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(OIP-2021) Internship Report on Petroleum Refinery Engineering

Technical Report · May 2021

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 OSIP-2021
Online Internship Programme (OIP-2021)
Internship Report
On

Petroleum Refinery Engineering

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the mandatory Internship training programme

Submitted by:

Rishav Saraswat
Department of Chemical Engineering
Madhav Institute of Technology and Science, Gwalior

13rd February to 31st March, 2021

Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE)

Dr. H. L. Roy Building, Jadavpur University Campus,
188 Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick Road, Kolkata 700 032
www.iiche.org.in / [email protected]

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Certificate from the IIChE

This is to certify that Mr. Rishav Saraswat from Madhav Institute of Technology and

Science, Gwalior has successfully completed online summer internship programme in our

organization. The matter embodied in this report is a genuine to the best of our knowledge

and belief and has not been submitted before, neither to this Institute nor to any other

organization for the fulfilment of the requirement of any course of study. During his

internship tenure in IIChE, we found him as a hard working, sincere, and diligent person and

his behaviour and conduct was good. We wish him all the best for his future endeavour.

This project report is required to validate with original certificate of completion.

Convener, OSIP-2021

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my deepest gratitude towards Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers
(IIChE) for providing me the opportunity to become a part of the Online Summer Internship
Programme , 2021 and for giving me a platform to learn about Petroleum Refinery
Engineering as well as many aspects and areas of Chemical Engineering. The internship not
only enhanced my knowledge but also helped me to relate the subject in accordance to the
industries and made me get a closer look at it. It was a very engaging and meaningful
learning opputunity for me and I, hereby, thank my couse instructor and guide, Mr.
Kisalay Kumar , who not only presented the subject in a very interactive manner but also
cleared our doubts effectively.

Finally, I would like to thank all the respected aurthorities of IIChE as well as the esteemed
webinar guest speakers for providing such a beneficial insight in the area of Chemical
Engineering.

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 Preface

Objectives of Online Internship Program

 Assist the student's development of employer-valued skills such as teamwork,

communications and attention to learn Engineer’s responsibilities and ethics.
 Enhance and/or expand the student's knowledge of a particular area(s) of skill.
 Expose the student to professional role models or mentors who will provide the
student with support in the early stages of the internship and provide an example of
the behaviours expected in the intern's workplace.
 To familiarize with various materials, processes, products and their applications along
with relevant aspects of technology and troubleshooting.
 To gain experience in writing technical report/project.

Course Outcome
 The basic idea of different real life industrial problems, trouble shooting, decision
making and preventive maintenance techniques and professional culture of industry,
work ethics and attitudes in industry. The different live situation, trouble shooting and
modern technological application.
 Course materials to be provided to the students for reference (in PDF format). The
study material will be shared with the students through IIChE for its record.
 Assignment will be given for the solution / conceptual idea and which may be
discussed during the tutorial class.
 Mini project will be given for developing their analytical ability which helps them to
realize the value of practical training.
 Importance will be given on the application of modern tools for the industrial
automation / up-gradation / scale-up.
 Conceptual theory for the regular class room discussion and its application is real-life
industrial problem resolution.
 Case studies based on real life application.

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Content

 Introduction

 Discussion on different industrial application

 Case study analysis

 Research and development

 Summary

 Appendix: All assignments

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1. Introduction: Overview of the Industry
Petroleum and derivatives such as asphalt have been known and used for almost 6000 years
and there is evidence of use of asphalt in building more than 600 years ago. Modern
petroleum refining began in 1859 with discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania and
subsequent commercialization.

Oil and gas production includes exploration, drilling, extraction, stabilization. The
underground traps of oil and gas are called reservoir. Various types of traps are structural
traps, stratigraphic traps and combination traps Most reservoir contain water also along with
oil and gas. Reserves are classified as proven, probable and possible reserves. Earlier finding
of oil and gas was matter of luck and hit and miss process.

COMPOSITION OF PETROLEUM (CRUDE OIL):-

Petroleum (Crude oil) consists of mainly carbon (83-87%) and hydrogen (12-14%) having
complex hydrocarbon mixture like paraffins, naphthenes, aromatic hydrocarbons, gaseous
hydrocarbons (from CH4 to C4H10). Besides crude oil also contains small amount of non
hydrocarbons (sulphur compounds, nitrogen compounds, oxygen compounds) and minerals
heavier crudes contains higher sulphur.

Depending on predominance of hydrocarbons, petroleum is classified as paraffin base,

intermediate base or naphthenic base-

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REFINERY PROCESSES:-
Refining of crude oils or petroleum essentially consists of primary separation processes
and secondary conversion processes. The petroleum refining process is the separation of
the different hydrocarbons present in the crude oil into useful fractions and the
conversion of some of the hydrocarbons into products having higher quality
performance. Atmospheric and vacuum distillation of crude oils is the main primary
separation processes producing various straight run products, e.g., gasoline to lube
oils/vacuum gas oils (VGO). These products, particularly the light and middle distillates,
i.e., gasoline, kerosene and diesel are more in demand than their direct availability from
crude oils, all over the world. The typical refinery operation involves separation
processes, conversion processes, finishing processes, environmental protection
processes.

SEPARATION PROCESSES
 Distillation
 Absorption
 Extraction
 Crystallisation
 Adsorption

PRIMARY DISTILATION (Atmospheric Distillation)

 Refinery gases
 Liquefied petroleum gases

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 Gasolines or naphtha (light/heavy)
 Kerosene, lamp oil jet fuel
 Diesel oil and domestic heating oils
 Heavy Industrial fuels

SECONDARY DISLLATION (Vacuum Distillation)

 Light Distillate
 Middle distillate
 Heavy distillate
 Asphalt/bitumen

CONVERSION PROCESSES
Process for Improvement of Properties

 Catalytic reforming
 Isomerisation
 Alkylation

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Figure: Typical Refinery Processes and Products

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Thermal processes:

 Visbreaking
 Coking

Catalytic Processes
 Catalytic cracking(FCC)
 Hydrocracking
 Steam reforming
 Hydroconversion

FINISHING PROCESSES
 Hydrotreatment/hydrogenation
 Sweetening

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROCESSES

 Acid gas processing
 Stack gas processing
 Waste water treatment process

TYPES OF PETROLEUM REFINING PROCESSES

PRIMARY PROCESSES: Separating crude into its various fractions e.g. CDU/VDU

SECONDARY PROCESSES: Processing residues from primary processes and upgrading

themto distillates e.g. FCCU, HCU

RESIDUE UPGRADATION PROCESSES: Bottom of the barrel upgradation eg.

RFCCU,DCU, DCC

FINISHING/ PRODUCT QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROCESSES: Processes to

improve product quality and meet stringent product quality specifications eg. DHDS, DHDT, CRU.

MAXIMIZING VALUE ADDITION TO REFINERY STREAMS:-

For a refinery to be successful today, it has to be integrated with petrochemical to
benefit from better realization from value added products and to mitigate the effect of
volatile oil process and highly competitive refining business. Some of the streams which

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can maximize value addition to the refinery is given-

Table: Maximizing Value Addition to Refinery Streams

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2. Discussion on different industrial application
Refining of crude oils or petroleum essentially consists of primary separation processes and
secondary conversion processes. The petroleum refining process is the separation of the
different hydrocarbons present in the crude oil into useful fractions and the conversion of
some of the hydrocarbons into products having higher quality performance. Atmospheric and
vacuum distillation of crude oils is the main primary separation processes producing various
straight run products, e.g., gasoline to lube oils/vacuum gas oils (VGO).

PRETREATMENT OF CRUDE OILS

Crude oil comes from the ground, which contains variety of substances like gases, water, dirt
(minerals) etc. Pretreatment of the crude oil is important if the crude oil is to be transported
effectively and to be processed without causing fouling and corrosion in the subsequent
operation starting from distillation, catalytic reforming and secondary conversion processes.

CRUDE DESALTING

It is a water washing operation performed at the refinery site to get additional crude oil clean
up. Crude Oil Desalting consists of Purifying process Remove salts, inorganic particles and
residual water from crude oil Reduces corrosion and fouling Desalting process is used for
removal of the salts, like chlorides of calcium, magnesium and sodium and other impurities
as these are corrosive in nature. The crude oil coming from field separator will continue to
have some water/brine and dirt entrained with it. Water washing removes much of the water-
soluble minerals and entrained solids (impurities). There are two types of desalting: single &
multistage desalting. Commercial crudes, salt contents 10-200 ppb, earlier 10-20 ppb were
considered satisfactorily low. However, many refiners now aim at 5 ppb or less (1-2 ppb)
which is not possible through single stage desalting, hence two stage desalting is required

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Figure- Crude oil Desalting

CRUDE OIL DISTILLATION

Desalted crude flows to atmospheric and vacuum distillation through crude pre flashing
section. Atmospheric distillation column (ADU) and Vacuum distillation column (VDU) are
the main primary separation processes producing various straight run products, e.g., gasoline
to lube oils/vacuum gas oils (VGO). These products, particularly the light and middle
distillates, i.e., gasoline, kerosene and diesel are more in demand than their direct availability
from crude oils, all over the world.

Two stage Desalter Desalted Crude Oil Effluent Water Process Water Unrefined Crude Oil
Demulsifier Preheat heat exchanger Mixing Unit 204 Crude oil distillation consists of
atmospheric and vacuum distillation. The heavier fraction of crude oil obtained from
atmospheric column requires high temperature. In order to avoid cracking at higher
temperature the heavier fraction are fractionated under vacuum. Typical flow diagram of
crude oil distillation is given .

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Figure: Atmospheric and Vacuum Crude oil distillation

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Table: Various Streams From Atmospheric And Vacuum Distillation Column

ATMOSPHERIC COLUMN:

Various steps in atmospheric crude oil distillation are Preheating of Desalted crude Preflash
Distillation Stabilization of Naphtha The desalted crude oil from the second stage desalting
process is heated in two parallel heat exchanger. The preheated crude having temperature of
about 180o C is goes to pre flash drum where about 3-4percent of light ends are removed.
The preheated crude from the preheater section is further 206 heated and partially vaporized
in the furnace containing tubular heater. The furnace has two zones: radiant section and
convection section. The radiant zone forms the combustion zone and contains the burners. In
convection zone the crude is further heated (inside the tube) by the hot flue gases from the
radiant section.

PRODUCTS of ADU:

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Major product from atmospheric column are light gases and LPG, light naphtha,medium
naphtha,heavy naphtha,kerosene,gas Oil(diesel),atmospheric residue. Unstabilized Naphtha
consists of LPG, naphtha and light gases (C-5 115 o C) Intermediate Naphtha (Bombay
High) (135o C) Solvent Naphtha Heavy Naphtha (130-150 o C) routed to diesel or naphtha.
Kero/ATF (140-270/250o C) Light Gas Oil (250/270-320o C) Heavy Gas Oil (320-380o C)
Reduced Crude Oil.

VACUUM DISTILLATION COLUMN (VDU)

The bottom product also called reduced crude oil, from the atmospheric column is
fractionated in the vacuum column. Reduced crude oil is very heavy compared to crude oil
distilling under pressure requires high temperature. Distillation under vacuum permits
fractionation at lower temperature which 207 avoid cracking of the reduced crude oil and
coking of the furnace tube. Vacuum is maintained using three stage steam ejector. The
reduced crude oil from atmospheric column at about 360o C is heated and partially vaporized
in the furnace

PRODUCTS FROM VDU:

Various products from VDU areLight gasoil, Heavy gas oil, light lube distillate, medium
lube distillate, heavy lube distillate and vacuum column residue

OPERATING PRESSURE OF VACUUM COLUMN:

About 90-95 mm Hg at the top and About 135-140 mm Hg at the bottom

CRACKING

Cracking of heavy residue is most commonly used method for upgradation of residues. This
involves of decomposition of heavy residues by exposure to extreme temperatures in the
presence or absence of catalysts.

THERMAL CRACKING:Cracking at elevated temperatures in the absence of catalyst eg:

Visbreaking, delayed coking, Fluid coking etc.

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CATALYTIC CRACKING: Cracking in presence of catalyst eg: FCC , Hydrocracking,
DCC

Table: Residue Upgradation Technologies in Refineries

Table : Various Thermal Cracking Process

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Figure: Visbreaking with Soaker

Figure: Process Flow Chart of Delayed Coking

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CATALYTIC CRACKING

Catalytic cracking process was developed in1920 by Eugene Houdry for upgradation of
residue was commercialized latter in 1930. Houdry process was based on cyclic fixed bed
configuration. There has been continuous upgradation in catalytic in catalytic cracking
process from its incept of fixed bed technology to latter fluidized bed catalytic cracking
(FCC).The feed stock for catalytic cracking is normally light gas oil from vacuum distillation
column. Catalytic cracking cracks low value high molecular weight hydrocarbons to more
value added products (low molecular weight) like gasoline, LPG Diesel along with very
important petrochemical feedstock like propylene, C4 gases like isobutylene, Isobutane,
butane and butane.

Main reactions involved in catalytic cracking are

Cracking Isomerisation Dehydrogenenation Hydrogen transfer Cyclization Condensation

Alkylation and dealkylation

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Figure: Fluid Catalytic Cracking Process and FCC Reactor

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Figure: Hydrocracking

CATALYST DEACTIVATION

Catalyst activation may occur due to coke deposition and metal accumulation. Coke
Depositions may be due to condensation of poly-nuclear and olefinic compounds into high
molecular weight which cover active sites. Metal Accumulation occurs at the pore entrances
or near the outer surface of the catalyst.

CATALYST REGENERATION

Catalyst regeneration is done by burning off the carbon, and sulphur and circulation of
circulate nitrogen with the recycle compressor, injecting a small quantity of air and
maintaining catalyst temperature above the coke ignition temperature.

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3. Case study analysis
The petroleum industry began with the successful drilling of the first commercial oil well in
1859, and the opening of the first refinery two years later to process the crude into kerosene.
To those unfamiliar with the industry, petroleum refineries may appear to be complex and
confusing places. Refining is the processing of one complex mixture of hydrocarbons into a
number of other complex mixtures of hydrocarbons.

HISTORICAL.

In the United States, Indians used oil seepages in Pennsylvania as medicines, and worldwide,
various bitumens were known in Biblical times. Moses' burning bush may well have been an
accidentally ignited gas vent. Drake's crude oil well, completed in 1859, showed the world
the existence of extensive underground reservoirs of material then mainly Useful as a source
of kerosene for illuminating lamps. The useless gasoline, which at times had been towed out
to sea and burned as a nuisance, gradually became the major product with demand exceeding
the supply. Improved quality, as represented by antiknock value, was also desired. The
available quantity was extended by converting less desirable fractions into gasoline, first by
thermal, later by catalytic cracking processes. Quality improvement in gasoline was brought
about by cracking, the tetraethyllead antiknock properties discovery, polymerization,
alkylation, aromatization, and through the gradual awareness that transformations of many
kinds were possible by the application of organic processes on a large scale. Refining has
always been pushed along reluctantly by economic factors. For years, many companies
viewed refining as a necessary evil to be endured so that they could 2 make money from the
more. vital production and sale of the crude oil which they produced. Only recently, most
companies have come to realize that their purpose is to take a many-component raw material
and convert it, at maximum profit, into materials to fulfill the needs of a complex and
constantly shifting multiproduct market. In 1930, a company could market only gasoline,
kerosene, heating fuel, gas oil, and residuum and show a profit. Today the market is far more
complicated, and the marketing decisions are more difficult. Simple fractionation of crude oil
Into fractions was once sufficient but such simple products would rarely be salable now.
Quality needs require upgrading, blending, and consistent quality control of the finished
products, although the crudes refined may vary greatly in type and distillate content.

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REFINERIES IN INDIA

1.Barauni Refinery in Eastern India was built in collaboration with the at a cost of Rs.49.4
crores and went on stream in July, 1964. By November, 1967, the initial capacity of 2
MMTPA was expanded to 3 MMTPA by 1969. The present capacity of this refineries is 6.00
MMTPA. A Catalytic Reformer Unit (CRU) was also added to the in 1997 for production of
unleaded. Projects are also planned for meeting future fuel quality requirements.

2.Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals Limited (BRPL) has the unique distinction of
being the first indigenous grass root Refinery in the country integrated with a Petrochemical
complex at one location.At present, the Refinery is processing crude available from the oil
fields of East India and Ravva crude oil from the Krishna-Godavari basin off the coast of
Andhra Pradesh.The capacity of the Refinery was augmented in through expansion of the
Refinery comprising of one Crude Distillation Unit (CDU-II) and one Delayed Coking Unit
(DCU-II). A bottling plant of capacity 22000 MTPA was added to the complex and
commissioned on March.

3.The Digboi Refinery was set up at in 1901 by Assam Oil Company Limited. The Indian
Oil Corporation Ltd. took over the refinery and marketing management of Assam Oil
Company Ltd. with effect from and created a separate division. This division has both
refinery and marketing operations. The refinery at Digboi had an installed capacity 0.50
MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum). The refining capacity of the refinery was
increased to 0.65 MMTPA by modernization of refinery in July, A new delayed Unit of
1,70,000 TPA capacity was commissioned in. A new Solvent Dewaxing Unit for maximizing
production of wax was installed and commissioned in 2003.

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4.Kochi Refineries Ltd (KRL), is an operator of oil refinery located at Kochi India, Kerala.
The company, formerly known as Cochin Refineries Ltd., was set up in pursuance of a
formation agreement dated April 27,1963 was formally registered on September 6, 1963 at
Ernakulam. The company was established by the Government of India.Philips Petroleum was
also the prime contractors for the construction of the refinery. They entrusted the work to
Pacific Procon Limited. Construction work started in March 1964 and the first unit came
operational in September 1966. The installed capacity of 2.5 MMTPA was increased to 3.3 in
September 1973, and to 4.5 MMTPA in 8 November 1994. The capacity of the Oil Refinery
was further increased to 7.5 MMTPA in December1995.

5.Visakh Refinery is one of the two refineries of HPCL, the other being Mumbai Refinery.
In 1957, Visakh Refinery went on stream under the ownership of M/s Caltex India Ltd. In
May, 1978, M/s Caltex Oil Refinery (India) was amalgamated with Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Ltd. The installed capacity of 1.5 MMTPA was increased to 4.5 MMTPA in
1985 and 7.5 MMTPA in 1999, through an expansion programme.

PRODUCTION STATISTICS: The free world's consumption of petroleum in 1982 was

2.69 X I09 m 3 , down from the 1979 peak of 3.04 X 109 m 3 . Total world consumption was
estimated at 5.59 X 109 m3 / year. U.S. oil fields produce approximately 14 percent of the
world's petroleum as shown in Table. Most of the free-world fields, except those of OPEC
(Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), are currently producing at maximum rates.
No industry publishes more extensive statistical data than does the petroleum industry
through the API (American Petroleum Institute) and other data-collecting agencies.

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4. Research and development
Petroleum, the product of natural changes in organic materials over millennia, has
accumulated beneath the earth's surface in almost unbelievable quantities and has been
discovered by humans and used to meet our varied fuel wants. Because it is a mixture of
thousands of organic substances, it has proved adaptable to our changing needs.

PRODUCT EVALUATION:

Major parameters for gasoline and diesel specification are given below

Major Parameters of Gasoline Specifications

Major parameters for gasoline included in Bharat or Euro norms are

• Lead phase out

• Lower RVP

• Lower benzene & aromatics

• Lower olefin content

• Limited Oxygen content

• Lower Sulfur content

Other parameters of importance are RON, MON, Lead, gum, oxidation stability, density,
VLI index, FBP. In case of reformulated gasoline aromatics, olefins oxygen, Antiknock
index, vapor lock index

Major Parameters of Diesel Specifications

Major parameters for diesel included in Bharat or Euro norms are

• Low sulfur • Low aromatics

• High cetane number

• Lower density

• Lower distillation end point

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Other parameters for diesel are density, viscosity, cetane number distillation range, sulphur,
carbon residues, oxidation stability, Flash point, acid value, ash and water contents.

EVALUATION OF FEED STOCKS FOR PETROCHEMICALS (OLEFIN,

AROMATICS, AND LINEAR ALKYL BENZENE (LAB) PLANTS)

Olefin , aromatic and LAB production are three major Petrochemical building blocks.
Various feed stocks olefins, aromatics and surfactants are given.

Input cost of feed constituents is a major portion of the variable cost of production in
petrochemical plants. Major feed input olefin, aromatics and surfactants are Ethane propane
from natural gas, naphtha, kerosene from the refinery and LPG from refinery, pyrolysis
gasoline from steam crackers, Benzene from aromatic plant. Feed quality monitoring and
improvement efforts are therefore very important aspects having significant impact on the
economics of the operation cost. The precursors and undesirable constituents in feed
including catalyst and adsorbents poisons should be known, analyzed and monitored
continuously.

Table: Feed stocks for Olefin, Aromatics ans LAB

OLEFIN PLANTS

Olefins playing important role in petrochemical industry by providing raw materials for
chemical intermediates like ethylene oxide ethylene glycol, acetaldehyde, vinyl chloride etc
and poly olefins. Olefin production requires more paraffinic naphtha.

Desired components in feed for olefins productions:

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Naphthenes: Naphthene yield olefins of higher carbon number. Butane yield increases
appreciable with naphthenic feed. Naphthenes also enhance production of aromatics.

Aromatics: The aromatics is feed are highly refractory and they pass through the furnace
unreacted.

Sulphur: The sulphur in feed suppress stream reforming reaction catalyzed by nickel
present in radiant coil. Optimum level of sulphur is 1 ppm.

Physical Properties: Density, distillation range are useful and give a rough assessment of
feed quality.

Ethylene: The following components in feed give ethylene in decreasing order:

 Ethane, Butane to Decane, 3 and 2 Methyl hexane, 2 methyl Pentane/ 2,2 Dimethyl
Butane, Isopentane

Propylene: The following components in feed give propylene in decreasing order:

 Isobutane, n-nutane, n-propane, 3 methyl pentane, 2,3 dimethyl butane, 2 methyl hexane,
n-pentane, 3 methyl hexane, iso pentane.

Butadiene: The following components of feed give butadiene is decreasing order:

 Cyclo hexane, methyl cyclo pentane.

Some of the key properties for evaluation of naphtha for olefin production are density,
ASTM distillation, TBP, FBP, Saybolt colour, sulphur, RVP and paraffin, naphthanes and
aromatics content

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5. Summary
 Petroleum Refinery Engineering is one of the most important areas of
Chemical Enginering. It serves the purpose of fuel production along with a
great variety of hydrocarbons. Refineries are one of the largest plants and
supply all the major day-to-day working substances. The Diesel and
Petrol/Gasoline have significant impacts on the economy as well as the
environment. Refining comes after the oil exploration process and drilling
and the crude obtained through these processes is finally transported to the
refinery. The refinery then removes the salts and water content present in
the oil and pre-heats it.

 Next, the crude oil is sent to the Crude Distillation Unit , also called the
Atmospheric Distillation Unit, where the crude is distilled at various cuts as
per the boiling points of various components of the crude oil. The lighest
components like light hydrocarbons such as C1-C2 , then C3-C4 are
recovered at the top whereas the heaviest components i.e. mainly the gas
oil,residue,etc. , is sent to the Vacuum Distillation Unit , which operates
under vacuum in order to decrease the boiling poin t of the feed and hence,
attain distillation at a much lower temperature.

 The main CDU products as per their increasing weight along with
increasing temperature are light gases, LPG,Naphtha, Gasoline
,Kerosene/Jet fuel, Diesel, Gas Oil. However, these products are further
treated and processed as they contain a lot of contaminants and are still not
suitable for use. The hydrotreater, gas treating, mercaptan removal,etc. are
various treating methods in order to get the desired products from the
refinery.

 The vacuum distillation unit (VDU) operates under vacuum and produces
the heavy gas oils, resid and heavier products like coke, asphalts,etc. The
resid conversion is one of the important preocesses and the top product of
the VDU is hydrotreated and sent to the hydrocracker to produce more of
Diesel and fuiel oils.

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1. Appendix: All the assignment-

Assignment – 1
Ques- Kindly explain the major elements in details which we consider to
establish a new refinery in a particular area of a country including safety
aspects.

Answer-
Factors responsible for location of Industries:-

Industrial locations are complex in nature. These are influenced by the

availability of many factors. Some of them are: raw material, land, water, labor,
capital, power, transport, and market.

For ease of convenience, we can classify the location factors into two:
geographical factors and non-geographical factors

Geographical Factors:-

Raw material: Availability of natural resource that can be used as raw material.

Technology: To turn the resource into an asset with value.

Power: To utilize the technology.

Labour: Human resource in the area who can function as labor to run the
processes.

Transport : Road/rail connectivity.

Storage and warehousing.

Marketing feasibility.

Characteristics of land and soil.

Climate.

Precipitation and water resources.

Vulnerability to natural resources

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Non-geographical Factors:-

Capital investment.

Availability of loans.

Investment climate.

Government policies/regulations.

Influence of pressure groups.

Refineries and plants have specialized fire safety needs. API strongly supports
the principles of fire prevention as elements for personnel and property
protection in the petroleum industry. Prevention programs provide the most
effective means of ensuring personnel safety. API provides a forum for its
members to share information and develop industry standards to advance safety
and loss prevention programs. Currently, API maintains about 30 safety and fire
protection standards and recommended practices.

API members are committed to protecting the health and safety of their workers
and the community. To this end, the refining industry has made significant
investments in programs, training, standards and practices, and equipment that
have led to occupational and process safety performance improvements. These
investments continue as part of the industry’s overall continuous improvement
effort.

API has developed and maintains more than 180 refining safety and operational
standards and recommended practices under its American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) accredited program. API and its member companies are
committed to ensuring that all industry standards contain the latest science and
technologies, they recognize proven industry practices and incorporate lessons-
learned from past incidents and near misses. These standards have been
incorporated by reference into Federal, State and International regulations.

API member companies are committed to conducting business in a manner that

protects the safety and health of their employees, others involved in their

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operations, customers, and the public. Process safety is part of safety
management and focuses on the concerns of major hazards impacting, safety,
environmental damage and business losses. The goal of process safety
management is to develop plant systems and procedures to prevent unwanted
releases that may ignite and cause toxic impacts, local fires or explosions.

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Assignment – 2
Ques- Explain in details , What is importances of FCC &
Hydro cracker units in a refinery in BS-VI scenario
and why AVUs known as mother unit of any refinery ?
Answer:-
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), a type of secondary unit
operation, is primarily used in producing additional gasoline in
the refining process.
Cracking, in petroleum refining, the process by which heavy
hydrocarbon molecules are broken up into lighter molecules by
means of heat and usually pressure and sometimes catalysts.
Cracking is the most important process for the commercial
production of gasoline and diesel fuel.

BS-VI auto fuel emission standards mandate all Indian refiners to

produce diesel with <10 ppmw sulphur content from January
2020 onwards. There are numerous challenges in the design and
operation of an ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) producing
hydrotreater. Experience is that most of the challenges in a ULSD
producer’s operation can be addressed by establishing the
appropriate process basis at the design stage.
Cracked gasoil from delayed cokers, FCC units or visbreakers
will have two or more times the sulphur, nitrogen, metals and
aromatics content of straight run diesel. Therefore the right
strategy will be to design the catalyst and hydrogen (make-up and
recycle compressors) circuit for a good amount of cracked gasoil
feed. The heat integration and feed effluent exchanger design
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should consider the correct volume of lean olefin and/or cold feed
as the design basis for robust operation. Such a feed case, along
with key process design aspects which will ensure robust design
and operation in a diesel hydrotreater, are discussed in this article.
Fail-safe options/strategies for refiners in the event of critical
equipment failures, such as in combined feed exchangers, which
may call for shutdown or slow-down to enable sustainable
production of BS-VI diesel, are described.
The article also highlights the challenges in logistics for storage,
transfer and despatch of BS-VI diesel along with the means to
address these challenges.

ADU is a unit which is the first unit in crude oil processing and
before entering this unit the crude oil is heated to a elevate
temperature in a preheat train.This column operates at
atmospheric pressure and different cuts(Light cycle oil,heavy
cycle oil etc…) of crude oil are separated from different plates of
the distillation column.The bottom residue of this column is send
to vacuum distillation unit for further processing. That's why it is
known as mother unit.

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Fig. Atmosphere and Vacuum Distillation

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Assignment – 3

Ques- Explain in details , what are critical operation

controls of HGU, DCU, ISOM, DHDS & DHDT. What
are the monitoring system of HGU & DHDT catalyst
performance ?

Answer:-
Full Form of Units:-
1. HGU- Hydrogen Generation Unit
2. DCU- Delayed Coking Unit
3. ISOM- Isomerization Unit
4. DHDS- Diesel Hydro-Desulphurization Unit
5. DHDT- Diesel Hydro-Treatment Unit

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Fig. Hydrogen Generation Unit

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Delayed Coking Unit (DCU)

Fig. Delayed Coking Unit at Low Pressure

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Fig. DCU at High Pressure

FEED STOCK SELECTION:-

Methods of minimizing Pet Coke production:-

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Effect on operating Variables:-

Improvement through operational measures minor hardware

change:-

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ISOMERIZATION UNIT
Introduction - The basic principle of Isomerization is to straight chain alkanes to
side chain paraffins. This enhances the octane number substantially - For instance, n-
pentane has an octane number of 61.7 where asiso-pentane has an octane number of
92.3 - Usually light naphtha is used as a feed stock

Process parameters –
Reactor pressure: 4 – 24 barg

Reactor temperature: 500 – 525 oC

H2/Hydrocarbon molar ratio: 2 – 3

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Fig. Flow sheet of Isomerization of n-paraffin

Catalyst –

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Platinum base catalysts are used

AlCl3 is used as a promoter for the catalyst

During reaction, part of the AlCl3 gets converted to HCl

Therefore, completely dry conditions shall be maintained to avoid catalyst deactivation and
corrosion

Catalytic reaction takes place in the presence of hydrogen to suppress coke formation

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Fig. DHDS

DHDS Product Yields & Operating

Conditions
1. Typical Product Yields
Sl.no. Products Wt% End Users
1. Off Gas 1.36 Refinery Fuel gas
system after Amine
Wash
2. Wild Naphtha 1.34 To Naphtha Pool after
stabilisation
3. Diesel 98.0 To Euro II Diesel Pool

2. Operating Conditions :
Temperature range : 320-380 DEG C
System Pressure : 35-40 kg/cm2(g)

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Catalyst Monitoring system in Refining:-

With the progress of cycle, catalyst deactivates approaching EOR
conditions.The product may not meet the specifications, the reactor
ΔP may be high affecting the recycle gas flow rate.
The catalyst activity may be recovered by in situ or ex situ
regeneration. The coke on the catalyst is burnt under controlled
conditions of temperature and air- nitrogen flow. Oxygen
concentration in the reactor I/L nitrogen is monitored & air supply is
strictly regulated to control reactor ΔT. Caustic scrubbing
downstream of air cooler and NH3 injection in effluent exchanger is
carried out to protect against sulfur oxides.

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1.Weighted Average Bed Temp. (WABT):-

2. H2 to Oil Ratio:-

3. Pressure:-

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The End!!!!

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