Summary for the CC2 example simulation

This example demonstrates how you can use AVEVA Process Simulation to model the cumene production process. It represents a comprehensive model for steady-state and dynamic studies that combines custom models for chemical reactions in a tubular reactor, two distillation columns with 40 equilibrium stages in total, and material recycles.

The model is based on the detailed process description by Turton et al.1 and uses the same specifications as the Turton publication for the feeds, the reaction kinetics for main- and side-reaction, the reactor design, and the two distillation towers. The steady-state model is complemented by the control scheme suggested by Luyben2 for this process. The steady-state results reported by Turton are matched and the control behavior discussed by Luyben is confirmed.

The objective of this simulation is to:

• Model the cumene production process, which converts pure benzene and propylene to cumene.

• Illustrate how you can formulate user-defined models for reaction kinetics in a plug flow reactor.

• Generate a heat and material balance for the process that covers the feed section, the reactor section, and the separation section.

• Validate the process control strategy and prove its robustness against process disturbances.

• Compare its steady-state results and the dynamic performance against the numbers and performance reported in the referenced sources.

The following figure illustrates AVEVA Process Simulation’s cumene production process.

Figure 1: The cumene process model