The Energy and Exergy Analysis of the Reactor Unit of Boric Acid Production Process with ChemCAD Simulation

Abstract

Energy and exergy analysis of systems are of great importance to enhance the energy and exergy efficiency of industrial production facilities. With the energy and exergy analyses performed, the energy dependency of the production facilities and their energy consumption can be reduced, the price of the product can decrease, and the profit margin can increase. Additionally, it is ensured that the energy produced based on fossil fuels is used in a controlled way. In the present study, the analysis of energy and exergy has been performed for the production reactor unit of the Boric Acid from Colemanite. The first law of thermodynamics and ChemCAD simulation program was used for energy analysis calculations, and the calculations of exergy analysis were carried out by using the second law of thermodynamics. The total energy loss of the reactor unit and the calculated energy loss per 100 kcal input steam were calculated as 110880 kcal/h and 3.724%, and the losses of total exergy in the reactor units and the losses of exergy calculated per 100 kcal input steam were calculated as 225058.86 kcal/h and 30.095%, respectively. Exergy efficiency for the reactor unit has been determined as 3.3 %. Some suggestions were given for the reactor units of boric acid production plants to minimize system losses.