DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this thesis work entitled "A study

report on COAL CHEMICALS "is my work, carried out under
the guidance of my faculty guide Miss CH.NAGAMANI and
company guide Sri. G.VENKATA RAO, asst general
Manager (O) of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant this report neither
full nor in part has ever been submitted for award of any other
degree of either this university or any other university.

PLACE: Visakhapatnam GSANJEEV

SK.MOULALI
ROHINI KUMAR.O
DATE:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

This project is a result of the hard work & sincere effort put by
many hands. We would like to thank SRI G.VENKATA RAO,
asst general Manager (O), Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, for
his valuable guidance and timely advice during the study period
for the successful completion of the Project work. We wish to
render my sincere gratitude to the staff & Officers of Plant
Personnel section, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant for their
support in providing all relevant data, help and guidance in
completing this project. Finally we thank the management of
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant for permitting me to take up this
Project.

Place: Visakhapatnam
Date: G.SANJEEV
SK.MOULALI
ROHINI KUMAR
 INDEX

 Introduction of “VSP”
 Coke Ovens &Coal Chemical Plant
 Coal Preparation Plant
 Coke Oven Batteries
 Coal Chemical Plant
 Primary Gas Coolers
 Ammonium Sulphate Plant
 Final Gas Coolers
 M.B.C
 Tar Distillation
 P.C.L.A
 Naphthalene Fraction Crystallization
 Benzol Recovery
 Hydro Refining
 Extractive Distillation Unit
 INTRODUCTION
The role of ferrous metals in general and of steel in particular in
national economy is enormous. One cannot name an economic branch where
ferrous metals find no applications. The economic power of country is
determined by its output of steel, since it determines the progress in the
principle economic branches, be it mining, transport, manufacture
engineering or agriculture implements is unthinkable without steel.

An additional impetus for increasing the scope of steel manufacturers

had been the vigorous progress in chemical engineering. It has turned out
that steel can be very profitable combined with certain novel materials for
instance plastic combined with stainless steel are excellent materials fore
making furniture, decorating automobiles internal lining of houses and
building purposes. As a result the manufacture of stainless steel has been
appreciably increased in order to cover these new demands in recent years.
The world for the steel rises continuously and is expected to reach the level
of thousand million tons per year by the end of this century. The steel will
obviously remains the principle structural material in for seeable.

To meet the above requirements the following iron and steel

companies were established:
 Tata iron and steel company is the first ever-integrated steel plant
in India in 1908 at Jamshedpur.
 TISCO in Bihar
 IISCO in Burnapur
 Bhadravathi steel in Karnataka
 Hindustan steel plant at Bhilai, Roerkela and Durgapur
 Visakhapatnam steel plant at Visakhapatnam
 VISAKHAPATNAM STEEL PLANT
In order to increase the steel production reasonably high in the nation
and remove the regional imbalances in industrial developments, the
government of India took a great step in setting up the coastal-based steel
plant of India is Visakhapatnam steel plant in Andhra Pradesh. This plant is
located 16km south west of the city limits. A great emphasis has been made
on total automation, seamless integration and efficient up gradiation at
Visakhapatnam steel plant.This has resulted in a great demand for
Visakhapatnam steel plant product in India and abroad which are having
international standards. Visakhapatnam steel plant is considered to be the
first integrated steel plant in India to become fully ISO-9002 certified
company. This certificate covers quality systems of training and marketing
functions over four regional marketing functions and 22 stock yards located
allover the country. The decision of the government of India to set up an
integrated steel plant at Visakhapatnam was announced by the Prime
Minister Smt.Indira Gandhi. The plant was inaugurated formally on 20th
January 1971 by the prime minister.

The project was estimated to the cost of rupees 3,897.28 crores based
on process on 4th quarter of 1981 but during the implementation of VSP is
has been on served that the project cost as increased substantially over the
sanctioned coast mainly due to this and the approved concept were studied
in 1986 the rationalization has basically been from the point of view of
obtaining maximum output from the equipment already installed paneled for
procurement, achieving the higher level of operation efficiency and
procurement over what was envisaged earlier under the rationalized concept.
3.1 million tons of liquid steel is to be produced in a year and the project is
estimated to cost 5,822 crores based on 4th quarter of 1987.

VSP‟S FRUITFUL ACHIVEMENTS:

 It has crossed many milestones in the fields of production,

productivity and exports.
 Coke rate at an order of 543kg/tonn hot metal
 Average converter life of 649 heats.
 An average of 11.5 heats per sequence in continuous bloom caster.
  Specific energy consumption of 7.51 Kcal/ton of liquid steel.
 Specific refractory consumption of 15.2kg.
 A labor productivity of 192-ton/man yr.

COKE OVENS & COAL

CHEMICAL PLANT
ORIGIN OF COAL:
Coal originated from the arrested decay of the remains of trees,
bushes, mosses, vines and other forms of plant life, which flourished in huge
swamps and bogs millions of years ago, during prolonged periods of humid,
tropical climate and abundant rainfall. Streams into the swamps and lake
basins to form the coal beds carried an enormous amount of vegetations.
Owing to pressure, the streams have generally been crushed to an elliptical
section and formed coal.

USE OF COAL IN VSP:

Coal is used in the form of coke to serve the purpose of iron ore
reduction in blast furnace. It also serves as a heat source.

TYPES OF COAL:

There are 2 types of coal:

(1) Coking Coal. (2) Non-Coking Coal.
The different coking coals used in VSP are:
1) M.C.C - Medium coking coal - BENGAL, BIHAR

2) I.C.C - Imported coking coal - AUSTRALIA

3) I.S.S.A.C - Imported coking coal - AUSTRALIA
4) SOFT - Imported coking coal - AUSTRALIA

In VSP coking coal is used for producing metallurgical coke where as non-
coking coal is used for producing thermal power (in boilers).

TYPES OF COAL AND PROPERTIES:

S.NO. TYPE OF COAL % % ASH MEAN

 MOISTURE MAXIMUM
REFLUTANCE
1. M.C.C 25-28 17-22 0.9
2. I.C.C 24-26 8-10 1.10-1.3
3. I.S.S.A.C 23-25 8-10 1.16-1.3
4. SOFT 30-34 8-10 0.9-1.0
COKE:

It is a strong porous hard mass that is obtained by heating of the coal

in the absence of air at high temperature. It is a reactive fuel and satisfies the
need for blast furnace.

FUNCTIONS OF COKE:

1. It acts as heat producer in blast furnace

2. It acts as reducing agent by carbon reduction in blast furnace with
oxygen reaction.
3. It gives a permeable bed and also as a slag carrier.

CARBONIZATION OF COAL:

Heating of coal in the absence of air at high temperatures to produce

residue coke, coke oven gas is called “CARBONISATION OF COAL” or
“DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION”. Its main purpose is to produce coke
and the by-product known as coke oven gas from which various products are
obtained and this is used as fuel of high calorific value.

NEED FOR MANUFACTURE OF COKE FROM COAL:

1. Natural coal is too dense and fragile to be used as a fuel in the
furnace.
2. Coal is not strong enough to withstand nearly 25 mts of burden lying
on it inside the furnace.
3. Coal is nearly “VOLATILE MATTER FREE” so it does not create
problems of hot shortness and coal shortness.
4. As compared to coal coke is of high quality and is highly reactive.
5. Coke is highly porous mass and it equalizes the blast coming from the
bottom of the charge.
6. As coke is a rigid hard mass it does not create the problems of dust
nuscence.
7. The ASH CONTENT in coke is very low i.e.) around 10%. So it does
not arise problems of striking on the grates.
The coke oven and coal chemical plant is mainly divided into the following
department:
1. Coal Preparation Plant (C.P.P)
2. Coke Oven Batteries
3. Coal Chemical Plant (C.C.P)

COAL PREPARATION PLANT

PURPOSE OF COAL PREPARATION PLANT:

The main purpose of this plant is to prepare the coal by removing the
foreign matter and bringing to the size suitable for carbonization or coking
process.

COAL BLEND COMPOSITION:

1. M.C.C - 15%
2. I.C.C - 40%
3. I.S.S.A.C.C - 35%
4. SOFT - 10%

PROPERTIES:

 VOLATILE MATTER:
It is the matter which is unstable at high temperature and
converts itself into gaseous state like tar, benzene compounds
etc. it is around 20-25%.
 MEAN MAXIMUM REFLUCTANCE:
It is a coal ranking. It decides the properties of coal. It is around
1.12-1.14.
 CRUSING INDEX:
% of -3mm size particles which should be around 70% - 75%
 FIXED CARBON:
The carbon left behind after the removal of the volatile matter is
fixed carbon.
 ASH CONTENT:
The % of ash present in coal. It can known by testing in the
laboratory. It is around 17-22 in Indian coking coal & 8-10 in
imported coking coal.
 TOTAL MOISTURE:
The amount of total moisture present in coal. There lies some
internal moisture also.
CONTENTS IN 1 TON OF COAL:

1. Coke - 746 kgs

2. Crude Tar - 32 kgs
3. Crude Benzol - 6.9 kgs
4. Ammonia - 4.1 kgs
5. CO Gas - 150 kgs
6. Losses - 61 kgs

COAL PREPARATION PLANT CONSISTS OF FOLLOWING

SECTIONS:

 Foreign material separation section

 Selective crushing sections.

 FOREIGN MATERIAL SEPERATION SECTION:

The coking coal is taken from coal yard by using bucket

elevators on the conveyors. Then it is sent to foreign material separation
section.

In foreign material separation section the following equipment exists:

1. 2 Cylindrical screens.
2. 2 Suspended iron separators.
3. 2 Self unloading suspended iron separators for separating the
magnetic particles in the coal.
PROCESS:

First the suspended iron separators separate the iron particles in the
coal. After it is demagnetized, the separated coal falls on self-unloading
suspended separators. it works for 19 seconds. After that coal is separated
into +150 mm & -150 mm sized particles in rotary screens. +150 mm sized
particles fall in the chute and are sent back for crushing. Where as -150 mm
particles are transferred to reversible conveyors. There are further connected
to shuttle conveyors for filling the bins. There are a total of 16 bins, equally
divided into 2 rows. All the odds like 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 & the evens 2,
4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16. The capacity of each bin being 800 T and a height of
20 mts.

Specifications of cylindrical screen:

Inclined angle - 8°
Feed end length - 1.5 m
Discharge end length - 0.8 m
Mesh size - 150 mm

1. SELECTIVE CRUSHING SECTION:

Blended coal is send to selective crushing section for crushing of coal

from -150 mm to -3mm size. In selective crushing section there are 3
primary crushers and 2 secondary crushers for crushing the coal. First
coal is crushed in primary crushers. Then crushers are connected from
6.6 KV motors via variable speed coupling and gear box. Speed of motor
is controlled from 1000 rpm to 400 rpm by variable speed coupling in
order to avoid the breakage of crushers and sudden stoppage of crushers.
In primary crushers there are 88 hammers in 12 rows of universal
crushing.

Total no. of crushers - 5

Primary crushers - 3
Secondary crushers - 2
Cap. of primary crusher - 400 T/hr
Cap. of secondary crusher - 600 T/hr
No. of hammers - 88(12 rows)
Wt of each hammer - 19.7 kgs
Wt of arm - 6.0 kgs
Length of arm - 45.0 kgs
Material of construction - Nickel Chromium Steel
Rotations of hammer - 400 rpm

COKE OVEN BATTERIES

 Coal is converted into coke by high temperature carbonization in the
ovens of the battery. There are 3 batteries working and the Battery – 4 is
being constructed for more production of hot metal.

RAW MATERIAL - Coal blend.

PRODUCT - Coke with 1-3% volatile matter.
BY-PRODUCT - Raw coke oven gas.

CONSTRUCTION:

The total length of the battery is 100 mts. It consists of rectangular

chambers of length 16 mts, 7 mts high and 0.14 mts width with removal
door ends. Coke oven battery is a combination of ovens and heating
chambers in alternatively. There are 67 ovens and 68 heating chambers in a
battery. These ovens are OTTO-HOFFOMEN‟S by-product oven type. On
the roof there are metal lids for the sake of charging purpose. The width of
the coke discharge side is slightly more than the pusher side for easy
transport of coke outside. Heating flues are arranged in the walls between
the ovens. There are regenerators underneath the battery. The oven walls are
lined with silica bricks of high thermal conductivity. There is no shrinkage
in the refractory walls. These bricks ensure long life. All doors are sealed
with refractory clay and water mixture.
Battery has 4 machines:
1) Pusher car
2) Charging car
3) Door extractor car
4) Loco car

PROCESS:

Coal is transported from coal preparation plant to coal tower above

the battery. a charging car travels on the battery and under the coal tower. 32
T of coal is charged in each oven up to a height of 6.7 mts out of 7 mts by
charging position in each oven. Since the coal drops by gravity, it should be
leveled which is done by a leveling bar fixed to the pusher car. After
leveling all lids and doors are replaced and coking process is continued until
most of the volatile matter is removed. This process takes a coking period of
17-18 hrs by indirect heating with coke oven gas or mixed gas (CO gas + BF
gas) in absence of air at 1150°c.

After complete carbonization, coke oven gas is collected by hydraulic

main that is connected to the ovens, which are sent to recovery plant for
cleaning of gas. Later it is sent to recovery plant for cleaning of gas. After
cleaning CO gas is recycled back to the battery for heating purpose. The
product is 1-3% moisture contained coke. Yield of coke by HIGH
TEMPERATURE CARBONIZATION at 900°c - 1200°c is 65-75%.

Calori3fi3c value of di3fferent gasses used for heating purpose:

 CV of Coke oven gas - 4200 K Cal /Nm3
 CV of Blast furnace gas - 750 K Cal /Nm
 CV of Mixed gas - 1000 K Cal /Nm3

The walls start after 5 m level. Until 5 m level it is called the

regenerator. The regenerators serve the purpose of recovering heat by heat
exchange between hot flue gasses and bricks. The air coming in. thus air gets
preheated in the regeneration section takes this heat. In the first cycle fuel
gas flows through one set of flues and flue gas goes out through other set of
flues. There are 136 waste heat boxes through which air is supplied form one
section and flue gas leaves through other section.

As hot air is of low density and by the density difference suction is

created by which flue gas rises up out of the chimney. Checker bricks made
of silica are placed in the regeneration section so that the contact area and
time for regeneration increases and maximum heat is recovered.

SPECIFICATION:
 Total no of Batteries - 4
 No of ovens in each Battery - 67
 Heating walls - 68
 Height of each oven - 7 mts
 Length of each oven - 16 mts
 Width of each oven(P/S,C/S) - 38.5 / 43.5 mm
 Heating wall thickness - 0.105 mts
 Coal charging in each oven - 34 ton‟s
 Output coke from oven - 25 ton‟s
 No of vertical flues - 32
 No of waste heat boxes - 136
 Heating gas used in Battery 1&2 - CO gas
 Heating gas used in Battery 3 - CO + BF gas in 1:9
ratios.
 Coking period - 17-18 hrs
 Coke temperature - 1050°c
 Coke fluidity temperature - 400-500°c
  Capacity of battery - 97 pushing/Battery/day
 Coking Period Determination (C.P.D)

No of ovens x 24 67 X 24
C.P.D = ------------------------- = ------------ = 1608
hrs
No of pushing‟s per day 100

COKE DRY COOLING PLANT

After pushing the coke from the Battery with a temperature of 1050°c,
it is transferred into C.D.C.P for cooling purpose. The C.D.C.P technology is
adopted only in VISAKHAPANAM STEEL PLANT only because in wet
cooling the strength of the coke is reduced.

The advantages of DRY COOLING are:

1) Waste heat recovery (by producing steam)
2) Pollution control (done by closed circuit)
3) Better Coke strength (there is no thermal shock as in wet cooling)

PROCESS:

Coke form Battery falls into loco on the coke side, which is brought
into C.D.C.P. The loco is lifted up and coke is charged into the cooling
chambers. Later the chambers are closed by lid and N2 gas is passed inside
through a temperature of 55°c by a mill fan. The hot coke is cooled from
1050°c to 180°c-200°c. There occurs no chemical reaction, as N2 is an inert
gas. The heated gas is utilized for producing steam in boilers. These boilers
are water tube boilers, which are of capacity 25 T/hr. the temperature and
pressure of the steam, are 440°c and 40 Kg/cm2. Cooled coke i3s convey6ed
to C.S.P and the steam is used to run back pressure turbine station for
producing power of 15 MW.

SPECIFICATIONS OF C.D.C.P:

 No of C.D.C.P - 4/4 Batteries

 No of chambers - 4 Chambers/each C.D.C.P
 Capacity of each C.D.C.P - 50-52 T/hr
 Coke temp before cooling - 1050°c
  Coke temp after cooling - 180°c-200°c
 Coolant used - N2 gas
 Dry coolant temperature - 55°c

COKE SORTING PLANT

Coke from C.D.C.P enters the C.S.P section. Here coke is crushed, screened
and later conveyed to different consumers.

PROCESS:

In C.S.P dust will be removed from the coke with the help of dedusting fans.
After that coke is sent to crushing section to crush into 80mm size particles.
There B.F coke (25-80mm) is separated through 14- roll screen and sent to
Blast Furnace. The remaining 0-25 mm fractions will be sent to vibrating
screen. Here 0-10 mm particles called BREEZE COKE is conveyed to Sinter
Plant and 10-25 mm called NUT COKE to Blast Furnace.
 COAL CHEMICAL PLANT
Many by products are extracted from the coke oven gas at this department. It
consists of the following sections:

 Exhauster house.

 Ammonium sulphate plant.

 M.B.C plant.

 Tar distillation plant.

 P.C.L.A

 Naphthalene fraction crystallization.

 Benzol plant.
 Benzol distillation plant.
 Hydro refining.
 Extractive distillation.
 PRIMARY GAS COOLER
The coke oven gas from the separator is fed to the PGC from the top.
The cooler consists of three zones. This is a shell and tube heat exchanger in
which the CO gas exchanges with service water in the top two zones and
with chilled water in the bottom zone the tubes are inclined in all the zones.
The inclination is maintained at 15°c with the horizontal. This provides any
naphthalene condensate to drain easily. The main purpose of PGC is to cool
the gas from 90°c to 30°c.
During this cooling process the naphthalene and traces of tar present in
the gas condense and this is collected at the bottom of the PGC. The liquid
collected at the bottom is sent to the seal pot by gravity. The level in the seal
pot should be maintained constant as this acts as a seal to the gas in the
cooler.
Tar at a temperature of 90°c is flushed from the top of the cooler to
remove the condensed naphthalene on the tubes. The tar is then collected at
the bottom in the seal pot. Tar and naphthalene from the seal pot is fed to the
storage tank of the CPH. The CO gas from the bottom of the PGC is fed to
the electrostatic precipitator.

Gas temperature before PGC 80-95°c

Gas temperature after PGC 27-30°c
Service water inlet temperature 32-33°c
Service water outlet temperature 43°c
Gas condensate flow to each PGC 10-15 Nm3/hr
Chilled water inlet temperature 11-12°c
Chilled water outlet temperature 20°c
Total number of tubes 409

ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR:
 The CO gas enters the ESP from the bottom. Electrostatic precipitators
are cylindrical vessels with a conical bottom. Each ESP is provided with a
seal pot. A round disk having electrodes in suspended state is present inside
the precipitator. Electrodes are nothing but SS metal rods. Three are present
at the top of precipitator, which supplies the necessary power to each ESP.
high voltage of about 50,000 volts is supplied to each electrode. Due to high
voltage the fine and foggy tar get sticked to the walls of the electrodes and
they fall down due to gravity. The liquid thus collected at the bottom is fed
to the seal pot. Each electrode is covered to prevent the connection between
any two electrodes.

Capacity 30,000 Nm3/hr

Voltage 70KV
Number of electrodes 148
ESP insulator boxes temperature 80°C

EXHAUSTERS:

These are centrifugal fans necessary to drive the gas from the batteries
itself to various plants like ASP. Benzene recovery and finally to the main
header of the coke oven gas. Exhauster sucks the CO gas from the batteries.
The pressure at the suction side of the exhauster is -350mm WC and the
discharge side is +2500mm WC. Due to increase in the pressure the
temperature is increased to 55-60°c.

The flow of gas is controlled by Askania valve, which is a butterfly

valve. The function of this valve is to control the flow of gas to the
exhauster. When the quantity of gas is low then the valve is closed and when
the gas quantity is high valve is opened. If any condensate is collected and
when the gas lines and sent to the storage tank of the condensate pump
house.

Capacity 67,000-76,000Nm3/hr
Power 1250KW
Maximum suction at inlet 500mm WC g
Maximum pressure at delivery 2700mm WC g

CONDENSATE PUMP HOUSE:

 Flushing liquor separated from the separators is fed to the condensate
pump house. This consists of decanters and storage tanks. The tar and
flushing liquor collected from the exhauster house is stored in the storage
tanks.

DECANTERS:

Decanters are used to settle the flushing liquor by gravity. These are
mechanical decanters provided with scraper mechanism. This scraper is a
chain like arrangement provided at the bottom. The flushing liquor is fed at
the middle of the decanter. In decanters due to density difference, flushing
liquor, tar & sludge form as three layers from top, and the flushing liquor is
then sent to the storage tanks.

A telescopic valve provided to the decanter removes the tar settled in

the middle layer. The valve works on the principle of „U‟ tube manometer.
Sludge removed by scraper mechanism provided at the bottom of the
decanter. The scraper then dumps the sludge into a bunker provided at the
end of the scraper. A motor provided with a gearbox runs the scraper. The
sludge from the bunker is removed periodically.

Tar collected from the flushing liquor decanter is stored in the tar
storage tanks. Then it is pumped to tar decanters. The tar from the tar
decanters contains less moisture and sludge. Flushing liquor from the
decanter is stored in the storage tank and again pumped to batteries. If the
flushing liquor is excess then 60% is sent to excess flushing liquor tanks.
 AMMONIUM SULPHATE PLANT
Coke oven gas with a pressure of 2500mm WC from exhauster is fed to the
ASP. Ammonia present in the CO gas is recovered in ASP as ammonium
sulphate fertilizer.

PROCESS:

The CO gas from the exhauster is fed to the pre-heater to preheat the
gas to 60-70°c. But according to our atmospheric temperature, this
temperature is obtained after the exhauster. So the gas is directly fed to the
saturator.

SATURATOR:

Saturator is a cylindrical vessel with conical bottom. It is provided

with a bubbler hood, which is duct prolonged to the middle of the saturator.
The duct has a hood at the bottom provided with vanes like arrangement.
Another ring like structure with small openings is provided at the conical
portion, which is used for nitrogen feeding. Hot water rings are provided at
the top of the saturator. Saturator is always maintained with acid bath called
mother liquor, which contains 4-5% of sulphuric acid.
The CO gas enters through the bubbler hood which is dipped in the
bath. The gas rises through the mother liquor. During this period, the
ammonia present in the gas reacts with the sulphuric acid in the liquor.
 NH3 + H2SO4 NH4 (HSO4)

NH4 (HSO4) + NH3 (NH4)2SO4

Ammonium sulphate thus formed settles at the bottom of the saturator.

Pure nitrogen is purged into the saturator through N2 rings at 4-5 kg/cm2. N2
purging increases the crystal growth. Pure sulphuric acid (98%) is fed to the
saturator to maintain the acidity in the saturator. The gas collected at the top
of the saturator is fed to the acid trap. As the gas rises up, some of the
crystals may be carried with the gas and they get stacked to the walls of the
saturator at the top. Then the hot water is sprayed to the rings provided. The
crystals attached to the walls of the saturator are washed away. When hot
water is sprayed the concentration of the liquor decreases. So inlet acid
concentration increases to 6-7% at that period. After the reaction mother
liquor is continuously drawn to the circulating tank provided at the side of
the saturator. This acts as a seal for the saturator. From the circulating tank,
mother liquor is fed to the mother liquor tank. The crystals collected at the
bottom are fed to the crystal receiver tank by using pump.

ACID TRAP:

The outlet gas of the saturator carries some acid mist. In order to
remove the acid mist, the gas is sent to the acid trap. It is a hollow
cylindrical vessel. The coke oven gas from saturator enters tangentially to
the trap. Due to the centrifugal motion, the acid mist gets separated. The acid
collected a the bottom is fed to the circulating tank. The CO gas is fed to the
Benzol recovery.

CRYSTAL RECIEVER TANK:

Ammonium slurry from the bottom of the saturator is pumped to the

crystal receiver tank with conical bottom. The ammonium sulphate crystal
settled at the conical portion of the tank, which is wet with liquor. The
mother liquor from the top of the receiver is fed to the saturator. The slurry
from the bottom is fed to the centrifuge.

CENTRIFUGE:

Centrifuge is a horizontal cylindrical structure having two drums inside

it. One drum moves with rotary motion and the other in reciprocating
motion. The feed enters at the center of the rotation drum through pipe
known as cone pipe. Crystals present in the slurry are separated by the
centrifugal force of the rum. Hot water is sprayed into the centrifuge to wash
of the free acidity that is the acid layer on the crystal.
The cleaned crystal is discharged into the outer drum which is
reciprocating. The reciprocating drum pushes the material into the discharge
chute. The liquor seper4ated is then sent to the saturator. The discharge
chute of crystals opens onto a conveyor.

DRIER:

Drier is fluidized bed type. The principle is based on the loose

materials property to acquire fluidity in the airflow under a definite air
velocity. The crystal from the centrifuge contains some amount of moisture.
To remove this moisture crystals are to be dried. The drier is provided with a
screen at the bottom, ceramic rings are arranged at the bottom of the screen.
The drier is provided with forced draught fan and air, heated in the duct. A
spreader at the feed chute of the drier spreads the feed in all directions.
Forced draught fan sucks the atmospheric air and feeds to the
drier. The discharge chute of the fan is divided into 2 sections. One for hot
air and the other for cold air. The hot air duct is provided with a steam
heater. The air is heated to 120-150°c by using steam and this hot air is fed
form the bottom of the screen. The ceramic rings distribute the air in all
directions and allow the crystals in fluidized state. The temperature of the air
is sufficient the moisture of the crystals. At the discharge end of the drier,
cold air is passed which cools the crystals.

When the pressure level of the fluidized bed reaches the set point
(300-400 mmWc) an automatic discharge feeder discharge the dry
ammonium sulphate to the bucket elevator .The elevator discharges the dry
product into the bunker, which in turn feeds the product to the bagging
machine. The zone above the fluidized bed is kept under 5-10 mmWc in
order to avoid carryover of the ammonium sulphate particles out of the
dr4ying unit to the dust catcher.

CYCLONES:

The air form the drier is sucked by the suction fan and fed to the
cyclone separators. Cyclone separators separate fine ammonium sulphate
crystals in the air and feed to the bunker. The air from the cyclones is fed to
the dust collecting tank which contains flushing liquor up to certain level.
The dust – laden air is then fed to the bottom of the tank. The crystals then
dissolved in the water and the air is vented into the atmosphere.

MOTHER LIQUOR TANK:

The excess liquor from the saturator enters the mother liquor tank.
Each saturator is provided with two mother liquor tanks. One is vertical and
the other is horizontal. First the liquor enters the horizontal tank. As the
liquor has less density than the tar it floats. Then the clear mother liquor
from the bottom is fed to the vertical tank. Form the bottom of the vertical
tank mother liquor is fed to the saturator through the pumps provided. The
concentration of the liquor is maintained 10-12%. If the concentration
decreases, the density of the liquor decreases and it may be contaminated.
Then crystals may become back.

AMMONIA COLUMN:

During carbonization of coal ammonia gets vaporized and flows

along with flushing liquor in gas collecting mains, a little amount of
ammonia gets absorbed in flushing liquor. The excess ammonium liquor
after separation of tar, containing free and fixed ammonia, phenols, pyridine
bases and cyanides, rodents are pumped to the fourth plate of the ammonia
column for distillation of free ammonia.
The column consists of 24 bubble cap trays. 40% of liquor level is
maintained in the column. Steam is injected at the bottom by steam coils.
The purpose of steam is to supply the necessary heat required for distillation.
As the liquor is distilled, free ammonia present in the flushing liquor evolves
and rises tot the top of the column. The distilled liquor from the bottom of
the column is fed to the pitch tank. Certain level of the flushing liquor is
maintained in the tank and the over flow from the tank is fed to the M.B.C
Plant for treatment. The pH of the flushing liquor at the discharge end of the
column should be 7-7.5 and the free ammonia should be less than 50 PPM.

(NH4)2S 2NH3 + H2S

NH4CN NH3 + HCN

(NH4)2CO3 2NH3 + CO2 + H2O

 NH4HCO3 NH3 + H2O + CO2
NH4HS NH3 + H2S

The ammonia vapors collected at the top of the column are fed before
primary gas coolers. The gases are not fed to the saturators directly as the
temperature of the vapors is high and secondly the vapors contains not only
ammonia but also some traces of rhodonides and cyanides.
These chemicals should not be present in the ammonium sulphate
fertilizer. To remove some content of fixed ammonia in the liquor, dilute
NaOH solution is injected at the inlet of the ammonia column. The NaOH
reacts with the fixed ammonia compounds and forms as ammonia gas.

Capacity 25m3/hr
Total trays 24
Types of trays Bubble cap
Working pressure 0.5 atm
Steam pressure 6 atm
Flow rate of liquor 25m3/hr
Ammonia content before column 4 g/lit
Ammonia content after column 50 mg/lit
Temperature of vapors at outlet 105°c
Level in the column 40-50%
Steam flow rate 3-3.5 ton/hr
PH of liquor after column 7-7.5
FINAL GAS COOLERS
Coke oven gas after ammonia recovery consists of 0.8-1.12 mg/lit
of naphthalene. These naphthalene particles are removed by spraying tar.

Temperature at the bottom of FGC 50-60°c

Naphthalene in CO gas after FGC 0.4 g/Nm3
FGC tar temperature 80-90°c
Specific gravity of FGC tar moisture 5%

GAS PRE-COOLER:

The gas at 30-35°c is fed to the pre-cooler, which is indirect

contact cooler. The gas is cooled by chilled water (150°c), which passes
through the tubes. The gas is cooled to 25-27°c so that any particles
condensed are received in the seal pot.

SCRUBBERS:

Scrubbers are long towers consisting of aluminum packing or

wooden sheets provided with three layers. The main draw back of wooden
sheets is that it requires large cross-section and more height, while
aluminum is efficient. But the condensate should not have muggy materials,
which stick to the plates and scrubbing cannot be done efficiently.

The CO gas from the gas pre-coolers is sent to the first benzol
scrubber at the bottom. Solar oil or de-benzolised oil is used for scrubbing
the gas to recover benzol. Large amount of the benzol is absorbed in the first
scrubber. At the bottom of the first scrubber a certain level of benzolised oil
is maintained. CO gas from the top of the first scrubber is fed to the bottom
of the second scrubber in which it comes to contact with fresh de-benzolised
oil, which removes the traces of benzol remaining in the gas. The benzol free
CO gas is sent to customers.
 Capacity 58,000Nm3/hr
Oil flow rate 150m3/hr
Benzol content in gas after benzol scrubber 3 g/Nm3
Specific gravity of solar oil 0.8428
Molecular weight of solar oil 230
Flash point 132°c
Initial boiling point 270°c

OIL CYCLE:
The DBO from benzol distillation unit is fed to the top of the
second scrubber. Benzolised oil from the bottom of the second scrubber is
pumped to the top of the first scrubber through the distribution nozzles. The
benzolised oil collected at the bottom of the first scrubber is sent to the
benzolised oil tank from where it is pumped to the benzol distillation
section.

DRY PURIFICATION UNIT:

700-1000 Nm3 /Hr of coke oven gas is sent to dry purification unit
when H2S of the gas is required to be removed from 0.6-0.7 gms/ Nm3 to
0.02 gms/ Nm3. The H2S free CO gas is sent to laborites and other special
consumers like GETS at BF, CO gas is supplied to dry purification unit
After the electrostatic precipitators. Synthetic bog is used as a purification
mass. Spent purification mass containing 24 to 25 % sulpher is transferred to
dump.

COMPRESSOR HOUSE:

Compressor house provided in the recovery plant is used to

supply the plant air and instrument air. In this process air from the
atmosphere is fed to the suction side of the compressor through filters for
removing the dust particles.

COMPRESSOR:

Reciprocating compressors are used to compress the air up to 6

2
kg/cm . This is double acting piston type, which consists of low-pressure
side and high-pressure side. A motor drives the compressor. An inter cooler
is provided between the LP side and the HP side. An after cooler is provided
to cool the air.
 Air initially fed to the low-pressure side where it is compressed to
2
2 kg/cm . Due to compressor the temperature of the air is increases and it is
cooled in the inter cooler. This avoids decrease in the compression
efficiency on the high-pressure side. Air is compressed up to 6 kg/cm2 in the
HP side. The compressed air is fed to the after cooler. The purpose of this
cooler is to remove the moisture in the air. The air from the after cooler is
fed to air receiving tanks. Air in the receiving tanks contain moisture and oil
particles. So this air cannot be used for instruments. This air is used for
cooling and other purposes.

In the compression of air the lube oil is used for compressor

bearings. In this process, some oil is mixed with air. To remove this oil the
air is fed to the oil filter. The air is then fed to the coke filters where coke
layers are placed. This removes moisture and dust particles in the air. Then
the air is fed to the dryers in which a bed of activated alumina is placed. This
eliminates complete moisture and from dryers the air is fed to the candy
filters in which very fine particles of moisture and dust is removed. Then the
air is again fed to the buffer vessels, which is an intermediate storage. The
dried air is supplied to the instruments and its pressure is in the range of 4
kg/cm2.

MECHANICAL BIOLOGICAL AND

CHEMICAL TREATMENT PLANT
PROCESS:

Toxic effluents generated in various sections of coke oven and by-

product plant are collected and pumped to the treatment plant from two
pump houses. One at ammonium sulphate section and the other at tar
distillation section. Excess flushing after removal of ammonia in ammonium
stripping unit is also fed to this treatment plant. The combined effluent
contains large amount of tar and oils and toxicants like phenol, cyanide,
thiocyanides etc.

The effluent plant is designed to remove tar and oils with the help
of mechanical separation methods followed by biological treatment at
effluent namely two stage activated sludge process to remove other
toxicants.

Phenolic effluent from two phenolic water pump houses located in

CO & CCP are directly fed to pre-aerators of tar settling plants. Excess
flushing liquor ammonia stripping is also pumped to the same pre-aerators to
the double pipe heat exchangers where it is cooled from 90°c with the help
of recalculating cooling water. Water inlet temperature is 34°c and outlet
temperature is 45°c. Mixed effluent at a temperature of about 50°c is
distributed in equal positions in tar settling tanks by gravity. In pre-aerators
effluent mixed thoroughly with the help of air. The tar settling tanks are
provided with steam heating coil and scrapper mechanism at the conical
hopper bottom. Tar collected at the bottom of each tank is pumped out in the
tar collecting tanks ones in 3-5 days time. Tar settling tanks are provided for
removing tar and oil form the effluents. Oil floated on the surface of water
and tar settles down in the conical bottom. Floated oil removed with the help
of scrapping device and flows to oil collecting tanks by gravity.

Over flow from the tar settling tank is collected in vertical steel
tanks named phenolic water collecting tanks from where it is pumped to the
oil flotation tank through pressurized head tank. Air (5% by volume of
water) is injected in the suction line of the pumps before it is pumped to the
pressures tank. In the flotation tank air bubbles through the water as the
water is depressurized and the oil is entrained by air bubbles and floats at the
water surface. The entrained oil is skimmed with oil skimmer mechanism of
the flotation tanks and collected to the oil discharge to a tank called tar and
oil collecting tank. After oil flotation tank, water goes to the second phenolic
water collecting tank, with the help of pump collected water is send to
second flotation tank to pressurized tank. Tar and oil from the collecting
tank are finally pumped to tar acid utilization plant.

After removal of tar and oil the effluent is collected in averaging

tank. The averaging tank consists of two chambers and each chamber is
having one over flow tank.

In this tank adding ortho phosphoric acid and bacteria nutrient.

73% strong ortho phosphoric acid at the rate of 20 g/m3 of water to be
purified. From these tanks effluent is pumped to aeration tank of first stage
purification through shell and tube heat exchangers to maintain effluent
temperature between 35-38°c. Cold circulating water is used for this
purpose. In this first stage purification is done with the help of phenol
destruction bacteria. To maintain their vital activity, compressed air from the
air blower is applied to the aeration tank.

Phenolic water after the first stage of purification is collected in a

tank from where it is pumped to aeration tank of second stage purification.
In second stage of purification rodents and cyanides are destroyed with the
help of rodents destructing bacteria. With each aeration tank (both 1 & 2
stage) of purification sludge settling tank regeneration are attached. The over
flow from each tank first goes to the settling tank where sludge settles down
and the super latent water overflows to the collecting of first stage purified
water collecting tank.

The settled sludge then flows to the attached regeneration from

where it is recycled back to the aeration tanks with the help of air lifting
pump. Volumetric flow rate of sludge in each tank it‟s about 80% of the
volumetric flow rate of water being purified, to treatment unit for further
treatment. Inlet to the treatment plant as well as excess sludge is taken from
the bottom of the settling tank and taken to sludge disposal facilities having
sludge-drying beds. Treatment effluent from the second stage of purification
is collected on a tank from where it is pumped to fecal sewage treatment
plant for further treatment and dilution. Further culture of bacteria their
accumulation two separate bacteria culture tanks requisite facilities are also
provided which can be utilized and when required.

Two MS tanks each of capacity 800m3 are provided as balancing

tanks. Water can be pumped from any of the equipment, provision is there to
take this water back treated water from the collecting tank after second of
purification can also be directed to a balancing tanks.

TAR DISTILLATION PLANT

Tar is a viscous fraction obtained by the cooling of coke oven

gas with ammonia liquor. During this cooling coke dust particles mixed with
liquor and forms coal tar. It consists of large chain aromatic compounds,
which can be distilled into light oils, phenols, naphthalene oil, wash oil and
pitch. Coal tar in coke oven gas is collected from CPH and final gas a cooler
of benzol recovery is transferred to tar and oil storage. From there it is
pumped to mechanized decanter in tar distillation plant.

COMPOSITION OF COAL TAR COMING TO TDS:

Light oil 0.5%

Phenol fraction 1-1.5%
Naphthalene 5-6%
Wash oil 8-9%
Anthracene oil 18-19%
Moistur4e 5-6%
Pi3tch 55-60%
PROCESS:

The tar from the condensate pump house is fed to the tar and oil
storage of the TDP. The tar to the tar distillation section is fed from the tar
and oil storage tanks. This tar contains 5% of moisture, which can be
removed in the decanters.

DECANTERS:

The tar from the TOS is fed to the decanters. It is provided with a
scraper conveyer to remove the sludge collected at the bottom and
transferred to a bunker in the decanter small quantities of water and flushing
liquor collects at the top of layer which are continuously removed.
The tar from the decanters flows through two strainers to remove
suspended matter to a common suction header of liquor plunger pumps for
first stage. A plunger pump consists of three piston, suction and delivery
valves, which pump with high pressure. Tar initially consists chloride salts
and acid, which causes corrosion and damages the piping present in the
furnace and the plant. To prevent the soda ash solution of 8% concentration
is injected at the suction side of the pumps.

2NH4Cl + Na2CO3 ---------- 2NaCl + 2NH3 + CO2 + H2O

2HCl + Na2CO3 ---------- 2NaCl + H2O + CO2

The ammonia formed from the above reactions vaporizes along with water
vapor and light oils.

FURNACE:

It consists of two zones one is convection zone and the other is

radiation zone. Furnace is having four burners where CO gas is used as fuel.
Air draught is taken from the bottom of the furnace. The tar from the filter is
pumped to convection zone, which is at the top of the furnace. Here the
temperature increases to 120-130°c. Controlling the airflow can control the
flame length more the air longer the flame and vice versa. This arrangement
helps in controlling the temperatures of tar in both the zones.
 In radiation zone dehydrated tar is circulated which is pumped
from second stage plunger pumps. The temperature of the tar is increased to
400°c. The temperature of the tar should not increase beyond 400°c as this
cause the formation of B.F grade pitch.

The flue gas from the furnace is sent to the atmosphere through
the chimney. It is provided with a baffle plate in order to assure complete
combustion of the gas.

I STAGE EVAPORATOR:

Evaporator is a cylindrical vessel having baffle plates, which

change the direction of gases. Evaporator is designed for the evaporation of
water and light oils from the crude tar, which are fed at the middle of the
evaporator. The temperature of the tar at the inlet is about 120-130°c. Due to
this temperature, the moisture in the tar is evaporated. These vapors from the
top of the evaporator are fed to the twin condensed coolers. From the bottom
dehydrated tar having less than 2% moisture is fed to the dehydrator tar tank
and pumped to the radiation zone of the furnace.

Pressure in the evaporator 0.3 kg/cm2

Temperatures of vapors 102-105°c
Temperature of DTT <110°c
Baffle plates 3
Spilling plates 2

DEHYDRATED TAR TANK:

Tar from the evaporator is fed to the DTT tank, which is used as a
intermediate storage. The tank is always maintained 100% and the over flow
tar from the DTT is fed to the decanter4. Tar is fed to the II stage tar pump
from the bottom of the DTT. The pump discharges this tar to the radiation
zone of the furnace where it is heated up to 380-400°c. This tar is fed to the
second stage evaporator at the rate of 10 m3/hr.

IISTAGE EVAPORATOR:

In second stage evaporator oil vapors and pitch are separated.

Dehydrated tar from the radiation zone is fed to the evaporator. Two baffle
plates are arranged below the vapor inlet and five above the vapor inlet. Four
bubble cap trays are also arranged at the bottom of the evaporator. This
arrangement completely separates tar fraction form pitch. A protective plate
is also installed as in first stage evaporator. The oil vapors from the top of
the evaporator are fed to the distillation column. The tar at the bottom of the
evaporator is called as pitch and is supplied to the pitch cooling section.

Pressure in the evaporator 0.5 kg/cm2

Number of bubble cap trays 4
No. of baffle plates 7
Temperature of the fractions 400°c

DISTILLATION COLUMN:

Fractionating column is designed to separate different fractions

from tar. The column is provided with 59 trays out of which 56 are bubble
cap trays and the remaining three baffle plates. Each tray has 42 bubble caps.
Mixed oil vapors from the top the second stage evaporator are fed to the
third tray of the fractionating column at a temperature of 360-380°c.

As the vapors rises to the top of the column different fractions are
obtained from different trays. Initially vapors enter at about 360-400°c. Pure
light oil is supplied as reflux to the top plate rectification column to maintain
top temperature of the column. Reflux is fed as the top temperature
increases. All the fractions are continuously drawn from the column. The
vapors, which are not condensed are collected from the top of the column
and fed to the twin condenser cooler of the second stage.

LIGHT OIL:
Light oil is obtained from the column, which is lighter than all of
the fractions the top temperatures of the column are maintained at 100°c.
The light oil consists of phenol and phenol containing water (PWC). The
light vapors are cooled in twin condensed coolers and fed to the separator II.
PHENOL:
Phenol fraction obtained is not in pure state at 160-180°c. It
contains 22% phenol and 10-15% naphthalene. Three tapings are provided
on 44.46 and 48 trays.
NAPHTHALENE:
Naphthalene fraction can be trapped from 24, 26, 28 and 30 trays.
It is obtained at a temperature of 190-200°c. Steam jacketed lines are
provided because decrease in temperature results in crystallization of
naphthalene.

WASH OIL:
 There 5 tapping for wash oil on 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20. Normally
wash oil will be tapped at a temperature of 280-290°c. It is tapped from 6 &
8 trays. Anthracene II is heavier than all fractions. So it is obtained from 1 st
or 2 nd trays at 320-330°c.

TWIN CONDENSED COOLERS I & II STAGES:

These are shell and tube heat exchangers to condense the vapors.
First stage coolers condenses the gas coming from I stage evaporator and the
II stage cooler condenses the gas leaving the column. The vapors pass
through the shell and service water is used to cool the vapor passing through
the tube side. The vapors of I stage cooler are cooled from 102-50°c. The
vapors of second stage coolers from 100-40°c. After condensation the
vapors from both I & II stage condensers enter into separators I & II
respectively.

SEPERATORS I &II:
Separators are used to separate light oils from other fractions (NH3
water and phenolic water) obtained form the top of the first stage evaporator
and distillation column in separator I & II respectively. Light oil obtained
from the top the two separators flow to light oil tanks by gravity. At the
bottom of the separator I ammonia water will be settled and a the bottom of
the separator II phenolic water will be settled. Both of them are removed
through dip tubes to prevent light oil mixing with them.

SUBMERGED COOLERS:
Submerged coolers contain a coil inside the coolers through which
the fractions from the column are passed. This coil is submerged in the
water. The vapors are cooled from 80-50°c are sent to the collected tanks.

START UP TANK:
During initial starting of the plant, the temperature of the tar does
not reach up 400°c in second stage evaporator will be diverted to start up
tank until it reaches the temperature of 290°c similarly column bottom liquid
will also be diverted to start up tank until the temperature of the column
reaches to 330°c. Tar then overflows to the decanters.
USES OF DIFFERENT TAR FRACTIONS:

LIGHT OIL:
It can be further processed to produce crude tar basis can be used
to prepar4e pyridine and heavy basis. Light oil can be fractionized to
produce small amounts of benzene, toluene, xylene and heavy solvent
naphtha.

PHENOL:
 It is mainly used in plastic industry.
 In thermosetting resins made with formaldehyde.
 In pesticides preparation.
 Insecticides and pharmaceuticals.
 Dye stuffs and carpolactum for fibers.

NAPHTHALENE:
 Used in manufacturing of pthallic anhydride.

ANTHRACENE:
 It is purified to produce pure anthracene.
 It is used to produce carbozole and phenanthracene.

PITCH:
 Pitch cake.
 Industrial pitches.
 Road tar.
 Refined tar.

PARAMETERS:

TEMPERATURES:

Tar in decanters 75-80°c

Tar after first stage furnace 120-130°c
Tar after DTT 100°c
Vapors from first stage evaporator 105-110°c
Tar after II stage furnace 380-400°c
 Vapors after II stage evaporator‟s 300-330°c
Pitch after II stage evaporator 330-350°c
Distillation column top temperature 100°c

FLOW:

Tar in first stage 9-10 Nm3/hr

Tar in second stage 10 Nm3/hr

ANALYSIS:

Water content in I stage tar 5-6%

Water content in II stage tar <1%

PRESSURES:

Tar after I stage pump 2.3 kg/cm2

Tars after II stage pump 4.5 kg/cm2
CO gas before furnace >100 mm WC
I stage evaporator top 0.14-0.5 kg/cm2
I stage evaporator bottom 0.24-0.25 kg/cm2
II stage evaporator top 0.35 kg/cm2
II stage evaporator bottom 0.4 kg/cm2
Distillation column top 0.04-0.06 kg/cm2
Distillation column bottom 0.28-0.3 kg/cm2

PITCH COOLING AND LOADING AREA

Pitch is a mixture of resins and straight chain aromatic compounds
and oils. Pitch from the bottom of II stage evaporator is fed to the storage a
tank of PCLA by gravity mainly produces.

1. Pitch creosote mixture

2. Medium hard pitch
3. BF grade pitch

The main consumers are BALCO, NALCO, and INDALCO &

HINDALCO. This pitch is mainly used in manufacturing electrodes in
aluminum industries.
PITCH CRESOTE MIXTURE:

The pitch from TDS is stored in the storage tanks. The softening
point of this pitch is about 65-70°c. Anthracene oil, wash oil and pitch are
mixed in respective proportions in PCM tanks. Initially, anthracene and
wash oil are mixed in 1:1 ratio. The tank is filled up to 1.8m with this
mixture and the soft pitch is filled up to 4m heights. Then the mixture is
allowed to mix properly by keeping in continuous circulation through a
pump from bottom. This PCM is used as fuel in CRMP section, which
produces refraction bricks in VSP.

MEDIUM HARD PITCH:

The softening point of the soft pitch is 65-70°c. To increase the

softening point of the pitch up to 95-110°c the pitch is fed to a series of
reactors.

REACTORS:

Reactors are cylindrical vessels with conical bottom. A bubbler is

provided inside, which is fed with air at a pressure of 5 kg/cm2. An outlet
provided at the top removes the air injected. A cylindrical small vessel on
the top of the reactor is provided with baffles to remove any heavier particles
present in the vapors. The vapors mainly contain anthracene and wash oil
fractions.

PROCESS:

Initially the pitch at 360°c from TDS is fed to the middle of the
first reactor. Air is injected through the bubbler, which is provided with a
ring having small holes. As the air passes through the pitch, it entrains any
oil present in the pitch. The overflow from

the first reactor is fed to the second and similarly to the third. Aeration is
done in all the three reactors to increase the softening point up to 110 °c
depending on the requirement. Airflow to all the reactors increases up to
400°c. The MH pitch after obtaining the required softening point is fed from
the third reactor to electrode pitch tank. From ETP the tar is pumped to the
overhead tanks. All the ETP and overhead tanks are provided with steam
coils to keep the pitch in liquid state. The pitch from overhead tanks is
pumped to the bay, which is a large rectangular area where the pitch is
allowed for atmospheric cooling. After complete cooling the pitch in small
pieces is packed in bags.
The vapors from all the reactors and storage tanks contain some
entrained oil particles. The vapors are first condensed in a shell and tube
heat exchangers (water in tubes and vapors on shell side). The condensed
vapors are sent to the washer. In the washer, the vapors are scrubbed with
the light oils. The condensate collected called pitch distillates are fed to the
pitch distillate tank. The washer is provided with steam jet ejector at the top
to draw the oil free vapors and is let out to the atmosphere.

CHEMICAL PROCESS DURING ARERATION:

Pitch is a mixture of high polymers, straight chain organic

compounds and oils. Due to aeration and effective mixing in the reactor, the
polymer oil bond breaks and resin bonds progressively increase causing
softening point elevation. Due to effective agitation, new polymeric bonds
formation and bond breakage large amount of heat is evolved. This increase
in temperature leads to the formation of optically sensitive isomers i.e.
optical isomers; which causes the pitch increase in optical activity. The
increase in aeration in the reactor increases the softening point of pitch to
required levels and increases the porosity, which will effective the strength
and binding properties of the pitch. The aluminum industries require various
concentration of resin in the pitch, which plays main part in the bonding
property of pitch. Quinilene insoluble and benzene insoluble determine this.
BF GRADE PITCH:

BF grade pitch is used for preparation of BF mass for Blast

Furnace tapping. This requires high softening point of 170-180°c. So it is
prepared separately in fourth reactor. Initially, pitch from TDS is charged for
three and a half hours and air is injected through bubbler at the rate of 150
Nm3/hr for 10-12 hours. After softening point is attained to the bay by
gravity for cooling purpose.

PARAMETERS:

Pressure Temperature Air flow

(mm HG) (°C) (Nm3/hr)

Reactor 1 300 325 50

Reactor 2 310 330 80
Reactor 3 320 340 120
Reactor 4 ---- 280-330 150

NAPHTHALENE ANTHRACENE
FRACTION
CRYSTALLIZATION
Naphthalene fraction obtai3ned from the distillation column is 75-
80% pure. This is purified up to 99% in NAFC section. Crystallizing out
naphthalene from the melt obtained from TDP does this purification.

PROCESS:

Naphthalene oil from tar distillation plant at 70-80°C is pumped to

the overhead tanks of the NAFC section. The tanks are provided with steam
coils. The temperature of the naphthalene oil is maintained at 85-90°C. One
tank receives oil from TDS and the other from melting pot. The naphthalene
oil is then fed to the drum crystallizer.

DRUM CRYSTALLIZER:

Drum crystallizer is a hallow cylinder with ribbed surface over its

entire perimeter. The drum is rotated at a rpm of 0.3 by an electric motor and
reducer. The rotating drum is partially submerged in oil bath. Two jackets
are provided at the bottom of the drum one for naphthalene oil and the other
for hot water. The oil form the over head tank is fed to the oil jacket. Hot
water is circulated under the oil jacket to prevent the solidification of
naphthalene. Inlet and outlet to the service water is provided to the side of
the drum.
Service water is circulated inside the drum to cool the naphthalene
layer formed on the surface of the drum. Knifes are provided on the surface
of the drum to cut the layer formed on the drum. The flakes are then
collected in a screw conveyor and fed to the press mixer.
 Capacity 25T/hr4of fraction
Rotation per minute 0.3
Temperature of hot water in jacket 90-100°c
Cooling water temperature 18-20°c
Temperature of fraction in bath 80-90°c
Naphthalene temperature 60°c

HYDRAULIC PRESS:

It consists of a mixer and a press. Flakes from the conveyor are

fed to the mixer in which agitator mixes the crystals homogeneously. The
temperature in the mixer is maintained at 60-65°c by circulating hot water in
the jacket.

PRESS:

It consists of three filters mounted in a rotary table. This system is

operated by hydraulic pressure at a pressure of 160 kg/cm2. Oil is
compressed and fed to different parts of the press. The press consists of
squeezing device, pushing device and table stopper. Squeezing device is
provided with shift to compress the naphthalene into a cake. The filters are
at an angle of 120 ° to each other. The naphthalene mass from the mixer is
fed to the filter through the charging neck of the mixer the press is operated
by six operations.

CLAMPING:

The filter coincides with the axis of charging neck of the mixer.
The mixer discharges the feed into the filter. Then the table rotates.

SQUEEZING OR PRESSING:

After clamping the filter moves to the squeezing device. The

squeezing device consists of two cylinders, which compresses from top and
bottom with 160-180 kg/cm2 pressure. The oil present in the cake will be
separated from the holes provided in the filter. This is collected at the
bottom. Then the cake is formed.
PUSHOUT:

This operation is done after squeezing. a cylinder from the bottom

of the filter lifts the cake forward up.

PUSH OFF:

An arm like device pushes the cake into a chute. At this position,
the lifted cylinder is in the same position. Push out and push off operations
is done in the third position of the filter.

RETURN STROKE:
In this operation all the cylinders return to their original position.
TABLE ROTATION:
After all the cylinders reach to their original positions, the table
rotates so that the filter again comes to the first position i.e. charging
position. All these operations are done automatically by gear mechanism.
The temperature inside the filter is maintained by supplying steam. All these
six operations are completed in three & a half minutes.

The naphthalene cakes formed are conveyed to the jaw crushers.

The weight of the cake form is about 40 kgs and 98% pur4e. The jaw
crusher crushes the cakes and the crusher pieces are conveyed to the bagging
machine through a chain conveyor. Naphthalene bags weighting 50kg each
are stored in the godow.
PRESSED OIL:
The oil separated from the filter is further processed to recover
naphthalene present in the oil as the oil contains 60-65% naphthalene. This
pressed oil collected in the ground floor is pumped to the overhead tank.
This oil is processed in mechanical crystallizes.
MECHANICAL CRYSTALLIZERS:
These are horizontal cylindrical vessels with the shaft running
through the crystallizer. The shaft is a propeller type agitator, which is fixed
with a number of vanes. The shaft is run by a motor, which connected by a
gearbox. There is a provision for spraying of water on the drum. The water
is collected in the water jacket under the drum.
 The de-naphthalene oil from the overhead tank is fed to the
mechanical crystallizer. Half of the volume of the crystallizer is fed with the
DN oil. Due to slow and continuous agitation of the shaft, high retention
time and slow cooling the oil in the crystallizer thickness. Small nucleuses
of the crystals are formed and the oil forms as the slurry. Constant agitation
of the melt results in the breakage of weak small crystals originally formed
which then act as nucleus to new crystals. Cooling is done by natural
convention by atmosphere for 16 hours. After 16 hours of atmospheric
cooling, 8 hours water-cooling is done by spraying water on the drum. After
the completion of crystallization, the valve open and the slurry is transferred
to mixer through screw conveyor.

MIXER:
The slurry enters into the mixer through a filter, which filters any
suspended particles in the slurry. Mixer is a horizontal cylindrical drum
provided with agitator. Mixer acts as a storage drum as well as maintains the
uniform mixture by agitating the slurry. Then the slurry flows by gravity to
the centrifuge by controlling the valve.
CENTRIFUGE:
The centrifuge used in the NAFC is of basket type. It is a batch
wise centrifuge operating at a rate of 400 liters of naphthalene slurry per
batch. The retention time of each is 2 minutes. The centrifuge consists of a
basket rotated by a motor. Feed enters through a feed chute, which aids
provided with an automatic valve. There is a knife arrangement, which
collects the naphthalene powder into a basket type chute. The slurry is
discharged from the rotating basket tangentially through the holes arranged.
The centrifuge does three operations.
CHARGING:
During this period (20seconds) the material is fed into the basket
after a flow rate of 400 liters, the valve is closed.
DRYING:
The power is separated from the slurry and the basket is rotated
without slurry for about 1 minute. The naphthalene powder is allowed to dry
during this period.
DISCHARGE:
After the material is dried, the knife collects all the powder into a
chute that is fixed to the door.
The oil separated contains 40-60% of naphthalene. The soil is
again recycled till its concentration reaches below 30%. After this DB oil is
pumped to the tar and oil storage section. The naphthalene powder so
obtained is about 98-99% pure and this fed to the melting pot through a belt
conveyor.

MELTING POT:
This is a horizontal cylindrical drum, which consist of steam coils
inside it. LP steam is circulated in these coils. The naphthalene powder gets
melted due to high temperature and the liquid thus obtained is fed to the
main naphthalene friction overhead tank to increase the purity of the
naphthalene oil coming from the distillation section.

BENZOL PLANT
Benzol plant is provided in order to produce pure benzene,
toluene, and solvent naphtha. Benzol plant consists of three sections:

 Benzol distillation plant.

 Hydro refining unit.
 Extractive distillation unit.
Crude benzol recovered from the coke gas is fed to the benzol distillation
plant. Various chemicals in the benzol are recovered by distillation.

In the benzol distillation plant, the benzolised oil from final

absorption is pumped to the storage tanks of the benzol distillation. The BO
is then stripped of with steam to get the crude benzol and debenzolised oil.
This DBO is again pumped to the benzol recovery section. Makeup solar oil
is added continuously to compensate for the losses in the equipment. The
benzolised oil is initially pre-heated in three pre-heaters, which are shell and
tube heat exchangers. Pre heating is first done in oil dephelegmators, then
oil-oil heat exchanger and finally in steam pre heaters. The temperature is
slowly in order to prevent chemical decomposition of benziolised oil. The
temperature of the BO fed to the stripping column is about 130-135˚c.
 Tube side Shell side
Oil dephlegmator vapors of stripping column BO
Oil-oil exchangers DBO from stripping column BO
Steam pre-heaters medium pressure steam BO

STRIPPING COLUMN:

Pre-heated BO from the exchangers is fed to the 17th tray of the

stripping column. The column consists of bubble cap trays. Low pressure of
steam at a temperature of 180°c and 3.8kg/cm2 is injected through DBO at
the bottom of the column.

Crude benzol in the BO is recovered by steam distillation.

Steam distillation is done so that the partial pressure of the benzol decreases
and easily get vaporized. LP steam injected at the bottom not only maintains
temperature of the column but also decrease the partial pressure of the crude
benzol. The crude benzol vapors along with steam from the top of the
column are fed to the oil dephlegrmators. The DBO from the bottom in
which crude benzol is recovered is pumped to the decanter through oil-oil
heat exchangers.
The crude benzol vapors are partially condensed in the oil
dephlegmator. The partial condensation removes any higher fractions
present in the vapors which further increases the purity of the vapors. Three
sets of dephlegmator are provided, two sets for oil and one for water. The
vapors are cooled to 92-95°c in oil dephlegmator by pre-heating the

feed to the stripping column and further cooled to 84 °c in water

dephlegmator. The condensate collected in the heat exchanger is called
PHLEGMA. The phlegma from the exchangers, which contains water, is
collected in a separator. Water is separated and phlegma over flows to the
phlegma collecting tank from this tank phlegma is sent to stripping column
as reflux.

REGENERATOR:

The continuous circulation of DBO forms some polymer due to

heating and cooling. This polymer must be removed from the DBO by
regeneration. Regeneration is a hollow tank in which steam coils are
arranged MP steam is circulated through these coils. Part of the stripping
column is fed to the regenerator. Due to the pressure CB vapors are collected
at the top, which are in turn to the stripping column. The bottom liquid from
the regenerator is pumped out and stored in Crude and Finished Product
Storage.

Top temperature 110-115°c

Bottom temperature 120-130°c
No. of trays 23
Feed tray 17 th tray
Pressure in the column 0.3-0.35

CRUDE BENZOL COLUMN I:

The vapors containing crude benzol from the top of the stripping
column is fed to the crude benzol column I through water dephlegmator
where the crude benzol is separated to heavy crude benzol and light crude
benzol. Crude benzol mainly consists of LCB, HCB and polymer. Lighter
fractions like benzene, toluene, and xylene are present in LCB and HCB is
similar to that of heavy polymer, which is used as furnace oil.

The column consists of 16 bubble cap trays. Simple distillation is

carried out in this column. A reboiler provided at the bottom of the column
supplies the necessary heat. MP steam is used as heating media.

A CB vapor at a temperature of 80-85°c is fed to the 6 th tray of the

column. The lighter components are vaporized and these are collected at top
of the column, which are then condensed in a condenser by water. The
condensed vapors are then fed to the separator where the moisture present in
the vapors is separated and the LCB obtained is stored in CB1 tanks. Part of
the LCB is fed as reflux to the CB1 column. The bottom product obtained
from CB1 column is fed to the CB II.

Top temperature 70-80°c

Bottom temperature 115-120°c

CRUDE BENZOL COLUMN II:

CB II consists of 6 bubble cap trays. The bottom product of the

CB I which mainly contains HCB with small amount of LCB is fed to the
CB II column. To recover the LCB the liquid is to be distilled. The LCB
vapors obtained from the top of CB II is fed to the CB I column as reflux.
The bottom product obtained from the CB II is called as Heavy Crude
Benzol (HCB).
 Top temperature 120°C
Bottom temperature 140°C

DEBENZOLISED OIL:

The DBO from the bottom of the stripping column is pumped

through oil-oil heat exchanger to DBO cooler. In DBO cooler it is cooled to
45-50°C. Due to high temperature exposure, part of the solar oil may get
decomposed. This decreases the absorption efficiency of the solar oil. To
remove this decomposed matter DBO is fed to the decanter.

DECANTER:

It is a horizontal cylindrical tank unlike mechanical decanters

DBO is fed to the decanter at a temperature of 45-50°C. Small amount of
water is fed to the decanter which provides better removal of sludge or muck
form of oil. Water settles at the bottom carrying sludge with it. Muck or
sludge layer is formed the water layer. Oil layer is formed above the muck
layer. The residence time in the decanter is three to four hours. Water is
continuously drained from the decanter. Oil after 3-4 hours is fed to the
DBO tank. Muck from the decanter is drained and sent to the emulsion
beaker. Due to contact of oil, water and muck oil-water emulsions and
muck-water emulsions are formed. These emulsions float on the surface of
the water, which is fed to the emulsion beaker along with muck.

EMULSION BEAKER:

This is a horizontal cylindrical vessel provided with insulation.

Medium pressure steam is fed through a coil into the beaker. Residence time
for setting the oil, muck and water in the beaker is 2 hours. Due to heating of
emulsion, oil and water get separated which is called as De-emulsification.
Emulsion thus formed is broken and muck will float on water. This muck is
fed to the muck tank and the water is drained. The temperature inside the
beaker is 80-90°C.

HYDRO REFINING
 In this unit using hydrogen gas purifies the light crude benzol.
Hydrogen is recovered from coke oven gas and LCB from benzol distillation
plant.
LCB consists of benzene, toluene, xylene, solvent naphtha, non-
aromatics and residue. Initially, the LCB is purified from sulphur, non-
aromatics and other compounds. This consists the following sections. They
are,

 De-fronting section
 Reaction section
 Purification section

DE FRONTING SECTION:

In this section, carbon disulphide is removed from the crude

benzol and this is called as de-fronted crude benzol. LCB from the
storage tank is pumped to a surge tank, which is meant for intermediate
storage. The LCB from surge tank is pumped to the distillation column
through feed pre-heater. The feed enters the column at a rate of 3 T/hr
and at 70°c. Pressure in the column will be 0.5 kg/cm2. Sulphur content
in the feed is 2000-1800 ppm. This is decreased to about 1200 ppm in the
column.

Distillation column consists of 30 bubble cap trays of which 17th

tray is the feed tray. Steam is fed into the reboiler, which heats the
bottom product recycled to the column. The remaining bottom called de-
fronted crude benzol is fed to the reaction section through feed pre-
heater. The sulphur is removed in the form of CS2. Simple distillation is
carried out and due to heating CS2 vapors rise in the top and these are
condensed in a water condenser. Condensed CS2 is collected in CS2
vaporizer. Part of it is fed to the column as reflux and the other part is
stored. The DCB obtained is at 70°c and this is fed to the intermediate
storage.

Feed rate to the column 3T/hr

Pressure in the column 0.5 kg/cm2
Sulphur content in the feed 2000-1800 ppm
Sulphur content in DCB 1200 ppm
No. of bubble cap trays 30
 Boiling point of CS2 45
Temperature at the top of the column 55-65°c
Column bottom temperature 105°c.

REACTION SECTION:
This section consists of reactors and evaporators. Here the hydro
refining takes place in the reactors provided which removes the oxygen,
nitrogen and sulphur content in DCB.

PROCESS:

The de-fronted crude benzol is pumped to the de-fronted storage tank

(V-401) through a filter. The filter is provided to remove the solid particles
and polymers, which may be present in the crude benzol. The benzol filter is
an edge type filter and consists of a slotted tube inside a shell with a
specified filter fineness, which is determined by the slots and scrappers. This
is agitated by a hard crank.

The particles are retained at the edges of the slots and must be scrapped off.
If the pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet streams is too high
the concerned filter must be opened and cleaned. The filtered DCB is stored
in the surge drum (V-401). The drum is set to approximately two bars split
range controlled by feeding N2and venting gases. From surge drum, the
DCB is fed to pre-vaporizer at a pressure of 30 bars using 32 stage
centrifugal pumps.

PRE-VAPORIZER:

It is nothing but a vertically mounted shell and tube heat

exchanger. The feed is mixed with a part of cycle gas (containing H2
approximately 15% of the total gas) before it is fed to the vaporizer. This
feed is pre-vaporized to about 160-165°C by means of the main reactor
effluent passing through shell side. The feed at a temperature of 160-
165°C is fed to the third mixing nozzle of stage evaporator.

This vertical heat exchanger is provided with turbulence

promoters in the tube side to achieve high turbulence so that more heat
exchange will occur and no scale formation is attained. This arrangement is
provided as the feedstock is in partial vapor stage (gas-liquid stage) and so
fouling of the tubes will occur rapidly. This arrangement also provides easy
cleaning of tubes by simply pulling the turbulence promoters.
STAGE EVAPORATOR:

The stage evaporator is a long cylindrical vessel provided with

three stages, which are separated by two plates. Demister pads are provided
at the top of the evaporator. Each stage is provided with a mixing nozzle.
Two reboiler E-402 and E-403 are provided for second and first stage
respectively. A gas pre-heater E-404 is also provided in which the rectangle
gas (85% of the total gas) is pre-heated to 210°C by the main reactor
effluent. E-402 and E-403 are heated by hot oil through tubes at a
temperature of 250°C. Rectangle gas mixed with feed is passed through the
shell side.
Down comers are placed so that the liquid in the third stage will
enter the second and from second to first. Pressure inside is about
20kg/cmm.
The DCB mixed with 15% of rectangle gas is fed at the third
mixing nozzle of the evaporator. The vapors coming from the second stage
and the feed are mixed thoroughly and fed to the third stage. Lighter vapors
are passed through the demister pads and to the pre-reactor. The liquid
containing lighter and heavier substance is passed

through down comers to the second stage. Here the fed is mixed with the
vapors from first stage in the mixing nozzle II and heated in reboiler E-402.
This is fed to the top of the second stage.
Similarly liquid from second stage flows to first stage. This
liquid is pre-heated in E-403 and mixed with 85% of the rectangle gas in
first mixing nozzle and again fed to the first stage. The temperature at the
bottom of the evaporator is 210°C. Due to heating of the feed the vapors are
sent to the top and any residue or polymers in the feed are collected at the
bottom. Part of the liquid from the first stage is fed to the residue flash drum
(V-406) from where they are recycled to benzol distillation plant. The lighter
vapors from the flash drum are fed to the surge drum (V-401) nearly this
residue would be 3-4% if total feed.
The vaporization of feed (DCB) in the evaporator is done by
reduction of partial pressure of DCB, which is manipulated by addition of
the rectangle gas. This results in lower operating temperature even at higher
pressures. Vaporization of feed in heat exchanger should be avoided to
reduce fouling of surfaces.

PRE-REACTOR:
 The vapors from the top of the evaporator at 180°C are heated in a
heat exchanger E-406 to 190-225°C by passing main reactor effluent
through shell side. The reactor is provided with a bed of catalyst i.e.
NICKEL MOLYBDEBUM. In this pre-reactor such as diolefins, styrene and
CS2 are removed by hydrogenation. Feed enters from the bottom of the
reactors through catalyst bed. Hydrogenation of diolefins, styrene takes
place in the presence of catalyst.
The temperature at the inlet of the reactor is 190-225°C and this
depends on the life cycle of the catalyst. Due to the exothermic reaction the
outlet temperatures increases to 200-235°C. Due to continuous operation of
the catalyst bed coke like polymerization products deposit on the catalyst
bed resulting in the lower efficiency. This can be overcome by increasing the
inlet temperature of the reactor. Catalyst activity can be determined by the
temperature difference between inlet and outlet, which should be more than
10°C. Catalyst can be regenerated by heating the bed with steam and air.
The reactions in the pre-reactor are

Diolefins + H2 mono olefins

CnH2n-2 CnH2n

Cyclopentadiene + H2 cyclopentane
C5H6 C5H8

Styrene + H2 ethyl benzene

C8H8 C9H10

Carbon disulphide + H2 methane + H2S

CS2 CH4

MAIN REACTOR:

In main reactor treated pre-reactor effluent is hydrogenated on

special sulphide molybdenum catalyst. The main reactor consists of two
beds of catalyst makeup gas i.e. pure H2 gas from the compressor at pressure
of 18 bars provided more hydrogenation and hence complete saturation of
olefin hydrocarbons. The inlet temperature is about 270°C and the outlet
temperature is 330°C due to exothermic reaction. Mainly desulphurization,
densification and olefin saturation feed stock occurs in main reactor. The
hydrogen is fed through a distributor below first bed of catalyst oxygen
content in H2 gas should be very low so that no polymerization occurs in the
reactor. Hydrogenation of aromatics should be prevented. Catalyst
deactivation can be determined by the amount of thyophene content at the
outlet of the reactor. If this increases hydrogenation of aromatics, coke
formation increases. So the temperature of the reactor should be increased or
other regenerations should be done.

Main reactions are:

Mono olefins + H2 Paraffin

Ethyl mercaptans + H2 Ethane + H2S
Thyopene + H2 Butane + H2S
Coumarone + H2 Ethyl benzene + H2
Pyridine + H2 Pentene + H2
Pyridine + H2 Butane + H2
Benzene + H2 Cyclohexane
Toluene + H2 Methyl cyclo hexane

Hence required to maintain a heater to which part of the effluent is

passed, Heated and fed to the main reactor supplies the temperature. Coke
oven gas is used as fuel in the heater.
The effluent from the main reactor collected at the bottom, which
о
is at 330 c. This effluent is passed through E-407, E-406, E-404, E-401 and
finally cooled in water cooler E-408. This condenser effluent is fed to the
separator. Before water cooler hot water is dosed into the effluent. This
dissolves the deposits of salts such as NH4HS2 and NH4Cl. The cooled
effluent at 50 оc is fed to the separator. A water leg provided separates the
dosed water. The water free effluent is fed to the stripping column. The
gases i.e. un reacted hydrogen gas and other gasses are sucked by recycle
gas compressor and are recycled part of the gas is purged out through vent
provided.

HOT OIL SYSTEM:

The heat demand of the process is supplied by a separate hot oil

system. The hot oil is used as a heating medium for several heat exchangers
in hydro refining unit and extractive distillation unit. A horizontal furnace is
used to heat the oil; the furnace is fired using coke oven gas. Hot oil is
pumped in to the coils into the furnace. The temperature of
the oil increases to about 340-350 оc. The hot oil is pumped by P-404 pump.
The oil at temperature of 340 оc is fed to the HR unit by using another pump.
This is again recycled to the suction side of P-404.
PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION UNIT:

The required hydrogen gas to HR units is supplied from this

section. The clean coke oven gas after benzol recovery is fed to a filter at a
pressure of 800mm WC. Moisture and carbon particles present in the gas are
filtered and the filtered coke oven gas is fed to a reciprocating compressor,
which compresses the gas to about 2.5 kg/cm2. The compressed gas is again
fed to the other compressor where the pressure of the gas increases to 6.5
kg/cm2. The gas is then fed to another filter, which removes the moisture in
the gas. From the filter the gas is fed to the pressure swing adsorption unit. It
consists of 4 cylindrical vessels in a bed of molecular sieves is placed. The
coke oven gas is passed form the bottom of the bed and the molecular sieves
absorb the hydrogen present in the gas. The hydrogen thus collected is fed to
the make up gas compressor. The gas is passed through one catalyst bed
only. At this time, the remaining beds are in regeneration. This is because
catalyst for 180 seconds only. Then it has to be regenerated. This is done by
using pure H2 gas. The regeneration of then bed is done automatically.

The H2 gas is collected form the top of the bed and is fed to the
make up gas compressor. This is a vertical reciprocating compressor of
double stage. The H2 gas is compressed to about 30 bar. The recycle gas
from the gas separator is fed to the recycle gas compressor, which is a
horizontal single stage compressor.

PURIFICATION:

This section consists of a stripping column in which the sulphur

content as H2S and any dissolved gases in the DCB are removed.

PROCESS:

The liquid part from the separator is fed to the stripping column
through a pre-heater, which is heated by BTX solvent from the stripping
column. The fed at a temperature of 135 оc is fed to the column. The column
consists of sieve trays. Top temperature is 125-135 оc and bottom
temperature is 150 оc. Pressure is about 4.3 kg/cm2. Re boiler is provided
which supplies the required heat to the column. MP steam is fed to the shell
side of the re boiler. The gas from the column contains H2S. These are
condensed in the condenser where water issued. This condensate (70 оc) is
fed to the reflux drum. Part of the condensate is refluxed to the column.
Moisture present in the gas is removed from the water leg and the off gasses
are fed to the off gas mains.
 The bottom product called BTX solvent raffinate is passed
through the pre heater where it is cooled and finally raffinate is cooled in the
raffinate cooler which is cooled by water. This is stored in intermediate
storage.
EXTRACTIVE DISTILLATION UNIT
In this unit, the BTX raffinate is processed to separate benzene,
toluene and xylene solvent. Further benzene and toluene are also separated.
Using „Extractive Distillation‟ in which N-formylmoropholine (NFM) is
used as solvent does separation of BTX into BT and X. Non aromatic
compounds present in BTX are removed by pressure distillation solvent is
recovered in solvent recovery column. Benzene and toluene are separated in
BT separation column.
The total heat required for the unit is supplied from various means
pressure distillation receives heat from hot oil. Aromatic separation column
and solvent recovery column receives heat from the vapors of the pressure
distillation column. The BT column receives heat from the LP steam.

The unit consists of the following sections:

 Pressure distillation section

 Extractive distillation section
 Solvent recovery section
 Aromatic stripper
 BT separation section
 Xylene solvent section

PRESSURE DISTILLATION SECTION:

This section consists of a distillation column in which the BT & X

solvent are separated by simple distillation from reffinate.

PROCESS:

The BTX solvents raffinate from the IPS is pumped to the feed surge
drum (V-513). The drum is a horizontal tank provided with a vane and line
from reflux drum (V-501) that carries vapors to this drum. The BTX
solvents raffinate from the surge drum is pumped to pressure distillation
column through four heat exchangers I series E-502, E-503, E-504 & E-
505respectively. E-502 and E-505 are heated by bottom product i.e. Xs
fraction. E-503 and E-504 are heated by BT fraction. The column consists of
50 bubble cap trays of which 25th trays is the feed tray. Column pressure is
about 15 kg/cm2.

A re boiler is provided to the column through which hot oil passes

through shell side. These supplies the heat required for the column. The BT
vapors from the top of the column a collected in reflux drum before which
they are condensed in E-504 and E-509. This condensed BT fraction is
collected in reflux drum. Some of it is reflux to the column and the
remaining is passed to E-503 and cooled in BT condensed in E-501 by using
water.

EXTRACTIVE DISTILLATION COLUMN (C502):

The BT surplus is conveyed by steam pressure from V-501 via heat
exchangerE-503 and cooler E-501 as feed to extractive distillation column
C-502. The feed is introduced on the 31st tray at the middle of the column.
The N-formylropholine (NFM) solvent is introduced on the top tray of the
ED Column at the physically required conditions at the flow ratio of 56 kg
NFM per kg of feed at 92оc. The NFM temperature is regulated for the
achievement of the low level of aromatics in the non-aromatics.
ED column serves for the separation of non-aromatics contained in the
feed, which is not possible under normal distillation conditions. This means
that non-aromatics originally with boiling points higher than aromatics,
becomes low boiling non-aromatics which can be with drawn at the top of
the ED column while the aromatic substances dissolve in the NFM is yielded
at the bottom of the ED column.
ED column is supplied by the reboiler E-507 (LP Steam), E-508 (Hot
NFM) and partially via vapor heated reboiler E-509. The NFM at the top of
the column promotes the scrubbing of aromatics out of ascending vapors;
where as non –aromatic vapors are dissolved only to a slight extent.

ED column trays 60-bubble cap

Feed plate 31 tray
Top temperature 110оc
Bottom temperature 150 оc
Top pressure 0.8kg/cm2
Bottom pressure 0.4kg/cm2

SOLVENT RECOVERY COLUMN:

The column is used for separation of non- aromatics yielded at the top
of ED column from the residual carried over solvent contents. For this
purpose the top vapor of the ED column are fed at the point below at the pall
rings packing in the column. Bottom heating to the column is affected using
reboilerE-510, also by means of hot NFM from the solvent circulation. The
top phase in the column, consisting principally of non-aromatics is
condensed in condenser E-511 and the liquid phase yielded is routed to the
reflux vessel V-502. A portion of the non-aromatics is routed as reflux to the
column. While bottom product is discharged through a level controller to
CFPS.
NFM recovered at the bottom of the column is returned to the ED
column. The solvent recovery column minimizes the NFM losses by means
of extensive recalculation of NFM flow inevitably leaving the top of the
extraction column. The basic difference as compared to the normal
hydrocarbon distillation and ED column is that its bottom section must be
operated in the phase occurs in V-509. The bottom contains large quantities
of non-aromatics due to the reflux required for scrubbing. In contrast to an
ED column, the recovery column is operated under normal circumstances
with a two-phase bottom product.

Packing Pall rings

Bottom pressure 0.25 kg/cm2
Top pressure 0.2 kg/cm2
Top temperature 100оc
Bottom temperature 125 оc

STRIPPING COLUMN:

The product yielded at the bottom of the ED column consists of NFM

in which the extracted aromatic substances are dissolved. The non-aromatic
content will be in low PPM due to the existing pressure drop. This flow is
conveyed into the aromatics column, which is operated under vacuum. In
this column the pure aromatics are separated from the NFM, which is
yielded as the bottom product and cooled in the heat exchanger system of the
equipment prior to be being returned to the ED column.

Before feeding NFM to the ED column, it is passed through the following

equipment:

1. Center re boiler E-508 on ED column C-502.

2. Re boiler E-512 on solvent recovery column.
3. NFM re boiler E-514 on the stripper column
and then fed to the ED column.
Solvent cooler E-522 serves as a trim cooler for NFM. The bottom of
the stripper column is heated by means of the two continuous re boilers E-
512 and E-513, which are heated by BT vapors and E-514 heated by means
of NFM.
The reflux to the stripping column serves to remove the solvent in the
lower section of the column. The vapor liquid mixture discharges from the re
boiler E-514 is fed below the chimney tray in the stripping column. Traces
of the solvent flash are washed back by the aromatics reflux and directed
into the lower part of the column.

Total trays 30
Feed tray 5 th
Top temperature 56 оc
Bottom temperature 119 оc
Pressure 0.36-kg/cm3 vacuums

BENZENE TOLUENE SEPERATION COLUMN:

BT separator is a normal two-phase distillation for pure aromatics.
The BT fraction is routed using a reflux pump from reflux drum via
exchanger E-517 to separation column C-505. The heat required for
distillation is supplied to the system via re boilers E-518 by means of LP
steam. Overheads are pure benzene, bottom are pure toluene as specified.

Total trays 65 Bubble cap

Feed tray 30 th
Pressure 1.2 bars
Benzene purity 99.97%
Toluene purity 99.95%