VACUUM DISTILLATION MASS TRANSFER LAB ASSIGNMENT COLUME

Vacuum distillation is a method of distillation whereby the pressure above the liquid mixture to be distilled is reduced to less than its vapor pressure (usually less than atmospheric pressure) causing evaporation of the most volatile liquid (those with the lowest boiling points).This distillation method works on the principle that boiling occurs when the vapor pressure of a liquid exceeds the ambient pressure. Vacuum distillation is used with or without heating the mixture.

INTRODUCTION:
Vacuum distillation is the distillation of liquids performed at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure to take advantage of the fact that reducing the pressure lowers the boiling point of liquids. Vacuum distillation is a method of distillation whereby the pressure above the liquid mixture to be distilled is reduced to less than its vapor pressure (usually less than atmospheric pressure) causing evaporation of the most volatile liquid (those with the lowest boiling points).This distillation method works on the principle that boiling occurs when the vapor pressure of a liquid exceeds the ambient pressure. Vacuum distillation is used with or without heating the mixture.

STRUCTURE:
Figure is a photograph of a large vacuum distillation column. The 10 to 40 mmHg absolute pressure in a vacuum distillation column increases the volume of vapor formed per volume of liquid distilled. The result is that such columns have very large diameters. Vacuum distillation columns may have diameters of 15 meters or more, heights ranging up to about 50 meters, and feed rates ranging up to about 25,400 cubic meters per day (160,000 barrels per day). The vacuum distillation column internals must provide good vapor-liquid contacting while, at the same time, maintaining a very low pressure increase from the column top to the column bottom. Therefore, refinery vacuum columns often use distillation trays only where withdrawing products from the side of the column (referred to as side draws). The remainder of the column uses packing material for the vaporliquid contacting because such packing has a lower pressure drop than distillation trays. This packing material can be either structured sheet metal or randomly dumped packing such as Raschig rings. The absolute pressure of 10 to 40 mmHg in a refinery vacuum distillation column is most often achieved by a vacuum system using multiple stages of steam jet ejectors.

VACUUM DISTILLATION UNIT PROCESS STEPS:

The typical process steps involved are as follows: The reduced crude oil is pumped through a series of heat exchangers and a crude furnace until reaching the desired temperature (350C 390C) The reduced crude oil is flashed to separate the desired fractions. Light vapors rise to the top and heavier hydrocarbon liquids fall to the bottom. Steam injection at the bottom of the column improves the separation of lighter boiling components The vacuum column uses a series of pump arounds to maintain temperature at the correct level at certain points along the tower Light vapour gases are removed at the top of the tower, condensed and recycled back to the column as reflux. Light Naphtha is drawn off and excess gases sent to flare. Vacuum gas oil (VGO) and lubricating oils are drawn off and routed for further treatment in Hydrotreating units Vacuum residue from the bottom is sent to intermediate storage or typically to be further processed in a FCC or delayed coking unit.

INDUSTRIAL-SCALE APPLICATIONS:
Industrial-scale vacuum distillation has several advantages. Close boiling mixtures may require many equilibrium stages to separate the key components. One tool to reduce the number of stages needed is to utilize vacuum distillation. Vacuum distillation columns (as depicted in Figures 2 and 3) typically used

in oil refineries have diameters ranging up to about 14 metres (46 feet), heights ranging up to about 50 metres (164 feet), and feed rates ranging up to about 25,400 cubic metres per day (160,000 barrels per day). Vacuum distillation increases the relative volatility of the key components in many applications. The higher the relative volatility, the more separable are the two components; this connotes fewer stages in a distillation column in order to effect the same separation between the overhead and bottoms products. Lower pressures increase relative volatilities in most systems. A second advantage of vacuum distillation is the reduced temperature requirement at lower pressures. For many systems, the products degrade or polymerize at elevated temperatures. Vacuum distillation can improve a separation by: Prevention of product degradation or polymer formation because of reduced pressure leading to lower tower bottoms temperatures, Reduction of product degradation or polymer formation because of reduced mean residence time especially in columns using packing rather than trays. Increasing capacity, yield, and purity. Another advantage of vacuum distillation is the reduced capital cost, at the expense of slightly more operating cost. Utilizing vacuum distillation can reduce the height and diameter, and thus the capital cost of a distillation column.