Simulation and Optimization of Ethyl Benzene Production Using Aspen Plus Platform

Ethyl benzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon and is also important in the petrochemical industry and as an intermediate in the production of styrene, which is utilized for making polystyrene, it is a common plastic material. The study deals with optimization of the process for the production of ethyl benzene by liquid-phase benzene alkylation. This process involves the reaction of benzene with ethylene to form ethyl benzene. Ethylene reacts with ethyl benzene to form undesired product di-ethyl benzene, if the temperatures of a reactor or concentrations of ethylene are high. Di-ethyl benzene reacts with benzene to form ethyl benzene. Di-ethyl benzene is the highest-boiling component in the system; it comes out the bottom of two distillation columns. The recycling benzene is more expensive. The economic optimum steady-state design is developed that minimizes total annual cost. Therefore, it offers a classic case of an engineering invention and optimization of a procedure. The purpose of this study is to develop an optimum design for the ethyl benzene process considering the reactor size and the amount of benzene recycled. Optimization of the process led to an increase in the yield of ethyl benzene by 0.8832%.