(187f) Superfractionator Tower Internals Designs for Megacrackers

This paper will review the current state of the art in large superfractionator distillation tray designs. Koch-Glitsch has specific experience of designing very large diameter fractionation trays for olefins plants for more than 40 years. We will detail some of the process and mechanical design improvements that have been implemented in these designs and successfully in operation in a few splitters. The current technologies are readily scalable to the next generation of even larger megacrackers that will require an evolution of the current distillation technology rather than a complete revolution. We will also examine potential revamp paths for future incremental capacity increases of today’s largest crackers.