Simulation of the separation process of Toluene/n-Heptane mixture using the organic solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone by Aspen Hysys software
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66660/ghyn.v1i12.130Keywords:
Aspen Hysys, Organic Solvent, Isotropic Distillation, Separation TechniqueAbstract
Crude oil and its derivatives are among the most important sources of energy and support for the local economy. For these reasons, attention is focused on developing the petroleum industry, including the separation of the normal heptane and toluene mixture, which is commonly found in separation and refining processes in petroleum refineries, especially in organic solvent separation. Given the importance of these two substances in the chemical industry, their separation is crucial. In this research, the Aspen Hysys software was applied to simulate the separation of these two substances by designing two distillation towers using a suitable organic solvent, N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP), with 14 and 10 separation stages, respectively. This was necessary due to the difficulty of separation and the presence of an isotropic state in the Toluene/n-Heptane mixture. In this process, approximately 962 kg/h of the mixture, at a concentration of 50% for each substance, is flowed into the distillation tower and treated with a solvent at a cyclic flow rate of approximately 2947 kg/h, resulting in approximately 460 kg/h of toluene at a concentration of 99.9%.
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