Integração energética em planta de produção de dimetil éter

Abstract

This academic work presents the simulation of a dimethyl ether production plant, a compound used in the aerosol propellant industry, and an energy integration within the same plant. Computational simulation allows for precise evaluation of industrial processes without the need to construct a physical plant. Using the AVEVA PRO/II Simulation software, a complete simulation of the plant was built, based on a previously known model. The main objective of this work was to investigate opportunities for improving energy efficiency and overall plant performance through energy integration, using pinch technology, a technique that allows for replacing heat exchanges using utilities with heat exchanges between process streams. Initially, the entire production plant created in the simulator is presented, followed by theoretical fundamentals related to energy integration methods in chemical processes, emphasizing the importance of reducing energy consumption in the industry. During the simulation, all process streams requiring heat exchanges were identified, and their thermophysical properties were detailed. Based on this data, a heat exchanger network was designed and implemented to minimize utility consumption and thereby optimize the energy cost of the process. This work includes a comparison between the original process and the process after energy integration, focusing on utility savings and reduction in energy costs. The results obtained were very satisfactory and enabled savings of 4253,4188 kW per hour in the process, which corresponds to 32,65% of the thermal costs observed in the process heat exchangers without energy integration.