Operating vacuum distillation unit

Where is naphthenic acid corrosion found Naphthenic acid corrosion occurs primarily in crude and vacuum distillation units, and less frequently in thermal and catalytic cracking operations. It usually occurs in furnace coils, transfer lines, vacuum columns and their overhead condensers, sidestream coolers, and pumps. 

By approaching the refinery design from a crude oil perspective, the advantage of preseparation by stepwise condensation after HTFT synthesis was reduced. The refinery design included primary separation steps typically found in crude oil refineries, namely, an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) that is followed by a vacuum distillation unit (VDU). Despite the design intent, the operation of these units, out of necessity, had to be different. The reboiler temperature of the ADU was... 

During the past several years such stills have been largely replaced by tube or pipe stills because of their lower initial cost, greater throughput, and economy of operation. A common type of operation utilizes a two-stage atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit (13). This type of operation has an important advantage—the asphaltic residue remains at the extreme temperature for only a fraction of a minute in the pipe stills as contrasted to several hours in shell-type stills. 

While originally designed for cracking the overhead stream from vacuum distillation units, known as vacuum gas oil (4), most FCC units currently operate with some higher boiling vacuum distillation bottoms (Resid) in the feed. Table 5.1 illustrates the difficult challenges faced by refiners, process licensors and FCC catalysts producers the resid feeds are heavier (lower API gravity), contain many more metals like Ni and V as well as more polyaromatic hydrocarbons prone to form coke on the catalysts (Conradson Carbon Residue, or CCR). 

The process specifications on raw material speed through furnaces coils imposed the use of two or four parallel passes, e.g. the fumaees from the atmospherie distillation unit, vacuum distillation unit, catalytic reforming unit, coker unit, catalytic cracking unit. The conventional control structure of radiant section for a typical tubular furnace from the atmospheric distillation unit (output capacity 3.5 Mt/year) is presented in figure 1 [1]. Because the conventional temperature control system only controls one outlet temperature or in the best case the temperature of the mixing point, in current operations there are several situations [1, 2, 3] ... 

British Columbia, and three at the U.S. Army Ordinance Works operated by the DuPont Company at Morgantown, West Virginia Cluldersburg, Alabama and Dana, Indiana. The plant at Trail used chemical exchange between hydrogen gas and steam for the initial isotope separation followed by electrolysis for final concentration. The three plants in the United States used vacuum distillation of water for the initial separation followed by electrolysis. Details of these plants and their operations may be found in the Hterature (10). 

Precondensers are recommended for any ejector system when the pressure conditions and coolant temperature will allow condensation of vapors, thus reducing the required design and operating load on the ejectors. This is usually the situation when operating a distillation column under vacuum. The overhead vapors are condensed in a unit designed to operate at top column pressure, with only the non-condensables and vapors remaining after condensation passing to the ejector system. 

Demex [Demetallization by extraction] A process for removing metal compounds from heavy petroleum fractions, after vacuum distillation, by solvent extraction and supercritical solvent recovery. The solvent is typically a mixture of octanes and pentanes. Developed jointly by UOP and the Institute Mexicano del Petroleo seven units were operating in 1988. Hydrocarbon Process., 1988, 67(9), 66. 

Process vapours from the esterification reactors and EG from the EG-vapour jet, as well as from the vacuum stages of the spray condensers, are purified in the distillation unit. The distillation unit commonly consists of two or three columns and is designed for continuous operation. The purified EG is condensed at the top of the third vacuum rectification column and returned to the process via a buffer tank. Gaseous acetaldehyde and other non-condensables are vented or burned and high-boiling residues from the bottom of the third column are discharged or also burned. 

Anyone who is seriously involved in catalytic cracking, whether as an operator, a catalyst manufacturer, or a researcher, soon learns how severely sodium, vanadium, nickel, iron, and copper act as poisons. In the past, FCC feedstock preparation via vacuum distillation was to a considerable extent, determined by metal carryover. Generally, metal carryover to the fluid unit was limited to 0.1 ppm or less of each of these metals. 

The atmospheric bottom, also known as reduced oil, is then sent to the vacuum unit where it is further separated into vacuum gas oil and vacuum residues. Vacuum distillation improves the separation of gas oil distillates from the reduced oil at temperatures less than those at which thermal cracking would normally take place. The basic idea on which vacuum distillation operates is that, at low pressure, the boiling points of any material are reduced, allowing various hydrocarbon components in the reduced crude oil to vaporize or boil at a lower temperature. Vacuum distillation of the heavier product avoids thermal cracking and hence product loss and equipment fouling. 

IEC 40, 16—18(1948 (High-vacuum distillation), and succeeding years in January numbers under " Unit Operations ) 9) T.P. 

It is highly desirable that a portable safety screen suitably located should be provided between the operator and the distillation unit and vacuum system illustrated. 

These latter pieces of equipment may be called bulb-to-bulb distillation units. A commercial form is the Kugelrohr apparatus (Aldrich). The material to be distilled is placed in a suitably sized round-bottomed flask (one-third full) and attached to the receiver flask train (Fig. 2.120). This arrangement is connected to a horizontal drive shaft which enables the bulbs to be gently rocked by a safe air-or vacuum-operated oscillating motor, which speeds distillation and prevents bumping. The distillation flask may be heated up to 225 °C in an i.r.-radiant heater. The hollow drive shaft may be connected to a vacuum pumping system and the apparatus operates down to 1 x 10 5mmHg. 

Since it may undergo reaction with benzaldehyde in the subsequent step to give benzaldehyde azine, it is advisable to remove the last traces of hydrazine by rotating the flask under reduced pressure. The submitters used an oscillating motor which operates on compressed air or vacuum and is commonly employed with Kugelrohr distilling units. One such motor is available from the Aldrich Chemical Company, Inc. 

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