Conclusions

          By utilizing more appropriate heat integration and separation parameters, the NPV of the acrylic acid process can be increased from $157 million to $211 million over 10 years of production.

          Replacing E-301 with a waste heat boiler to produce LPS will produce over $2 million annually. Replacing the quench tower with another waste heat boiler and a flash vessel allows for more annual profit ($34,000) from the sale of LPS.

          Decreasing the propylene feed from 127 kmol/h to 117.5 kmol/h and decreasing the LPS feed from 992 kmol/h to 275 kmol/h represents a $2.2 million per year savings.

          Decreasing the reflux rate of the acid distillation column from 193.3 kmol/h to 60 kmol/h and operating at a pressure of 6.5 kPa rather than 7.0 kPa results in a savings of $16,900 per year in utility costs.

          These changes will result in a NPV of $211 million, a $54 million increase from the current process which has a NPV of $157 million.

Letter of Transmittal
Executive Summary
Introduciton
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
References