Dynamic Design of a Ethylamine Production Plant

The ethylamine production facility documented in this process design produces on average 98 tons/day of triethylamine and 186 tons/day of diethylamine. Fresh ammonia and fresh ethanol are fed into the process with the presence of hydrogen to produce mono, di-, and tri- ethylamine with a byproduct of water. The products are produced in a series of three reactions. Ammonia and ethanol react to produce mono-ethylamine. Diethylamine is produced from monoethylamine and ethanol and triethylamine by diethylamine and ethanol. The unreacted ethanol and ammonia, the monoethylamine and a portion of diethylamine and triethalmine are recycled back into the reactor. This production facility produces a return on investment (ROI) of 42% and will make a profit after four years. The steady state plant design was created from optimizing cost and efficiency and consists of a compressor train, cooled plug flow reactor and a series of six distillation columns. The dynamic simulation of the process focuses on maintaining the product purities and controlling the temperatures due to safety concerns at high process temperatures. A HAZOP review was performed on the reactor temperatures since this is a critical safety concern. The safety of the plant and its operators is also discussed. Issues of flammability, auto ignition temperatures, and construction materials are addressed.

Figure 1. Optimized steady state design of the ethylamine production plant.

Figure 2. Control scheme for plant wide control (PWC).

Figure 3. Dynamic design of the ethylamine production plant.