Steady-state and dynamic control of hydrocracking tail oil distillation process for high-valued products

The maximum utilization of hydrocracking tail oil becomes increasingly important for petrochemical industry. The aim of this work is to develop optimized distillation processes to achieve various high-valued qualified oil products from hydrocracking tail oil. Six different oil products is produced and the steady-state distillation process, which aims to fractionate six qualified narrow distillates is established. The algorithm method incorporating divided-wall column (DWC) configuration was introduced into the steady-state design. Compared with traditional separation sequences, the DWC configuration leads to an energy-saving potential up to 11.17%. Furthermore, effective dynamic control strategies were proposed, demonstrating precise and efficient control performance. In the presence of a 15% feed disturbance, the dynamic control structure is capable of maintaining the product distillation range near the set value. This comprehensive study provides a thorough investigation into the efficient utilization of hydrocracking tail oil, establishing a robust theoretical foundation for its industrial application.