INFORMATION INDUSTRIAL

C O N F E R E N C E ON T H E R E S U L T S

OF I N V E S T I G A T I N G

ATMOSPHERIC

AND A T M O S P H E R I C - V A C U U M

PIPE S T I L L I N S T A L L A T I O N S

G. I, K a z ' m i n

The role of atmospheric and atmospheric-vacuum pipe stills (AVPS) in oil refinery schemes lately has been immeasurably increased and changed in a qualitative way. While 15-20 years ago only the usual commercial distillate products and their components were obtained in these installations, now, in modern oil refineries, AVPS are the principal suppliers of raw materials used in subsequent complex processes of secondary distillation. Atmospheric pipe stills and AVPS, being the leading and most numerous installations in oil refineries, predetermine to a considerable degree the operating efficiency of each individual refinery and sometimes of the entire industry in a given region. Meanwhile even AVPS that were built according to the latest design do not fully meet the increased requirements and, as a rule, are inferior to the best foreign models of similar type installations in depth of selection and precision of fraetioning the desired fractions (especially for catalytic cracking, reforming, and oil and paraffin manufacturing), technologic scheme flexibility, labor productivity, long periods of operation between overhauls, etc. The results of extensive work done by scientific-research and construction-design institutes and by oil refineries in the mastery, exploitation, and reconstruction of atmospheric pipe stills and AVPS were discussed at the industrial conference held October 25-28 this year in Grozny, which was called for that purpose by the Ministry of the Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry of the USSR, the Grozny Petroleum Scientific-Research Institute, and by the Checheno-Ingush district council of the scientific-engineering society for the oil and gas industry. Participating in the work of the conference were the representatives from 17 scientific-research and planning and design institutes and their branches (GrozNII, BashNII VP, VNIi NP, MINKh i GP, GNI, Giprogrozneft', Giproazneft', Giproneftezavody, UkrNIIgiproneft', Giprogaztopprom, Lengiprogaz, Giproneftemash), 23 oil refineries of Grozny, Volgograd, Ryazan', Baku, Kuibyshev, Gorkii, Omsk, Fergana, Yaroslavl', Ufa, Perm, Angarsk, Krasnodar, joint Mministration "Orgneftezavody," the editorial staff of the journal Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel,etc. Taking part in the work of the conference were the secretaries of Checheno-Ingush district committee and Grozny plant regional committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and also the directors of the Grozneftekhimzavody Combine. One hundred and forty people attended the conference. The opening address at the conference was made by Professor A. Z. Dorogochinskii, a director of the Grozny Petroleum Scientific-Research Institute (GrozNII). He also presented a paper entitled "Principal problems in the oil refining industry and ways for engineering progress in the area of primary distillation of crude oil." A group of scientists from GrozNII (A.K, Manovyan, L.A. Baiburskii, O.K. Odintsov, N.A. Goncharova, N.A. Gordienko, D.A. Khachaturova, T.S. Afanas'eva, and V.S. Fadeev) presented four papers at the conference on principal results of investigating the operation of atmospheric, vacuum, and stripping columns and on computation methods for rectification equipment in the atmospheric pipe stills and AVPS installed during the past five to seven years. L. B. Khudaidatova and R. N. Ilyambitova (Bashkir Petroleum Scientific-Research Institute) reported at the conference on studies made of vacuum distillation in AVPS of residual oils from sour crudes for the purpose of obtaining distillates for manufacturing oils and of residual oils from crudes with high sulfur content and from sour crudes to obtain feed stock for catalytic cracking, and also on studies of secondary distillation of gasolines in AVPS for the purpose of manufacturing feed stock to obtain individual aromatic hydrocarbons; this work was carried out jointly with the oil refineries of Bashkkia. Specialists from the planning organizations presented interesting papers. I. ~. Grantovskaya (Giprogrozneft') discussed the unique features of an AVPS with oil processing capacity of two million tons, and Yu. M. Sverdlov

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Toptiv i Masel, No. 2, pp. 63-64, February, 1966.

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(Giproneftezavody) reported on behalf of several authors on planning of the largest prototype AVPS installation in the USSR, with six million t / y e a r capacity. Yu. A. Petsyukha (Giproazneft') shared her experience in planning the AVPS reconstruction in the Omsk Oil Refinery for the purpose of increasing its capacity with the participants in the conference, while I. T. Bagirov (Giproazneft') and A. K. Kolesnikov Novo-Yatoslovsk Oil Refinery) reported on the principal planning decisions for AVPS A = 12/6 and on ways of modernizing its technologic assembly, based on experience in operating the Novo-Yaroslavsk Oil Refinery. It is noteworthy that at the conference many papers were presented by manufacturers who reiated their experience in the mastery, exploitation, and reconstruction of installations for primaur distillation of etude o i l P.G. Shin discussed the improvement in the operation of a large AVPS in the Ryazan" Oil Refinery, and A.P. Chernyaev reported on the reconstruction of AVPS installations in the Novo-Kuibyshev refinery aimed at improving the quality of distillate oils. F.M. Ragimov and L.K. Davidyan discussed experience in reconstruction and plans for fiarther expansion of installations in the Karaev and the Twenty-Second Congress of the Communist Patty of the USSR plants in Baku. I.M. Kadantsev presented a paper on the operation of vacuum towers and on ways of krnptoving the quality of distillate oils obtained in AVPS in the Volgograd Oil Refinery. Interesting experience in the operation, reconstruction, and installation of horizontal electric dehydrators in AVPS installations in the Novo-Gorkii ioil Refinery was reported by O.M. Chervonnyi. I. A. Aleksandrov (Giproneftemash) presented a paper on designing new efficient elements for rectifying columns (including sieve plates, S-shape plates, lattice plates with baffles, and plates with self-regulating valves), and Ya. I. Gahidulin (Novo-Ufa Oil Refinery) reported, on behalf of several authors, on testing jet-regulated plates under operating conditions. Altogether, 21 papers were presented at the conference; 16 people participated in discussing the p a p e r s B.K. Amerik, A.A. Bashilov, A.I. Skoblo, G.G. Markar'yan, I.T. Bagirov, E.M. Varshaver, V.A. Vymov, O.V. Gressel', A.P. Dronin, N.F. Bogdanov, L.A. Bogoslovskaya, P.D. Udalov, U.G. Osinina, V.F. Belokurov, G.I. Kaz'rnin, et al. In the papers, communications, and addresses, serious criticism was directed at planning organizations for AVPS projects which do not properly take into account the latest accomplishments of national and foreign science and technology, contain certain miscalculations, errors, and incornpleteness evidenced by the numerous cases of alteration of installations in the construction and exploitation stages, and by the disproportion in output of systems, equipment, groups of installations, and their components. In planning AVPS, insufficient attention is given to problems of economic efficiency, including labor productivity, flexibility of technologic schemes, reduction of losses, preparation of erudes, use of secondary energy resources, control automation, preparation of water coolants, industrial esthetics, living conditions, etc. A serious shortcoming on the part of planning organizations is the lack of adequate supervision by designers of the exploitation and improvement in operation of the installations built to their specifications and constant gathering of data on their operation. Serious complaints were also voiced about manufacturers who, in several cases, carried out reconstruction of installations without the consent of the project originators, as a result of which the increase in capacity of the AVPS was achieved by them at the expense of lowering the quality and depth of selection of the desired fractions. As should be expected, especially serious complaints were directed at the design and machine-building organizations which to date have not produced prototypes of highly efficient equipment and technologic installations that would guarantee prolonged continuous operation for a period of one to two years - pumps, compressors, armature and fittings, instruments for measurement, control and automation, high-efficiency vacuum systems, etc. The conference adopted a resolution which reflects the foremost need for radical improvement in the operation of AVPS. It was pointed out especially that in order to impart technological flexibility to AVPS, provision should be made for distillation of unstable crudes containing dissolved gas, as well as provisions for switching on and off during the operation of separate blocks - electric desalting unit, stabilization, secondary and vacuum distillation. In order to increase the duration of equipment operation and the overhaul life of installations, it is necessary to provide thorough desalting (to 10 rag/liter) and dehydration (to 0.2%) of the crudes to be refined and to accomplish thorough preparation of the water coolant (settling, filtration, biological treatment). For thorough electric dehydration of light-oil products, it is recommended to equip AVPS with the apparatus developed by GrozNII and Giproneftemash. The conference calls special attention to the necessity for radical improvement in the work of the vacuum sections of AVPS. It is essential that the residuals sent to these sections to be refined should contain not more than 5% fractions which boil up to 350~ It is recommended that inspection be made of plates in the vacuum towers of

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active AVPS and that plate elements be installed in conformance with the factual hydrodynamic condition of their operation (Omsk branch of Oiproneftezavody is charged with the development of a procedure for carrying out the work); in the reconstruction of active AVPS and in planning of new AVPS, transfer lines with smooth bends and larger-diameter spiral coils in evaporation areas of furnaces should be used to ensure minimum pressure loss (recommendations of GrozNII and BashNII NP). GrozNII and BashNII are charged with conducting the necessary investigations of the vacuum-creating systems in active AVPS, and Giproazneft' is charged with carrying out a mathematical analysis to determine the best means of introducing heat into the stripping-section of AVPS and with distributing the obtained data to the interested planning and scientific-research institutes. Having noted the extensive work carried out by GrozNII and BashNII NP in studying AVPS installations, the conference recommended that GrozNII should also continue the work in investigating AVPS columns of 1, 2, 3, and 6 million t / y e a r capacity and its work in applying electronic computers for the design of simple and complex columns, while BashNII NP should continue the work of studying the redesigned vacuum section of rectification columns in AVPS installation A = 12/1M and raising the technical level of planning decisions when building new and reconstructing active AVPS; the conference acknowledged the advisability of establishing unified computation methods and basic conditions for planning these installations, and to coordinate them in the established order with the interested ministries, oil refineries, scientific-research, and planning institutes. Several practical recommendations were addressed to the designers and builders of oil-refining equipment. The conference adopted a resolution to publish the papers presented at the first industrial conference on atmospheric pipe stills and AVPS installations.

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