US 4,230,533 AGranted

Fractionation method and apparatus

AssigneePhillips Petroleum Company

InventorVictor A. Giroux

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Abstract

A fractionation column is provided with a feed inlet and three product outlets, with the product outlets including an overhead vapor outlet, a bottoms liquid outlet and a side draw outlet. A plurality of vertically spaced apart vapor-liquid contact trays are mounted in the column. A generally vertical partition is positioned within the column in a central region between an upper and a lower vapor-liquid contact tray and divides the central region into first and second chambers defined by the upper and lower trays, column shell and partition. The feed inlet opens into the first chamber while the side draw outlet opens into the second chamber. First control means is provided for controlling the various inputs and outputs of the column. Second control means is also provided for measuring various constituent portions of fluid mixtures within the column. Third control means controls the relative vapor flow rates between the bottom portions of the first and second chambers and the region of the column below the partition. Fourth control means is also provided for measuring a constituent of a fluid mixture in the upper region of the first chamber and controlling liquid flow to the top of the first and second chambers from a region of the column above the partition.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A fractionation apparatus comprising:

a fractionation column;
a plurality of spaced apart vapor-liquid contacting trays in said column extending from a region near the bottom of the column to a region near the top of the column;
a first inlet means communicating with the column at an intermediate region of the column to introduce a feedstream;
a first outlet means communicating with the column adjacent the top of the column for the removal of vapor;
a second outlet means communicating with the column adjacent the bottom of the column for the removal of bottoms;
a third outlet means communicating with the column adjacent an intermediate region of the column for withdrawing a side product, said third outlet means being laterally spaced on the column from said first inlet means;
a partition mounted in said column and extending generally vertically, said partition having opposite sides and dividing a central region of the column into first and second chambers with said first chamber being on one side of said partition and the second chamber being on the other side of said partition, said first inlet means opening into said first chamber and said third outlet means opening into the second chamber, said partition having an upper end and a lower end with said lower end being above at least one of said trays;
first liquid reservoir means in said column positioned above the upper end of said partition operable for collecting and storing liquid;
first conduit means forming a flow path between opposite sides of said first liquid reservoir means operable for returning collected liquid to at least one of said first and second chambers, at least a portion of said first conduit means being positioned externally of said column;
first means forming first and second vapor collecting chambers positioned adjacent a lower end of said partition and operable for collecting vapor from the bottom of the column, said first vapor collecting chamber being adjacent a lower portion of said first chamber and said second vapor collecting chamber being adjacent a lower portion of said second chamber, said first means also forming a plurality of downcomers at the lower end of said partition with at least one said downcomer being on each said side of said partition;
second conduit means communicating with said second vapor collecting chamber operable for discharge of one of vapor and liquid from said second vapor collecting chamber, at least a portion of said second conduit means being positioned externally of said column;
third conduit means communicating with said first vapor collecting chamber operable for discharge of one of vapor and liquid from said first vapor collecting chamber, at least a portion of said third conduit means being positioned externally of said column.

9 more elements

A fractionation apparatus including:

a fractionation column having a plurality of vapor-liquid contacting trays therein extending from a region near the bottom of the column to a region near the top of the column;
a first inlet at an intermediate region of the column operable to introduce a feed stream;
a first outlet at the top of the column for the removal of overhead vapor;
a second outlet at the bottom of the column for the withdrawal of kettle product;
a third outlet at an intermediate region of the column to withdraw a side product, said third outlet being spaced laterally on the column from said first outlet;
a partition extending vertically in the column to divide the central region thereof into first and second chambers, said first inlet opening into said first chamber and said third outlet opening into said second chamber, the top of said partition being below the uppermost contacting tray in the column and the bottom of said partition being above the lowermost contacting tray in the column;
a first analyzer connected to said first chamber near the bottom thereof to measure the concentration of a constituent of a fluid mixture being separated and to establish a signal representative of such concentration;
and
first control means responsive to said signal to control the relative vapor and liquid flows between the bottoms of said first and second chambers and the region of said column below said partition.

6 more elements

A method of separating a fluid mixture including first, second and third constituents having different boiling points, the boiling point of the first being the lowest and the boiling point of the third being the highest, which method comprises:

introducing said mixture into an intermediate region of a fractionation column which contains vapor-liquid contacting trays extending through a substantial height of the column, said column being provided with a generally vertical partition which divides the central region of the column into first and second zones, there being contacting trays in said column above and below said zones, said mixture being introduced into said first zone;
operating said column to withdraw from the top of the column a stream rich in the first constituent, to withdraw from the bottom of the column a stream rich in the third constituent and to withdraw from an intermediate region of the second zone a stream rich in the second constituent;
measuring the concentration of the first constituent in the lower region of the first zone;
flowing vapor and liquid between the lower regions of the first and second zones and a region of said column below said partition;
and
controlling the relative vapor and liquid flows between the lower regions of said first and second zones and the region of said column below said partition in response to the measured concentration of the first constituent.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.