Dynamic Distillation - 1

Dynamic Distillation -
The DeButanizer Column

© 1999 AEA Technology plc - All Rights Reserved. 1

DS+PC 7_1.pdf
2 The DeButanizer Column

Introduction
This module will introduce you to the concept of "integrated
modelling." This term describes the way that HYSYS integrates steady
state and dynamic modelling.

You have already seen how to build a steady state case and then change
it over to a dynamic one. This module will expanded your knowledge in
this area.

Here, you will build a distillation column in steady state, perform some
simple case studies and then transfer the case into the dynamic
environment. You will then be able to run some dynamic case studies
and compare with the steady state results.

The distillation column built here will be a DeButanizer column. There

are two feed streams, each of which is a mixture of light hydrocarbons.
The top product will be a butane rich stream, and the bottom product
will be a mixture of hydrocarbons heavier than butane.

Learning Objectives
This module will reinforce your knowledge of creating steady state
simulations, and then converting them to dynamic ones. You will also
install and use a column operation for the first time in this course.

Prerequisites
Before beginning this module, you must have completed the first and
second modules of this course. You must be able to add unit operations
and streams to a HYSYS simulation.

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Process Overview
Column Overview
 The DeButanizer Column 5

Workshop
Building the Steady State Model
In order to save some time, a starter case has been created for this
module that contains the following information: a fully defined basis,
and two streams (Feed1 and Feed2) that are both fully defined.
If desired, skip added to page 9
You also have the option of opening a short-cut case that contains the
at this time.
complete steady state case. Ask the instructor if this is the right option
for you. If you choose to open the short-cut case, skip ahead to the
appropriate location (page 9) at this time.

1. Begin this module by opening the starter case:

DeButanizer-Starter.hsc located on the course disk. As
mentioned above, this case already has a fully defined basis and
two completely solved streams.
2. Add a Distillation Column operation to this case using one of the
methods outlined in the first module. By default, when column
operations are added to a HYSYS case, HYSYS calls up the
The Distillation Column icon. Column Input Expert tool. This tool contains a series of screen
that will help you set up the column properly.
3. Once the column is entered, the first screen of the input expert
will be displayed. Enter the following information onto this
screen.

In this Cell... Enter...

Name DeButanizer

Numb of Stages (n =) 15

Feed Streams Feed2 (Stage 4)

Feed1 (Stage 8)

Condenser Type Partial (default)

Condenser Vapour Vent

Condenser Liquid Butanes

Reboiler Liquid C5+

Condenser Duty Cond Duty

Reboiler Duty Reb Duty

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When step #3 is completed the view will look like this:

4. Press the Next button to advance to the second page of the Input
Expert. On the second page, enter the following information.

In this Cell... Enter...

Condenser Pressure 1410 kPa (205 psia)

Condenser Pressure Drop 0 kPa (0 psi) (default)

Reboiler Pressure 1440 kPa (210 psia)

After this information is entered, the screen will look like this. Of
course, the numbers may be different depending on your chosen unit
set.

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5. Move on to the next screen of the Input Expert. On this page, we

are able to enter temperature estimates for the column. However,
these estimates are optional, and we will not use them here.
Leave this page blank and move on to the fourth screen.
6. On the fourth screen, we are able to enter specifications that the
column will use to derive a solution. There are three available
cells on this view, we will enter a value into only one. In the
Vapour Rate cell, enter a value of 0. The screen will look like this:

7. Press the Done button to complete the installation of the column

operation.

The column is not able to solve with the current set of specifications. A
distillation column (condenser and reboiler) with three product
streams (Vent, Butanes, and C5+) requires three active specifications.
We have only supplied one.

Additional specifications can be added on the Monitor page of the

Design tab. We need to add two more specifications before the column
will be able to solve.

8. On the Monitor page, press the Add Spec button. Select Column
Component Recovery from the list that appears and press the
Add Specs button.

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8 The DeButanizer Column

9. Enter the following information on the view that appears after the
specification type is chosen. This specification will set the
fraction of butanes (all three components) that will be recovered
in the Butanes product stream.

In This Cell... Enter...

Target Type (radio button) Stream

Name Butane Recovery

Draw Butanes @COL1

Spec Value 0.95

Components i-Butane

n-Butane

i-Butene

10. Add another specification following the steps outlined in steps 8

and 9. This time the specification type will be Column
Component Fraction. Define the specification with the following
information.

In This Cell... Enter...

Target Type (radio button) Stream

Name C5’s in Top

Draw Butanes @COL1

Spec Value 0.05

Components i-Pentane

n-Pentane

11. On the Monitor page of the Design tab, we will select our new
specifications as Active and the other ones as Inactive. On this
page, check the "Active" box for the "Butane Recovery" and "C5’s
in Top" specifications. The "Ovhd Vap Rate" specification should
already be active. Deactivate another specification other than
these three. The section of the view should look something like
this.

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12. Once the active specifications are fully defined, the column will
start to solve; if not, press the Run button. If the column does not
solve quickly, ask the instructor for help.

What is the reflux ratio of the column with the current

specifications? __________
Change the butane recovery fraction to 0.9625 and the
If you decided to use the short- amount of C5’s in Top to 0.025. What is the reflux ratio
cut file, open it now. The file is now? ______________
called
Debutanizer-Shortcut.hsc, What is the molar Reflux flow? ______________
and can be found on the
Make this an active specification with the current value as
course disk. Begin at step 12.
the spec value, and deactivate the C5’s in Top specification.

13. We will now test the response of the column to changes in the
flows of the feed streams. Complete the following table with data
from the simulation.

Mass Frac.
Feed1 Flow Feed2 Flow Tray 6 i-C5 in Condenser Reboiler
kg/h (lb/hr) kg/h (lb/hr) Temp. Butanes Duty Duty
stream

8000 (18,000) 4000 (9000)

4000 (9000) 8000 (18,000)

0 (0) 12 000 (26,500)

12 000 (26,500) 0 (0)

14. When you are finished, return the flows for the two feed streams
to their original values.

We are now ready to begin to transform the steady state case into a
dynamic model.

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Converting to Dynamics
In a previous module, we converted a steady state gas plant to a
dynamic model. We are going to do the same thing here. Converting a
distillation column is a little more complicated, but the instructor is
prepared to help you get though any difficulties that arise.

Just as with the gas plant example, there are several basic steps that are
required to convert from steady state to dynamics.

• Adding the valves on the feed and product streams. Note that
we will not add a valve on the vent stream. Instead, we will use
a Flow spec instead of the standard pressure spec.
• Define the P/F specs for all feed and product streams. We will
also set the mass flow of Reflux as a dynamic spec. This is a
column requirement.
• Set various equipment volumes.
• Setup the various PID controllers. We will use six controllers in
this simulation.

All of these steps must be done before the case can be run dynamically.
In addition, a strip chart will be setup to monitor the process.

Adding the Valves

We want to add four valves to our simulation. All valves will have a
steady state pressure drop of 50 kPa (7 psi).

• VLV-100: Inlet = To Feed1; Outlet = Feed1

• VLV-101: Inlet = To Feed2; Outlet = Feed2
Note that VLV-102 and VLV- • VLV-102: Inlet = Butanes; Outlet = Butane Product
103 could be placed in the • VLV-103: Inlet = C5+; Outlet = Liquid Product
column environment as well.
This will avoid having the PV
The valves on the Feed1 and Feed2 streams are not automatically sized
and MV in different
flowsheets. by HYSYS. On the Rating tab of these two valves, press the Size Valve
button to allow HYSYS to calculate the Cv value.
However, for this example all
valves will be placed in the
main environment.

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Defining the P/F Specs

On the Dynamics tab for the following streams, activate the Pressure
specification. Use the steady state pressure in all cases.

• To Feed1
• To Feed2
• Butane Product
• Liquid Product

On the Dynamics tab for the following streams, activate the Flow
specification. Again, use the steady state flows.

• Vent
• Reflux

In order to set the flow spec on the reflux stream, you will have to enter
the column environment.

The boundary streams of our simulation changed when we added the

valves to the simulation. For this reason, you may have to deactivate the
dynamic specifications for the Feed1 and Feed2 streams.

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Setting the Equipment Volumes

There are three pieces of equipment that require sizing information
before running dynamically: the Condenser, Reboiler, and Tray Section.

Access to the required views for these unit operations can be found
either through the Column Environment (where they are just like any
other operation) or on the Rating tab of the column’s property view.

We will set the volume of both the Condenser and the Reboiler to 15 m3
(530 ft3). If you are using the Rating tab of the column’s property view,
select the Vessels page to enter these values.

For the Tray Section, specify the following values on the Tray Sections
page of the Rating tab.

In This Cell... Enter...

These numbers were obtained Tray Diameter 1.5 m (4.5 ft)
using the Tray Sizing utility in
HYSYS. Weir Height 0.05 m (0.15 ft)

Weir Length 1.2 m (4.0 ft)

Tray Spacing 0.55 m (1.8 ft)

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Adding the Controllers

We need to have six controllers in our simulation. The following
variables will be controlled using PID controllers:

• Feed1 - Mass Flow

• Feed2 - Mass Flow
• Condenser - Liquid Percent Level
• Condenser - Vessel Pressure
• Reboiler - Liquid Percent Level
• Main TS - Stage 6 - Temperature

The mass flow rates of the two feed streams are easily controlled with
the valves that are on the streams. Use the Kc and Ti recommended in a
previous module (Controller Tuning) for Flow control.

The amount of liquid in the condenser will be controlled by adjusting

the valve on the Butanes stream. Again, use the recommended Kc and
Ti values. The same strategy will be use to control the amount of liquid
in the reboiler.

The pressure in the condenser, which sets the pressure in the rest of the
column, will be controlled by manipulating the Cond Duty heat flow.
Increasing the cooling duty will cause more condensation inside the
condenser, hence the pressure will drop. Conversely, decreasing the
cooling duty will lead to an increase in the column’s pressure. In order
to define the operation of this valve, you will need to specify the
controller’s range, and the range of the duty valve for the condenser.
Size the condenser’s duty valve using the Direct Q method. To do this,
click the Control Valve button in the Controller view. This button
appears whenever a controller is attached to an energy stream. Change
the radio button to Direct Q, and enter the a maximum heating value
that is approximately twice the steady state value.

The temperature of the sixth tray in the column will be controlled by

manipulating the reboiler’s duty. This tray was chosen because it
showed a good response to a change in the reboiler’s duty. Again, size
the duty valve using the Direct Q method, and use a maximum value
that is twice the steady state value. You will need to set the range of the
TIC also.

The actions that the controllers require have not been given here. At
this point in the course, you should be able to determine the correct
controller action yourself. However, if you have any questions, do not
hesitate to ask the instructor for help.

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Adding the Strip Chart

Add a strip chart to the simulation to monitor the following variables:

• Feed1 - Mass Flow

• Feed2 - Mass Flow
• Condenser - Vessel Pressure
• Main TS - Stage 6 - Temperature
• Butanes - Component Mass Fraction - i-C5

With the strip chart, the controllers and the P/F specs all in place. We
are almost ready to run the simulation dynamically. However, we have
forgotten one very important step.

Save your case!

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 The DeButanizer Column 15

Running the Dynamics Assistant

As was done before, the Dynamics Assistant will be used to check the
simulation over and to ensure that all of the required dynamic
specifications are set.

Run the Dynamics Assistant by pressing the button in the tool bar, or by
pressing the hot key combination <Ctrl><Y>.

Remember that the Assistant will only test your simulation against
default rules. For this reason, it will suggest that you remove the Flow
spec on the Vent stream. However, we know that this is a good
specification in this case, so we can ignore this suggestion.

The assistant will also alert you to the fact that the pressure profile for
the column in steady state may not match the profile of the column in
dynamics. This, too, is acceptable.

If you followed the steps in this module carefully, the assistant should
not give any serious warning messages.

if you have any questions about the meaning of any of the messages
that the Dynamics Assistant gives, ask the instructor for more
information.

We can now enter the Dynamic mode, and try to run the simulation
dynamically.

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Running the Simulation Dynamically

Once all of the equipment has been entered in steady state, the P/F
specs have been set, and the equipment has been sized, we can enter
the dynamic environment by pressing the Dynamic button in the tool
bar, or by pressing the <F7> hot key.
You should only convert a
steady state case to dynamics
if it is completely solved. Now, we can start to run the simulation by pressing the "Green Light"
Unsolved cases do not convert button in the tool bar, or by pressing the <F9> hot key.
well.
If everything is setup correctly, the integrator should run without any
trouble.

Does the integrator run successfully? ______________

At what mass fraction of i-pentane does the simulation
flat-line? ______________
How does this compare to the steady state solution found
on page 9? Make sure that the stage 6 temperature is the
same in both cases? ______________

Save your case!

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Exercises
Set up the dynamic simulation to mimic the remaining steady state
conditions on page 9. Compare the dynamic and steady state
responses, paying special attention to the mass fraction of i-pentane in
the Butanes stream.

You may not be able to met the third condition exactly, due to an upper
limit on the flow of Feed2 caused by the P/F relationship. Even with the
valve open 100%, the Feed2 flowrate can not rise above approximately
10 000 kg/h (22,000 lb/hr).

In order for the flowrate of this stream to reach the desired mark of
12000 kg/h (26,500 lb/hr) you will have to increase the Cv of the valve in
this stream.

Does the dynamic simulation match the steady state

solution closely every time? __________

Should the dynamic and steady state solution match

exactly every time? __________ Why or why not?
__________________________________________________

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Challenge
For this challenge, we will add a depropanizer column to the gas plant
that was built in modules 1 and 2.

This DePropanizer column will be fed with the LTS Liquid product
stream.

If you did not do the exercise for module 2, you will have to do it before
you add the distillation column.

Remember that operations should be added and solved in steady state

before moving to dynamics.

The specifications of the column can be found in the following table:

In This Cell... Enter...

Number of Stages 15

Feed stream Outlet of Valve on LTS liquid stream

Feed Stage 7

Condenser Type Full Reflux

Condenser Duty Cond-Q

Reboiler Duty Reb-Q

Overhead Vapour Stream Lights

Reboiler Liquid Product Stream Heavies

Condenser Pressure 2000 kPa (300 psia)

Reboiler Pressure 2100 kPa (350 psia)

Condenser Temp. Estimate -10 oC (15 oF)

Reboiler Temp. Estimate 100 oC (200 oF)

Reflux Ratio 2.5

Mole Fraction C3 in Reboiler Liquid 0.005

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You will have to decide on a control strategy for the column, and add
the necessary equipment to run the column dynamically.

Some hints are given here:

• Pay attention to the P/F specs. The boundary streams have

changed. Use the Dynamics Assistant, if desired.
• Add a valve on each new product stream.
• Use the Dynamics Assistant to size the column. Make sure that
the reboiler and condenser volumes are reasonable.
• Your control strategy should control four variables: Condenser
Pressure, Condenser Liquid Percent Level, Reboiler Level, and
Column Temperature.
• You may want to set up another strip chart to monitor the
column variables mentioned above. This will help you
determine whether your control strategy is a good one or not.

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Supplemental Information
Steady State and Dynamic Columns -
The Differences
When we installed the column in steady state, we had to add two
specifications (Butane Recovery, C5’s in Top) in order for the column to
solve. We also defined the pressure profile in the column by specifying
the condenser and reboiler pressures.

However, before we could run the column dynamically, we had to enter

the dimensions of the tray section and the volumes of the condenser
and the reboiler. This is the primary difference between steady state
and dynamic column operations.

In steady state, the column solver manipulated several variables until

the active specifications were met. In dynamics, the solver (called the
Column Runner) will use the dimensions of the column, combined
with flows and pressures to determine the values of all other
specifications. This means that the column solves completely
differently in dynamics than in steady state.

In dynamics, the pressure profile in the column is not fixed by the

specified condenser and reboiler pressures. Rather, just like all other
operations in dynamic simulations, it is a function of the unit’s
geometry and the various flows.

This is why there are small differences between the steady state and
dynamic solutions. In steady state, we set the total pressure drop in the
column at 30 kPa (1440 - 1410) or 5 psi (210 - 205). In dynamics, the
pressure drop was calculated at closer to 10 kpa (1.5 psi). Of course, this
will make a difference in the final solution of the column.

Knowing that the dynamic pressure drop is a function of

the geometry of the column and the flow through it, what
can be done to bring the dynamic solution closer to the
steady state one? ______________

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Why was the flow specification on

the Reflux stream required?
This dynamic specification was required because it reduced the
degrees of freedom for the column.

Remember in an earlier module, when P/F specifications were

introduced, it was mentioned that two "pressure-node" operations
should not be connected together without one "resistance equation"
operation between them. Both the Tray Section and the Condenser are
"pressure-node" operations and they are connected together without a
"resistance equation" operation between them. This is why the Flow
specification was required. An alternative to specifying the flow in this
stream would be to add a valve between these two operations. Of
course, a valve will typically be controlled with a controller.

The flow in this stream could be linked to the level in the condenser, but
this is not necessary.

Using the Tray Sizing Utility

Before running the column dynamically, we entered information about
More information on the Tray the dimensions of the column. This information was obtained using
Sizing utility can be found in the Tray Sizing utility in HYSYS. Due to the amount of information that
the HYSYS user manual.
we want to cover in this course, we could not cover that material at that
time; however, it is vital that you know how to size columns using this
utility. Therefore, the detailed instructions will be given here as a
reference for you to look to when you are sizing your own columns after
this course is finished.

All of the available utilities in HYSYS, (there are several with widely
varying applications), are accessed though the Utilities Menu. This
menu can be accessed by selecting Utilities from the Tools menu in the
main menu bar, or by pressing the hot key combination <Ctrl><B>.

From this menu, select the Tray Sizing utility and press the Add Utility
button.

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Once the utility is selected and added the Property View for the Tray
Sizing Utility will appear. Before the Tray section can be sized, it must
be selected, press the Select TS button to choose the desired tray
section. Note that the view below will change depending on your
simulation conditions.

Once the desired tray section is selected, press the Add Section button
to add the selected section to the utility. Once the section is added, it
will automatically be calculated using the HYSYS default options. If you
have detailed information about the column’s geometry, you should
press the Auto Section button and enter the data where required.

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After the column has been calculated, the utility’s results can be seen
on the Results page of the Performance tab. For our purposes here, we
are interested in the geometry of the column, so that radio button was
chosen in the Trayed Section Results group box. Note that all of the
information required to run the column dynamically is presented here.

In order to copy the calculated geometry of the column back to the

column’s property view, the desired section must be selected as Active.
There is a check box on the Setup tab that will allow you to do this.

Note that pressing the Export

Pressures button will allow
HYSYS to overwrite your
inputted condenser and
reboiler pressures with its own
values.

Once the section is Active, pressing the Export Pressures button on the
Results page of the Performance tab will export the tray sizing
information to the column.

Note that the Dynamic Assistant is able to automate this entire process,
if desired. Run the Assistant, move to the Tray Sections tab, and choose
the SS Pressures page. On this page, press the Quick Size Selected
Sections, and HYSYS will automatically size and export the results to
the column.

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