Refining & Petrochemical Summary II

1) Describe the carbon black process

Reactor Air Preheater Oil Preheater Agglomerator Bag filter Cyclone Pelletizer dryer tank For the furnace process. In the reactor, the fuel gas is the auxillary fuel which mixes with the preheated aromatic oil from FCCU or decanted oil and preheated air. The feed undergoes partial combustion/oxidation which is an exothermic reaction and pyrolysis which is an endothermic process in the reactor which is achieved by controlling the amount of air. There is also quench water which regulates the residence time in the reactor and controls the pH of the carbon black as well as douse the heat. The product from the partial combustion go to the air preheater and there exchange heat with the air. The air gains heat and is fed to the reactor. In the oil preheater, the oil that forms the feed for the reactor exchanges heat with the product of the reactor and is then fed to the reactor.

The product then goes to the agglomerator which is used to control particle size distribution and specific surface area. After the agglomerator it goes to the bag filter to separate the solid from the vapor phase (carbon gas). After the filter, it goes into the cyclone where there is total product recovery where the remaining solid is separated from the solid. In the pelletizer, water and potassium nitrate is added to control the pH and form slurry. In the dryer moisture is removed from the solid and then it goes to the magnetic separator then the screener where it is separated according to particle size and then the carbon black is stored. Draw a schematic representation of the LAB plant (5) and describe the process (10).

The feed for the process is kerosene and reformate. The kerosene goes into the desulphurization unit to remove the sulfur and then to the Molex (Molecular Extraction) which separates the normal paraffins from iso paraffins by extraction using molecular sieve. The normal paraffins move to the PACOL (Paraffin conversion to olefin) unit where the normal paraffins are converted to linear olefin and then are sent to the detergent alkylation unit as raw material for LAB production.

The reformate goes to the benzene unit where benzene, xylene and toluene are extracted then to the thermal hydrodealkylation unit where dealkylation produces benzene which acts as the other raw material for LAB production. The benzene and the linear olefin go into the detergent alkylation unit and react together by alkylation in presence of hydrofluoric acid to produce linear alkyl benzenes and heavy alkylates as products. What is the basic feedstock for petrochemicals, list and elaborate on each. Synthesis gas (CO & Hydrogen) which is gotten from steam reforming of natural gas. Olefin gotten from any thermal cracking process in the refinery. Aromatics from the reformate from the catalytic reforming unit in the refinery Mention typical equipment in petrochemical plants Crystallizers, Filters, Settling Tanks, Cyclones, Leaching Plants, Evaporators, Reactors (Batch stirred Tank Reactors (BSTR), Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors (CSTR), Tubular Reactors, Fixed Bed Reactors) Give 5 common reactions in petrochemical plant Hydrogenation: Benzene to Cyclohexane, Dehydrogenation: Isopropanol to Acetone and Hydrogen, Oxidation/Reduction: Ethanol to Acetaldehyde and Water, Halogenation: Chlorination CH4 + Cl2 ---> CCl4 +HCL, Alkylation : Benzene + Octane Octyl Benzene , De-alkylation: Toluene -> Benzene, Esterification : Ethanol + Acetic Acid to Ethyl Acetate (Esther) and Water, Hydrolysis: Ethyl Acetate + H2O give Acetic Acid and Etahnol, Sulfation to produce sulfuric acid esters), Sulfonation (-O-SO3H to produce sulfonic acids), Condensation: Two molecules reacting to give a more complex one and eliminating a smaller molecule (e.g. Water), Polymersation: The most important reaction in Petrochemicals industry used in the manufacture of consumer products - Polymers Give 5 products derived from aromatic compounds. Ethyl Benzene, Styrenes, Phenols, Nitrobenzenes, Chlorobenzenes, Describe the process to recover valuable hydrocarbon from vacuum residue (PDU)

Vacuum residue is mixed with 98% propane from the gas concentration unit which dissolves the oil and the asphalt dissolves the asphalt by counter current washing in a rotating disc contactor which ensures mixing of propane and vacuum residue. The asphalt phase goes out the bottom while the deasphalted oil (DAO) goes to the evaporator and stripper to fully remove the propane which is compressed and recycled to the Rotating Disc Contactor for reuse. How do you recover hydrocarbon from waxy distillate (Furfural Extraction)? The waxy distillates from HVDU (High Vacuum Distillation Unit) contain aromatics that are removed in a counter liquid liquid extraction using furfural introduced at the top of the rotating disc contactor while the waxy distillate comes from the bottom. The solvent preferentially dissolves aromatics and forms the extract that goes out through the bottom. The product leaving the unit is waxy raffinate. Both the waxy raffinate and the extract go through hot oil or steam reboilers where it undergoes evaporation and stripping to remove furfural and send it back to the process. The raffinates are also steam stripped to remove the furfural. The waxy raffinates are then passed on to the MEK dewaxing unit. How do you recover hydrocarbon from waxy raffinate? (MEK Dewaxing) The waxy raffinate is mixed with the Methylethylketone (MEK) and toluene. Toluene dissolves the oil and wax while MEK precipitates the wax. After it is mixed, it is heated to about room temperature to dissolve the wax. The mix cooled to filtration temperature and then chilled in double pipe heat exchangers and chillers. The chilled mixture goes to rotary filters where the wax is separated from the oil. The wax is washed with solvent to recover oil that is trapped. Solvent is removed using hot oil heaters and then a steam stripper. The recovered solvent is recycled for use in the dewaxing process. The slack wax is passed to the Deoiling unit. What is the process used to reduce the pour point of waxy raffinate (MEK Dewaxing?)? It is Methylethylketone Dewaxing Process What is the process used to improve the viscosity and color of waxy vacuum distillate (Furfural Extraction) It is the furfural extraction process Describe the major equipment used in dewaxing process. Equipment Double-pipe Heat Exchanger Chiller Heater Rotary Vacuum Filter Stripper Uses Crystallization To drop the temperature to the filtration temperature Heats waxy raffinates to 25oC to ensure that the wax dissolves completely Separates crystallized wax from the oil in the form of a thin cake using inert gas, usually Nitrogen. Used to strip off all final traces of solvent from the

Evaporator

oil Used for the dewaxed oil recovery

Describe the types of asphalts Solid Asphalts produced by air blowing or by a direct blend of PAS and vacuum residue. This is blown asphalt is produced by oxidation of asphalt Liquid or Cut back grade asphalt which can be medium curing or rapid curing Medium cure asphalt is produced by blending less volatile solvent like kerosene with asphalt Rapid Curing is produced by blending volatile solvents like naphtha with asphalt. How do you characterize asphalts and describe how you carry them out? Softening Point is determined using Ring and Ball tester. It is the temperature at which the ball put on a ring of asphalt falls through the ring measured in degrees Celsius. Penetration is a measure of hardness and is the distance a needle under a standard load will penetrate the asphalt in 5 seconds at a specified temperature measured in 1/10 mm unit. Flash Point: soften the asphalt between, stir ,insert thermometer while stirring continues, then light the test flame. Temperature at which a flash first appears on the surface of the material is the flash point. With the aid of a diagram, how will you describe wax hydrofinishing unit?

Raw material is dewaxed oil; Product is called Base Oil. It is a batch process whereby wax is hydrotreated to reduce its aromatic, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur contents, in a fixed bed reactor with Nickel/Molybdenum Catalyst on alumina support in the presence of high partial pressure hydrogen. Hydrocracking and Isomerization are minimised to avoid off-spec products. The finished products are grades A, B and C white commercial waxes m