can u guide me through the process of calculation K value using Distillation Data.

I have read it in API Technical Databook and Maxwell (1950) but I just cant get it right. The formula mentioned is

((MEABP)^1/3 )/Sp Gr @ 60 F/60 F

Calculating the MeABP is not easy, but you can estimate it using API method 2B1.1 and figure 2B1.2

For example: if VABP = 515 oF and 10%-90% slope is 6.25 oF/% then MeABP = 515 - 60 = 455 oF

So UOP-K = (455 + 460 oR)0.3333 / 0.8112 = 11.97

But you should not worry too much about the exact K of each fraction as the impact on the Cp is small anyway.

For your purpose of estimating Cp you should not worry to much about the exact value of K. For example: you could take for Light Naphtha K=13 Heavy Naphtha average of 13 and that of crude kero and gasoils about the same as crude, atmospheric residue 0.5 points lower than crude.

What is the right method to do material balance against a side stripper of Crude Distillation Unit? The right way be to use a simulator, but you probably want to do it by hand. In that case you should read chapter 2 in the book Petroleum Refinery Distillation by R.N. Watkins (Gulf Publishing Company, 1979, 2nd Edition). No, I was referring to the chapter on Atmospheric Tower. In my book (2nd edition, 1979) that is Chapter 2 (and Vacuum Tower is Chapter 3).

Molecular weight can be determined from MeABP (mean average boiling point) and density. There is correlation that relates molecular weight with MeABP and density. For determining MeABP you need the ASTM D86 analysis. 5. API Technical Data Book has the correlations for MW and conversion ASTM D86 to MeABP.

Largest resistance for mass transfer is in the liquid, and determined by liquid diffusivity. Liquid diffusivity is highest at low liquid viscosity, and lowest at high liquid viscosity. To put it simple: liquid viscosity is the most important factor determining the tray efficiency in a crude column. The higher the liquid viscosity, the lower the diffusivity, and the lower the tray efficiency.

Other factors that have some effect on tray efficiency are related to tray design: type of tray, outlet weir height, length of liquid flow path, ....

Also %Flood has some inpact on tray efficiency: at very high and low %Flood efficiency is less. Obviously entrainment and weeping have negative impact on tray efficiency.

Any numbers on tray efficiency you find in literature, or in your company design manuals, are based on experience. wherein i have tried to summarize some of the Physical factors known to me, which have an impact on tray efficiency.

Liquid Viscosity: General trend ,as liquid viscosity increases, efficiency decreases.

Relative Volatility: General trend ,When relative volatility increases, efficiency decreases.

Vapor Diffusivity: General Trend,Increased diffusivities will increase efficiency. Keep in mind, as pressure increases, vapor diffusivities decrease.

Liquid Diffusivity: General Trend is that higher liquid diffusivities will result in higher efficiencies. Liquid diffusivities generally increase withpressure which countervail the change in vapor diffusivity. However, in most distillation systems the influence of the vapor diffusivity will dominate the influence of the liquid diffusivity.

Liquid Surface Tension: Debatable but decrease in surface tension appears to be resulting in increase in efficiency.This effect is not visible for high pressure distillation column.

I have posted this information earlier also in a related thread. I need to select type of Pump out of Centrifugal and Rotary for Fuel Oil Forwarding system in a CCPP. The NPSHA is 0.5m. The pump capacity is 205 M3/hr and TDH is 136m. The Fuel oil is Arabian Light Crude which is having very high vepor pressure, which is about 12 psia at 45 Degree centrigrade. Is it wise to select Rotary Pump for this application? or Centrifugal pump is better? Please suggest me and give me some manufacturer/supplier name also. centrifugal is preferred (based on typical international process standard). To improve NPSHa value, try to increase pipe size, minimize fittings at pump suction, try to get higher suction static head, or can try to use VS6 centrifugal pump. This pump has its own barrel and it can increase suction static head. Flowserve, shin nippon, sundyne marelli and many pump vendor has this. Do correct me if i were wrong.

It is weird to use polytropic or isentropic efficiency with pump, whose fluid is incompressible liquid. For compressible gas, polytropic efficiency is usually used in centrifugal compressor; isentropic eff is usually used in recip comp. I agree with Xavio. Nowhere in any head, horsepower, or efficiency equations for centrifugal (or any other type of pump) does the enthalpy come into consideration. Pumps pump LIQUIDS (not gases); Compressors compress gases (not liquids). There is no compressibility (Z), isentropic, or much less polytropic process involved in a pump's operation. The previous explanations are not weird; they simply do not apply to a pump.

I have a problem with the pumping system has been installed . The pumping system in the discharge line of the pump to about 8m away from the pump discharge , there is a tee where the flow is divided into two .

The left side of the flow is going to a tank 500m3/hy to 2.4km 140m distance and height difference . The pipeline is 12 " diameter carbon steel is STD . On the right side according to design flow is going to 300m3/hy a tank that is at the same level of the station and pumping 16m away. This line has 8 " diameter carbon steel is STD in this dial are two orifice plates one after the other , then downstream there is a pressure control valve and finally a pressure sustaining The pump works stable in the entire flow pressure when the tank is sent out to 2.4km away. The problem that arises is when the throttle valve on the right side is hunger, nor to send 300m3 / h to the nearby tank, pump gauge begins to oscillate strongly and the discharge starts to vibrate but no pump cavitation and no the flow rate of 300m3 / h is obtained as due to vibration valve closes in the line of 8 "diameter . It is a bit odd since the habrir the 8 "pipe , the pump should give more flow as part of the flow is sent to another tank which is very close muty having low friction losses I guess that when you are pumping to the distant tank at 500 m3/h the delivery pressure on the pump will be around 15 barg, mainly due to the high static head. When you are pumping to the closer tank you need to dissipate all this pressure over your collection of orifices and valves. This could be resulting in cavitation in the orifices and/or valves and some very high local velocities. You should try to get the design calculations for the orifices and valves in the short line - I expect the problem is in there. There are several possibilities for the vibration in the above situation. The things can be checked

1. Pipe sizes for 300 m3/h and 500 m3/h ( it seems the mentioned sizes are OK). 2. Restriction Orifices size, thickness and their respective DP ( But its required to check if the 8" line is on flow. You refereed that vibration happening when this line is closed) 3. Stress analysis and sufficient pipe supports. 4. Recommended Operating pressure for the pump (see vendor's document for performance curves) and shut off pressure. 5. Pressure relief valve and/or VFD and/or VSD can be considered on the discharge line to have the desired operating condition. 6. Must be sure about cavitation.

Norm Liebermans book, A Working Guide to Process Equipment

My Question is: Which are the practical & easily applicable ways to increase the efficiency of the compressors being used in CNG (compressed natural gas) application?

Details: Here at our CNG stations we are using Intermech's BBR series 1200 SCMH compresor Horizontal Opposed balanced intercooled Tandem piston in HP side Pressurized crank case 160 KW motor driven, direct coupled Cameron's superior series 650 SCMH compressor CFA 32 crank case Horizontal Opposed balanced intercooled Tandem piston in HP side Non Pressurized crank case 90 KW motor driven, direct coupled Burckhardt's CU series 650 SCMH compressor. W type intercolled pressurized crank case 90 KW Motor driven, belt coupled

Ruzza make 350 SCMH hydraulik booster compressor For Reciprocating compressors in 1,2 & 3, Suction pressure / 1st stage inlet = 12 - 19 Barg & Final discharge pressure = 240 - 245 Barg For hydraulik compressor in 4, suction pressure ranges from 40 barg to 190 barg & final discharge pressure is 240-245 barg

I am a process engineer with 4 years of experience in project designs and I was asked to evaluate an existing system of a propane/propene sphere that is the feed of a distillation unit.

The problem is that, according to the unit operators, in very hot days or when the sphere pressure is very low (under 10 bara), the sphere pump (feed pump of the distillation unit) shows evidence of cavitation or in most cases complete vaporization of the suction line. The operators told me that when the problem was detected, they opened a suction vent line to the atmosphere and the gas exiting was hot, indicating that the suction line was filled with gas. If the fluid was in the liquid state, it would expand, decreasing temperature and even freezing the line. So the problem is more vaporization of the fluid than cavitation.

System data: The fluid is around 65% propene, 33% propane and 2% C4 (volume basis). There are 2 spheres, connected to each other by an equalization line on top, that operates normally at 12 - 14 bara and have a minimum liquid level of 4,5m and a maximum around 11m. The pump is located in a distance of approximately 300 m, and according to my calculations the accidents sum an equivalent length of 600 m. Medium flowrate is 35 m3/h. The sucction line (12"/10") is exposed to the sun and the ambient temperature vary a lot, reaching 35 40 C in hot days. The whole line is insulated, but there are some parts where the insulation is damaged and some accidents (valves and filter near the pump, but located under a roof) are not insulated. I honestly do not know if the insulation is the proper one or if the thickness is correct.

Question 1:

I am considering that the mixture inside the sphere is saturated at its bubble point, as in LPG spheres. Is that correct? Or is it possible that this mixture is stored in a subcooled point without sphere refrigeration?

Question 2: If the insulation is perfect, the temperature at the pump suction nozzle is the same as the sphere bulk liquid. In that case, the NPSHa is calculated based only on elevation difference and head loss, as the term "P - Pv" in the NPSHa equation is equal to zero. Am I right?

According to my calculations, the head loss is very small (around 0.006 bar) and even at the lowest liquid level the NPSHa is sufficient (considering that the insulation is perfect). However, when I consider the minimum liquid level and that the fluid heats in the piping, my calculations show that a difference of only 1 C between the sphere bulk liquid and the fluid in the piping is sufficient to reach the mixture bubble point. And a difference of 2.5 C to reach the dew point and vaporize completely. I do not know how much temperature is gained considering inexistent insulation.

Question 3: Does anyone have a sugestion to improve this system? I have some thoughts but I do not know which is the most viable:

- Improving the insulation system (I do not know how). - Locating the pump to a place closer to the sphere so that the suction line is not exposed so much to the sun. - Installing a booster pump right next to the sphere so that it raises the fluid pressure and so the bubble point temperature - Changing the mixture to a closer sphere and with a higher elevation to the ground (there are some in the area). But according to my calculations, increasing the elevation difference in 1 m have little impact on the temperature difference needed to start vaporization. - Pressurize the sphere. According to my calculations, if the sphere was always mantained at 14 - 15 bara, the vaporization problem would pratically disappear as it would need to gain too much

temperature to vaporize. But I do not know if this solution is possible. If it is, how would be done? I only heard of pressurized LPG sphere with nitrogen.

Sorry for the long text.

Thank you. Ppister Question 1 - I agree with you Question 2 - I have the same thought. Question 3 - Could please send some schematic diagram with all relevant data shown? You need to identify the ROOT cause before making any modification to the existing unit. S.AHMAD, I don't have any diagram. All available data is presented in my topic. I believe that the root cause is vaporization of the liquid in the suction line due to inappropriate insulation. But I am not 100% sure yet, because there are some hot days in which the problem does not occur.

curious_cat 1) NPSHr = 1,8 m (already considering hydrocarbon) 2) This is a valid point. But the problem occurs when the pump has been operating for a while. 3) After venting the suction line the problem is solved and the pump operates normally. I don't know what you mean by "acceleration head at startup". Can you please explain me or show me some reference? 4) The insulation material is a type of foam. Thickness is around 1". 5) There is only one at the sphere but it does not look so reliable. In a day that the pump was operating normally I took a pyrometer and measured the temperature of the sphere and the suction line near the pump (in a spot that there was no insulation). Considering the instrument error, the values were the same.

I am trying to think of other possible variables because there are some hot days that this problem does not occur, even with low liquid level in the sphere.

What do you think?

Thanks, ppister 1. One possibility is the pump eye is too small that causes too high pressure drop. 2. This can be solved by changing the pump with double suction. 3. Installing inducer can also help. Ppister:

Before going on any further, it would wise and thoughtful of you to submit some additional and required information:

a detailed, isometric sketch of the pump's suction piping (here, I'm assuming you are using a centrifugal pump); the rated storage temperature (and pressure) of the Propane+Propene mixture.

The reason for the above needs is, I believe, obvious. If you are storing at ambient temperatures, then your storage pressure should correspond to the saturated vapor pressure of the mixture. You cannot have gas in the sphere except at the top vapor space. That is the nature and scope of the storage system. Any conventional centrifugal or gear pump should easily pump this mixture out - as long as it is in the liquid state. Temperature is not an issue, as long as the saturated liquid exists. Therefore, you should not require insulation.

Await your response.

I read PID and find out the Note1: Provide minimum seal 1m. What does this mean?Why we need minimum seal here. I attactched PID which related to My question. Could any one in forum explain to me? The question look basic to designer..! Hoang, Basically it seem that, designer do not want to consider the two phase flashing at outlet of control valve & also want to flashing will take place only inside the stripper. Normally liquid seal provide inlet or outlet to avoid the two phase flow to control valve as two phase inlet control valve design is very difficult. I have no PFD or HMB but you can check by yourself.

Greetings We are designing a Fuel Oil Tank ID= 220 ft H= 64 ft Roof: Structurally supported cone roof Bottom: Apex up, 1:120 slope (center is higher than periphery)

We are having a problem with the tank drainage: The client request the complete drain of Tank in case of maintenance: to accomplish this, we suggested 4 draw-off sumps of 6" each nozzle.

1) How close can the sumps be between them? As drainage lines are steam traced, they cannot be underground by Project Specs, given this situation, we have considered to gather all 4 drainage lines (and sumps) as close as possible not to interfere with other shell connection between drain nozzles

2) Is it possible to put more than one pipe inside a sump?

3) Table 5-16 of API 650 establishes NPS 6" as maximum, but paragraph 5.8.7 gives an open window to the purchaser, could be installed a single drain nozzle of 12"?

Thanks

The liquid levels in a storage tank are normally calculated by liquid flow rate and residence time required inside the storage tank. High high liquid level is normally determined by process reasons or equipment protection. When the liquid level is over High high, there may be liquid carryover, liquid overflow, liquid entrainment, etc.

When the liquid level is below low low, there may be pump cavitation, gas escaping from the liquid draw line, etc.

For the volume between the low low and high high, it is normally determined by surging time required for stable operation.

Good day. We are looking for ways to minimize the settling time of fresh crudes from our crude tanks. In our normal standard procedure, it takes 24 hours settling time to be sure that water and BS&W have already been separated from the crude in the tank. Now, we want to decrease that 24 hours for a faster movement of crude from the shipping vessels to our crude tanks and then to our process units for optimization purposes. Do you know some methods on how to do this without compromising the quality of crude feed entering our distillation units? Have you tried using the traditional, proven method employed in the oil patch - Heater Treaters?

centrifugal pumps are one type of DYNAMIC pump, which converts kinetic energy into pressure energy. The pumping fluid gets kinetic energy from the rotating impeller by the action of centrifugal force. As the fluid exerts out from the tip of impeller, it has more kinetic energy (has more velocity). As the impeller is placed eccentrically, the velocity of fluid reduces gradually and pressure starts increasing in the volute casing. As you close the discharge valve of pump, all the kinetic energy from the fluid is converted in to pressure( since velocity and pressure are inversely proportional). Hence, the pressure generated max will be known and further operation of centrifugal pump at shutoff head can be allowed

for little time, no relief valve is required. Since, the pump casing and the discharge piping is designed for shutoff head, no relief valve is required.

In positive displacement pumps, eg piston pump, it gives a constant flow of fluid per unit rotation of shaft. Hence, the fluid goes in, should come out. If the discharge valve is closed, pressure will rise abruptly and cause failure to pump. Hence, for positive displacement pump, there is a need for safety valve before isolation valve. We have to be careful about making a general statement that centrifugal pumps do not need a PSV. In order for this statement to be true you have to make sure that the downstream piping and equipment is designed to handle the pump dead head pressure. In a completely new installation this is the responsibility of the mechanical and process engineers to confirm this (although I have seen instances where they did not check into this carefully enough and a PSV had to be added!). On existing systems that are being retrofitted this can become more of an issue. Sometimes plant debottleneck projects result in a new pump being installed into an existing piping system as part of a capacity increase. The characteristics of the new pump can be such that the deadhead pressure is above that of the piping maximum design. In this case a PSV will be required if the existing piping cannot be re-rated (often an ugly process if it is old piping). Cheers,