Thermo-004H Revised: Nov 6, 2012

Heat of Vaporization with Aspen HYSYS® V8.0

1. Lesson Objectives
 Learn how to calculate heat of vaporization using the heater block in Aspen HYSYS
 Understand the impact of heat of vaporization on distillation

2. Prerequisites
 Aspen HYSYS V8.0

3. Background
The driving force for distillation is energy. The most energy consuming part of a distillation column is the
vaporization of material in the reboiler to cause vapor to flow from the bottom of the column to the top of the
column. Heat of vaporization determines the amount of energy required. Therefore, it is important to know the
heat of vaporization of various species during solvent selection. With everything else equal, we should select a
component with lower heat of vaporization so that we can achieve the same degree of separation with less
energy. This example contains three isolated heater blocks. Each heater block is used to calculate the heat of
vaporization for a pure component.

The examples presented are solely intended to illustrate specific concepts and principles. They may not
reflect an industrial application or real situation.

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4. Aspen HYSYS Solution:

4.01. Create a new simulation in Aspen HYSYS V8.0.

4.02. Create a component list. In the Component Lists folder, select Add. Select Water, 3-methylhexane,
and 1,1,2-trichloroethane.

4.03. Create a fluid package. In the Fluid Packages folder, select Add. Select UNIQUAC as the property
package and select RK as the Vapour Model.

4.04. Enter the simulation environment.

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4.05. Add three separate Heater blocks to the flowsheet.

4.06. Double click on E-100 to open the property window. This first heater will vaporize a stream of pure
water. Create an Inlet stream called Feed-Water, an Outlet stream called Water-Out, and an Energy
stream called Q-Water.

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4.07. Go to the Worksheet tab. Specify the feed stream to be at a Pressure of 100 kPa, a Vapour Fraction of
0, and with a Molar Flow of 1 kgmole/h. In the Composition form under the Worksheet tab, enter a
Mole Fraction of 1 for Water in the feed stream. Lastly, we must specify the outlet pressure and the
outlet vapour fraction. Enter 100 kPa for Pressure, and 1 for Vapour Fraction of the Water-Out stream.
The heater should solve. Make note of the Heat Flow of the energy stream Q-Water.

4.08. We will now repeat this process for heaters E-101 and E-102. E-101 will vaporize 3-methylhexane and E-
102 will vaporize 1,1,2-trichloroethane.

4.09. Double click on E-101. Create an Inlet stream called Feed-3MH, an Outlet stream called 3MH-Out, and
an Energy stream called Q-3MH.

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4.10. In the Worksheet tab, for the feed stream enter a Vapour Fraction of 0, a Molar Flow of 1 kgmole/h,
and a Pressure of 100 kPa. In the Composition form, enter a Mole Fraction of 1 for 3-methylhexane in
the feed stream. Lastly specify the outlet conditions of 100 kPa for Pressure and a Vapour Fraction of 1.
Make note of the Heat Flow for the energy stream.

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4.11. Double click E-102. Create an Inlet stream called Feed-1,1,2, an Outlet stream called 1,1,2-Out, and an
Energy stream called Q-1,1,2.

4.12. In the Worksheet tab, for the feed stream enter a Vapour Fraction of 0, a Molar Flow of 1 kgmole/h,
and a Pressure of 100 kPa. In the Composition form, enter a Mole Fraction of 1 for 1,1,2-
trichloroethane in the feed stream. Lastly specify the outlet conditions of 100 kPa for Pressure and a
Vapour Fraction of 1. Note the Heat Flow of the energy stream.

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5. Conclusions
Although water has small molecular weight, its heat of vaporization is large. Heat of vaporization for water is
about 18% higher than that of 1,1,2-trichloroethane and about 30% higher than that of 3-methylhexane. Of the
three options, 3-methylhexane has to lowest heat of vaporization and would require the least amount of energy
as a solvent in a distillation.

6. Copyright
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