Oil Refinery Structures Page 1

 Fuel  Pumps can be added to the Maintenance Platform to add some action to  the railroad track-side structure! The fuel pump consists of rounded  pump tank, a rectangular pump electrical housing and a hose assembly  that swivels. The pump measure approximately 3/4 inch (W) x 1 3/4 inch  (L) x 2 3/4 inch (H). The standard color is dull nickel. Other colors  are available - just ask! The O Scale pump has been redesigned. There is  now an electrical conduit box on the backside of the pump electrical  housing. The pump swivel has been redesigned to rotate at two points. 

 Heat Exchangers or Condensers in conjunction with Accumulators (Reflux  Drums) are typically found connected to the top product piping of  distillation (fractionating) towers. The product first flows through a  set of heat exchangers for cooling then through an accumulator or reflux  drum to hold the condensed vapor from the top of the column so that  liquid (reflux) can be recycled back to the column or product moved  upstream for further processing. For final product filters are added to  remove any remaining residue. 

The refinery’s first job is to remove water and salt from the crude oil. These contaminants are of no use to the refinery. Raw crude oil is pumped from storage tanks to the desalting tank where the process takes place. Salt is dissolved in the water in the crude oil, not in the crude oil itself and since water does not mix with crude oil the process is fairly simple to perform.  Model Structures Desalting tank is 7 inches long and 2 ½ inches in  diameter. There is a single inlet pipe for crude oil going to the top of  the tank and an outlet at the bottom for desalted crude to use as  feed-stock for the crude oil furnace. A smaller blue pipe exiting the bottom of the tank carries waste water (brine) to be disposed of. The green piping is for waste gas that is sent for further processing. The small yellow pipe is for sand. A power transformer sits on top of the  tank.  

Depending on the product specifications, one, two, or three stages of desalting may be required to satisfy the process design requirements. This two-stage desalting system design has dilution water recycling  capability. Fresh water is injected upstream of the 2nd stage. The water removed from the 2nd stage is pumped back to the 1st stage to extract the salt in the crude inlet of the 1st desalter. The addition of this recycle reduces the dilution water requirement compared to a single-stage dehydrator and desalter system. 

The crude oil furnace is usually set between a desalting tank and the  first distillation tower. The purpose of this furnace is to heat desalted crude oil to about 400-600C to prepare it for delivery to the  distillation process. Smaller versions of this furnace can also be seen downstream in the refinery process to heat treated oil for other  processing such as hydro-cracking, alkylation, further distillation etc.  The crude oil furnace stands about 18 inches tall and has an  approximate 5 x 5 inch footprint. There are two smaller pipes beneath the structure for delivery of air and gas for heating. Crude oil enters the furnace from the top convection unit and flows down and exits from the lower portion of the radiant heater box. There is a maintenance platform on the main radiant furnace box with a secondary platform leading to the stack. This secondary platform will also act as a  crosswalk to connect to another furnace if desired. 

The crude oil furnace is usually set between a desalting tank and the  first distillation tower. The purpose of this furnace is to heat desalted crude oil to about 400-600C to prepare it for delivery to the  distillation process. Smaller versions of this furnace can also be seen  downstream in the refinery process to heat treated oil for other  processing such as hydro-cracking, alkylation, further distillation etc.  The crude oil furnace stands about 19 inches tall and has an  approximate 5 x 5 inch footprint. Crude oil enters the furnace from the top convection unit and flows down and exits from underneath the platform. There is one small pipe for delivery of gas to heat the  furnace. There is a maintenance platform on the main radiant furnace box with a secondary platform leading to the stack. This secondary platform  will also act as a crosswalk to connect to another furnace if desired. 

The various components of crude oil have different sizes, weights and  boiling temperatures; so, the first step is to separate these  components. Because they have different boiling temperatures, they can be separated easily by a process called fractional distillation. An Atmospheric distillation tower distills crude oil into fractions. The collected liquid fractions may either pass to condensers, which cool  them further, and then go to storage tanks or go to other areas for  further chemical processing. There are usually heavy residue left over  after atmospheric distillation. These residues are sent to a Vacuum distillation tower which further distills the 'residual bottoms' for more product. Model  Structures offers four distillation tower models - three atmospheric  and one vacuum model. All towers have one inlet pipe at ground level. 

The Large Atmospheric  Distillation Tower is about 17 inches high with a 2 1/2 inch diameter. It has three platforms and five pipes. 

The standard design has all piping ending at the bottom of the tower. The design of the distillation towers have been improved. There are now more platforms / piping etc and a more realistic look. 

Custom routing of piping is available for multiple product purchase.