Vinyl Chloride Production

Senior Design Presentation

Group 10
Jeremy Dry Israel Osisanya
Bryce Lawson Deepa Patel
Phuong Le Anecia Shelton
Project Purpose

To design an
environmentally safe vinyl
chloride production plant.

Questions:
What is Vinyl Chloride?
How its being produced?
How much does it cost to
be environmentally
friendly?
Vinyl Chloride
99% of VCM is used to manufacture polyvinyl
chloride (PVC).

PVC consumption is second to low density

polyethylene.

VCM production results in a number of unwanted

by-products.
VCM Plant Emissions in the United States
0.0008

0.0007

0.0006
lb/lb VCM product

0.0005

0.0004

0.0003

0.0002

0.0001

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 Formosa-LA 4 Georgia Gulf-LA 7 Borden-LA

2 Oxyvinyls-D-TX 5 Westlake Monomers-KY 8 Dow-LA

3 Oxyvinyls-L-TX 6 Formosa-TX 9 Dow-TX

Manufacturing Methods

Vinyl Chloride from Acetylene

Vinyl Chloride from Ethane
Vinyl Chloride from Ethylene (Direct
Route)
Vinyl Chloride from Ethylene (EDC)
Balanced Process for Vinyl Chloride Production

Direct chlorination CH2CH2 + Cl2 → ClCH2CH2Cl (EDC)

Oxychlorination CH2CH2 + 2 HCl + ½ O2 → EDC+ H2O

EDC pyrolysis 2 EDC → 2 CH2CHCl (VCM) + 2 HCl

Overall reaction 2 CH2CH2 + Cl2 + ½ O2 → 2 CH2CHCl + H2O

•No generation of HCl

•95% of the world’s VCM is produced utilizing the

balanced process
 Balanced Process for Vinyl Chloride Production

HCl recycle

Air or O2
Light ends
Oxy-
chlorination

VCM
Ethylene EDC EDC purification
purification pyrolysis VCM

EDC recycle
Direct
Cl2 chlorination
Heavy ends
Direct Chlorination and Oxychlorination P&ID
CAUSTIC SCRUBBERS

DC REACTOR
OXY REACTOR
 Vinyl Chloride Plant Reactor Design

•Theoretical reactor design equations

•Literature kinetic data used to calculated rate

constants

•Numerical Integration used to calculated specified

parameters
Reactor Design

dFk πd 2
= wk t
dz 4
Fk = molar flow rate
z = tube length
dt = tube diameter
wk = νiri

ri = kf[Ck]-kr[Ck]
 Oxychlorination Chemistry

Reaction Stoichiometry
Set
DCE
R-1 C2H4 + 2CuCl2→ C2H4Cl2 + 2CuCl
formation
TCE
R-2 C2H4 + 3CuCl2→ C2H4Cl3 + 3CuCl +0.5H2
formation
C2H4
R-3 C2H4 + 3O2→ 2CO2 + 2H2O
combustion
CuCl
R-4 2CuCl + 0.5O2→ CuO-CuCl2→ CuO + CuCl2
oxidation
CuCl2
R-5 CuO + 2HCl → CuCl2 + H2O
regeneration

•Plus nine other main by product formation reactions

•Excel Reactor Model of Oxychlorination
Oxychlorination Reactor Results

Oxy Reactor Effluent Flow Rates (lb-mol/hr)

EDC 1341 Chloral 0.25

Water 1341 CCl4 1.25
TEC 1.26 Methyl Chloride 0.12
CO2 140 Chloroform 0.11
Ethylene 5.5 Chloroethane 0.11
Oxygen 2.76 Chloroprene 0.10
HCl 0.015 Vinyl Acetylene 0.09
Acetylene 0.13 Dichloromethane 0.10
Oxychlorination Reactor Parameters

Reactor Temperature (oC) 305

Reactor Pressure (psig) 58
Reactor Volume (ft3) 461
Tube Diameter (in) 2
Tube Length (ft) 1320
Residence Time (hr) 0.05
 DC Reactor Modeling Results

DC Reactor Kinetic Results DC Reactor Parameters

Reactor Temperature (oC) 120

Modeling Literature Reactor Pressure (psig) 15
Results Values
Reactor Volume (ft3) 90
Conversion
99.93% 99.94% Tube Diameter (in) 2
of ethylene
Selectivity Tube Length (ft) 115
99.8% 99.4%
to EDC Residence Time (hr) 0.018
EDC Purification P&ID
WATER
LIGHTSWASH
HEAVIESCOLUMN
COLUMN
EDC Pyrolysis P&ID
CRACKING FURNACE
FURNACE FEED FLASH
EFFLUENT QUENCH SECTION
EDC Pyrolysis Reactor Modeling Results

•Conversion of EDC per pass is maintained at 50-55%

•Increasing cracking severity beyond this level results in

insignificant increase in conversion and a decrease in
selectivity to VCM.

•Conversion can be increased by the addition of CCl4

•Modeling results produced conversion equal to 60%

•Major by products of EDC pyrolysis: Acetylene, benzene,

1-3 butadiene, vinyl acetylene, chloroprene.
VCM Purification P&ID
HCl
VCMCOLUMN
COLUMN

FEED FLASH
 Pro II Simulation PFD

S5

S4
OP1

F1

S34

M1 S36
1
S41
2

3
2 1
3 1
4 S59
4
S62
5 2
5 3
6 4 S60
7 2
6 5
8 S52 6
7 3
S1 7 9 8
S25 10 9 4
S29 S53 10
S33 8 11 11 5
S11 S6 12 12
SC1 S54 S55 13
9 13 6
S39 14
S12 14 S51 15 7
10 15 16
S49 E4 17
S28 16 F7 8
R1 S45 S56 18
11 S43 19
17 F6
20 9
18 21
12 E3
S27 S30 19 22 10
20 23
13 24 11
F3 21 25
M5 S3 26
S31 14 22 S48 12
27
M6 23 28
15 24 29 13
S42 M8 30
25 F5 31 S58 14
16 S38 26 32
S26 33
27 15
34
28 E2 35
T1 17 F4 16
29 S63 36
S50 37
S22 S35 38 17
39
T2 30 S64 40 18
S24 41
S40 19
M7
S2
E1 T3 42
F2 S44 20
T4
SC2
S23
SP3

S61

S57

Liquid
Liquid
 Heat Integration

Pinch Design Method

ƒOptimization method that reduces energy cost
ƒUtilizes process to process heat transfer
ƒOptimal pinch temperature→ 316oF
Heat Integration
Grand Composite Curve
1000

900 QHmin

800
Temperature (F)

700

600

500

400
Pocket of Heat Recovery
300

200

100
QCmin
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Duty (MMBtu/hr)
Heat Integration Results

ƒHot Utility 401→ 308 MM Btu/hr

ƒCold Utility 251→ 158 MM Btu/hr

Energy Reduction Results in a savings of

$2.4 Million/year!
Waste Stream Treatment
Location of Waste Streams

EDC Purification/Pyrolysis

Oxychlorination Reaction Section

Direct Chloriantion Caustic Scrubber

Contents of Waste
Liquid Waste Vapor Waste
Ethylene Ethylene
EDC EDC
C2HCl3 Carbon Tetrachloride
CHCl3
VCM
Dichloromethane
C2HCl3
C2H2
VCM
C2HCl3O
Vinyl Acetylene
Chloroethane
Types of Waste Treatment

Condenser
Catalytic Incinerator
Absorber/Scrubber
Thermal Incinerator
Flare
Waste Treatment Selected

Multiple Treatment Process Selected

Consists of thermal incineration,

absorption column, and caustic
scrubbing unit
 Treatment PFD
CO2, NOx

Water NaOH

Cl2, H2O, HCl

Vapor
CO2, NOx

Scrubbing
Absorption
Waste

Caustic
Incinerator CO2, NOx

Liquid Cl2
Waste
Water + HCl Water + NaCl + NaOCl
Products of Waste Treatment

Water and HCl (solution)

Water, NaCl, and Sodium Hypochlorite
(solution)
Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxides
 Incineration Unit Design
Auxiliary Fuel Flowrate Needed (Qf)
Qf = Qw (X/Y) where,
X = 1.1Cpo(Tc – Tr) – Cpi(Ti – Tr) – hw
Y = hf – 1.1Cpo(Tc-Tr)

Qf = 331 lb/hr
Absorption Column Design
Amount of Solvent (Water)
L = G*(Yi – Yo)/(Xo – Xi)

L = 154,000 lbs/hr
Column Diameter (Dt)
4VM v
DT =
fU f π (1 − Ad / A) ρ v
Dt = 5.7 ft
Absorption Column Design Cont’d
Number of Theoretical Stages (NOG)
ln{[( A − 1) / A][(Yi − KX i ) /(YO − KX i )] + (1 / A)}
N OG =
( A − 1) / A
NOG = 20

Overall Height of a Transfer Unit (HOG)

HOG = G/KyaS

HOG = .75
Absorption Column Design Cont’d

Packing Height
Hpack = NOG*(HOG)

Hpack = 15 ft
 Caustic Scrubbing Design

Design
L = 45,000 lbs/hr
DT = 4.5 ft
NOG = 12
HOG = .83
Hpack = 10 ft
Waste Water Treatment
Waste Water Streams

DC Caustic Scrubber Water Wash Drum

(L/hr) (L/hr)
Water 280 41,000
NaCl 48 0
HCl - 200
Chloral - 26
EDC - 680
CCl4 - 180
TCE - 170
Limits and Treatment Options

EPA Limit
(mg/L) Treatment Options
HCl 5 –GAC
Chloral 1 –Incinerator w/Afterburner –GAC
EDC .005 -GAC –Boiling
CCl4 .005 -GAC –Fluidized Bed Incineration
TCE .005 -Incineration -GAC
Granular Activated Carbon
EPA Recommended Control Technology
Ability to remove > 99% of contaminants
Simple design and operation
No hazardous waste byproducts
Ability to operate at low temperatures and
pressures
GAC Operation
Makeup Carbon In

Effluent

Water Flow

Carbon
Column Carbon
Movement
Influent
Column Specifications
Carbon Mass 21000 lb

Adsorber Volume 170 ft3

Adsorber Area 36 ft2

Velocity 7 ft/min

Contact Time 27 min

Equilibrium Saturation 19 days

Carbon Regeneration
Carbon In Gas Out

Rabble Arm
200-300oF
300-450oF
400-1000oF Rabble Teeth
1000-1600oF
1600-1800oF
1600-1800oF

Carbon Out
HAZOP Studies- Safety Concern

Purpose: Reduce risk at workplace

Identify risks, prevent and reduce
impact
Subdivide into small sections
Deviations, Causes, Consequences, Safe
Guard and Actions
PFTR Reactor
 Plant Location
Location Factors
Raw Materials Wages
„ Distance Utilities
„ Abundance Land Cost
Total Tax
„ Corporate Income
Tax Taft, LA
„ Sales Tax
„ Property Tax
Corpus Christi, TX
Factor Rating Maximization

Factor Weight % LA TX
Raw Material
Distance 30 3 miles 17 miles
Abundance 25 4 2
Total Tax 20 32% 40%
Wages 12 0.95 1.03
Utilities 8 $2.7/MMBtu $2.5/MMBtu
Land Cost 5 $1270/acre $640/acre
Factor Rating Maximization

Weight % x Value % = Factor Rating

Taft, LA
„ 0.64
Corpus Christi, TX
„ 0.96
Plant Capacity
Forecasting

Economic Analysis Economic Analysis

Economic Analysis
4.09 billion lb/yr 10.5 billion lb/yr
6.44 billion lb/yr

Risk & Probability

Analysis

Decision
Forecasting
Price s of Chlorine v s. Ye ar
220
Find Mean Value & Std. Dev
Apply to Monte Carlo Simulation
Prices of Chlorine ($/ton)

200

180
y = 2.112x - 4017.7
R2 = 0.9548
160

140
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Year
Forecasting
Year Ethylene Chlorine Oxygen VCM
($/ton) ($/ton) ($/ft3) ($/ton)
2004 492.5 212.2 0.001445 499.2
2005 499.4 214.1 0.001436 506.2
2006 506.2 216.1 0.001427 513.2
2007 513.1 218.0 0.001418 520.2
2008 519.9 219.9 0.001409 527.2
2009 526.7 221.8 0.001400 529.2
2010 533.6 223.8 0.001391 535.2
2011 540.4 225.7 0.001382 543.21
Std. Dev. 24.17 10.56 0.000102 26.15
 NPW & ROI
n −1
CFk CFn + VS + I W
NPW = ∑ + − TCI
k =1 (1 + i ) k
(1 + i ) n

n
TCI = ∑ CFk (1 + r ) − k + (Vs + I w )(1 + r ) − n
k =1

Where
TCI= total capital investment
CF = cash flow
i = interest rate = 0.05
Vs = savage value
Iw = working capital
Economic Analysis

Plant 4.09 6.44 10.5

Capacity billion lb/yr billion lb/yr billion lb/yr

TCI $47,110,000 $68,886,000 $77,154,000

NPW $133,739,000 $284,828,000 $161,759,000

ROI 0.24 0.25 0.20

Risk Analysis

Monte-Carlo simulation
• Mean and Standard Deviation
• Random Number Generation
• NPW
• Risk Measurement
• Probability
Decision: Plant Capacity
Detailed Economic Analysis
Monte Carlo
Assume normal distribution

Perform random walks

Norminv(Rand(), Mean, Std. Dev.)

Stop the iterations when the data

converges
Approximately 1000 trials

Reduce error compared to analytical

approach
Procedure

Random Number Raw material Total Product

Generation Cost Cost

Income from
Gross Income
selling VCM

Net Present
Cash Flow Net Profit
Worth

Risk &
Probability
 Project Risk Curves

0.9
Cummulative Probability

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4
0.3

0.2

0.1

0
-6000 -4000 -2000 0 2000 4000 6000
Net Present Worth ($106)
6.44 billion lb/yr 4.09 billion lb/yr 10.5 billion lb/yr
Comments
Capacity of 4.09 billion lb/yr:
41.7% chance of negative NPW

Capacity of 6.44 billion lb/yr:

31.5% chance of negative NPW

Capacity of 10.5 billion lb/yr:

36.8% chance of negative NPW
 Probability vs. Net Present Worth
0.35
Highest Probability of positive NPW
0.3

0.25
Probability

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
-4500 -3000 -1500 0 1500 3000
6
NPW ($10 )
6.44 billion lb/yr 4.09 billion lb/yr 10.5 billion lb/yr
Decision
Plant Capacity of 6.44 billion lb/yr:

• Highest NPW

• Highest ROI

• Lowest risk: 31.5 % of losing money

• High probability of making money

Detailed Economic Analysis
Plant Capacity: 6.44 billion lb/yr

Plant Equipment:
„ Four Heat Exchangers

„ Four Distillation Towers

„ Seven Flash Tanks

„ Three Reactors

„ Adsorption System

„ Incineration Unit

Total Equipment Cost: $15.3M

 Total Capital Investment
Total Equipment Cost $15,284,100
Variables Description Cost ($)
Equipment Installed 47% of TEC (P&T) 7,183,527
Incineration Unit (install) Flow Rate Correlation 10,500
Instrumentation & Control 18% of TEC (P&T) 2,751,138
Piping (installed) 50% of TEC (P&T) 7,642,050
Electrical (installed) 11% of TEC (P&T) 1,681,251
Total 19,268,466
Building Cost
2 2
Office $45/ft (Brick Building) in 3000 ft 135,000
2 2
Process Building (5-Unit) $15/ ft (Steel Building)in 4600 ft /Unit 375,000
2 2
Service Building $45/ ft (Brick Building) in 2000 ft 90,000
2 2
Storage Building $15/ ft (Steel Building)in 4000 ft /Unit 62,500
2 2
Maintenance Unit/Shop $45/ ft (Brick Building) in 1500 ft 67,500
2 2
Administration/Accounting $45/ ft (Brick Building) in 2500 ft 112,500
2 2
Environment/Research $45/ ft (Brick Building) in 3000 ft 135,000
Total 977,500
Yard Improvement
Site Cleaning $4400/acre (total of 50 acres) 220,000
Grading $465/acre (total of 10 acres) 4,650
Fencing $9/ft (total of 9000 ft) 81,000
2 2
Walkways $4.50/ ft (total of 5000 ft ) 22,500
Total 328,150
Land Cost $1270/acre (total of 50 acres) 63,500
Total Direct Plant Cost 35,921,716
Engineering & Supervision 32% of TEC (P&T) 4,890,912
Construction Expenses 41% of TEC (P&T) 6,266,481
Contractor's Fee 21% of TEC (P&T) 3,209,661
Contingency 42% of TEC (P&T) 6,419,322
Total Indirect Cost 20,786,376
Fixed Capital Investment Direct+Indirect 56,708,092
Working Capital 86% of TEC (P&T) 13,144,326
Total Capital Investment Direct+Indirect+Working Capital 69,852,418
 Employee # of Employee $/yr Total
Plant Chairman 1 $105,000 $105,000
Managers
Plant Manager 1 $80,000 $80,000
Unit Managers 5 $73,000 $365,000
Operational Engineers
Computer Programmer 1 $62,890 $62,890
Computer Engineer 2 $74,310 $148,620
Chemical Engineers 5 $72,780 $363,900
Process Engineers 5 $73,000 $365,000
Electrical Engineers 3 $68,630 $205,890
Environment Engineers 3 $62,000 $186,000
Industrial Engineers 3 $61,900 $185,700
Mechinical Engineers 2 $63,500 $127,000
Maintainance Engineers 2 $30,000 $60,000
Operator 30 $68,000 $2,040,000
Supervisor 5 $70,000 $350,000
Administration
Financial Manager 1 $60,000 $60,000
Production Manager 1 $68,000 $68,000
Sales Manager 1 $60,000 $60,000
Accounting
Budget Analysts 2 $53,000 $106,000
Finantial Analysts 1 $62,000 $62,000
Tax Preparers 2 $33,000 $66,000
Auditor 2 $35,000 $70,000
Total $5,137,000
Economic Summary
Total Product Cost-$1.59 billion

Net Profit- $26.2 million

NPW- $265 million

ROI-23.7%
Environmental Impact vs.
Profit
Waste Reduction Algorithm

Evaluate effects of design changes on

environment
Reactors can not be varied
„ Exothermic reactions allow heat integration
Variable design parameters
„ Oxygen usage
„ Furnace temperature
Impact Calculations

Impact/hr
Ii = ΣMj x ΣxkjΨk
„ Mj = mass flow rate of stream j
„ xkj = mass fraction of chemical k in
stream j
„ -Ψk = characteristic potential impact of
chemical k
 Environmental Impact vs. Profit

190000
Oxygen hot utility,
Oxygen furnace,
incinerator
incinerator
185000 Oxygen hot utility,
furnace
All Oxygen
E I ( lb / H r)

180000
Oxygen All Air
175000 Oxygenincinerator
furnace
170000

165000
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
Profit (Million $)

Original Furnace Temperature Lower Furnace Temperature Higher Furnace Temperature

Sequestering CO2 Emissions
Enhanced oil recovery
Brine aquifers injection
Located beneath shale layer
3100 ft
FCI is a function of CO2 flow rate
„ 27.753 $/(kg/hr) = $11.4 million
OC is a function of CO2 flow rate and depth
„ 0.0000912 $/(kg/hr)(ft) = $183,000/yr
VCM Plant Emissions in the United States

0.0008

0.0007

0.0006
lb/lb VCM product

0.0005

0.0004

0.0003

0.0002

0.0001

0.0000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2 Formosa-LA 5 Georgia Gulf-LA 8 Borden-LA

Capital Investment to achieve this emission reduction = $2.5 Million
3 Oxyvinyls-D-TX 6 Westlake Monomers-KY 9 Dow-LA
Decreased Net Profit = $1.3 Million/year
4 Oxyvinyls-L-TX 7 Formosa-TX 10 Dow-TX
Conclusion
Balanced Process
Incineration and Carbon Adsorption
6.4 billion lbs/year
Taft, LA
Sequestration of CO2