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Vapor Recovery Units

Vapor recovery units (VRUs) help minimize hydrocarbon vapor losses from crude oil and product storage. VRUs collect vapors during storage and loading, reliquefy them, and return liquids to storage. Careful design of storage tanks considers vapor pressure, temperature, toxicity, and includes floating roof tanks, variable vapor space tanks, and pressure storage tanks. VRUs also help meet environmental standards by collecting vapors from fixed-roof tanks and reducing breathing, filling, emptying, standing, and boiling losses.

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Jagdish annaya
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173 views13 pages

Vapor Recovery Units

Vapor recovery units (VRUs) help minimize hydrocarbon vapor losses from crude oil and product storage. VRUs collect vapors during storage and loading, reliquefy them, and return liquids to storage. Careful design of storage tanks considers vapor pressure, temperature, toxicity, and includes floating roof tanks, variable vapor space tanks, and pressure storage tanks. VRUs also help meet environmental standards by collecting vapors from fixed-roof tanks and reducing breathing, filling, emptying, standing, and boiling losses.

Uploaded by

Jagdish annaya
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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VAPOR RECOVERY UNITS

• The loss of hydrocarbon vapors formed above


crude oil or its products— when stored—
could be minimized using is called vapor
recovery units (VRUs).
• what will happen if we loose these vapors?
• loss of income due to loss of hydrocarbon
volume and change in the API of the oil.
• Leads to environmental problems
• The three main functions for the vapor recovery system are:
• To collect vapor from storage/loading facilities
• To reliquefy vapors
• To return liquid hydrocarbons to storage
STORAGE TANKS
• The design of storage tanks for crude oil and
petroleum products requires, careful
consideration of the following important
factors:
• The vapor pressure of the materials to be
stored.
• The storage temperature and pressure.
• Toxicity of the petroleum material.
Types of storage tanks
• Floating roof
• Variable vapor space
• Pressure storage
Sizing of storage tanks
To meet environmental considerations
• The use of floating-roof tanks for petroleum
materials with a vapor pressure of 1.12–11.5
psia (at the storage temperature)

• Using fixed-roof tanks along with the VRU


system .
‘‘breather’’ system
• During the day, when the temperature rises and
vaporization of the hydrocarbons occur, excess
vapors can be released and collected by the VRU.
• At night, when the vapors cool and condensation
takes place leading to partial vacuum, vapors
from the VRU will be admitted into the tanks.
• While pumping in and pumping out liquids to
and from the storage tanks, vapors could be
vented, [i.e., collected and drawn in, respectively,
by a breather system (VRU)].
Types of Storage Loss
• Working losses
• (a) Filling
• (b) Emptying
Other losses
• (a) Breathing
• (b) Standing
• (c) Boiling
Filling losses
• Filling losses occur when vapors are expelled
from a tank as it is filled, no matter how the
vapors are produced.
• This loss occurs when the pressure inside the
tank exceeds the relief-valve pressure.
• For API tanks, the relief pressure is low and,
therefore, filling losses can be relatively high.
Emptying losses
• Emptying losses are experienced by the vapors that are
expelled from a tank after the liquid is removed from
it.
• Due to vaporization lags behind the expansion of the
vapor space during withdrawal, the partial pressure of
a hydrocarbon vapor drops.
• Enough air enters during the withdrawal to maintain
the total pressure at the barometric value.
• However, when vaporization into the new air reaches
equilibrium, the increase in the vapor volume will
cause some vapor expansion.
Breathing losses
• Breathing losses occur when vapors are expelled from
a tank under one of the following conditions:
• 1. The thermal expansion of the existing vapors
• 2. An expansion caused by barometric pressure
changes
• 3. An increase in the amount of vapors from added
vaporization in the absence of a liquid level change
• Breathing losses take place in most types of tanks and
occurs when the tank’s limits of pressure or volume
changes are exceeded.
Standing losses & Boiling losses
• Standing losses are losses of vapor which result
from causes other than breathing or a change in
liquid level in tanks. Sources of standing losses
are vapor escape from hatches or other openings
and from glands, valves, and fittings.
• Boiling losses occur when liquid boils in a tank
and vapors are expelled. In other words, the
vapor pressure of the liquid exceeds the
surrounding pressure.

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