Optimization and simulation of vinyl acetate process based on Aspen Plus

Vinyl acetate is a bulk chemical consumed by millions of tons annually. It has a wide range of uses and broad development prospects, but also means that there is a large space for improvement in the application of advanced technology. Acetylene gas phase method commonly used at present has the advantages of high selectivity and low equipment requirements, but the process has high energy consumption, so it is necessary to optimize the energy saving aspect of the process. In this design, Aspen Plus is used to simulate and analyze the existing process, pinch point technology is used to optimize the heat exchange network, and heat pump distillation and double-effect distillation technology is used to optimize the reaction and separation equipment to reduce energy consumption and achieve the goal of energy saving. The simulation results show that the energy recovery of the improved process is 0.49×105kW, namely 49.81mW, and the energy recovery is 28.6%. At the same time, in the process of producing vinyl acetate in this project, the recycling and utilization of byproducts can achieve a circular economy and meet the requirements of green development 2020 in “Made in China 2025”.