Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-7-2026
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Chemical Engineering
First Advisor
Brenda Prager
Second Advisor
Songtao Xie
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This paper investigates the optimization and dynamic control of acetone production via catalytic dehydrogenation of isopropyl alcohol. Optimization was conducted using steady-state Aspen Plus modeling with product specifications of 30,000 metric tons per year of 99.9% pure acetone by weight. Dynamic modeling of the feed preparation and reaction portions of the process was conducted in Aspen Plus Dynamic. Through optimization efforts the primary economic factor, net present value (NPV), was increased from $(126.6) million to $(83.2) million, representing a $43.4 million increase. This was primarily accomplished through a switch to low temperature catalyst, optimization of reactor dimensions, pressurization of key separation processes, and purification of the hydrogen by-product. Despite the increase in NPV, it was determined that the project would not be successful unless the market price trends of acetone and isopropyl alcohol alter. By the addition of key controllers, the dynamic system was able to appropriately respond to a variety of alterations in process flowrates. However, the process would benefit from more aggressive manual tuning of process feed control, the addition of feedforward control to temperature control cascades, and pump controls.
Recommended Citation
Wasson, Thomas W., "Optimization and Dynamic Control of Acetone Production from Isopropyl Alcohol" (2026). Honors Theses. 3565.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3565
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.