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Solvent Process Flowsheets & Simulations

Explore 2 validated, solved Solvent simulation flowsheets in MaximaLabs — real components: methylcyclohexane, toluene, phenol, co2, ethane, n_decane. Open any one directly in your browser.

Solved via: PENG-ROBINSON.

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MCH Product
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Toluene Product
Phenol Recovered
Reformate treating unit, Rotterdam, Netherlands

MCHT extractive distillation with phenol

Extractive distillation of methylcyclohexane (MCH) and toluene using phenol as the selective solvent, adapted from Tiverios and Van Brunt (Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2000, 39, 1614). Phenol raises toluene's relative volatility away from MCH enough to split an otherwise close-boiling pair; a solvent-recovery column then splits toluene from the phenol (reported as its own product rather than recycled).

7 unit ops • PENG-ROBINSON

17 0

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Solvent
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CO2 Product
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Ethane Product
Solvent Recovered
CO2-flood NGL plant, Permian Basin, Texas, USA

CO2/ethane extractive distillation with n-decane

CO2 and ethane are close-boiling (both around 195 K at 1 atm) and form a near-azeotropic VLE at NGL-processing pressures, a known problem for straight distillation in CO2-flood-associated gas and acid-gas-rich NGL streams. A heavy n-decane solvent shifts CO2's relative volatility enough to take it overhead in far fewer stages than an ordinary deethanizer would need; a second column then strips the solvent from the ethane bottoms for recycle. The extractive column runs at a moderately high reflux (R=4.5) — the operating point a genuinely close-boiling pair needs to hold a sharp CO2/ethane split with a heavy solvent — and both columns converge.

7 unit ops • PENG-ROBINSON

17 0

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