DESIGN OF A PLANT TO PRODUCE 40,000 TONNES PER YEAR OF 2 - ETHYLHEXANOL FROM PROPYLENE AND SYNTHESIS

GAS.

(EQUIPMENT DESIGNED: ALDOL REACTOR)

BY OPATA TOCHUKWU JACOB

96/5282EH

SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL

ENGINEERING

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE

AWARD OF BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING ( B.ENG ) DEGREE

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING

TECHNOLOGY.

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY,

MINNA, NIGERIA

FEBRUARY, 2002. . -

, ",,'

CERTIFICA lION

This is to certifY that this design project, "Design of a plant to produce

40,000 ton/year of 2-ethyl hexanol from propylene and synthesis gas" was carried

out as an original work of group three members and submitted to the department

of chemical engineering, School of Engineering and Engineering Technology,

Federal University of Technology, Minna.

Project Supervisor

Dr. F. A. Aberuagba

Head of Department

Dr. J. O. Odigure

External Examiner

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Date

Date

Date

DECIJARA TION

I do hereby declare that this design work was carried out under the supervision of

Dr. F.A. Aberuagba and presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the awarfi i.

of Bachelor of Engineering (B.ENO) degree in Chemical Engineering. Information frofu . I I

published and unpublished works of other people has been duly acknowledged. I

Student

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________ -----1'-____ _

Date I [

DEtJlCATION

To my Mother, Mrs. Patience Opata

- " The best Mother anybody could ever wish for.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To Him who is able to keep us up when all else fails, whose strength and might knows no

bounds. Him to whom there is impossibilities, " I say thanks".

Special thanks goes to my Supervisor, Engr. (Dr) F. A. Aberuagba, who in the

face of conflict and controversies sto~d by me. Similarly, lots of thanks to Mrs. Elizabeth

Eterigho, for her sympathy with our plight, also, much thanks goes to my HOD and the

entire staff of Chemical engineering Dept.

I want to specially thank my parents, Mr. And Mrs. B. A. OPATA for their

support which made schooling a lot easier, also my siblings, Grace, Timothy, Innocent,

Joy and Mercy, "I say thanks".

I want to appreciate specially my group members for the opportunity to serve as a

leader, for their understanding and resilence, who in the face of all odds and obstacles

that befell us as a group proved to be engineers of high repute. Special thanks goes to

Emma, Dzikwi, Pauline, Toba, Uju, Jane, Dim, Sani, Hassan, Tammy, Amos, LawaI,

Daniel, Florence, Aiyatu, Farouq, and Sunday, " Working with you all has taught me how

to smile in the face of storm.

I also want to thank and appreciate some special friends who were supportive in

many ways, friends like Faith, Solo, Chinedu, Gloria, Mark, Paul, Shola, Festus, Soji and

so many others.

" To all my Cronnies, I say thanks".

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ABSTRACT

The importance of synthesis gas and propylene in the production of 2~ethylhexanol and

consequently, other products in the alcohol and chemical industries cannot be

overemphasized. It is against this background that the design of a plant to produce 40,000

tonnes per year of 2-ethylhexallol from synthesis gas and propylene, assuming an

operating period of 8,000 hours on strean1 has been undertaken. The aldol condensation

method was used for this design purpose. Material and energy balance for the process

was carried out. Effluent gases from the plant: CO, th, C3H6 and C3Hg are raw materials

for other process industries. The project capital investment was estimated a') ] .285 billion

naira, while the net profit per annum was evaluated as 724.5 miJJion naira. The

profitability index was 4.8; hence the project was concluded to be economically viable.

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