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An improved characterization method for petroleum fractions
Author(s) -
Jabr N.,
Alatiqi I. M.,
Fahim M. A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450700421
Subject(s) - naphtha , characterization (materials science) , boiling point , process engineering , sensitivity (control systems) , viscosity , molar mass , materials science , thermodynamics , computer science , chemistry , polymer , engineering , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , electronic engineering , nanotechnology , catalysis
An improved characterization of naphtha can be obtained by assuming representative chemical components for each cut and utilizing an empirical model to predict the physical and thermodynamic properties such as critical properties, molar mass, refractive index, enthalpy of vaporization, viscosity, etc. The improved model for feed characterization utilizes a multivariable constraint optimization technique in order to arrive at the properties of the blend. It was found that this model does improve the accuracy of prediction. An application is presented for a naphtha blending system and a naphtha debutanizer. The sensitivity of the column simulation to the developed feed characterization method has been investigated by digital simulation. With the boiling point model, large deviations from the actual column performance data have been observed while a farily good match has been obtained with the improved model.