A novel design for vapor recovery units

This paper describes a novel design for vapor recovery units (VRU). This de sign, compared to the widely used prevailing process - 'double column' proc ess, can obtain the total profit increase of 1 326 160 USD per year with th e same feed and product specifications based on the FCCU capacity of 1 200 000 tons/yr. The net profit increase caused by the utility savings and the product recovery rate enhancements are 478 080 and 848 080 USD year, respec tively. It has the following features: the two recycle streams in the exist ing VRU are eliminated; a complex distillation column - the oil absorption deethanizer is used to replace the original absorber and stripper; the heat exchanger network is rearranged and optimized; the configuration of the no vel VRU is quite simple compared with the existing VRU; the capital cost fo r the novel design is lower than that for the existing VRU. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.