Difference between primary flow tower and flash tower
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Under what operating conditions in a atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit is a primary flow column selected for design? Under what operating conditions is a flash tower selected?
The top of the initial distillation tower contains gasoline products, and it is equipped with trays.
The initial distillation tower is equipped with a reflux tank, from which crude gasoline or naphtha is obtained, whereas the flash distillation tower does not have such a tank; the vapor that comes out of the flash tower goes directly into the regular distillation tower. This is the difference between them. I hope everyone can provide further information – thank you
When there are many light oil components, a primary distillation tower is required, which is equipped with trays; naphtha is distilled at the top of this tower. A flash tower does not have trays and produces no distillates, with the light components at its top entering the middle section of the atmospheric pressure tower
The initial distillation tower is used to distill out the light components in advance, thereby reducing the load on the atmospheric pressure tower. The flash tower is merely used to reduce the impact of the gasified gas on the heat exchange network and furnace tubes; the gas that comes out of the flash tower still enters the atmospheric pressure tower, so there is no change in the load on that tower. The specific design depends on the properties of your crude oil. Since the initial distillation tower consumes a lot of energy, it results in a high proportion of light components, which is why the initial distillation tower is useful. On the contrary, it would be better to process them all together in the atmospheric pressure tower.
The flash tower is only used to reduce the impact of the gasified gas on the heat exchange network and furnace tubes; the gas that is flashed still enters the atmospheric pressure tower, so the load on this tower remains unchanged.