Optimized Heat Exchanger Network design of GTL (Gas-To-Liquid) process

초록

GTL (Gas-to-Liquid) technology converts natural gas into liquid fuel products, and it has received much attention by researchers especially under the circumstance of continuous conventional oil price increase. The GTL technology typically includes reforming, Fischer Tropsch (F-T), and upgrading processes that generally require high pressure and temperature operating conditions. Therefore, optimal heat exchanger network of GTL is essential to maximize waste heat recovery, minimizing the consumption of heating fuel and CO2 release from fired heaters. In this work, heat exchanger networks (HEN) of GTL process are analyzed and optimized based on economic evaluation such as capital and operating costs. First, GTL process was developed by using commercial process design software such as Aspen HYSYS. Then, the mass and energy balance of the heat transfer equipment is transferred to Aspen energy analyzer to evaluate various cases of heat exchanger networks. The results showed that the methodology enabled us to achieve optimal HEN with higher energy efficiency of the GTL process.