Thermodynamic evaluation of a kerosene pre- Fraction unit using energy and exergy analysis

This work applies the method of energy and exergy analysis over first step of linear alkyl benzene (LAB) production namely kerosene pre fraction plant, to determine unit energy and exergy performance and loss, besides of opportunities for improvement based on operational data. For this purpose macroscopic energy and exergy balance was developed over main equipment including electro pumps, heat exchangers, air coolers, and distillation columns. The results shows that total energy performance of plant is 92.62% by 19.76 MW energy lost, while from exergy perspective, unit performance is 78.08% by 17.92 MW exergy lost. Maximum local exergy lost occurs in the feed pre heater exchanger by 27% performance which is designed to recover energy from top product of second column, furthermore results shows that upgrading low quality energy in air coolers based on heat pump concept would protect energy and exergy emission to the environment and reduce 40% of total lost energy and 16% of total lost exergy in plant.