Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis

The vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data of the ternary system methanol–methyl formate–methylal was measured at atmospheric pressure using a modified Rose equilibrium kettle with vapor–liquid double circulation method. The experiment data were correlated with the NRTL, UNIQUAC, and Wilson activity co...

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Main Authors: Huajie Liu, Jun Fan, Weiping Liu, Yong Wang, Qiuhong Ai, Yonglin Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Separations
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/12/1/12
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author Huajie Liu
Jun Fan
Weiping Liu
Yong Wang
Qiuhong Ai
Yonglin Li
author_facet Huajie Liu
Jun Fan
Weiping Liu
Yong Wang
Qiuhong Ai
Yonglin Li
author_sort Huajie Liu
collection DOAJ
description The vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data of the ternary system methanol–methyl formate–methylal was measured at atmospheric pressure using a modified Rose equilibrium kettle with vapor–liquid double circulation method. The experiment data were correlated with the NRTL, UNIQUAC, and Wilson activity coefficient model equations. The results shown that the root mean square deviation (RMSD) between the calculated and simulated values of the three models followed the order: UNIQUAC ≈ NRTL < Wilson, and except for the RMSD (<i>T</i>) in the range of 0.4–0.5, the others are less than 0.01. In addition, the NRTL model was selected to link with Aspen Plus software to simulate the separation process of polyformaldehyde (POM) waste liquid. The simulation results show that the methyl formate in POM waste stream can be purified by simple distillation, while the methylal separated from the POM waste liquid, which was affected by factors like the azeotropic behavior of binary components, necessitates a complex distillation process. Under optimal operating conditions, the recovery yield of methyl formate through direct distillation can reach 99.7%, with an economic benefit of 6960.1 CNY per ton of waste liquid. Although the economic benefit of the multi-component distillation reach 7281.2 CNY, the increase in the number of equipment and the complexity of the process have negative impacts.
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institution Kabale University
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series Separations
spelling doaj-art-5ca2d5ded9054f549e68875cdf1aa4132025-01-24T13:49:31ZengMDPI AGSeparations2297-87392025-01-011211210.3390/separations12010012Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic AnalysisHuajie Liu0Jun Fan1Weiping Liu2Yong Wang3Qiuhong Ai4Yonglin Li5School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411105, ChinaSchool of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411105, ChinaSchool of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, ChinaSchool of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411105, ChinaSchool of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, ChinaSchool of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411105, ChinaThe vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data of the ternary system methanol–methyl formate–methylal was measured at atmospheric pressure using a modified Rose equilibrium kettle with vapor–liquid double circulation method. The experiment data were correlated with the NRTL, UNIQUAC, and Wilson activity coefficient model equations. The results shown that the root mean square deviation (RMSD) between the calculated and simulated values of the three models followed the order: UNIQUAC ≈ NRTL < Wilson, and except for the RMSD (<i>T</i>) in the range of 0.4–0.5, the others are less than 0.01. In addition, the NRTL model was selected to link with Aspen Plus software to simulate the separation process of polyformaldehyde (POM) waste liquid. The simulation results show that the methyl formate in POM waste stream can be purified by simple distillation, while the methylal separated from the POM waste liquid, which was affected by factors like the azeotropic behavior of binary components, necessitates a complex distillation process. Under optimal operating conditions, the recovery yield of methyl formate through direct distillation can reach 99.7%, with an economic benefit of 6960.1 CNY per ton of waste liquid. Although the economic benefit of the multi-component distillation reach 7281.2 CNY, the increase in the number of equipment and the complexity of the process have negative impacts.https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/12/1/12methyl formatepolyformaldehydevapor–liquid equilibriummodelingprocess simulation
spellingShingle Huajie Liu
Jun Fan
Weiping Liu
Yong Wang
Qiuhong Ai
Yonglin Li
Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis
Separations
methyl formate
polyformaldehyde
vapor–liquid equilibrium
modeling
process simulation
title Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis
title_full Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis
title_fullStr Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis
title_short Separation Process for Methanol–Methylal–Methyl Formate Multicomponent System in Polyformaldehyde Production Waste Liquid: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis
title_sort separation process for methanol methylal methyl formate multicomponent system in polyformaldehyde production waste liquid modeling and techno economic analysis
topic methyl formate
polyformaldehyde
vapor–liquid equilibrium
modeling
process simulation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/12/1/12
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