DESTILACION

Subdirección de Procesos
 SPECIFICATIONS FOR TYPICAL COLUMNS

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 TRAY EFFICIENCIES

“There is no generalized efficiency model which adequately represents all

columns”

“Efficiencies are best determined by using experience factors and educated

juggling”

Overall versus Local Efficiencies:

Overall = No. Theo trays / No. Actual trays
Local models:
Efficiencies vary from tray to tray
The equilibrium vapor is modified
Example is Murphree model

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 DIFFERENCES IN TRAY TYPES:

Plant data are not accurate enough to

Distinguish efficiency defferences which
Are attributable to tray type

“Can neither prove or disprove”

Incentives for changing tray types:

Turndown capabilites
Pressure drop
Mechanical problems (plugging, etc.)
Cost effectiveness
Corrosion

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 DETERMINING TRAY EFFICIENCIES

Necessary Data:
Update column drawing
Accurate reflux and/or reboiler duty measurement

Procedure:
1) Assume an overall tray efficiency and build a model. (initially assume
same efficiency in stripping and rectification sections.)
2) Perform calculations to meet observed separation. Check reflux rate
and /or reboiler duty.
3) If reflux (or reboil duty) is low: Decrease number of stages in the model.
If reflux (or reboil duty) is high: Increase number of stages in the model.
4) For fine tuning: Specify light key separation and reflux. Check heavy key
separation.
If heavy key in overhead is too high–lower feed tray. If too low, raise
feed tray.
5) Return to step 2) If necessary

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 OVERALL TRAY EFFICIENCIES

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 OVERALL TRAY EFFICIENCIES (CONT´D)

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 SETUP OF COLUMNS

INITIAL ESTIMATES:

1) Estimate flow of all products as moles.

Volume or mass.
Note: Estimate for overhead or bottoms product should be as accurate as
possible.
Typical conversion factors:

2) Estimate reflux ratio or reflux

Note: A high estimate is usually best

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 3) Estimate key tray temperatures:
Condenser, top tray, bottom tray, reboiler

4) Don´t forget to supply pressure for tray 2!

5) Remember to supply flash zone pressure for crude and vacuum columns.

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 TROUBLESHOOTING COLUMNS

Column calculations fail because:

1) Specs are infeasible or conflicting

Note: The inner loop fails in the I/O column.

2) Entrapped free water in column

Note: HYSYM forces the water out the top and gives a warning.

3) Inappropriate or highly non-ideal thermodynamics

4) Poor initial solution estimate
Temperature estimates
Flow estimates

Note: Accuracy of initial estimate required depends on types of

specifications.

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 STRATEGY FOR DIAGNOSIS

1) Before making changes, recheck all input data

2) Don't expect unconverged results to yield much useful information
3) Simplify the problem definition if need be to obtain a converged solution.

SYMPTOMS AND PROBABLE CAUSES:

4) Very large or very small internal flows:
Causes: Specified reflux too low
Not enough boilup
Product draw rate too high
Too much side heating/cooling
Too much side cooling dries
Liquid from tray 1

Principle: Specify flow rate at low flow zones in columns to lock in a solution.

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 2) Very high column temperatures:
Causes: lower product rates too low
recovery of light key too high

3) Very low column temperatures:

Causes: lower product rates too high
recovery of heavy key too high

Symptoms and probable causes (cont´d):

4)Loss of liquid or vapor at mixed phase condenser:

Causes: condenser temperature spect´d too high
condenser temperature spect´d too low
insufficient vapor in feed to generate overhead vapor

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 5) Oscillation that is close to a solution:

Causes: highly non-ideal thermo

incorrect feed tray location
inadequate stripping or rectification
trays (check key separations)

6) Multiple solutions to same problem:

Cause: Specs do not define a unique solution (ill chosen keys)

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 CRUDE OIL DISTILLATION

Crude oil:

A complex mixture of thousands of hydrocarbons: methane – NBP 2000 F

(1095 C).

Each crude is a mix of the production of hundreds of producing wells

Varies widely in composition geographically

Varies within any given field

Each well varies with time

Spiking of crude oil

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 AVAILABLE DATA

Assays: TBP, properties of cuts: API, % Sulfur, Viscosities, etc

Note: Because of the composition changes with time, assays more than two
years old may not accurately represent a crude oil.

Products: Chromatograph, DB86 distillations, D1160 distillations, gravities

Crude units:
Large diameter
35 – 50 trays
Side trippers
Pump around
Coolers
Overhead water

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 FIRST STEP IN OIL REFINING

Most crudes must be desalted first:

Add H2O, heat to 250 – 300 F (120 – 150 C), and use electric field to coalesce
salty water

Typical products:
Light ends, light gasoline, reforming naphtha, kerosene, diesel, gas oil to
FCC, topped crude to vacuum distillation.

•Finished products unless polishing required

Energy conservation:
Elaborate preheat network prior to furnace

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 Side stripping of products:
Steam: 4 – 6 trays
Reboiled: 6 – 10 trays
Improves flash point by removing
Light ends
Typical steam: 0.1 0.25 LBS/GALLON of product
[12 -30 kg/m3] :

Bottom steam stripping:

Strip gas oil from bottoms
Raise flash point of bottoms

Lower hydrocarbon partial

Pressure in the flash zone

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 Pumparound coolers:
Distribute heat removal
Down the column
- more efficient - higher level heat
- reduces vapor loading

Note: Design of side cooling is tightly integrated with the crude preheat
scheme.
There are three common schemes used in crude unit design:

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 Runback or “Overflash”:

Liquid from tray just

Above the flash zone
Minimize for energy conservation
Typical rate: 3 – 5 LV% of crude charge

Typical operating conditions:

Condenser outlet: 3 – 10 psig [1.22 – 1.7 bars]
Top of column: 10 – 15 psig [1.7 – 2.05 bars]
Column delta P: 5 psi [0.34 bars]
Top temperature: depends on overhead product
Flash zone: < 700 Deg F [371 C]
Bottoms temperature: 10 Deg F [6 Deg C] less than flash zone
All water goes overhead

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 CRUDE OIL DISTILLATION
SIMULATION TECHNIQUES

METODOLOGY:

1) Procure accurate feed characterization:

A) Crude oil assay most recent
Extend TBP to 100 LV% with probability paper
Check yields from assays versus plant data
Shortcut Techniques [rigorous methods fail for poor material balances]
B) Blend the products to reproduce the feed
Usually poor data for topped crude
D1160 is very helpful if available

Note: inaccurate feed characterization is the single most encountered

difficulty in crude unit simulation.

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 2) TRANSLATE TO SIMULATION FLOWSHET:

a) Apply tray efficiencies

b) Side strippers: steam = 2 Theo trays

reboiled = 3 - 5 Theo trays

c) Pumparound circuits:
Use two fractionation occurs on intermediate trays – pumparound section is a
heat sink.
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 d) Flash zone: Add an artificial tray with a trim heater

Note: gives another degree of freedom for solution of the column.

E) Select proper condenser model:

If ample vapor in feed – select mixed phase
Condenser, specify temperature and allow liquid product rate to be computed.

If little vapor in feed – select bubble point condenser or subcooled.

Alternately, add about 10 SCF/BBL [1.8 SCM/m3] crude of gas (50% C1, 50% C2)

Note: For most simulations there are not enough light ends in the crude.
There are two reason: light ends lost from samples and cracking in the crude
furnace in the real world.

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 3) PRELIMINARY TUN TO CHECK ENERGY BALANCE:
a) Specifications: all product rates except top product; overflash
b) Degrees of freedom: side product rates, condenser and trim heater duties
c) Side coolers: set duty to zero.
d) All cooling will be at condenser:
about 40 – 60 percent of the cooling is normally taken o the side cooling

Note: this case is a maximum reflux and fractionation case if the product
separations are not better than the plant data you will have ton add more
trays to the model.

e) Manually compute the side cooling duties from:

Q= W Cp Delta T ( Assume Cp = 0.65 BTU/lb – Deg F
= 2.72 kj/kg-Deg C )
f) Check the plant side cooling duties for reasonableness:

- Sum should equal 40 – 60 % of total load calculated.

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 4) Final run with side cooling:
a) Set side cooling duty and pumparound delta T;
Compute circulation rate (probably least accurate)

b) Drying up from too much side cooling:

Liquid 3 will disappear
To correct: spec rate for
Liquid 3 and compute duty

5) Tuning the model:

a) Matching the draw temperatures:
 Moving trays does not usually work
 May have to add more cuts to feed

(Cut temperature may be too wide)

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 VACUUM DISTILLATION

Purpose: Continue distillation of crude tower bottoms

Large diameter
Steam Stripping or
Dry operation
Overhead vacuum
System

Two primary operations:

Gas oil production: Lubes stock production
Products: Gas oil to FCC Gas oil to FCC
- Lube cuts
Resid to Coker Resid to Coker
or asphalt (flux)

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 TYPICAL OPERATING CONDITIONS:

Flash zone: 25 – 100 mmHg

700 – 750 F [370 – 400 C]
750 – 775 F [400- 415 C] (Asphalt op´n)

Wash oil rate: 0.25 GPM per ft2 of tray superface

0.61 m3/hr per m2 of tray superface

Lube side cuts: pull for desired viscosities

Overhead product:
Lt Naphtha
Non condensibles:
Dissolved in feed
From cracking
From leaks

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 Vacuum system

There is a economic balance between ejector and stripping steam

Bottoms coolers:
Asphalt operation
Subcool bottoms to prevent coking

Dry operation:
Less condensing Equipment
Lower operating costs
Less oily water to treat

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 METHODOLOGY:

1) Procure accurate feed analysis:

a) D1160 or TBP if possible
b) Topped crude from crude unit simulation is not
Adequate for an accurate model (errors propagate)
c) For lube units, viscosity data must be supplied for the feed
d) light ends must be artificially added to feed:
Rules of thumb for light ends (based on charge):

Dissolved:
Lb/hr = 11.5 * (BBL/DAY *1E-3)
Kg/hr = 0.785 * m3/hr
Leaks:
Lb/hr = 6 * (BBL/DAY *1E-3)1/2
Kg/hr = 2.72 * (0.152 m3/hr)1/2

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 Cracking:
Lb/hr = C * (BBL/DAY)/24
Kg/hr = C1 * (6.289 m3/hr)
Where:
Flash zone Deg F C Deg C C1
800 1.2 427 0.545
775 0.6 412 0.272
750 0.3 399 0.136
725 0.15 385 0.068

Assume 75%-25% Mixture of C2 and C3

Total light ends: 15 – 50 lbs/hr per 1000 bbl/day charge

1.0 – 3.5 kg per m3 charge

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 1) Accurate feed analysis (Cont´d):
e) Blend products if no feed data available:
- Missing data for vacuum resid
- Probability papers is useful

f) Don´t forget the velocity steam

2) Use a shortcut model to verify the product rates:

Purpose: Easy model to converge

Compute trim duty to set resid rate
Compute HVGO P/A coolers to set HVGO rate
Compute LVGO coolers to set top temperature
Note that LVGO rate is calculated, not specified.

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 3) Translate to simulation flowsheet:
(Theo Trays)
Stripping section (1)
Flash zone to HVGO (1-2)
HVGO section (2)
LVGO section (2)

[Note: Many vacuum columns have packed sections instead of trays

theoretical trays shown above still apply]

4) Add an artificial tray to represent the flash zone:

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 5) Bottoms Circulation:

Technique: Add an artificial tray below the bottom

Tray and place a cooler on it. Compute duty
To reach subcooled temperature.
It is necessary to introduce a few moles of an inert on this tray to
produce net vapor.

6) Specifications for model:

Degrees of freedom: all duties and molar
Draw rates for side products
Specify top temperature to stabilize calcs.
For total draw off- trays, specify a small net liquid leaving the tray
Other specs: resid rate, runback, HVGO rate.

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