Crude Oil Distillation Processes

B.
Shanehsaz
Summer 2012
Distillation Processing
Crude Oil Distillation Processing

Crude Oil Processing
The capacity of a refinery is defined by the total capacity of

atmospheric distillation units. The capacities of most of the recently
constructed atmospheric distillation units are in the range of 50,000
~ 250,000 BPSD.
Distillation separates the crude oil complex mixture into different

fractions with relatively narrow boiling ranges. In general,
separation of a mixture into fractions is based primarily on the
difference in the boiling points of the components. In distillation
units, one or more fractionating columns are used.
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The first refinery, opened in 1861, produced kerosene by simple
atmospheric distillation. Its by-products included tar and naphtha. It
was soon discovered that high-quality lubricating oils could be
produced by distilling petroleum under vacuum. However, for
the next 30 years kerosene was the product consumers wanted.
Two significant events changed this situation:
(1) invention of the electric light decreased the demand for
kerosene, and
(2) invention of the internal combustion engine created a demand
for diesel fuel and gasoline (naphtha).
Crude Oil Distillation Processing 4

1. The Purpose of the Distillation Process
Crude oil is first processed by the desalter to remove salts, solids
and water. The desalted crude oil is then separated into intermediate
petroleum products such as light naphtha, heavy naphtha, kerosene,
gasoil and atmospheric residuum (AR) by the atmospheric
distillation unit. This process produces distillates that have boiling
points ranging typically up to 350 °C. The whole or a part of AR is
usually separated further into vacuum gasoil (VGO) or waxy
distillate and vacuum residue (VR) by vacuum distillation.
Vacuum distillation is also applied in a lube oil manufacturing
complex. In such a case, VGO is separated into three of four heavy
distillates and vacuum residue (VR).
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2. Feed and Products
The compositions and physical and chemical properties of crude
oils vary according to the oilfields where they are produced. The
properties of each crude oil are usually reported in a crude essay.
One of the most important characteristics of crude oil, which
affects the design and operation of the atmospheric and vacuum
distillation units, is true boiling point (TBP) distillation.

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Table 1 summarizes examples of product yields of various crude
oils according to before Fig., from which it may be deduced that
product yields vary with kinds of crude oil. TBP cut ranges of
products use in Table 1 are typical. In practice, the TBP cut range –
in other words, the product yield – should be determined according
to various product specifications and the demand for each product
in the market.

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• The ASTM distillation data of distillate products are an
important part of the specifications that determine the product
yields.
• The other properties, such as the smoke point of kerosene

fractions and the cetane number of gasoil fractions, should also
be taken into consideration of determine the product yield.
• The 5 – 95 % gap which is the difference between the 5 vol.%

ASTM temperature of a fraction and the 95 vol.% ASTM
temperature of the adjacent lighter fraction is used as measure of
fractionation.
• Offgas is normally sent to a gas concentration unit to recover C3
and C4 LPGs. Light naphtha is typically used as a gasoline
blending component, or is sent to a Isomerization unit after
hydrotreating, to produce a high-octane gasoline blending
component or as a feedstock to the petrochemical industries.
Heavy naphtha is sent to a catalytic reforming unit, after
hydrotreating, to produce a high-octane gasoline blending
component or a feedstock for a BTX (benzene, toluene and
xylene) production unit.

3. Crude Desalting
• Crude oil contains contaminants such as salts, solids and water
that can cause corrosion, fouling, plugging, and catalyst
degradation of the refining units.
• Most salts contained in the crude oil, such as sodium chloride

(NaCl), calcium chloride (CaCl2) and magnesium chloride
(MgCl2) are soluble in the water that is present.

• The purpose of desalting is to remove such contaminants by
water-washing, followed by separation of the contaminant-laden
dirty water with electrostatic coalescing. Removal of water with
simple settling is very difficult, since the water-in-oil emulsion is
very stable. The use of electric desalters is now a common
method to remove water in the water-in-oil emulsion.
• Since NaCl is the predominant component among the salts

mentioned above, the sum of ‘equivalent NaCl concentration’ of
all the salts is used as a measure of the slat contents for
convenience.

• The unit of measure of the salt chloride content is traditionally
represented as the ‘ptb (pounds of NaCl per thousand barrels of
crude oil)’.
• Inorganic salts contained in crude oil, including salts

contaminated during transportation by tanker or barge, lie in a
range of 10 – 500 ptb (pounds/thousand barrel), usually less than
100 ptb, while the water content is in the range 0.1 – 2.0 wt%.

• The number of desalting stages is determined according to a
maximum allowable salt content for a downstream process unit.
Typical salt removal efficiency is 85 – 95% for a single-stage
system, and 97 – 99% for a two-stage system. In the case of
single-stage desalting, the typical salt content of desalted crude
is 2 – 5 ptb.
• If AR is fed to a residue hydrodesulphurization unit, a two-stage

desalting system is applied to achieve a salt content of 0.3 – 0.5
ptb.

3. 1. Process Flow
Figure 3 shows a typical process flow scheme of a single-stage
desalting system. Crude oil charged to the atmospheric
distillation unit is first heated to a suitable temperature for
desalting by exchanging heat with various streams of the
atmospheric distillation unit.

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• The heated crude oil is then mixed with 5 – 7 vol.% of fresh
water in order to dilute the salt concentration. A small amount of
chemicals, which assist in breaking the emulsion, is usually
injected to the crude oil stream. The combined stream passes
through a mixing valve that creates a water-in-oil emulsion for
intimate contact between oil and water. The water-in-oil
emulsion is then introduced into the desalter vessel, where the
emulsion is subjected to the influence of a high-voltage (10 – 30
kV) electrostatic field.

• The electrostatic force accelerates agglomeration of the
contaminant-laden water. This water, which is coalesced into
large drops, then settles by gravity. The desalted crude oil is
withdrawn from the top of the vessel, while the effluent water is
withdrawn from the bottom of the vessel.

3.2. Operating Conditions
3.2.1. Pressure
3.2.2. Temperature
3.2.3. Wash-water Injection Rate

3.2.1. Pressure
The operating pressure of the desalting vessel should be kept
higher than the vapor pressure of mixture of crude oil and water at
the operating temperature, to suppress vaporization in the desalter.
A typical operating pressure is around 500 – 1200 kPa.

3.2.2. Temperature
The purpose of heating the desalter feed crude is to reduce its
viscosity for better mixing and separation of water and oil. The
typical operating temperature is in the range 100 – 150 °C.

3.2.3. Wash-water Injection Rate
The wash-water injection rate is determined by taking account of
the amount of impurities contained in the crude oil and the efficient
contact of oil and water. Typical wash-water rates lie in the range 5
– 7 vol.% on crude oil. If a sufficient quantity of water is not
available, the number of desalter stages should be increased.

4. The Atmospheric Distillation Unit
4.1 Process Flow
Figure 4 shows a typical process flow scheme of an atmospheric
distillation unit. The heat exchange system is simplified.The
atmospheric distillation unit consists of a desalter, an atmospheric
tower, three side strippers and a debutanizer/splitter. Crude oil is
preheated by exchanging heat with pump-around reflux systems
and then sent to a desalter to remove salts, solids and water
discussed before. The desalted crude oil is further preheated by
exchanging heat with products and a pump around reflux stream,
and then finally heated by a crude furnace to a temperature which
provides the required degree of vaporization.

Distillation Tower
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4.1 Process Flow
The heated crude oil is then introduced to the flash zone of the
atmospheric tower. The number of trays installed in the tower is
35-50, depending on the number of side-stream products and the
required degree of fractionation. The liquid portion of the flashed
crude oil flows down to a bottom stripping section of the
atmospheric tower, where distillate fractions dissolved in the liquid
are vaporized with steam stripping.

The steam-stripped bottoms product is with-drown as AR. A
mixture of stripped oil vapour, the flashed vapour of the feed crude
oil and the stripping steam ascends within the tower. This mixed
vapour stream contacts down-flowing internal reflux liquid on the
trays, where condensation and fractionation of distillate products
takes place. The internal reflux liquid is created by condensation of
the ascending oil vapour that has contacted cooled pump-around
liquid.

Use of the several pump-around reflux systems prepares reflux

streams of different temperature levels, and enables effective
utilization of the reflux heat load for heating the crude oil feed. The
condensed liquid is withdrawn as side-stream products such as
kerosene, light gasoil and heavy gasoil. These streams are sent to
side strippers, where the lighter gas and oil fractions are removed
by steam stripping for adjustment of the flashpoint. The bottoms of
the side strippers are withdrawn as distillate products such as
kerosne, light gasoil and heavy gasoil.

The overhead vapour of the atmospheric towers is condensed by an

overhead condenser(s). the condensed liquid, called full boiling
range naphtha, is sent to a debutanizer to remove the butane and
light gases that is contains. The debutanizer offgas and gases not
condensed in the condenser(s) of the atmospheric tower are sent to
a gas concentration unit to recover propane and butane (LPG). The
debutanized full range naphtha is separated into light naphtha and
heavy naphtha by a splitter.

4.2 Distillation System Options
Although the basic flow scheme is not changed from Fig.4, the
atmospheric distillation unit has many options in the process flow
scheme. Typical options for this scheme are discussed below.
4.2.1 Feed Charge System
4.2.2 Tower Top Reflux System
4.2.3 Naphtha Separation System

4.2.1 Feed Charge System

The atmospheric distillation unit is classified into the following
four types in terms of feed charge system, which are summarized in
Fig. 5:
 Non-preflash system
 Preflash drum system
 Prefractionator system
 Dual flash system

 Non-preflash system
The feed charge system in Fig.5 corresponds to this system.
Crude oil is sent directly to the atmospheric tower without being
processed by any preliminary separation equipment such as a
flash drum or a fractionation tower. Although this system is
simple, pressure drop through the crude oil furnace is high, and
maldistribution of feed to the furnace tube passes may occur due
to vaporization at the inlet of the furnace.

 Preflash drum system

The desalted crude oil is heated, and then introduced to a
preflash drum where flashed water and light hydrocarbons are
separated, the flashed vapor is sent directly to the atmospheric
tower. The flashed liquid is further heated by heat exchangers
and a crude oil furnace. This system reduces pressure drop
through the crude oil furnace, and prevents maldistribution of
crude oil to the furnace tube passes.

 Prefractionator system
A prefractionator is installed to remove gas and a part of the
naphtha fraction from the crude oil. Since gas and part of the
naphtha are removed in the prefractionator, the diameter of the
atmospheric tower can be reduced. The pressure drop through
the feed furnace may also be reduced. This system is often
applied when processing crude oils that are rich in gas and
naphtha fractions. It is also applied as a means of increasing the
capacity of an existing unit.

 Dual flash system

This system is applied to process two or more kinds of crude
oil whose properties (sulphur content of residue, for example)
are very different. An additional crude feed train(s) provided
with flash drum(s) is installed to yield separately the residue
from each crude.

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Figure 6 shows two types of top reflux system. One is a pump-
around reflux system, and the other is an overhead reflux
system. The overhead reflux system may be further classified
into a cold reflux system and a hot reflux system:
 Pump-around reflux system
 Overhead reflux system
1. Cold reflux system
2. Hot reflux system

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 Pump-around reflux system
This system is alternatively called a side reflux system or a

circulating reflux system. The tower top reflux system in Fig. 4
corresponds to this system. Part of the ascending vapor to the top
section of the atmospheric tower is condensed on the top section
trays by contacting the cooled pump-around reflux liquid, and the
condensed liquid flows down as internal reflux. The heat load of
the top pump-around reflux is effectively utilized to head the feed
crude oil. Due to the large amount of pump-around reflux liquid,
the diameter of the tower top is comparatively larges.

Overhead reflux system

In this system, overhead vapor is condensed by an overhead
condenser and the condensed liquid returns to the top of the
atmospheric tower as a reflux. The overhead reflux system may be
further subdivided into two systems; that is, a cold reflux system
and a hot reflux system.

1. Cold reflux system
The overhead vapor is condensed by an overhead condenser and
enters and overhead reflux drum where hydrocarbon liquid, gases
and water are separated. Part of the hydrocarbon liquid is
withdrawn from the drum as a naphtha product. The remaining
hydrocarbon liquid is returned to the top of the atmospheric tower.
This system is simple in operation, the diameter of the tower top
section is small and trays for heat transfer are not required.

2. Hot reflux system
Two sets of overhead condensers and drums are arranged in
series in this system. A heavy fraction in the overhead vapor is
condensed in the first condenser and sent to the first drum. All
the condensed hydrocarbon liquid accumulated in this drum is
returned to the top of the atmospheric tower as a steam from the
first drum is then condensed in the second condenser, and the
condensed hydrocarbon liquid is withdrawn as a naphtha
product.

• Since the temperature of the reflux liquid is higher than that of

the cold reflux system, this system is complex in operation due
to additional equipment and operating variables, corrosion at the
tower top section is reduced, and the same dimensional
advantage mentioned for the cold reflux system is expected.

4.2.2 Naphtha Separation System
• In Fig. 4, the full range naphtha withdrawn from the overhead is
separated into light naphtha and heavy naphtha with the naphtha
splitter, followed by the debutanizer.
• As an alternative to using the naphtha splitter, light naphtha and

heavy naphtha can be withdrawn as an overhead product and a
side-stream product, respectively, from the atmospheric tower.
• If the full range naphtha is hydrotreated before being separated

to light naphtha and heavy naphtha, the naphtha splitter is
installed in the naphtha hydrotreating unit.

4.4 Operation Conditions
4.4.1 Temperature
4.4.2 Pressure
4.4.3 Stripping Steam

4.4.1 Temperature
Most crude oils begin thermal decomposition at 340 – 370 °C, the
actual decomposition temperature varying with the type of crude
oil. The coil outlet temperature of the crude furnace, which is the
highest operating temperature of the atmospheric distillation unit,
should be selected to prevent excessive thermal decomposition,
which results in coking of furnace tubes and poor quality of the
distillate products. The typical temperature at the furnace cold
outlet is in the range 310 – 370 °C.

4.4.2 Pressure
The operating pressure will be set as low as possible to achieve the
desired vaporization at the lowest temperature. A typical operating
pressure at the overhead drum lies in the range 0.11 – 0.20 MPa. In
some rare cases, a higher pressure is adopted in order to maximize
the dissolution of offgases into naphtha, and avoid installation of
an offgas compressor.

4.4.3 Stripping Steam
Stripping steam to the bottom of the atmospheric tower and side
strippers is applied at the rate of 10 – 50 kg/m3 of bottoms. Where
heavy naphtha is withdrawn as a side-stream product, the side
stripper may be equipped with a reboiler instead of injecting
stripping steam.

5. The Vacuum Distillation Unit
5.1 Process Flow
5.2 Steam Injection to Furnace
5.3 Type of Vacuum-producing Equipment
5.4 Operating Conditions
5.4.1 Temperature
5.4.2 Pressure

Further separation of AR in a distillation tower requires excessively

high temperature at atmospheric pressure, which results in severe
coke deposition in equipment due to decomposition of the AR. In
order to avoid this effect, distillation towers for AR feedstock are
operated under sub-atmospheric pressure, and steam is usually
injected to the feed furnace to lower the required furnace coil outlet
temperature.

5.1 Process Flow

• Figure 7 shows a typical process flow scheme of a fuels-type
vacuum distillation unit for production of VGO that is used as
feedstock of a desulphurization unit, a FCC unit or a
hydrocracking unit.
• The heat exchange system shown in Fig. 7 is a typical

simplified one. AR feed is heated by exchanging heat with
VGO products VR product and pump-around reflux streams,
and then finally heated to the required temperature by a
furnace. The heated AR is sent to the vacuum tower, where
separation of AR to VGO and VR takes place.
• The liquid portion of the flashed feed flows down to a bottom

stripping section of the tower, where light oil contained in the
flashed liquid is steam stripped to adjust the flashpoint or
penetration of the VR product, and to recover entrained VGO
fractions.
• The steam-stripped liquid is withdrawn from the bottom of the

tower as a VR product. In order to prevent coking at the bottom
of the tower, part of the cooled VR is recycled to the bottom
section of the tower for quenching.

• A mixture of the steam-stripped oil vapor, the vapor portion of
the flashed feed and the bottom stripping steam rises to a wash
oil section, where any entrained mist of the VR fraction is
removed by contacting down-flowing internal reflux liquid
called wash oil.
• The washed vapor then rises through a HVGO (Heavy Vacuum

Gasoil) section and a LVGO (Light Vacuum Gasoil) section,
where condensation of the HVGO and LVGO fractions is
achieved by contacting down-flowing internal reflux liquid on
the grid-type contacting device of each section.

• The internal reflux liquid is created by condensation of the

ascending oil vapor, which contacts the cooled pump-around
liquid in each section. The condensed HVGO and LVGO
fractions are withdrawn a side-stream products.
• LVGO and HVGO streams may be combined, and withdrawn

as a VGO product. A liquid stream from the wash oil section,
which contains part of the VR fraction, is collected and
withdrawn from the tower. This liquid stream, called heat
(furnace) recycle, is combined with feedstock ahead of the feed
furnace and recycled to the vacuum tower.

• The typical flow rate of heater recycle is 5 – 10 vol% on feed.

Tower overhead vapor is sent to a pre-condenser to condense
most of the steam and oil vapor.
• The uncondensed vapor is sent to a steam jet ejector system. A

two- or three-stage ejector system is normally applied to create
the required vacuum condition. Gases compressed by the
ejectors are cooled and condensed by surface condensers. The
condensed steam and oil fractions, together with those from the
pre-condenser, are sent to an overhead drum, where they are
separated into gas, slop oil and sour water.

• In the case of a fuels-type vacuum distillation unit, a high

degree of fractionation is not required; since VGO is a single
distillate product whose major properties to be controlled are
normally metals content and carbon residue.
• For this reason, grid trays are normally used as the vapor-liquid
contacting device and no side stripper is installed.

• On the other hand, in the case of a lube-type vacuum

distillation for production of lube base-stocks, the viscosity and
carbon residue content of the distillates have to be controlled.
In order to achieve this precisely, the vacuum tower is provided
with side strippers, and bubble-cap trays are used as a vapor-
liquid contacting device for better fractionation.
• Figure 8 shows a simplified process flow scheme of a typical

lube-type vacuum distillation unit for production of lube base-
stocks.

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5.2 Steam Injection to Furnace

Vacuum distillation units are classified into the wet type and the
dry type. In the wet type, steam is injected into the feed furnace
tube to assist vaporization of the feed by lowering the partial
pressure of the oil vapor and to increase fluid velocity in the
furnace tubes. In dry types, steam is not injected to the feed
furnace. A comparison of the two options is summarized in
Table 2. Selection of the type is made by economics, taking
into account the site-specific situation of each refinery.
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Table 2 A comparison of dry type and wet type vacuum distillation
Wet Type Dry Type
Furnace injection steam Required None

Operating pressure Higher Lower
Ejector steam consumption Lower Higher
Number of ejector stages Two stages Three stages
Coking of furnace tube Mild Moderate
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5.3 Type of Vacuum-producing Equipment
Normally, a steam jet ejector system a vacuum pump system or

a combination of the two systems is used. Although the
investment cost for a steam jet ejector system is lower than that
for a vacuum pump system, the utility cost is higher. The steam
ejector system increases the amount of sour water to be
processed in wastewater treatment facilities. The selection
between these systems is made taking economics and
operability into account.

5.4 Operating Conditions
5.4.1 Temperature
The maximum allowable feed temperature is set to prevent
thermal decomposition and coking of furnace tubes. Typical
maximum allowable coil-outlet temperatures vary between 400
°C and 430 °C, depending on the type of feedstock. Since
residue from paraffinic crude oil has a higher coking tendency,
the maximum temperature should be suitably reduced.

5.4.2 Pressure
The pressure of the vacuum tower top typically lies in the range
1.3 – 20 kPa. The optimum pressure will vary with the type of
operation (wet or dry), the maximum allowable feed
temperature and the cut temperature between VGO and VR.

Distillation Points to
Remember

 Distillation Points to Remember:
1.Distillation columns carry out physical separation of liquid

chemical components from a mixture by
a. A combination of transfer of heat energy (to vaporize lighter
components)
b. Mass transfer between the liquid and vapor phases.
2. Simple Rules of Vapor Liquid Equilibrium
a. Vapor pressure of liquid depends on temperature.
b. Heat input raises vapor pressure of liquid.
c. A liquid boils when its vapor pressure equals the system pressure.
d. Higher the vapor pressure lowers the boiling point.

e. Volatile liquids have high vapor pressure.
f. The vapor pressure and hence the boiling point of a liquid mixture
depends on the relative amounts of the components in the mixture.
3.Distillation is the most common separation technique.
Distillation is energy intensive process.
It has large heating and cooling load. It can contribute to 30-60% of
plant operating costs
4.
a. Fractionation is a unit that has both a reboiler to supply heat at the
bottom and a condenser to take heat out from the top. This is normally
called distillation.

b. Absorption is a unit that has no method at the top of the tower to take
heat out. An external liquid is supplied from outside the system to
absorb material from the vapor.
c. Stripping is a unit that has an external stream (gas or steam)
supplied from outside the system to strip light material from the liquid.
It may have a reboiler at the bottom of the tower to put heat in.
5.In oil and gas processing sharp separation of a product of high
purity is not so common.
Example - LPG is not a pure component.

6.The equilibrium compositions of the components in a liquid
mixture vary with temperature at a fixed pressure.
When a liquid with mole fraction of A=0.4 (point A) is heated, its

concentration remains constant until it reaches the bubble-point (point B). It
starts to boil. The vapors evolved during the boiling has the equilibrium
composition given by point C.
7.Relative Volatility of component 1 and 2 in a mixture is
given by- Relative Volatility = [y1/x1] / [y2/x2],
Where –y is the composition in vapor phase and x is the component in
liquid phase at a particular pressure and temperature.
8.A typical distillation major components and basic operation
a. A reboiler to provide the necessary heat of
vaporization for the distillation process.
b. A condenser to cool and condense the vapor leaving the top of the
column.
c. A reflux drums to hold the condensed vapor from the top of the
column so that liquid (reflux) can be recycled back to the column to
enhance close separation.
d. The feed is introduced usually somewhere near the middle of the
column to a tray known as the feed tray.
e. The feed tray divides the column into a top (enriching or
rectification) section and a bottom (stripping) section.
f. The liquid (from feed and condensing vapors on the rectification
section) feed flows down the column.
g. Heat is supplied to the re-boiler to generate vapor. The liquid
removed from the reboiler is known as the bottoms product or simply,
bottoms.
h. The vapor moves up the column, and as it exits the top of the unit, it
is cooled by a condenser.

i. The condensed liquid is collected in a vessel known as the reflux
drum. Some of this liquid is recycled back to the top of the column and
this is called the reflux.

j. Part of the condensed liquid is removed from the reflux drum (or
from one of the trays) system is known as the distillate or top
product.
k. Thus the distillate and the bottoms become the final products. For
multi-component distillation.
l. Certain products can be drawn from one of the trays and is called side
draw off.
m. Each tray attains a “equilibrium temperature”. A temperature profile
takes place along the distillation column, the highest being at the bottom
and the lowest being at the top.

9. Packed Column Vs Tray Column
Packed Column Tray Column
* Low pressure drop High pressure Drop
* Good for vacuum service Not recommended
for high vacuum service
* Less flexibility for side draws Flexible for side draw
* Good for corrosive service Expensive for corrosive service
* Ideal for small diameter Expensive for small diameter
* Not preferred for high pressure Good at high pressure
* Not used for Residence time limitations Good when high Residence time
required

* Usually avoided for low Liquid loading Good for low liquid loading
* Can handle very large liquid load Cannot handle very large
liquid load
* Requires smaller diameter column Requires larger diameter
column

10. Distillation Calculation Methods
a. Stream Specifications
b. Feed Specifications (Temp, Pressure and Composition)
c. Variation in feed specifications.
d. Top product specification
e. Bottom product specification
f. Side draw specification
g. Provide design margin while making calculation
h. Estimate the recovery required

11. Feed Condition
The thermal condition of the feed determines the column internal flows.
a. If the feed is below its bubble point, heat is needed to raise it to
where it can be vaporized. This heat must be obtained by condensing
vapor rising through the column, so the liquid flow moving down the
column increases by the entire amount of the feed plus the condensed
material and the vapor flow upward is decreased.
Sub cooled Liquid - q>1 i.e. q=1+cpL(Tbp-Tf)/lambda

b. If the feed enters as superheated vapor, it will vaporize some of the
liquid to equalize the enthalpy. In this case, the liquid flow down the
column drops and the vapor flow up is increased by the entire amount of
the feed plus the vaporized material.
Superheated Vapor - q<0, q=(-cpV*(Tf-Tdp)/lambda).
c. If the feed is saturated (liquid or vapor), no additional heat must be
added or subtracted, and the feed adds directly to the liquid or vapor
flow.
i. Saturated Liquid (bubble point feed), q=1
ii. Partially Vaporized 0 < q < 1, q is the fraction of the feed that is
liquid. It can be found by doing a flash calculation and then q=(L/F)
=(1-V/F)
iii. Saturated Vapor (dew point feed), q=0
12. Thermodynamic Method
The selection of thermodynamic method is one of the most critical
decision a process engineer makes in design. General guidelines are
given in the software. However, this is not adequate. Process engineer
must develop skill in selecting thermodynamics method. The following
may be used as a guideline:
a. Use S-R-K or P-R methods for most hydrocarbon service. The
improved methods also may be used. Both the methods are good for
high pressure also.

b. The software may have interaction parameters for methods like
Wilson, NRTL, Margules, etc. You may use this for non-ideal services.
c. If experimental x-y data are available at one or more conditions, the
data can be regressed using the most suitable thermodynamic model.
d. For vacuum services, vapor pressure (ideal) model can be considered.
e. Use special methods for the given application such as Amines or
Sour Water etc.

13. Estimate using Short-cut methods
Fenske-Underwood-Gillliland (FUG) Shortcut Method / Smith-Brinkley
Method
a. Operating Pressure for Column - In general lower the operating
pressure, easier the separation. However, lower the pressure, larger the
column size. Select optimum pressure based on expected temperature,
utilities available, product degradation, refrigeration requirement etc.
b. Pressure Drop - Initial estimate on pressure drop may be done based on
70 mm water column for pressure drop in each tray and 40 mm water
column per meter of packed height for random packing.

c. Based on the given feed and product specifications, estimated recovery
and K-model selection, use short-cut methods to calculate the following:
i. Minimum Reflux Ratio - Underwood’s Equation
ii. Minimum number of theoretical trays - Fenske’s Total Reflux
Equation
iii. Reflux ratio Vs No. of trays - Gilliland Empirical Correlation
iv. Ideal Feed Location -
v. Expected temperature and duty.
vi. Based on short-cut method, select the number of trays required,
reflux ratio and feed tray location.This is the first estimate for rigorous
method.

14. Rigorous Calculation Method
a. Select the column operating pressure at the top
b. Specify pressure drop for the condenser, may be 0.05 to 0.3 Kg/cm2,
depending on service.
c. Select number theoretical trays and feed location based on results of
short cut method.
d. Specify minimum specification as per programme requirements.
This include reflux ratio and reflux rate, product purity, reboiler duty, top
temperature, bottom temperature etc.
e. For fast conversion of column, specify product rate, reflux rate,
reboiler duty etc.
f. Specify estimated quantities of other parameters, if known.
g. Develop one precise calculation.
h. Fine tune (optimize) on reflux ratio and feed-tray location.
i. The number of trays selected from short-cut method may not be
optimum. Therefore, develop few cases with different number of trays.
j. Based on all these cases, select the case which seems to be the
optimum.
k. The theoretical number of trays can be converted to actual number of
trays based on tray efficiency or can be converted to equivalent packed
height based on HETP value.

15. Tray Efficiency
a. Tray efficiency vary from 30% to 100%, but most hydrocarbon
service, it is in the range of 60% to 80%.
b. Various co-relations are cited in literature for calculating efficiency.
However, they are not very reliable.
c. In-house data bank, tray vendor information and published
experimental information is more reliable for tray efficiency.

16. HETP
a. HETP (Height Equivalent to a Theoretical Plate) values are used for
calculating total packed height from the number of trays calculated using
simulator.
b. HETP value is calculated based on experience and vendor
information.
c. While calculating the HETP, the liquid distribution for each bed plays
a major role.
d. The typical value of HETP for most random packing is 300 mm to
800 mm. The corresponding value for structural packing is some what
lower. Smaller the packing, lower the HETP value

e. The total packed height is divided into number of beds. Each bed
may have height equivalent to 6 to15 theoretical trays for random
packing.
f. H/D Ratio for a random packed bed is limited to 8. Often bed height is
restricted to 6 m. Higher packed height per bed is permitted for structure
packing.

17. Column Diameter and Height Calculation
a. Tray Column
i. Calculate total number of trays required
ii. Calculate column diameter based on vapor and liquid flow rates.
Preliminary calculations can be done using simulator. Tray vendor will
give accurate data. Tray diameter calculation depends on tray spacing.
Therefore, some optimization calculation may be required.
iii. Tray spacing varies from 250 mm to 750 mm. Most hydrocarbon
services use tray spacing of 450 mm to 600 mm.
iv. Provide space of about 800 mm to1000 mm at the top of 1st tray for
man-way.

v. Provide liquid level at column bottom based on residence time
required. Note that liquid disappears due to bottom product removal and
due to vaporization
vi. Provide adequate space between HHLL and the last tray for proper
separation of vapor and liquid.
vii. Column hydraulics shall be such that normal operation is away
from entrainment, flooding, choking etc. Vapor flow velocity is
dependent on column diameter. Weeping determines the minimum vapor
flow required while flooding determines the maximum vapor flow
allowed, hence column capacity. Thus, if the column diameter is not
sized properly, the column will not perform well. Not only will
operational problems occur, the desired separation duties may not be
achieved.
b. Packed Column
i. Calculate HETP as described before. This includes selecting size of
the packing.
ii. Calculate total packed height above and below the feed location.
iii. Divide the total packed height into number of beds such that each
bed has about 10 theoretical stages.
iv. Calculate column diameter using simulator based on hydraulics data
and packing selected. Specify pressure drop in the range of 25 mm water
column to 40 mm water column per meter of packed height. This is
finalized after discussion with packing vendor.
v. Calculate overall column dimensions as described for tray column.

18. Internals
a. Tray Column b. Packed Column
i. Trays i. Packing
ii. Chimney Tray ii. Distributor / Redistributors
iii. Feed Pipes iii. Support Plate
iv. Gas Distributor iv. Hold drum plate / bed limiters
v. Partition Plate v. Feed Pipe
vi. Gas Distributor

19. Factors Affecting Distillation Column Operation /
Performance
The performance of a distillation column is determined by many factors,
for example:
a. Feed Conditions
The state of the feed mixture and feed composition affects the operating
lines and hence the number of stages required for separation. It also
affects the location of feed tray. During operation, if the deviations from
design specifications are excessive, then the column may no longer be
able handle the separation task. To overcome the problems associated
with the feed, some column are designed to have multiple feed points
when the feed is expected to containing varying amounts of components.
b. Reflux Conditions
As the reflux ratio is increased, the gradient of operating line for the
rectification section moves towards a maximum value of 1. Physically,
what this means is that more and more liquid that is rich in the more
volatile components are being recycled back into the column. Separation
then becomes better and thus less trays are needed to achieve the same
degree of separation. Minimum trays are required under total reflux
conditions, i.e. there is no withdrawal of distillate.
On the other hand, as reflux is decreased, the operating line for the
rectification section moves towards the equilibrium line. The ‘pinch’
between operating and equilibrium lines becomes more pronounced and
more and more trays are required.
This is easy to verify using the McCabe-Thiele method. The limiting
condition occurs at minimum reflux ration, when an infinite number of
trays will be required to effect separation. Most columns are designed to
operate between 1.2 to 1.5 times the minimum reflux ratio because this
is approximately the region of minimum operating costs (more reflux
means higher reboiler duty).

c. State of Trays and Packings
Remember that the actual number of trays required for a particular
separation duty is determined by the efficiency of the plate, and the
packings if packings are used. Thus, any factors that cause a decrease in
tray efficiency will also change the performance of the column. Tray
efficiencies are affected by fouling, wear and tear and corrosion,
and the rates at which these occur depends on the properties of the
liquids being processed. Thus appropriate materials should be specified
for tray construction

d. Vapor Flow Conditions
Adverse vapor flow conditions can cause
i. Foaming
Foaming refers to the expansion of liquid due to passage of vapor or gas.
Although it provides high interfacial liquid-vapor contact, excessive
foaming often leads to liquid buildup on trays. In some cases, foaming
may be so bad that the foam mixes with liquid on the tray above.
Whether foaming will occur depends primarily on physical properties of
the liquid mixtures, but is sometimes due to tray designs and condition.
Whatever the cause, separation efficiency is always reduced.

ii. Entrainment
Entrainment refers to the liquid carried by vapor up to the tray above
and is again caused by high vapor flow rates. It is detrimental because
tray efficiency is reduced: lower volatile material is carried to a plate
holding liquid of higher volatility. It could also contaminate high purity
distillate. Excessive entrainment can lead to flooding.

iii. Weeping / Dumping
This phenomenon is caused by low vapor flow. The pressure exerted by
the vapor is insufficient to hold up the liquid on the tray. Therefore,
liquid starts to leak through perforations. Excessive weeping will lead to
dumping. That is the liquid on all trays will crash (dump) through to
the base of the column (via a domino effect) and the column will have to
be re-started. Weeping is indicated by a sharp pressure drop in the
column and reduced separation efficiency.

iv. Flooding
Flooding is brought about by excessive vapor flow, causing liquid to be
entrained in the vapor up the column. The increased pressure from
excessive vapor also backs up the liquid in the down comer, causing an
increase in liquid holdup on the plate above. Depending on the degree of
flooding, the maximum capacity of the column may be severely reduced.
Flooding is detected by sharp increases in column differential pressure
and significant decrease in separation efficiency

v. Weather Conditions
Most distillation columns are open to the atmosphere. Although many
of the columns are insulated, changing weather conditions can still
affect column operation. Thus the reboiler must be appropriately sized to
ensure that enough vapors can be generated during cold and windy spells
and that it can be turned down sufficiently during hot seasons. The same
applies to condensers.
These are some of the more important factors that can cause poor
distillation column performance. Other factors include changing
operating conditions and throughputs, brought about by changes in
upstream conditions and changes in the demand for the products.

All these factors, including the associated control system, should be
considered at the design stages because once a column is built and
installed, nothing much can be done to rectify the situation without
incurring significant costs.

TANK YOU FOR YOUR
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B.

Crude Oil Distillation Processing

The capacity of a refinery is defined by the total capacity of

Distillation separates the crude oil complex mixture into different

Crude Oil Distillation Processing 4

Crude Oil Distillation Processing

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Crude Oil Distillation Processing

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Crude Oil Distillation Processing

• The other properties, such as the smoke point of kerosene

• The 5 – 95 % gap which is the difference between the 5 vol.%

Crude Oil Distillation Processing 12

• Most salts contained in the crude oil, such as sodium chloride

Crude Oil Distillation Processing 13

• Since NaCl is the predominant component among the salts

Crude Oil Distillation Processing 14

• Inorganic salts contained in crude oil, including salts

Crude Oil Distillation Processing 15

• If AR is fed to a residue hydrodesulphurization unit, a two-stage

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Crude Oil Distillation Processing

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3.2.3. Wash-water Injection Rate

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Crude Oil Distillation Processing

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Use of the several pump-around reflux systems prepares reflux

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The overhead vapour of the atmospheric towers is condensed by an

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4.2.1 Feed Charge System

4.2.2 Tower Top Reflux System

4.2.3 Naphtha Separation System

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4.2.1 Feed Charge System

 Preflash drum system

 Dual flash system

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 Preflash drum system

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 Dual flash system

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Crude Oil Distillation Processing

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Crude Oil Distillation Processing

Crude Oil Distillation Processing

4.2.2 Tower Top Reflux System

 Overhead reflux system

1. Cold reflux system

2. Hot reflux system