Towards demand-side management of the chlor-alkali electrolysis: Dynamic, pressure-driven modeling and model validation of the 1,2-dichloroethane synthesis

A promising application of demand-side management is the chlor-alkali electrolysis. However, storing the produced chlorine for flexibility should be avoided whenever possible. If PVC is produced from chlorine, storing the intermediate 1,2-dichloroethane resulting from direct chlorination of ethene is a better alternative as it is less toxic than chlorine and can be easily stored. Currently, no dynamic process models to study the process behavior or to develop optimal trajectories for the 1,2-dichloroethane production under different demand response scenarios are available. Hence, we formulate and solve a dynamic, pressure-driven model of the synthesis of 1,2-dichloroethane and validate it with real process data in this contribution. As part of this dynamic model, differentiable formulations for weeping and the flow over a weir of a distillation tray are presented, which are also valid whenever certain trays run dry.BMWi, 0350013A, Verbundvorhaben: ChemEFlex - Umsetzbarkeitsanalyse zur Lastflexibilisierung elektrochemischer Verfahren in der Industrie; Teilvorhaben: Modellierung der Chlor-Alkali-Elektrolyse sowie anderer Prozesse und deren Bewertung hinsichtlich Wirtschaftlichkeit und möglicher Hemmniss