm

Pipe leakage

Operator to monitorpipe/valve

Agitate absorption

condition
Regular monitoring by Control Team

process
Take longer time
2C1

Temperature

More

Increase in utility

Uncontrolled reaction

Install temperature sensor

Install auto-control valve for utility

2C2

Less

Less pressure

Low reaction rate

Take longer time for

absorption process

61

Install temperature sensor

TABLE 28: STUDY NODE #3

HAZOP STUDY RECORD SHEET

PROJECT : MALEIC ANHYDRIDE PLANT

Date : 20 October 2012

MAJOR UNIT : REACTOR

System : MAN Production
Item

Guide word

Deviation

Study node: Inlet of molten salt loop to reactor

Possible consequences

Possible causes

Safeguard/
Action required

3A1

Flow

More

More heat absorbed

Valve fully open

Temperature in reactor

Install high flow alarm

Operator to manually change valve

decrease

position

Favor undesired
reaction
3A2

No

Rise in reactor
temperature

Pipe rupture

Install safety valve

Valve fully closed

Pipe/valve operation to be included in

Explosion

biweekly routine checkup procedure by

May lead to auto-

Inspection Team
Operator to continuously monitor

ignition

pipe/valve condition and manually

change valve position

62

TABLE 28 (CONTINUED)

Item

Guide word

Deviation

Possible consequences

Possible causes

Safeguard/
Action required

3A3

Less

Rise in reactor
temperature

Pipe leakage

Install low flow alarm

Valve partially closed

Install safety valve

Explosion

To be included in biweekly routine

May lead to auto-

checkup procedure by Inspection Team

Operator to continuously monitor

ignition

pipe/valve condition and manually

change valve position
3B1

Pressure

More

System unit rupture

Utility (boiler) failure

Install pressure safety valve (PSV)

Backflow into solvent

Blockage due to crystal

Install high pressure alarm

supply

formation

Boiler operation to be included in

biweekly routine checkup procedure by
Inspection Team

3B2

Less

Reduction in flow rate

Large heat loss in

of salt
Longer cooling time for

utility (boiler) system

Pipe leakage

reactor

Install low flow alarm

Boiler/pipe operation to be included in
biweekly routine checkup procedure by
Inspection Team

63

TABLE 28 (CONTINUED)

Item

Guide word

Deviation

Possible consequences

Possible causes

Safeguard/
Action required

3C1

Temperature

More

Less effective in

Utility (boiler) failure

Install temperature sensor

Boiler operation to be included in

cooling down reactors

temperature

biweekly routine checkup procedure by

Inspection Team

3C2

Less

Heat capacity is higher

Large heat loss in

More heat is absorbed

utility (boiler) system

Temperature in reactor

Install temperature sensor

Boiler operation to be included in
biweekly routine checkup procedure by
Inspection Team

decrease
Favor undesired
reaction

64

5.2 PLANT LAYOUT

5.2.1

Site Layout

This Maleic Anhydride production plant will be located in Kidurong Industrial Area, Sabah.
It is planned to occupy area of 350 meter x 300 meter (105,000 m2). The overall site layout
is shown in Appendix. Several factors have been considered in laying out the site. The
process units and ancillary building should be laid out to give the most economical flow of
materials and personnel around the site. In term of safety, process area is located at enough
distance from the place where there are a lot of personnel. Basically, the site layout can be
divided into two parts:

Non-Process area

Process Area
5.2.2

Non-Process Area

As suggested by Kirk-Othmer (1997), non-process area should be located at a distance of at

least, 60 meters from processing area. This is important to avoid any undesired incident due
to explosion or fire from the process zone. Among the buildings or units in the non-process
area are:

Guard post

Guard posts are located at the entrance of the site. The security checkpoints are important to
ensure unauthorized access into the plant. There are 3 guard posts in this site:
o Main entrance guard post to control the flow in and out of personnel or cars
between the site and public area.
o Process area guard post security check to ensure that there is no hazardous or
undesired materials being brought into the process area. It is a common practice in
some places where personnel should have a safety-briefing card to be allowed to
enter the process site.
o Contractors entrance guard post contractors will enter the process area at
different entrance with their heavy transport such as crane and lorry.

Administration building
65

Administration office building is sited far away from the process area to avoid any explosion
and fire hazard since this is the place where a lot of personnel involve. It is also near to the
cafeteria and surau.

Cafeteria

Cafeteria provides meals for the employees and visitors.

Clinic

The location of clinic has been chosen so that it can be reached easily either from the
process area or non-process area. It offers emergency and fast treatment to the injured
employees before being sent to the nearest hospital for further treatment.
5.2.3

Process Area

Process area is the heart of this plant. It is a hazardous area since it deals with a lot of
chemicals. Arrangement of main process site as well as other ancillary buildings was done
carefully. Below are the units and buildings in the Process Area:

Unit 1

This is where the n-butane is being separated from the feed mixture in obtaining a stream of
high content n-butane. It consists of a deisobutanizer column, compressor and mixer.

Unit 2

Oxidation process occur in vapor phase. The feed is contacted with the Vanadium
Phosphorus Oxide catalyst in a packed bed system. MAN is formed as the main product in
the process with the production of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as the by product.

Unit 3

MAN purification is a unit to further purify the MAN from other by-products. The main
process goes through the absober Column where MAN is absorbed from the incoming
stream followed by a stripper unit for DBP regeneration to be recycled.

Utilities

This unit will supply cooling water, low pressure steam, plant and instrument air and some
other utilities to the main process unit. Its location is perfectly suitable to give the most
economical run of pipe to and from the process unit.
66

Pump house

The pump house contains pumps used to control the material stream flow between the
process units with the storage farm.

Wastewater Treatment Unit

The wastewater effluent from the process unit will be sent to Wastewater Treatment Unit to
be treated before being released to the environment. It is located adjacent to the main
process unit so that the wastewater effluents from the process units can be channeled to it
without needing long piping to be transferred.

Storage farm

Storage farm consists of some big tanks. These tanks will store the raw material from
supplier before being processed and also stores the product before being exported. Storage
farm is located away from the major processing unit to avoid explosion hazard.

Central control building

All the control valves for the whole process area will be controlled and monitored from this
central control building. Even it is near to the main process area, it still can be considered as
a safe place since it is provided with explosion proof doors and very thick concrete walls. In
case of emergency occurs in the plant, control room will be the assembly point in the
process area.

Fire station

There are two fire stations provided in the process area. One is located near the main process
unit and the other one is placed near the storage farm. These arrangements are made so that
faster action could be taken in case of fire-emergency in these two most hazardous areas.

Operator station

Operator station is adjacent to the central control building.

Laboratory

Quality of feed and product should be taken into considerations. Laboratory is the place
where the sample (both feed and product) is tested and analyzed to determine whether it
meets the specifications or not. All the result will be sent to the control room and some
67

adjustments in controlling will be made, if needed. Thus, the distance between laboratory
and control room is not too far. Laboratory staffs will also perform an analysis regarding
waste of the process before being channeled to nearby environment.

Chemical storage

This unit stores vessels containing chemical substance, lubricants, and catalyst pellet used
for the process. Thus, it is located to the process unit.

Flare Area

Flare is used to burn all excess gas that is emitted from the process units as well as to burn
some of the waste gas from waste treatment area. In our plant, the flare stack is located at
the middle of 100m x 100m area, to give a radius of 50 meters from other sites and
buildings, and meet the statement from Kirk-Othmer (1997), which stated that the minimum
safety range from flare to unit operation and storage farm is in radius of 60 meters.

Warehouse

Warehouse stores all the equipments spare parts. It is placed near to the workshop to ease
the maintenance job.

Expansion Site

There are some free areas allocated for the future plant expansion. They occupy enough
space for further expansion, whether for process reaction or producing the plants own
utility such as cooling water and steam.
5.2.4

Assembly point

For the whole site in this vinyl chloride plant, there are a few zones that have been identified
to be as assembly area. In the site layout shown in the appendix, all the assembly areas are
represented by small triangles. These are the focal points for every personnel to gather in
case of emergency occur, and the assembly areas are located in both process area and nonprocess area. For the non process area, the assembly points are determined to be in front of
the car park, administration building and warehouse. For the process area, the assembly
points are in the control room, near the process area main entrance as well as beside the fire

68

station. However, control room is the best assembly point since it is built with special safety
features with thick concrete wall and explosion-proof door.
5.2.5

Emergency Exit

It is a common practice to have some alternatives way to exit from the chemical plant. In
this site, there are three emergency exits available, two of them are provided in the process
area while the other one is near to the workshop building.

5.3 PLANT LAYOUT CONSIDERATION FACTORS

The economic construction and efficient operation of a process unit will depend on how well
the plant and equipment specified on the process flow-sheet is laid out.
Some of the factors considered are:

Cost

Minimization of construction cost is done by adopting shortest run of connecting pipe

between equipment. The cost is also reduced by having the least amount of structural steel
work. The most important thing is to have an arrangement for best operation and
maintenance.

Operation

Equipment such as valves, sample points and instruments are considered as frequently
attended equipments. They are located not far away from control room, with convenient
positions and heights, to ease the operators job. Also, sufficient working and headroom
space are provided to allow easy access to equipments.

Maintenance

When laying out the plant, some considerations were made regarding maintenance work.
For examples:
o Both reactors which use catalysts are located in open space for easiness of
removing or replacing the catalysts.
o Enough space is allocated for heat exchangers for withdrawing the bundles
purposes.
69

o All equipments are accessible to crane/lift truck

o Compressors and pumps are located under cover since they require dismantling
for maintenance

Safety

Among the safety consideration that we have when laying out this plant are:
o Operators have 4 escape routes if anything occurs in the main process unit.
o To minimize fire from spread, flammables handling process units are separated
from each other
o Process vessels with substantial inventories of flammable liquids are located at
grade.
o Elevated areas will have at least one stairway.
o Storage farm which stores the flammable materials are located at safe distance
from the main process area.
o Equipment subject to explosion hazard is set away from occupied buildings and
areas.

Plant expansion

Equipments are arranged by considering future plant expansion, which means it can be
conveniently connected with the new equipment.
TABLE 29: RECOMMENDED MINIMUM CLEARANCE (SOURCE: PABLO AND MARCELL, 1995)

General
Width 30 ft; Headroom 22 ft; distance from

Primary roads

Secondary Roads

Pump Access Aisle Ways

Width 12 ft; headroom 12ft

Process Area Main Walkways

Width 10 ft; headroom 8 ft

Process Areas Service Walkways

Width 4 ft; headroom 7 ft

Main Pipe Racks

Headroom 22 ft

buildings and process area 10 ft

Width 20 ft; headroom 20 ft; distance from
buildings and process area 5 ft

70

Secondary Pipe Racks

Headroom 15 ft
The vertical distance between operating

Floor Elevations

levels must be no less than height of the

tallest process vessel plus 8 ft

Around Hazardous Areas

9

Flare

100 ft

Around Process Equipment

Tank Farms:
10 Between tanks

0.5 diameter

11 From tank to dike wall

5 ft

12 Access around diked area

10 ft

13 Dike capacity

largest tank plus 10%

14 Around compressor

10 ft

Between Adjacent Vertical Vessels

15 3 ft diameter

4 ft

16 3-6 ft diameter

6 ft

17 over 6 ft diameter

10 ft

Between Adjacent horizontal Vessels

18 Up to 10 ft diameter

up to 10 ft diameter

19 more than 10 ft diameter

more than 10 ft diameter

20 Between Horizontal Heat Exchangers 4 ft

21 Between Vertical Heat Exchangers

2 ft

71

CHAPTER 6: WASTE TREATMENT

6.1 INTRODUCTION
Waste is a general problem in chemical plant operation especially in the developing country
where the rules and regulations are very strict regarding the waste disposal. A plant takes
few raw materials to produce products through several stages of processes for the sole
purpose of generating income. But it is not possible to convert all the raw materials into
saleable products thus generating unwanted waste or residual.
The wastewater is essentially the water supply of the community after it has been fouled by
a variety of usage. Wastewater source of generation may be define as a combination of the
liquid or water that carries wastes removed from the residences, institutions and industrial
establishments, together with such groundwater, surface water, and storm water.

The

decomposition of untreated accumulation of wastewater will produce large quantities of

malodorous gases. It also contains numerous pathogenic microorganisms that inhabit the
intestinal tract or that may be present in certain industrial waste. Toxic contaminant in
wastewater may lead to fatality of all organisms including aquatic or land inhibited animals
and even human beings. Non-biodegradable waste that accumulated in the food chain is
absorbed into our body system hence leads to serious sickness such as cancer, food
poisoning and others. For these reasons, the treatment of wastewater is necessary in an
industrialized society.
The wastewater treatment involves the primary treatment for the solid removing, such as
screening and sedimentation, the secondary treatment involves biological or chemical
treatment and tertiary treatment for the nutrient removal. The increase in environmental
awareness has pushed the authority to implement strict regulations to limit the release of
proven and potentially hazardous materials by chemical plants.

72

6.2 WASTE MINIMIZATION

A waste is best solved from the source. Minimizing the waste is the most effective way to
counter the waste problem. This includes reducing or recycling the materials that contribute
to waste and resulting in a reduction of total quantity of the waste altogether.

The most preferable way of waste minimization is the prevention of the waste. But
this would also be the least economical and logical way of handling the waste
because in a process plant, to produce a product, there also will be byproducts
created. Byproduct is the main contributor to the unwanted waste.

The other major step in waste minimization is by increasing the efficiency of the
process equipment. Increasing the efficiency means less byproduct or waste will be
produce by the equipment. But for each percentage of efficiency increment, the
tradeoff is the increasing of the overall cost. The cost estimation must be done
thoroughly in order to get the optimum operating conditions for all major equipment
that contributes to producing waste such as reactor, separator and absorber.

The third option which is highly adapted in all process plant is reuse or recycle of
materials. This is the most favorable method in term of cost and the waste
minimization.

The least favorable option of waste handling is disposal of the waste. Disposal of the
waste to the environment must be under the minimum quantity as possible.

6.3 WASTE AUDIT

The discharge from the plant has been identified and there are 3 major wastes. These wastes
are divided into three categories; gaseous waste, liquid waste and solid waste.

The gaseous waste is the off gas released from Absorber (C-2). It contains nitrogen,
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and traces of other materials.

The liquid wastes from Deisobutanizer (C-1) contain isobutane. Besides, other
consideration likes dibutyl phthalate discharge or leakage into waste water treatment
from Absorber (C-2) and Stripper (C-3). Also from surface runoff during the raining
73

seasons in the plant area contains traces of other materials. Non-acidic waste is from
the drainage system in the plant area.
Table 30 below shows the streams and type of waste discharged.
TABLE 30: WASTE STREAMS PROPERTIES

Parameter

Stream 3

Stream 15

Stream 18

Waste

Isobutane

Off-gas

Water

Type of waste

Liquid

Gaseous

Gaseous

Type of treatment

Recycle and

Recycle,

Recycle to stream 10

storage

storage, and
incinerate

Molar flowrate( kmol/hr)

27.50

5798.74

15.27

Temperature (oC)

55.4393

85.7274

85.0

6.4 EFFLUENT DISCHARGE STANDARD AND REQUIREMENTS

In Malaysia, Environmental Quality Act 1974 is the act relating to the prevention,
abatement, control of pollution and enhancement of the environment, and purposes
connected therewith. This parent act, consist of several acts that are enacted from time to
time. This plant is subjected to the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Waste) Regulation
2005 which caters for solid waste storage and disposal and Environmental Quality (Sewage
and Industrial Effluents)Regulation 1979 which caters for the wastewater released.
6.4.1

Purpose of Effluent Standards

The sole purpose of these Effluent Standards for the discharge from wastewater treatment
plants is to control and disposal of effluent to the waters. This will protect the receiving
waters and the living aquatic ecosystems. The public health also must be taken into

74

consideration. These standards are crucial because wastewater discharges have been known
to contribute considerable amount of the biodegradable organic matter and suspended solids
into the receiving waters.
These standards stated the maximum values of waste parameters which must not be
exceeded in order to release the wastewater into the environment. After taking this into
consideration, the design parameters of all the effluent should be less than the standards
mentioned in order to ensure that the waste generated by the plant will fall within the
required degree.
6.4.2

Liquid waste

There are two standards for effluent discharge specified in the Environmental Quality Act
(EQA) 1974:
1. Standard A for discharge upstream of any raw water intake.
2. Standard B for discharge downstream of any raw water intake.
The standards are listed in the Third Schedule of the Environmental Quality Act 1974,
under the Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations, 1979,
regulations 8 (1), 8 (2) and 8 (3). An extract of the standards is given below:
TABLE 31: ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (SEWAGE AND INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS)
REGULATIONS, 1979 (EXTRACT)

Parameters

Standard A

Standard B

Temperature

40C

40C

pH value

6.0-9.00

5.5-9

BOD5

20mg/l

50mg/l

COD

50mg/l

100mg/l

Phenol

0.001mg/l

1.0mg/l

Sulphide

0.50mg/l

0.50mg/l

Oil and Grease

Not Detectable

10mg/l

75

TABLE 32: PLANT WASTEWATER AND STANDARD B VALUES OF EQA

Parameter

Unit

Standard B

Plant wastewater

Temperature

40

40

5.5-9.0

5.0-9.0

PH value
BOD5 at 20C

ppm

20

10000

COD

ppm

50

5000

Phenol

mg/l

1.0

>1.0

Oil

mg/l

10

>10

6.4.3

Gaseous Waste

The purge gases from the plant process line include n-butane, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon
monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor and a little amount of maleic anhydride. The
emission of these gaseous is monitored and controlled to meet the requirements of the
Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations, 1978 under the Malaysian Clean Air
Standards for Dark Smoke and Solid Particle
6.4.4

Solid waste

Under the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005, solid waste is
categorized under scheduled wastes and must be treated with outmost care. The appropriate
safety procedure is required in collecting, packaging, storing and transporting the solid
waste. The solid waste is sent to Kualiti Alam Sdn. Bhd. for disposal.

6.5 TREATMENT STRATEGY

TABLE 33: METHOD OF REMOVAL ACCORDING TO WASTE COMPONENT

Wastewater Component

Removal Process

Oil and Grease

(components of
wastewater from other
sources)

Aerated Grit removal

Suspended Solid

Screening, Aerated grit removal

Level of
Treatment
Primary

76

Equalization tank, Clarifier

Volatile Organic
Compounds:
Maleic anhydride, dibutyl
phthalate
Acid (H2SO4)and
Caustic (NaoH)(used for
pH adjustment)

Clarifier, sludge dewatering

Alum Al2(SO4)3 (used as

chemical coagulant)

Clarifier, sludge dewatering

Sludge

Sludge dewatering Unit (centrifuge),

Mechanical Sludge Dewatering (filter
press). Treated sludge shall be sent to
Kualiti Alam Sdn. Bhd. for disposal.

Secondary

Tertiary

Besides that, wastes of isobutane from stream 3 (S3) will be recycled and stored in the
storage tank for selling.

FIGURE 14: ISOBUTANE STORAGE TANK

77

TREATMENT STAGES
PRIMARY TREATMENT
1

SECONDARY TREATMENT
2

SCREENING AND

SETTLING AND CHEMICAL

BIOLOGICAL

GRIT REMOVAL

TREATMENT

TREATMENT

NUTRIENT

DISINFECTION

PHYSICAL
SEPARATION

REMOVAL

5
SCHEDULED
WASTE HANDLING

TERTIARY TREATMENT

78
FIGURE 15: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

Treatment Plant

PRIMARY TREATMENT

SECONDARY TREATMENT

Untreated
wastewater

Acid

Alum

Caustic
Equalization Tank

Screening

Aerated Grit
Removal

pH
Stabilizer
Clarifier

Sludge
dewatering
Sludge Cake
Mechanical
Sludge
Thickener

Coagulation Tank

Sludge
Two-Stage
Centrifugal
Separator
Spent water

Sludge
Storage Area

Disinfection

biopond

For Disposal

FIGURE 16: FLOW SHEET OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

TERTIARY TREATMENT
79
TERTIARY TREATMENT

sea

6.6 SCREENING PROCESS

This is the first stage of waste treatment which is the primary treatment stage. The screening
facility purposes are:

To protect downstream equipments and processes by removing debris and other big
particles.

To reduce interference with in plant flow

To minimize blockages in sludge handling facility

6.6.1

Aerated Grit Removal

The grit removal process is also included under the primary treatment stage. The flow
velocity is reduced to allow retention time for larger and heavier particles to settle out. The
grit removal facility purposes are:

To remove grit that will cause problem to pumps and sludge treatment and
dewatering

To remove grease that will cause problem to clarifier

Both grit and grease contain big particles that cannot be broken down by chemical
and biological treatment later.
6.6.2

pH Stabilizer

The pH stabilizer facility falls under the secondary treatment which is the chemical treatment
stage. It consists of multiple mixers to facilitate the mixing of acid and base in order to
stabilize the pH inside the equipment. The purpose of adjusting the pH:

To protect downstream process and equipment from high acidity water that is
corrosive in nature.

Non-neutral pH of wastewater is unacceptable at the biological treatment facility

because it is toxic to the microorganism
6.6.3

Equalization Tank

Secondary treatment stage also includes the equalization tank. The purposes of equalizing the
flow are:

Prevent flow variation for the downstream process

Reduce potential overflow

Reduce hydraulic loading into the downstream process

80

6.6.4

Coagulation Tank

The wastewater must undergo coagulation process before entering the tertiary treatment
which is the biological treatment. The purpose of coagulation process:

Removal of suspended and colloidal solid which cannot be removed by sedimentation.

Reduce soluble organic content in the wastewater consequently reducing the COD
and BOD values.

Removal of metals, phosphorous and colored substances

6.6.5

Clarifier

The first phase of tertiary treatment stage is the clarifier facility. It provided the
sedimentation time which reduces the velocity of wastewater that will allow organic matter in
suspended solid to settle out. The purpose of this facility:

Remove maximum amount of solids

Separate wastewater into sludge and spent water which will be treated separately for
optimum efficiency.
6.6.6

Sludge Dewatering

All treatment processes will generate significant amount of sludge containing inert and nonbiodegradable organic matter. This particular type of sludge must be dispose because it
cannot be treated anymore. Purpose of sludge dewatering facility:

Remove the water contain in the sludge.

Separate the water from sludge

Turned the sludge into sludge cake with low percentage of water.
6.6.7

Mechanical Sludge Thickener

The main purpose of this equipment is to thicken the sludge cake from 1% dry solid to about
6% dry solid content. The thickening equipment used is the gravity belt thickener. To
increase the thickening process, a chemical dosing conditioning also injected into the sludge.
6.6.8

Sludge Storage

The dried sludge cake will be stored for 30 days before disposal to allow sufficient
accumulation of the required quantity of sludge to be disposed. The storage building or
81

structure must have a roof with partly open walls to allow good ventilation. For good conduct
and safety, the storage area should be situated downwind.
6.6.9

Disinfection

The main reason for the disinfection facility is to destruct selective disease causing organism
in the wastewater. Disinfection is important for the wastewater that will be released out into
the open water system. Usage of calcium hypoclorite is the most preferable option because
the typical chlorination type of disinfection is very harmful to operator. Good mixing during
the disinfection stage is important.
6.6.10 Biopond
The biopond facility will provide the last biological treatment before releasing the wastewater
to sea. The wastewater from the disinfection phase will be exposed to microorganism that
will dissolve the remaining organic substances. But the ratio of wastewater from the
disinfection phase must be kept very low to the ratio of wastewater contained in the biopond.
This is to facilitate the dilution process where all the traces of calcium hypoclorite would not
have any affect anymore. This is crucial to prevent toxicity to microorganism in the biopond.
The holding period of treated wastewater in the biopond will range from one to two week
before releasing to receiving water. So the volume of the biopond will have to be bigger.

6.7 GAS TREATMENT

When making contact with the gaseous waste, there are few methods available for the
treatment. The methods are incineration, condensation, adsorption and flaring. All the
treatment method has been studied and the limitation of each method is taken into account
when choosing the best method to be used to treat the gaseous waste. The limitation as shown
in the table:
TABLE 34: SUMMARY OF THE LIMITATIONS FOR THE GASEOUS TREATMENT STRATEGY

Treatment

Limitation

Method

More economical since the gaseous wastes is not going to be recover

Control by

or as the result of intermittent, uncertain or emergency process

flaring

operations

The combustion of VOCs will produce harmless or much less

82

harmful substances since the flare temperature will be operating

below 1000 K to avoid the formation of NOx

Flare will be injected with steam to enhance mixing so that the

combustion process will be as complete as practical

Normally used for large VOCs content stream for recovery

Control by

Not economical for small stream

adsorption

Activated carbon is a very effective adsorbent in removing VOCs,

but quite expensive

Not practical for low gas flow

The N2 presents in the gas stream may enter the atmosphere partly as
N2, NO or NO2

Incomplete combustion of gas stream can produce an exhaust gas

that is more harmful than the input gas

Control by

incineration

Additional fuel is require to burn the VOCs if the total mass fraction
of VOCs too small

If a heat exchanger is installed to lower the cost of fuel, the cost of

the heat exchanger itself is high and may lead to corrosion problem

If catalytic incinerator is applied, the fuel cost is greatly reduced and

the operating temperature is low. However, the catalyst will
significantly increase the operating cost

Normally used for large VOCs content stream for recovery purpose

This method is not economical for small stream

The temperature is low enough that ordinary one-stage refrigerators

cannot be used

Control by

Often the temperatures required for high removal efficiency are

below the freezing temperature of the material being removed so that

condensation

the material freezes on the cooling coils, requiring frequent

defrosting

If the gas being treated contains significant amounts of water vapor,

it will condense and freeze on the cooling coil, this requiring
frequent defrosting

83

After considering all the options, the flaring method has been chosen because it fulfills the
entire requirement and suitable to treat the gaseous waste discharge at the off gas line. Its
systems are the satisfactory provision in the design and operation of the basic requirements
for combustion.
These gases must be release to maintain the operating pressure of the equipment in the
process plant from daily operation and also during the emergency shutdown. The main
control that needs to be maintained along the flaring process is the control of proper steam
flow. This is because with proper steam flow, smokeless operation can be maintained at all
conditions of gas flow, which provide an almost complete combustion of gaseous. To
conform to the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 1978, a filter should be
installed at the stack gas tip before releasing the gas. Gas quality monitoring system should
also be installed in order to ensure that the gas release is within the acceptable range.
Besides that, the nitrogen gaseous that was produced at stream 15 (S15) will be separated by
using nitrogen separator and will be used as process blanket. The other component such as
isobutane will be recycled and kept in the storage tank for selling.

FIGURE 17: NITROGEN SEPARATOR

For the gas waste from the stream 18 (S18) will also be channeled to the flare for combustion.

84

FIGURE 18: WASTE OF STREAM 18 (S18)

6.8 SOLID HANDLING TREATMENT

Solid wastes of the plant are generated from different processes, chemical handling
operations as well as from wastewater treatment, which consists of hazardous and nonhazardous wastes. Hazardous waste is defined as any solid waste listed as hazardous or
possesses one or more hazardous characteristics as defined in federal waste regulations. Its
effect can last for very long periods of time. Major solid wastes are typically in the form of
sludge, scrap and spent process catalyst and its divided into three; scheduled waste, recycled
waste and domestic waste.
There are a few treatment methods in handling the solid waste and it have been summarized
in Table 35 below:
TABLE 35: DISPOSAL METHODS OF SOLID WASTE

Solid Waste

Disposal/Treatment Method

Tank bottom sludge (from Wastewater Sent to KualitiAlam

Plant)
Empty Drums

Returned to supplier

Wood, metal scrap/various valuables like

Sold to contractors

empty drums
Miscellaneous (paper, plastic, domestic

Disposed off through a Contractor

waste)

85

6.9 SCHEDULED WASTE

Scheduled wastes, one of the solid wastes produced in the plant is a small percentage of
hazardous waste, which has been regarded for a long time as intractable, or difficult to safely
dispose of, without special technologies and facilities. It is also can be defined as a material
or article containing a chemical, or mixture of chemicals, exceeding the threshold
concentration and threshold quantity which are:

organic in nature

resistant to degradation by chemical, physical or biological means

toxic to humans, animals, vegetation or aquatic life

bio-accumulative in humans, flora and fauna

According to Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations, 1989, solid waste is

categorized under scheduled wastes, and must be treated appropriately. It is the duty of the
plant management to adopt safety procedure in collecting, packaging, inventorying and
transporting the solid waste to suitable parties before further treatment. Sludge is turned into
sludge cake to reduce the weight and for ease of loading into plastic lined drums before being
transported.

86

CHAPTER 7: PROJECT ECONOMICS AND COST ESTIMATION

7.1 INTRODUCTION
The economic evaluation of a plant is important in determining the profitability of a
plant in generating profit. Therefore, before building any plant, the design engineer needs to
decide between alternative designs to be implemented as well as the overall plant economics.
In evaluating the project economics, estimates of investment and equipment costs are
required. Before the final process design starts, company management normally becomes
involved to decide if significant capital funds will be committed to the project or not.
7.1.1

Capital Investment

The estimation of Total Capital Investment and Total Product Cost of the project are
determined by using the methods suggested by Peters and Timmerhaus .Equipment
purchasing amount are determined by using method by Warren D.Seider, J.D Seader and
Daniel R.Lewin.
The capital needed to supply the required manufacturing and plant facilities is called fixed
capital investment (FCI) while that necessary for the operation of plant is termed the working
capital (WC). Start-up Cost (SC) is the cost required at first once the process of the plant is
started. Thus the sum of the fixed capital investment, working capital start-up cost is known
as the total capital investment (TCI). Furthermore, cash flow and discounted cash flow are
also constructed in determining the Pay-Back Period as well as Net Present Value for the
project.
Fixed capital investment can be divided into two that are manufacturing fixed capital
investment (direct cost) and non-manufacturing fixed capital investment (indirect cost).
Basically, FCI depends on the total equipments cost available in the plant multiply with a
factor that varies according to what type of cost it represents. Meanwhile, working capital is
the additional investment needed, over and above the fixed capital, to start the plant up and
operate it to the point when income is earned.
The calculation made follows the Douglass approach method
The interest rate for plant operation is 10% per annum
Project life-cycle will be 15 years
Plant operates at normal annual operation period which is 330 days
87

7.1.2

Total Equipment Cost (TEC)

Capital cost estimate for chemical process plants can be based on purchase cost estimation of
the major equipment items. The equipment cost will be used along with factors for estimating
other relevant costs(Sinnott.2005).
TABLE 36: TOTAL EQUIPMENT COST

Expander

1000000

1000000

Total Cost
(RM)
3059039.462

Centrifugal Separator

1340000

1340000

4099112.879

160000

160000

489446.3139

Cooler 1

59500

59500

182012.848

Cooler 2

67000

67000

204955.6439

Heat Exchanger 1

245000

245000

749464.6681

Heat Exchanger 2

116000

116000

354848.5775

Heat Exchanger 3

134500

134500

411440.8076

1580000

1580000

4833282.349

Recycle Pump

13000

39000

119302.539

Deisobutanizer

570000

570000

1743652.493

Stripper

343000

343000

1049250.535

MAN Tank

238000

238000

728051.3919

Reaction Reactor (incl catalyst)

620000

620000

1896604.466

Mixer

160000

160000

489446.3139

Equipments

Butane Tank

Absorber

Cost

Quantity

TOTAL EQUIPMENT COST

Total Cost (USD)

20409911.29

In order to estimate the capital cost for chemical process plant, the factorial method of cost
estimation is used. To make a more accurate estimate, the cost factors that are compounded
into the Lang factor are considered individually.
7.1.3

Fixed Capital Investment

The direct cost and indirect cost items incurred in the construction that are used to
calculate Fixed Capital Investment of a plant are as such :
FCI

= Total Equipment Cost * Langs Factor

= RM 71965347.20 (in 2004)
88

Fixed Capital Investment (FCI)

= FCI (2004) * (CEPCI 2012/CEPCI2004)

= 94889923.13
Total Capital Investment = Working Capital (15% FCI) + S/Up Cost (10% FCI) + FCI
= RM 118 612 403.90
7.1.4

Estimation of Total Operating Cost

All expenses directly connected with the manufacturing operation or the physical equipment
of a process plant is included in the operating costs.
Raw Material
Utilities
Maintenance Cost
Operating Supplies
Operating Labour
Management Personnel
Laboratory Charges
Patent and Royalties
TOTAL VARIABLE COST

Cold Utilities
2% of FCI
10% of Maintenance Cost
10% of Operating Labour
5% of Operating Labour
1% of Total Expenses

98838109.36
25192299
1897798.463
189779.8463
720000
72000
36000
1269459.867
128215446.5

Local tax
Insurance
FIXED CHARGES

1% of FCI
0.4% of FCI

948899.2313
379559.6925
1328458.924

PLANT OVERHEAD
TOTAL MANUFACTURING COST

50% (Maintenance + Labour + Supervision)

1344899.231
130888804.7

Administrative Cost
Distribution and Selling
R&D
TOTAL GENERAL EXPENSES

15% (Maintenance + Labour + Supervision)

10% of TMC
5% of TMC

403469.7694
13088880.47
6544440.235
20036790.47

TOTAL OPERATING COST = Total Manufacturing Cost + General Expenses

= RM 150,925,595.20
7.1.5

Gross Profit

For the case of this plant, the revenue comes from solely selling of MAN as shown below:
Profit = Total Sale Total Operating Cost
= (RM 7 944.33/ton x 50000tonne/yr) 150,925,595.20
= RM 177,395,904.80/year
89

7.2 PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS

In determining the economic attractiveness of a project, it is important to based decision three
important economic parameters which are Investment Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present
Value (NPV) and Pay Back Period (PBP). Several assumptions are made in the economic
analysis of this maleic anhydride acid plant. The assumptions are as follows:
The plant has a project plant life of 15 years.
The plant construction period is 3 years before commencing production. Hence,
the total investment cost is distributed evenly between the 3 years.
Interest rate is 15%
Local Taxes is assumed to be at 10% annually.
7.2.1

Start-up Period

The plant will start up in year 4. The plant construction assumed to be last for 3 years.
TABLE 37: CAPITAL INVESTMENT FOR START-UP PERIOD

Start up period of 3 years

Year 0

Equipment & Design

- 29602641.93

Year 1

(Direct Cost Year 1 Cost)/2

-19895528

Year 2

As year 1

-19895528

Year 3

Indirect Cost + S/up cost

-26294129.60

Total

7.2.2

-95687827.53

Depreciation

When government taxing comes into place, depreciation becomes important to aid the
plant from balancing tax payment to equipment wear. In this project, depreciation per annum
can be computed as.

B SV (B - 0.03 Fixed Capital Investment)

n
15
RM 118612403.9 (0.03 RM 94889923.13)

15
RM 7.7million
Dt

90

where
t year (t 1,2......, n)
D t annual depreciation charge
B total investment
SV estimated salvage value, 0.03x Fixed Capital Investment
n expected depreciable life
7.2.3

Cash Flow Estimation

Here, the net cash flow in each year of the project is brought to its present worth at the start
of the project by discounting it at some chosen compound interest.
n t

NFW
n
n 1 ( 1 r)

Total NPW of projec t

where, NFW estimated net cash flow in year n

r discount rate(interest rate) per cent/100
t

life of projects, years

A discount rate of 15% is used

From the investment as Table 37 and also annual gross earning, cash flow diagram is as
follow, to obtain the payback period.

FIGURE 19: CASH FLOW DIAGRAM

91

7.2.4

Net Present Worth

TABLE 38: CUMULATIVE CASH FLOW

r (%) NPW (Cumulative Cash Flow at years 15) (RM)

10
20
30
40
50

630341893
255582162
102887451
33344914
-1062648

From the net present worth calculated by varying the discount rate, it will reach negative
when the rate is in between 40-50%, this is higher than MARR, thus project is feasible.
7.2.5

Internal Rate of return

7.2.6

Rate of Return (ROR) Estimation

The simplest method is to base the ROR on the average income over the life of the project
and the original investment.
Cumulative net cash flow at en d of project
100 per cent
Life of pr oject original i nvestment
399036617

100% 22.43%
15 118612403.91

ROR

Expected ROR (Rate of Return) must at least meet or exceed the MARR (Minimum
Attractive Rate of Return) of 15%. Since, the rate of return of the project is 22.43%, which is
more than 15%, the project is worth investing.
7.2.7

Net Present Value or Worth (NPV) Estimation

n t

NFW
' n
n 1 ( 1 r )

NPW
where,

NFW estimated net cash flow in year n

r discounted cash flow rate of return per cent/100
t

life of projects, years

NPV calculated is RM 399 million

92

7.2.8

Pay Back Time

Pay Back Period the time that must elapse after startup until cumulative undiscounted cash
flow repays fixed capital investment. For this project, it is 5 years.

Payback Period
Cumulative Cash Flow (RM)

2E+09
1.5E+09
1E+09
500000000
0
0

10

-5E+08

15

Year
FIGURE 20: PAYBACK TIME

7.3 DISCUSSIONS
From the economic analysis done, the plant will need a capital investment of RM RM118.612
million. An internal rate of return (IRR) of 49 % and a net present value (NPW) of RM 399
million is attainable for a project plant life of 15 years with a payback time of 5 years after
plant startup. In addition, annual sales will generate an income of RM 177.395million
annually. In fact the return on investment is 22.43%, which is higher than MARR, hence, this
indicates that the plant is economically viable and economically attractive. The economic
evaluation conducted on the maleic anhydride plant at this stage serves only as a very crude
estimation.
Furthermore, the correlations taken from different references may give different value and
methods in estimating the plants cost. In addition, the assumptions made may also be invalid,
considering the fact that economic environment is very sensitive to the global environment
and may subject to changes from time to time. Apart from that, it is very difficult to predict
the actual annual cash flow since the reliability of the plant equipments is not known. Hence,
the actual investment cost may be larger than the predicted figure. For improvement, a
concise economic evaluation should be carry out by considering all the factors mentioned
above to obtain the best economic potential for the MAN plant.

93

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

8.1 CONCLUSION
The overall design project for the production of Maleic Anhydride meets the desired
requirements and objectives. The production of 50,000 metric tonne per year of Maleic
Anhydride has a bright future especially in the South East Asia region. From the feasibility
study carried out, the future growth of Maleic Anhydride demand in the South East Asia
market is optimistic, 4.5 % per year growth on Maleic Anhydride consumption is forecasted
until year 2009.
The proposed plant is situated at Kidurong Industrial Estate which is feasible, economically
and environmentally. Moreover, the utilities supply such as cooling water supply, deionized
water, electricity and steam supply required for the process can be easily obtained.
The process chosen for the production of Maleic Anhydride is the catalytic oxidization of nbutane. Heuristics approach has been applied in identifying the appropriate design. For the
process synthesis and flow sheeting, base case material and energy balance together with
process simulation has been performed both by manual calculation and iCON simulator.
Detailed equipment process design and mechanical engineering design of all major
equipment has been performed. A highly integrated heat exchanger network and process
control system is also included to the proposed plant to ensure the profitability of the plant.
In responding to the environmental responsibility, the plant has been designed to achieve the
target of waste minimization and cost minimization. The unwanted side product is being
combusted and well treated to ensure the emission coming out from the plant has met the
Malaysian government Environment Quality Act, 1974. On the safety aspect, HAZOP study
has been conducted to identify the occurrence of operational problems and providing
necessary resolution. A general safety study includes personal safety, emergency
management, Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) and plant start up and shut down
procedures were documented in this report as well.

94

As for the economic evaluation of the process plant, the cost of the plant is calculated by
using detailed factorial method. The total capital investment of the plant is approximately RM
118 million. The Rate of Return (ROR) is 22.43 % which is higher than Minimum Attractive
Rate of Return (MARR) 15 %, therefore the project is worth investing. The payback period is
5 years after plant start-up which is within feasible period of time.
Finally, it can be concluded that the construction of a 50,000 metric tonne per year of Maleic
Anhydride production plant in Kidurong, Bintulu is technically feasible and economically
attractive.

8.2 RECOMMENDATION
The final year design project has been useful in cultivating and enhancing the skills and
knowledge at hand. As final year students, the experience gained throughout the process of
this project has given the opportunity to actually design a real processing plant has increase
our understanding in the chemical engineering field. Besides that, other skills were also
developed in the process such as communication skills, management skill, and team work.
However, we find that there few areas that needs improvements and perhaps a new approach
in solving some of the problems faced.
Firstly, we recommend that the PDP committee provide standardized values of key elements
such as the feeds prices. We have different values of feed because taking it from different
sources. So, a standardized value is appropriate to accommodate the student with a good
reference. Secondly, further research must be done on isomeric conversion technology in
order to convert isomers back to its normal state. This is important to reduce the amount of
byproduct produced from the process. Thirdly, we propose that students should be provided
easier access to the labs to use engineering software such as HYSYS and AutoCAD and the
department should provide a proper manual as guidance. Finally, a complete and clear
guidance should be provided to the student and without further amendment. Students are
facing difficulty to cope with sudden changes and added requirements made by the
coordinator due to the short time frame to finish it.
We hope that these recommendations will be considered and useful by the PDP committee to
improve the PDP project handled by the student in the future.

95

REFERENCES
(1992). Maleic Anhydride World Survey. London: Tecnon(U.K.) Ltd.
Maleic Anhydride. (2011, November). Retrieved June 2, 2012, from IHS Chemical:
http://www.ihs.com/products/chemical/planning/ceh/maleic-anyhydride.aspx
Maleic Anhydride. (2011). Retrieved June 4, 2012, from Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd.:
http://www.thirumalaichemicals.com/maleic.html
AP-42,

CH

6.14:

Maleic

Anhydride.

(n.d.).

Retrieved

June

1,

2012,

from

www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch06/final/c06s14.pdf
BDA. (2010, April 10). Official Website of Bintulu Development Authority. Retrieved June
11,

2012,

from

Bintulu

Development

Authority

Official

Website:

http://www.bda.gov.my/modules/web/index.php?menu_id=0&sub_id=1
Fogler, H. S. (2006). Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering (4th ed.). New Jersey:
Pearson Education Inc.
Ishak, M. (2011, September 1). Bintulu Analysis. The Report, SARAWAK 2011, 34-43.
Jose, S. (2008, November 3). World Maleic Anhydride Market to Reach 2.0 Million Metric
Tons by 2012, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts. Retrieved June
4,

2012,

from

PRWeb:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/maleic_anhydride/butanediol/prweb1553754.htm
KKIP. (1995, November 2). Investing in KKIP. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from Kota Kinabalu
Industrial Park: http://www.sabah.com.my/kkip/inv.html
Lohbeck, K., Haferkorn, H., Fuhrmann, W., & Fedtke, N. (2005). Maleic and Fumaric Acids.
In Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.
Pinch Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2012, from KBC Nextgen Performance:
http://www.kbcat.com/?id=51&fm=search&searchText=pinch%20analysis
Production

of

Maleic

Anhydride.

(n.d.).

Retrieved

June

6,

2012,

from

www.che.cemr.wvu.edu/publications/projects/large.../maleic.PDF
Production of Phthalate Anhydride from O-xylene. (n.d.). Retrieved June 7, 2012, from
www.che.cemr.wvu.edu/publications/.../phthalic2/phthalic2-b.pdf
96

Sarawak Government. (2010, April 20). Sarawak Government Portal | Investment Incentives.
Retrieved June 11, 2012, from The Official Portal of Sarawak Government:
http://www.sarawak.gov.my/en/investors/investment-incentives
Silla, H. (2003). Chemical Process Engineering Design and Economics. USA: Marcel
Dekker.
Timbang, M. (2007, March 2). Bintulu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved June 11,
2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bintulu
Timothy R. Felthouse, J. C.-J. (2001, April 26). Department of Chemistry. Retrieved June 2,
2012,

from

University

of

South

Alabama:

http://www.southalabama.edu/chemistry/barletta/felthouse.pdf
Tissue, B. M. (2000). The Chemistry Hypermedia Project. Retrieved August 1, 2012, from
CHP website: http://www.files.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/sep/gc/gc.html
Town and Regional Planning Department Sabah. (2011, January 1). Land Zoned for Industry
Sabah. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from Jabatan Perancang Wilayah dan Negeri Sabah:
http://www.townplanning.sabah.gov.my/
US EPA. (2011, July 8). Oil and Gas Production Waste | Radiation Protection | US EPA.
Retrieved

July

25,

2012,

from

US

Environmental

Protection

Agency:

http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/tenorm/oilandgas.html#scale
Woril Turner Dudley, V. K. (2012, January 3). Maleic Anhydride - Process Design.
Retrieved June 2, 2012, from Scribd.: http://www.scribd.com/doc/76994917/MaleicAnhydride-Process-Design#

97

APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM OF MAN PLANT .................................................I
APPENDIX 2: P&ID OF MAN PRODUCTION PLANT ............................................................ II
APPENDIX 3: CRITERIAS FOR EACH SITE PLANNED ...................................................... III
APPENDIX 4: MASS BALANCE CALCULATION (DEISOBUTANIZER)............................... V
APPENDIX 5: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (MIXER) ............................................................. IX
APPENDIX 6: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (REACTOR) ......................................................... X
APPENDIX 7: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (ABSORBER) ..................................................... XII
APPENDIX 8: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (STRIPPER) ..................................................... XIII
APPENDIX 9: CP VALUE FOR ENERGY BALANCE CALCULATION ............................ XVII
APPENDIX 10: DRAFT OF PLANT LAYOUT ..................................................................... XIX

98

APPENDIX 1: PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM OF MAN PLANT

APPENDIX 2: P&ID OF MAN PRODUCTION PLANT

ii

APPENDIX 3: CRITERIAS FOR EACH SITE PLANNED

Kidurong Industrial Area

Kota Kinabalu Industrial

Park

PasirGudang Industrial
Estate

Location

20 km from Bintulu Town

25 km from KK

36km from Johor Bharu

Type of industry

Light & Medium

Any compatible

Light, Medium & Heavy

Petrochemical and gas

Timber-based
Plantation and Agro
Energy Intensive
97.3 hectare
RM77.42

Food
Timber-based
Plantation-based

Selection Criteria

Preferred
Area available
Land price(per m2)
Raw material
Supplier
Power Supply

SESCOS Combined Cycle

Power Plant (132MW)
Bakun Hydroelectricity
Power Project (2400MW)
Sarawak Power Generation
Plant (220MW)
Bintulu Water Supply
Treatment Plant

7.05 acres
RM129.17

430 acres
RM 86.08 236.72
Optimal, Kerteh
Amoco Chemicals, Gebeng

KKIP Power SdnBhd

Sultan Iskandar Power

Station (644 MW)

(300MW)
Powertron Resources S/B

IPP YTL Power Generation

Sdn. Bhd.

(120MW)
Sabah Electricity SdbBhd
(293MW)

100 acres
RM20
PETRONAS Gas Berhad
TasikKenyir Hydroelectric
Dam
(400MW)
IPP YTL

(600 MW)

Paka Power plant

CUF Kerteh

Diversified Water Resources

S/B

Bintulu Deepwater Port

Sepanggar Bay Port

Airport

Bintulu Airport

Kota Kinabalu International

Airport

Railway facilities

PengerangIntergrated
Petroleum Complex
42km from Johor Bharu
Petrochemical and refinery

Petrochemical

Water Supply

Port Facilities

Kertih Integrated
Petrochemical Complex
5 km from Paka and 9.6 km
from Kemaman
Petrochemical, Chemical and
General

iii

22, 500 acres

RM64.58-RM86.11
PETRONAS Rapid (LNG
Regasification Plant)
Sultan Iskandar Power
Station (TNB)
PasirGudang Power Station
(YTL Power International
Bhd)
PETRONAS Power Plant
(future planning)

Loji Air Sungai Layang

Bukit Sah

SAJ Holding SdnBhd

Syarikat Air Johor

Sungai Cherol

Future investment on water

supply project

Loji Air Sungai Buluh

Sungai Kemasik

PasirGudang Port

Kerteh Port, TanjungBerhala

Port, Kuala Terengganu port

Senai International Airport,

Johor and Changi
International Airport,
Singapore
Singapore and North

Sultan Mahmud Airport,

Kuala Terengganu and Sultan
Ahmad Shah Airport,
Kuantan
Kuantan-Kerteh Railway

Pengerang Petroleum
Terminal
TanjungLangsat Petroleum
Terminal
Senai International Airport,
Johor and Changi
International Airport,
Singapore
KTM Singapore-North

Peninsular Malaysia
Pan-Borneo Highway
Roadways

Incentives

peninsular route

KK-Sulaman Road

Main road to Singapore

Kuala Terengganu-Kuantan-

Second Link Expressway

KK West Coast Parkway

PLUS Highway

Karak Highway

Senai-Desaru Expressway

Pioneer Status
5-years 70% tax exemption
on statutory income
Investment Tax Allowance
Allowance of 100% in respect
of qualifying capital
expenditure incurred
Reinvestment Allowance
Allowance of 100% in respect
of qualifying capital
expenditure incurred

Federal Route 500

Pioneer Status
5-years corporate tax on 15%
of statutory income
Investment Tax Allowance
Allowance of 85% in respect
of qualifying capital
expenditure incurred
Infrastructure Allowance
100% infrastructure
allowance on qualifying
expenditures

Incentives for High Tech

Industries

Land Incentives by State

Government

Rebate on industrial land

Free Infrastructures

North-South Highway
Infrastructure Allowance.

a flat corporate tax rate of 3%

of chargeable income;

Incentives for research

development

Five-year exemption on
import duty.

100% exemption on director

fees paid to non-Malaysian
director;

Exemption from import duty

on direct raw
materials/components

5 % discount on monthly
electrical bills for first 2
years.

50% exemption on gross

employment income for nonMalaysian professional
traders;

Pioneer Status and

Investment Tax Allowance
and Reinvestment Allowance.
Incentives for high tech
industries and for training
tariff protection

25-38 % exemption on daily

water cost for 4545 m3 of
water for
Pioneer Status and
Investment Tax Allowance
and Reinvestment Allowance.

Incentive for exports

tax exemption of stamp

duties on documentation
tax exemption on dividends
received by or from the LITC
companies.

Incentives for high tech

industries
Local people
(Below 40 years old)

200 000 peoples

200 000 peoples

1500 000 peoples

200 000 peoples

40,000 people

Effluent Treatment Plant of

CUF
KualitiAlamSdnBhd, Bukit
Nenas, Negeri Sembilan

Waste water management

KualitiAlamSdnBhd
Indah Water Konsortium

iv

KualitiAlamSdnBhd, Bukit
Nenas, Negeri Sembilan

APPENDIX 4: MASS BALANCE CALCULATION (DEISOBUTANIZER)

Example Mass Balance Calculation for Deisobutanizer distillation column

Calculation of component distribution using Hengstebeck Method

d
log i m log ij C
bi
Calculation of saturation pressure of each component using the equation below:

The operating condition of the column is 850C and 11atm.

The light key (LK) is isobutene distilled in the top at 55% and the heavy key (HK) is nbutane distilled at the bottom at 99.9%
The feed flow rate is 9700 kg/h with the pre-specified feed composition.
Example calculation using propane:

Partial pressure, Pi = Psat(x) = 3487.14(0.02) = 69.74 kPa

Volatility, Ki = Pi/PT = 69.74/1114.575 = 0.063
Relative volatility, = Ki/Khk = 0.063/0.7 = 0.09

The calculation of other component is done below:

MW

Component

Mass

Mass flow rate

Mole flow rate

Mole Fraction

Psat

Pi

Ki

fraction
44.096

Propane

0.0154

149.38

3.3876089

0.02023

3487.1483

70.54017

0.06328885

58.122

Isobutene

0.295

2861.5

49.232649

0.29399

1535.3106

451.35917

0.404960784

58.122

n-butane

0.677

6566.9

112.98476

0.67467

1162.3554

784.20863

0.703594309

56.106

Isobutene

0.0013

12.61

0.2247531

0.00134

1404.7017

1.8852229

0.001691428

56.106

1-butene

0.002

19.4

0.3457741

0.00206

1367.9095

2.8243767

0.002534039

72.149

Neopentane

0.0011

10.67

0.1478884

0.00088

881.58433

0.7785218

0.000698492

72.149

iso-pentane

0.0077

74.69

1.0352188

0.00618

524.91238

3.2448288

0.00291127

72.149

n-pentane

0.0008

7.76

0.1075552

0.00064

426.31218

0.2737991

0.000245653

log

Propane

0.08995077

-1.0459951

Isobutene

0.57556006

-0.2399093

n-butane

Isobutene

0.00240398

-2.6190689

1-butene

0.00360156

-2.443509

Neopentane

0.00099275

-3.0031608

iso-pentane

0.00413771

-2.3832398

n-pentane

0.00034914

-3.4569996

Component

vi

A graph of log d/b and log is plotted for the LK and HK as reference for finding the
composition of the other components.
Example calculation for isobutene (LK):
d = 0.55(49.23) = 27.08
b = 0.45(49.23) = 22.15
d/b = 27.08/22.15 = 1.22
log d/b = 0.087
log = -0.24
Component LK

HK

49.23265 112.9847562

27.07796 0.112984756

22.15469 112.8717714

d/b

1.222222 0.001001001

lg d/b

0.08715

-2.99956549

lg

-0.23991

log d/b vs log

0.5
0
-0.25

-0.2

-0.15

log d/b

-0.3

-0.1

-0.05

y = -12.866x - 2.9996

-0.5 0
-1
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3

log

From the graph above, m = -12.866 and c = -2.9996.

The d/b for other components are calculated.
Example calculation for propane:
vii

-3.5

Mol fraction going to bottom from feed, xbi = 1/(d/b+1) = 0

Mol fraction going to distillate from feed, xdi = 1- xbi = 1
Mol flow rate component in bottom, L = xbi(mol flow rate component) = 0
Mol flow rate component in distillate, V = xdi(mol flow rate component) = 1(3.388) = 3.388
mol/hr
Component
propane
isobutane
n-butane
isobutene
1-butene
neopentane
iso-pentane
n-pentane

log

log di/bi

di/bi

Xbi

xdi

-1.0459951

10.4581731

2.8719E+10

3.482E-11

3.38760885

1.1796E-10

-0.2399093

0.08707368

1.22200697

0.45004359

0.54995641

27.0758105

22.156838

-2.9996

0.00100092

0.99900008

0.00099992

0.11297579

112.87178

-2.6190689

30.6973407

4.9813E+30

2.0075E-31

0.22475315

4.512E-32

-2.443509

28.4385868

2.7453E+28

3.6426E-29

0.34577407

1.2595E-29

-3.0031608

35.6390672

4.3558E+35

2.2958E-36

0.1478884

3.3952E-37

-2.3832398

27.6631637

4.6043E+27

2.1719E-28

1.03521878

2.2484E-28

-3.4569996

41.4781574

3.0072E+41

3.3254E-42

0.1075552

3.5766E-43

viii

APPENDIX 5: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (MIXER)

Example Mass Balance Calculation for mixer

4
7
6
Input = output
Stream 4 + stream 6 = stream 7
Component

Steam 4

Steam 6

Steam 7

(kg/h)

(kg/h)

(kg/h)

Isobutane

1287.80

1287.80

n-butane

6560.33

6560.33

Oxygen

0.00

39730.8667 39730.87

Water

0.00

3195.31948 3195.32

Nitrogen

0.00

130843.358 130843.36

Stream 6 is the air feed with a 65% humidity. Thus, from the Psychometer chart from
appendix figure 5.1
H=0.018kg water/kg dry air
=0.03 kgmol water/kgmol dry air
The oxygen feed must be below 0.0181 mol % which is below the flammability limit of nbutane mixture.
By using excel, the required amount of oxygen is 39730 kg/h
Total Nitrogen = 39730(0.79/0.21) = 130843.358 kg/h
Total air = 42926.187 kg/h = 5912.33 kgmole/h
Total water with the air = 5912.33(0.03) = 177.37 kgmole/h = 130843.358 kg/hr

ix

APPENDIX 6: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (REACTOR)

Example Mass Balance Calculation for Reactor

C4H10 + 3.5O2 C4H2O3 + 4H2O
C4H10 + 5.5O2 2CO + 2CO2 + 5H2O
Using extent of reaction method, with the assumption of pure n-butane feed and oxygen feed
is used for the sake of simplicity.
The actual process uses a mixture of n-butane feed with air at 65% humidity used as the
source of oxygen. The water entering together with air is calculated and the ratio of air to
feed is kept at a ratio of 0.017% which is below the flammability limit.

The following initial are used for reference:

b = n-butane, f = final, i = initial, MAN = maleic anhydride, CO = carbon monoxide, CO2 =
carbon dioxide, O2 = oxygen

Production:
No. of moles for n-butane:

No. of moles for MAN:

No. of moles for carbon monoxide:

No. of moles for carbon dioxide:

No. of moles for water:

No. of moles of oxygen:

Conversion = 0.822
Selectivity of MAN;
Selectivity of CO;
x

Selectivity ratio of MAN/CO;

Assuming,

Conversion of n-butane:

Consumption of oxygen:

Production:

n-butane = 8081.283 kg/h

Oxygen = 13715.04 kg/h

9
Reactor

xi

n-butane = 1438.52 kg/h

Maleic Anhydride = 9805.7
kg/h
Carbon Monoxide = 800.526
kg/h
Carbon Dioxide = 1257.806
kg/h
Water = 8750.606 kg/h

APPENDIX 7: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (ABSORBER)

Example Mass Balance Calculation for Absorber column

According to the US patent 4118403, the dibutyl phthalate (DBP) absorbs 99.4% of the MAN
and 0.1% of the water in the stream.
The gas class components are assumed to exit as gases at the top of the absorber.
Volume feed entering absorber = 100217.558 m3/h
Amount of dibutyl phthalate needed according to US patent 4118403 is 0.2 kg DBP/ m3 feed
entering.
Amount DBP needed = 0.02(100217.558) = 20043.51 20000kg/h
At the bottom of absorber:
Amount MAN = 0.96(7518.16) = 7086.58 kg/h
Amount water = 0.001(10021.49) = 100.21

Isobutane = 1287.80 kg/h

n-butane = 1167.74 kg/h
Oxygen = 27884.01 kg/h
Maleic anhydride = 71.58 kg/h
Carbon monoxide = 1168.42 kg/h
Carbon dioxide = 1835.85 kg/h
11
Water = 9921.27 kg/h
Nitrogen = 130843.36 kg/h
Dibutyl phthalate = 20000kg/h
17

10

Absorber

Isobutane = 1287.80 kg/h

n-butane =1167.74 kg/h
Oxygen =27884.01 kg/h
Maleic anhydride =7158.16 kg/h
Carbon monoxide =1168.42 kg/h
Carbon dioxide = 1835.85 kg/h
Water = 10021.49 kg/h
Nitrogen =130843.36 kg/h

Maleic anhydride = 7086.58 kg/h

Water = 100.21 kg/h
Dibutyl phthalate = 20000 kg/h

12

xii

APPENDIX 8: MASS ENERGY BALANCE (STRIPPER)

Example Mass Balance Calculation for Deisobutanizer distillation column

Calculation of component distribution using Hengstebeck Method

d
log i m log ij C
bi
Calculation of saturation pressure of each component using the equation below:

The operating condition of the column is 128.30C and 0.066atm. Since, the pressure of the
column is vacuum, a partial condenser is used to separate the vapor and liquid in the
distillate.
The light key (LK) is water distilled in the top at 99.9% and the heavy key (HK) is dibutyl
phthalate distilled at the bottom at 99.9%
The feed flow rate is 149.69 kgmole/h with the pre-specified feed composition at stream 12.
Example calculation using maleic anhydride:

Partial pressure, Pi = Psat(x) = 9.88(0.48) = 4.715 kPa

Volatility, Ki = Pi/PT = 4.715/6.666 = 0.71
Relative volatility, = Ki/Khk = 0.71/0.016 = 290.02
The calculation of other component is done below:
Component

Maleic

Mole

Mole

flow rate

fraction

Psat

Pi

Ki

Log

72.27

0.482809

9.765642

4.71494

0.707299

290.0234

2.462

Water

5.562857

0.037163

255.2772

9.486962

1.423161

583.5581

2.766

DBP

71.85366

0.480028

0.033867

0.016257

0.002439

anhydride

A graph of log d/b and log is plotted for the LK and HK as reference for finding the
composition of the other components.

xiii

Example calculation for water (LK):

d = 0.9999(5.56) = 5.56280
b = 0.001(5.56) = 0.00006
d/b = 5.56280/0.00006 = 99999
log d/b = 5
log = 2.76608
Component

LK

HK

5.56286

71.85366

5.56280

0.00072

0.00006

71.85294

d/b

99999

0.00001

lg d/b

-5

lg

2.76608

log d/b vs log

6
y = 3.6152x - 5
4

log d/b

2
0
0.00000
-2

0.50000

1.00000

1.50000

2.00000

2.50000

-4
-6

log

From the graph above, m = -3.6512 and c = -5.

The d/b for other components are calculated.
Example calculation for maleic anhydride:

Mol fraction going to bottom from feed, xbi = 1/(10672.46+1) = 0.0001

xiv

3.00000

Mol fraction going to distillate from feed, xdi = 1- xbi = 0.9999

Mol flow rate component in bottom, L = xbi(mol flow rate component) = 0.0001(72.27) =
0.013 kgmole/h
Mol flow rate component in distillate, V = xdi(mol flow rate component) = 0.9999(72.27) =
72.2572 kgmole/h
Component

log

log di/bi

di/bi

xbi

xdi

Maleic

2.462

4.028

10672.464

0.000

1.000

72.263

0.007

Water

2.766

5.142

138538.604 0.000

1.000

5.563

0.000

DBP

0.000

-5.000

0.000

0.000

0.001

71.853

anhydride

1.000

Calculation for partial condenser at the distillate:

Total moles entering flash drum at condenser = 74.69 kgmol/day
Zj=mol fraction in feed, Xj=mol fraction in liquid in outlet, Yj=mol fraction in vapour in
outlet,

V
=vapour to feed ratio, Pj=vapour pressure of component supposed, P=Total pressure
F

By hit and trail method

At 85 oC and V/F=0.18
Components

Zj

Pj

Pj

KPa

Xj

Zj
V
1
F

Pi
P 1

Yi

Pj

Maleic anhydride

0.928

1.588

0.224

1.078

0.241

Water

0.072

57.767

8.136

0.032

0.257

Dibutyl phthalate

0.000

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

V=0.18*F
=0.18(74.69)
=13.444kgmol/day
L=0.82*F
= 0.82(74.69)
=61.25 kgmol/day

xv

Xj

components

Liquid stream

vapour stream

kgmol

kgmol

L*Xj

V*Yj

Maleic anhydride

3.242

66.049

Water

3.462

1.938

Dibutyl phthalate

0.000

0.001

13
Maleic anhydride = 317.89 kg/h
Water =
62.36 kg/h

14
Maleic anhydride = 7086.58 kg/h
Water =
100.21 kg/h
Dibutyl phthalate = 20000 kg/h

12

Maleic anhydride = 6476.54 kg/h

Water =
34.92 kg/h
Deisobutanizer
column

15

xvi

Water =
0.000723366 kg/h
Dibutyl phthalate = 20000 kg/h

APPENDIX 9: CP VALUE FOR ENERGY BALANCE CALCULATION

Compound

Propane

Isobutane

n-butane

Isobutene

1-butene

Neopentane

Iso-pentane
n-pentane

Phase
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas

Tbp (0C)

Tc (K)

Pc (bar)

Hv
[J/mol]

HF [J/mol]

-42.1

369.8

42.5

18786

-103920

-11.7

408.05

36.48

21399

-135600

-0.5

425.2

38

22408

-126230

-6.9

417.85

40.01

22100

-17900

-6.9

417.9

40

22131

-16910

9.5

433.78

31.99

22400

-167000

28

460.43

33.81

25220

-153700

36

469.6

33.7

25791

-146540

xvii

A
28.277
59.642
-11.23
6.772
71.791
110.211
20.056
62.873

Cp [joule/(mol K)]
B
C
1.16E-01
1.96E-04
3.28E-01
-1.54E-03
1.06E+00 -3.60E-03
3.41E-01
-1.03E-04
4.85E-01
-2.05E-03
-1.87E+00 1.44E-02
2.82E-01
-1.31E-05
5.89E-01
-2.36E-03

32.918
57.611
34.263
24.915
74.597
-11.985
-17.917
-186.315
105.567
-0.881
91.474
-10.547
26.671

1.85E-01
5.63E-01
6.85E-02
2.06E-01
3.34E-01
1.15E+00
5.72E-01
3.24E+00
-2.66E-01
4.75E-01
4.49E-01
1.25E+00
3.23E-01

7.79E-05
-2.30E-03
2.07E-03
5.98E-05
-1.39E-03
-3.58E-03
-4.17E-04
-1.09E-02
1.65E-03
-2.48E-04
-1.69E-03
-3.35E-03
4.28E-05

D
-2.33E-07
3.65E-06
-3.68E-08
4.06E-06
-9.46E-08
4.23E-06
-1.46E-07
4.18E-06
-1.42E-07
3.02E-06
2.12E-07
1.34E-05
6.75E-08
3.13E-06
-1.66E-07

Oxygen

Maleic anhydride

Carbon
monoxide

Carbon dioxide

Water

Nitrogen

liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid
gas
liquid
solid

-183

154.58

50.43

6820

200.2

721

72.8

54800

-470410

-191.37

132.92

34.99

6015.8

-110530

-56.57

304.19

73.82

25128

-394000

100

647.3

220.5

40683

-242000

-156

126.1

33.94

5570

xviii

80.641
-11.568
29.526
46.432
-16.683
-72.015
-12.662
32.5
29.556
125.595
21.83
27.437
-3981.02
41.195
33.933
92.053
9.695
29.342
76.452
24.334

6.22E-01
1.21E+00
-8.90E-03
3.95E-01
1.59E+00
1.04E+00
1.06E+00
2.10E-01
-6.58E-03
-1.70E+00
-4.71E-02
4.23E-02
5.25E+01
3.15E-02
-8.42E-03
-4.00E-02
7.50E-02
-3.54E-03
-3.52E-01
2.89E-01

-2.27E-03
-3.24E-03
3.81E-05
-7.05E-03
-2.99E-03
-1.87E-03
-2.32E-03
2.73E-04
2.01E-05
1.07E-02
6.41E-03
-1.96E-05
-2.27E-01
6.41E-05
2.99E-05
-2.11E-04
-1.56E-05
1.01E-05
-2.67E-03
1.16E-03

3.74E-06
-3.26E-08
3.99E-05
1.65E-06
2.05E-06
-1.22E-08
4.19E-06
4.00E-09
3.29E-04
-1.78E-08
5.35E-07
-4.31E-05
5.01E-05

Main Road

APPENDIX 10: DRAFT OF PLANT LAYOUT

Main Gate

Flare system
area

Admin Building

Main Process Area

Room

Central Laboratory

Warehouse

Maintenance Building

Contro

Main
sub
statio
n

Plant Gate

Expansion site

Waste water

Off site Utilities

treatment plant

Storage
tank
farm

xix

Main Road
Plant Gate

Main Gate

Storage Tank Farm

Admin Building

Warehouse

Maintenance Building
Central Laboratory
Control
Room

Expansion
site
Offsite Utilities
Main Process Plant
Waste water treatment plant

xx

Main
sub
station