SIMPLE RULES HELP SELECT

BEST HYDROCARBON
DISTILLATION SCHEME
12/06/1993

M. Teresa Sanchezllanes, Ana Lilia Perez G., Martha P. Martinez G., Enrique Aguilar-
Rodriguez, Rodolfo del Rosal D.
Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo
Mexico City
Simple process analysis tools can be used to determine the best separation scheme
for multi-component, wide-boiling hydrocarbon mixtures such as those found in
refineries and petrochemical plants.
The selection of a separation sequence for fractionating hydrocarbon mixtures will
determine the economics of the separation.
Separation economics depend mainly on investment for major equipment (columns
and heat exchangers) and energy consumption. This relationship, together with the
fact that, in most cases, many alternative schemes will be proposed, make it essential
to find an optimum scheme that minimizes overall costs.
Practical solutions are found by applying heuristics-exploratory problem - solving
techniques that eliminate alternatives without applying rigorous mathematical
procedures.
These techniques have been applied to a case study. In the case study, a hydrocarbon
mixture will be transported through a pipeline to a fractionation plant, where it will be
separated into commercial products for distribution. The fractionation will consist of a
simple train of distillation columns, the sequence of which will be defined by applying
heuristic rules and determining the required thermal duties for each column.
The facility must separate ethane, propane and mixed butanes, natural gasoline (light
straight-run, or LSR, gasoline), and condensate (heavy naphtha). The ethane will be
delivered to an ethylene plant as a gaseous stream, the propane and butanes will be
stored in cryogenic tanks, and the gasoline and heavy naphtha also will be stored.
HEURISTIC THEORY
For many years, design engineers have faced the problem of determining the most
economical distillation sequence for separating multi-component mixtures. Many
methods have been developed but most consider only the use of simple, sharp
separators. In a sharp separator, each component entering the feed stream leaves in
only one of the product streams.
During the last two decades, a large number of "synthesis" approaches have been
proposed to identify optimal distillation sequences among a large number of alternative
sequences. These approaches can be characterized as:
 Heuristic methodologies, which are based on engineering experience, or
 Algorithmic approaches, which employ optimization tools via mathematical
programming.
It is possible, in a distillation sequence, for the condenser of one column to provide
some or all of the heating energy required in the reboiler of a second column operating
at a lower temperature than the first. If this type of heat integration between columns is
allowed, the separation-sequence determination becomes much more difficult.
The number, n, of top and bottom products from n - 1 columns can be separated in
several ways. In a direct method, the most volatile components are removed one by
one as overhead in successive columns, the heaviest one being the bottom product of
the last column.
The number of possible ways of separating components, however, grows dramatically
with the number of products, increasing from 2 arrangements for three products to
more than 100 for seven products (Table 1).
The Heaven equation, shown in Table 1, specifies the number of possible sequences,
SR, for R-1 columns that separate R products.1 Given the fact that S1 = 1, values of
SR can be determined.
It is a rather difficult task to examine all possible sequences, so it is recommended that
the two or three most adequate schemes be selected by applying heuristic rules."
The most useful of these are:
Heuristic Rule A: Separations in which the relative volatility of the key components is
close to 1.0 should be performed in the absence of non-key components, which
occupy vapor and liquid space. The most difficult separations, consequently, should be
reserved for last in the sequence.
Heuristic Rule B: Sequences that remove mixture components one by one in column
overheads should be favored. Adding non-key components to the overhead increases
vapor flow, which results in higher reboiler and condenser duties.
Heuristic Rule C: Sequences that yield a more-nearly equimolal split of the feed
between the distillate and bottoms product should be favored.
With an equimolal split, the operating and equilibrium lines are better balanced,
resulting in more-symmetric staging, greater reversibility, and lower energy
requirements.
Heuristic Rule D: Separations involving the most constricted recovery of products
should be reserved for last in the sequence.
FEEDSTOCKS, PRODUCTS
Table 2 presents some characteristics of the fractionation-plant feedstock. The plant
will operate with a service factor equivalent to 330 days/year and a capacity of 55,308
b/d at 60 F. ambient temperature.
Product specifications are shown in Table 3.
SEQUENCE SELECTION
Given the multi-component feed stream of known conditions (composition, flowrate,
temperature, and pressure) and the specified product streams, the "problem" is to find
the most economical distillation sequence for achieving the required separations.
The basic assumptions that will be made to solve this problem are:
 Each distillation column represents a "simple" separation.
 Each distillation column performs "sharp" separations.

 Heat integration among the columns is not permitted. (This is assumed only for the
sequence selection stage, because heat integration makes the problem much more
difficult.)

Once all possible sequences have been defined, as shown in Fig. 1, the next step is to
eliminate inappropriate sequences by applying heuristic rules.
The true boiling point values shown in Table 2 imply that ordinary distillation is the
separation method of choice. The values also indicate that pressure will be higher in
the first separator and lower in the second.
The pressure in each column depends on both the product specifications and the
cooling medium in the condenser, which is a function of the nature and composition of
the overhead mixture. For columns with an ethane-rich mixture as overhead, it is
necessary to use a refrigerant for condensation.
The other condensers will operate using air at 104 F. because cooling-water availability
is restricted at the plant location. Refrigerant cost, however, is an important factor to be
considered in the sequence-selection process.
It is also important to take into account that sometimes these rules conflict because
several sequences favor one rule over another. For every case study, the rules will
influence different factors.
For example, the use of Heuristic Rule C leads to one sequence (Sequence No. 7 in
Fig. 1). This sequence, however, involves two columns with ethane as overhead. This
configuration requires the use of refrigerant in both, which increases operating costs.
For the case study, all the sequences that involve more than one column with ethane
overhead must be eliminated. It follows that Sequence Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
and 14 should be excluded. This reduces the number of alternatives from 14 to 5.
Applying Heuristic Rule A eliminates Sequence Nos. 1, 4, and 5, leaving only
Sequences 2 and 3 as the most adequate to achieve the desired fractionation. Both
sequences are depicted in Fig. 2.
ALTERNATIVE 1
The first processing alternative, shown in Fig. 2a, involves a separation train using the
following sequence of splatters: [SEE FORMULA]
In this sequence, the feed stream enters the deethanizer (de-C2), where ethane is
removed. The bottoms are sent to the de-C4 spotter, the overhead of which is a
mixture of propane and butane. The de-C4 bottoms are the heavy fraction.
The overhead product is sent to the de-C3 splitter to obtain propane and butanes. The
heavy fraction is separated in a de-C5 splitter to produce LSR gasoline and heavy
naphtha.
ALTERNATIVE 2
The second processing alterative, shown in Fig. 2b, involves a [SEE FORMULA]
sequence. This arrangement is the direct, conventional route for the fractionation.
In this sequence, the feed stream enters the deethanizer, where ethane is removed.
The heavier fraction is then sent to the depropanizer (de-C3) to obtain propane, then
to the debutanizer to produce butanes. The stream is then sent to the depentanizer
(de-C5 splitter) to produce LSR as overhead and heavy naphtha as the bottom
product.
PROCESS SIMULATION
Both sequences were simulated using Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo's general
process simulator (Simproc). Simproc can produce mass and energy balances for
refining and chemical processes in steady state, and calculate the thermophysical
properties of all the streams in the process.
Once the feed stream has been characterized, a state equation must be selected for
predicting liquid-vapor equilibria. Simproc recommended use of the Soave equation for
the case study.4 The main parameters for each splitter were determined using shortcut
distillation methods. The operating pressure of each column initially was obtained by
using typical values for similar separations.
Using this information, a rigorous mass and energy balance was carried out for each
column by the tridiagonal matrix technique (performed by the simulation tool).
At this point, the approach needs to be more accurately, "tuned" according to product
specifications.
Several parameters, including reflux ratio (RR), operating pressure (P), feed tray (FT),
and tray number (TN), thus were fitted (Table 4).
As can be observed in Fig. 2, the first splitter in both sequences has the same
parameters. It is in the remainder of the train that the important differences exist.
At first glance, Alternative 1 (Fig. 2a) reveals an important disadvantage-its pressure
values-because it is necessary to compress the de-C4 overhead to send this stream to
the de-C3 splitter.
To confirm the selection of Alternative 2, the quantity QAT, representing the utility
consumption of a single distillation task, was obtained (Table 5). The quantity Q can be
represented by either reboiler or condenser duty for a given separation task. The
quantity AT represents the temperature range over which heat is degraded to effect a
given separation.
The temperature drop across a column is the difference between the reboiler and
condenser temperatures. For both sequences, the quantities [SEE FORMULA]-the
sum of the [SEE FORMULA] for the individual separations were determined.
The analysis results, shown in Table 5, indicate that Alternative 2 is the most efficient
sequence for the case study.
REFERENCES
1. King, C. J., Separation Processes, McGraw Hill Book Co., 1980.
2. Henley, E. J., Equilibrium-Stage Separation Operations in Chemical Engineering, John
Wiley & Sons Inc., 1981.

3. Bojnowski, J. H., and Hanks, D. L., "Low-energy., separation processes," Chem. Eng., 86
(10), 1979, P. 67.

4. Soave, G., "Equilibrium Constants from a Modified Redlich-Kwong Equation of State,"

Chem. Eng. Sci., Vol. 27, 1972, P. 1197.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.

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