Modelling Solid Processes

Modelling Coal Drying

In this simulation you will simulate a coal drying process.

You will:

• Define nonconventional solid components.

• Specify physical properties for nonconventional solid components.
• Change the global stream class.
• Specify streams with nonconventional solid components.
• Modify component attributes in a unit operation block.
• Analyse the results.

The process flow diagram and operating conditions for this simulation are shown in the following
figure. A wet coal stream and a nitrogen stream are fed to a drier. There are two products from the
drier: a stream of dried coal and a stream of moist nitrogen.

Click New on the Start Using Aspen Plus window.

The New dialog box appears. Use this dialog box to specify the template for the new run. With
the template, Aspen Plus automatically sets various defaults appropriate to your application.

1. Under Installed Templates in the panel on the left side of the New dialog box,
click Solids, then click the Solids with English Units template.

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 Information for unit sets, property method, etc. that were pre-defined in the template is shown
on the right side, in the Preview field.

2. Click Create to apply this template.

It takes a few seconds for Aspen Plus to apply these options.
Save the file now as Solid1.

The Components - Specifications | Selection sheet is used to enter the components present in
the simulation. The components in this simulation are H2O, N2, O2, and coal.

1. In the first four Component ID fields, enter H2O, N2, O2, and COAL.
Because H2O, N2, and O2 are present in the databanks, WATER, NITROGEN, and OXYGEN
appear in the Component name field. Aspen Plus does not recognize COAL. Coal is actually
a mixture of different compounds, but for this simulation it will be treated as a single
component.
By default, Aspen Plus assumes all components are of the type Conventional, indicating that
they participate in phase equilibrium calculations. However, in this simulation, coal will be
modeled as a nonconventional solid.
2. From the COAL Type field, click and select Nonconventional.
The Components - Specifications | Selection sheet is now complete:

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 3. From the Navigation Pane, select Methods | Specifications.
The Methods - Specifications | Global sheet appears.

Defining Properties

The Methods - Specifications | Global sheet is used to select the thermodynamic methods used to
calculate properties such as K-values, enthalpy, and density. Property methods in Aspen Plus are
categorized into various process types.

Because the physical property methods for solid components are the same for all property methods,
select a property method based on the conventional components in the simulation.

The IDEAL property method (Ideal gas and Raoult's Law, as the prompt indicates) is a good choice for
this simulation, since the process involves the conventional components H2O, N2, and O2, at low
pressure.

In the Base method field, click and select IDEAL.

Click Next to continue.

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The Methods - NC Props | Property Methods sheet appears.

Specifying Nonconventional Solid Physical Property Models

The Methods - NC Props|Property Methods sheet is used to specify the models used to
calculate the nonconventional solid properties. Because nonconventional components are
heterogeneous solids that do not participate in chemical or phase equilibrium, the only physical
properties that are calculated for nonconventional components are enthalpy and density.

In this simulation, use the HCOALGEN and the DCOALIGT models to calculate the enthalpy and
density of coal.

1. In the Model name field for Enthalpy, click and select HCOALGEN.
The component attributes PROXANAL, ULTANAL, and SULFANAL are automatically
included in the Required component attributes field for COAL when you select
HCOALGEN. Also, four Option Codes fields with values of 1 appear.
Aspen Plus uses component attributes to represent nonconventional components in terms of
a set of identifiable constituents needed to calculate physical properties. HCOALGEN uses
the proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, and sulfur analysis to calculate the enthalpy of coal.
The Option Codes fields define how the HCOALGEN model calculates the heat of
combustion, the standard heat of formation, the heat capacity, and the enthalpy basis for coal.

2. In the Model name field for Density, click and select DCOALIGT.
The Property Methods sheet is complete:

3. Click to continue.

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 The Required Properties Input Complete dialog box appears:

Correct representation of physical properties is an essential component of process modeling.

For many simulations, the only physical property specification that you must provide is the
selection of a property method. The Required Properties Input Complete dialog box shows
that the Aspen Plus physical property system has many optional capabilities that you can use
to increase the accuracy of physical property calculations.
4. Select Go to Simulation environment and click OK to continue.

Drawing the Graphical Simulation Flowsheet

In this simulation, begin building the process flowsheet. Since you will enter your own
block and stream IDs, turn off the automatic naming of blocks and streams, which provide
these IDs automatically.

1. From the ribbon, click File. Click Options.

The Options dialog box appears.
2. Select Flowsheet from the panel on the left side of the dialog box.
3. Clear the Automatically assign block name with prefix and Automatically
assign stream name with prefix check boxes under Stream and unit operation
labels.

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 4. Click Apply and then OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.
The simulation flowsheet shown in the following figure feeds the WET-COAL stream
and the NITROGEN stream to an RStoic model. In the RStoic block, a portion of the
coal reacts to form water. Because the RStoic model has a single outlet stream, use a
Flash2 model to separate the dried coal from the moist nitrogen.

5. Place the flowsheet blocks and streams to create the graphical simulation
flowsheet as shown in the figure above. (See Getting Started Building and Running a
Process Model, session, if you need to review how to create a graphical simulation
flowsheet.)
6. As you place blocks and streams, Aspen Plus prompts you to enter the IDs. Enter
the block IDs and click OK.
The simulation flowsheet above appears different from the process diagram in the
previous figure because the simulation flowsheet uses two unit operation models to
simulate a single piece of equipment. Also, the simulation flowsheet defines an extra
stream (IN-DRIER) to connect the two simulation unit operation models. There is no
real stream that corresponds to the simulation stream IN-DRIER.

Specifying Global Options

1. From the Navigation Pane, go to Setup | Specifications.

The Setup - Specifications form displays default settings Aspen Plus uses for other
sheets. Use this form to give your simulation a title, and to review the stream
properties and global options that were set when you selected the Solids with English
Units template.
It is always good practice to describe your simulation by entering a title for the
simulation.
2. In the Title field, enter the title Getting Started with Solids – Simulation 1.
In the Solids with English Units template, the following global defaults have been set
for solids applications:
o ENG units (English Engineering Units)
o Mass Flow Basis for all flow inputs
o MIXCIPSD for the global Stream class
3. In the Stream class field, click and select MIXNCPSD.

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Stream Classes and Substreams

Stream classes are used to define the structure of simulation streams when inert solids
are present.

The default stream class for most simulations is CONVEN. The CONVEN stream class
has a single substream: the MIXED substream. By definition, all components in the
MIXED substream participate in phase equilibrium whenever flash calculations are
performed.

To introduce inert solid components to a simulation, you must include one or more
additional substreams. Aspen Plus has two other types of substreams available: the
CISOLID substream type and the NC substream type.

The CISOLID substream (Conventional Inert Solid) is used for homogeneous solids that
have a defined molecular weight. The NC substream (Nonconventional) is used for
heterogeneous solids that have no defined molecular weight. Both the CISOLID
substream and the NC substream give you the option of including a Particle Size
Distribution (PSD) for the substream.

Substreams are combined in different ways to form different stream classes. The
MIXNCPSD stream class contains two substreams: MIXED and NCPSD.

The default stream class of the Solids application type, MIXCISLD, is insufficient for this
simulation since you will use an NC substream with a particle size distribution for the feed
coal. In this simulation, use the MIXNCPSD stream class.

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Entering Stream and Block Data

To specify a stream, Aspen Plus requires two thermodynamic specifications, and enough
information to calculate the flow rate of each component.

Specifying the Nitrogen Stream

1. From the Quick Access Toolbar, click to continue.

The NITROGEN (MATERIAL) - Input | Mixed sheet appears.
2. On the NITROGEN (MATERIAL) - Input | Mixed sheet, enter the following
specifications:

Parameter Value
Temperature 270 F

Pressure 14.7 psia

Total flow Mass 50000 lb/hr

Composition Mole-Frac

3. Enter the following mole fractions:

Component Value
N2 0.999

O2 0.001

4. Click to continue.

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 Specifying the Wet Coal Feed Stream

The WET-COAL (MATERIAL) - Input | Mixed sheet appears. Substream MIXED appears by
default. To access the NCPSD substream:

1. Click the tab NC Solid. In the Substream name field, verify NCPSD has been
selected.
2. For the NCPSD substream, enter the following specifications:

Parameter Value
Temperature 77 F

Pressure 14.7 psia

COAL Mass flow 10000 lb/hr

3. Click Particle Size Distribution to display the PSD parameters.

By default, Aspen Plus uses a particle size distribution of 10 size ranges covering 20
microns each. The default size ranges are appropriate for this simulation. On this
sheet, enter the weight fraction of coal in each size range.

4. On the last four Weight fraction fields, enter the following values:

Interval Weight fraction

7 0.1

8 0.2

9 0.3

10 0.4

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5. Click Component Attribute.
In this section, enter the component attributes for the component COAL in the NCPSD
substream. The values in PROXANAL, ULTANAL, and SULFANAL are defined as
weight % on a dry basis, except for Moisture in PROXANAL.
6. Enter the component attribute values for coal. For the attribute PROXANAL, enter
these values:

Element Value
Moisture 25

FC 45.1

VM 45.7

Ash 9.2

7. In the Attribute ID field, click and select ULTANAL.

8. For the attribute ULTANAL, enter these values:

Element Value
Ash 9.2

Carbon 67.1

Hydrogen 4.8

Nitrogen 1.1

Chlorine 0.1

Sulfur 1.3

Oxygen 16.4

9. In the Attribute ID field, click and select SULFANAL.

10. For the attribute SULFANAL, enter these values:

Element Value
Pyritic 0.6

Sulfate 0.1

Organic 0.6

11. The values meet the following consistency requirements:

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 o SULFANAL values sum to the ULTANAL value for sulfur.
o ULTANAL value for ash equals the PROXANAL value for ash.
o ULTANAL values sum to 100.
o PROXANAL values for FC, VM, and ASH sum to 100.
Click to continue.
The DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Input | Specifications sheet appears.
The unit operation models RStoic and Flash2 simulate a single piece of plant
equipment for drying coal. Nitrogen provides the heat for coal drying. Both the RStoic
and Flash2 models are isobaric and adiabatic.

Specifying the Flash2 Block

On the DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Input| Specifications sheet:

1. In the Flash Type fields, where Temperature is selected, click and change it
to Duty.
2. In the Pressure field, enter 14.7 psia.
3. In the Duty field, enter 0 Btu/hr.
4. Click to continue.

Specifying the RStoic Block

The DRY-REAC (RStoic) - Setup | Specifications sheet appears.

1. In the Flash Type fields, where Temperature is selected, click and change it
to Duty.
2. In the Pressure field, enter 14.7 psia.
3. In the Heat duty field, enter 0 Btu/hr.
4. Click to continue.
The DRY-REAC (RStoic) - Setup | Reactions sheet appears.
This RStoic block models the drying of coal. Although coal drying is not normally
considered a chemical reaction, you are using an RStoic block to convert a portion of
the coal to form water. The following equation is the chemical reaction for coal drying:
COAL(wet)→0.0555084 H2O
Aspen Plus treats all nonconventional components as if they have a molecular weight
of 1.0. The reaction indicates that 1 mole (or 1 lb.) of coal reacts to form 0.0555084
mole (or 1 lb.) of water.

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 To Enter the Reaction Stoichiometry

1. Click New.
The Edit Stoichiometry dialog box appears. A reaction number of 1 is automatically
chosen.
2. In the Reactants | Component field, click and select COAL.
3. In the Reactants | Coefficient field, enter 1.
Note that the stoichiometric coefficient for reactants is displayed as negative, -1.
4. In the Products | Component field, click and select H2O.
5. In the Products | Coefficient field, enter 0.0555084.
The conversion for this reaction must be set to achieve the proper amount of drying.
6. Select the Fractional conversion option.
7. In the Products generation section, for the Fractional conversion field,
enter 0.2; in the of component field, click and select COAL.
The fraction conversion of Coal of 0.2 is a temporary value that you will override later
with a Calculator block.

8. Click Close to return to the DRY-REAC (RStoic)- Setup | Reactions sheet.

Updating the Moisture Content

Drying the coal changes its component attribute for moisture in the Proximate Analysis. Since the
other elements of PROXANAL, ULTANAL, and SULFANAL are on a dry basis, drying the coal
does not change these attributes.

1. Click the Component Attr. tab. Click at the end of the row of tabs, if necessary, to
access it.
The DRY-REAC (RStoic)- Setup | Component Attr. sheet appears. On this sheet, enter the
values for component attributes that change in this RStoic block. If you do not enter an
attribute value, the attribute does not change.
2. In the Substream ID field, click and select NCPSD.
3. In the Component ID field, click and select COAL.
4. In the Attribute ID field, click and select PROXANAL.
5. In the Moisture field, enter a value of 1. (The moisture content of 1 is a temporary value
that you will override later with a Calculator block.)

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 6. Click to continue.
The Required Input Complete dialog box appears.
Although you could run your simulation now, you have not yet created the Calculator block to
control the drying.
7. Click Cancel.

Using a Calculator Block to Control Drying

The material balance equations for this process define relations between the following
quantities:

• Water content of the feed coal.

• Fractional conversion of coal to water.
• Water content of the dried coal.
(1)

(2)

Where:

COALIN = Mass flow rate of coal in stream WET-COAL

COALOUT= Mass flow rate of coal in stream IN-DRIER
H2OIN = Percent moisture in the coal in stream WET-COAL
H2ODRY = Percent moisture in the coal in stream IN-DRIER
CONV = Fractional conversion of coal to H2O in the block DRY-REAC

Equation 1 is the material balance for water, and equation 2 is the overall material
balance. These equations can be combined to yield equation 3:

(3)

Use equation 3 in a Calculator block to ensure these three specifications are consistent.

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 Creating the Calculator Block

The Calculator block specifies the moisture content of the dried coal and calculates the
corresponding conversion of coal to water.

Using a Calculator block to set specifications allows you to run different cases easily.

1. From the Navigation Pane, select Flowsheeting Options | Calculator.

The Calculator object manager appears.
2. Click New to create a new Calculator block.
The Create New ID dialog box appears, displaying an automatically generated Calculator ID,
C-1.
3. Delete the ID C-1 and enter the ID WATER and click OK.
The WATER | Define sheet appears.
4. Ensure that the Active checkbox is checked.

Use this sheet to access the flowsheet variables you want to use in the Calculator block. Define
the three Calculator variables from equation 3: H2OIN, H2ODRY, and CONV.

H2OIN is the water content of the feed coal. The H2OIN variable accesses the first element
(percent moisture) of the component attribute PROXANAL for component COAL in the NCPSD
substream of stream WET-COAL.

Creating the H2OIN Variable

1. Click New.
The Create new variable dialog box appears.
2. In the Variable name field, enter H2OIN and click OK.
3. Click H2OIN in the grid. It appears in the Edit selected variable section.
4. In the Category frame, click Streams.
5. In the Reference frame, in the Type field, click and select Compattr-
Var since the variable is a component attribute.
When you are specifying variables, Aspen Plus displays the other fields necessary to
complete the variable definition. In this case, the Stream field appears.
6. In the Stream field, click and select WET-COAL.
The Substream and Component fields appear. In this example, do not modify the
default choice of NCPSD in the Substream field.
7. In the Component field, click and select COAL.
The Attribute field appears.
8. In the Attribute field, click and select PROXANAL.
9. In the Element field, enter 1. Press Enter.

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 The blue check mark next to H2OIN in the Variable name field indicates that the
definition of variable H2OIN is complete:

Creating the Other Variables

CONV and H2ODRY are block variables in the DRY-REAC block. CONV is the fractional
conversion of the first (and only) reaction. H2ODRY is the moisture content of the coal leaving the
RStoic block.

1. Click New to create another variable, CONV. Create the

new CONV and H2ODRY variables as shown:

2. Click to continue.

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 Calculating the Conversion Variable

The WATER | Calculate sheet appears. Use this sheet to enter the Fortran statements you want
Aspen Plus to execute to set H2ODRY and to calculate CONV from equation 3.

1. Enter the following Fortran statements:

H2ODRY = 10.0
CONV = (H2OIN - H2ODRY) / (100 - H2ODRY)

Note: Ensure that there are 6 spaces at the beginning of each line of the Fortran statements.

2. Click to continue.

Specifying When the Calculator Block Should Run

The WATER | Sequence sheet appears. Use this sheet to specify when Aspen Plus should
execute this Calculator block. Since you have used inline Fortran to modify the specifications for
the RStoic block DRY-REAC, this Calculator block should execute immediately prior to DRY-
REAC.

1. In the Execute field, click and select Before.

2. In the Block type field, click and select Unit operation.
3. In the Block name field, click and select DRY-REAC.

4. Click to continue.
The Required Input Complete dialog box appears.
5. Click Cancel.

Viewing the Calculator Block on the Flowsheet

Go to the Flowsheet to verify that the Calculator block WATER has been placed. If it does not
appear, on the Flowsheet | Modify tab of the ribbon, click Display Options and click
the Calculators and Calculator Connections options to make sure that check marks appear in
front of these items.

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The Flowsheet with the Calculator block added looks like this:

The connections between the WATER block and the block DRY-REAC and stream WET-COAL
appear as red dashed lines.

Running the Simulation and Examining Results

1. Click and click OK to run the simulation.

The Control Panel window appears, allowing you to monitor and interact with the
Aspen Plus simulation calculations.
As Aspen Plus performs the analysis, status messages display in the Control Panel.
The simulation completes without warnings or errors.
When the calculations finish, the message Results Available appears in the status
area at the bottom left of the main window.
2. Examine the results of your simulation.
3.
To View the Stream Results

1. In the Control Panel, click Check Status.

The Results Summary - Run Status | Status sheet appears. Click
the Summary tab.
The Summary tab indicates that the simulation completed normally.
2. On the Home tab of the ribbon, in Summary, click Stream Summary.
The Results Summary - Streams | Material sheet appears.

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3. Review the results on this sheet. Since this is a scrolling sheet, use the scrollbars
to review results that are off the screen.

The top section reports the connections and stream classes.

The second section, beginning with Total Stream, reports thermodynamic conditions
and phase fractions, density, and then flows and fractions. Note that some of these
results are not available since the stream contains both conventional and
nonconventional components. Examination of the component mass flow rates
indicates that 1667 lb/hr of H2O are removed from the coal by the drying process.

The third section, beginning with MIXED Substream, displays similar results to the
Total Stream section, but only for the conventional components, and the missing flows
and fractions are reported.

The fourth section, starting with NCPSD Substream, displays information that is
appropriate only for the NCPSD substream. In this case, it displays the component
attributes for coal, and the overall particle size distribution for the NCPSD substream.

Note that the moisture in the PROXANAL is different for stream DRY-COAL and
stream WET-COAL due to the removed water.

You can click the – icons next to these sections, or next to any of the subsections
within them, to hide certain results.

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To View the Block Results

1. From the Navigation Pane, expand the Blocks folder and select the DRY-
FLSH folder. Click Results.
The DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Results | Summary sheet appears. This sheet reports
mixture thermodynamic properties for the block, such as outlet temperature.

2. Click the Balance tab.

The DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Results | Balance sheet appears. This sheet is used to
report the overall mass and energy balance for the block.
3. Click the Phase Equilibrium tab.
The DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Results | Phase Equilibrium sheet appears. On this
sheet, Aspen Plus reports the total molar flow rate, liquid mole fractions, vapor mole
fractions and K-values. In this block, there is no liquid phase, so the liquid mole
fractions and K-values refer to a hypothetical liquid phase.
4. Click Blocks | DRY-FLSH | Stream Results from the Navigation Pane.
The DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Stream Results | Material sheet appears. This is similar
to the Results Summary - Streams | Material sheet, but only lists streams entering
or leaving this block.
5. Click Blocks | DRY-REAC | Results to move to the DRY-REAC (RStoic) -
Results | Summary sheet.
This sheet, like the DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Results | Summary sheet, displays the
mixture thermodynamic results for the block, such as temperature.

6. Click the Balance tab to move to the next sheet with results.

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 The DRY-REAC (RStoic) - Results | Balance sheet appears. This sheet displays the
mass and energy balance for the block. Because this block contains a reaction
between the NCPSD substream and the MIXED substream, neither the conventional
components nor the nonconventional are in mass balance. The total mass balance for
the stream shows a very small relative difference.
7. Click the Phase Equilibrium tab to move to the next sheet with results.
The DRY-REAC (RStoic) - Results | Phase Equilibrium sheet appears. This sheet
serves the same function as the DRY-FLSH (Flash2) - Results | Phase
Equilibrium sheet.

Exiting Aspen Plus

When you are finished working with this model, save your simulation and exit Aspen Plus as
follows:

1. From the ribbon, select File | Save as | Aspen Plus Document.

The Save as dialog box appears.
2. In the File name field, enter Solid1.
3. Click Save.
Aspen Plus saves the simulation as the Aspen Plus Document file, Solid1.apw, in your default
working directory (displayed in the Save in field).
4. From the ribbon, select File | Exit. This file will be used in the next session.

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Modelling Coal Combustion
In this simulation, you will simulate a coal combustion process.

You will:

• Start with the simulation you created in the last session.

• Modify the flowsheet.
• Change the stream class.
• Add the components needed for combustion.
• Specify the unit operation models.
• Define a Fortran Calculator block to control the decomposition of coal.
• Analyze the results.

The process flow diagram, operating conditions and problem definition for this simulation
are shown in the following figure. The feed to the furnace is the dried coal stream from
previous session. After combustion, the ash is separated from the gaseous combustion
products.

If You Completed the Simulation in Session 1 and Saved the Simulation

On the Start Using Aspen Plus window, click Solid1.apw in Recent Models.

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 If Your Saved File Solid1.apw is Not Displayed

1. Click Open.
The Open dialog box appears.
2. Navigate to the directory that contains your saved file Solid1.apw.
3. Select Solid1.apw in the list of files and click Open.

Before modifying the run, create and save a copy of Solid1 with a new Run ID, Solid2. Then you
can make modifications under this new Run ID.

1. From the ribbon, select File | Save As | Aspen Plus Document.

2. In the Save As dialog box, choose the directory where you want to save the simulation.
3. In the File name field, enter Solid2.
4. Click Save to save the simulation and continue.
Aspen Plus creates a new simulation model, Solid2, which is a copy of the base case
simulation, Solid1.

Use the RGibbs model to simulate combustion of the dry coal. RGibbs models chemical
equilibrium by minimizing Gibbs free energy. However, the Gibbs free energy of coal cannot be
calculated because it is a nonconventional component.

Before feeding the dried coal to the RGibbs block, decompose the coal into its constituent
elements. This is done in the RYield block, DECOMP. The heat of reaction associated with the
decomposition of coal must be considered in the coal combustion. Use a heat stream to carry this
heat of reaction from the RYield block to the RGibbs block.

Finally, separate the combustion gases from the ash using the Aspen Plus model SSplit for this
separation.

Modify the flowsheet to include the additional unit operation models and streams, as shown
below. (See Getting Started Building and Running a Process Model, if you need to review how to
create a graphical simulation flowsheet.) You will add three unit operation models (an RYield, an
RGibbs, and an SSplit), a calculator block (its connections, shown in red, will be created in the
steps that follow), five material streams, and one heat stream.

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The simulation flowsheet appears different from the process diagram in the previous figure
because the simulation flowsheet uses two unit operation models to simulate a single piece of
equipment. An extra stream (INBURNER) is defined to connect the two simulation unit operation
models. There is no real stream that corresponds with the simulation stream INBURNER.

Because the decomposition of coal forms carbon, you must use a stream class that includes
conventional solids. Use the MCINCPSD stream class. MCINCPSD contains the following
substreams:

• MIXED
• CIPSD
• NCPSD
To Change the Global Stream Class

1. From the Navigation Pane, go to Setup | Specifications.

The Setup - Specifications | Global sheet appears.
2. In the Stream class field, click and select MCINCPSD.
3. In the Title field, enter Getting Started with Solids – Simulation 2.

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 Adding Components to the Model

Simulation 1 had four components: H2O, N2, O2, and COAL. Add the components that are
formed by decomposing and combusting coal.

First of all, you need to enter the Properties environment.

1. Click the Properties bar on the Navigation Pane.

2. Go to the Components - Specifications | Selection sheet. Add the components
listed below:

Component ID Type Component Name

NO2 Conventional NITROGEN DIOXIDE

NO Conventional NITRIC OXIDE

S Conventional SULFUR

SO2 Conventional SULFUR-DIOXIDE

SO3 Conventional SULFUR-TRIOXIDE

H2 Conventional HYDROGEN

CL2 Conventional CHLORINE

HCL Conventional HYDROGEN-CHLORIDE

C Solid CARBON-GRAPHITE

CO Conventional CARBON-MONOXIDE

CO2 Conventional CARBON-DIOXIDE

ASH Nonconventional

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 Note that you assigned Carbon a Type of Solid. Specifying a component type of Solid
allows that component to be placed in the CIPSD substream.
3. Click to continue.
The Methods- NC Props | Property Methods sheet appears.
Use the Methods - NC Props | Property Methods sheet to specify the models used
to calculate the nonconventional solid properties.

Specify Methods for Calculating Ash Properties

You must specify how Aspen Plus calculates the enthalpy and density of ASH.

1. In the Component field, click and select ASH.

2. In the Model name field for Enthalpy, click and select HCOALGEN.
The Option codes defaults of 1, 1, 1, and 1 are acceptable for ASH.
3. In the Model name field for Density, click and select DCOALIGT.

Change the Heat of Combustion Method for Coal

In the last session, Aspen Plus estimates the heat of coal combustion based on its PROXANAL,
ULTANAL, and SULFANAL. In this simulation, enter the heat of combustion directly.

1. In the Component field, click and select COAL.

2. Change the first HCOALGEN Option codes field from 1 to 6.

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 You just specified that Aspen Plus will use a user-specified value for the heat of combustion of
coal. Now you must specify that value.
3. From the Navigation Pane, select Methods | Parameters | Pure Components.
The Pure Components object manager appears.
4. Click New.
The New Pure Component Parameters dialog box appears. The heat of combustion for coal
is a Nonconventional type.
5. Select the Nonconventional option.
6. Delete the default name NC-1 and enter HEAT as the new name in the Enter new name
or accept default field.
7. Click OK.
The Pure Components- HEAT | Input sheet appears.
8. In the Parameter field, click and select HCOMB.
Note that HCOMB is the heat of combustion on a dry basis. Use the following equation to
convert the heat of combustion on a wet basis to a dry basis:

9. In the first line under the Nonconventional component parameter column, click and
select COAL.
10. In the parameter value field directly below COAL, enter the heat of combustion on a dry
basis: 11700 Btu/lb.

11. Click to continue.

The Properties Input Complete dialog box appears.
12. Select Go to Simulation environment and click OK to access the next required input
sheet in the Simulation Environment.

Specifying the Air Stream

Click Streams | AIR | Input from the Navigation Pane. The AIR (MATERIAL) - Input |
Mixed sheet appears. Aspen Plus requires two thermodynamic specifications, and
enough information to calculate the flow rate of each component.

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 1. Enter the following thermodynamic specifications for the MIXED substream:
Parameter Value
Temperature 77 F

Pressure 14.7 psia

2. In the Composition field, click and select Mole-Frac.

3. Enter the following mole fractions:
Component Value
N2 0.79

O2 0.21

4. Enter a total mass flow of 90000 lb/hr.

5. Click to continue.
The BURN (RGibbs) - Setup | Specifications sheet appears.

Specifying Unit Operation Models

RGibbs is used to model reactions that come to chemical equilibrium. RGibbs calculates chemical
equilibrium and phase equilibrium by minimizing the Gibbs free energy of the system. Therefore,
you do not need to specify the reaction stoichiometry.

Specify the RGibbs Reactor Model

On the BURN (RGibbs) - Setup | Specifications sheet, enter your thermodynamic specifications.
This reactor will be at atmospheric pressure.

1. In the Pressure field, enter 14.7 psia.

The heat duty for this reactor is specified by the heat stream Q-DECOMP.
2. In the Calculation option field, verify that Calculate phase equilibrium and
chemical equilibrium has been selected.
3. Click the Products tab.

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The BURN (RGibbs) - Setup | Products sheet appears. On this sheet, enter the list
of products that may exist at equilibrium.
By default, RGibbs assumes that all of the components that are listed on
the Components - Specifications | Selection sheet are potential products in the
vapor phase or the liquid phase. This default is not appropriate for this simulation,
since any carbon that remains after combustion would be solid.
4. Select Identify possible products.
The Products list appears. For this simulation, all components are potential MIXED
substream products, except for carbon, which is a solid product. Carbon must be
assigned a phase of Pure Solid. This means that any carbon that forms will be present
as a pure, solid phase, not present as a solid solution or alloy.
5. In the products list, enter the component species and phases shown below: (Be
sure to change the Phase for C to PureSolid.)

Component Phase
H2O Mixed

N2 Mixed

O2 Mixed

NO2 Mixed

NO Mixed

S Mixed

SO2 Mixed

SO3 Mixed

H2 Mixed

CL2 Mixed

HCL Mixed

C PureSolid

CO Mixed

CO2 Mixed

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 6. Click to continue.

Specify the RYield Reactor Model

The DECOMP (RYield) - Setup | Specifications sheet appears. RYield is used to simulate a
reactor with a known yield, and does not require reaction stoichiometry and kinetics.

1. On the DECOMP (RYield) - Setup | Specifications sheet, enter the pressure and
temperature:

Parameter Value
Temperature 77 F

Pressure 14.7 psia

2. Click to continue.

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 The Yield sheet appears.
For this simulation, the yield distribution you enter on this sheet is not the true yield
distribution. Use a Calculator block to calculate the actual yield distribution from the
component attributes for coal in the feed stream to the RYield model (stream DRY-
COAL).
3. Enter the component yields as follows:

Component Basis Basis Yield

H2O Mass 0.2

ASH Mass 0.2

C (CIPSD) Mass 0.1

H2 Mass 0.1

N2 Mass 0.1

CL2 Mass 0.1

S Mass 0.1

O2 Mass 0.1

Specify the Particle Size Distributions

In addition to the MIXED substream products, this RYield block forms carbon in the CIPSD
substream and ash in the NCPSD substream. To fully specify the yield, specify the particle size
distributions of the CIPSD and NCPSD substream and the component attributes of the ash that is
formed.

1. Click the PSD tab.

The DECOMP (RYield) - Setup | PSD sheet appears.
2. In the top section, click User-Specified PSD, under it click Substream ID, and in
the list choose CIPSD.

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3. In the bottom section, click User-specified PSD. Keep the Global PSD mesh: PSD
option.
4. Specify the weight fractions for the last four intervals of the particle size
distribution for the carbon formed in the CIPSD substream:

Interval Weight Fraction

7 0.1

8 0.2

9 0.3

10 0.4

It is not necessary to enter zero for intervals 1 through 6.

You must also define the particle size distribution for the NCPSD substream.
5. In the Substream ID field, click and select NCPSD.
6. Click User-specified PSD and enter the same weight fractions for the particle
size distribution for the NCPSD substream that you entered for the CIPSD substream
above.

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Specify the Component Attributes for Ash

1. Click the Comp. Attr. tab.

The attributes PROXANAL, ULTANAL, and SULFANAL are required for RYield to
calculate the enthalpy and density of ash.
2. In the Substream ID field, click and select NCPSD.
3. In the Component ID field, click and select ASH.
ASH has the attributes PROXANAL, ULTANAL, and SULFANAL.
4. In the Attribute ID field, click and select PROXANAL.
5. For the attribute PROXANAL, enter these values:

Element Value
Moisture 0

FC 0

VM 0

Ash 100

6. In the Attribute ID field, click and select ULTANAL.

7. For the attribute ULTANAL, enter these values:

Element Value
Ash 100

Carbon 0

Hydrogen 0

Nitrogen 0

Chlorine 0

Sulfur 0

Oxygen 0

8. In the Attribute ID field, click and select SULFANAL.

9. For the attribute SULFANAL, enter these values:

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 Element Value
Pyritic 0

Sulfate 0

Organic 0

10. Click to continue.

Specify the Splits for the SSplit Block

The SEPARATE (SSplit) - Input | Specifications sheet appears. SSplit mixes all of its feed
streams, then splits the resulting mixture into two or more streams according to substream
specifications. SSplit operates on substreams the same way a Sep block operates on
components.

In this simulation, the SSplit block provides perfect separation between the gaseous products of
combustion (MIXED substream) and the solid products of combustion (CIPSD and NCPSD
substreams).

1. Enter the following split fraction values for the GASES outlet stream:
Substream Name Value
MIXED 1

CIPSD 0

NCPSD 0

Defining a Calculator Block

You have completed enough specifications to run the simulation. However, the yields you
specified in the RYield block were only temporary placeholders. You could directly enter the
correct yields on the DECOMP (RYield) - Setup | Yield sheet. However, by defining a Calculator
block to calculate the yields based on the component attributes of the feed coal, you will be easily
able to run different cases (such as different feed coals).

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 Create the Calculator Block

1. From the Navigation Pane, select Flowsheeting Options | Calculator.

The Calculator object manager appears.
2. Click New to create a new Calculator block.
The Create New ID dialog box appears with an automatically generated ID, C-1.
3. In the Create New ID dialog box, enter COMBUST as the ID and click OK.

Define the Calculator Variables

The COMBUST | Define sheet appears. Use this sheet to access the flowsheet variables you
want to use in the Fortran block. In the simulation in last session, you accessed individual
elements of component attributes. You can also access component attributes as a vector. In this
simulation, access the ultimate analysis of coal in stream DRY-COAL as a component attribute
vector; also, define variables to access the moisture content of coal and the yield of each
component in the DECOMP block.

1. Create and define the following two variables using category Streams:

Variable Type Stream Substream Component Attribute Element

Name
ULT Compattr- DRY- NCPSD COAL ULTANAL
Vec COAL

WATER Compattr- DRY- NCPSD COAL PROXANAL 1

Var COAL

2. Also define the following eight mass yield variables using category Blocks.

Variable Name ID1 ID2

H2O Type Block-Var H2O MIXED

ASH Block DECOMP ASH NCPSD

Variable MASS-YIELD
CARB C CIPSD
for all eight variables.
H2 H2 MIXED

N2 N2 MIXED

CL2 CL2 MIXED

SULF S MIXED

O2 O2 MIXED

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 3. Click the Calculate tab.

Specify the Calculations to be Performed

The COMBUST | Calculate sheet appears. ULTANAL is defined as the ultimate analysis on a dry
basis. The variable WATER, defined as the percent H2O in the PROXANAL for coal, is used to
convert the ultimate analysis to a wet basis. The remaining eight variables (H2O through O2) are
defined as the individual component yields of various species in the RYield block. ULT and
WATER can then be used to calculate the yield of the individual species in the RYield block.

1. Enter the following Fortran statements:

C FACT IS THE FACTOR TO CONVERT THE ULTIMATE ANALYSIS TO
C A WET BASIS.
FACT = (100 - WATER) / 100
H2O = WATER / 100
ASH = ULT(1) / 100 * FACT
CARB = ULT(2) / 100 * FACT
H2 = ULT(3) / 100 * FACT
N2 = ULT(4) / 100 * FACT
CL2 = ULT(5) / 100 * FACT
SULF = ULT(6) / 100 * FACT
O2 = ULT(7) / 100 * FACT

Note: These calculations assume that the inlet stream consists entirely of coal. That is true for this problem,
but may not be true in other problems you work with. A good way of handling the multi-component case is
to insert a Sep before the RYield and a Mixer after it, allowing all non-coal components to bypass the
RYield block.

2. Click the Sequence tab.

Specify When the Calculator Block Should be Run

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The COMBUST | Sequence sheet appears. Since this Calculator block sets values in block
DECOMP, the Calculator block must execute before DECOMP.

1. In the Execute field, click and select Before.

2. In the Block type field, click and select Unit operation.
3. In the Block name field, click and select DECOMP.

4. Click to continue.

Running the Simulation and Examining Results

1. In the Required Input Complete dialog box, click OK to run the simulation.

The Control Panel window appears, allowing you to monitor and interact with the
Aspen Plus simulation calculations.

Aspen Plus issues warnings while processing input specifications. The warnings report
that a certain physical property parameter for carbon is outside the range considered
normal by Aspen Plus.

Aspen Plus uses warnings to alert you that it has encountered some unexpected or
possibly ambiguous situation. In this case, you can safely ignore the warnings
because the simulation is specified exactly as you intended.

As Aspen Plus performs the analysis, you will see status messages displayed in the
Control Panel. No further warnings are generated.

When the calculations finish, the message Results Available appears in the status
area at the bottom left of the main window.

2. Examine the results of your simulation.

View the Stream Results

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1. In the Control Panel, click Check Status.
The Results Summary - Run Status | Status sheet appears. Click
the Summary tab.
The Summary tab indicates that the simulation completed normally.
2. On the Home tab of the ribbon, in Summary, click Stream Summary to access
the streams results sheet.
The Results Summary - Streams | Material sheet appears.
3. Review the results on this sheet. Use the horizontal scrollbar to review results that
are off the screen.
4. In the Stream Group section, click the list and select Streams.
5. At the top of each column, click the list and
select INBURNER, AIR, PRODUCTS, GASES, and SOLIDS.
Results are filled in for each stream as it is specified.
6. Review the results on this sheet. Use the scrollbars to review results that are off
the screen. The Mass Flows section contains important results.

Stream PRODUCTS is the outlet of the RGibbs equilibrium reactor that models the
combustion process. Since oxygen appears in stream PRODUCTS, the combustion
process has excess air. An examination of stream PRODUCTS enables you to
determine the most stable products for each atom in the combustion process:
o SO2 is favored over SO3 and S.
o N2 is favored over NO and NO2.
o CO2 is favored over CO and C (solid).
o HCL is favored over CL2.
7. Click the Heat tab to access the next results sheet.
The Results Summary - Streams | Heat sheet appears. This sheet is displays the
results for heat streams. Examine the results for Q-DECOMP. The heating value of Q-

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 DECOMP represents the enthalpy change in breaking down the coal in stream DRY-
COAL into its constituent elements.

View the Block Results

You do not need to view the results for Blocks DRY-REAC and DRY-FLSH, since they are
unchanged from Simulation 1. View the results for blocks DECOMP, BURN, and SEPARATE.

1. In the Flowsheet, select the DECOMP block.

2. Right-click DECOMP and select Results from the menu.
The DECOMP (RYield) - Results | Summary sheet appears. This sheet reports the
outlet thermodynamic conditions for the block.

3. Click the Balance tab to access the next results sheet.

The DECOMP (RYield) - Results | Balance sheet appears. Use this sheet to report
the mass and energy balance for the block. Because RYield has a net reaction from
nonconventional components to conventional components, the mass balance for both
conventional components and nonconventional components is out of balance.
However, the total mass balance is in balance.
4. Click the Phase Equilibrium tab to access the next results sheet.
The DECOMP (RYield) - Results | Phase Equilibrium sheet appears. This sheet
indicates that the liquid from the RYield block is a solution of water and sulfur. In
actuality, the sulfur would form a solid at this temperature. However, this fact does not
matter for this simulation, because the stream (coal broken down into its constituents)
does not exist in a real combustion process. This stream exists only as a
mathematical construct to simplify the specification of the combustion process.

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 5. In the Navigation Pane, expand the list of forms for the BURN block and
select Results.
The BURN (RGibbs) - Results | Summary sheet appears. This sheet reports the
outlet thermodynamic conditions of the RGibbs block. The outlet temperature is the
adiabatic flame temperature of the coal with a fixed amount of excess air.

6. Click the Balance tab to access the next results sheet.

The BURN (RGibbs) - Results | Balance sheet appears.
7. Click the Phase Equilibrium tab to access the next results sheet.
The BURN (RGibbs) - Results | Phase Composition sheet appears. This sheet
displays the mole fraction of components in all phases. In this case, there is only a
vapor phase.
8. Click the Atom Matrix tab to access the next results sheet.
The BURN (RGibbs) - Results | Atom Matrix sheet appears. This sheet reports the
atomic composition for each component.
9. In the Navigation Pane, expand the list of forms for the SEPARATE block and
select Results.
The SEPARATE (SSplit) - Results | Summary sheet appears. This sheet reports the
split fraction for each substream.

Exiting Aspen Plus

When finished working with this model, exit Aspen Plus as follows:

1. From the ribbon, select File | Exit.

The Aspen Plus dialog box appears.
2. Click Yes to save the simulation.
Aspen Plus saves the simulation as the Aspen Plus Document file, Solid2.apw, in your default
working directory (displayed in the Save in field).

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