SCRS Proceedings of International Conference of Undergraduate Students
Simulation Studies of Selective Methylation of Toluene using UniSim and Spreadsheet Interface
Authors: Hemanth Chandrashekar, Anirudh T gudi, Gurudatt S Shenvi, Abhishek Kishanlal Bagamar and Shivakumar R
Publishing Date: 09-01-2023
ISBN: 978-81-95502-01-1
Abstract
P-xylene is a colorless, highly flammable, toxic, transparent chemical. Stable demand from polyester manufacturers emerged as one of the major driving factors for the production of P-xylene. There are various methods reported for manufacturing p-xylene. The catalytic reforming of naphtha, toluene disproportionation, and methylation of toluene are some of the methods used for P-xylene production. The objective of this project was to develop a steady-state process flow diagram for the continuous production of p-xylene using UniSim design software. Complete design of the distillation column and plug flow reactor with optimum values from the UniSim design suite is reported. In this process, methanol and toluene at a particular temperature and pressure are mixed and fed to the plug flow reactor, and the product stream from the plug flow reactor is separated based on their phases and distilled to obtain pure p-xylene and methanol is recycled. A detailed design with materials and energy balance using a spreadsheet interface are presented in the paper. This optimization promotes reducing the production of other isomers of xylene, resulting in a reduction of separation cost.
Keywords
Steady-state, Plug Flow Reactor, Separators, Optimization, Property model, Spreadsheet.
Cite as
Hemanth Chandrashekar, Anirudh T gudi, Gurudatt S Shenvi, Abhishek Kishanlal Bagamar and Shivakumar R, "Simulation Studies of Selective Methylation of Toluene using UniSim and Spreadsheet Interface", In: Prashant Singh Rana, Deepak Bhatia and Himanshu Arora (eds), SCRS Proceedings of International Conference of Undergraduate Students, SCRS, India, 2023, pp. 75-84. https://doi.org/10.52458/978-81-95502-01-1-8