Recently, Changyi Petrochemical’s atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, a pressure-stabilized fuel oil supply system for the heating furnace, was authorized for a national patent from the State Intellectual Property Office. The unit optimized the fuel oil system to ensure oil pressure stability before entering the furnace. It overcame insufficient fuel supply pressure, wide fluctuations in furnace thermal efficiency and increasing energy consumption problems.
The fuel oil system consists of a vacuum distillation tower, a vacuum column bottom pump, a heat exchanger, fuel pumps and control valves. The bottom pump’s oil inlet is connected with the oil outlet of the vacuum column. The bottom pump’s oil outlet is connected with a fuel feed pipe, which is equipped with a heat exchanger. The fuel feed pipe’s oil outlet is connected with the oil inlet and outlet branches.
The system also has a fuel oil tank connected to oil outlets of the branches, and the tank’s oil outlet is connected to the oil inlet of the heating furnace. The oil feed pipeline has a fuel oil pump and is connected to an oil regulating pipe, whose oil outlet is connected with the fuel tank’s return opening. The oil outlet of the heating furnace is connected to the return opening, which is connected to the vacuum column and has regulation valves attached.
Before the patent technology was implemented, the unit’s heating furnace had low capacity and bad crude oil heating efficiency. At the same time, the atmospheric column and vacuum tower both had low production rate and unstable operations. The technology not only solved these problems but also avoided environmental problems caused by unstable combustions, achieving economic and environmental benefits.