A systematic approach for synthesizing a low-temperature distillation system

In this paper, by combining a stochastic optimization method with a refrigeration shaft work targeting method,an approach for the synthesis of a heat integrated complex distillation system in a low-temperature process is presented. The synthesis problem is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming(MINLP) problem,which is solved by simulated annealing algorithm under a random procedure to explore the optimal operating parameters and the distillation sequence structure. The shaft work targeting method is used to evaluate the minimum energy cost of the corresponding separation system during the optimization without any need for a detailed design for the heat exchanger network(HEN) and the refrigeration system(RS). The method presented in the paper can dramatically reduce the scale and complexity of the problem. A case study of ethylene cold-end separation is used to illustrate the application of the approach. Compared with the original industrial scheme, the result is encouraging.

Multi-effect distillation system for seawater desalination driven by tidal energy and low grade energy

A multi-effect distillation technology for seawater desalination driven by tidal energy and low grade energy is presented.In the system,tidal energy is utilized to supply power instead of coventional electric pumps during the operation,resulting in the decrease of dependence on steady electric power supply and a reduction in the running costs.According to the technological principle,a testing unit is designed and built.The effects of the feed seawater temperature and the heat source temperature on the unit performance are tested and analyzed.The experimental results show that the fresh water output is 27 kg/h when the heating water temperature is 65 ℃ and the absolute pressure is 25 kPa.The experimental and theoretical analysis results indicate that the appropriate heating water temperature is a key factor in ensuring the steady operation of the system.

Selecting Suitable Heat Source in Refinery for Multi-effect Distillation Based on Grey System Theory

For dealing with high-salinity wastewater in the refinery, the high cost of driving heat source is the disadvantage of multi-effect distillation (MED) so it is of great importance to evaluate the performance of low-temperature heat source for conducting MED and select the optimal temperature for it. Both the MED and the low-temperature heat sources studied in this paper were from a typical refinery located in northwestern China. Besides, a new methodology to evaluate heat sources as the optimal candidate was proposed for MED based on the grey system theory. Five process units, which included 18 fluids of the refinery, were named as the evaluation projects. Three factors, which included safety effects, total costs and characteristics of low-temperature heat sources were determined as the evaluation indexes, the values of which were established through the analyses. The results obtained through the grey correlation analyses have revealed that the grey correlation degrees of these units were 0.661(AVDU), 0.732 (#1 FCCU), 0.618 (#2 FCCU), 0.535 (#1 DCU), and 0.572 (#2 DCU), respectively. Thus, the optimal heat source was provided from #1 FCCU. Through further analyses of the fluids from #1 FCCU, the grey correlation degrees of the fluids were 0.597 (oil and gas at top of tower), 0.714 (recycle oil and gas), and 0.512 (diesel), respectively. Thus, the optimal heat source was the oil and gas recycle stream.

Pretreatment of metallurgical sewage via vacuum distillation driven by low-temperature exhausted gas from steel plants

The metallurgical sewage has very complex component and a significant environmental perniciousness and needs high treatment costs. In addition, too much low-temperature waste heat is emitted owing to the lack of suitable users. Considering these concerns, a low-temperature-driven pretreatment method via vacuum distillation was proposed to treat the sewage from the metallurgical production. It uses the sensible heat carried by low-temperature exhausted gases to drive the distillation of sewage. The distilled water can be reused into the process as new water supply, while the enriched wastewater is discharged into the sewage treatment center for subsequent treatment. Converter dust removal sewage was chosen to perform an experimental observation. The variations of chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, suspended solids, electrical conductivity, and pH of the condensate under different vacuum degrees and evaporation rates were mainly investigated. It can be found that the quality of the condensate gets better under certain conditions, which validates the feasibility of the proposed approach. Furthermore, by comprehensively analyzing the water quality indices and their influencing factors, the optimal vacuum degree was suggested to be controlled between 0.07 and 0.09 MPa, and the best evaporation rate was between 40 and 60%.

Crevice Corrosion of Several Supper Stainless Steels in the Simulated LT-MED Environment

Susceptibility and morphological characteristics of crevice corrosion for SS316, SS904L, SS254sMo and SS2507 in thesimulated low-temperature multi-effect distillation environment were investigated by cyclic polarization test, scanningelectron microscope and laser microscope. The results show that the crevice corrosion resistance of four kinds of stainlesssteel is ranked as SS254sMo ≈ SS2507 〉 SS316 〉 SS904L. There are ＂cover＂ structures over the edge of active crevicecorrosion regions of SS904L, SS254sMo and SS2507, but SS316 is an exception. Galvanic corrosion characteristicsappeared in the crevice of duplex supper stainless steel SS2507.