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Thermodynamic evaluation of distillation

columns using exergy loss profiles: a case study
on the crude oil atmospheric distillation
column

DATASET · JANUARY 2012

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7 AUTHORS, INCLUDING:

Amir Hossein Tarighaleslami Amir Hossein Tarighaleslami

Islamic Azad University, Mahshahr Branch Islamic Azad University
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Roozbeh Hoseinzadeh Hesas

Islamic Azad University
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Clean Techn Environ Policy
DOI 10.1007/s10098-012-0465-6
ORIGINAL PAPER
Thermodynamic evaluation of distillation columns using exergy
loss profiles: a case study on the crude oil atmospheric
distillation column
Amir Hossein Tarighaleslami • Mohammad Reza Omidkhah
Ali Ghannadzadeh • Roozbeh Hoseinzadeh Hesas
Received: 10 November 2011 / Accepted: 3 February 2012
Ó Springer-Verlag 2012
Abstract This paper presents a case study on the crude oil
atmospheric distillation column of Tabriz refinery plant to
show the applicability of exergy loss profiles in thermody-
namic examination of the different retrofit options. The
atmospheric distillation column of Tabriz refinery has been
revamped as a consequence of increase of the plant capacity
to 100,000 bpd. To cover the deficit of feedstock of the
revamped unit, a blend of the existing feedstock with
imported crude oil is used as a feedstock. However, to
investigate how the blend of these two different types of
crudes as a feedstock has an influence on the operating
conditions, the examination of the column is needed. Exergy
as a comprehensive thermodynamic property which trans-
lates the temperature, pressure and composition change into
a common unit has been chosen to evaluate the distillation
column thermodynamically. Furthermore, the exergy loss
profile of the base case serves as a scoping tool to pinpoint the
source of inefficiencies. Then, the exergy loss profile as a
screening tool has found the retrofit options which are likely
A. H. Tarighaleslami (&)
Chemical Engineering Faculty, Mahshahr Branch, Islamic Azad
University, Daneshgah St., Imam Khomeini Blvd, 63519
Mahshar, Khouzestan, Iran
e-mail: ah.tarighaleslami@mahshahriau.ac.ir
M. R. Omidkhah
Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering,
Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
A. Ghannadzadeh
Department of Process and System Engineering, Chemical
Engineering Laboratory, University of Toulouse, Toulouse,
France
R. Hoseinzadeh Hesas
Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
•
to yield greatest energy saving from a list of retrofit options
proposed by the industrial partner. In the presented case
study, the exergy loss profile identifies the best retrofit
option with 17.16% reduction in exergy losses, which finally
lead to 3.6% reduction of primary fuel demand.
Keywords Exergy  Process simulation  Crude oil
atmospheric distillation column
Introduction
One of the most energy intensive processes in chemical
plants is distillation. It accounts for one-quarter of the
exergy destruction in refineries and chemical industries
(Cornelissen 1997). In the context of sustainability in the
process industry (Klemes et al. 2010) and toward devel-
opment of clean technologies (Bulatov and Klemes 2010)
for crude oil refining to reduce energy consumption of the
distillation columns which can be translated into the CO2
emission reduction (Thernesz et al. 2010), exergy analysis
has been shown in literature (e.g., Benali et al. 2012) as a
useful tool that can identify and quantify the sources of
energy dissipation.
Dhole and Linnhoff (1993) set the targets for reduction of
the thermodynamic losses due to heat and mass transfer,
pressure drop and mixing to approach a reversible operation.
The exergy loss profiles (Dhole and Linnhoff 1993; Zemp
et al. 1997) identify the irreversibility level at each stage, so
taht finally measures can be taken to even out these irrever-
sibilities (Chang and Li 2005). Faria and Zemp (2005)
applied the exergy loss profiles and enthalpy–temperature
profiles to evaluate thermodynamically distillation columns.
In this paper, an industrial case study has been taken to
show the applicability of exergy loss profile as a useful
123
 A. H. Tarighaleslami et al.

scoping and screening tool in thermodynamic examination common unit (J or MW) has been chosen to evaluate the
of the retrofit options. At first, the main required input data distillation column thermodynamically.
for simulation of the atmospheric distillation column of Furthermore, in the scoping stage of retrofit design, a
Tabriz refinery plant are presented. Then, different retrofit brief exergy analysis on the base case has to be preformed
options have been examined thermodynamically through to pinpoint the source of inefficiencies. Then, in the
the exergy loss profiles. screening stage from a list of retrofit options proposed by
the industrial partner, the retrofit options, which are related
to these sources of inefficiencies, have to be selected.
Case study Finally, the exergy loss of the column for the selected
retrofit options has to be calculated through exergy loss
Objective of the case study profile.
It should be noted that the boundary of this study is
The atmospheric distillation column of Tabriz refinery limited only to the distillation column itself, excluding the
located in Iran is taken as a case study. Tabriz refinery side-strippers and pumparounds. However, the modifica-
was established in 1977 with the nominal capacity of tion of the operating conditions of distillation column
80,000 bpd and was fed with the Ahwaz-Bangestan crude inevitably influences the conditions of utilities such as heat
oil. After reconstruction for increasing the capacity of the exchanger networks and furnaces.
Tabriz refinery plant, the nominal capacity of the refinery
becomes 100,000 bpd and another crude called NEW- Data collection
CROS imported from Caspian Sea Republics Oil Swap
project is used as a feedstock to cover the deficit of the first The data related to physical and chemical properties of
feedstock. As listed in Tables 1, 2 and 3, these two feed- feeds, as well as the modeling of the crude oil distillation
stocks have close physical properties. However, to inves- plant are reported by RIPI-NIOC (Research Institute of
tigate how the blend of these two different types of crudes Petroleum Industries, National Iranian Oil Company). The
as a feedstock has an influence on the operating conditions, data of atmospheric column of Tabriz refinery and product
the examination of column is needed. Exergy as a com- specifications are listed in Tables 4, 5 and 6.
prehensive thermodynamic property which translates the
temperature, pressure and composition change into a
Table 3 Properties of NEW-CROS assay
Percent distilled Temperature (°C)
Table 1 Physical properties of Ahwaz-Bangestan and NEW-CROS
crudes 0.8 15
4.58 40
Crude oil API Specific Sulfur Kinematic
type gravity gravity content viscosity 9.39 82.5
60°F @ 15°C kg/l wt% @ 40°C 12.49 112.5
16.16 137.5
Ahwaz-Bangestan 33.60 0.857 1.40 6.65
20.37 162.5
NEW-CROS 32.42 0.863 1.42 7.36
24 187.5
28.29 212.5
31.4 237.5
Table 2 Properties of Ahwaz-Bangestan assay 36.05 262.5
39.28 287.5
Percent distilled Temperature (°C)
43.99 312.5
2.9 65 48.85 337.5
6.5 82.5 53.41 367.5
12.1 125 60.28 405
19.6 175 63.89 437
27.4 225 69.21 462.5
36 275 73.51 487.5
45 325 77.14 515
51.2 360 81.99 547.5
76.5 390 100 565

123
Thermodynamic evaluation of distillation columns

Simulation of the base case properties, as it is the most suitable model for heavy
hydrocarbon in low pressure applications (up to several
As petroleum applications encompass a wide range of atm) vacuum tower, atmospheric crude column (Carlson
boiling fractions, components and process conditions, the 1996). The BK10 employs Braun convergence press
template of Aspen Plus does not have a default physical method where for the given normal boiling point (NBP) of
property method. Therefore, the following methods are a component, the K-vale is calculated at the system.
used most frequently: BK10, CHAO-SEA, GRAYSON, Besides, as the properties of the crudes used in the case
RK-SOAVE, PENG-ROB and IDEAL. Among these, study were not found in the assay library of Aspen Plus, the
BK10 has been chosen to evaluate the thermodynamic assays are defined by the properties listed in Tables 1, 2
and 3.
As a base case, the simulation is performed using the
Table 4 Data of atmospheric column of Tabriz refinery Ahwaz-Bangestan crude oil as a feedstock. Figure 1 shows
Column Height 61.42 m the flow sheet of the base case where the atmospheric crude
dimensions ID 5.33 m oil column consists of 52 equilibrium stages (including a
Tray section Number of trays 51 total condenser) in the main column, 3 sets of pumparounds
Packed section Packed bed height 3.05 m and 3 side-strippers. The bottom rate is set at 289 t/h. The
Packed type Metallic Pall-Ring 1in. column feed passes through a furnace which operates at
(Random) 2.81 atm and its temperature is specified to be 348.7°C.
Column Feed inlet Stage 47 The first pumparound rate is 483.9 m3/h and is a partial
description Number of pump-around 3 stream drawn from stage 5 and is returned to stage 2 at
Number of strippers 3

Table 6 Specifications versus actual data of products

Table 5 Product specifications Test Products

Test Products Blending naphtha Kerosene Atmospheric gas oil

Blending Kerosene Atmospheric Spec. Actual Spec. Actual Spec. Actual

naphtha gas oil
IBP (°C) 135 136 145 144 232 230
Density at 15°C 5% (°C) 142 148 172 175 249 254
M 0.7725 0.8 0.844 10% (°C) 144 149 180 184 257 264
A 30% (°C) 147 155 195 199 276 280
N 0.774 0.794 0.84 50% (°C) 151 159 207 211 291 296
Flash point (°C) 70% (°C) 156 165 218 222 313 317
M 35 43 106 90% (°C) 162 175 235 238 352 356
A 95% (°C) 166 182 245 246 371 374
N 32 43 97 FBP (°C) 188 212 270 272 383 388

Fig. 1 Flow sheet of the base

case in Aspen Plus

123
 A. H. Tarighaleslami et al.

75°C. The data related to the pumparounds are listed in
Table 7.
The first side-stripper has five equilibrium stages and
strips light ends from the 25 t/h of the 7-BN product
stream, which is drawn from the stage of the main column.
The stripped vapors are returned to the main column on
stage 15. The reboiler duty is 1.00 MW. The data related to
side-strippers are listed in Table 8.
The packing section of the main column is specified to
be started from stage 41 and ended in stage 47 using Pall as
the packing type. The data related to the packing section
are reported in Table 9. For the rest of column, the sieve
tray is used. Note that it is assumed that the kind of packing
does not have any influence on exergy analysis.
1 atm. Note that as the condenser is not taken into account
as the first tray, no error in calculation occurs when the
condenser service temperature is equal to the reference
temperature.
The internal exergy loss (Irr) is the difference between
the total exergy input (Exinput) and the total exergy output
(Exoutput). It can be calculated using the Gouy–Stodola
theorem (Rivero et al. 2004):
X X
Irr ¼ Exinput  Exoutput ¼ T0 DS ð2Þ
The exergy profiles (Zemp et al. 1997) are automatically
plotted by Aspen Plus, which calculates the exergy loss for
each stage of the column based on the total exergy input
and output associated with material and heat streams.

Exergy calculations and exergy loss profiles Exergetic evaluation of different retrofit options
with Aspen Plus
Retrofit 1: different crude oil feedstocks
Exergy calculation is based on the determination of two
thermodynamic state functions, enthalpy (H) and entropy As a first objective of this study, different crude oils
(S). For a given system defined by pressure, temperature (Table 10) are taken as feedstock. The base case is to feed
and composition relative to the reference environment, the atmospheric distillation column with Ahwaz-Bangestan
exergy (Ex) of the system is defined by the following crude oil as in the existing refinery plant. NEW-CROS
general expression: crude is used as a feedstock for retrofit 1a and a
Ex ¼ ðH  H0 Þ  T0 ðS  S0 Þ ð1Þ
Table 9 Data of the packing section for the base case
where the first term on the right-hand side represents the
Staring stage 41
total enthalpy of the system, the second term on the right-
Ending stage 47
hand side represents the total entropy of the system and the
Type Pall
term T0 is the reference environment temperature. In this
paper, the reference environment is defined by the refer- Vendor Generic
ence temperature of 298.15 K and the reference pressure of Material Metal
Size 25 mm
Section diameter 5,334 mm
Table 7 Data of the pumparounds for the base case Section packing height 3,049 mm
Pumparound Circulating Draw Return Temperature Flow rate
service stage stage (°C) (m3/h)

PA-1 A Top liquids 5 2 75 483.9 Table 10 Feedstock data

PA-1 B Top liquids 5 5 75 259.6
Feedstock Description
PA-2 A Kerosene 26 23 180 80
PA-2 B Kerosene 26 26 180 77 Base case Ahwaz-Bangestan
PA-3 A Atmospheric 41 38 230 304.6 Retrofit 1a NEW-CROS
gas oil
Retrofit 1b 50% (vol.) Ahwaz–Bangestan
PA-3 B Atmospheric 41 41 295 86.1
gas oil 50% (vol.) NEW-CROS

Table 8 Data of the side-strippers for the base case

Side-stripper Circulating service Equilibrium Flow rate (kg/h) Reboiler duty (MW) Stage number of Stage number of
stage liquid draw overhead return

SS1 Blending naphtha 5 25,305 1.00 15 14

SS2 Kerosene 8 95,043 2.79 25 23
SS3 Atmospheric gas oil 41 108,431 Steam (3 t/h, 330°C, 2.23 atm) 40 37

123
Thermodynamic evaluation of distillation columns

Table 11 Simulation results of the base case and retrofit 1 If the flow rate or temperature drop of one of the pump-
Feedstocks Exergy loss (MW) Furnace heat
arounds is increased, there will be more heat to be recov-
load (MW) ered in the preheat train, which in turn may decrease the
furnace duty for preheating the crude oil (Smith et al.
Base case 44.35 54.716
2010).
Retrofit 1a 44.35 54.716 Figure 3 shows the exergy loss profile for the modified
Retrofit 1b 44.35 54.716 column excluding the side-strippers. As stream split on one
of the pumparounds TP-104 A/B (see Fig. 4) is changed,
the exergy loss of column related to the pumparound 3 is
50
Stage 47:Feed
reduced compared to the base case. However, the profile
45
Stage 41 to 47:PackingSection
related to other sections of the column remains as in the
Pumparound 3 -Side-stripper 3
40 base case.
35 As reported in Table 12, when the flow rate of stream
30 1–2 decreases from 86.1 to 26.1 m3/h, not only the flow
Stages

25
Pumparound 2 -Side-stripper 2 rate of stream 2–3 but also the temperature of the latter
20 stream increases from 230 to 275.3°C. By comparing the
15 results of exergy loss profiles, exergy loss decreases to
10 40.95 MW, which leads to 7.67% of energy reduction.
5 Pumparound 1-Side-stripper 1 However, furnace heat loads increases to 54.717 MW,
0
which is a small penalty furnace duty (i.e., 0.0016%).
-1

Exergy Loss (MW)

Fig. 2 The same exergy loss profile for different feedstocks (base
case, retrofit 1a and retrofit 1b) 50
Stage 47: Feed
45
Stage 41 to 47:PackingSection
blend of 50–50% volumetrically is used as a feedstock for 40
retrofit 1b. Pumparound 3 -Side-stripper 3
35
For the different feedstocks reported in Table 11, the
30
same exergy loss profile for atmospheric distillation column
Stages

25 Pumparound 2 -Side-stripper 2
excluding the side-strippers is obtained. Therefore, one of
20
the exergy loss profiles as a representative of all the three has
15
been shown in Fig. 2. For these cases, the exergy loss profile
10
shows the same exergy loss of 44.35 MW in the main column
5 Pumparound 1-Side-stripper 1
(excluding the side-strippers) and the furnace heat load is
54.716 MW as summarized in Table 11. Therefore, the type 0
-1

6
of crude oil does not have any impact on exergy losses and
Exergy Loss (MW)
thermal analysis of the distillation column.
Besides, the exergy loss profile of the base case can Fig. 3 Exergy loss profile for blend 50–50% volume in retrofit 2
serve as a scoping tool to pinpoint the source of ineffi-
ciencies. For example, the biggest pick is because of
pumparound 3 and side-stripper 3. Also, the pick related to
the feed into the column causes a relatively high exergy
loss. The exergy loss profile as a screening tool can find the
retrofit options, which are likely to yield the greatest
energy saving from a list of retrofit options proposed by the
industrial partner. For our case study, two retrofit options
which have been related to the sources of inefficiencies are
taken and presented in the following sections.

Retrofit 2: changing stream split on the pumparounds

As a first modification on the column to reduce its exergy Fig. 4 Changing stream split on the pumparound TP-104 A/B of
loss, stream split on the pumparounds can be modified. column

123
 A. H. Tarighaleslami et al.

Retrofit 3: changing in configuration of feed stream Discussion

As the second suggestion to reduce exergy losses in the
column, feed conditioning is changed. Indeed, the furnace
is one of the most energy intensive equipments in oil
refineries (Tarighaleslami et al. 2009). In the new config-
uration, the preflash vapor stream was not mixed with
the flash liquid stream after passing the furnace, and the
overhead of the flash drum enters in stage 22 which has the
same temperature (Fig. 5).
Figure 6 shows the exergy loss profile for the modified
column excluding the side-strippers. As the feed is spilt
into two portions, a relative uniform exergy loss profile has
been obtained compared to the base case. Consequently,
the exergy loss of the column as a whole is reduced.
As shown in Fig. 6, exergy loss is 36.74 MW, which
leads to 17.16% exergy loss reduction compared to the base
case. In the case of introducing the overhead of flash drum
into the column at a tray with compatible temperature and
composition, it not only reduces the exergy loss but also
leads to 3.6% reduction of furnace fuel demand, as the heat
duty of furnace decreases from 54.716 to 52.758 MW
without any further investment thanks to the fixed config-
uration of pipeline connected to the furnace.
As a first retrofit option, exergy analysis on atmospheric
distillation column was carried out by using different
feedstocks such as Ahwaz–Bangestan, NEW-CROS and a
blend of 50–50%. By comparing the results, it was shown
that no significant change occurred as a consequence of
change in feedstock. Hence, any blending mixture of dif-
ferent feedstocks in the same level can be used.
As a second retrofit option, side boiling of pumparound,
exergy loss decreases with a small penalty on furnace heat
load. The last retrofit option and best condition is when the
preflash vapor stream is not mixed with the flash liquid
stream after passing the furnace; the overhead of flash
drum enters in the stage which has the same temperature,
i.e., stage 22. Although the feed can enter into the stage
with the same composition (Mc Cabe et al. 2007), it is
better to enter the preflash vapor in the stage with closer
temperature. This helps to reduce feed influence on the
exergy loss (i.e., mixing losses) and improve heat profile
through the column (Smith 2005) as shown in Fig. 6. On
the other hand, preflash vapor with lower temperature
50
Stage 47: Liquid Feed
45
Stage 41 to 47: PackingSection
40
Pumparound 3 -Side-stripper 3

35
Table 12 Details of the pumparounds modifications of the base case
Stages

for retrofit 1 30

Pumparound 2 -Side-stripper 2
25
Flow definition Description Base case Retrofit 1
Stage 22: VaporFeed
20

Flow from 1 to 2 (1–2) Draw stage 41 41 15

Return stage 41 41 10
Pumparound 1-Side-stripper 1
Temperature (°C) 295 295 5
Flow rate (m3/h) 86.1 26.1
0
Flow from 2 to 3 (2–3) Return stage 38 39
-2

-1

6
Temperature (°C) 230 275.3 Exergy Loss (MW)
3
Flow rate (m /h) 304.6 364.6
Fig. 6 Exergy loss profile for blend 50–50% volume in retrofit 3

Fig. 5 Changing in
configuration of feed stream
after splitting

123
Thermodynamic evaluation of distillation columns

Table 13 Comparison of the base with different retrofit options in primary fuel consumption of the furnace, which conse-
Distillation Exergy Energy Furnace Furnace heat
quently reduces CO2 emission for developing clean tech-
column loss consumption heat load load nologies (Bulatov and Klemes 2010) for crude oil refining.
condition (MW) reduction (%) (WM) reduction (%)
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the Department of
Base case 44.35 – 54.716 – Research and Development of the Tabriz Oil Refining Company in
Retrofit 1a 44.35 – 54.716 – Iran for their support in this research, and Ms. Nasim Taghavi Takyar
Retrofit 1b 44.35 – 54.716 – for her help.
Retrofit 2 40.95 7.67 54.717 -0.0016
Retrofit 3 36.74 17.16 52.758 3.5785
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summary of results of different retrofit options is listed in
Table 13.
Conclusion
The applicability of exergy loss profiles in thermodynamic
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level can be used. In addition, the exergy loss profile of the
base case can serve as a scoping tool to pinpoint the source
of inefficiencies. Then, the exergy loss profile screens two
retrofit options related to the sources of inefficiencies from
a list of retrofit options proposed by the industrial partner.
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