Penghasilan metil etil keton daripada bahan mentah yang boleh diperbaharui seperti 2,3-butanadiol, hasil penapaian bahan biomas telah banyak mendapat perhatian kebelakangan ini. Sebelum pelaksanaan proses ini dalam skala industri, kajian simulasi tentang proses ini amat diperlukan. Melalui perkembangan alat berbantukan komputer seperti Aspen Plus, memungkinkan simulasi dan pengoptimuman proses ini untuk mencapai kualiti hasil pengeluaran yang dikehendaki. Oleh itu, variabel-variabel operasi yang boleh mempengaruhi hasilan metil etil keton perlu difahami. Dalam kajian ini, Aspen Plus telah digunakan untuk simulasi reaktor dehidrasi 2,3-butanadiol yang menghasilkan metil etil keton sebagai produk utama and 1,3-butadiena, 3-butena-2-ol, 2-metilpropanal dan air sebagai produk sampingan menerusi katalis kalsium fosfat amorfus dan nitrogen sebagai pembawa gas. Untuk mereplikakan model reaktor yang serupa, perbandingan keputusan antara simulasi Aspen Plus dengan literatur telah dilakukan. Hasil model simulasi ini boleh diterima atas sebab ralat-ralat bagi penukaran bahan tindak balas, selektif produk dan profil suhu sepanjang dasar katalis reaktor yang didapati, iaitu masing-masing 0.30 %, 9.04 % dan 1.73 %. Analisis sensitif terhadap model reaktor yang sama menunjukkan bahawa halaju ruang gas berjam (GHSV) mempunyai kesan yang signifikan terhadap penukaran 2,3-butanadiol dan hasil metil etil keton. Penukaran dan hasil tersebut didapati bertambah dengan pengurangan GHSV. Analisis sensitif pada suhu reaktor memaparkan corak rata yang kemungkinan disebabkan oleh kecacatan model manakala tekanan reaktor menunjukkan kesan yang tidak ketara terhadap penukaran 2,3-butanadiol dan hasilan metil etil keton, sebaliknya, hasilan produk lain telah dipengaruhi olehnya.
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The production of methyl ethyl ketone using 2,3-butanediol in which the reactant is produced from renewable feedstock such as fermentation of biomass is gaining attention and thus the simulation study on the process is required prior to the implementation in industrial scale. With the development of computer-aided tool such as Aspen Plus, it is possible to simulate and optimize the process to achieve desired end-product quality. Hence, the operating variables that will affect the yield of methyl ethyl ketone is required to be understand. In this work, Aspen Plus was used to simulate a fixed-bed reactor for dehydration of 2,3-butanediol which produces methyl ethyl ketone as main product and 1,3-butadiene, 3-buten-2-ol, 2-methylpropanal and water as by-products in the presence of amorphous calcium phosphate catalyst with nitrogen as carrier gas. In order to replicate a similar reactor model, the simulated results obtained through Aspen Plus was compared with simulation results from literature. Results showed that the simulated model is acceptable with the errors for conversion, products selectivity and temperature profile along reactor catalyst bed length which were 0.30 %, 9.04 % and 1.73 %, respectively. Sensitivity analysis on the same reactor model showed that gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) had significant effect on the conversion of 2,3-butanediol and methyl ethyl ketone yield. The conversion and yield were found to be increase with decrease in GHSV. The sensitivity analysis on reactor temperature showed a flat pattern which may due to faulty model while the reactor pressure gave insignificant effect towards 2,3-butanediol conversion and methyl ethyl ketone yield but affected to other products yield.
Simulation study on production of methyl ethyl ketone via dehydration of 2,3-butanediol in fixed-bed reactor / Lee Jing Yi