CFD study of a VDU feed inlet device

and wash bed

Analysis of vapour velocity profiles at the entry to the wash zone of a VDU
column enables a higher feed rate and improved output quality

Debangsu Ray Indian Oil Corporation

Ajay Arora and Anne Phanikumar Sulzer Chemtech

V
apour distribution in a large, packed tower shutdowns, erosion of the feed inlet device, as a
is a critical factor in a column’s perform- result of this excessive velocity, was observed.
ance. This article presents a revamp case Furthermore, distillate yields were lower than
for a vacuum distillation unit (VDU) column in expected and the entrainment of heavy ends was
an Indian refinery, where poor vapour distribu- high, resulting in under-performance in the wash
tion was identified with the help of a study zone. During the search for a solution to these
involving computational fluid dynamics (CFD). problems, it was decided that there should be
Following the study, a new feed inlet device and minimal change to the size of the transfer line,
its associated internals were
installed, resulting in significant
improvement to the quality and
quantity of vacuum gas oil (VGO)
produced, reduced quantities of slop
wax and increased column
throughput.
The refinery last revamped its
crude distillation unit (CDU) in
September 2004, to increase its
processing capacity from 160 000–
220 000 bpsd. However, this
revamp did not enhance the VDU’s
capacity, so it remained limited to
the crude processing level estab-
lished before the revamp. Although
the VDU’s design capacity was
limited, higher crude rates were
nonetheless processed (180 000
bpsd during 2006 and 2007). The
outcome included penalties in VGO
quality, accelerated erosion on the
feed inlet device, premature damage
to the wash zone packing and a high
rate of slop wax production.
The velocity at the feed nozzle
exceeded the critical level at the
chosen rate of throughput. During Figure 1 CFD model of existing configuration

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 Figure 2 Y-velocity profile across collector tray of existing Figure 3 Y-velocity profile at packing entry of existing
configuration configuration

because this would involve major modification vacuum column’s throughput by 10%, a joint
and a long outage for the column. study by the refinery and Sulzer Chemtech
To mitigate the problems and to increase the employed CFD analysis to assess the quality of
vapour velocity profiles at the entry
of the wash zone packing.

CFD model and validation

The aim of the CFD analysis was to
assess the performance of the
vapour distribution systems with
increased capacity in the flash zone
of a vacuum column. To conduct a
detailed analysis of vapour velocity
profiles at the entry of the wash
zone packing, a CFD model of the
existing configuration (see Figure
1) was prepared. Y-velocity (verti-
cal velocity) distribution across the
collector tray above the feed inlet
device and at the entry of the wash
zone packing is shown in Figures 2
and 3 respectively. The velocity
value is characterised by different
colours, where blue represents the
lowest velocity and red is the veloc-
ity peak of the scale. It can be seen
in Figures 2 and 3 that the velocity
peaks (shown in red) are not evenly
distributed across the column’s
cross-section and that they are
Figure 4 CFD model of new configuration mainly concentrated at the

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Figure 5 Y-velocity profile across collector tray of new Figure 6 Y-velocity profile at packing entry of new
configuration configuration

column’s centre and at the periphery of the reduce the entrainment of heavier oil and thereby
column’s inner wall. This non-uniform distribu- improve the performance of the packing bed.
tion of vapour above the feed inlet device and at
the entry to the wash zone packing was leading Recommendations for column internals
to very high entrainment of heavier ends to the Apart from recommendations for a larger feed
wash zone packing, which tallied with the inlet nozzle and feed inlet device, further recommend-
observed problems of reduced product quality, ations covered column packing and internals:
premature damage to the wash zone packing and • Bed-1 (top pump) With the existing random
high rate of slop wax production. packing, the flood value was high at 90%. The
A subsequent CFD run was based on an recommendation was to replace this with struc-
increased feed nozzle diameter with a larger tured packing to remove the bottleneck and
Shell Schoepentoeter as the feed inlet device. minimise the pressure drop
The results of the rerun led to a recommenda- • Bed-2 (LVGO-HVGO top fractionation) The
tion to carry out modifications to enlarge the recommendation was to replace structured pack-
feed nozzle from ϕ52 inch to ϕ68 inch and ing with next-generation packing to further
replace the existing conventional feed inlet reduce the pressure drop
device with a Shell Schoepentoeter that was • Bed-3 (LVGO-HVGO bottom fractionation) No
compatible in size with the new feed nozzle. changes were found to be necessary
Figure 4 shows the CFD model of the recom- • Bed-4 (HVGO PA) The recommendation was to
mended arrangement. partially replace the existing structured packing
Enlargement of the feed nozzle would help to with an increase in bed height to achieve the
reduce the feed inlet velocity to an acceptable same spare capacity of the other beds
level of ≈60 m/sec, which is significantly lower • Bed-4 (wash zone) The recommendation was
than the critical velocity. The Y-velocity distribu- to replace structured packing with next-
tion across the collector tray above the feed inlet generation packing.
device, and at the entry of the wash zone packing
in accordance with the recommended configura- Implementing recommendations
tion, is shown in Figures 5 and 6 respectively. Sulzer’s recommendations were reviewed by the
Velocity peaks are distributed evenly across the refinery, with the aim of keeping investment
column’s cross-section. A uniform velocity profile costs to a minimum. The following changes were
at the inlet of the wash bed would significantly settled upon:

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 Key performance results before and after revamp

Attribute Earlier operation Test run at higher Remarks

(HS$ run) t’put (HS$ run)

Atmospheric vacuum unit (AVU)

CDU t’put, m3/hr 1250 (1088 TPH) 1400 (1218 TPH) No limitation observed in CDU section for operating the column at this t’put
CDU COT, ºC 360 364 No limitation observed in CDU furnace
VDU t’put, m3/hr 540 599 No limitation observed in operating the unit at the required t’put
VDU COT, ºC 410 412 No limitation observed in VDU furnace for maintaining the COT at this t’put
VGO yield (wt% on crude) 22.5 24.2 Removing the critical velocity bottleneck in the transfer line enabled
consistent improvement
Vac slop wax flow, M3/hr 60 6.7 There had been significant improvement in the flash zone vapour liquid
separation, resulting in a big reduction of entrainment in the slop wax
collector tray

Table 1

Product quality during the test run

Product Attribute Value Remarks

LVGO Recovery (@365ºC) 95% Normal
Density, kg/m3 888.8 Normal

HVGO HVGO quality was significantly superior in quality with colour at ASTM 6.5 against earlier results of >8. ASTM 95% and
EP gap narrowed down to 4°C against earlier value of 20–25°C
Density, kg/m3 928.1 Normal
Sulphur, wt% 2.3 Normal
Basic nitrogen 308.3 ppm Normal
CCR 0.39 wt% Normal
Metal content, ppm Ni = 0.15
Cu = 0.04
Ni = 0.08
Fe = 1.09
V = 0.45 Normal

SR PEN, 1/10 mm 72 Significant improvement observed in SR PEN. Earlier value was 150–200.
Better separation in the flash zone and effective stripping steam contributed
to this improvement

Table 2

• Enlargement of the feed nozzle with an appro- packed bed replacements were deferred until the
priate expander in the transfer line (ϕ52-68 inch) unit’s next turnaround.
• Replacement of the feed inlet device with a 68 These modifications were carried out during
inch Shell Schoepentoeter inlet devices the refinery’s July 2007 turnaround. The process
• Since the feed inlet device was to be enlarged, of concept to commissioning was completed
the chimney collector tray needed to be relo- within six months.
cated. The refinery’s decision was to dismantle
the chimney tray and install a new one with Test run after revamp
appropriate positional changes. The new chim- Following the revamp, the refinery carried out a
ney was designed to help improve distribution of test run. Table 1 shows the unit’s key parameters
vapour to the wash bed (see Figure 4) before and after the revamp.
• The shutdown period would be limited, so the A further increase in crude throughput was
recommendations made with respect to the restricted by limitations in the vacuum residue
column packing were closely examined and it pumping capacity (Tables 2 and 3).
was decided to replace 40% of the Bed-1 random
packing with larger-sized random packing to Conclusions
avoid flooding in the bed bottom. The rest of the The refinery achieved a number of benefits as a

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result of the revamp. No physical constraints
were observed in operating the AVU and VDU at Test run yield pattern
the desired throughput of 1400 M3/hr (a 12%
Product Normalised, wt%
increase). The VGO yield in the test run was 24.2
Overall AVU material balance
wt% (based on the crude supply), compared with LPG 1.5
a yield of 22.5 wt% before the modifications were Naphtha 14.0
introduced. The vacuum residue and slop wax HN 2.2
ATF 15.3
yield fell to 26.2 wt%, against a pre-modification
HK 3.3
yield of 28 wt%, a clear indication of improved HSD 13.3
performance of the feed inlet device. HVGO 24.2
The refinery was able to increase its crude SR&Vac Slop 26.2
Total 100.0
throughput for significant financial benefit from
a limited investment.
Table 3
Debangsu Ray is Deputy General Manager of Indian Oil’s Panipat
refinery. He has over 25 years’ experience in refinery operations
and technical services with various Indian Oil refineries and
been responsible for implementing projects to improve energy
conservation and refinery distillate. Email: dray@iocl.co.in
Ajay Arora is Assistant Manager, Business Development & Links
Technology for Sulzer India Limited. He has a master’s degree in
More articles from: Sulzer Chemtech USA Inc
process engineering and plant design from IIT Delhi.
Email: ajay.arora@sulzer.com More articles from the following categories:
Anne Phanikumar is a Senior Mechanical Engineer for Sulzer Crude Vacuum Units
Chemtech, Singapore. He has a master’s degree in computer- Mass Transfer & Separation
integrated manufacturing from Nanyang Technological University, Revamps, Shutdowns and Turnarounds
Singapore, and experience in the design and analysis of heavy
equipment. Email: phanikumar.anne@sulzer.com

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