Crude Distillation Unit Design Process Engineering Review

Crude Distillation Unit Design Process Engineering Review

A modular design and fabrication company based in Canada contracted Process Engineering International (PROCESS) to provide a refinery Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) “cold eyes” third-party independent design review to help identify design gaps or issues.  

Items considered included control philosophy, startup issues, and general best practices around CDU design. Specific items reviewed included:

  • Preheat Train

  • Desalter

  • Flash Drum

  • Furnace Heater

  • Crude Column

  • Distillate Stripper

  • Stabilizer

  • Heat and Mass Balance

  • Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs)

  • Residence Times

  • Reflux Drum

  • Start-Up.

Numerous recommendations were made to improve the design.  As a result of this design review, PROCESS was invited to participate in HAZOP safety review of the CDU design which took place at the client’s site in Canada.