Thermodynamic Modeling and Process Simulation of Kumkol Crude Oil Refining

Abstract

The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) mechanism is commonly regarded as the first stage in petroleum refining. In this study, Aspen Plus® is used to simulate the basic process of a CDU, which consists of an Atmospheric Distillation Column (ATC) and a Vacuum Distillation Column (VC). These columns are fed with two types of crude oil: KUMKOL from Kazakhstan and Soviet Export Blend, in the proportions of 0.75:0.25, 0.50:0.50, and 0.25:0.75, respectively. The goal was to do a parametric analysis and analyze the resultant streams of naphtha, kerosene, Atmospheric Gas Oil (AGO), Light Vacuum Gas Oil (LVGO), and Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil (HVGO). The simulation used the CHAO-SEA thermodynamic model, which included the Chao-Seader correlation, the Scatchard-Hildebrand model, the Redlich-Kwong equation of state, the Lee-Kesler equation of state, and the API gravity technique. Temperature, pressure, mass flow, enthalpy, vapor percentage, and average molecular weights of the streams at various phases within the CDU system were estimated. For both the ATC and VC columns, curves indicating Temperature- Pressure vs the number of stages, as well as ASTM D86 (temperature) versus stream volume % distillation, were developed. The results show that when compared to feed streams containing 0.25 and 0.50 StdVol of Kumkol Kazakhstan Oil, the feed stream with 0.75 StdVol produces more Heavy, Medium, and Light Vacuum Gas Oil (H-VGO, M-VGO, and L-VGO), as well as more Vacuum Gas (VG). These findings indicate that Kumkol Kazakhstan Oil is of high quality and has fewer contaminants, such as sulfur when compared to other accessible mixes throughout the world.

Keywords

• thermodynamics
• modeling
• simulation
• crude
• refinery
• atmospheric distillation