Career Episode 1

Competency Demonstration Report 1 Avinash Patil

Career Episode 1 Introduction: (C.E 1.1) The career episode described here covers the final year engineering project undertaken by me for the successful completion of my Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Mumbai. The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the detailed study of 3-Methoxyproplyamine & its importance in Pharmaceutical & Fertilizer Industries. The study of the Manufacturing Process was done on an industrial scale at Indo Amines Chemicals Limited (Maharashtra). Chronology: June 2012 – May 2013 Location: Datta Meghe College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai Title: Manufacture of 3-Methoxypropylamine Position: Undergraduate Student

Background: (C.E 1.2) My primary objective was to study the intricate industrial process related to the manufacturing of 3-Methoxyproplyamine. This project was a group task and it consisted of 3 members. A faculty member was assigned as a supervisor to the project. The project was split up to assign each individual team member specific subtasks. In the project I did the critical survey of literature covering several books, encyclopedia, patents, and journals along with arranging visits to the company for field work and collecting relevant data for the project. I had also visited the plant site at Dombivli- Maharashtra along with frequent visits to the corporate office at Mumbai for data collection. Since my project involved a process system leading to a product, the report included:    

Material and Energy balances. Detailed process design. P&ID/PFD. Cost and feasibility Analysis

After completion of the above parameters I gave a presentation to the project guides along with a final detailed presentation to the Head of the Department, who was accompanied by another professional from the process industry.

Organisational Setup: (C.E 1.2.1) I divided the project into various stages and was in charge of the following: 1. Initial research and data collection 2. Various processes used for Manufacturing of 3-Methoxypropylamine 3. Cynation of Methanol process (Thermodynamics, mass and energy balance) with respect to 3-Methoxypropylamine manufacturing Unit at Indo Amines Chemicals Limited (Maharashtra), PFD and P&ID, plant layout. 4. Detailed Sizing of equipment. 5. Cost Estimation of Equipment & Plant.

Competency Demonstration Report 2 Avinash Patil Group meetings were arranged by mutual consent to focus on particular issues. I was the project coordinator and designed a project schedule to complete the project within the given time frame along with preparing weekly reports to the project supervisor illustrating our progress. I was well prepared and actively participated in these meetings with the group and the interactions with the project supervisor. I managed to keep a high morale amongst my team mates by constantly motivating them. The project also needed to imbibe all the inputs from the other team members in the other stages which are covered in the following sections. The organizational chart has been represented below:

Project Guide Prof.S.M.Deshmukh

Student Sandesh Shetty

Student Avinash Patil

Student Prathamesh Deshpande

Personal Engineering Activity: (C.E 1.3) The project required me to work and focus on various aspects of the 3-Methoxyproplyamine Production and analyse the problems and possible solutions for the process. This consisted of several individual assignments and also the inputs from my guide and team members. All these aspects have been covered as follows in a stepwise manner.

Initial Research and Data Collection: (C.E 1.3.1) In this stage the primary objective was to acquire as much information as possible, I started off by identifying that different categories of Amines & their uses. After some extensive research on the data obtained from the Internet and various technical papers, I came to know that 3-Methoxypropylamine falls under the category of specialty amine & it occupies 16% market of specialty amine industry. Following this I identified the various problems that were associated with the processing of 3-Methoxypropylamine, the most significant one being , highly complex manufacturing processes that involve handling of often toxic and hazardous chemicals. The process being energy intensive, the importance of safety, security and environmental protection cannot be underestimated. This is the prime reason that asserts the need of safe & optimised production process of 3-Methoxypropylamine and hence the topic of the project.

Various Processes Used to Produce 3-Methoxyproplyamine: (C.E 1.3.2)

Competency Demonstration Report 3 Avinash Patil There are various processes used in the industry for the manufacturing of 3-Methoxypropyl amine and after a comprehensive research of literature obtained from web portals I was able to find the two most common routes: 1 2

From 3-Methoxypropanol From Methanol and Acrylonitrile

Acrylonitrile Route Process: (C.E 1.3.3) The Acrylonitrile Route Process was the obvious choice of selection as it had the high conversion & less formation of secondary & tertiary amines as compared to the other processes, hence had the highest number of operating plants. I was able to research the engineering underlying the Plant at Indo Amines Chemicals Limited with the help of literature from the licensor. I started off by analysing the Acrylonitrile process. The process is divided into 3 steps:1.

Cyanation of Methanol.

2.

Hydrogenation of 3-Methoxypropionitrile.

3.

Purification of crude 3-Methoxypropylamine.

A schematic representation of the flow diagram is shown below

After further research of the process I found out that there are a number of limitations to convert Methanol to intermediate product 3-Methoxypropionitrile. My main objective in this process was to convert maximum Methanol to 3Methoxypropionitrile by the use of various optimization techniques and thereby increasing the yield of intermediate product and reducing conversion time.

Competency Demonstration Report 4 Avinash Patil After some more research and gaining valuable advice from my guide Mr.S.M. Deshmukh and officials from Indo Amines, I was able to identify some modifications to the conventional process. These technological advances are mainly in the form of additions to the conventional Acrylonitrile process through which significant improvement in yield can be achieved, this modern technique is using Gel-entrapped base catalyst (GEBC) )—which i thought, could be used to catalyze a base-catalyzed reaction. By using gel entrapped NaOH it is possible to: 1. Increase the yield 2. Reduce the time required for the reaction to take place. The effect of agar agar gel entrapped NaOH on yield of 3-Methoxypropionitrile is shown in figure below

Thermodynamics: (C.E 1.3.5) This stage involved the estimation of feasibility of the Acrylonitrile process. I used a variety of inputs for the calculation of the feasibility of the reaction. I started off by identifying the heat capacities of the main components of the reaction. These values and equations were obtained from standard books such as “Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics” by B.F. Dodge. Main Reaction: CH3OH + CH2=CH-CN CH3-O-CH2-CH2-CN + 2H2

CH3-O-CH2-CH2-CN CH3-O-CH2-CH2-CH2-NH2

The manufacture of 3-Methoxypropionitrile from methanol, the heat of reaction is: ∆HR = -93.23-(-239.2+215.38) = -69410 kJ/kmol The Gibb’s free energy at 298K ∆GR = 11.94-(-166.6+229.23) = -50690 kJ/kmol

Competency Demonstration Report 5 Avinash Patil ∆GR = -RTlnK Therefore, K = 768.18*e^6 By using Van’t Hoff Equation, ln(k1/k) = -(∆HR/R)*((1/T1)-(1/T)) T=338K K1 = 27.99*e^6 Therefore (∆GR)338K = -48177.24 kJ/kmol. Similarly heat of reaction Methoxypropylamine.

&

Gibb’s

free

energy

for

the

manufacture

of

∆HR = -253.7-(-93.23) = -160470 kJ/kmol The Gibb’s free energy at 298K ∆GR = -55.75-11.94 = -67690 kJ/kmol ∆GR = -RTlnK Therefore K = 1.4474*e^10 By using Van’t Hoff Equation, ln(k1/k )= -(∆HR/R)*((1/T1)-(1/T)) T = 348K K1 = 1.3155*e^6 Therefore (∆GR)348K = -40765.503 kJ/kmol Thus it is seen that both the reactions are promising. ∆G kJ/kmol

Reactions

∆H,kJ/kmol at 298 K

MeOH + ACN = 3-MPN

- 69410

- 48177.24 (338K)

3-MPN + 2H2 = MOPA

- 160470

- 40765.503 (348K)

3-

Competency Demonstration Report 6 Avinash Patil

As it can be seen the calculated value of ∆G is negative for the given reaction from which I could deduce that this is a feasible reaction.

Energy Balance: (C.E 1.3.6) In this stage I calculated the changes in the energies of the various streams in the process and using the law of conservation of energy I was able to determine the amount of utility required for that particular equipment. An example of one of the equipment is shown below, similar calculations were done for all the process streams. Energy Balance Across Hydrogenator (R001): Heat of reaction

= -160.47×103 Kj/Kmol of MPN

Total number of moles of MPN = 11.22 Kmol Total heat evolved

= 160×47×103×11.22 = 1800473.4 KJ

Enthalpy data Component Methanol MPA NaOH MPN Total

Inlet temperature 35oC

Enthalpy IN 5189.968 80.767 11254.8942 16525.692

Outlet temperature 75oC

Net heat required = 77611.4318 KJ Net heat evolved = 1722861.968 KJ Amount of cooling water required (M) = (Q/Cp. x (Tout-Tin)) =1722861.968/4.184 x (75-30) = 9150.53 Kg Batch time =36 hr Flow rate of cooling water =254.18 Kg/hr

Enthalpy OUT 25949.54 67783.386 403.825 94137.061

Competency Demonstration Report 7 Avinash Patil Costing survey of Equipment: (C.E 1.3.7) This part of the project involved the calculation of all the costs of equipment, operational cost, utility costs and sum of the other expenses. In this part my tasks at hand are briefly described as follows: 

 

Calculation of equipment cost based on their sizing and design. Here I used to knowledge acquired in process engineering design and used the standard text “Plant Design and Economics” by Peter and Timmerhaus as reference. Identification of other cost headers such as installation, instrumentation, piping, electrical, labor and civil costs. Estimation of operating costs and calculation of cost of utilities used and generated based on the energy balance calculations along with a comparison of the actual costs from technical journals. COMPONENT

PERCENTAGE%

Rs. in lakhs

Land and site development

8.00

28.62

Building and civil works

10.00

35.77

Plant and machinery cost

40.00

143.1

Engineering and know- how fees

12.00

42.93

Miscellaneous and fixed assets

3.00

10.73

Contingencies

7.00

25.04

Pre-operative expenses

15.00

53.66

Preliminary and capital issue related expenses +margin money

5.00

17.88

TOTAL

100

357.76

(factory and non-factory buildings)

Sales and Profit Analysis Annual production of 3-Methoxypropylamine = 100000 Kg Selling price of 3-Methoxypropylamine per kg = Rs. 660 Annual sales = 6.6 Cr.

Competency Demonstration Report 8 Avinash Patil Gross Profit = Annual sales - Total Production cost = 660 – 271.05 = 388.95Lacs Taxes @ 35% = 35% of Gross Profit = 136.13Lacs Net Profit = Gross Profit - Taxes = 252.81Lacs Payout Period = (Total Capital investment)/( Net Profit + Depreciation) = (465.08)/(252.81+46.5) = 1.55 years

Summary: (C.E 1.4) The Acrylonitrile process was analysed and simulated in various ways to obtain the most effective model on paper. This project was extremely helpful as it gave me the opportunity to apply various scientific concepts, all of which were learnt during my undergraduate studies. The usage of simulation software gave me a new perspective on how actual plants can be simulated and integrated on a computer to observe changes in parameters caused due to changes in the process variables, thereby leading to better optimization which I can apply in the future. Interacting with leading industrial experts has added a lot of perspective to my theoretical knowledge along with improving my managerial and communication skills. It has helped me in having a much wider view of the industrial world. The important thing which I learnt due to this project is that the implementation of new technologies is one of the most important parameters which should be taken into consideration along with production and profit.