EVALUATION OF PROGRESSIVE DISTILLATION Dan Dobesh – Jesse Sandlin Dr. Miguel Bagajewicz

This presentation is not about this Insurance Company

Not about this one either…

Our Mission “Analyze progressive crude fractionation, a technology patented in 1987 that claims to be more energy efficient than conventional fractionaltion.”

Punchline “Progressive Distillation can reduce the heat duty requirement of the distillation process by 17% for a heavy crude, and use 16% less furnace heat utility while producing more valuable products for a light crude.”

Overview 1)Background: – Distillation Specifications – Conventional Crude Distillation – Progressive Crude Distillation 2)Methodology 3)Results 4)Accuracy & Limitations

Petroleum Value Chain Petroleum Production Petroleum Refining 839_siphon-gas-car.html Fuels Solvents Lubricants Plastics Detergents Nylon Polyesters ences.com/direct/dbimage/ /Plastic_Toy.jpg Petroleum Products

Oil Refinery Schematic Over 2% of the energy content in a crude stream is used in distillation.* Distillation accounts for about 40% of energy use in a refinery.** * Bagajewicz, Miguel and Ji, Shuncheng. “Rigorous Procedure for the Design of Conventional Atmospheric Crude Fractionation Units. Part I: Targeting.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2001, 40, Diagram Source: ** Haynes, V.O. “Energy Use in Petroleum Refineries.” ORNL/TM-5433, Oak Ridge NationalLaboratory, Tennessee, September (1976).

Overview 1)Background: – Distillation Specifications – Conventional Crude Distillation – Progressive Crude Distillation 2)Methodology 3)Results 4)Accuracy & Limitations

Light Crude Feed Petroleum crude component boiling points range from -161 C (CH 3 ) to over 827 C (C 40 H 82 +)

Heavy Crude Feed Petroleum crude component boiling points range from -161 C (CH 3 ) to over 827 C (C 40 H 82 +)

ASTM D86-07b, “D86 Point” American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM): international organization that is a source for technical standards Rigorously developed method for quantitatively testing the boiling range of a petroleum product (1) Oil sample heated in glass flask using electric heater (2) Vapor is condensed and collected (3) Temperature versus amount collected is recorded Not applicable to products containing large amounts of residual

Product Specifications Generated from Pro/II Computer Model This graph compares the boiling point range of the five products

D86 5% point heavy component Product Gaps Explanation - D86 95% point light component 390⁰ C- 360⁰ C = 30⁰ C D86 5% point heavy component D86 95% point light component Positive gaps indicate more distinct separation.

Overview 1)Background: – Distillation Specifications – Conventional Crude Distillation – Progressive Crude Distillation 2)Methodology 3)Results 4)Accuracy & Limitations

Conventional Distillation

Conventional Distillation Simulation

Gaps – Conventional Distillation D86 95% point anchors products on the right side, gaps change the left side

Conventional = Indirect Takes the heaviest component as the bottom product in each column. Lighter components are sent to the next column. Source: Smith, Robin, Chemical Process Design

Conventional = Indirect Stacking these columns on top of each other is essentially conventional distillation. Bagajewicz, Miguel and Ji, Shuncheng. “Rigorous Procedure for the Design of Conventional Atmospheric Crude Fractionation Units. Part I: Targeting.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2001, 40,

Conventional = Indirect Stacking these columns on top of each other is essentially conventional distillation. Bagajewicz, Miguel and Ji, Shuncheng. “Rigorous Procedure for the Design of Conventional Atmospheric Crude Fractionation Units. Part I: Targeting.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2001, 40, Stacked columns from the indirect sequence.

Overview 1)Background: – Distillation Specifications – Conventional Crude Distillation – Progressive Crude Distillation 2)Methodology 3)Results 4)Accuracy & Limitations

Patent: Process for Distillation of Petroleum by Progressive Separations This is an expired patent for crude fractionation that is now being commercialized by Technip. Main idea is to heat components only as much as necessary. Several companies are excited by this concept that promises large energy savings. A new refinery is being built in central Germany using this concept.

Progressive Crude Distillation Patent

Technip’s Progressive Brochure

Progressive Crude Distillation - Gaps

Gaps – Progressive Distillation Light Crude

Progressive = Direct Takes the lightest component as the top product in each column. Heavier components are sent to the next column. Source: Smith, Robin, Chemical Process Design

Indirect Direct Conventional vs. Progressive Summary Recover heavy components firstRecover light components first One main column Many columns

Overview 1)Background: – Distillation Specifications – Conventional Crude Distillation – Progressive Crude Distillation 2)Methodology 3)Results 4)Accuracy & Limitations

Simulation Development Method 1)Build PRO/II progressive crude simulation 2)Obtain correct D86 95% points 3)Synchronize product gaps 4)Mimimize heat duty 5)Compare to conventional heat duty 6)Determine areas for improvement

Simulation Assumptions SRK is a valid thermodynamic model for hydrocarbon systems Pseudocomponents represent crude composition PRO/II provides a close representation of reality

Basis of Comparison PRO/II Conventional Simulation, 260 ⁰C steam

PRO/II Computer Model(s) Progressive Model – 4 column direct Furnace heat duty = 89 MW This is higher than 58.7 MW for conventional distillation Previous work suggested that this setup provided no furnace heat utility benefit over conventional distillation. Our results verify this.

Initial Complex Simulation Unnecessarily complicated Too many products for conventional comparison

PRO/II Computer Model Patent Vacuum distillation for residual product is not important for comparison

Second Type Simulation Too much furnace heat utility: 200+ MW Each column has a reboiler

Third Type Simulation Furnace utility is lower, but steam utility his very high All seven columns have steam input

Heating Supply-Demand Temperature ⁰C F*Cp MW Demand Curve – dark line showing heat needed by system Supply boxes – heat utility able to be recovered from system Heat can be transferred down and left by second law Heat can only move right across pinch via a pumparound

Final Type Simulation Replaced steam with reboilers in the first series of columns

Heating Supply-Demand Temperature ⁰C F*Cp MW

Specifications

Variables

Controller-Variable Systems 1)Naphtha-kerosene gap varies with steam flowrate in Column 1 2)Kerosene-diesel gap varies with steam flowrate in Column 2 3)Diesel-gas oil gap varies withsteam flowrate in Column 3 4)D86 95% points are obtained by varying the condenser duty Column 1 Column 2 Column 3

After hours of red simulations and Red Bulls… days… weeks MONTHS After hours of red simulations and Red Bulls… Happy hour

Final Simulations Conventional: four simulations – 260 ⁰C steam, 135 ⁰C steam – Heavy feed, light feed Progressive: eight simulations – Reboilers, steam – 260 ⁰C steam, 135 ⁰C steam – Heavy feed, light feed – High heat exchanger temperatures, low heat exchanger temperatures

Overview 1)Background: – Distillation Specifications – Conventional Crude Distillation – Progressive Crude Distillation 2)Methodology 3)Results 4)Accuracy & Limitations

Conventional vs. Progressive Light Crude 15% Decrease 9% Decrease

Light Crude

Progressive Heat usage Light crude heat utility diagram The intersection that is unaccounted for is the cold and hot utility Hot Utility Cold Utility

Progressive Heat usage Light Crude Temperature ⁰C F*Cp MW

Conventional vs. Progressive Heavy Crude 9% Decrease 14% Decrease

Progressive Heat usage Heavy crude heat utility diagram

Progressive Heat usage Heavy Crude Temperature ⁰C F*Cp MW

Our Conclusion “Progressive Distillation can reduce the heat duty requirement of the distillation process by at least 17% for a light crude, and at least 16% for a heavy crude, while producing similar amounts of products.”

Economic Analysis 120,000 BPD plant Gross profit = Product sales – Utility costs Progressive provides gross profit increase of $10.2 million each year using light crude feed and $27.3 million each year using a heavy crude feed

Vacuum Economic Analysis Gas oil and residue profits are recovered in equal amounts in both cases Progressive provides gross profit increase of $25.7 million each year using light crude feed and $57.2 million each year using a heavy crude feed

Overview 1)Background: – Distillation Specifications – Conventional Crude Distillation – Progressive Crude Distillation 2)Methodology 3)Results 4)Accuracy & Limitations

Limitations Different column sequences and setups may offer lower heat utility Optimum setup is based on composition of crude feed Simulations are a simplification of reality Heat exchanger network in the simulation is not optimized

Accuracy D86 95% point comparisons between conventional and progressive are within 0.1 degrees Celcius Product gap comparisons between conventional and progressive are within 1.0 degrees Celcius Flowrate comparisons between conventional and progressive are within 10 cubic meters per hour

Questions