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Distillation

Distillation by Frank Rukovena, Vice President - Marketing and Sales, Fractionation Research, Inc.

Frank Rukovena is Vice President - Marketing and Sales of Fractionation Research, Inc., Stillwater, Oklahoma. Previously, he spent more than 25 years with Norton Chemical Process Products (later Saint-Gobain Norpro), including more than 10 years as director of mass transfer technology and, before that, as director of engineering, development and manufacturing. He holds a number of patents in the field and has written extensively about mass transfer operations.

Vacuum column wetting rate
What is the wetting rate in a vacuum column and how is it related with the performance of the slop wax bed section of a vacuum column?
Category: Distillation

Checking columns internals
What are the most important things I should pay attention to while checking the columns internals such as tray, beam, supporting rings and so on in the pre-installing process?
Category: Distillation

Column riser area
I am working on a refinery project with a column internals vendor for designs and review of designs. While reviewing one of the columns (a Hydrocracker unit - fractionator), I observed that the total draw-off trays are designed with a riser cross sectional area of approximately 11.5%, which is far less than general practice of 15%. The other concern is draw-off nozzle sump dimensions. Vendors have followed licensor datasheets and provided sump width 3 times the draw nozzle diameter. However, general practice is 2 times the diameter. This resulted in a reduction of an area to locate the risers on the tray and a reduction in the number of risers and, hence, the riser area. May I request your opinion and recommendations?
Category: Distillation

Vapor outlet line nozzle location
I suspect that the bottom of LPG/NGL splitter column (designed to separate LPG and NGL) is flooded as the vapor boil-up entry point appears to be submerged in the bottom liquid. For vapor generation, a kettle type reboiler is used. I do not have design data and want to know where the nozzle should have been located. The only reference I found is Kern’s article in Hydrocarbon Processing (December 1968), which I also do not have.
Category: Distillation

Evaporator boilover
How does one set the constraints (startup or operation) to avoid excessive heat flux or pressure change that results in the bumping or boilover of an evaporator or batch stripper, especially at vacuum. What correlations for pressure change and or heat flux would be used to establish the prudent rate of change constraints?
Category: Distillation