Systems and Processes for Improving Distillate Yield and Quality

A process for improving quality and yield of one or more distillate products generated in a distillation column, the distillation column comprising a feed zone, a wash zone located above the feed zone, and a fractionation zone located above the wash zone, the wash zone having disposed therein a liquid/vapor contacting structure and a wash oil distributor for distributing wash oil to the contacting structure, the process comprising:

• providing a tangential entry feed distributor or a radial entry feed distributor within the distillation column, the tangential entry feed distributor comprising:
• a horizontally disposed annular ring extending around an entire circumference of the circumferential wall of the distillation column, and
• a cylindrical skirt connected to an inner edge of the annular ring and extending downward therefrom,
• wherein:
• the annular ring, the cylindrical skirt, and the circumferential wall of the distillation column together define an open-bottomed tunnel within the distillation column which a feed stream enters through a feed inlet tangential to the distillation column, and
• the tunnel is free of any surface transverse to a flow path of the feed stream thereby reducing atomization of entrained liquid in the vapor in the feed stream.
• the radial entry feed distributor comprising:
• a roof plate that extends substantially across an entire diameter of the distillation column,
• a skirt comprising opposing walls laterally spaced from each other about a distance equal to a diameter of the feed inlet and that extend downwards from the roof plate about a distance equal to the diameter of the feed inlet, wherein the opposing walls of the skirt terminate prior to reaching a distal end of the circumferential wall of the distillation column, and
• a feed splitter provided in proximity to where the opposing walls of the skirt terminate, the feed splitter splitting the feed stream bilaterally into two sub streams directed in opposing horizontal directions and along flow paths substantially tangential to the circumferential wall of the distillation column,
• wherein:
• the roof plate and the opposing walls of the cylindrical skirt together define an open-bottomed tunnel within the distillation column which the feed stream enters through a feed inlet radial to the distillation column, and
• the tunnel is free of any surface transverse to a flow path of the feed stream and the flow paths of the sub streams thereby reducing atomization of entrained liquid in the feed stream and the sub streams;
• the process further comprising:
• collecting slop wax falling from the contacting structure using a wash zone collection apparatus disposed in the wash zone;
• and
• recirculating a portion of the slop wax to the wash oil distributor for distribution as the wash oil to the contacting structure.