The purpose of this study was the coupling simulation of the vacuum block of the ethanolamine mixture separation unit to determine the optimal layout of the vacuum creation system. For this, a computational model of the vacuum unit, which was identified by comparing the computational data with the data of an industrial study of vacuum rectification columns, was synthesized in the Unisim Design R461 software package. To determine the required load on the vacuum system, a numerical experiment was carried out, during which it was discovered that the load on the system would be 9600 m3/h. It was proposed to replace individual column vacuum pumps with a single vacuum-generating system (VGS) based on a liquid ring vacuum pump (LRVP). When defining the layout, two possible schemes were considered, the models of which were created in Unisim Design R461. The system layout was determined by matching the characteristics of the system elements with the characteristics of the vacuum columns. A technical and economic comparison of the proposed solutions was carried out and the payback period for capital costs was calculated, which for Scheme 1 was 4.14 years, and for Scheme 2–3.59 years.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the functioning of the vacuum distillation unit of a mini-refinery and to develop recommendations for improving the vacuum overhead system with the aim to reduce the cost of creating and maintaining a vacuum in the fuel oil separation column. A calculation model of the vacuum unit was developed in the Unisim Design R451 software package, which was identified by comparing the calculated data with the data from an industrial study for two operating modes of the installation. Replacing the existing steam-ejector pump with a liquid-ring vacuum pump was proposed. A numerical experiment was carried out on the developed model, the purpose of which was to determine the “bottlenecks” of the scheme. The peculiarity of the experiment was that the vacuum column and the vacuum overhead system were considered as a single whole. As a result, it was determined that the “bottleneck” is the condenser, which was proposed to be replaced. During the technical and economic analysis, two possible vacuum overhead system schemes were considered; according to the results, it was determined that the vacuum overhead system scheme based on a liquid-ring vacuum pump will help reduce operating costs by 78%.
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