Crude Oil - 2

Properties of Oil Stock and fractional Industries
Large scale industrial distillation applications include both batch and

continuous fractional, vacuum, isotropic, extractive, and steam
distillation. The most widely used industrial applications of continuous,
steady-state fractional distillation are in petroleum
refineries, petrochemical and chemical plants and natural gas
processing plants.
To control and optimize such industrial distillation, a standardized
laboratory method, ASTM D86, is established. This test method extends
to the atmospheric distillation of petroleum products using a laboratory
batch distillation unit to quantitatively determine the boiling range
characteristics of petroleum products.
Automatic Distillation Unit for the determination of the boiling range of
petroleum products at atmospheric pressure. Industrial distillation is
typically performed in large, vertical cylindrical columns known
as distillation towers or distillation columns with diameters ranging
from about 65 centimeters to 16 meters and heights ranging from about
6 meters to 90 meters or more.
When the process feed has a diverse composition, as in distilling crude
oil, liquid outlets at intervals up the column allow for the withdrawal of
different fractions or products having different boiling points or boiling
ranges. The "lightest" products (those with the lowest boiling point) exit
from the top of the columns and the "heaviest" products (those with the
highest boiling point) exit from the bottom of the column and are often
called the bottoms.
• Industrial towers use reflux to achieve a more complete separation of

products. Reflux refers to the portion of the condensed overhead liquid
product from a distillation or fractionation tower that is returned to the
upper part of the tower as shown in the schematic diagram of a typical,
large-scale industrial distillation tower. Inside the tower, the down
flowing reflux liquid provides cooling and condensation of the up
flowing vapors thereby increasing the efficiency of the distillation tower.
The more reflux that is provided for a given number of theoretical plates,
the better the tower's separation of lower boiling materials from higher
boiling materials. Alternatively, the more reflux that is provided for a
given desired separation, the fewer the number of theoretical plates
required. Chemical engineers must choose what combination of reflux
rate and number of plates is both economically and physically feasible
for the products purified in the distillation column.
Fig (3): Diagram of a typical industrial distillation tower
• In modern industrial uses, a packing material is used in the column
instead of trays when low pressure drops across the column are
required. Other factors that favor packing are:
Abdullah Merza
• Vacuum systems, smaller diameter columns, corrosive systems,
systems prone to foaming, systems requiring low liquid
holdup, and batch distillation. Conversely, factors that
favor plate columns are: presence of solids in feed, high liquid
rates, large column diameters, complex columns, columns with
wide feed composition variation, columns with a chemical
reaction, absorption columns, columns limited by foundation
weight tolerance, low liquid rate, large turn-down ratio and
those processes subject to process surges.
Vacuum distillation
• Some compounds have very high boiling points. To boil such
compounds, it is often better to lower the pressure at which such
compounds are boiled instead of increasing the temperature.
Once the pressure is lowered to the vapor pressure of the
compound (at the given temperature), boiling and the rest of the
distillation process can commence. This technique is referred to
as vacuum distillation and it is commonly found in the laboratory
in the form of the rotary evaporator.
• This technique is also very useful for compounds which boil
beyond their decomposition temperature at atmospheric pressure
and which would therefore be decomposed by any attempt to boil
them under atmospheric pressure.
Fig (6): Oil Products & Cut Points

• Factors Effecting the Selection of Crude oil Choice of crude oil for a
refinery depends on:
• Product mix
• Product quality
• Refinery configuration
• Product treatment facilities
• Refinery design spec-Metallurgy, desalter etc
• Environment stipulation for pollution control
• Pipeline design for inland refineries
Proper crude selection is necessary for optimization of refinery margin.
Seven Basic Operations in Petroleum Processing
Table ( 5 ): The seven basic operations in petroleum processing.

Crude Oil - 2

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Properties of Oil Stock and fractional Industries

Large scale industrial distillation applications include both batch and

• Industrial towers use reflux to achieve a more complete separation of

Fig (6): Oil Products & Cut Points

Table ( 5 ): The seven basic operations in petroleum processing.

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