Journal of Physics: Conference Series

PAPER • OPEN ACCESS

Process simulation of propylene production from crude palm oil by

hydrodeoxygenation and propane dehydrogenation
To cite this article: D A Trirahayu 2020 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1450 012009

View the article online for updates and enhancements.

This content was downloaded from IP address 181.214.210.229 on 13/03/2020 at 12:21

iCAST-ES 2019 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1450 (2020) 012009 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1450/1/012009

Process simulation of propylene production from crude palm

oil by hydrodeoxygenation and propane dehydrogenation

D A Trirahayu1
1
Chemical Engineering Department, Politeknik Negeri Bandung, Jalan Gegerkalong
Hilir, Bandung, Indonesia

E-mail: dhyna.analyes@gmail.com

Abstract. The petrochemical industry is a branch of the chemical industry that utilizes raw
materials in the form of oil and gas through chemical or physical processes to produce various
olefin and aromatic-based industrial products. One of the key products in the petrochemical
industry is propylene. Propylene is used for the manufacture of polypropylene resins, acrylic
acids and its derivatives, propylene glycol, and others. Several attempts to produce propylene
from other raw material sources such as natural gas and coal have been made, but given its
non-renewable nature, there needs to be a solution for the utilization of renewable natural
resources as raw material for making propylene. One of the potential renewable resources in
Indonesia is CPO. The process of turning CPO into green diesel is known as the
Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process. This process produces green diesel around 83 percent
and propane around 5 percent. Propane produced can be converted into propylene by the
Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) process. The simulation process was designed using Aspen
Hysys version 8.8. The simulation indicates that from 10.10 m^3/h CPO can be produced 10.73
m^3/h green diesel and 1.03 m^3/h propane with purity 99.85 percent. From propane
dehydrogenation can be produced around 0.8 m^3/h propylene with purity 99.06 percent.

1. Introduction
The petrochemical industry is a branch of the chemical industry that utilizes raw materials in the form
of oil and gas through chemical or physical processes to produce various olefin and aromatic-based
industrial products. The petrochemical industry has the characteristics of capital intensive, technology
intensive and raw material / energy intensive. This industry has great prospects to be developed
because of the large domestic and regional market potential, where most of the product supply is still
limited, so that it is met from imports.
One of the key products in the petrochemical industry is propylene. Propylene is used for the
manufacture of polypropylene resins, acrylic acids and its derivatives, propylene glycol, and others.
Currently propylene in Indonesia is obtained from naphtha cracking and imports. In the future,
dependence on naphtha to produce propylene must be eliminated. So far, the petrochemical industry is
100% dependent on imported naphtha raw materials. Looking ahead, the petrochemical industry in
Indonesia is very vulnerable to facing raw material difficulties.
Several attempts to produce propylene from other raw material sources such as natural gas [1] and
coal [2] have been made, but given its non-renewable nature, there needs to be a solution for the
utilization of renewable natural resources as raw material for making propylene.
One of the potential renewable resources in Indonesia is CPO [3]. Indonesia is one of the main
producers of CPO in the world. CPO can be processed into various products such as cooking oil and
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
iCAST-ES 2019 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1450 (2020) 012009 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1450/1/012009

oleochemical derivatives [4]. Current technological developments allow converting CPO into
synthetic diesel fuel which is often referred to as green diesel. Green diesel is different from biodiesel.
In biodiesel, the chemical compound is a fatty acid ester with a methyl group (from methanol) or an
ethyl group (from ethanol). On the other hand, green diesel is an aliphatic paraffin compound that is
very similar to conventional diesel oil [5].
The process of turning CPO into green diesel is known as the Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process.
This process produces green diesel around 83% and propane around 5% [6]. Propane produced can be
converted into propylene by the Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) process [7]. The existence of
industrialization from this process will be very profitable because in addition to obtaining propylene
for the raw material for the petrochemical industry, another product obtained is green diesel (an
alternative to diesel).

2. Process description
The process flow sheet was designed using Aspen Hysys version 8.8 is shown in Figure 1. The
assumptions used as the basis for designing the process are as follows:
• The CPO reaction process into hydrotreated biodiesel (BFD), propane and its by-products generally
occur through three reactions namely the decarboxylation, decarbonization and hydrogenation
reactions.
• The conversion from CPO to its products is assumed to be 100% with selectivity to
decarboxylation reactions of 22.82%, selectivity to decarbonization reactions of 28.51% and
selectivity to hydrogenation reactions of 48.67%.
• The propane to propylene reaction process is the main reaction that occurs in the propylene
production reactor with propane conversion of 34% and propylene yield of 28.22%.
• There is no heat loss on all propylene production process equipment.
• The amount of compressive loss that occurs in the heat exchanger used is 1.5 psi.
• The amount of pressure loss due to fluid flow in the pipe is assumed to be zero.
• The amount of compressive loss in the CPO becomes propane production reactor at 0.1 bar.
• The amount of compressive loss in the propane to propylene production reactor is 0.2 bar.

Figure 1. Block Diagram Process Production Propylene from CPO.

2
iCAST-ES 2019 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1450 (2020) 012009 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1450/1/012009

2.1. General description of the Hydrodeoxygenation Process

One of the technologies used to upgrade bio-oil is catalytic hydrotreatment, one of which is the
hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process [8]. Hydrodeoxygenation reaction is a hydrogenolysis reaction
which is still a derivative of the hydrogenation reaction. Hydrodeoxygenation reaction is the reaction
of adding hydrogen to the reactants as well as removing oxygen to the reactants. Actually, the catalytic
hydrotreatment process has an average operating condition with a very high temperature and pressure
of > 150C and > 100 bar, as well as the hydrodeoxygenation reaction which uses an average
temperature and high pressure. But there is a mild process of hydrodeoxygenation which is the
reaction of hydrodeoxygenation using a temperature and pressure that is lower than the conditions
normally used for the hydrodeoxygenation process.
In the process of hydrodeoxygenation, catalyst and hydrogen are very necessary.
Hydrodeoxygenation is a conversion process that provides maximum hydrocarbon yield
stoichiometry, which is as much as 56-58% by weight of bio-oil. Hydrodeoxygenation consists of
many reactions such as hydrogenation, cracking, and decarboxylation. The process of
hydrodeoxygenation and decarboxylation/decarbonation take place simultaneously. The
deoxygenation process using a decarboxylation reaction pathway can reduce H2 gas consumption by
60%, but it will produce a shorter carbon chain because each C atom on triglycerides will be reduced
to COx. H2 gas consumption can be reduced by adding a sulphur component of 2000-5000 w-ppm,
that make the selectivity of decarboxylation reaction increased.
Hydrodeoxygenation or HDO is a process of saturating fatty acids as well as the process of
removing oxygen in oil in the form of oxy groups released in the form of by-products, namely water
and carbon dioxide, so that the main product is obtained in the form of long chain hydrocarbons or n-
alkanes. This HDO reaction involves three phases, namely the liquid phase (crude palm oil), the gas
phase (H2), and the solid phase (catalyst, for example NiMo/γAl2O3). Because it involves these three
phases, the appropriate reactor to use is a batch reactor. The operating temperature and pressure in the
HDO process are relatively high at ± 360C and ± 60 bar. High pressure serves to increase the
solubility of H2 gas in oil so that the reaction can run optimally.

2.2. General description of the Propane Dehydrogenation

There are three stages to produced propylene from propane with the Catofin dehydrogenation process:
raw material preparation stage, dehydrogenation reaction of propylene formation stage, and product
purification stage [9]. Feed in the form of propane with a minimum purity of 95% was pre-treated
before introduced into the reactor. Propane is stored in a saturated liquid state in a tubular tank at
ambient temperature (30C) and a pressure of 12 atm. From the storage tank there is a valve to drain
propane. After passing the valve the pressure is set to 1 atm so that the saturated liquid propane will
condense into gas and can flow by itself. Propane gas then passed into the heat exchanger with counter
current flow so that the temperature rises to 40C. After that propane is flowed into the furnace to get a
temperature of 626.85C. A very high temperature increase causes an increase in propane feed
pressure so that expanders are needed to reduce the pressure to 40 kPa to match the dehydrogenation
unit.
The dehydrogenation reactor used is a fixed bed multitube reactor with chromium oxide catalyst.
This reactor operates at a temperature of 626.85C and a pressure of 40 kPa. The reactant enters
through the top of the reactor which then enters the pipes in the reactor and contacts with the catalyst.
The reaction is endothermic, so heat is needed to keep the reactor temperature stable. The heat is taken
from the combustion of air which is useful in addition to supplying heat as well as to regenerate the
catalyst because it can burn the crust on the catalyst so that the catalyst life can be longer. The product
comes out in the form of propylene, hydrogen gas, propane and some light gases with still high
temperatures so that the product is passed by the heat exchanger to be contacted with new propane raw
materials in a counter current (opposite direction) to heat the raw material. The temperature of the
product exiting the heat exchanger is 525.85C.
After flow through the heat exchanger, the product is cooled using a cooler until it reaches a
temperature of 30C (normal temperature). This is done to save energy used for the compression

3
iCAST-ES 2019 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1450 (2020) 012009 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1450/1/012009

process. After passing the cooler the product is compressed to reach a pressure of 4 atm using a 2-
stage compressor so that the gas can be flowed and controlled. After passing the compressor, the
temperature of the product will rise again so that the product is passed back to the cooler reaching a
temperature of 20C using refrigeration. After that, the product enters the Flash Tank with a pressure
of 1 atm to separate the gas from the liquid. The top product from the Flash Tank goes to PSA to
produce light gases such as hydrogen while the liquid product enters the de-ethanizer column to
separate ethane. In the distillation column the operating conditions temperature of -60C with pressure
1 atm. The top product from the column will produce ethane while the bottom product will produce a
mixture of propane and propylene. The mixture is passed through the second distillation column which
is operated at -45C and 1 atm to obtain pure propylene. While the bottom result is recycled again as
feed.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Hydrodeoxygenation process

The process flow diagram for this stage is shown in Figure 2 and simulation result with Hysys is
shown in Figure 3. The simulation was carried using NRTL-Ideal as fluid package. The CPO was
represented using three hypothetical components which named triglyceride1 (38.38%), triglyceride2
(14.46%), and triglyceride3 (47,26%). The ratio of CPO: Hydrogen volumetric flow was set 1: 728.
Most of the hydrogen is recycled with volumetric flow of hydrogen make up is 55.61 m3/h and CPO
feed are 10.10 m3/h. The process of CPO conversion into propane is carried out at Propane Reactor
(R-101) at a temperature of 300 C and a pressure of 30 bar. To achieve these operating conditions
hydrogen is compressed through a three-stage compressor namely C-101, C-102 and C-103 followed
by a cooling process at each stage of compression through the heat exchanger E-102 and E-103. At the
R-101 reactor a 100% CPO conversion process occurs with a selectivity of decarboxylation reaction of
22.82%, selectivity to decarbonylating reaction of 28.51% and selectivity of hydrogenation reaction of
48.67%. The catalyst used in this reactor is the catalyst Ni (C0) -Mo / γAl2O3.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

P-101 R-101 V-101 HE-102 S-101 HE-103 M-101 V-102 HE-104

HE-101
CPO Propane De-pressurized Product Flash Top Product Membrane De-pressurized Hydrogen
A CPO Heater A
Pump Reactor Valve Heater Separator 1 Cooler Separation Valve Cooler

HE-103 P-95

B 10 13 15 B
2 12 V-102
P-73
CPO from
1 HE-104
Storage tank
HE-101

P-101
19 Propana
3
C C
8
M-101
7 9
V-101 17

HE-102 14
I-70
S-101 M-102
R-101
D 20 D
P-71

Hydrogen from 4 5
Storage tank 11 Side Product
6

S-101

E 18 E
C-101
Liquid Product

HBD to
Storage
F F

16

C-101 S-102 M-102 V-102 V-102

Three Stage Flash Membrane De-pressurized
G Flow Splitter G
Hydrogen Separator 2 Separation Valve Valve
Compressor

H
Figure 2. Process Flow Diagram CPO to Propane. PROJECT :
PRODUKSI PROPILEN DARI CPO H

TITLE :
PRODUKSI PROPANA DARI CPO

DRAWING REV.
I SECTION SHEET I
NO.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

4
iCAST-ES 2019 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1450 (2020) 012009 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1450/1/012009

Figure 3 CPO to Propane simulation result.

The output product of the gas-phase R-101 reactor then enters the S-101 two-phase separator with a
pressure drop process through the V-101 valve and cooling through the E-104 heat exchanger to a
pressure of 14.71 bar and a temperature of 40C. In the S-101 separator a liquid product was
separated, consisting mostly of green diesel (10.73 m3/h) with little water impurities. The top product
output of the S-101 separator is a gas fluid with the main composition being hydrogen followed by
water vapor, propane, CO and CO2. Furthermore, the S-101 output gas is flowed into the M-101
membrane before it is preceded by a heating process with an E-104 heat exchanger to a temperature of
90C. In the M-101 membrane hydrogen is separated from other gases to be fed back as reactants to
the R-101 reactor. Other gas products are separated through the S-102 separator with liquid products
in the form of water and the top products are gas components with constituents in the form of water
vapor, propane, CO2 and CO. The gas component is then separated to produce propane with a purity
content of 99.85% through the M-102 membrane and flow 1.03 m3/h.

3.2. Propane Dehydrogenation

The process flow diagram for this stage is shown in Figure 4 and simulation result with Hysys is
shown in Figure 5. After propane is successfully produced from CPO, propane is processed into
propylene through a dehydrogenation process. The dehydrogenation process of propane to propylene
is carried out at the R-201 reactor at a temperature of 600C at atmospheric pressure. The reactions
that occur in this process including the side reactions are as follows:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
The Equation (1) reaction is the main desired reaction. In this process the conversion of propane is
34% with propylene yield of 28.22%. The catalyst used is Pt-Sn/γ-Al2O3 [10]. To increase the
temperature of propane before entering the R-201 reactor HE-202 heat exchanger is used and to
increase the temperature of hydrogen HE-201 heat exchanger is used. The product of reactor R-201 is
a gas phase containing propane, propylene, hydrogen, ethylene, ethane and methane. Hydrogen is a

5
 iCAST-ES 2019 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1450 (2020) 012009 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1450/1/012009

compound that is quite a lot, so it needs to be separated. Hydrogen separation is carried out through an
M-201 membrane unit at 102°C and 14 bars. The increase in gas pressure is carried out through three
stages of compression with units C-203, C-204 and C-205 with the cooling process using HE-203 and
HE-204 heat exchangers.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

P-101 R-101 V-101 HE-102 S-101 HE-103 M-101 V-102 HE-104

HE-101
CPO Propane De-pressurized Product Flash Top Product Membrane De-pressurized Hydrogen
A CPO Heater A
Pump Reactor Valve Heater Separator 1 Cooler Separation Valve Cooler

HE-103 P-95

B 10 13 15 B
2 12 V-102
P-73
CPO from
1 HE-104
Storage tank
HE-101

P-101
19 Propana
3
C C
8
M-101
7 9
V-101 17

HE-102 14
I-70
S-101 M-102
R-101
D 20 D
P-71

Hydrogen from 4 5
Storage tank 11 Side Product
6

S-101

E 18 E
C-101
Liquid Product

HBD to
Storage
F F

16

C-101 S-102 M-102 V-102 V-102

Three Stage Flash Membrane De-pressurized
G Flow Splitter G
Hydrogen Separator 2 Separation Valve Valve
Compressor

Figure 4. Process Flow Diagram Propane to Propylene. PROJECT :

H PRODUKSI PROPILEN DARI CPO H

The M-201 membrane output hydrogen is fed back as R-201 reactor feed. The TITLE : membrane output
PRODUKSI PROPANA DARI CPO
gas which still contains propane, propylene, ethylene, ethane and methane is fed to the TC-201
DRAWING
I distillation column to separate the propane component as a product under theSECTION distillation
NO. column.
SHEET REV. I

Before the distillation process is carried out, the feed is cooling with HE-206 heat exchanger. Propane
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
separation is based on the largest amount of gas entering the TC-201 distillation column. The bottom
product TC-201 is propane with a purity of 99.85% which is then fed back to enter the R-201 reactor.
The TC-201 top product is fed to the TC-202 distillation column to produce pure propylene which was
previously compressed and cooled through a C-206 compressor and HE-207 heat exchanger. The
purification process of propylene is carried out on TC-202 which produces propylene in the bottom
product with a purity of 99.06% and flow 0.8 m3/h. The top product is a gas that still contains
ethylene, ethane and methane.

Figure 5. Propane to Propylene simulation result.

6
iCAST-ES 2019 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1450 (2020) 012009 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1450/1/012009

4. Conclusions
CPO can be potential renewable resources in Indonesia to produce propylene. There are two process to
produce propylene from CPO, hydrodeoxygenation and propane dehydrogenation. The simulation
indicates that from around 10.10 m3/h CPO can be produced 10.73 m3/h green diesel and 1.03 m3/h
propane with purity 99.85% via hydrodeoxygenation. From propane dehydrogenation can be produced
around 0.8 m3/h propylene with purity 99.06%.

5. References
[1] Treger Y A, Rozanov V N, Sokolova S V and Murashova O P 2012 Catalysis in Industry 4
231–235
[2] Xiang D, Qian Y, Man Y and Yang S 2014 Applied Energy 113 639-647
[3] Ray A 2013 Journal of Oil Palm & The Environment 4 22-38
[4] Ahmad F B, Zhang Z, Doherty W O S and O'Hara I M 2019 Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews 109 386-411
[5] Casas L, Castillo E F, Torres J A and Aldemar M 2011 Ecopetrol
[6] Duan H et al. 2017 Nature Communications 8 591 1-10
[7] Sahebdelfar S and Zangeneh F T 2010 Iranian Journal of Chemical Engineering 7 2
[8] Srifa A, Faungnawakij K, Itthibenchapong V, Viriya-empikul N, Charinpanitkul T and
Assabumrungrat S 2014 Bioresource Technology 158 81-90
[9] Maddah H A 2018 American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and
Sciences 45 49-63
[10] Farjoo A, Khorasheh F, Niknaddaf S and Soltani M 2011 Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
18 458–464