Diesel fuel is produced in refineries using special technological processes: primary and secondary processing of oil, as well as compounding (blending).
Primary processing is required to separate oil into individual fractions that have different boiling points.
Technically, this process is performed in special distillation columns. One of the results of primary distillation are diesel fractions that are then used in diesel fuel production.
Secondary distillation is necessary to change the structure of hydrocarbons and chemical composition of oil. Cracking is the main method which is the basis of secondary distillation. It allows to split large molecules into smaller molecules. There is thermal cracking, catalytic cracking and hydrocracking.
In thermal cracking, molecule breakdown occurs under the influence of high temperature without the use of catalysts. Implementation of catalytic cracking requires catalysts, hydrocracking requires catalysts and hydrogen.
The resulting oil contains a lot of sulfur, which is removed by hydrotreatment.
Comparison of primary and secondary processing shows that secondary processing is characterized by a more complex and lengthy process, as well as higher cost. But it is impossible to give up these processes, as they not only increase the yield of commercial fuel, but also significantly improve its quality.
The next stage of diesel fuel production is compounding. It is the mixing of the products obtained in the previous stages with additives. Compounding is the final step in the production of diesel fuel, and it forms the quality of the final product which goes to the consumer. GlobeCore USB-type plants are used for compounding.
When using ordinary methods of blending, fuel tends to break down into separate component.
The feature of the proposed equipment is that the use of injection method and hydrodynamic shock can increase cetane number of diesel fuel. Also, separation of the product does not occur for at least 180 days.
Modern hydrodynamic (inline) mixing plants have proven themselves in industrial use as cost-effective, accurate and sustainable means of production of high-quality diesel fuel with optimum cost.
The achievable cost savings and improvement of profitability, compared to conventional technology of components mixing in blender tanks, can accelerate the return on investment up to 60% per year and provide a return on a project for a period of one year or less.
Hydrodynamic mixer uses the mixing process which allows to simultaneously feed all the components in a predetermined ratio to a common mixing header, which supplies the finished product to a storage tank.
The advantages of this technology include precise control of each component dispensing, significant reduction in mixing cycle duration and avoiding the use of mixing tanks to ensure homogenization of the final product.
During the mixing process in an inline mixer, the flow rate of each component is continuously adjusted to ensure that the final product that comes out of a mixing header has stable quality indicators according to a predetermined formulation.