Open    Access



Modeling of a Demethanizer Tower Using Statistical Tools



Author(s)

Fernando D’Almeida and Carlos Pires

Full-Text PDF XML     1047 Views

DOI:10.17265/2162-5298/2015.03.003

Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory, Polytechnic School, UFBA (Federal University of Bahia), Salvador-BA 40210-630, Brazil

Monitoring of industrial plant performance and detection on flaws is important to the successful operation on industrial production units. Malfunctioning equipment can greatly impact plant performance by reducing the efficiency and increasing the production cost. Phenomenological equations cannot properly describe industrial processes. Thus, it is necessary to develop new equations for model industrial operations. The purpose of this study is to develop an empirical model for industrial demethanizer tower which is malfunctioning due to an error in the design in one of its plates. A nonlinear statistical model was designed to predict the pressure variation in the column, and consequently, the flooding conditions. This model was validated using industrial data to predict the maximum loads in the column.

Demethanizer tower, planning experiments, industrial data, empirical model.