Conversion refinery

Figure 10.5 Hypothetical conversion refinery. (From J. Weitkamp and L. Puppe, eds.. Catalysis and Zeolites Fundamentals and Applications. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1999. With...

In Fig.5 this extrapolation has been applied to the complete results of the CONCAWE study (2). The figure represents the total crude oil consumption in typical European conversion refineries to produce gasolines of various RONs and lead contents for constant mileage in vehicles with a CEP = 1.0... 

In this unleaded case, the optimum Research Octane Number for conversion refineries would drop to about 92 RON and, compared to the base case, an energy penalty of more thatn 5% would be involved. 

One of the first problems to be addressed was how to transport the viscous crude oil from the field to the coast in which deep-conversion refineries or shipping terminals had been planned. It was clear that an innovative solution was required and a decade long research program was initiated, carried out mainly by INTEVEP, a research and development subsidiary of PDV. Joint ventures with the British Petroleum research center were undertaken along with the sponsoring of oriented basic research in national universities such as the Universidad de Los Andes and the Univer-... 

After World War II most of these alkylation units were subsequently shut down and the process received little attention until the phase out of lead. The alkylation plant then experienced a revival as a source of high-quality, high-octane gasoline. In many of today s high conversion refineries, the FCC unit and the alkylation unit are usually operated hand-in-hand. 

Figure 8 shows a simplified layout for a high-conversion refinery in the United States. The diagram doesn t show product blending and sulfur recovery units, but these are almost always present. Lube-oil processing and hydrogen production units also may be present. 

In short The petroleum refining business is highly capital-intensive and competition is fierce. The predominant cost - purchase of crude oil - is beyond a refiner s control, due to the fact that crude-oil costs are, for the most part, determined by OPEC. Even so, large, well-located, high-conversion refineries can be very profitable, especially during spikes in product prices. In 2005, crack spreads reached all-time highs, exceeding 15 per barrel in most of the United States and > 20 per barrel in California. 

Table 12 shows the sources of solid wastes in a modem oil refinery. These data, provided by the American Petroleum Institute, are based on a typieal 200,000 barrels-per-day high-conversion refinery. A plant this size produces about 50,000 tons per year of solid waste and about 250,000 tons per year of waste water. As discussed above, all waste water must be purified before it leaves the plant. 

McGehee, J. 2006. Solvent deasphalting in today s deep conversion refinery R D— Heavy oil upgrading. In AIChE-Chicago Symposium, Chicago, IL, October 2. 

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