Simulation and optimization of the refining process for 1, 4-butanediol production by aspen plus

Abstract 1, 4-butanediol, as an important fine chemical raw material, not only has significant applications in the textile, papermaking, and automotive industries, but also can be used to produce degradable plastics to cope with the successive implementation of plastic bans worldwide. Based on Aspen Plus process simulation software, the process flow of the 1, 4-butanediol refining section of the Reppe method was simulated and optimized. The main equipment in the refining section included a concentration tower and a product tower. By optimizing and simulating the concentration tower, the effects of different reflux ratios, number of trays, feed locations, and distillate feed ratios on 1,4-butanediol were compared. The final reflux ratio of the concentration tower was 0.059, the 10th tray was fed with 13 theoretical plates, and the distillate feed ratio was 0.8160. The purity of 1, 4-butanediol extracted from the product tower was increased from 98.88 (wt%) to 99.01 (wt%), improving the separation purity of the product and reducing equipment costs.