Development and Application of Heat-integrated Aromatics Fractionation Process

The PROM process simulation software was applied to carry out simulated calculation of the aromatics fractionation unit and the heat integrated rectification process was proposed for the aromatics fractionation section of the 1.0 Mt/a toluene disproportionation unit at the Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company. The optimized operating parameters were obtained through the energy utilization analysis, process simulation, heat exchanger calculations and comparisons of utility consumption. The operation of commercialized unit has revealed that the design parameters of each rectification column were consistent with the operation results, and the utility consumption was about 47% lower than the traditional heat integrated process.