‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

The Republic of Iraq

Ministry of Higher Education
Northern Technical University
Technical college of Kirkuk

Report about:

( Crude oil Distillaition Unit)

Name:Marwa Nema Ahmed

Department:Fuel and Energy Engineering

Study:Evening

Stage:Second



 **Crude oil Distillation Unite **

Introduction:

The crude oil distillation system consists of an atmospheric distillation

unit, in which crude oil is separated into more valuable products, and a
heat exchanger network (HEN) which pre-heats the crude oil before it
enters the column. The atmospheric distillation unit and the HEN
interact with each other, making the retrofit of crude oil distillation
systems a complex problem requiring analysis of column hydraulics and
HEN performance.
Retrofit aims to increase the profitability of the process by maximizing
the use of existing equipment. Examples of retrofit objectives are
increasing the throughput, changing the feedstock, increasing the
production or the quality of the products and reducing the energy
demand or atmospheric emissions. (Liu and Jobson, 2004).
Gadalla et al. (2003a) developed a retrofit methodology for atmospheric
crude oil distillation columns and associated HENs. The distillation
columns are evaluated using shortcut models for retrofit design (Gadalla
et al., 2003b) and retrofit models were used for the HEN. However, the
shortcut distillation models cannot identify bottlenecks within the main
column and side strippers. Although the diameter required to avoid
entrainment flooding is used as hydraulic indicator, the effect of
pressure drop and liquid loads inside the column are neglected. In the
HEN retrofit model constant stream properties were assumed. Smith et
al. (2010) extended and modified the HEN retrofit methodology by
considering temperature dependent thermal properties.
Liu and Jobson (2004) developed a hydraulic indicator, the “fractional
utilization of area” (FUA), defined as the ratio between the area required
for vapour flow in the column and the available area. A useful graphical
tool was developed to identify capacity bottlenecks for distillation
columns and screen retrofit solutions. This parameter was applied to
evaluate alternative solutions with respect to capacity
enhancement. Wei et al. (2012) proposed the utilization of FUA together
with a new hydraulic indicator, the maximum capacity expansion (xmax),
to screen hydraulic bottlenecks when increasing capacity. Determining
the FUA and xmax requires rigorous distillation simulation results. The
key shortcoming of these methods is that they only account for jet
flooding.
Thernesz et al. (2010) used process design software to evaluate retrofit
modifications in crude oil distillation systems. PRO II v7.1 (2005) was
used to simulate the distillation column, SULCOL v1.0 (2005) and KG-
TOWER v2.02 (2005) evaluated the hydraulic design and
SUPERTARGET v6.0 (2005) analyzed the performance of the HEN.
However, the software was applied sequentially for each proposed
modification, requiring significant engineering resources to screen the
many design options.
Kamel et al. (2013) developed a retrofit methodology for crude oil
distillation systems in which rigorous simulation and optimisation
procedures are used to optimise the process conditions and to explore
structural modifications to the flowsheet in order to increase the capacity
and the energy efficiency of the system. However, this methodology
does not account the effects of the capacity enhancement to the column
hydraulics.
Therefore, the retrofit of heat-integrated crude oil systems needs to
consider both the distillation columns and the HEN and their capacity
constraints. Furthermore, the impact of changing distillation operating
conditions or equipment on the HEN should be assessed. This work
develops a systematic retrofit methodology, considering the interactions
between operating parameters, the hydraulic performance of the
distillation column and the heat transfer performance of the HEN for
crude oil distillation systems. This work focuses on increasing
throughput, where capacity limits (jet flooding and downcomer flooding)
in the column and heat transfer area constraints in the HEN are
avoided.
 )Crude oil Distillation Parts)

The crude oil distillation plant has many components, for example,
crude oil furnace, distillation towers, and heat exchangers network.

Figure 16.1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the crude oil distillation

system considered here.

The system consists of two crude oil distillation units :

(1) the atmospheric distillation unit (ADU)

(2) the vacuum distillation unit (VDU), two crude oil furnaces, and
a heat exchanger network (HEN).

The HEN is not shown, but its effect via utilizing high-temperature
product streams to preheat the crude oil is analyzed. A crude oil mass
flow rate of 507 kg/s (300,000 barrels per day) is considered. The
system is modeled to facilitate analysis, and a description of the
components and parameters follows below (for details, see Al-Muslim et
 There are the 5 main fractions produced from crude oil

Fraction: NO.of carbon atoms Uses

Refinery gas 1-4 Gaseous fuel, making

chemicals.

Gasoline (petrol) 4-12 Motor car fuel, making

chemicals.

Kerosine (paraffin ) 11-15 Heating fuel, jet fuel.

Diesel oil 15-19 Diesel fuel for lorries,

trains, etc. and heating
fuel.

) Crude oil DistillationUses)

A crude oil refinery is a group of industrial facilities that turns crude oil
and other inputs into finished petroleum products. A refinery's
capacity refers to

the maximum amount of crude oil designed to flow intoThe diagram

above presents a stylized version of the distillation process. Crude oil is
made up of a mixture of hydrocarbons, and the distillation process aims
to separate this crude oil into broad categories of its component
hydrocarbons, or "fractions." Crude oil is first heated and then put into a
distillation column, also known as a still, where different pro ducts boil off
and are recovered at different temperatures. the distillation unit
Lighter o products, such as butane and other liquid petroleum
gases (LPG), gasoline blending components, and naphtha, are
recovered at the lowest temperatures. Mid-range products include jet
fuel, kerosene, and distillates (such as home heating oil and diesel fuel).
The heaviest products such as residual fuel oil are recovered at
temperatures sometimes over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit
.

The simplest refineries stop at this point. Although not shown in the
simplified diagram above, most refineries in the United States reprocess
the heavier fractions into lighter products to maximize the output of the
most desirable products using more sophisticated refining equipment
such as catalytic crackers, reformers, and cokers
 The process of crude oil refining

Once crude oil is extracted from the ground, it must be transported and
refined into petroleum products that have any value. Those products
must then be transported to end-use consumers or retailers (like
gasoline stations or the company that delivers heating oil to your house,
if you have an oil furnace). The overall well-to-consumer supply chain
for petroleum products is often described as being segmented into three
components (shown graphically in Figure 2.1).

 Upstream activities involve exploring for crude oil deposits and the
production of crude oil. Examples of firms that would belong in the
upstream segment of the industry include companies that own rights
to drill for oil (e.g., ExxonMobil) and companies that provide support
services to the drilling segment of the industry (e.g. Halliburton).
 Midstream activities involve the distribution of crude oil to refiners;
the refining of crude oil into saleable products; and the distribution of
products to wholesalers and retailers. Examples of firms that would
belong in the midstream segment of the industry include companies
that transport oil by pipeline, truck or barge (e.g., Magellan Pipeline);
and companies that refine crude oil (e.g., Tesoro).
 Downstream activities involve the retail sale of petroleum products.
Gasoline stations are perhaps the most visible downstream
companies, but companies that deliver heating oil or propane would
also fall into this category.
al., 2003).

Some companies in the petroleum industry have activities that would

fall into upstream, midstream and downstream segments.
ExxonMobil is one example of such a firm. Others have activities that
fall primarily into only one segment. The KinderMorgan pipeline
company is an example of a specialized petroleum firm, in this case
belonging to the midstream segment. Many regions have local gas
station brands that would specialize in the downstream segment of
the industry. One of the best-known regional examples is the WaWa
chain of gas stations and convenience stores in eastern
Pennsylvania, but large grocery stores and retailers like Costco and
 Wal-Mart are increasingly involved in downstream sales of petroleum
products.

Petroleum refineries are large-scale industrial complexes that produce

saleable petroleum products from crude oil (and sometimes other
feedstocks like biomass). The details of refinery operations differ from
location to location, but virtually all refineries share two basic
processes for separating crude oil into the various product
components. Actual refinery operations are very complicated, but the
basic functions of the refinery can be broken down into three
categories of chemical processes:

 Distillation involves the separation of materials based on differences

in their volatility. This is the first and most basic step in the refining
process, and is the precursor to cracking and reforming.
 Cracking involves breaking up heavy molecules into lighter (and
more valuable) hydrocarbons.
 Reforming involves changing the chemical nature of hydrocarbons to
achieve desired physical properties (and also to increase the market
value of those chemicals).
diagram of a typical crude oil distillation unit as used in
petroleum crude oil refineries.