(156b) Innovation in Spray Technology- Ultra Low Entrainment Sprays for Vdu Wash Beds

Excessive entrainment of liquid gas oil droplets in the wash section of a vacuum distillation column can lead to critical process reliability issues and distillate purity issues. Extensive droplet testing shows that entrainment can be reduced by using a new spray nozzle technology designed to generate coarser diameter droplets, ensuring a larger percentage of wash oil makes it to its intended target of wash-bed packing. Extensive testing shows that a new spray nozzle technology (Lechler SMDmax^TM) can produce a much more favorable spectrum of droplets in comparison to traditional maximum free passage style spray nozzles. This favorable spectrum of droplets can be correlated to a significant reduction in entrainment from a spray header in counter current flow. This presentation focuses on the use of this new spray nozzle technology in distillation applications; however, these process benefits can also be realized in many other entrainment-sensitive spray applications.