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Oil Refinery Simulator

1. The Simulator
2. Crude Distillation Unit
3. Description of System
   

The Simulator

The Oil Refinery Simulator consists of three main process units – the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU) and Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU).

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Crude Distillation Unit

The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) processes raw crude oil into high value hydrocarbons such as gasoline (also known as petrol), naphtha, kerosene and diesel. Distillation is the first step in the processing of crude oil. In this process, the various hydrocarbon components in the crude oil (called fractions) are heated and separated in a distillation column. The different hydrocarbon fractions have different boiling points, so they can all be easily separated by distillation.

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Description of System

The crude feedstock from the feed mixing tank is first heated up in a series of heat exchangers to about 120OC. Salt and impurities in the crude are removed in the desalter, which uses an electrical field to separate the crude oil from water. After leaving the desalter, the crude oil, now free of most of water soluble contaminants and entrained water, is further heated up in another series of heat exchangers to about 230OC. The crude oil is then heated in the atmospheric heater to about 370OC and sent to the distillation column.

In the distillation column, most of the hot crude vaporizes and flows up the column. Steam is injected at the bottom of the column to promote vaporization. As the hot crude oil vapors rise up in the column, they cool down and condense into liquids at different heights of the column, depending on the molecular weight of each fraction. When each fraction reaches the temperature just below its boiling point, it condenses into liquid and is collected on trays inside the column. The heaviest fractions condense on the lowest trays and the lighter fractions condense on the higher trays. Draw-off trays are provided at the side of the distillation column at different elevations to remove the products.



Heavy Naphtha is drawn at approximately 179 OC. Kerosene is drawn at approximately 244 OC. Light Gas Oil (LGO) is drawn at approximately 288OC. Heavy Gas Oil (HGO) is drawn at approximately 330OC. Each product draw is sent to a side stripper, which has many fractionating trays similar to the distillation column. In the stripper, very light components are removed using steam injection or an external heater called a reboiler. The vapors from the top of the strippers flow back into the distillation column. The heavy components are removed and cooled.

The lightest fractions remain a vapor until they leave the top of the column. The vapors are cooled, partially condensed and collected in the Overhead Accumulator, where vapor, naphtha and water are separated. Naphtha is either sent back to the top of the column as reflux or to the Naphtha Splitter and Naphtha Splitter Overhead Accumulator for further separation of vapor, light naphtha and water.

The heavy fractions of the crude oil that are too heavy to vaporize in the distillation column are collected at the bottom of the distillation tower. The bottom residue, also known as Atmospheric Tower Bottoms, is pumped out.

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Vacuum Distillation Unit/Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit

Please check back soon for more information on these areas of the simulator.

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