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Energy Efficient Recovery of Olefins Using Solid Absorbents
The goal of this project was to design and optimize new recovery processes based on the use of supported transition metal complexes for the reversible complexation of olefins from gas streams that also contain paraffins and other gases. Presently, the primary method of olefin/paraffin separation is distillation. However, due to low relative volatilities of the compounds, high pressures and low temperatures are needed to perform the separation. As a result, excessive utility costs are associated with this process.
The engineering work on this project has been to propose preliminary models for commercial pressure-swing olefin adsorption processes and to estimate possible savings using solid olefin adsorbents. New separation processes based on highly selective olefin adsorbents, which can be regenerated at low temperatures and pressure, offer the potential to reduce energy consumption, improve product purity, and reduce olefin waste. For the case of high density polyethylene (HDPE) production, 520 million pounds of ethylene and 4.32 x 1012 BTUs of energy can be saved each year using solid olefin adsorbents.
Sponsor: University Center for Energy Research
PIs: Karen High and Jan Wagner
Corinna Czekaj (College of Arts and Sciences)
RAs: Leon Grossman, Danny Lemmons, and Brian Callihan
Improved Strategies for Environmentally Benign and Economical Sulfolane Production
In today's regulatory environment, improving process efficiency often involves investigation of waste minimization and energy conservation alternatives. This required formulation of a process model, incorporating both physical and economic aspects, for use as a tool in evaluating process efficiency. To this end, our work has been directed towards developing a model for the Phillips Petroleum Company sulfolane process to suggest alternative chemical and processing strategies for waste minimization. This process was chosen because of two reasons. One was that the process involved many typical features of a chemical industry, and second, this process had much waste minimization potential and could best engage the talent and resources available at OSU. Chemical engineers at OSU have been in collaboration with researchers at OSU in the Chemistry Department as well as Phillips Petroleum Company.
Sponsors: National Science Foundation and Phillips Petroleum Company
PIs: Karen High
Corinna Czekaj (College of Arts and Sciences)
RAs: Qi Ma, Kishen Gadicherla, Abhay Kashyap, Danna Fisher, Bill Sheldon, and Lance Schreiber (graduate and undergraduate students)
Prediction of Corrosion Rates and Sites for Gas and Oil Wells
This project was initiated to predict and mitigate the effects of corrosion in oil and natural gas wells. The economic viability of gas and oil production in the United States depends to a large extent on the life of wells in the highly corrosive environments typically found in the U.S. This is particularly important for wells in Oklahoma where the natural gas contains unusually large amounts of corrosive hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. The models developed in this project are a combination of the thermodynamic, fluid mechanical, and corrosion mechanisms that are important in downhole systems.
Sponsors: Amoco Production Company, Conoco, Oryx Energy Company, and Phillips Petroleum Company
PIs: Martin S. High, D. Alan Tree, and Jan Wagner
RAs: Mahesh Sundaram and Venkataraghavan Raman
The Kinetics of Extended Chain Crystallization in Polymer Processing
Flow-induced crystallization of semi-crystalline polymers to produce extended chain crystals provides an immense opportunity to produce lightweight, high-strength materials from inexpensive feed stocks by carefully controlling the processing variables. Research is underway to realize the full potential of this processing technique by bringing together researchers from the fields of polymer processing, thermodynamics, and computer simulation to study flow-induced crystallization kinetics. The goal of this work is to bring flow-induced crystallization from the laboratory to greater application in engineering practice.
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
PIs: Martin S. High, D. Alan Tree, and Karen High
RAs: Tsung-Chieh Tsai and Lendsey Mendes
Improved Solvents for Extractive Distillation
Extractive distillation is recognized in the petroleum and chemical industries as a particularly effective method for separating mixtures of close-boiling chemical species. Intelligent application of extractive distillation requires accurate models to describe the phase behavior of mixtures containing both the solvent and the chemicals it is designed to separate. Models based upon currently available theory require some experimental data on the mixtures of interest to furnish accurate predictions. Thus, experimental studies are underway to establish the capabilities of a series of proprietary extractive distillation solvents for use in separating particular close-boiling chemical species. The data obtained in these experiments are used to provide the basis for (a) determining the potential economic value of both the solvents and the chemicals produced using them; and (b) evaluating correlation frameworks for representing the behavior of mixtures contacted by these solvents with these correlations intended for subsequent use in the design and optimization of extractive distillation processes.
Sponsors: Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (Applied Research) and Phillips Petroleum Company
PIs: Khaled Gasem and Robert Robinson
RAs: Chris Schultz and Brian Neely
Maintenance and Evaluation of Data for the Gas Processors Association
The goal of this project is to compile, evaluate, and maintain experimental phase equilibrium, enthalpy, and heat of solution data for pure components and mixtures of known composition that address the technical needs of the gas processing industry. In this context, the database is used primarily to evaluate phase equilibria and enthalpy prediction methods and computer models, determine model parameters, and provide experimental measurements for direct application (interpolation) in process engineering calculations.
Sponsor: Gas Processors Association
PIs: Jan Wagner, Khaled Gasem, and Martin S. High
RAs: Eric Maase and Don Twomey
Carbon Dioxide Removal by Mixtures of Amines
Pipeline natural gas must meet purity specifications on both its carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide content while such gases as refinery tail gas must meet strict limits on its sulfur content. The traditional way of removing these (acidic) gases is by absorption into any one of a variety of aqueous solutions containing a single amine. Unfortunately, use of a single amine containing solution usually results in more removal of one of these gases than specifications require--this results in needless expense. Over the last 10 years, the use of amine mixtures rather than a single amine has become an accepted way to meet pipeline specifications on both gases simultaneously without producing a gas of higher purity than required. This project has the aims of producing basic reaction rate data as well as physical property data for certain two-amine solutions loaded with various amounts of carbon dioxide. These data will find their expression in such commercial products as process modeling software for gas treating as well as providing the industry with an expanded and more reliable database through which the effect of changing process parameters can be more easily quantified.
Sponsor: Optimized Gas Treating, Inc. (for Gas Research Institute/Gas Processors Association)
PI: Ralph Weiland
RA: Greg Browning
Pattern-Based Process Analysis for Intelligent Automation
This applied research project will produce software that can interpret multi-sensor trend patterns with the skill of an acknowledged process expert. The software will emulate human adaptive capability to learn new patterns associated with changing plant operating conditions. Such a product does not exist today. The product will be commercialized internally by Phillips Petroleum Company in the form of an advanced process monitoring module suitable for use at any of Phillips' petroleum, gas, or chemical processing facilities.
Sponsors: Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (Applied Research) and Phillips Petroleum Company
PIs: James R. Whiteley
Bruce W. Colgate (Phillips Petroleum Company)
Computer-Based Fuzzy Monitoring of Infusion Anesthesia
This project will develop a multivariable, computer-based fuzzy logic method to adaptively infer depth of intravenous anesthesia. Fuzzy logic reasoning, a powerful new form of information processing, will be employed to infer depth of anesthesia from on-line measurements of cerebral activity (EEG) and cardiovascular function (heart rate and arterial blood pressure). The research is being performed using mixed-breed dogs as the test subjects.
Sponsors: National Institutes of Health and National Library of Medicine
PIs: James R. Whiteley
Ron E. Mandsager (College of Veterinary Medicine)
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