Common Fractionation Section for Integrated Hydrotreatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refining processes fail to efficiently integrate fractionation between different hydroprocessing units to produce optimized products in a flexible manner, often requiring separate fractionation sections and linked operating pressures, which limits product quality and energy efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A process where the effluents from multiple units are fractionated in a common section without initial mixing, with each separator drum's flow supplied to optimal places in the fractionation column, utilizing a main fractionation column and optional stripping columns to separate light and heavy fractions, allowing for independent optimization of each unit's supply.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If separate fractionation sections are used for each hydroprocessing unit, then each unit can operate independently with optimized product quality, but investment costs increase and device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the fractionation sections of multiple hydroprocessing units into a single common fractionation section. Effluents from different units (hydrocracking and hydrotreatment) are combined in a common separator drum and then fed to the common fractionation section, eliminating the need for separate fractionation columns for each unit. This reduces device complexity and investment costs while maintaining product quality through optimized feed distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the effluent flows from different units and directs them to different feed points within the common fractionation section. By controlling the distribution of each unit's effluent to specific locations in the fractionation column, the system maintains independent optimization capability for each unit while using shared fractionation equipment, thus resolving the contradiction between merging benefits and product quality requirements.
2Device complexity
If effluents from multiple units are mixed in a common separator before fractionation, then device complexity is reduced, but energy efficiency decreases and manufacturing precision is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains separate separator drums for different hydroprocessing units rather than using a single common separator. This allows each unit's effluent to be processed and conditioned independently before entering the common fractionation section, preserving energy efficiency and product characteristics while still enabling shared fractionation equipment. The segmentation of separation functions eliminates the energy losses associated with mixing incompatible effluents.
3Device complexity
If operating pressures of reaction sections are linked through a common separator, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses separate separator drums for each hydroprocessing unit, which allows each reaction section to operate at its own optimized pressure independently. The separator drums act as pressure decoupling devices, enabling the hydrocracking unit and hydrotreatment unit to operate at different pressures without affecting each other, thus maintaining adaptability while still allowing the fractionation section to be shared.
4Manufacturing precision
If dedicated fractionation columns are installed in each unit, then product quality is optimized, but investment costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the fractionation functionality for multiple units into a single common fractionation section, eliminating redundant equipment investment. By using one fractionation column instead of multiple separate columns, capital costs are significantly reduced while product quality is maintained through controlled feed distribution to different sections of the column.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the feed distribution within the common fractionation section to accommodate different unit requirements. By directing effluents from different units to different feed points in the column, each unit's product quality requirements are met using the shared equipment, achieving cost savings without sacrificing manufacturing precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach minimizes investment costs, maximizes energy efficiency, and allows for flexible adjustment of cut points in finished products, achieving equivalent product quality without the need for dedicated fractionation columns in each unit.
Implementation Method 1
a common fractionation section comprising a main atmospheric fractionation column for the products of the unit and optionally a column for the separation of the light fractions
Implementation Method 2
a column for the separation of the light fractions called a stripping column or stripper
Data Source
AI summary
An installation for the hydrotreatment and hydroconversion of hydrocarbon-containing feedstocks, with a common fractionation section, for the production of at least one of the following products: naphtha (light and/or heavy), diesel, kerosene, distillate and residue:comprising at least:at least one hydroconversion reactor,a hot high-pressure separator drum B-1, a cold high-pressure separator drum B-2, at least one hydrotreatment reactor,a cold high-pressure separator drum B-20, a common fractionation section separating a top fraction, an intermediate fraction and a heavy fraction,An integrated hydroconversion and hydrotreatment process implementing said installation.