Refinery extraction applications

Extraction (discussed in Chapter 5) uses the selective adsorption of a component in a liquid to separate specific molecules from a stream. In application extraction may be coupled with its cousins, extractive distillation and azeotropic distillation, to improve extraction efficiency. Typical refinery extraction applications involve aromatics recovery (UDEX) and lubricants processing (furfural, NMP). Extractive distillation and azeotropic distillation are rarely employed in a refinery. The only... 

The compressors to be covered in this book are those using mechanical motion to effect the compression. These types of compressors are commonly used in the process and gas transport/distribution industries. A partial list of these industries includes chemical, petrochemical, refinery, pulp and paper, and utilities. A few typical applications are air separation, vapor extraction, refrigeration, steam recompression, process and plant air. 

Refinery product separation falls into a number of common classes namely Main fractionators gas plants classical distillation, extraction (liquid-liquid), precipitation (solvent deasphalting), solid facilitated (Parex(TM), PSA), and Membrane (PRSIM(TM)). This list has been ordered from most common to least common. Main fractionators are required in every refinery. Nearly every refinery has some type of gas plant. Most refineries have classical distillation columns. Liquid-liquid extraction is in a few places. Precipitation, solid facilitated and membrane separations are used in specific applications. 

Oil refineries and the petrochemical industry constitute one of the largest application areas for liquid extraction. The largest applications in this field... 

While SuperLig technology is stiU being developed for use in radionnchde applications, it is commercially available for applications involving the removal of rhodinm from antomobile catalytic converters, the recovery of bismnth and antimony from copper-refinery streams, and for the extraction of other metals from water. 

Furfural Process. A patent involving furfural for solvent extraction of lubricating oils was issued to Eichwald of the Royal Dutch Shell Co. in 1925 (10). The first commercial application of the furfural process was at the Lawrenceville, 111., refinery of the Indian Refining Co. in December 1933. 

LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)— propane or (less commonly) butane, obtained by extraction from natural gas or from refinery processes. LPG has a vapor pressure sufficiently low to permit compression and storage in a liquid state at moderate pressures and normal ambient temperatures. Pressurized in metal bottles or tanks. LPG is easily handled and readily lends itself to a variety of applications as a fuel, refrigerant, and propellant in packaged aerosols. LPG is also called LP gas and bottled gas. See natural gas liquids. 

Uses Amyl alcohol is produced during the fermentation of grains, potatoes, and beets. It is produced during the acid hydrolysis of petroleum fraction. Application of amyl alcohol in industries is very large including manufacturing of lacquers, paints, varnishes, perfumes, pharmaceuticals, plastics, rubber, explosives, hydraulic fluids, extraction of fats, and petroleum refinery industries. 

Application An aromatics process based on extractive distillation, GT-BTX efficiently recovers benzene, toluene and xylenes from refinery or petrochemical aromatics streams, such as catalytic reformate or pyrolysis gasoline. 

Naphthenics are made from a more limited range of crude oils than paraffinics, and in smaller quantities, at a restricted number of refineries. Important characteristics of naphthenic base oils are their naturally low pour points, because they are wax-free, and excellent solvency powers. Their viscosity/temperature characteristics are inferior to paraffinics, i.e. they have low/medium VI, but they are used in a wide range of applications where this is not a problem. Since naphthenic crudes are free of wax, no de-waxing step is needed but solvent extraction or hydrotreatment is often used now to reduce aromatic content and especially to remove polycyclic aromatics which may present a health hazard in untreated oils. The main producers of naphthenics are in North and South America because most of the world s supply of naphthenic lubricant crudes are found there. 

Application GT-BenZap is suggested for refineries limited by economies of scale required for benzene extraction or for units located in remote areas away from benzene consumers. When implementing GT-BenZap, GTC s experts simulate the existing process and provide custom integration with the refiner s existing units for effective benzene management. 

Application GT-BTX is an aromatics recovery technology that uses extractive distillation (ED) to purify benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) from refinery or petrochemical aromatic streams such as catalytic reformate, pyrolysis gasoline (Pygas) or coke oven light oil (COLO). 

Application GT-BTX PluS is a variation of GT-BTX that uses extractive distillation technology for simultaneous recovery of benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) and thiophenic sulfur species from refinery or petrochemical aromatic-containing streams. The technology helps produce low-sulfur gasoline meeting the 10 ppm limit of sulfur without changes in octane value. 

Use of on-stream XRE analysis for monitoring liquid process streams has been reported for a number of applications including measurement of Fe, Cu, Co, Ni and Mo from five different points in a solution purification process of a cobalt refinery [28] analysis of Cu, As and S in copper electrolyte purification solutions [29] control of a solvent extraction process for La and Nd [30, 31] continuous monitoring of catalyst elements (Mn, Co and Br) in terephthalic acid process solutions [32] and measurement of various elements (particularly sulfur) in petroleum product and refinery streams [33, 34]. 

Distillation is one of the most important processes used in chemical laboratories for separating liquid mixtures. It has been in use since ancient times to extract essential oils such as attar of roses. An important industrial application is distilling of petroleum in oil refineries that produce the heavy and light gasoline used to fuel engines. 

Viscous, sticky, or waxy materials are easier to dispense in the form of emulsions, as are solids in snspended form. Consequently numerous consumer products are greatly influenced by the knowledge of how to make stable colloidal dispersions. Breaking snch dispersions also has many interesting applications. In secondary oil recovery, for instance, petrolenm is flushed from underground oil fields with water. The material that is extracted is frequently in the form of an emulsion oil-in-water or water-in-od, depending on the relative amounts of the two liquids. As refinery feed streams shonld be free of water, it is necessary to know how to break the emulsion into the two bulk phases. 

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