Lube vacuum

column revamp
The basis of a lube vacuum column revamp and its results are discussed. The primary
goals were to increase lube product fractionation, minimise HVGO product
contaminants and improve vacuum bottoms specifications for asphalt production
Kevin Basham Marathon Petroleum Company LLC
Edward Hartman Process Consulting Services Inc

he lube column at Marathon

Petroleum Companys (MPC)
Cattlesburg,
Kentucky,
USA,
refinery was revamped in 2006 (Figure 1)
to improve lube product fractionation,
reduce the heavy vacuum gas oil
(HVGO) products micro-carbon residue
(MCR) and metals, and improve the
vacuum bottoms specifications for
the production of asphalt. Prior to
the revamp, the HVGO product was
black and cylinder stock yield was
excessive. Cylinder stock was fed to
another vacuum unit so that the lube
column bottom product could meet
the asphalt product specifications, as
well as recover a portion of the HVGO
boiling range material in the cylinder
stock. However, reprocessing this stream
consumed some of the other units
capacity and increased its heater firing.
All the projects justification benefits
were met following startup. Moreover,
a lower column operating pressure and
improved stripping efficiency led to
a 4.0 Mbpd higher crude charge rate
due to the lower heaters cracked gas
production freeing up some compressor
capacity to process more crude.

Off-gas

Crude off-gas

Ejector
system
Oil
Sour water
LVGO

Atmospheric
crude
HGO
product

www.eptq.com

Lube vacuum
SS #1
SS #2
HVGO
Cylinder stock

Preflash
crude
Steam

Stripping
steam
Fuel
gas

Process flow scheme

The previously mentioned Figure 1

shows the simplified process flow
scheme for the atmospheric and vacuum
column prior to the revamp. Off-gas
from the atmospheric crude and lube
vacuum columns was handled with a
common compressor. Atmospheric
column heavy gas oil (HGO) product
was routed to the vacuum column to
recover some of the lube-quality
material. The vacuum column produced
light vacuum gas oil (LVGO), side
stream (SS) #1, side stream (SS) #2,
HVGO, cylinder stock and asphalt
products. It was necessary to yield
cylinder stock to meet the asphalt
specifications on the bottom product.
LVGO and HVGO were routed to cat
feed hydrotreating. SS#1 and SS#2 were
lube-quality base stocks targeted for
further processing.

Ejector off-gas

Vacuum bottoms

Figure 1 Lube vacuum unit

The vacuum unit is a wet design with
coil and residue stripping steam, plus a
precondenser prior to the first-stage
ejector. The top column operating
pressure on a wet column is set by the
ejector system load, which changes with
the seasonal cooling water temperature.
During winter, the first-stage ejector
load is lower due to the reduced cooling
water temperature; hence, the columns
top pressure is as low as 35 mmHg. This
pressure increases to 55 mmHg in the
summer when the cooling water
temperature is higher. The vacuum
column internals consisted of three
packed beds and 12 trays to remove heat
and fractionate the feed into five side-

cut products (Figure 2). The tray pressure

drop was approximately 3.5 mmHg per
tray, with the packing contributing only
a small amount, which resulted in a
flash zone pressure of 95105 mmHg,
depending on the ambient temperature.
The HVGO product was black from
entrained vacuum residue. Furthermore,
the trays were prone to damage
and
leaks,
resulting
in
poor
fractionation, excessive cylinder stock
yield and difficulty in meeting asphalt
specifications.
Typical unit charge was a blend of
Middle Eastern crudes and was limited
by off-gas compressor capacity. During
the summer, the atmospheric columns

PTQ REVAMPS 15

Ejector

LVGO
product

CW

SS #1

HGO

SS #2
HVGO

Feed

Cylinder stock

Stripping
steam
Vacuum bottoms

Figure 2 Lube column before revamp

drop and inherently poor efficiency in

lube column service. In 1984, the first
large-diameter lube vacuum column
was revamped from bubblecap trays to
structured packing, with several others
modified since then. Some were
successful, while others were not due to
poor-quality liquid distributors.
Trays have inherently low efficiency
in lube columns because the liquid rate
is low and the tray weir length is large
(because of large diameters). Conversely,
structured packings inherent efficiency
is good at a low liquid rate, assuming a
high-quality liquid distributor is used. A
structured packing beds efficiency is
largely controlled by the liquid
distributors performance. Since column
diameters are large and liquid rates are
generally low (~1 gpm/ft2 of column
area), distributing the liquid uniformly
is a challenge.
MPCs lube vacuum column flash
zone pressure was high because it had
12 trays above the flash zone. Trays
produce a high pressure drop per
theoretical stage because each tray
generates about 3.5 mmHg pressure
drop and three trays are needed to
achieve a theoretical stage. Thus, each
theoretical stage creates approximately
10 mmHg pressure drop. Conversely,
structured packing produces only 1.5
mmHg per theoretical stage.

Minimising HVGO
product contaminants

Higher heater
outlet
temperature
Very low
strip-out
S-1

S-2

Shed S-3
trays
S-4
Stripping
steam
Vacuum bottoms

Figure 3 Residue stripping section before revamp

overhead receiver temperature increased,
producing more off-gas. At the same
time, the vacuum ejectors off-gas rate
was higher because the heaters outlet
temperature was at maximum. The
crude rate had to be reduced once the
off-gas compressor reached its maximum
capacity.
In 2005, a study was completed to
determine the cost/benefit of revamping
the unit. Major economic incentives were
improving
the
lube
products
fractionation, minimising the HVGO
product MCR and metals contaminants,
producing on-specification asphalt and
improving internals reliability.

Lube products fractionation

Fractionation between lube products

depends on reflux and the number of
theoretical stages. Increasing either one
improves fractionation. This requires
high-efficiency mass-transfer internals
and minimum column flash zone
pressure. Prior to the revamp, the
column pressure drop was high,
stripping efficiency was low, and
fractionation between lube cuts and
HVGO was poor. Before the mid-1980s,
most lube vacuum columns were
designed with bubblecap trays and
occasionally valve trays. Yet, trays have
the disadvantages of high pressure

HVGO product contaminants consist

of volatile MCR and metals in the
product boiling range as well as
entrained vacuum residue containing
high amounts of MCR and metals.
There will always be some volatile
contaminants present, irrespective of
the column design, but the amount of
volatile contaminants depends on the
efficiency of the wash zone and residue
stripping. Surprisingly, many vacuum
columns produce black HVGO product
because of poorly designed column
flash zone, wash zone and stripping
section internals. In this case study,
because the unit processed low metal
crudes and operated at low cutpoints,
eliminating entrainment would reduce
the HVGO products metals and MCR
to low levels.
Vacuum residue entrainment in the
flash zone depends on transfer line
critical-flow expansions, the flash zone
vapour horn and wash section internals.
Poorly designed transfer lines with high
pressure drop critical-flow expansions at
the column inlet nozzle generate fine
mists that are difficult to remove.
Improperly designed flash zone vapour
horns do not separate the feed stream
vapour and liquid or properly distribute
the vapour to the wash section. Poor
vapour distribution results in high
localised vapour velocity in parts of the

16 PTQ REVAMPS

www.eptq.com

wash section, causing the HVGO

product to be black from entrainment.
Yet, entrainment can be nearly
eliminated through prudent column
internal designs, as long as the column
wash section capacity factor does not
exceed 0.40.45 ft/sec.

Off-gas

Crude off-gas

Residue stripping

The efficiency of the vacuum column

stripping section influences the HVGO
yield, asphalt quality and HVGO
products metals. Yet, it is often
overlooked as an important design
variable. Maximising stripping efficiency
will raise the HVGO products TBP
cutpoint by 2060F, reduce metals in
the HVGO product by 50% or more and
allow for the production of highervalued asphalt grades from the same
crude. Greater efficiency also reduces
the vacuum heater outlet temperature
by up to 30F in some instances.
Moreover, residue stripping vapourises a
lower boiling range hydrocarbon than
the heater produces for the same
amount of vapourisation. Therefore, it
reduces the HVGO products MCR and
nickel and vanadium content.
Residue stripping uses steam to reduce
the oil partial pressure on the trays.
Even a well-designed tray has only
25% efficiency, with a typical tray
achieving just 510% efficiency. Since
the stripping trays vapourise lower
boiling range material than the heater,
the metals content is lower than the
same volume of material produced in
the heater. In addition, improved
efficiency vapourises more flash zone
liquid, allowing the heater outlet
temperature to be reduced. Since this
unit produces asphalt, it is the asphalt
specifications that determine the HVGO
products cutpoint rather than a specific
target. Another benefit is that the
asphalt product viscosity is easier to
meet because the light material that
must be removed to meet the viscosity
specifications is stripped out. Before the
revamp, the stripping section was
designed with four baffle trays, so it had
very little efficiency, which resulted in a
low strip-out and made it difficult
to meet the asphalt specifications
(Figure 3).

Revamp process flow scheme

The revamp flow scheme is shown in

Figure 4. All the trays above the flash
zone were replaced with packing, and
other minor modifications were made to
the existing packed beds, plus a much
more efficient stripping section was
installed. New packed column internals
reduced the flash zone pressure by about
30 mmHg. A lower flash zone pressure
allowed for a lower heater outlet
temperature, which reduced cracked gas
production (Figure 5). Improved
stripping efficiency further reduced the

www.eptq.com

Ejector off-gas
Ejector
system
Oil
Sour water

Atmospheric
crude

LVGO

Lube vacuum
HGO
product

SS #1
SS #2
HVGO

Preflash
crude

Cylinder stock

Steam

Stripping
steam
Vacuum bottoms

Fuel
gas

Figure 4 Revamp process flow scheme

Lower
Increased heater
vacuum cracked
distillate
gas

Before revamp

After revamp

730
105

710

Flash zone
conditions

75

Feed

Stripping
steam
Temperature, F
Pressure, mmHg

Vacuum bottoms

Figure 5 Flash zone temperatures and pressures

heater outlet temperature, lowering
cracked gas production again.
The crude/vacuum unit capacity is
constrained by the off-gas compressors
capacity. By reducing the amount of
ejector off-gas, more atmospheric
column overhead receiver off-gas can be
handled, allowing for an increased crude
charge rate (Figure 6).

Column design

Prior to the revamp, the column was

designed with a combination of grid,
random packing, valve and bubble cap
trays, and baffle trays. The new internals
would:
Reduce the column pressure drop
Provide the required fractionation
for lube oil production

PTQ REVAMPS 17

Reduced
heater outlet
temperature

Off-gas to
treating

Off-gas
compressor

Higher
strip-out
S-1

Stripping
steam

Crude off-gas
(higher rate)

S-2
S-3
S-4
S-5

Vacuum off-gas
(reduced rate)

Vacuum bottoms

Figure 6 Off-gas compressor

Figure 8 Stripping section after revamp

Ejector

LVGO
product

CW

HGO

SS #1
SS #2
HVGO
Wash oil
Feed

Cylinder stock

Stripping
steam
Vacuum bottoms

Figure 7 Lube column after revamp

Improve HVGO quality by eliminating
vacuum residue entrainment
Maximise stripping section efficiency
Provide adequate wash oil to keep
the wash bed wetted and prevent
coking while minimising cylinder stock
yield
Improve internals reliability.
The existing 12 valve and bubblecap
trays were replaced with structured
packing beds and associated internals. A
new vapour horn was installed to
minimise entrainment and improve
vapour distribution to the wash section.
The four existing baffle trays used for

stripping were replaced with five

sieve trays.
The fractionation section used
structured packing and high-quality
narrow trough liquid distributors to
maximise efficiency within the available
height. The wash section was installed
in an internal shroud to allow for
maximum lube product fractionation.
Existing tray support rings were reused
to reduce the installation time. The new
internals have improved mechanical
design to maintain integrity during
normal operating conditions and upsets
(Figure 7).

Stripping section efficiency was

dramatically improved by changing
from baffle to sieve trays, increasing the
number of trays from four to five,
designing each tray with an optimised
hole area for higher tray efficiency and
installing a new collector to feed the top
tray (Figure 8).

Side-strippers

The side-strippers tray design was

modified to increase tray efficiency,
allowing for more strip-out of the
product distillation front-end. The
changes were low cost, with the tray
active panels replaced with an optimised
open area and a combination of light
and heavy valves.

Revamp results

The primary goals were to improve lube

product fractionation, minimise HVGO
product contaminants, meet vacuum
bottoms properties for asphalt production
and improve internals mechanical
reliability. All objectives were met. The
HVGO product MCR and metals have
been reduced. The wax colour from SS #2
is now clear because colour bodies from
residue entrainment have been
eliminated. In addition, the crude charge
rate has been increased by 4.0 Mbpd as a
result of reducing the vacuum heaters
cracked gas production.
The authors would like to thank all who
participated in the successful completion of
this revamp.

Kevin Basham is a technical services

co-ordinator at the Marathon Petroleum
Company LLC Cattlesburg, Kentucky, USA,
refinery. He has 15 years experience in
the optimisation and troubleshooting of
crude distillation units.
Edward Hartman is a process engineer
with Process Consulting Services Inc
in Houston, Texas, USA. His primary
responsibilities include process design
packages (PDPs) and equipment design
for refinery units.

18 PTQ REVAMPS

www.eptq.com