Intensification Methodology To Minimize the Number of Pieces of Equipment and Its Application to a Process To Produce Dioxolane Products

Process intensification principles have been considered as a valuable tool to improve the economic and sustainability factors in process systems engineering. In this work, an intensification methodology that minimizes the number of equipment units required for the transformation of raw materials into products is presented. On the basis of phenomena building blocks, intensification opportunities are detected and explored to integrate tasks into fewer pieces of equipment, and the effects on process economics and sustainability metrics are assessed. The methodology is applied for the intensification of a process consisting of the aldolization of an ethylene glycol and 1,2-butanediol mixture with acetaldehyde to produce 2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane (2MD) and 4-ethyl-2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane (4EMD). It is shown how an original flowsheet with one chemical reactor and three distillation columns is gradually transformed into an intensified process that provides an alternative with superior economic and sustainability metrics.