A thermo-economic analysis of the separation process of an ethylene plant

This study has established a model of thermo-economic balance for chemical processes. The general rules to form the exergy-price constraint equation and the equations of some major types of the units have been proposed. With this model, a thermo-economic analysis for the separation process of an Ethylene Plant has been studied. The paper has made an analysis for the effects of different boundary exergy prices on the process evaluation. The result shows that the thermo-economic analysis for a process, using the method advanced in here, merely depends on the process construction and the ratio of supplying exergy-prices. As soon as the ratio is well-matched, a similar analogic analysis may be set up for the same type of processes in different economic environments