Integration, Modelling and Optimization of Sustainable Chemical Process

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 February 2024) | Viewed by 5157

Special Issue Editors

1. College of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, China
2. Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730050, China
Interests: process system engineering; intelligent and low-carbon chemical technology
1. College of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, China
2. Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730050, China
Interests: chemical process simulation and system integration; fluid phase equilibrium and molecular thermodynamics
1. College of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, China
2. Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy and Chemical Engineering of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730050, China
Interests: CFD simulation; process intensification; computational fluid dynamics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current environmental and societal sustainability issues and challenges of GHG reduction, toxic and particulate matter pollution, water use minimization, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse of material and energy remain extremely complex, highly interactive and strongly interdependent. The mitigation measures and actions therefore require holistic approaches and sound methods for implementable solutions. In an extremely volatile world recovering from a shock of unprecedented proportions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of resources and energy, recycling and reuse of material and energy streams, and the delivery of produced goods add to an increasingly vulnerable production system and societal integrity. Holistic approaches in the form of process integration employing rigorous and accurate prediction models and systematic optimization procedures enable increased process performance with the best possible efficiency in material and energy utilization, ensuring the satisfaction of environmental and societal sustainability goals. This Special Issue intends to present key recent developments in the areas of more efficient energy use, cleaner fuels and biofuels, cleaner production, CO2 mitigation and capture, optimization and waste management, as well as intelligent process systems and manufacturing.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Product and process synthesis/design;
  • Process modeling, analysis, simulation, and optimization;
  • CO2 capture and utilization;
  • CFD simulation and process intensification;
  • Thermodynamics of low-carbon technologies;
  • Catalyst development and screening for low-carbon alternatives;
  • Renewable energy systems;
  • Intelligent process systems and manufacturing;
  • Digitalization and real-time optimization;
  • Development of low-carbon digitally enabled healthcare services and care models.

Dr. Huairong Zhou
Dr. Dongliang Wang
Dr. Yong Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • process integration
  • process and societal sustainability
  • recycling and reuse
  • green technologies
  • carbon reduction
  • renewable energy
  • conceptual design
  • analysis and optimization
  • artificial intelligence
  • digitalization

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2881 KiB  
Article
Energy and Exergy Analysis of Hydrogen-Based Fluidized Bed Direct Reduction towards Efficient Fossil-Free Ironmaking
by Zhan Du, Wanchao Liu, Feng Pan and Zheng Zou
Processes 2023, 11(9), 2748; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11092748 - 14 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1066
Abstract
Hydrogen-based fluidized bed direct reduction (H-FBDR) is an important and promising route for fossil-free ironmaking. In this study, to achieve the optimal operation state of energy use and exergy efficiency, the influences of the metallization process and the ratios of H2 injected [...] Read more.
Hydrogen-based fluidized bed direct reduction (H-FBDR) is an important and promising route for fossil-free ironmaking. In this study, to achieve the optimal operation state of energy use and exergy efficiency, the influences of the metallization process and the ratios of H2 injected on the energy and exergy flows in the H-FBDR process are studied. The results show that the thermodynamically designed two-stage reduction process (first: Fe2O3→FeO; second: FeO→Fe) requires a smaller H2 quantity than other metallization processes. According to the mass, energy, and exergy balance analyses, variations in the H2 consumption, exergy destruction, and energy/exergy losses of the overall system, iron ore preheater (F1), fluidized bed reactor system (R), heat exchanger (E), and gas preheater (F2) with different ratios of H2 injected (η) are derived. The total H2 consumption, total exergy destruction, and energy/exergy losses rise with increasing η, and sharp increases are observed from η = 1.3 to η = 1.8. The exergy efficiencies (φ) can be ranked as φR > φE > φF1 ≈ φF2, and the exergy destruction in components F1 and F2 is mainly caused by the combustion reaction, whereas physical exergy destruction dominates for components R and E. The performances of components F1, E, and F2 degrade from η = 1.0 to η = 1.8, and significant degradation arises when η exceeds 1.3. Thus, considering the H2 consumption, thermodynamic efficiency, and energy/exergy losses, the ratio of H2 injected should be set below 1.3. Notably, although the energy loss in the H-FBDR system is 2 GJ/h at η = 1.3, the exergy loss is only 360 MJ/h, in which the recycled gases from component E occupy 320 MJ/h, whereas the total exergy destruction is 900 MJ/h. Therefore, improving the performance of operation units, particularly the components F1 and F2, is as important as recovering the heat loss from component E for optimizing the H-FBDR process. Full article
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10 pages, 1636 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Two Lab Simulation Methods of Multiple Heavy Metal Contamination on FCC Catalysts
by Yong Yang, Zixuan Zu, Xueli Ma, Chaowei Liu, Yi Su, Hongwei Li and Dong Ji
Processes 2023, 11(7), 2014; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11072014 - 05 Jul 2023
Viewed by 613
Abstract
Qualitative and quantitative description are key to solving the problem of heavy metal contamination on fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts. The loading efficiencies for different metals were compared for the two lab simulation methods of Multi-Cyclic Deactivation (MCD) and Advanced Catalyst Evaluation (ACE), [...] Read more.
Qualitative and quantitative description are key to solving the problem of heavy metal contamination on fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts. The loading efficiencies for different metals were compared for the two lab simulation methods of Multi-Cyclic Deactivation (MCD) and Advanced Catalyst Evaluation (ACE), and the microcatalytic performance of metal-contaminated catalysts was evaluated using an ACE Model C device. The results show that the MCD and ACE methods both obtain extremely high data accuracy, indicating that they can be used to ensure the parallel reliability of experimental results. The typical operating parameters for hydrothermal aging and metals loading can be adjusted to suit different metal types and content targets for either of these two simulation methods. Compared with an equilibrium catalyst from an industrial unit, the MCD method has the advantages of basic hydrothermal aging treatment with less metal loading efficiency, while the ACE method has an accurate metal amount and high loading efficiency for metal contamination, with a metal balance recovery rate above 99.5% at similar activation to the equilibrium catalyst. When used with a reasonable and effective metal pretreatment scheme, these two laboratory simulation methods can be used to evaluate new commercial catalysts and in fundamental experiments for the improvement of FCC catalysts for removal of metal contamination. Full article
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16 pages, 3325 KiB  
Article
Simulation and Multi-Objective Optimization of Three-Column Double-Effect Methanol Distillation by NSGA-III Algorithm
by Weiye Chen, Zehua Hu, Xuechao Gao and Yefei Liu
Processes 2023, 11(5), 1515; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11051515 - 16 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1240
Abstract
The multi-objective optimization of methanol distillation is a critical and complex issue in the methanol industry. The three-column methanol distillation scheme is first simulated with Aspen Plus to provide the initial value of the NSGA-III algorithm. The operating parameters are optimized through the [...] Read more.
The multi-objective optimization of methanol distillation is a critical and complex issue in the methanol industry. The three-column methanol distillation scheme is first simulated with Aspen Plus to provide the initial value of the NSGA-III algorithm. The operating parameters are optimized through the Python-Aspen platform. The total annual cost and CO2 emissions are considered the objective function. A small value of indicator generational distance can be achieved by increasing the number of generations, which is helpful in improving algorithm convergence. The NSGA-III algorithm has good convergence and distribution performance. By comparing the optimized results with the original ones, the total annual cost and CO2 emissions are, respectively, reduced by 5.35% and 12.80% when the operating parameters of the methanol distillation sequence are optimized through NSGA-III. As a result, substantial economic and energy savings can be made, offering great potential to improve the performance of the three-column methanol distillation. Full article
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23 pages, 7295 KiB  
Article
Highly Efficient CO2 Capture and Utilization of Coal and Coke-Oven Gas Coupling for Urea Synthesis Process Integrated with Chemical Looping Technology: Modeling, Parameter Optimization, and Performance Analysis
by Qiang Wang, Yong Yang and Huairong Zhou
Processes 2023, 11(3), 960; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11030960 - 21 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1605
Abstract
The resource endowment structure of being coal-rich and oil-poor makes China’s production of coal-based ammonia and urea, with a low production cost and a good market, a competitive advantage. However, the process suffers from high CO2 emissions and low energy efficiency and [...] Read more.
The resource endowment structure of being coal-rich and oil-poor makes China’s production of coal-based ammonia and urea, with a low production cost and a good market, a competitive advantage. However, the process suffers from high CO2 emissions and low energy efficiency and carbon utilization efficiency due to the mismatch of hydrogen-to-carbon ratio between raw coal and chemicals. Based on the coal-to-urea (CTU) process and coal-based chemical looping technology for urea production processes (CTUCLAS&H), a novel urea synthesis process from a coal and coke-oven gas-based co-feed chemical looping system (COG-CTUCLAS&H) is proposed in this paper. By integrating chemical looping air separation and chemical looping hydrogen production technologies and the synergies between coal gasification, low-energy consumption CO2 capture and CO2 utilization are realized; the excess carbon emissions of the CTU process are avoided through coupling the pressure swing adsorption of COG, and the low carbon emissions of the proposed system are obtained. In this work, the novel process is studied from three aspects: key unit modeling, parameter optimization, and technical-economic evaluation. The results show that COG-CTUCLAS&H achieves the highest system energy efficiency (77.10%), which is much higher than that of the CTU and CTUCLAS&H processes by 40.03% and 32.80%, respectively, when the optimized ratio of COG to coal gasified gas is 1.2. The carbon utilization efficiency increases from 35.67% to 78.94%. The product cost of COG-CTUCLAS&H is increased compared to CTU and CTUCLAS&H, mainly because of the introduction of COG, but the technical performance advantages of COG-CTUCLAS&H make its economic benefits obvious, and the internal rate of return of COG-CTUCLAS&H is 26%, which is larger than the 14% and 16% of CTU and CTUCLAS&H, respectively. This analysis will enable a newly promising direction of coal and COG-based co-feed integrated chemical looping technology for urea production. Full article
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