Optimization Of Nitrogen Wash Column Operation

Nitrogen wash column is being used in the production of ammonia process. It is usually the purification step of H2 in the ammonia synthesis. The liquid nitrogen wash column has the function to remove residual impurities like CO, Argon and CH4 from a crude hydrogen stream and to establish a stoichiometric ratio H2 / N2 = 3:1. The outlet stream of the column is product gas containing of nitrogen and hydrogen mixture and another outlet stream is off gas. A high pressure liquid nitrogen is used to accomplish its process. Small quantities of H2 with other impurities leave through the bottoms as off gas. Since H2 is expensive, a reduction in H2 loss through off gas is required. In this study, a simulation study to determine optimum operating condition with minimum H2 loss is proposed. By simulate the parameter such as pressure, temperature and flowrate of the inlet nitrogen wash column, it will give several result in the amount of hydrogen loss at the bottom product. By using Design of Experiment (Box-Behnken design type) method, we can setup the exepriment to undergo the optimization of the Nitrogen Wash Column and it also can analyze the result to determine the optimum operating condition for this column. The whole simulation study will undergo by using iCON simulation software.