Introduction

Distillation is still the most widely used means of separating chemical species in the petroleum and chemical industries and is the first unit operation in an oil refinery.

This course covers the key areas of assessing the operation, control & design of distillation units. It is not a Chemical Engineering ‘refresher’ course, but rather seeks to cover topics from a practical viewpoint that can be obtained only by hard won experience. Various aspects relating to the initial design of column internals are covered. Current internals are reviewed including critical design aspects of trays, packings and ancillary equipment. The occurrence and avoidance of pyrophoric fires in columns, and the in-situ inspection requirements of all internals, are included. The philosophy and approach to troubleshooting is discussed leading on to a review of numerous first-hand troubleshooting examples, each demonstrating a significant problem area. The course is designed to open the mind to the wider issues of process operation, column internals, process control, unit operation and to the maintenance of the design performance over the cycle life of the unit.

Course Objective

 Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand how efficiently operate and troubleshoot a distillation unit and determine what may cause poor performance.
• Carryout out process design to finalize process specification.
• Understand how to review the design of a new distillation unit.
• Be able to avoid common causes of capacity bottlenecks, tray damage, down comer sealing problems, packed tower distributor malfunctions and many other operating difficulties.
• Be fully aware with the controlling and operation of a distillation unit.
• Understand how to evaluate existing distillation unit performance and develop new designs.
• Identify the main distillation unit equipment, different types, application, selection criteria, the instrument & control devices used, the protection & safety devices installed.
• Understand the design and working principles of each equipment.
• Gain enough skills to anticipate and avoid all problems associated with distillation unit’s startup/shutdown and operate distillation units with safety as the prime consideration.
• Enrich their knowledge on distillation equipment operations and troubleshooting through various practical exercises carried out during the course.