Method of controlling a distillation column for topping crude petroleum
AssigneeInstitut Francais du Petrole, des Carburants et Lubrifiants et Entreprise de Recherches et d'Activites Petrolieres Elf
InventorsGuy Benker, Bernard Louvel, Dominique Tauszig, Bernard Vourron
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Abstract
The method consists in preparing from the crude petroleum being processed a representative cut constituting a vaporized fraction having a known yield, in plotting the TBP curve of the cut by chromatographic analysis and by integration of the quantitative signal produced as a result of the analysis. The information obtained from the analysis is processed in order to operate a control unit for generating signals which serve to adjust the rates of withdrawal of the cuts at different predetermined levels of the column.
Claims3
A method of controlling a distillation column having expansion and distillation zones for topping crude petroleum comprising introducing the crude petroleum into the expansion zone of the column to obtain a vaporized fraction having a known yield,
- withdrawing a representative sample of the vaporized fraction from said expansion zone of said column, subjecting said sample to chromatographic analysis to obtain an output signal for determining the TBP distillation curve in which the hold-up time is in linear relation with the distillation temperature of each product in the analyzed fraction,
- integrating the output signals supplied by the analysis to provide as a function of the temperature the value of the quantity of product analyzed,
- and
- using the information provided by said analysis for operating a control unit for generating signals for adjusting the rates of withdrawal of products at different predetermined levels of the distillation zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.