• Liquids Fractionation

    FRACTIONATION

    Fractionation is a process that separates hydrocarbon mixtures into individual components based on relative volatility through the addition and removal of heat, most commonly: propane (C3), butane (C4), pentane (C5), and condensate. Components are stripped via contact with upward flowing gas to produce gas and liquid product streams of required purity.

3D DESIGN
Fractionation
Fractionation
TDE EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE

Liquid Rates: 100 BPD to 35,000 BPD

Engineering
Procurement
Fabrication
Construction and Installation
Commissioning
Operation, Maintenance and Troubleshooting

TDE evaluates and makes design considerations to determine optimum efficiency and enhance component separation. TDE's Fractionation Units incorporate design aspects to minimize upfront capital costs and energy requirements and maximize product output to meet market demands.

TDE offers either our Standard Pre-Engineered Modular Packages or Fully Customized Designs to meet varying project and schedule requirements.

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

Liquid hydrocarbon feed is introduced to the fractionation tower which descends and contacts upward flowing vapour to promote separation of the lighter and heavier components. Hydrocarbon liquids accumulate in the bottom where stripping vapour is generated by the reboiler and returned to the tower. Reboiler liquids return to the tower sump and are level controlled downstream.

Overhead vapour is condensed off the top of the tower and flows to the reflux drum where a portion of the liquids are returned to the tower as reflux and the rest recovered as overhead product.

FRACTIONATION DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Internals
• Promotes vapour/liquid contact for component separation
• Evaluate configuration and orientation to avoid issues

Trayed Column
• Suitable to handle lower liquid rates
• Predictable tray efficiency

Packed Column
• Lower pressure drop across tower
• Less susceptible to foaming

Reboiler
• Vapour/liquid separation based on relative volatility
• Heat source and energy recovery

Reflux
• Total or partial reflux to rectify vapours
• Correlation between number of stages and reflux ratio

Products
• Component recovery of overhead and bottom products
• Product purity to meet specification

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