Students use simulation to produce ethylene from algae
Students from the Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey have developed a conceptual simulation enabling the production of bio-based ethylene from microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata. The project won the Honeywell Process Solutions’ annual UniSim Design Challenge, which tasks engineering students with proposing solutions to real-world problems facing process manufacturers. The winning simulation demonstrated a reduced carbon footprint of the hybrid process by anaerobic digestion and oxidative coupling compared to traditional methods of ethylene production.
Two students from the Izmir Institute of Technology have used Honeywell’s simulation software to demonstrate how to produce petrochemicals from algae. They have been named the winners of Honeywell Process Solutions’ (HPS) annual UniSim® Design Challenge.

Ozgun Deliismail and Okan Akin, under the supervision of Associate Professor Dr. Erol Seker, used UniSim Design and UniSim Dynamics to create a preliminary conceptual design and simulation of the production of bio-based ethylene from the marine microalgae of Nannochloropsis oculata. Ethylene produced from this renewable source can easily replace petrochemical-based ethylene in conventional production processes.

“The interest in renewable petrochemicals continues due to a combination of environmental concerns and economic uncertainties,” said John Roffel, Director of Honeywell’s Simulation and Operator Competency product lines. “It is great to see that students around the world find new ways to tackle global challenges with the help of the UniSim Design Suite.”

The UniSim Design Challenge allows engineering students to propose solutions to real-world problems facing process manufacturers with Honeywell’s UniSim Design Suite software, which is used to design and model processes in production facilities around the world.

Deliismail and Akin presented the winning entry during the Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Americas Symposium. The preliminary design demonstrates the drastically reduced carbon-foot print of the hybrid process by anaerobic digestion and oxidative coupling versus the traditional process of ethylene production. It also shows that bio-ethylene production from bio-methane is profitable.

“To our knowledge, this is the first reported simulation of bio-based ethylene production using the UniSim Design Suite,” said Dr. Seker. “Its user friendly interface, simplicity and great extensibility provide a great simulation environment to improve the design of the hybrid process.”

UniSim Design Suite provides an interactive process model that allows engineers to create steady-state and dynamic models. UniSim Design models may be leveraged into advanced training and optimisation solutions provided by the UniSim® Optimisation Suite, UniSim® Competency Suite and Honeywell Connected Plant offerings.