Team 16: The Chemies It’s not easy being green Dave JankeMike Hall Briley LambertLaura Hamilton
Outline Project Overview Process Flow Diagram Design Decisions Obstacles Obstacles Overcome Current Status Questions
Project Overview Design a pilot plant to produce poly( - hydroxybutyrate), a biodegradable polymer.
Process Flow Diagram
Design Decisions Agitated bubble tank reactor Good mass transfer Long residence time possible Preliminary size – 210 liters Impeller and mixing equipment Picture from Chemineer, Inc.
Design Decisions Membrane separator Remove first catalyst Static Mixer Cost Heat Transfer Picture from Chemineer, Inc.
Obstacles Reactor sizing Gas hold-up Mixing Sparger Polymerization reaction Heat exchange Residence time
Obstacles Overcome Reaction Kinetics Properties of β-butyrolactone HYSYS Enthalpy of reaction Distillation
Current Status Request for mixing/gas dispersion book Reactor design estimates Distillation design in HYSYS Commercially available equipment Extruder Mixing Equipment Membrane Separator
Questions?