METHOD OF CONDENSING VAPOURS OF OIL PRODUCTS Russian patent published in 2017 - IPC B01D5/00 F25J3/00 

FIELD: oil and gas industry.

SUBSTANCE: method of condensing vapours of oil products involves the evacuation of hydrocarbon vapors from the storage tank of oil products, their cooling and condensation, the collection of condensate formed in the intermediate collector, the separation of water from liquid hydrocarbons, and the return of liquid hydrocarbons to the storage tank. A vapour compression heat pump is used in this method, which comprises a compressor, a condenser, a thermostatic expansion valve and a two-section evaporator, the operating and protection sections of which alternately operate in the condensing and regeneration modes, correspondingly. Hydrocarbon vapours from the storage tank are led to an evaporator section operating in a condensation mode, the water contained therein is condensed on the heat exchange surface in the form of an ice crust by recuperative heat exchange with a boiling refrigerant, and the condensed liquid oil product separated from the water is led to the intermediate collector to be returned to the oil product storage tank. The condensing heat of the refrigerant in the condenser of the heat pump is used to heat the intermediate heat carrier by means of recuperative heat exchange. The intermediate heat carrier heated in the condenser is divided into two streams, one of which is fed to the evaporator section operating in the regeneration mode to defrost the ice crust, and the second stream is fed to the wasteheat exchanger; the streams of the waste intermediate heat carrier and the wasteheat exchanger are combined after the evaporator section operating in the regeneration mode and are returned to the condenser in the closed cycle mode. The water formed during the defrost of the ice crust together with the water, containing traces of hydrocarbons, from the intermediate collector is preheated in the wasteheat exchanger and directed to the biological treatment stage.

EFFECT: increasing the energy efficiency of the process of continuous condensation of vapour mixture containing vapours of oil products and water, creating an explosion-safe, environmentally clear and economically profitable technology for storing oil products.

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