simulation and optimization of co2 removal in ethane refining plant based on aspen hysys and box-behnken design method

The co2 removal process in the ethane refining plant is simulated using aspen hysys software. the simulation is validated by industrial data of kangan petro refining co (kprc). in addition, the box-behnken design method is conducted to optimize the co2 removal from ethane using activated methyldiethanolamine (amdea). the operating parameters, including absorption temperature, absorption pressure, amdea concentration and amdea flow rate are investigated as independent parameters. analyzing absorption temperature demonstrates that increasing temperature from 48˚c to 72˚c causes a decrease in co2 absorption performance. amdea concentration and flow rate have less effect on the performance of co2 absorption at lower temperatures, while at higher temperatures (above 66˚c), increasing amdea concentration and flow rate increase the co2 absorption performance significantly. the absorption pressure has fewer effects on this process. in addition, an optimization study using desired function methodology is performed and the optimal operating conditions to minimize co2 mass fraction in ethane product are determined.