Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Commons^™

Optimization Of Styrene From Ethylbenzene Case Study, Jabria Daria Thompson

Honors Theses

The following pages detail the optimization process of styrene from ethylbenzene in the Styrene Production Plant, Unit 500. There were two parts of the assignment, each with slightly different end goals. The goal of the first part of the assignment, was to create a process that would effectively and efficiently increase the negative Net Present Value (NPV) of the production plant. Procedures taken in this process included developing a working kinetic process simulation model and optimizing this model through unit operations and heat integration, as well as developing an accurate economic model that will be used to evaluate the proposed …

Optimization Of A Fluidized Bed Reactor For The Production Of Styrene From Ethylbenzene, Gregory Espenan

Honors Theses

In order to optimize Unit 500, a styrene production plant, the Net Present Value (NPV) was used as the objective function to ensure every optimization strategy had a positive economic effect. To optimize a chemical plant, it is important to note efficiency, economics, product specifications, and production requirements. The goal of this project was to make changes to the base case of Unit 500 to minimize the cost to produce styrene for an upstream unit. PRO/II was used to simulate various points in different unit operations throughout the process. The NPV was measured after each unit operation was simulated to …

Design Of An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment Utilizing A Stirred-Tank, Jacketed Bioreactor, Brennen Middleton

Honors Theses

Bioreactors are utilized in many industries, such as the food, alternative fuel, and pharmaceutical industries, to design and manufacture products. Unlike the similar chemical batch reactors utilized in many chemical processing facilities, bioreactor utilization requires engineers to consider a wider range of operating conditions and parameters. This results in a more complex reaction system and controls network. Due to this, it is imperative for chemical and biomedical engineering students to not only understand the theory surrounding these reactor systems, but also understand how to properly design and perform operating procedures with these systems. Thus, it was determined to create an …

Economic Feasibility Of A Methanol To Dimethyl Ether Production Process To Avoid Contract Failure Shortfalls From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jacob Noll, Robert Wasson, Harrison Mckinnis

Honors Theses

Our team entered the 2021 AVEVA Academic Competition, where teams of undergraduate senior chemical engineering students competed across the country. The competition was composed of two parts: the base case design and the optimization of a chemical process. As part of the competition, our team is acting as the Engineering team for a fictional company that has given us this project. Due to COVID-19, our methanol producing company has lost a contract with a customer, leaving 23,000 tonnes/yr of unclaimed methanol. We have two choices with this methanol: either sell the methanol on the market at the spot price for …

Ethylbenzene Production Case Study And Optimization, Brandon Borek

Honors Theses

The objective of this project was to investigate the process of producing ethylbenzene from the liquid-phase reaction of ethylene and benzene and perform parametric and topological optimizations to increase the net present value of the production facility. To do so, the base case conditions of the process were modeled and quantified economically followed by an investigation into the existing process to determine conditions that could be altered to improve the economic viability of the project. After optimizing the parametric conditions and topology of the process, the net present value of the project was increased by 305 million dollars to 191 …

Design And Analysis Of A Process To Convert Methanol Into Dimethyl Ether, Elisa M. White

Honors Theses

A recent economic downturn led to the loss of a contract for a company that sells methanol. The company has two options to recover some of the profit lost from the contract termination. One option is to sell the excess methanol at the spot market price, and the second option is to implement a process to convert the excess methanol into dimethyl ether. This project investigated the implementation of a process to convert the methanol from the lost contract into dimethyl ether. The process was simulated in AVEVA Process Simulation to estimate the size of equipment needed. A toller provided …

Aqueous And Oil Products From Hydrothermal Liquefaction Of Manure Digestate, Kenzie Burns

Honors Theses

Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising thermochemical waste-to-energy (WtE) technology for conversion of wet biomasses, such as manure and digested manure, into value-added products, namely energy-rich biofuel and a nutrient-rich aqueous product. WtE technologies can address environmental issues relating to overproduction of organic wastes and increasing dependence on fossil fuels, which leads to climate change. HTL has not been implemented on a commercial scale, in part due to the uncertainty regarding specific reaction pathways for different feedstocks and ideal conditions for production of the most valuable products.

This research investigates the compositions of the aqueous and oil products from HTL of …

Investigation Of Oxygen Reduction Reaction In Carbon-Based Electrocatalysts, Andrew Mason

Honors Theses

In the modern era, some global challenges are energy storage conversion. To find sustainable solutions to this problem, researchers have turned to renewable energy resources. An example of promising energy generation devices is fuel cell. Fuel cells are electrochemical systems that convert the chemical energy of the fuel to electrochemical potential that can be used as direct current (dc) generators. Although these technologies are very attractive, they are known to be expensive due to high cost of catalysts and concerns regarding their energy densities. Fuel cells composed of two electrodes, namely cathode and anode and electrolyte separating the oxidizing agents …

The Effect Of Co-Solvent And Ordered Lattice Structure On Catalysis Of Biodiesel Production In Microreactors, Benjamin J. D. Kegley

Honors Theses

In this study, stable single phase feedstocks for biodiesel production were successfully determined. The addition of free fatty acids, which are considered waste, to the soy bean oil and methanol processing feed as a co-solvent, produces a stable single phase. The single phase feedstock significantly increases initial global rates and supplements the oil with further biodiesel production. A stable single phase feedstock and increased reaction rates are desirable due to the use of continuous heterogeneous biodiesel production in microreactors currently being developed by this research group. Further design improvements to the microreactor design have been determined. Such improvements include the …

Reduction Of Ketoximes To Amines By Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation Using Raney Nickel And 2-Propanol As Hydrogen Donor, Katherynne E. Taylor

Honors Theses

Ketoximes successfully underwent hydrogenolysis and hydrogenation under catalytic transfer conditions with Raney Nickel and 2-propanol as a hydrogen donor. Ketoximes were reduced to primary amines when 2% KOH was included in the reaction. In the absence of KOH N-isopropyl-secondary-amines were obtained in good yields.

Catalyst Studies With Implications On The Design And Fabrication Of Microreactors, Eric Snider

Honors Theses

Biodiesel, or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), 'is a potential alternative, renewable fuel source to lessen foreign fuel dependency. Dr. Frank Jones' microreactor research group is investigating the use of microreactors to produce biodiesel. Microreactors can increase reaction rates, heat transfer, and lessen production costs due to their small size. The first generation of microreactors, coated with a nickel oxide (NiO) catalyst, has been developed and needs to be tested to determine their performance. Also, a catalyst study comparing NiO and platinum oxide (PtO2) will be performed to find the better catalyst for FAME production.