A novel study on CHEMCAD simulation of isopropyl alcohol dehydrogenation process development

Abstract

Acetone is a product which is obtained via several processes. It is produced mainly by cumene hydroperoxide process. As an alternative process, acetone is obtained by isopropyl alcohol (IPA) dehydrogenation. The conversion of IPA to acetone is an endothermic gas-phase reaction which produces hydrogen as a byproduct. The process consists of an equilibrium reactor or kinetic reactor (EREA), a distillation column (SCDS), and a flash tank. As the fresh feed, liquid-phase IPA, combined with a recycle stream which contains slight amount of unseparated acetone, is vaporized and given into the equilibrium reactor. Reactor effluent is then cooled by two heat exchangers and pressurized by a compressor until unreacted IPA and formed acetone are liquidised. This stream is fed to a flash tank in order to separate the gas-phase hydrogen, which contains slight amount of acetone. The distillation column distinguishes the acetone from unreacted IPA. The distillate stream has an acetone purity over 99%. The bottoms stream, which consists of residual IPA and slight amount of acetone, is recycled back into the mixer. The purpose of this study is to improve the simulation of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) dehydrogenation process by using the ChemCad program in terms of industrial applications.