Once the vapors leave the distillation column they are condensed into a liquid and delivered to the flash drum. In the flash drum all of the undesirable light-end vapors are removed from the condensed fuel product. The removal of unwanted fractions makes for a cleaner more stable fuel product. The flash drum is also used to control fuel flashpoint and can be manipulated to provide a wide variety of flashpoints to suit individual customer needs. When the fuel leaves the flash drum it is ready to enter the final polishing phase of the process where all the color bodies are removed and the fuel stabilization qualities are achieved.
Fuel is held in a temporary holding tank where it is split into two streams.
The first stream, the final product stream is delivered to the polishing and stabilization process. The second smaller stream, the reflux stream is redirected to the top of the distillation process as previously mentioned. The polishing and stabilization process is basically a vessel under pressure were hydrogen is injected into the fuel stream at the desired temperature and in the presence of a catalyst. Another advantage is the opportunity to process certain waste streams, such as PCB laden oils and transformer oils, which are an expensive disposal problem. Copyright 1999, Green Oasis Environmental, Inc.