Very small amounts of crude oil (7 – 100 ml) can be distilled with the B/R micro crude oil distillation system. The spinning band with a maximum of 15 theoretical plates can collect a number of fractions with good separation. Spinning band has low hold up and very high free space. This makes spinning band […]
Distilling small samples of crude oil 100- 1000 ml Distilling small samples of crude oil can be a challenge. The “hold up” in the column packing makes true boiling point, D2892 distillation column impractical Traditional packed column systems have a lower limit of about 1 liter sample size. B/R developed the Mini-Crude Oil […]
Reflux is the return of condensed distillation vapor to the boiling flask. Reflux ratio is the ratio of the condensate returned to the boiling flask to the condensate being collected in the receiver. The reflux ratio is accomplished using a reflux valve in a “seat” over the take off point. When the reflux valve is […]
Condensate is a by product of raw natural gas composed of light hydrocarbons which can be condensed when below their dew point. There are 3 primary sources of condensate. Crude oil wells – natural gas can exist in a pocket on top of the crude oil or may be dissolved in the crude oil. Dry […]
High levels of water in crude oil make fractional distillation difficult. Water has a hard time vaporizing from the boiling flask and getting through the distillation column packing. Water drops in the distillation column head causes fluctuation in the vapor temperature causing inaccurate vapor temperature readings. D2892 requires that crude oil samples have 0.3% water […]
True boiling point distillation distills crude oil from the initial boiling point up to 370-400 °C. D2892 is the ASTM test number. It is most commonly used to test crude oil and crude oil blends. It is sometimes used to distill condensate although that is outside the scope of D2892. The distillation typically takes […]
Not all Crude Oil is the Same. How can you do Quality Control? Refineries buy large volumes of crude oil. But when a 500,000 barrel tanker arrives, how do they know they are getting what they paid for? How do they know that it hasn’t been mixed or “cut” with low value compounds to increase […]
Butane Collection for True Boiling Point Distillation – ASTM D2892 Butane is a component of crude oil that boils well below room temperature. Its low boiling point requires special receivers to prevent loss of butane from the system. The receivers are cooled with dry ice or a cold finger style cooling system. There will either […]
Vacuum Pot Still (VPS) The vacuum pot still distills crude oil residue from 370 ºC up to 565 ºC. D5236 is the ASTM test number. It is most commonly used to distill the residue from ASTM D2892 true boiling point test. There are four sizes of distillation column shown in the table below with corresponding […]
Lab-scale Crude Oil Distillation Distillation of crude oil in the laboratory models what happens in the refinery. The results of the lab-scale distillation predicts the quantity and quality of each distilled product from the refinery. This information is used to choose the best crude oils for a refinery at the best price. The refinery distills […]