Comparison of low temperature mixed refrigerant cycles for separation systems

Numerous mixed refrigerant cycles (MRCs) were developed in the past several decades in different applications. In this paper, two sets of low temperature MRCs are developed and simulated for a typical olefin plant utilizing a mixture of methane, ethane, propane and nitrogen as cycle working fluid to replace the pure ethylene refrigeration cycle that is used in conjunction with propylene refrigeration cycle in conventional plants. The key parameters of the cycles including mixture compositions and operating pressure levels are optimized to meet the objective of minimum shaftwork in compressor. The results show that different cycle configuration has different optimal mixture composition and low and high operating pressures. The results of exergy analysis reveal that the main location of the exergy loss in the cycles is the heat exchanger system. Also, the Carnot factor versus heat flow diagram is provided to identify the distribution of inefficiencies in the heat exchangers for each cycle. The simulation results show that MRCs can improve the thermodynamic performance of refrigeration system using the optimal working fluid mixture composition, optimal high and low operating pressures and optimal arrangement of the cycle components. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

应用轴功目标法合成低温分离序列

针对以乙烯深冷分离系统为代表的低温精馏过程合成问题。低温精馏系统包括精馏序列以及与之对应的换热网络和制冷系统。依据轴功目标方法,低温分离系统的能耗可以归结到制冷系统的轴功上,且过程的轴功消耗可以不经过换热网络和制冷系统的合成而直接得到。本文以轴功消耗作为优化目标建立数学模型,在模型中不包含换热网络和制冷系统结构的情况下建立精馏序列与对应轴功消耗的关系。这样,在不增加问题复杂程度的前提下实现对系统总能耗的优化。对乙烯冷端分离系统的合成的算例研究表明,通过基于轴功目标的数学模型可以高效的得到具有最低轴功消耗的精馏系统。