Energy conservation Energy conservation Benefits from the new generation of Mass and Heat Transfer Components

Abstract With the higher energy cost, shrinking profit margin, refineries worldwide are focusing on improving efficiency of their processes reducing their operating costs. Energy consumption plays a significant role in the operating cost and particularly in refinery operation, energy occupies a prime cost contribution. A large amount of energy is required in Refinery operations to sustain the required thermodynamic and/or reaction mechanisms. The correct design of the fractionation facilities (columns) are one of the key pieces of equipment which can significantly contribute to minimising the operating cost of the refinery. Distillation columns are typically equipped with specialized internals (trays or packing) to facilitate the separation. A correct and optimized design of column Mass Transfer Components (MTC) can minimize energy requirements. The latest developments in high capacity and high performances column internals, such as VGPlus™ trays and MellapakPlus® structured packing, further boost and often provide valuable and cost effective solutions to this challenge. This paper analyses the major factors affecting the energy balance in operating fractionation columns, evaluates the contribution achievable with the latest technologies and reports case stories where benefits were achieved and validated