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Atmospheric Distillation of Crude Oil

Crude oil obtained from the desalter at temperature of 250 °C–260 °C is further heated by a tube-still heater to a temperature of 350 °C–360 °C. The hot crude oil is then passed into a distillation column that allows the separation of the crude oil into different fractions depending on the difference in volatility. The pressure at the top is maintained at 1.2–1.5 atm so that the distillation can be carried out at close to atmospheric pressure, and therefore it is known as atmospheric distillation column.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
449 views2 pages

Atmospheric Distillation of Crude Oil

Crude oil obtained from the desalter at temperature of 250 °C–260 °C is further heated by a tube-still heater to a temperature of 350 °C–360 °C. The hot crude oil is then passed into a distillation column that allows the separation of the crude oil into different fractions depending on the difference in volatility. The pressure at the top is maintained at 1.2–1.5 atm so that the distillation can be carried out at close to atmospheric pressure, and therefore it is known as atmospheric distillation column.
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Atmospheric distillation of crude oil

Distillation of crude oil is typically performed either under atmospheric pressure and under a vacuum. Low boiling fractions usually
vaporize below 400 °C at atmospheric pressure without cracking the hydrocarbon compounds. Therefore, all the low boiling fractions
of crude oil are separated by atmospheric distillation. A crude distillation unit (CDU) consists of pre-flash distillation column. The
petroleum products obtained from the distillation process are light, medium, and heavy
naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and oil residue.

Contents
Atmospheric crude distillation unit
See also
References
External links

Atmospheric crude distillation unit


Crude oil obtained from the desalter at temperature of 250 °C–260 °C is further heated by a tube-still heater to a temperature of
350 °C–360 °C. The hot crude oil is then passed into a distillation column that allows the separation of the crude oil into different
fractions depending on the difference in volatility. The pressure at the top is maintained at 1.2–1.5 atm[1] so that the distillation can
[2]
be carried out at close to atmospheric pressure, and therefore it is known as atmospheric distillation column.

The vapors from the top of the column are a mixture of hydrocarbon gases and naphtha, at a temperature of 120 °C–130 °C. The
vapor stream associated with steam used at bottom of the column is condensed by the water cooler and the liquid collected in a vessel
is known as reflux drum which is present at the top of the column. Some part of the liquid is returned to the top plate of the column as
overhead reflux, and the remaining liquid is sent to a stabilizer column which separates gases from liquid naphtha. A few plates
below the top plate, the kerosene is obtained as product at a temperature of 190 °C–200 °C. Part of this fraction is returned to the
column after it is cooled by a heat exchanger. This cooled liquid is known as circulating reflux, and it is important to control the heat
load in the column. The remaining crude oil is passed through a side stripper which uses steam to separate kerosene. The kerosene
obtained is cooled and collected in a storage tank as raw kerosene, known as straight run kerosene that boils at a range of 140 °C–
270 °C. A few plates below the kerosene draw plate, the diesel fraction is obtained at a temperature of 280 °C–300 °C. The diesel
fraction is then cooled and stored. The top product from the atmospheric distillation column is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases, e.g.,
methane, ethane, propane, butane, and naphtha vapors. Residual oil present at the bottom of the column is known as reduced crude
oil[3] (RCO). The temperature of the stream at the bottom is 340 °C–350 °C, which is below the cracking temperature of oil.
[4]

Simulation helps in crude oil characterization so that thermodynamic and transport properties can be predicted.[5] Dynamic models
help in examining the relationships that could not be found by experimental methods (Ellner & Guckenheimer, 2006). By using
modeling and simulation software, 80% of the time can be saved rather than constructing an actual working model. Also it saves cost.
[6]
Moreover, a model can provide more accurate study of the real system.

See also
Distillation
Continuous distillation
Vacuum distillation

References
1. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as 101325 Pa (1.01325 bar), equivalent to 760
mm Hg (torr), 29.92 in Hg and 14.696 psi.
2. Fundamentals of petroleum and petrochemical engineering by Uttam Rai choudhari. Publication CRC press,
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-4398-5160-9 (Hardback) chapter 3, pp. 52–53
3. http://www.alken-murray.com/fuel-glossary.htm Glossary of Petroleum Industry Common T
erms & Symbols, alphabet
R
4. Fundamentals of petroleum and petrochemical engineering by Uttam Rai choudhari. Publication CRC press,
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-4398-5160-9 (Hardback) chapter 3, pp. 52–53
5. http://www.aiche.org/academy/videos/conference-presentations/simulating-typical-atmospheric-crude-distillation-unit-
tutorial
6. http://umpir.ump.edu.my/10688/1/FKKSA%20-%20OH%20SHU%20YIN%20(CD8736)%207.pdfchapter 2 page 16

External links
Fundamentals of petroleum and petrochemical engineeringby Uttam Rai Choudhari. Publication CRC press,
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-4398-5160-9 (Hardback) chapter 3, pp. 52–53

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