Techno-Economic Analysis of Ethylene Adsorptive Separation Using Zeolite 13X in Oxidative Coupling of Methane Integrated Process
, Alberto Penteado 2, Giampaolo Manzolini 4, Alvaro Orjuela 6 and Fausto Gallucci 1
Yih-Wen Wang
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis paper majorly presents a techno-economic analysis for ethylene adsorptive/separation in the OCM process, which is a topic of significant interest and is the focus of your research. The novelty and originality of your work should be further emphasized, as it contributes to the growing body of knowledge in this field. The authors are suggested to address the following comments to meet the requirements of the Journal.
1. There are parallel and consecutive reactions in the OCM process that complete the oxidation of methane to produce CO and CO2. The complete oxidation of methane is an undesired path that can decrease C2 selectivity and increase product separation costs. Please provide the crucial factors that make OCM economically viable for a neutral reader.
2. Please combine the references [6], [7], [14], and [15] in Table 2 and lines 315–316 “Experimentally validated values of the coefficients in the DSL isotherm models for all involved species are listed in Table 2 [7, 14, 15].
3. In Figure 3, please use dotted lines to present the simulation trends of CH4 (sim.), C2H6 (sim.), and C2H4 (sim.).
4. Image pixels and poor quality exist in Figure 4; neither curve of C3H6 nor C3H8 is illustrated in the Figure. Please check it.
5. Please give the appropriate references to all equations
6. In Conclusion, the authors should add more reference value and provide more suggestions for using the techno-economic potentials of adsorption separation of ethylene in an OCM-integrated process.
7. The future directions can be included at the end of this study.
Author Response
Please see the attachement.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis paper presents a techno-economic analysis of an ethylene adsorptive-separation process integrated with oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) using 13X zeolite sorbent. The authors have made significant efforts to model and simulate the process, but there are some minor revisions that need to be addressed to further improve the manuscript.
1. I noticed that the chemical names used in the figure are not correct.
2. While the authors have presented a detailed techno-economic analysis, I was unable to find information on energy balance and mass balance in the process simulations. To strengthen their argument, they should provide more details on these aspects, including:
* Energy consumption and production rates
* Material flow rates and storage capacities
* Potential losses and efficiencies
3. In Table 5, I noticed that the unit might be incorrect. The authors mention that the percentage of gases production is too low.
4. The title of the paper does not mention 13X zeolite sorbent, which is a crucial component of their process. To improve the manuscript, the authors should update the title to reflect this important aspect.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
