Energy Transfer Process and Process Gas Flow Model in Nitric Acid Production

Year 2023, Volume: 9 Issue: 2, 351 - 368, 31.12.2023

Menekşe İkbal Oğuzhan Erbaş Özer Aydın

https://doi.org/10.34186/klujes.1395373

Abstract

In the Oswald process, ammonia is reacted with oxygen under the catalyst of platinum to form oxides, which are converted into acid. Acid nitriding processes are essential in industry, and many kinds of products, such as plastics, paints, and explosives, are obtained this way. Achieving energy savings and improving production reflexes by monitoring energy consumption on a process basis in such enterprises requires defining the current process flows and structure through a model and analyzing them with parameter changes. In this study, the energy transfer process of NOx gases obtained in the ammonia oxidation reactor and used as process gas in a nitric acid production facility and the parameters affecting the process were investigated. The parameters affecting the efficiency were determined. The problems were addressed by considering the energy efficiency of the facility. The ammonia oxidation reactor is the most essential part of the system. For this reason, the operating parameters of the old reactors in the facility were compared with the revised new reactors. After the revision, the efficiency and performance of the system were examined in old and new reactors. In addition, the flow and hydrodynamic structure of the existing process gas in the new reactors were reviewed with the ANSYS Fluent program, that is, CFD analysis.

Keywords

Nitric Acid Production Process, Ammonia Oxidation Reactor, Process Gas, Flow Model

NİTRİK ASİT ÜRETİMİNDE ENERJİ AKTARIM SÜRECİ VE PROSES GAZI AKIŞ MODELİ

Abstract

Ostwald prosesinde, platin katalizörlüğünde amonyak, oksijenle reaksiyona sokularak oksitler meydana getirilir ve bunlar da aside dönüştürülür. Asitle yapılan nitrolama prosesleri endüstride önemli olup, bu yolla plastikler, boyalar ve patlayıcı maddeler gibi pek çok çeşit ürün elde edilir. Bu tür işletmelerde prosesler bazında enerji tüketiminin izlenmesiyle enerji tasarrufu sağlanması ve üretim reflekslerinin geliştirilmesi, mevcut proses akışlarının ve yapısının bir model üzerinden tanımlanarak, parametre değişimleri ile analizini gerektirmektedir. Bu çalışmada, bir nitrik asit üretim tesisinde amonyak oksidasyon reaktöründe elde edilen ve proses gazı olarak kullanılan NOx gazlarının enerji aktarım süreci ile prosesi etkileyen parametrelerin araştırılması yapılmış olup, verimliliği etkileyen parametreler belirlenmiştir. Tesisin enerji verimliliği göz önüne alınarak problemler ele alınmıştır. Amonyak oksidasyon reaktörü sistemin en önemli kısmıdır. Bu nedenle tesisteki eski reaktörlerin işletme parametreleri ile yerine revize edilen yeni reaktörlerin karşılaştırılması yapılmıştır. Revizyon sonrası eski ve yeni reaktörlerde sistemin verimliliği ile performansı incelenmiştir. Ayrıca yeni reaktörlerde mevcut proses gazının akışı ve hidrodinamik yapısı ANSYS Fluent programı yani CFD analizi ile incelenmiştir.

Keywords

Nitrik Asit Üretim Prosesi, Amonyak Oksidasyon Reaktörü, Proses Gazı, Akış Modeli

References

• Mellor, J. W. (1922). Supplement to Mellor's Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry: suppl. 3. K, Rb, Cs, Fr.Dary, G., (1913) The Production of Nitrates by the Direct Electrolysis of Peat Deposits , London Electrical Review, 73: 1020-1021.
• Modak, J. M. (2002). Haber process for ammonia synthesis. Resonance, 7(9), 69-77. Chernyshev, V. I., & Zjuzin, S. V. (2001). Improved start-up for the ammonia oxidation reaction. Platinum Metals Review, 45(1), 22-30.
• NurSulihatimarsyila A. W., Chuah T.G., Choong S. Y., Thayananthan.B (2005) Estimation of Platinum Gauzes Catalyst for Ammonia Oxidation of Nitric Acid Production, The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia Volume 66, Issue 4.
• Moszowski, B., Wajman, T., Sobczak, K., Inger, M., & Wilk, M. (2019). The analysis of distribution of the reaction mixture in ammonia oxidation reactor. Polish Journal of Chemical Technology, 21(1), 9-12.
• Ardy, H., Putra, Y. P., Anggoro, A. D., & Wibowo, A. (2021). Failure analysis of primary waste heat boiler tube in ammonia plant. Heliyon, 7(2).
• Abbasfard, H., Ghanbari, M., Ghasemi, A., Ghader, S., Rafsanjani, H. H., & Moradi, A. (2012). Failure analysis and modeling of super heater tubes of a waste heat boiler thermally coupled in ammonia oxidation reactor. Engineering Failure Analysis, 26, 285-292.
• Zanoni, M. A., Wang, J., & Gerhard, J. I. (2021). Understanding pressure changes in smouldering thermal porous media reactors. Chemical Engineering Journal, 412, 128642.
• Gemlik Gübre Sanayi A.Ş., (2003), Nitric Acid According to Safety, Data Sheet 91/155/EC
• Gabrielson, J. E. (1964). Potassium-nitrate from nitric acid and potassium-chloride. Iowa State University.
• National Research Council. (2004). Air quality management in the United States. National Academies Press.
• Yadav, A. S., Shukla, O. P., Sharma, A., & Khan, I. A. (2022). CFD analysis of heat transfer performance of ribbed solar air heater. Materials Today: Proceedings, 62, 1413-1419.
• Papa, F., Vaidyanathan, K., Keith, T. G., & DeWitt, K. J. (2000). Numerical computations of flow in rotating ducts with strong curvature. International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, 10(5), 541-557.
• Fluent Incorporated (1998). FLUENT User’s Guide. Version 6.1,
• Suga, K. (2003). Predicting turbulence and heat transfer in 3-D curved ducts by near-wall second moment closures. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 46(1), 161-173.
• Lim, K. W., & Chung, M. K. (1999). Numerical investigation on the installation effects of electromagnetic flowmeter downstream of a 90 elbow–laminar flow case. Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 10(3), 167-174.
• Heselton, P. E. (Ed.). (2020). Boiler operator's handbook. CRC Press.