Adoption of Engineering Practices for Maximization of Solvent Recovery

Adoption of Engineering Practices for Maximization of Solvent Recovery Equinox Software & Services Pvt. Ltd., Pune Sanjiv M. Bachal, Alok Pandit, Shailesh Sakarkar & Deepak Seth

Agenda 1. Introducing Equinox 2. The importance of solvents 3. A threat to green environment? 4. Engineering practices to manage 5. Case studies 6. Conclusion 7. Vote of Thanks 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 2

Brief Profile One of the leading company in the area of Model Based Process Consulting, Process IT Solutions and Services Delivered 70,000+ Hours of Consulting Assignments in last 18 months Strategic Alliances with world leaders in process IT solutions Delivery Centre Pune (India) A mix of people, with concentrated process expertise and backed by a catalyst group of global consultants Global customers in UAE, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Netherland ISO 9001 certification in-process Member of Chamber of Commerce (Maharashtra State), India NASSCOM, India 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 4

Our Offerings Core Services Engineering Manufacturing Supply Chain Business Process Consulting Application Development & Maintenance Conceptual Design Process Modeling Integrated Cost Modeling Operator Training Simulator (OTS) Energy Studies Learning, Skill Development & Certification Real Time Information Management System (Historian) Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Data Reconciliation & Yield Accounting Advanced Process Control (APC) Supply Chain Planning Demand Management Plant Planning & Scheduling Distribution (Primary, Secondary, Retail) Applications & Software Packages Modeling: Aspen Plus, Polymer Plus, HYSYS, Dynamics, PRO/II, Unisim, gproms, Icarus, OLGA, Petrosim OTS: Dynsim, Unisim, HYSYS MES: Historian (IP.21, PHD, PI), Data Recon (Advisor, PB), Visualization (Aspen RBV, Bflex) APC: DMC+, Aspen IQ, Aspen Watch, RMPCT P&S: PIMS, RPMS, GRTMPS, Aspen SCM 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 6

Importance of Solvents Why solvents are needed: Solubilizing the reactants Facilitate reaction Facilitate heat transfer/control Purification etc. Solvent constitute typically 80-90 wt% of the process mass Contribute about 15-25 % to the cost of manufacturing of Active ingredient Number of solvents used in a API unit could be any where in range of 10-50 Number of used solvent stream could be > 100 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 11

Spent Solvent Management Solvent disposal Strategy Developed Economies India Sell-off used solvent Low High Incineration Considerable Low Re-processing or recycling Moderate to High Lowmoderate Losses # Low to Moderate stricter norms High # Not exactly a disposal strategy 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 12

Solvent Recovery - Complexities Solvents never ends up pure at the end of the process Strict procedural practices preventing inter-mixing of solvents Solvents required generally have polarity resulting in complex mixture with water and with other solvents Vicissitude nature of product line 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 13

Green Factor Greenness factor E-factor or MI ( mass intensity) Amount of waste generate per unit mass of API produced. Typically, ranges from 25 to over 100 Green metrics rarely on radar of small & medium manufacturers Solvent management is critical in improving the Greenness factor 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 14

Hurdles for Solvent Recovery Initiatives Lack of management mindshare Other more important process related problems to tackle Easy way out Lack of incentives - fresh versus recycle Management apprehension in investing in the technologies due lack of clarity on the ROI Lack of clarity in their application & efficacy High cost of licenses Lack of skill to handle computer aided technologies Training initiatives Attrition Primitive facility Manual operation Rudimentary instrumentation 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 15

Engineering Practices Engineering Practices, the questions: How are the solvent streams managed in the unit? Dedicated process team Experience over the years Scientific tool Are there any rules (thumb rule) being followed for segregation of the waste solvent streams? Handbooks of solvent MSDS Etc How is the solvent recovery system designed & operated? Trial & error Literature input 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 16

An Indian Experience A case study is discussed here to highlight the efficacy of applying engineering practices to improve /enable recovery of solvent in an existing batch distillation plant 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 17

Problem Definition Client wanted to use the existing batch distillation setup to recovery Ether at > 95 wt% purity from a mixture constituting of : Component Wt% Ether 65 Acetate 33 H2O 1 Low Boilers 1 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 18 Cont

Ether-Ester-Water Problem Summary Current & Desired Ether recovery : Component Feed Wt% Current purity wt% Desired purity wt% Ether 65 88 > 94 Ester 33 11 < 5 H2O 1 0.5 < 0.7 Low Boilers 1 0.5 < 1 Ether ~ 85 wt% > 85 Recovery 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 19

Solution Strategy Technical Feasibility with available hardware If feasible, optimum process conditions to get desired purity If infeasible - Alternate method of distillation (without any hardware change) to achieve the desired purity If infeasible with alternate method - modification of existing hardware to achieve the desired purity Cont 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 20

System Evaluation Ternary Diagram 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 Azeotrope ETHER Ternary Ma p (M as s B a sis) Feed Composition Material Balance LIne Azeotrope H2O 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 ESTER 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 22

Conceptual Design Key points emerging from preliminary analysis: Both Ester and Ether form heterogeneous azeotrope with water The Ester/water azeotrope is the minimum boiling type Difficult separation entailing high reflux ratio as the column size is fixed 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 24

Ether-Ester-Water Result Summary Current & Simulated Ether recovery with following composition using existing batch distillation facility: Component Feed Wt% Current purity wt% Ether 65 88 97 Ester 33 11 ~2.4 H2O 1 0.5 ~0.6 Simulation results wt% Low Boilers 1 0.5 Trace Recovery ~ 85 wt% ~ 97wt% Ether cut 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 25

Simulation Interpretations to Achieve Desired Goal Increase moisture content in the initial charge from 1 to 3 wt % Water decanter for distillate Maintain reflux ratio between 3 to 4 for organic and 5 for aqueous phase 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 26

Conclusion A scientific approach to solvent handling system is need of hour Expertise and access to multiple simulation technologies is critical in devising an efficient solvent recovery system 2009 EQUINOX. All rights reserved 27