Vaporization vacuum distillation unit

The atmospheric reduced crude is the feedstock for the vacuum distillation unit. To prevent thermal decomposition (cracking) of the higher boiling point hydrocarbons in the crude oil, the pressure in the vacuum distillation fractionation column is reduced to about one-twentieth of an atmosphere absolute (one atmosphere pressure is 14.7 psia or 760 mm Fig). This effectively reduces the boiling points of the hydrocarbons several hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The components boiling below about 1050°F (565°C) are vaporized and removed as vacuum gas... 

A third waste source is very stable oil emulsions formed in the barometric condensers used to create the reduced pressures in the vacuum distillation units. However, when barometric condensers are replaced with surface condensers, oil vapors do not come into contact with water and consequently emulsions do not develop. 

A mixture of 2-iodotoluene (8.78 g, 0.04 mol) and trimethyl phosphite (24.8 g, 0.20 mol) was placed in a 45-ml, double-jacketed silica reaction vessel. The mixture was degassed by flushing with dry nitrogen for 5 min and irradiated with a 450-watt Hanovia (Model 679A-10) high-pressure quartz mercury vapor lamp fitted with an aluminum reflector head. The lamp was placed 5 cm from the inner portion of the reaction vessel. The reaction temperature was maintained at 0°C by the circulation of coolant from a thermostatically controlled refrigeration unit. Irradiation was continued at this temperature for 24 h. At the end of this time, the volatile materials were removed with a water aspirator, and the residue was vacuum distilled (96 to 97°C/0.25 torr) to give the dimethyl 2-methylphenylphosphonate (7.28 g, 91%). 

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. 

A more recent test method (ASTM D-5236) is seeing increasing use and appears to be the method of choice for crude assay vacuum distillations. Wiped-wall or thin-fihn molecular stills can also be used to separate the higher-boiUng fractions under conditions that minimize cracking. In these units, however, cut points cannot be directly selected because vapor temperature in the distillation column cannot be measured accurately under... 

Accelerated corrosion due to mixed vapor/liquid streams is found primarily in crude and vacuum furnace headers and in transfer lines of crude distillation units, in overhead vapor fines and condenser inlets on various fractionation towers, and in reactor effluent coolers of hydrocracking and... 

In two stage units, it is often economical to distill more gas oil in the vacuum stage and less in the atmospheric stage than the maximum attainable. Gas formed in the atmospheric tower bottoms piping at high temperatures tends to overload the vacuum system and thereby to reduce the capacity of the vacuum tower. The volume of crude vaporized at the flash zone is approximately equal to the total volume of distillate products. Of course, the vapor at this point contains some undesirable heavy material and the liquid still contains some valuable distillate products. The concentration of heavy ends in the vapor is reduced by contact with liquid on the trays as the vapor passes up the tower. This liquid reflux is induced by removing heat farther up in the tower. 

Cracking imposes an additional penalty in a vacuum unit in that it forms gas which cannot be condensed at the low pressures employed. This gas must be vented by compressing it to atmospheric pressure. This is accomplished by means of steam jet ejectors. Ideally, it would be possible to operate a vacuum pipe still without ejectors, with the overhead vapors composed only of steam. In practice, however, leakage of air into the system and the minor cracking which occurs make it necessary to provide a means of removing non-condensibles from the system. In addition to the distillation of atmospheric residuum, the lube vacuum pipe still is also used for rerunning of off specification lube distillates. 

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. 

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