The Golden Eagle refinery installed a process computer to monitor and reduce energy use. The computer tracks fuel gas, fuel oil, and steam consumption across the refinery. It calculates heat duties, fuel usage rates, and process efficiencies to identify optimization opportunities. Initial analysis focused on the crude unit and reformer. precise measurements and calculations helped reduce fuel usage by 5% or more, saving over $2,800 per day at 1975 fuel costs. Ongoing monitoring and analysis helps maintain efficient operations.
March 2014 World Oil: Greener completions advance in the MarcellusBaker Hughes
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, a Baker Hughes customer operating in the Marcellus shale play in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, wanted to improve the overall efficiency of its hydraulic fracturing operations while minimizing air emissions; reducing road traffic; and lowering health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risks. Baker Hughes proposed a Bifuel fracturing service, using the company's Rhino™ Bifuel frac pumps. Visit our website to learn more: http://www.bakerhughes.com/bifuel.
Esta actividad nos ayudo a desarrollar nuestras habilidades para formar una "T" lo mas pronto posible, nos estresamos mucho al no poder formarla rápidamente también nos desesperamos un poco.
March 2014 World Oil: Greener completions advance in the MarcellusBaker Hughes
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, a Baker Hughes customer operating in the Marcellus shale play in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, wanted to improve the overall efficiency of its hydraulic fracturing operations while minimizing air emissions; reducing road traffic; and lowering health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risks. Baker Hughes proposed a Bifuel fracturing service, using the company's Rhino™ Bifuel frac pumps. Visit our website to learn more: http://www.bakerhughes.com/bifuel.
Esta actividad nos ayudo a desarrollar nuestras habilidades para formar una "T" lo mas pronto posible, nos estresamos mucho al no poder formarla rápidamente también nos desesperamos un poco.
Ngl fundamentals 102 matonis public releaseDiana M
Training class to financial professionals in Oil & Gas, specifically midstream NGL, vocabulary, definitions, market ,supply & demand in-depth insight on natural gas liquids or NGLs (ethane, propane, normal/isobutene) and natural gasoline) and natural gas. An intro to natural gas liquids pricing, and economics
Natural Gas brief description and pricing trend.
it a competitive, upstream-driven business?
Is it an economies of scale, monopoly midstream-downstream business that affects the public interest?
How much of direct end use and conversion is competitive?
If the goal is to build the “natural gas factory,” then policy/regulatory approaches need to facilitate value chain development – “commercial frameworks.”
Market
Transparency of price signals
Price volatility
Role of pipeline affiliates
Demand response
Problems in retail competition
Supply security and capital to drill
Policy/Regulatory
Encourage market solution to price information
No action (but debate)
FERC Order 637
Under discussion
Georgia re-bundling
Producer incentives and LNG
DOE regulates natural gas imports/exports and helps to coordinate across federal agencies that have regulatory and policy authority for LNG
FERC is responsible for permitting new onshore LNG regasification terminals and ensuring safety at these facilities
DOT regulates offshore terminals and LNG tanker operations
Coast Guard is responsible for assuring the safety of all marine operations at all LNG terminals and on tankers in U.S. coastal waters
EPA and state environmental agencies establish air and water standards with which the LNG industry must comply
Others include:
Fish and Wildlife Service
Army Corps of Engineers for coastal facilities and wetlands
MMS for offshore activities
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
State, county and local (municipal) agencies play roles to ensure safe and environmentally sound construction and operation of LNG industry facilities. Local police and fire departments.
Natural gas obtained from boreholes in the form of free gas, as well as associated gas, primarily consists of hydrocarbons which include Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), gas imported through transnational pipelines, Coal Bed Methane (CBM) obtained from coal seams, etc. Energy demands have increased significantly with the development of civilization. Further, increased energy demands have augmented the reliance on fossil fuels like Coal and Crude Oil, especially that of developing countries. Also, increased dependence on a single source of energy poses a significant threat to the energy security and sustainability of the nation (Delgado, 2011). India, like other countries, continues to suffer from the consequences of the lockdowns and voluntary restrictions to combat the global pandemic-first with the nationwide lockdown of 2020 during the first wave of COVID-19 and now again with the regional lockdowns and self-imposed restrictions to battle the second wave of the virus. This has introduced a big factor of uncertainty in predictions of energy demand and annual GDP growth initially predicted till the period of 2040. Even then, the dependence of energy demand on electricity is expected to grow at a lower rate. In the State Policies Scenario, owing to the increasing rate of elect
Fuels refining is an integral component of Canada's oil and gas value chain. Refineries are the crucial manufacturing intermediary between crude oil and refined products.
View this to understand the business of processing crude oil into fuels and other value added products.
To learn more, please visit: http://www.canadianfuels.ca
Oil Shale Ex-Situ Process - Leaching Study of Spent Shaleinventionjournals
During the past decade, significant advancement has been made on various extraction technologies to develop U.S. oil shale resources in an environmentally and economically sustainable fashion. This work has been driven by the increasing demand for domestic transportation fuels and the need to improve U.S. energy security. Although conventional hydrocarbon deposits are becoming more difficult to find and limited in volume, unconventional reserves are relatively easy to locate and plentiful. Hence, development of unconventional resources, particularly shale gas, oil sands, and shale oil continues to receive tremendous attention. The present work shows ex-situ process of oil shale in a five ton/day externally heated horizontal rotary reactor, and discuss the process parameters and yield. The main focus of this article is: A) Effect of reactor bed temperature, rotation speed and feed rate on the residence time, fuel consumption and process yield B) Hazardous environmental issue related to leaching of heavy metals and metalloids from spent shale by underground and/or surface water, which prevent further commercialization of this process. In addition, an Aspen diagram of the overall oil shale process is presented as ongoing work focusing on key mechanical issues that affect online reliability and process efficiency including particle size, bed temperature and solid/gas mixing efficiency.
Protect our Environment while Reducing operational expense Rob Harrison
Oil & Gas producers are facing the economic and financial challenges never seen before. Increase R.O.I., improve employee safety and protect our environment today more than ever!
Optimizing Reactor Parameters to Achieve Higher Process Yield in Ex-Situ Oil ...IJERA Editor
Declining worldwide crude oil reserves and increasing energy needs have the attentions focused on developing existing unconventional fossil fuels including oil shale. America’s richest oil shale deposits are found in the Green River Formation of western Colorado, eastern Utah and south-western Wyoming. The current work describes process simulation of an ex-situ oil shale pyrolysis process in a pyrolytic reactor using a novel method involving external and internal heating to increase heat transfer and mixing ratio inside the reactor. Efforts to improve process yield for commercial operation relies on first developing a complete Aspen based process model of a proposed shale refining plant, identifying the key process parameters for the reactor and then optimizing the overall process. Simulation results are compared to earlier experimental data collected from a pilot scale rotary reactor operated by Combustion Resources Inc. (CR). This work identified the critical impact of bed temperature on crude production in such a way that for a bed temperature of less than 400°C, results showed less than 10% conversion in crude production and for bed temperatures between 450 and 500°C, above 90% conversion was achieved. The proposed model consists of four zones including drying, shale reactions, natural gas combustion and gas/oil recovery. Different cases were defined and studied based on various operational conditions. Optimized operational values for the key parameters including reactor temperature, reactor volume and feed rate were given as results to maximum shale oil production.
The best overview of CO2 EOR I've seen crabtreeSteve Wittrig
Brad Crabtree, "The critical role of CCS and EOR in managing US carbon emissions" in "CO2 Summit II: Technologies and
Opportunities", Holly Krutka, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association Inc. Frank Zhu, UOP/Honeywell Eds, ECI Symposium Series, (2016). http://dc.engconfintl.org/co2_summit2/3
Ngl fundamentals 102 matonis public releaseDiana M
Training class to financial professionals in Oil & Gas, specifically midstream NGL, vocabulary, definitions, market ,supply & demand in-depth insight on natural gas liquids or NGLs (ethane, propane, normal/isobutene) and natural gasoline) and natural gas. An intro to natural gas liquids pricing, and economics
Natural Gas brief description and pricing trend.
it a competitive, upstream-driven business?
Is it an economies of scale, monopoly midstream-downstream business that affects the public interest?
How much of direct end use and conversion is competitive?
If the goal is to build the “natural gas factory,” then policy/regulatory approaches need to facilitate value chain development – “commercial frameworks.”
Market
Transparency of price signals
Price volatility
Role of pipeline affiliates
Demand response
Problems in retail competition
Supply security and capital to drill
Policy/Regulatory
Encourage market solution to price information
No action (but debate)
FERC Order 637
Under discussion
Georgia re-bundling
Producer incentives and LNG
DOE regulates natural gas imports/exports and helps to coordinate across federal agencies that have regulatory and policy authority for LNG
FERC is responsible for permitting new onshore LNG regasification terminals and ensuring safety at these facilities
DOT regulates offshore terminals and LNG tanker operations
Coast Guard is responsible for assuring the safety of all marine operations at all LNG terminals and on tankers in U.S. coastal waters
EPA and state environmental agencies establish air and water standards with which the LNG industry must comply
Others include:
Fish and Wildlife Service
Army Corps of Engineers for coastal facilities and wetlands
MMS for offshore activities
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
State, county and local (municipal) agencies play roles to ensure safe and environmentally sound construction and operation of LNG industry facilities. Local police and fire departments.
Natural gas obtained from boreholes in the form of free gas, as well as associated gas, primarily consists of hydrocarbons which include Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), gas imported through transnational pipelines, Coal Bed Methane (CBM) obtained from coal seams, etc. Energy demands have increased significantly with the development of civilization. Further, increased energy demands have augmented the reliance on fossil fuels like Coal and Crude Oil, especially that of developing countries. Also, increased dependence on a single source of energy poses a significant threat to the energy security and sustainability of the nation (Delgado, 2011). India, like other countries, continues to suffer from the consequences of the lockdowns and voluntary restrictions to combat the global pandemic-first with the nationwide lockdown of 2020 during the first wave of COVID-19 and now again with the regional lockdowns and self-imposed restrictions to battle the second wave of the virus. This has introduced a big factor of uncertainty in predictions of energy demand and annual GDP growth initially predicted till the period of 2040. Even then, the dependence of energy demand on electricity is expected to grow at a lower rate. In the State Policies Scenario, owing to the increasing rate of elect
Fuels refining is an integral component of Canada's oil and gas value chain. Refineries are the crucial manufacturing intermediary between crude oil and refined products.
View this to understand the business of processing crude oil into fuels and other value added products.
To learn more, please visit: http://www.canadianfuels.ca
Oil Shale Ex-Situ Process - Leaching Study of Spent Shaleinventionjournals
During the past decade, significant advancement has been made on various extraction technologies to develop U.S. oil shale resources in an environmentally and economically sustainable fashion. This work has been driven by the increasing demand for domestic transportation fuels and the need to improve U.S. energy security. Although conventional hydrocarbon deposits are becoming more difficult to find and limited in volume, unconventional reserves are relatively easy to locate and plentiful. Hence, development of unconventional resources, particularly shale gas, oil sands, and shale oil continues to receive tremendous attention. The present work shows ex-situ process of oil shale in a five ton/day externally heated horizontal rotary reactor, and discuss the process parameters and yield. The main focus of this article is: A) Effect of reactor bed temperature, rotation speed and feed rate on the residence time, fuel consumption and process yield B) Hazardous environmental issue related to leaching of heavy metals and metalloids from spent shale by underground and/or surface water, which prevent further commercialization of this process. In addition, an Aspen diagram of the overall oil shale process is presented as ongoing work focusing on key mechanical issues that affect online reliability and process efficiency including particle size, bed temperature and solid/gas mixing efficiency.
Protect our Environment while Reducing operational expense Rob Harrison
Oil & Gas producers are facing the economic and financial challenges never seen before. Increase R.O.I., improve employee safety and protect our environment today more than ever!
Optimizing Reactor Parameters to Achieve Higher Process Yield in Ex-Situ Oil ...IJERA Editor
Declining worldwide crude oil reserves and increasing energy needs have the attentions focused on developing existing unconventional fossil fuels including oil shale. America’s richest oil shale deposits are found in the Green River Formation of western Colorado, eastern Utah and south-western Wyoming. The current work describes process simulation of an ex-situ oil shale pyrolysis process in a pyrolytic reactor using a novel method involving external and internal heating to increase heat transfer and mixing ratio inside the reactor. Efforts to improve process yield for commercial operation relies on first developing a complete Aspen based process model of a proposed shale refining plant, identifying the key process parameters for the reactor and then optimizing the overall process. Simulation results are compared to earlier experimental data collected from a pilot scale rotary reactor operated by Combustion Resources Inc. (CR). This work identified the critical impact of bed temperature on crude production in such a way that for a bed temperature of less than 400°C, results showed less than 10% conversion in crude production and for bed temperatures between 450 and 500°C, above 90% conversion was achieved. The proposed model consists of four zones including drying, shale reactions, natural gas combustion and gas/oil recovery. Different cases were defined and studied based on various operational conditions. Optimized operational values for the key parameters including reactor temperature, reactor volume and feed rate were given as results to maximum shale oil production.
The best overview of CO2 EOR I've seen crabtreeSteve Wittrig
Brad Crabtree, "The critical role of CCS and EOR in managing US carbon emissions" in "CO2 Summit II: Technologies and
Opportunities", Holly Krutka, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association Inc. Frank Zhu, UOP/Honeywell Eds, ECI Symposium Series, (2016). http://dc.engconfintl.org/co2_summit2/3
1. f(ECEiVED FES 2 5 1976
Vol. 74, No.8 Oll&( ,A"
OUR:l;l
CONTENTS Feb. 23, 1976
~~- Record capital spending seen for 1976 despite price rollback
GaleNt I~i:
U.S. oil budget this year hits record $26.5 billion
Canadian firms slate 34% jump in capital spending for 1976
Exact timing of resid decontrol still unknown .
ARCO gets big advance payment from Northern in gulf
FEA proposes revisions to entitlements program
U.K. seen near first participation pact
Senate loan-guarantee bill pushes energy conservation .
FEA hearings draw strong decontrol support
Joint microwave system set in western Gulf of Mexico
Shale output of 50,000 bid sought for Colorado tract
U.S. Briefs
Two-tier crude-price suit advances
FEA opens fire on House-passed natural-gas bill
Gas curtailments threaten southern California
International Briefs
Drilling- Pro4uction:
OCS 41 high bids total only $183 million
Marathon to file for Yates unit soon
Iran's price' cut aims for boost in production .
ERDA to seek waterflood-pilot proposals
New crude postings reflect $11.28 lid
Public drilling funds decline for third year
Soviets claim gas-production gain of over 1 trillion cu ft
Record Yugoslavian oil production still short .
Processing:
Refiners sue FEA for entitlements
Algerian LNG-plant contract awarded to Pullman Kellogg
U.S. December ammonia output up 10%
Transportation:
NGPL joins HIOS gas project off Texas
Texaco hits Puget Sound superport plan
Move to speed Alaskan gas line seen
Watching the World-More gloom for the tanker trade
Williams expansion, oil swaps favored to feed Northern Tier
Exploration:
Deep wildcat staked in Central Utah .
Pan arctic hits deeper gas pay in Arctic Islands' Hecla field
Smaller Gulf of Alaska sale gets green light
Drilling programs link Oklahoma gas fields
S. Laredo gas-field play continues along Rio Grande .
Advertisers
Calendar
Classified Advertising
Deaths
Regular features
178 Discoveries ... 161 Letters
36 Equipment/Literature 134 Personals
168 Industry Statistics 166 Point of View
165 Journally Speaking 43 Services/Suppliers
THE COVER:Ammonia plant at Donaldsonville, l.a., is owned by First Mississippi Corp. and Triad
Chemical. A special report on how refiners and plant operators are boosting plant efficiency begins
on p, 79. Photo courtesy First Mississippi Corp.
45
47
48
53
53
54
60
62
62
63
64
66
69
69
69
74
51
52
56
61
64
68
68
70
52
63
70
50
57
58
61
64
50
57
72
151
153
35
164
. 163
145
2. Increased Processing Efficiency
Practical analysis can cut plant energy use, trim operating costs
George H. Perry and James D. Monteaux
A computer program to evaluate fired heater performance and an
analysis of electricity use are the elements of a basic approach to
energy conservation.
Boiler blowdown source of heat, condensate
H. H. Comstock and B. T. Bone
Recovery of steam at usable pressures, improved condensate collec-
tion, and reduced steam venting can justify equipment revisions in an
older refinery.
PSA system can reduce hydrogen costs
Wesley Wolf
The pressure swing adsorption process (PSA) , widely used to recover
pure hydrogen from fuel streams, can be used with steam-reformer
plants to reduce hydrogen-generation costs by 5-7%.
Process computer monitors, reduces energy use
Pierre R. Latour
Savings resulted from installation of a computer to monitor fuel-gas
consumption, fuel-oil firings, and steam use in this Canadian refinery.
79
86
88
92
If
/
TECHNOLOGY
Pipeline
Pipeline contractors gain Arctic construction experience
Travis E. Smith
Contractors have found that special techniques make it possible to
build a pipeline under severe Arctic conditions.
Drilling/ Production
Injection-pump study can cut costs
Robert S. Smith
The design of a complete waterflood-injection system requires analysis
of the cost of various equipment arrangements.
Lost circulation complicates well-killing operations
Bill Rehm
Lost circulation during well killing operations is both expensive and
hazardous, but several techniques can help minimize the cost and
danger.
Refining/Processing
Integrating two processes makes petrochemicals from full crude
S. (Ray) Sinkar
Proper integration of two proven processing sequences provides an
efficient energy-self-supporting process for making petrochemicals
from full crude.
Process costimating-68A
W. L. Nelson
Use of TEL in U.S. gasolines (approximate).
Biodisk improves effluent-water-treating operation
Gary E. Congrcm
Chevron Oil chose the biodisk to complement its revised effluent-
water-treating system.
108
99
121
103
. 106
126
The Oil and Gas Journal is published weekly by The Petroleum Publishing Co., 1421 S. Sheridan
Rd., Tulsa, Okla., Box 1260, 74101. Second-class postage paid at Tulsa, Okla. Copyright 1975 by The
Petroleum Publishing Co. under International Universal, Pan American, and Buenos Aires copy-
right conventions. All rights reserved, including right of reoroduction in whole or in part in any
form. Qualified subscription rates in U.S. and Possessions: 1 yr. $17.00; 2 yrs. $30; 3 yrs. $40.50;
Canada and Pan America: 1 yr. S19; 2 yrs. $34; 3 yrs, $46.50; all other countries: 1 yr. $33; 2 yrs.
$58; 3 yrs. $75. Rates apply only to individuals holding responsible positions in the petroleum
industry and engaged in the operation, management, maintenance, and design of petroleum
industry fields, plants, and headquarters operations. Position and company affiliation must be in-
dicated on subscription orders. Non-industry rate is $52jyr. Single copies are $1.25 each. Publisher
reserves the right to refuse non-qualified subscriptions. Microfilm copies available through Uni-
versity Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106.
Subscribers: Address change notice, letters about subscription service, or subscription orders to
Subscriber Service Manager, P.O. Box 1260, Tulsa, Okla. 74101. Change of address notices should
be sent promptly; provide old as well as new address: include ZIP code or postal zone. Allow
30 days for change of address. Postmaster, please send Form 3579 to The Oil and Gas Journal.
Box 1260, Tulsa, OK 74101.
3. INCREASED
PROCESSING
EFFICIENCY
Process computer monitors, reduces
PIERRE R. LATOUR
Biles & Associates
Houston
Condensed from a paper given at the
68th Annual AIChE, Los Angeles, Nov.
16-20, 1975.
LOCATED on the St. Lawrence River
at Quebec City, Que., the lOO,OOO-b/d
Golden Eagle refinery serves as a
topping plant for local gasoline mar-
kets, fuel oils, and utility bunker oils.
Crude is supplied by tanker and most
products are shipped by water.
The refinery has atmospheric and
vacuum-distillation units, a catalytic
reformer, HDS units, and LP-gas re-
covery. Important energy consumers
in this plant include: crude and vac-
uum heaters, three boilers for pro-
cess and winterizing steam, distilla-
Fuel-gas controls
Fig. 1
Unifiner charge
t·~.8 in. - - . fuel-gas supply
P---~~--~--~~~~~~~~~--------------~~--~------~~Aare
Relief to flore
I
I
C7---I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
,-----,I
I
I
I
,
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Vapor-
balance
drum
3 in.
Platformer stabilizer
to
Pilot supply
Stripper receiver
low-pressure flash
I
~
W
Reactor-product separator
1----11-- ••........- Plotfonner low-pressure separator
Unifiner stripper
±~-_ ...•
OGJ
Stabilizer receiver
Stripper receiver
Unifiner-product separator
De"ethonizer receiver
Depropanizer overhead
lP-ga$ surge
Compressor-discharge receiver
-~
I
I
I Butane
'--~~4;><J--+;';';";;----Depropanizer
load dump
1><1 2 in. ~ Flore
r0I
II ~ Vacuum heater
:0II •. Crude-unit heater
i0II •. Crude-unit heater
:0II ~ Boiler
:0'11 ~ Boiler
:0·11 •. Boiler
:0Ii •. Naphtha-splitter heater
:-0
11 •. Platfonner -charge heater
:-0
II •. Platformer heater
r0
II •. Platformer heater
'-- .- Hot-oil heater and
Hrregenerator heoler .
92 THE OIL AND GAS JOURNAL - FEBRUARY 23, 1976
4. energy use
tion column reboilers, and reformer
furnaces.
Winters in Quebec City are cold
with subzero weather and 150 in. of
snow annually. Average fuel-oil and
gas consumption for the plant is
about 1,160MMBTU/hr.
In 1972, Golden Eagle installed a
General Electric 4020 process-control
computer for logging and informa-
tion about utilities consumption to
help the refinery reduce costs. With
a reduction of 5% in consumption, the
refinery would save nearly $700/day
in 1972 (based on $0.50/MMBTU cost).
The 1975 incentive at $2/MMBTU re-
sults in savings of $2,800/day.
Fuel-gas control. Not all of the gas
Fuel-gas system
Fig. 2
OGJ
Vaporizer makeup Fuel gas colleded
Fuel-oil control
Tank
~
lStrai~er5
P~mp I .-Filters 1
0Tank
oI
1
Return header I~~----------~Ir-~~--~--~~--~
From
storage
or resid
line
To tank
Flare Burn
Fig. 3
OGJ
Process
Crude-unit heater
Unmeasured
No meter
r---,.-•..-r------t~Asphalt hot-oil heaters
1---0
II-I --- __ •. ~ Boiler
,--0
1+-1 ----t.~Boiler
1--0
II-I --~ .•~~ Boiler
")--0
·':2~·~
",--0
II-r--~-~ Va~uum heater
(rude heater
Crude heater
THE OIL AND GASJOURNAL-FEBRUARY 23,1976 93
5. Refinery-steam system
Fig. 4
Boilers
Refonner-woste-
heat boiler
Total 140-psi supply
Off sites
Winterizing
Tanks
Process
Unmeasured
Crude-unit stripping
De-ethanizer reboiler
Deproponizer reboiler
OGJ
flows (Fig. 1) are measured, since
only orifices, or flow elements (FE),
are installed without transmitters or
cabling to the control room and com-
puter.
Total fuel-gas, boiler-fuel-gas, and
flared-gas flows are corrected to
standard cubic feet by computer cor-
rections for flowing temperature,
pressure, and gravity which can dif-
fer from orifice-factor assumption.
A specific - gravity analyzer plus
temperature and pressure signals are
installed on the hydrocarbon - vapor-
collection header near orifice FIT 30.
Computer corrects flowing gravity for
pressure and temperature and deter-
mines standard 60° F. gravity.
Computer uses a constant standard
specific gravity for makeup butane
from the LP-gas vaporizer. Design
value is 2.00 using a mol wt of 58 for
the butane.
With this information, gravity of
the fuel-gas mixture can be calcu-
lated from the hydrocarbon-vapor-bal-
ance drum which is the refinery-fuel-
gas supply. Fuel-gas variables are re-
ported in sequence as in Fig. 2.
Fuel-oil system. Sup ply - header
flow, return flow, net flow to each
boiler, gross flow to each crude-unit
94
heater cell and return flow from each
crude-unit-heater cell are scanned
by the computer (Fig. 3). These
flows are corrected for temperature
and gravity and are expressed in
1,000 bid for consistency and error
reduction.
Fuel-oil variables are reported in
the following sequence: .
1. Total fuel oil burned (difference
between supply and return header
flows plus pitch to platformer and
unifiner heaters).
2. Fuel oil consumed in the three
boilers.
3. Fuel oil burned in the crude-unit
heater (sum of four orifices).
4. Unmeasured fuel oil burned in
the vacuum heater, hot-oil heater,
and three reboiler furnaces.
Percentage of crude-unit-heater fuel
varies with crude type and rate. The
crude-unit heater is a dual - fired
heater and is the swing on fuel oil.
Total fuel consumed by the refinery,
fuel oil plus equivalent barrels of fuel
gas, is expressed as a percentage of
crude so that processing efficiency can
be checked.
Steam. Primary orifice measure-
ments for the refinery-steam system
(Fig. 4) include three individual boil-
ers; reformer waste-heat boiler; two
tank-heating steam flows; winteriz-
ing steam flow; five crude-unit strip-
ping steams; and two column reboil-
ers (others are measured but not
scanned by the computer).
Crude-unit heat. Crude-unit heater
duty/barrel of crude charge is cal-
culated with both gas and oil fuels.
Accurate study of this variable can
show trends with crude types, rates,
and yield patterns.
Oxygen-analyzer and stack-tempera-
ture readings allow computation of
excess air and fur n ace efficiency
which lead to crude-heat uptake.
A crude-tower overall-heat balance
gives another determination of crude-
heat uptake and discrepancy shows
nonclosure of heat balance and mea-
surement problems.
Heat-exchanger duties for important
exchangers are calculated by the
computer. Rigorous calculation of
overflash has h e I p e d in reducing
crude-unit-energy consumption.
Reformer and hydrotreater. Signals
from the naphtha hydro treater and
catalytic ref 0 r mer are computer
scanned. Many of these signals are
used for process engineering calcula-
tions and controls not directly related
to energy savings but some do play
important roles in energy reduction.
Heat duties and heat consumption/
bbl feed are calculated for all fur-
naces. Accurate analysis of gas-recy-
cle ratio saves furnace-heat require-
ments and compressor loads.
Feed composition (paraffins, ole-
fins, naphthenes, and aromatics) and
its effects on total reformer energy
use can be evaluated with on-line com-
puter data. Effect of reformer sever-
ity and octane number can be accu-
rately evaluated for energy consump-
tion with this information.
DistiUation columns. Signals from
six distillation columns are scanned
by the computer. Naphtha stabilizer,
de-ethanizer, and depropanizer have
exchanger reboilers with measurable
duty. Steam used per bbl of column
feed and reboiler MBTU/bbl column
feed are calculated for these columns.
Ratio of reflux to column feed is also
calculated for these columns.
Data reporting. Utilities variables
are reported in three groups for gas,
oil, and steam on one shift/daily re-
port. Average value and 95% confi-
dence interval (two standard devia-
tions) for the period (hour, shift, or
day) are also reported. END
THE OIL AND GAS JOURNAL - FEBRUARY 23, 1976