An energy recovery study of acetic acid wet air oxidation process

The objective of this work is to study the energy recovery opportunities of the wet air oxidation of water containing acetic acid as a pollutant, and to calculate the energy self sustainable point or the autotherm point: the COD effluent concentration from which the process becomes auto energetic and can even generate heat and power. For this purpose we use SuperProDesigner software to simulate the process and estimate power and heat consumed and generated by the process. The new feature of the simulation software allows giving the energy recovery opportunities. Calculations are performed for different effluent concentrations, and when the heat load produced by the heat source is sufficient to rise the effluent up to a desired temperature, the autotherm point is reached. SuperProDesigner allows also recycling the power produced in the process and it is possible to perform calculations to get the concentration from which the power generated by the process is sufficient to cover its power demand. The reduction in utilities cost due to heat recovery and power recycling are also reported.