Optimized Green Design of an Ethanolamine Reactor System Gabriella Buba, Amanda Cortinas, Kyle Giubbini, James Griffith, Robert Johnson, Radina Khalid, and Jared Shull Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas Objective The objective of this project was to design an ethanolamines plant that maximizes benefits to the local community in Ulanqab, using the principles of green chemistry. Green Process Design • Waste prevention with recycle loop • Less hazardous chemical synthesis using low temperature reaction • Reduce CO2 emissions with MEA product • Design for energy efficiency by using excess water and ammonia to prevent need for cooling MEA CO2 Scrubber • Recovered 95.36% of CO2 from heating utilities furnace • Uses 2.06% of EA Tech’s MEA production to scrub CO2 Process Design Process Flow Diagram Financial Overview Energy Analysis Dr. Kenneth R. Cox Professor Richard Strait Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen Acknowledgements Adiabatic Plug Flow Reactor • Size: 1400 L • Feed: 8 tonne/hr at 50 C and 120 bar • Feed Ratios: • H2O:EO:NH3 • 1.5:1:15 Recycle • Zero organic waste streams • 99.88% Feed H2O • 94.97% Feed NH3 Separations •Vacuum distillation prevents product degradation •Essential to maintain temperatures • <160 C for MEA • <190 C for DEA and TEA •Producing 11,000 tonne/yr EA • 99% chemical grade MEA • 6300 tonne/year • 99% chemical grade DEA • 3400 tonne/year • 85% commercial grade TEA • 1550 tonne/year Total Savings Electricity: 1% Heat Integration: 20.44% Heating Utilities: 2800 kW • Cogeneration turbine provides electricity to EA process • Steam provides heating to 250 C Cold Utilities: 3800 kW • 3 Refrigeration Cycles • Propane provides cooling to -40 C Reverse Osmosis: 40 kW • Makeup water 59 L/min • All local surface water Product Uses • MEA and DEA are widely used for scrubbing of CO 2 and H 2 S • China is the leader in CCS & has several pilot projects within close proximity • TEA is utilized in cement production processes, Ulan Cement Plant local buyer MEA MEA Regeneration CO 2 Rich Gas CO 2 Free Gas Pure CO 2 CO 2 Adsorption Vacuum or Heating MEA MEA Scrubber: -435 kW •Battery generation • 526 kW •Total energy input • 89 kW China – Inner Mongolia • Excess wind power • Access to local water • Rail transport to major ports China is incorporating wide scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology by 2030 to curb pollution. Ulanqab *Image courtesy of Greenpeace H 2 O 1. Zero waste with total recycle 2. CO2 scrubbing through MEA Product 3. Wind power Summary