IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES (IJCCP )

E-I SSN 2545-5265
P- ISSN 2695-1916
VOL. 11 NO. 1 2025
DOI: 10.56201/ijccp.v11.no1.2025.pg19.33

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CSTR Design for the Production of 100,000 tons per year of Cumene from the Catalytic Alkylation of Propylene and Benzene

Wosu, Chimene Omeke Aworabhi, Epere, Anisa, OwoufiniEre

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Abstract

The research showed that 100,000 tons / year of cumene is produced from catalytic alkylation of benzene and propylene at 95% fractional conversion of the feed concentration in an adiabatic continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The study employed the conservation principle of material and energy balance to develop the design of a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) and models for temperature effects under steady-state process conditions. The models were simulated using MATLAB to determine the optimal CSTR size specifications, including volume, height, diameter, space time, space velocity, heat produced, and heat produced per unit volume. The results were 52.296 m³, 6.343 m, 3.217 m, 8.038 s, 0.124 s?, 0.694 J/s, and 0.013 J/s·m³, respectively, at a fractional conversion of 0.95 and an operating temperature of 481.1 K. The relationship between fractional conversion and operating temperature was illustrated through profiles, which aligned with the reactor performance model trends. The height and diameter of the CSTR stirrer design was 5.843m and 2.217m with allowance of 0.5m and 1m dependent on the CSTR height and diameter respectively. The yearly production cost of the reactor dependent on its optimum volume in Dollar and Naira are $5,422.080 and ?8,946,432 as at 11th of January, 2025. This article has shown that the CSTR design is crucial for sustainability and production of cumene in order to meet the global demand of the economic and viable product.

keywords:

Cumene, Propylene, Benzene, CSTR, Design, MATLAB Simulation

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