Systems and methods for purging an isolation valve with a liquid purge medium
A system and method for purging a bottom slurry circuit isolation valve using hydrocarbons.
1 . A method of purging an isolation valve comprising:
distilling an oil feedstock into different hydrocarbon fractions using a fractionation tower, the fractionation tower comprising a bottom slurry circuit;
controlling the flow of bottom slurry through the bottom slurry circuit with an isolation valve, wherein the isolation valve is purged using a liquid purge medium created in the fractionation tower.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid purge medium comprises hydrocarbons.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid purge medium comprises a light cycle oil fraction produced by the fractionation tower.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid purge medium comprises a medium cycle oil fraction produced by the fractionation tower.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid purge medium comprises a heavy cycle oil fraction produced by the fractionation tower.
6 . A method for reducing cavitation in a slurry line of a fractionation system comprising:
purging an isolation valve controlling flow of a process fluid through the slurry line with a liquid purge medium derived from a fractionation tower associated with the slurry line.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the purge medium comprises a hydrocarbon fraction produced by the fractionation tower.
8 . The method of claim 6 further comprising maintaining the liquid purge medium at a pressure greater than a pressure of the process fluid flowing through the slurry line.