Validation of Diesel Fraction Content in Heavy Oils Measured by High Temperature Simulated Distillation and Physical Vacuum Distillation by Performance of Commercial Distillation Test and Process Simulation

A gas chromatography high temperature simulation distillation (HTSD: ASTM D 7169), and physical vacuum distillation (ASTM D 1160) were employed to characterize H-Oil vacuum distillates, straight run vacuum distillates, and hydrotreated vacuum distillates with the aim to determine their content of diesel fraction and evaluate the possible higher extraction of diesel fraction from the heavy oils. The ASTM D 7169 reported about six times as high diesel fraction content in H-Oil heavy distillates as that reported by the ASTM D 1160 method. Performing a commercial distillation column test along with a simulation of the column operation using data of both ASTM methods and a software process simulator revealed that the HTSD is the more valid method for proper determination of the diesel fraction content in heavy oils. The software process simulation of the commercial distillation column operation suggests that the HTSD could be considered as a true boiling point distillation method for heavy oils. The separation of the diesel fraction from the H-Oil heavy distillates quantified by the HTSD could deliver oil refining profit improvement in the amount of six digits USD per year.

Automated summary

This study employed HTSD and physical vacuum distillation methods to characterize different vacuum distillates and found that HTSD method is suitable for accurately determining the diesel fraction content in heavy oils. The extraction of diesel fraction from H-Oil heavy distillates using HTSD could lead to oil refining profit improvement in the amount of six digits USD per year.