Principles of Crude oil Refining

Process

Indian School of Mines

Dhanbad
 General Refining operations
 Separation process
 Desalting and dehydration
 Fractionation
 Atmospheric distillation ----> Based on volatility of the component
 Vacuum distillation -----> Based on the volatility of the component

 Conversion process
Change the size and structure of the hydrocarbon molecules

 Cracking
 Thermal Cracking
 Catalytic Cracking
 Alkylation
Polymerization
Isomerization
Catalytic Reforming
 Coking
Visbreaking
 Petroleum Treating Processes
Hydrotreating
Sweetening
Deasphalting
Solvent Extraction
Solvent Dewaxing
 Feed stock and Product handling
Storage
Blending
Loading and Unloading
 Auxiliary operations and facilities include
Light steam and power generation
Process and fire water systems
Flares and relief system
Furnaces & heater
 Pumps & Valves
Supply of steam, air, nitrogen & other plant gases
Alarms & sensors
Noise & pollution controls etc..
Refining processes
 Physical and chemical processes
Chemical
Physical
Thermal Catalytic
Distillation Visbreaking Hydrotreating
Solvent extraction Delayed coking Catalytic reforming
Propane deasphalting Flexicoking Catalytic cracking
Solvent dewaxing Hydrocracking
Blending Catalytic dewaxing
Alkylation
Polymerization
Isomerization

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 PHYSICAL PROCESSES
 Desalting/dehydration
 How does distillation work?
 Crude distillation
 Propane deasphalting
 Solvent extraction and dewaxing
 Blending

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 Desalting/dehydration
 The salt in the crude oil is picked up either in the reservoirs or during
transportation.
 Crude oil also contains water, inorganic salts, suspended solids such as sand, clay,
and iron oxide particles and water soluble trace metals.
 Step 0 in the refining process is to remove these contaminants
 Salts in crude oil feedstocks can cause severe problems, including corrosion by acids
formed by chloride salt decomposition in fractionator overhead equipment, fouling
of heat exchangers by salt deposition, and poisoning of catalysts in down-stream
units.
 The two most typical methods of crude-oil desalting are chemical and electrostatic
separation, and both use hot water as the extraction agent.
 In chemical desalting, water and chemical surfactant (demulsifiers) are added to the
crude, which is heated so that salts and other impurities dissolve or attach to the
water, then held in a tank to settle out.
 Electrical desalting is the application of high-voltage electrostatic charges to
concentrate suspended water globules in the bottom of the settling tank.
Surfactants are added only when the crude has a large amount of suspended solids.
 A third (and rare) process filters hot crude using diatomaceous earth.

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 Desalting/dehydration
 The crude oil feedstock is heated to 65-180°C to reduce viscosity and
surface tension for easier mixing and separation of the water. The
temperature is limited by the vapor pressure of the crude-oil feedstock.
 In both methods other chemicals may be added. Ammonia is often
used to reduce corrosion. Caustic or acid may be added to adjust the
pH of the water wash.

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 How does distillation work?

 Distillation is defined as:

– a process in which a liquid or vapour mixture of two or more
substances is separated into its component fractions of desired
purity, by the application and removal of heat.

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 How does distillation work?

 Distillation is based on the fact that the vapour of a boiling

mixture will be richer in the components that have lower
boiling points.
 Thus, when this vapour is cooled and condensed, the
condensate will contain the more volatile components. At
the same time, the original mixture will contain more of
the less volatile components.
 Distillation is the most common separation technique and
it consumes enormous amounts of energy, both in terms
of cooling and heating requirements.
 Distillation can contribute to more than 50% of plant
operating costs.

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 How does distillation work?

Distillation columns are classified by the manner in

which they are operated:
1. Batch, in which the feed to the column is introduced
batch-wise. That is, the column is charged with a 'batch'
and then the distillation process is carried out. When the
desired task is achieved, a next batch of feed is
introduced.
2. Continuous columns process a continuous feed stream.
No interruptions occur unless there is a problem with
the column or surrounding process units. They are
capable of handling high throughputs and are the most
common of the two types.

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 Main Components of Distillation Columns
 A vertical shell where separation
of liquid components is done.
 Column internals e.g.trays/plates
and/or packings which are used to
enhance component separations.
 A reboiler to provide the
necessary vaporization for the
distillation process.
 A condenser to cool and condense
the vapour leaving the top of the
column.
 A reflux drum to hold the
condensed vapour from the top of
the column so that liquid (reflux)
can be recycled back to the
column.

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 Trays and plates
Bubble cap trays
A riser or chimney is fitted
over each hole, and a cap
covers the riser. The cap
is mounted with a space
to allow vapour to rise
through the chimney and
be directed downward by
the cap, finally discharging
through slots in the cap,
and bubbling through the
liquid on the tray.

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 Trays and plates

Valve trays
Perforations are covered by caps
lifted by vapour, which creates a
flow area and directs the vapour
horizontally into the liquid.

Sieve trays
Sieve trays are simply metal
plates with holes in them. Vapour
passes straight upward through
the liquid on the plate. The
arrangement, number and size of
the holes are design parameters.

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Liquid and vapour flows in a tray column

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 Liquid and vapour flows in a tray column

 Each tray has 2 conduits called

downcomers: one on each side.
Liquid falls by gravity through
the downcomers from one tray
to the tray below.
 A weir ensures there is always
some liquid (holdup) on the tray
and is designed such that the
the holdup is at a suitable
height, e.g. such that the bubble
caps are covered by liquid.
 Vapour flows up the column and
is forced to pass through the
liquid via the openings on each
tray. The area allowed for the
passage of vapour on each tray
is called the active tray area.

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 Basic operation

 The feed is introduced somewhere

near the middle of the column to a
tray known as the feed tray.
 The feed tray divides the column
into a top (enriching or rectification)
and a bottom (stripping) section.
 The feed flows down the column
where it is collected in the reboiler.
 Heat (usually as steam) is supplied to
the reboiler to generate vapour.
 The vapour from the reboiler is re-
introduced into the unit at the
bottom of the column.
 The liquid removed from the
reboiler is known as the bottoms
product or simply, bottoms.

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 Basic operation
 Vapour moves up the column, exits the top, and is cooled in a
condenser. The condensed liquid is stored in a holding vessel known as
the reflux drum. Some of this liquid is recycled back to the top of the
column and this is called the reflux. The condensed liquid that is
removed from the system is known as the distillate or top product.
 Thus, there are internal flows of vapour and liquid within the column as
well as external flows of feeds and product streams, into and out of the
column.

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 Crude distillation
 The ADU (Atmospheric Distillation Unit) separates most of the lighter end products
such as gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, and gas oil from the crude oil. The bottoms of
the ADU is then sent to the VDU (Vacuum Distillation Unit).
 Step 1 in the refining process is the separation of crude oil into various fractions or
straight-run cuts by distillation in atmospheric and vacuum towers. The main fractions
or "cuts" obtained have specific boiling-point ranges and can be classified in order of
decreasing volatility into gases, light distillates, middle distillates, gas oils, and
residuum.
Atmospheric distillation
 The desalted crude oil is preheated by the bottoms feed exchanger, further preheated
and partially vaporized in the feed furnace and passed into the atmospheric tower, at
pressures slightly above the atmospheric and at temperatures ranging from 340-370°C
(above these temperatures undesirable thermal cracking may occur). All but the
heaviest fractions flash into vapor and separated into off gas, gasoline, naphtha,
kerosene, gas oil, and bottoms.
 As the hot vapor rises in the tower, its temperature is reduced. Heavy fuel oil or
asphalt residue is taken from the bottom. At successively higher points on the tower,
the various major products including lubricating oil, heating oil, kerosene, gasoline, and
uncondensed gases (which condense at lower temperatures) are drawn off.

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 Atmospheric Distillation process
FeedStock From Process Typical product to unit
Crude Desalting Separation Gases to Atmospheric
distillation tower
Naphtas to Reforming
or treating
Kerosene or distillates
to treating
Gas oil to Catalytic
cracking
Residual to Vacuum
tower or visbreaker
Atmospheric distillation

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 Vacuum distillation
 To further distill the residuum or topped crude from the atmospheric tower
without thermal cracking, reduced pressure is required.
 The process takes place in one or more vacuum distillation towers.
 The principles of vacuum distillation resemble those of fractional distillation
except that larger diameter columns are used to maintain comparable vapor
velocities at the reduced pressures
 The primary advantage of vacuum distillation is that it allows for distilling
heavier materials at lower temperatures than those that would be required at
atmospheric pressure, thus avoiding thermal cracking of the components. 
 Firing conditions in the furnace are adjusted so that oil temperatures usually
do not exceed 425° C (800° F). 
 A typical first-phase vacuum tower may produce gas oils, lubricating-oil base
stocks, and heavy residual for propane deasphalting.
 A second-phase tower operating at lower vacuum may distill surplus residuum
from the atmospheric tower, which is not used for lube-stock processing, and
surplus residuum from the first vacuum tower not used for deasphalting.
 Vacuum towers are typically used to separate catalytic cracking feedstock from
surplus residuum.

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Vacuum distillation

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 Propane deasphalting
 Coke-forming tendencies of heavier distillation products
are reduced by removal of asphaltenic materials by
solvent extraction.
 Liquid propane is a good solvent (butane and pentane are
also commonly used).
 Deasphalting is based on solubility of hydrocarbons in
propane
 Vacuum residue is fed to a countercurrent deasphalting
tower. Alkanes dissolve in propane whereas asphaltenic
materials (aromatic compounds), do not.
 Asphalt is sent for thermal processing.

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Propane deasphalting

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 Solvent extraction and dewaxing
 Solvent treating is a widely used method of refining lubricating oils as
well as a host of other refinery stocks.
 Since distillation (fractionation) separates petroleum products into
groups only by their boiling-point ranges, impurities may remain.
These include organic compounds containing sulfur, nitrogen, and
oxygen; inorganic salts and dissolved metals; and soluble salts that
were present in the crude feedstock.
 In addition, kerosene and distillates may have trace amounts of
aromatics and naphthenes, and lubricating oil base-stocks may
contain wax.
 Solvent refining processes including solvent extraction and solvent
dewaxing usually remove these undesirables at intermediate refining
stages or just before sending the product to storage.

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 Solvent extraction
 The purpose of solvent extraction is to prevent corrosion, protect catalyst
in subsequent processes, and improve finished products by removing
unsaturated, aromatic hydrocarbons from lubricant and grease stocks.
 The solvent extraction process separates aromatics, naphthenes, and
impurities from the product stream by dissolving or precipitation. The
feedstock is first dried and then treated using a continuous countercurrent
solvent treatment operation.
 In one type of process, the feedstock is washed with a liquid in which the
substances to be removed are more soluble than in the desired resultant
product. In another process, selected solvents are added to cause
impurities to precipitate out of the product. In the adsorption process,
highly porous solid materials collect liquid molecules on their surfaces.
 The solvent is separated from the product stream by heating, evaporation,
or fractionation, and residual trace amounts are subsequently removed
from the raffinate by steam stripping or vacuum flashing.

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 Solvent extraction
 Electric precipitation may be used for separation of inorganic compounds.
 The solvent is regenerated for reused in the process.
 The most widely used extraction solvents are phenol, furfural, and
cresylic acid.
 Other solvents less frequently used are liquid sulfur dioxide,
nitrobenzene, and 2,2' dichloroethyl ether.
 The selection of specific processes and chemical agents depends on the
nature of the feedstock being treated, the contaminants present, and the
finished product requirements.

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Aromatic solvent extraction unit

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 Solvent dewaxing
 Solvent dewaxing is used to remove wax from either distillate or residual
basestock at any stage in the refining process.
 There are several processes in use for solvent dewaxing, but all have the
same general steps, which are::
 mixing the feedstock with a solvent;
 precipitating the wax from the mixture by chilling; and
 recovering the solvent from the wax and dewaxed oil for recycling by
distillation and steam stripping.
 Usually two solvents are used: toluene, which dissolves the oil and
maintains fluidity at low temperatures, and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK),
which dissolves little wax at low temperatures and acts as a wax
precipitating agent.
 Other solvents sometimes used include benzene, methyl isobutyl
ketone, propane, petroleum naphtha, ethylene dichloride, methylene
chloride, and sulfur dioxide.
 In addition, there is a catalytic process used as an alternate to solvent
dewaxing.

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Solvent dewaxing unit

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 Blending
 Blending is the physical mixture of a number of different liquid
hydrocarbons to produce a finished product with certain desired
characteristics.
 Products can be blended in-line through a manifold system, or batch
blended in tanks and vessels.
 In-line blending of gasoline, distillates, jet fuel, and kerosene is
accomplished by injecting proportionate amounts of each component
into the main stream where turbulence promotes thorough mixing.
 Additives including octane enhancers, anti-oxidants, anti-knock
agents, gum and rust inhibitors, detergents, etc. are added during
and/or after blending to provide specific properties not inherent in
hydrocarbons.

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 THERMAL PROCESSES
When a hydrocarbon is heated to a sufficiently high
temperature thermal cracking occurs. This is
sometimes referred to as pyrolysis (especially when
coal is the feedstock). When steam is used it is
called steam cracking. We will examine two
thermal processes used in refineries.
• Visbreaking
• Delayed coking

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 Visbreaking
• Visbreaking is a mild form of thermal cracking that lowers the
viscosity of heavy crude-oil residues without affecting the
boiling point range.
• Residuum from the atmospheric distillation tower is heated
(425-510ºC) at atmospheric pressure and mildly cracked in a
heater.
• It is then quenched with cool gas oil to control over-cracking,
and flashed in a distillation tower.
• Visbreaking is used to reduce the pour point of waxy residues
and reduce the viscosity of residues used for blending with
lighter fuel oils. Middle distillates may also be produced,
depending on product demand.
• The thermally cracked residue tar, which accumulates in the
bottom of the fractionation tower, is vacuum-flashed in a
stripper and the distillate recycled.

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Visbreaking

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 Visbreaking
• Alternatively, vacuum residue can be cracked. The severity of the
visbreaking depends upon temperature and reaction time (1-8 min).
• Usually < 10 wt% of gasoline and lighter products are produced.

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 Delayed Coking
• Coking is a severe method of thermal cracking used to upgrade heavy
residuals into lighter products or distillates.
• Coking produces straight-run gasoline (Coker naphtha) and various
middle-distillate fractions used as catalytic cracking feedstock.
• The process completely reduces hydrogen so that the residue is a
form of carbon called "coke."
• Three typical types of coke are obtained (sponge coke, honeycomb
coke, and needle coke) depending upon the reaction mechanism,
time, temperature, and the crude feedstock.
• In delayed coking the heated charge (typically residuum from
atmospheric distillation towers) is transferred to large coke drums
which provide the long residence time needed to allow the cracking
reactions to proceed to completion.

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 Delayed Coking
• Heavy feedstock is fed to a fractionator.
• The bottoms of the fractionator are fed to coker drums via a furnace
where the hot material (440°-500°C ) is held approximately 24 hours
(delayed) at pressures of 2-5 bar, until it cracks into lighter products.
• Vapors from the drums are returned to a fractionator where gas,
naphtha, and gas oils are separated out. The heavier hydrocarbons
produced in the fractionator are recycled through the furnace.
• After the coke reaches a predetermined level in one drum, the flow is
diverted to another drum to maintain continuous operation.
• The full drum is steamed to strip out uncracked hydrocarbons, cooled
by water injection, and de-coked by mechanical or hydraulic methods.
• The coke is mechanically removed by an auger rising from the bottom
of the drum. Hydraulic decoking consists of fracturing the coke bed
with high-pressure water ejected from a rotating cutter.

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Delayed Coking

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 CATALYTIC PROCESSES
• Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC)
• Hydrotreating
• Hydrocracking
• Catalytic Reforming
• Alkylation

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41
 Catalytic Cracking
• Main incentive for catalytic cracking is the need to
increase gasoline production.
• Feedstocks are typically vacuum gas oil.
• Cracking is catalyzed by solid acids which promote the
rupture of C-C bonds. The crucial intermediates are
carbocations (+ve charged HC ions) formed by the action
of the acid sites on the catalyst.
• Besides C-C cleavage many other reactions occur:
- isomerization
- alkylation
- polymerization
- cyclization and condensation

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 Catalytic Cracking
• Catalytic cracking comprises a complex network of
reactions, both intra-molecular and inter-molecular.
• The formation of coke is an essential feature of the
cracking process and this coke deactivates the catalyst.
• Catalytic cracking is one of the largest applications of
catalysts
• Catalytic cracking was the first large-scale application of
fluidized beds which explains the name fluid catalytic
cracking (FCC).
• Nowadays entrained-flow reactors are used instead of
fluidized beds but the name FCC is still retained.

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 Fluid Catalytic Cracking
• Oil is cracked in the presence of a finely divided catalyst, which is
maintained in an aerated or fluidized state by the oil vapours.
• The fluid cracker consists of a catalyst section and a fractionating
section that operate together as an integrated processing unit.
• The catalyst section contains the reactor and regenerator, which, with
the standpipe and riser, form the catalyst circulation unit. The fluid
catalyst is continuously circulated between the reactor and the
regenerator using air, oil vapors, and steam as the conveying media.
• Preheated feed is mixed with hot, regenerated catalyst in the riser and
combined with a recycle stream, vapourized, and raised to reactor
temperature (485-540°C) by the hot catalyst.
• As the mixture travels up the riser, the charge is cracked at 0.7-2 bar.
• In modern FCC units, all cracking takes place in the riser and the
"reactor" merely serves as a holding vessel for the cyclones. Cracked
product is then charged to a fractionating column where it is separated
into fractions, and some of the heavy oil is recycled to the riser.

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 Fluid Catalytic Cracking
• Spent catalyst is regenerated to get rid of coke that collects on the
catalyst during the process.
• Spent catalyst flows through the catalyst stripper to the regenerator,
where most of the coke deposits burn off at the bottom where
preheated air and spent catalyst are mixed.
• Fresh catalyst is added and worn-out catalyst removed to optimize the
cracking process.

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Fluid Catalytic Cracking

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Fluid Catalytic Cracking

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Fluid Catalytic Cracking

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 Hydrotreating
• Catalytic hydrotreating is a hydrogenation process used to remove
about 90% of contaminants such as nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and
metals from liquid petroleum fractions.
• If these contaminants are not removed from the petroleum fractions
they can have detrimental effects on equipment, catalysts, and the
quality of the finished product.
• Typically, hydrotreating is done prior to processes such as catalytic
reforming so that the catalyst is not contaminated by untreated
feedstock. Hydrotreating is also used prior to catalytic cracking to
reduce sulfur and improve product yields, and to upgrade middle-
distillate petroleum fractions into finished kerosene, diesel fuel, and
heating fuel oils.
• In addition, hydrotreating converts olefins and aromatics to saturated
compounds.

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 Catalytic Hydrodesulfurization Process

• Hydrotreating for sulfur removal is called hydrodesulfurization.

• In a typical catalytic hydrodesulfurization unit, the feedstock is deaerated
and mixed with hydrogen, preheated in a fired heater (315°-425° C) and
then charged under pressure (up to 70 bar) through a trickle-bed catalytic
reactor.
• In the reactor, the sulfur and nitrogen compounds in the feedstock are
converted into H2S and NH3.
• The reaction products leave the reactor and after cooling to a low
temperature enter a liquid/gas separator. The hydrogen-rich gas from the
high-pressure separation is recycled to combine with the feedstock, and
the low-pressure gas stream rich in H2S is sent to a gas treating unit where
H2S is removed.

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 Catalytic Hydrodesulfurization Process

• The clean gas is then suitable as fuel for the refinery furnaces. The liquid
stream is the product from hydrotreating and is normally sent to a
stripping column for removal of H2S and other undesirable components.
• In cases where steam is used for stripping, the product is sent to a vacuum
drier for removal of water.
• Hydrodesulfurized products are blended or used as catalytic reforming
feedstock.

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Hydrotreating: flow scheme

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Hydrotreating: trickle-bed reactor

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 Other Hydrotreating Processes

• Hydrotreating also can be used to improve the quality of pyrolysis gasoline

(pygas), a by-product from the manufacture of ethylene.
• Traditionally, the outlet for pygas has been motor gasoline blending,
because of its high octane number. However, only small portions can be
blended untreated owing to the unacceptable odor, color, and gum-
forming tendencies of this material.
• The quality of pygas, which is high in diolefin content, can be satisfactorily
improved by hydrotreating, whereby conversion of diolefins into mono-
olefins provides an acceptable product for motor gas blending.

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 Other Hydrotreating Processes

• Hydrotreating processes differ depending upon the feedstock

available and catalysts used.
• Hydrotreating can be used to improve the burning characteristics of
distillates such as kerosene. by converting aromatics into naphthenes,
which are cleaner-burning compounds.
• Lube-oil hydrotreating uses hydrogen to improve product quality.
With mild lube hydrotreating saturation of olefins and improvements
in color, odor, and acid nature of the oil are achieved. Operating
temperatures and pressures are usually below 315° C and 60 bar.
Severe lube hydrotreating (T ~ 315 - 400°C and hydrogen pressures up
to 205 bar) is capable of saturating aromatic rings, along with sulfur
and nitrogen removal, to impart specific properties not achieved at
mild conditions.

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 Hydrocracking
• Hydrocracking is a two-stage process combining catalytic cracking and
hydrogenation, wherein heavier feedstock is cracked in the presence of
hydrogen to produce more desirable products.
• The process employs high pressure, high temperature, a catalyst, and
hydrogen. Hydrocracking is used for feedstock that are difficult to
process by either catalytic cracking or reforming, since these feedstock
are characterized usually by a high polycyclic aromatic content and/or
high concentrations of the two principal catalyst poisons, sulfur and
nitrogen compounds.
• The process largely depends on the nature of the feedstock and the
relative rates of the two competing reactions, hydrogenation and
cracking. Heavy aromatic feedstock is converted into lighter products
under a wide range of very high pressures (70-140 bar) and fairly high
temperatures (400°-800°C), in the presence of hydrogen and special
catalysts.

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 Hydrocracking
• When the feedstock has a high paraffinic content, the primary function of
hydrogen is to prevent the formation of polycyclic aromatic compounds.
• Another important role of hydrogen in the hydrocracking process is to
reduce tar formation and prevent buildup of coke on the catalyst.
• Hydrogenation also serves to convert sulfur and nitrogen compounds
present in the feedstock to hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.
• Hydrocracking produces relatively large amounts of isobutane for
alkylation feedstock and also performs isomerization for pour-point
control and smoke-point control, both of which are important in high-
quality jet fuel.

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 Hydrocracking
• Preheated feedstock is mixed with recycled hydrogen and sent to the first-
stage reactor, where catalysts convert sulfur and nitrogen compounds to
H2S and NH3. Limited hydrocracking also occurs.
• After the hydrocarbon leaves the first stage, it is cooled and liquefied and
run through a separator. The hydrogen is recycled to the feedstock.
• The liquid is charged to a fractionator.
• The fractionator bottoms are again mixed with a hydrogen stream and
charged to the second stage. Since this material has already been
subjected to some hydrogenation, cracking, and reforming in the first
stage, the operations of the second stage are more severe (higher
temperatures and pressures). Again, the second stage product is
separated from the hydrogen and charged to the fractionator.

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Hydrocracking process configuration

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Hydrocracking flow scheme

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 Catalytic Reforming
• Catalytic reforming is an important process used to convert low-
octane naphthas into high-octane gasoline blending components
called reformates.
• Reforming represents the total effect of numerous reactions such as
cracking, polymerization, dehydrogenation, and isomerization taking
place simultaneously.
• Depending on the properties of the naphtha feedstock (as measured
by the paraffin, olefin, naphthene, and aromatic content) and
catalysts used, reformates can be produced with very high
concentrations of benzene, toluene, xylene, (BTX) and other
aromatics useful in gasoline blending and petrochemical processing.
• Hydrogen, a significant by-product, is separated from the reformate
for recycling and use in other processes.

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 Catalytic Reforming
• A catalytic reformer comprises a reactor and product-recovery section.
• There is a feed preparation section comprising a combination of
hydrotreatment and distillation.
• Most processes use Pt as the active catalyst. Sometimes Pt is
combined with a second catalyst (bimetallic catalyst) such as rhenium
or another noble metal.
• There are many different commercial processes including platforming,
powerforming, ultraforming, and Thermofor catalytic reforming.
• Some reformers operate at low pressure (3-13 bar), others at high
pressures (up to 70 bar). Some systems continuously regenerate the
catalyst in other systems. One reactor at a time is taken off-stream for
catalyst regeneration, and some facilities regenerate all of the reactors
during turnarounds.

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 Catalytic Reforming
• In the platforming process, the first step is preparation of the naphtha
feed to remove impurities from the naphtha and reduce catalyst
degradation.
• The naphtha feedstock is then mixed with hydrogen, vaporized, and
passed through a series of alternating furnace and fixed-bed reactors
containing a platinum catalyst.
• The effluent from the last reactor is cooled and sent to a separator to
permit removal of the hydrogen-rich gas stream from the top of the
separator for recycling.
• The liquid product from the bottom of the separator is sent to a
fractionator called a stabilizer (butanizer). It makes a bottom product
called reformate; butanes and lighter go overhead and are sent to the
saturated gas plant.

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Catalytic reforming scheme

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Semi-regenerative catalytic reforming

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Continuous regenerative reforming

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Catalytic reforming reactors

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 Alkylation
• Alkylation combines low-molecular-weight olefins (primarily a mixture
of propylene and butylene) with isobutene in the presence of a
catalyst, either sulfuric acid or hydrofluoric acid.
• The product is called alkylate and is composed of a mixture of high-
octane, branched-chain paraffinic hydrocarbons.
• Alkylate is a premium blending stock because it has exceptional
antiknock properties and is clean burning. The octane number of the
alkylate depends mainly upon the kind of olefins used and upon
operating conditions.

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 Sulphuric acid alkylation process
• In cascade type sulfuric acid (H2SO4) alkylation units, the feedstock
(propylene, butylene, amylene, and fresh isobutane) enters the reactor
and contacts the concentrated sulfuric acid catalyst (in concentrations
of 85% to 95% for good operation and to minimize corrosion).
• The reactor is divided into zones, with olefins fed through distributors
to each zone, and the sulfuric acid and isobutanes flowing over baffles
from zone to zone.
• The reactor effluent is separated into hydrocarbon and acid phases in a
settler, and the acid is returned to the reactor. The hydrocarbon phase
is hot-water washed with caustic for pH control before being
successively depropanized, deisobutanized, and debutanized. The
alkylate obtained from the deisobutanizer can then go directly to
motor-fuel blending or be rerun to produce aviation-grade blending
stock. The isobutane is recycled to the feed.

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Sulphuric acid alkylation process

72
Sulphuric acid alkylation process

73
Alkylation with H2SO4 in Stratco contactor with
autorefrigeration

74
 CONVERSION OF HEAVY RESIDUES
• Processing of light crude, even in a complex refinery with FCC,
hydrocracking etc. does not yield a satisfactory product distribution. The
amounts of fuel oil are too high.

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 CONVERSION OF HEAVY RESIDUES

• For heavy oil the situation is even worse with ~ 50% fuel oil being
produced even in a complex refinery.
• Fuel oil is worth < original crude. The value of the products decreases
in the order: gasoline> kerosene/gas oil > crude oil > fuel oil.

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 CONVERSION OF HEAVY RESIDUES

There are several reasons for an increased incentive to convert fuel

oil into lighter products:
1. The demand for light products such as gasoline and automotive
diesel fuels continues to increase while market for heavy fuel oil is
declining.
2. Environmental restrictions become more important. Fuel oil
contains high amounts of S, N, and metals, so measures must be
taken to lower emissions.
3. With the exception of Western Europe, the quality of crude oil shows
a worsening trend. It becomes heavier with higher amounts of
hetero-atoms, so more extensive processing is required to obtain the
same amount and quality of products.

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 CONVERSION OF HEAVY RESIDUES

In principle there are two solutions for upgrading residual oils and
for obtaining a better product distribution. These are carbon out
and hydrogen in processes.
1. Examples of carbon rejection processes are the Flexicoking
process (Exxon) and the FCC process discussed earlier.
2. Examples of hydrogen addition processes are the LC-fining process
(Lummus) and the HYCON process (Shell).

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 Fluid Coking and Flexicoking
• Both FLUID COKINGTM and FLEXICOKINGTM use fluid bed technology
to thermally convert heavy oils such as vacuum residue,
atmospheric residue, tar sands bitumen, heavy whole crudes,
deasphalter bottoms or cat plant bottoms.
• FLEXICOKING goes one step further than FLUID COKING: in addition
to generating clean liquids, FLEXICOKING also produces a low-BTU
gas in one integrated processing step that can virtually eliminate
petroleum coke production.
• The advantages are: flexibility to handle a variety of feed types;
high reliability with the average service factor between 90 -95%;
large single train capacity provides an economy of scale that lowers
investment cost; able to process 65 kB/SD of 20 wt% Conradson
Carbon resid in a single reactor; time between turnarounds
routinely approaches two years; able to process very heavy feed
stocks such as deasphalter bottoms at high feed rates.
• Additional FLEXICOKING benefit: Integrated gasification of up to
97% of gross coke production

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 The Fluid Coking Process
• The fluid coking residuum conversion process uses non-catalytic,
thermal chemistry to achieve high conversion levels with even
the heaviest refinery feedstocks.
• Since most of the sulfur, nitrogen, metals, and Conradson
Carbon Residue feed contaminants are rejected with the coke,
the full-range of lighter products can be feed for an FCC unit.
• Use as a single train reduces manpower requirements and
avoids process load swings and frequent thermal cycles that are
typical of batch processes such as delayed coking.
• The configurations available with fluid coking are: extinction
recycle, once-through, and once-through with hydroclones.

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81
 The Flexicoking Process
• Flexicoking is a thermal technology for converting heavy
feedstocks to higher margin liquids and producing, a low BTU
(i.e. a low energy content) gas, instead of coke.
• The conversion of coke to clean fuel gas maximizes refinery yield
of hydrocarbons.
• The carbon rejection process results in lower hydrogen
consumption than alternative hydrogen-addition systems.
• The low BTU gas is typically fed to a CO boiler for heat recovery
but can also be used in modified furnaces/boilers; atmospheric
or vacuum pipestill furnaces; reboilers; waste heat boilers;
power plants and steel mills; or as hydrogen plant fuel, which
can significantly reduce or eliminate purchases of expensive
natural gas.
• The small residual coke produced can be sold as boiler fuel for
generating electricity and steam or as burner fuel for cement
plants.

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83
The Flexicoking Process

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 Catalytic hydrogenation of residues
• This is a “hydrogen-in” route.
• It serves two purposes: removal of Sulphur, Nitrogen and metal
compounds, and the production of light products.
• Reactions are similar to those occurring in hydrotreating and
hydrocracking of gas oils, but there are two important
differences.
• (1) Residues contain much higher amounts of sulphur, nitrogen
and polycyclic aromatic compounds; and
• (2) removal of metals, which are concentrated in the residual
fraction of the crude, means that operating conditions are
more severe and hydrogen consumption greater than for
hydroprocessing of gas oils.

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 Catalyst deactivation
• Deposition of metals causes catalyst deactivation.
• Basically all metals in the periodic table are present in crude oil
with the major ones being Ni and V.
• At the reaction conditions H2S is present, hence metal
sulphides are formed.
• The reaction scheme is complex but may be represented
simply as:
Ni-porphyrin + H2  NiS + hydrocarbons and
V-porphyrin + H2  V2S3 + hydrocarbons
• The catalyst is poisoned by this process because most of the
deposition occurs on the outer shell of the catalyst particles,
initially poisoning the active sites then causing pore plugging.

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 Reactors used for catalytic hydrogenation
• Three types of reactor are used: (1) fixed-bed reactors; (2) fluidized-
bed reactors (also called ebulliated-bed reactors); and (3) slurry
reactors.

87
 The LC-fining process
• Developed by Lummus.
• Uses fluidized-bed reactors.

88
 Processes with fixed-bed reactors
• Replacement of deactivated catalyst in a conventional fixed-bed reactor is not possible
during operation.
• Depending on the metal content of the feedstock various combinations can be applied.

89
HYCON process

90
 Catalyst rejuvenation
• Catalyst rejuvenation is achieved by removal of metal sulphides and
carbonaceous deposits (essentially by oxidation), and by extraction of the
metals.

91
 Processes with slurry reactors
• Slurry processes for residue processing are normally designed
with the objective of maximizing residue conversion.
• Downstream reactors are then used to treat the liquid
products for S and N removal.
• Examples of the slurry process are the Veba Combi-Cracking
and CANMET process.
• Conversion of residual feed takes place in the liquid phase in a
slurry reactor.
• After separation the residue from the products they are
further hydro-treated in a fixed-bed reactor containing an HDS
catalyst.
• A cheap, once-through catalyst is used which ends up in the
residue.

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Veba Combi-Cracking process

93
 TREATMENT OF REFINERY GASES
• Removal of H2S from gases is usually performed by absorption in the liquid
phase.
• The concentrated H2S is frequently converted to elemental sulphur by the
“Claus” process (partial oxidation of H2S)
• In the Claus process 95-97% of the H2S is converted.
• H2S is often removed with solvents that can be regenerated, usually
alkanolamines: e.g. CH2(OH)CH2NH2 MEA (mono-ethanolamine).
• These amines are highly water soluble with low volatility and their
interaction with H2S is much faster than with CO2 so that the amount of
absorbed CO2 can be limited by selecting appropriate conditions.

94
Flow scheme for H2S removal by amine
absorption

95
Flow scheme of a typical Claus process

96