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• Choosing a neutralising amine corrosion inhibitor

  Jul-2004

  A review of physical and chemical properties of commonly used amine-based corrosion inhibitors. The authors highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses ...

• Crude overhead system design considerations

  Jul-2007

  Proper crude unit overhead system design is important when building a new unit or revamping an existing one to process different crudes

• An atmospheric crude tower revamp

  Jul-2005

  Overall gas oil yield was maintained with heavier crudes due to a crude tower revamp. The revamp allowed for a crude heater outlet temperature reducti ...

• Maximisation of VGO through deep-cut distillation for refinery margins

  Jan-2011

  Appropriate choice of crude and/or crude oil blends as feedstock and a vacuum tower revamp enable higher production of vacuum gas oil

• Why vacuum unit fired heaters coke

  Oct-2004

  A description of the internal workings of vacuum heaters and the causes of coke formation within them

• Diesel and VGO recovery

  Oct-2005

  Fundamental design considerations influencing diesel and vacuum gas oil (VGO) recovery when revamping existing or designing grassroots crude units. By ...

• Entrainment issues in vacuum column flash zones

  Jan-2010

  For a vacuum tower to operate effectively, the flash zone and the wash section must work together to provide the best possible feed quality to the sections ...

• Designing the CDU/VDU for opportunity crudes

  Oct-2012

  New units for processing heavy crudes should not be designed using conventional practices or run length will be short, and product yields and quality ...

• Improved conceptual process design avoids revamp scope growth

  Mar-2002

  For grassroots design, defining project scope is a straightforward exercise. Grassroots projects can follow optimum execution procedures for engineering ...

• Consider retrofits to handle high-viscosity crudes

  Mar-2004

  In 2000, ConocoPhillips’ refinery in Sweeny, Texas, began processing 16° API gravity blends of extra-heavy crude oils, including Merey 16 and BCF 1 ...

• Improving the distillation energy network

  Oct-2013

  Energy-efficient design applied to the refit of a distillation unit was achieved through optimisation between the distillation column and heat network ...

• Revamping atmospheric crude heaters

  Sep-2007

  Revamp of an atmospheric crude unit heater suffering from coking caused by asphaltene precipitation resulted in an increased heater run length

• Increasing crude unit preheat

  Jan-2006

  Cost-effective exchanger network solutions need to rely on more than just pinch technology if they are to be successful

• Foam control in crude units

  Oct-2004

  Installation of vortex tube clusters in crude unit preflash drums has eliminated foam carry-over, increasing diesel and atmospheric gasoil product yie ...

• Identifying poor heat exchanger performance

  Sep-2007

  Identifying root causes of poor crude unit debutaniser reboiler performance and low-cost solutions that help meet exchanger original design conditions

• Vacuum unit performance

  Oct-2012

  Inaccurate feed characterisation and process modelling errors are major contributors to poor performance in a vacuum unit as refiners switch to heavier ...

• Future of opportunity crudes processing

  Oct-2011

  Five critical drivers help refiners remain profitable and sustain long-term business goals while processing relatively inexpensive, low-quality crudes

• Vacuum unit pressure control

  Sep-2006

  Operational issues such as higher heater duty and column pressure must be weighed against avoiding residue entrainment in HVGO

• Myth of high cutpoint in dry 
vacuum units

  Apr-2014

  Accurate measures of true boiling point cutpoints are essential to correctly evaluate vacuum unit performance

• Bitumen processing: crude unit revamps

  Jul-2011

  The ability to process bitumen offers a competitive advantage, but revamps of crude and vacuum units to process bitumen require significant changes
to ...

• Vacuum unit troubleshooting

  Sep-2003

  Case studies show how accurate field-measured differential pressure can be interpreted incorrectly when troubleshooting refinery vacuum columns

• Evaluating opportunity crude processing

  Oct-2006

  Is processing opportunity crudes for every refiner? Technical challenges and economic benefits from processing high-acid crudes and bottom-of-the-barrel ...

• Preventing ammonium salt fouling and corrosion

  Jan-2018

  Best practices and opportunities to reduce the risk of salt deposition and damage

• Crude unit start-ups: the results of a 
high liquid level

  Sep-2003

  Pressure-measurement techniques can avoid the dangers of rapidly changing flow rates and levels during start-up

Most Popular

• Choosing a neutralising amine corrosion inhibitor

  Jul-2004

  A review of physical and chemical properties of commonly used amine-based corrosion inhibitors. The authors highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses ...

• Revamping crude towers for quality and yield

  Nov-2016

  A successful revamp of distillation towers for increased diesel quality and yield depended on reliable design and accurate assembly

• An atmospheric crude tower revamp

  Jul-2005

  Overall gas oil yield was maintained with heavier crudes due to a crude tower revamp. The revamp allowed for a crude heater outlet temperature reducti ...

• Myth of high cutpoint in dry 
vacuum units

  Apr-2014

  Accurate measures of true boiling point cutpoints are essential to correctly evaluate vacuum unit performance

• Flexible upgrading of heavy feedstocks

  Feb-2019

  Adding tailor-made options for upgrading heavy crudes to existing assets can adapt refineries to changes in market conditions and regulatory demands.

• Consider retrofits to handle high-viscosity crudes

  Mar-2004

  In 2000, ConocoPhillips’ refinery in Sweeny, Texas, began processing 16° API gravity blends of extra-heavy crude oils, including Merey 16 and BCF 1 ...

• Loss into gain in high capacity trays - Part 1: excursion

  Jun-2016

  Systematic troubleshooting diagnosed and solved two complex and independent problems that limited the capacity of an atmospheric crude distillation to ...

• Troubleshooting vacuum systems

  Oct-2016

  Case histories of refinery vacuum tower problems solved are gleaned from five decades of experience.

• Foam control in crude units

  Oct-2004

  Installation of vortex tube clusters in crude unit preflash drums has eliminated foam carry-over, increasing diesel and atmospheric gasoil product yie ...

• Problems in processing discounted crudes Part 2: crude and vacuum columns

  May-2019

  Project costs must be considered to fully understand whether or not an opportunity crude really does deliver on savings.

• Problems in processing discounted crudes Part 1: definition and crude preheat

  Feb-2019

  Project costs must be considered to fully understand whether or not an opportunity crude really does deliver on savings.

• Correcting vacuum column design flaws

  Apr-2017

  Conventional design practices have been proven inadequate when maximising diesel recovery and gas oil cut point

• Oil recovery from tank sludge

  Nov-2017

  Thorough tank cleaning means removing all of the sludge and restoring the vessel’s full storage capacity.

• Vacuum unit troubleshooting

  Sep-2003

  Case studies show how accurate field-measured differential pressure can be interpreted incorrectly when troubleshooting refinery vacuum columns

• Asphalt quality prediction and control

  Oct-2014

  With knowledge of heavy vacuum gasoil cut-point and asphalt density, asphalt quality can be inferred

• Reducing vacuum tower pressure

  Apr-2015

  To create a better vacuum the vapour load to the ejector has to be reduced

• Operating vacuum distillation ejector systems

  Oct-2016

  Best practices and opportunities to deliver reliable ejector system performance and reduce performance risk.

• Balanced distillation equipment design

  Feb-2017

  Fouling resistance and efficiency requirements for distillation equipment are balanced and optimised for reliable unit performance.

• Troubleshooting crude column constraints

  Jul-2017

  Multiple limitations to operating capacity were identified and resolved during a column turnaround

• Model predictive control of a distillation unit

  Jul-2017

  In a coordinated plant process, particular attention must be paid to control of individual columns.

• Controlling contaminants in vacuum gasoil

  Nov-2017

  How revamps can increase VDU capacity and reliability while controlling contaminant levels to acceptable limits.

• Opening the crude flexibility window: automation manages threats in real time

  Sep-2018

  By increasing the volume of quality data, refiners can automate the correct addition of chemical additives to respond to variations in unit performanc ...

• Improving the distillation energy network

  Oct-2013

  Energy-efficient design applied to the refit of a distillation unit was achieved through optimisation between the distillation column and heat network ...

• Revamping crude and vacuum units to process bitumen

  Apr-2015

  Revamping crude and vacuum units to process dilbit can involve extensive equipment replacement as well as major changes to the crude preheating scheme

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