Crude Distillation

Petroleum Refining Engineering

2012 - 2013
 Crude Oil Receiving
• Crude oil is received and stored in a floating roof
tank
• Roof is made floating over the oil to avoid loss of
hydrocarbon vapors and low boiling factions
• The roof also floats up and down to compensate
for the breathing of operation during pumping in
and out of the tank
• Crude oil received from tank cars, pipelines or
tanker ships may contain water
• This water must settle in the receiving tank
before oil accounting is started
Floating Roof Tank
 Crude Distillation
• The first process in the refinery
• Topping unit or atmospheric distillation unit
• Receives the highest flow rate
• Usually runs at 60% of the design feed rate
• Seasonal temperature changes should be
accounted for
• Capacity range: 10,000 BPSD to 400,000 BPSD
(1,400 – 56,000 tpd)
 Distillation Products
• CDU produces products that have to be
processed in downstream processes
• Typical distillation prodcuts
– Gases
– Light straight run naphtha (light gasoline)
– Heavy naphtha (heavy gasoline or military jet fuel)
– Kerosene (light distillate or jet fuel)
– Light gas oil (LGO or diesel)
– Heavy gas oil (HGO
– Atmospheric residue or topped crude
 Distillation Process
• Crude – products heat exchange
• Crude heating
• Distillation columns, 30 to 50 trays
• Steam function
– Stripping light hydrocarbons
– Lowering the partial pressure of hydrocarbon vapors
– Tower energy balance
• Condenser and reflux
• Pumparounds
– Cold reflux
– Heat removal
– Reduces vapor flow rate
 Operation of CDU
• Degree of fractionation is determined by the
gap or overlap between two adjacent side
streams
• Ideally there should be no overlap between
products
• Gap or overlap
 Cut Points
• Cut points are controlled by the overhead vapor temperature
and flow rate of products fro column or side strippers
• Amount of naphtha is determined by the dew point of
naphtha at its partial pressure
• Changing the draw rate of product affects the cut point of the
heavier product below it
– Lowering kerosene draw flow rate will lower its end point
(lighter) and will affect the initial cut point of LGO
• Side stream rate affects the temperature at the withdrawal
tray, lowers the internal reflux, affect the degree of
fractionation
 Pressure and Temperature
• Pressure is controlled by the back pressure of
the reflux drum
– 0.2 – 0.34 barg (3-5 psig)
– Flash zone pressure is usualy 0.34 – 0.54 bar
higher than the top tray
• Overhead temperature must be 14 – 17 oC
higher than the dew point of water at columns
overhead pressure
 Crude Oil Desalting
• Some brine is associated with oil in form of
fine water droplets emulsified in crude oil
• Salt content cab be as high as 2000 PTB and
should be lowered to 2 – 5 PTB
• Salt can cause
– deposition in tubes in furnaces and HEX
– Corrosion problems
– Catalyst poisoning
 Types of Salts in Crude Oil
• Free water and emulsified water
• Salts are mostly dissolved in fine water
droplets
• Salts are mostly magnesium, calcium and
sodium chlorides
 Desalting Process
• Water-oil emulsion has to be broken
• Water washing
• Heating
• Coalescence
– Droplets size 1 – 10 micron
– Achieved by electrostatic field
• Settling
Electrostatic Desalter
 Desalter Operation
• Temperature: increasing temperature lowers
density and viscosity. settling rate is increased
with temperature
• Washing water ratio
• Water level: raising water level reduces settling
time for water droplets. If too high it can reach
the electrode
• Washing water injection point: water is injected
at the mixing valve. Sometimes to avoid salt
deposition injection is done after the crude pump
 Desalter Operation
• Demuslifier injection rate: added after the crude
pump or before mixing valve at 3 – 10 ppm of the
crude
• Type of washing water: soft water to prevent
scaling. Slitely acidic (pH 6). Free from hydrogen
sulfide and ammonia. Distillation overhead or
process water can be used
• Pressure drop in mixing valve: compromise
between better mixing and emulsion stabilization
 Vacuum Distillation
• To extract more products from atmospheric
reside
• Produces
– Light vacuum gas oil (LVGO)
– Medium vacuum gas oil (MVGO)
– Heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO)
– Vacuum residue