Correcting vacuum column design flaws
Conventional design practices have been proven inadequate when
maximising diesel recovery and gas oil cut point
GARY MARTIN
Recon Management Services, Inc.
T
o achieve a good return
on investment (ROI) from
a project requires devel-
oping minimum cost designs
regardless of whether it is a
grassroots or revamp project.
However, low cost designs
do not necessarily guarantee
a good ROI. In recent years, a
number of new fuels vacuum
units have been designed to
produce diesel off the top of
the vacuum column (see Figure
1). The vacuum units are com-
monly designed for low pres-
sure damp or wet operation to
enable maximising HVGO cut-
point.1 These design conditions,
in addition to higher LVGO
pumparound duties associated
with maximising diesel pro-
duction, lead to large diameter
LVGO pumparound sections.
The operating conditions asso-
ciated with the design make the
possibility of excessive over-
head slop oil production much
more likely. Design practices
of the past are inadequate and
must be re-evaluated to obtain
an acceptable design.
This article is based on a
revamp design to fix the opera-
tion of a large scale Gulf Coast
vacuum column with exces-
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Motive
steam
Ejector
sytem
LVGO pumparound
Vacuum
column
Reflux
Figure 1 Upper section of vacuum column
sive liquid entrainment into the
overhead system. The LVGO
pumparound section of this vac-
uum column is 38ft (11.58m)
in diameter and typically has a
diesel product yield of 17 500
b/d (115.9 m3/hr). The vacuum
column is designed for damp
operation, meaning that it has
a resid stripping section using
stripping steam and the charge
heaters utilise coil steam. Spray
header distributors produce a
range of droplet sizes and essen-
tially all LVGO pumparounds
designed with these distributors
have some overhead entrain-
Noncondensibles
Sour water
Slop oil
Diesel
ment. This unit typically oper-
ates at about 1700 b/d (11.26
m3/hr) of slop oil yield, with
approximately 40% of this from
equilibrium oil and the remain-
der from entrainment. While
this may seem high, in actual-
ity it is worse. Due to problems
with the overhead ejector sys-
tem design, the column operat-
ing pressure is normally higher
than its original design value.
In addition, the operators limit
the LVGO pumparound cir-
culation rate to limit overhead
entrainment. During operation
with increased LVGO pump-
PTQ Q1 2017 1

Figure 2 Spray header above a packed bed
around circulation or during
the winter when the conditions
enable lower pressure opera-
tion, the vacuum column over-
head slop oil make has been in
the range of 2750 b/d (18.22 m3/
hr) and at times higher. Due to
economic yield incentives, the
refiner would prefer to operate
at the lower column pressure
and higher LVGO pumparound
rate if these problems did not
exist. At the lower column pres-
sure and higher pumparound
rate, the liquid entrainment into
the overhead is in excess of 2000
b/d.
Slop oil make is detrimental to
the plant’s bottom line. At min-
imum, it adds to the operating
costs to reprocess the oil and in
the worst case it consumes plant
capacity to process additional
crude. To reduce the excessive
slop oil make at lower pressure
operation, the operators must
adjust the heat balance on the
column. It is modified to lower
the LVGO pumparound heat
duty. This reduces the required
LVGO pumparound rate and
consequently reduces the
entrainment rate to a somewhat
2 PTQ Q1 2017
more acceptable overhead slop
oil yield. This however signifi-
cantly reduces the diesel yield.
LVGO pumparound
The typical design of a vacuum
column LVGO pumparound
section includes a product/
pumparound collector tray, a
packed bed, and a spray header
for pumparound return liquid
distribution. A spray header
has been the industry distrib-
utor of choice because it is rel-
atively cheap and it provides
for good heat transfer. All spray
headers produce a range of liq-
uid droplet sizes. Normally, the
majority of droplets are large
enough and the vapour veloc-
ity low enough that the entrain-
ment is minimal. When using
spray headers, a damp vacuum
column design always makes
the entrainment problem worse
because of the correspond-
ing higher top of the column
vapour velocity. The problem
becomes more of an issue with
higher coil and stripping steam
rates. Dry columns have very
little vapour compared to damp
columns when operating at the
same column overhead temper-
ature and pressure. Also, the
more spray nozzles the higher
the potential entrainment. This
LVGO pumparound distributor
has 61 nozzles while most vac-
uum units have 7 to 19.
Spray header design
Spray header distributors, as
shown in Figure 2, are good dis-
tributors for packed bed heat
transfer service. This is due
to the high surface area con-
tact between liquid and vapour
due to atomisation of the liq-
uid. Heat transfer between the
liquid and the vapour phase is
occurring prior to entering the
packed bed. However, in gen-
eral, the liquid distribution to
the bed is only roughly uniform
and every nozzle has different
distribution characteristics.
While spray headers are rel-
atively simple distributors,
many engineered designs that
have been produced are very
poor. Common design mis-
takes include: layouts that pro-
duce excessive liquid overspray
onto the vessel wall; too small
an nozzle orifice size that is not
practical and leads to fouling;
and designs that do not take
into consideration turndown
requirements or, as addressed
in this article, that ignore the
effects of liquid entrainment.
Equilibrium and non-
equilibrium oil in overheads
High vacuum column overhead
slop make can occur from oper-
ating problems in the vacuum
column or from light material
carried over from the atmos-
pheric crude column. A case
study of the latter is provided
in the literature.2
Table 1 lists the vacuum col-
umn overhead slop oil make
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distillation curve determined
by the plant laboratory during
one set of operating conditions.
The column top pressure and
temperature measured were
38 mmHg and 125°F (51.7°C)
respectively. Proper evalua-
tion and fixing of the problem
requires good test run data.3
Using a full set of test run data
to model the vacuum unit
yields a much lighter overhead
slop oil composition based on
equilibrium calculations at the
measured operating conditions.
The measured overhead slop
oil make on this day of opera-
tion was 1726 b/d (11.43 m3/
hr) with a 38.1 API gravity. To
match the model results with
actual operation, 978 b/d (6.48
m3/hr) of entrained LVGO
pumparound liquid had to be
added into the column over-
heads to match the material bal-
ance and slop oil composition.
Equilibrium oil in the col-
umn overhead vapour is a func-
tion of the column overhead
operating pressure and tem-
perature. Non-equilibrium oil
is heavier oil that should not
be in the vapour phase at these
operating conditions. In this
case, the heavier oil is from
the smaller atomised oil drop-
lets formed from the pumpa-
round distributor spray nozzles
that are entrained by the rising
vapours. The vacuum column
also has temperature indica-
tors measuring the vapour
temperature in the top head
of the vacuum column and in
the column overhead vapour
line. There was a temperature
drop of 21°F (11.7°C), which is
further indication of entrain-
ment. As the rising vapours
from the LVGO pumparound
bed exit the column, they are
mixed with the cold LVGO
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Vacuum column
Vacuum columnoverhead slopslop
overhead oil oil
Volume % D2887°F
1 93
5 219
10 268
30 378
50 483
70 558
90 617
95 638
99 687
Table 1
pumparound liquid that is
entrained into the overheads,
resulting in a reduction of the
measured vapour temperature
in the overhead vapour line.
Mist eliminators
In some applications, mist elim-
inators located at the top of the
column can be used to remove
or minimise the entrained liq-
uid. However, years of bad
experiences by the industry
have proved that mesh pads
should not be used for this
application. Experience has
proved that they will foul, lead-
ing to high pressure drop and a
corresponding decrease in gas
oil yields.
Phase Doppler interferometry
To properly design a spray
header requires knowing the
estimated entrainment rate for
the selected nozzles. The ten-
dency for the atomised drops
to be entrained is a function of
the drop size distribution, the
vapour velocity of the up-flow-
ing vapours, and the vapour
and liquid physical proper-
ties. There are three forces that
act on the liquid droplets from
the spray nozzles that deter-
mine if entrainment of liquid
will occur. The forces are grav-
itation, the buoyant force which
acts in the opposite direction
from the gravitational force,
and a drag force due to the rel-
ative motion between the parti-
cles and the rising vapours. The
drag force acts to oppose the
motion of the liquid droplets in
the opposite direction of their
movement.
In a revamp case such as this,
operating data to determine the
overhead vapour rate and com-
position is available from plant
meters and lab data. However,
if inadequate meters are avail-
able or if this is a new design
then air leakage, cracked gas,
and so on must be estimated.
Guidelines regarding estimates
for these values are available in
the literature.4
The quantity of entrain-
ment can be determined by
the particle terminal velocity,
obtained using Stokes’ Law,
and knowing the drop size dis-
tribution for the selected noz-
zle. Stokes’ Law can be used at
low Reynolds numbers and can
be found throughout the litera-
ture.5 Terminal velocity can be
calculated using the equation:
Terminal velocity =
2𝑔𝑔 𝜌𝜌! − 𝜌𝜌 𝑚𝑚 ÷ [𝐴𝐴! 𝜌𝜌! 𝐶𝐶! 𝜌𝜌]
where
g = gravitational acceleration
ρp = particle density
ρ = actual vapour density
m = mass of particle
Ap = projected area of particle
Cd = drag coefficient
It is understood that liquid
distribution within a spray cone
varies for a given nozzle and
further variation is found from
one nozzle type to the next. It
is also known that as the noz-
zle pressure drop changes from
PTQ Q1 2017 3
 one flow rate to the next the
spray cone diameter varies, as
well as the liquid particle sizes.
However, reliably determin-
ing drop size distribution was
not available until testing with
phase Doppler interferome-
try. Fractionation Research Inc.
in Stillwater, Oklahoma has
recently tested this method.6
Their test results also showed
that an increase in liquid rate
results in a decrease of the
entrained droplet Sauter mean
diameter and a correspond-
ing increase in total liquid
entrained. The tests also showed
that increasing the gas rate
decreases the entrained droplet
Sauter mean diameter and has
a corresponding increase in the
total liquid entrained.
Using phase Doppler inter-
ferometry to determine the
drop size distribution along
with determining the vapour
velocity of the up-flowing
vapours and the vapour and
liquid physical properties,
the designer can evaluate the
entrainment rate expected for
a selected nozzle. Different
nozzles provide varied liquid
distribution and drop size dis-
tribution. In fact some nozzles
are designed to produce very
small droplets that if used in
this application would be even
more detrimental to operation.
4 PTQ Q1 2017
This method can be used to pre-
dict the entrainment rate and
to effectively select optimum
nozzles.
Conclusion
Maximising production of
diesel from the top of a vac-
uum column combined with a
damp vacuum column opera-
tion to maximise gas oil recov-
ery makes old design practices
for the column internals inade-
quate. While properly designed
trough distributors can fix this
problem, they do not have as
good heat transfer efficiency as
spray headers. Vessel height
limitations to increase the
packed bed height may not
enable achieving the required
pumparound heat removal and
thus not enable using a trough
distributor. Using spray nozzle
phase Doppler interferometry
test data can be used to appro-
priately select the optimum
LVGO pumparound spray
nozzle for the specific oper-
ating conditions to minimise
overhead oil entrainment. This
approach can also be used for
other column designs.
References
1 Martin G R, Vacuum Unit Design Effect
on Operating Variables, PTQ, Summer
2002, 85-91.
2 Martin G R, Lines J R, Golden S
W, Vacuum System, Fundamentals,
Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and
Design, Vol. 61, McKetta J J, Weismantel G
E, editors, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York,
NY, 1997, 5-18.
3 Martin G R, Cheatham B E, Keeping
Down the Cost of Revamp Investment,
PTQ, Summer 1999, 99-107.
4 Martin G R, Nigg J M, Vacuum Pressure
Control: Impact on Profitability, PTQ,
Summer 2001, 73-81.
5 McCabe W L, Smith J C, Unit Operations
of Chemical Engineering, McGraw-Hill
Book Co., New York, 1976.
6 King B, et al, Measuring Entrainment
from a Spray for Industrial Applications,
AIChE Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, 11
Nov 2015, Paper 155B.
Gary R Martin is a Senior Process
Specialist with ReCon Management
Services, Inc. He has been involved in
revamps, including conceptual process
design and process design packages for
large capital revamps, optimisation, and
troubleshooting services to the refining
industry worldwide. He previously was a
Principal of Process Consulting Services
Inc. and also worked for Total Petroleum,
El Paso Refining, and Glitsch Inc and holds
a BS degree in chemical engineering from
Oklahoma State University.
Email: gmartin@recon-group.com
LINKS
More articles from the following
categories:
Crude and Vacuum Units
Revamps and Turnarounds
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