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Optimising the FCC regenerator for reduced emissions
Oct-2010
Increasing scrutiny of FCC stack emissions calls for special attention to be paid to the regenerator’s combustion zone
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Unique qualities of Canadian bitumen and synthetic crudes
Jan-2010
As production of Canadian bitumen and synthetic crude oil expands, North American refinery feed slates enter new territory in terms of crude oil quali ...
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Improving FCC catalyst performance
Mar-2006
Higher volumes of heavier feeds can be processed with additives designed to enhance base catalyst effectiveness. Deactivation and dehydrogenation problems ...
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Has the time for partial upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen arrived?
Oct-2009
Partial or field upgrading of heavy oil produces transportable synthetic crude oil and eliminates the need for diluents for transportation to refiners
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Analysing economic viability of opportunity crudes
Jul-2008
Challenges to refinery heavy oil upgrades are discussed. Demand for heavy and high-TAN crudes continues to rise as light sweet crude reserves decline. ...
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FCC flue gas scrubber alternatives: part II
Oct-2009
The merits of combining additives and barrier filters as a cost-effective alternative to meeting SOx, NOx and particulate matter emissions targets
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Reducing refinery SOx emissions
Jul-2006
Through an extensive study and 18-month trial, a Canadian refinery chose SOx reduction additive technology to reduce its SOx emissions
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Residue conversion options to meet marine fuel regulations
Jul-2010
Slurry hydrocracking to match demand for lower-sulphur marine fuel oils and to maintain distillate production targets
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A few sweet tricks for sour gas
May-2014
Large volumes of acid gas (H2S and SO2-rich gas) are generated from various technologies used to sweeten sour off-gases, or acid gas.
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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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Risks of accumulated sulphur in sulphur recovery unit
Aug-1998
Follow-up data to an October 1997 article proves with refinery experience that caustic neutralisation does not improve system operations
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Sulphur recovery from lean 
sour gas streams
Nov-2013
Gas streams are often treated with amine or membrane systems to meet specifications before the gas can be sent to a pipeline or used in a fuel gas system. ...
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Oil/water interface control for desalters
Oct-2007
Profiling instrument provides vertical real-time phase density measurement in desalter vessels. Benefits include reduced process upsets from interface ...
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Unlocking current 
refinery constraints
Apr-2008
When processing heavy feeds, technology based on residuum supercritical solvent extraction provides higher volumes of gas oil and DAO for conversion units. ...
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Maximising profitability with FCC feeds from opportunity crudes
May-2015
Case studies show how to achieve optimal monetisation value with opportunity feeds through operating strategies, innovative catalysts and technical st ...
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New process arrangements for upgrading heavy oils and residua
Jan-2014
Simulation studies reveal increased gasoline and diesel production from extra-heavy oil by means of RFCC and hydrocracking units with a mild hydrogenation ...
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Reducing FCC SOx in 
partial-burn regenerators
Apr-2008
Latest developments in SOx-reduction additives are discussed along with their relative merits and appropriate applications
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Seven rules of sedimentation in hydrocracking
Apr-2015
Guidelines to mitigate sedimentation fouling in heavy sour crude processing together with case studies illustrating how the improvements are captured.
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FCC catalysts for resid processing
Apr-2009
The diversifying feedstock scenario for FCCU operations has resulted in significant growth in the resid feed sector
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New roles for FCCU: carbon capture unit and coke gasifier
Jan-2009
Environmental and energy security concerns may evoke new roles for the FCCU in addition to the production of liquid fuels and light olefins. Gasification ...
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Gasification/IGCC to improve refinery operations
Apr-2008
Gasification and IGCC in refineries is discussed in light of increased attention to CO2 emissions and environmental performance.
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Apr-2006
When designing vacuum units for processing heavy Canadian crudes, reliability costs can be high if the feedstock’s thermal instability is not fully ...
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Corrosion monitoring improvements
Oct-2005
Case study examines prediction, monitoring and mitigation of corrosion-related effects at a West European refinery operating in a high temperature, naphthenic ...
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Simulation of the Benfield HiPure process of natural gas sweetening for LNG production
Apr-2013
Achieving specifications given by customers, including pipeline-operating companies, LNG storage facilities, and gas-processing plants requires the removal ...
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High-quality products from heavy sour crudes
Jul-2012
Application of current and emerging technologies will determine the potential of poor-quality crudes as sources of high-quality products
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Crude fingerprinting and predictive analytics
Jul-2017
Predictive modelling technology has been developed to predict the behavioural characteristics of crude oils and their blends
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Jul-2014
Recovery factors achieved by improved recovery techniques indicate that crude oil reserves in Alberta’s bitumen sands are the largest on earth
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Anode-grade coke from traditional crudes
Apr-2010
A combination of solvent deasphalting and delayed coking is an option to minimise fuel oil production and produce anode-grade coke
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Improving level control in desalters to aid in use of opportunity crudes
Sep-2019
Refineries are a complex set of various operating units designed to process crude oil into refined products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuels and feedstocks ...
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Wastewater treatment for challenging crudes
Jan-2018
A new organic polymer treatment has enabled refiners to more effectively process a variety of opportunity crudes
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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 ...
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Upgrading residues for high levels of distillate production
Oct-2009
A slurry hydrocracking reactor technology demonstrates a high level of conversion of vacuum residues to distillate and gasoline
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Residue conversion options to meet marine fuel regulations
Jul-2010
Slurry hydrocracking to match demand for lower-sulphur marine fuel oils and to maintain distillate production targets
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The importance of using pilot plant testing for FCC catalyst selection
Aug-2013
In the EMEA region, over 65% of refineries perform catalyst testing prior to selecting FCC catalysts for their units.
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Tier 3 gasoline from tight oil crudes
Jun-2017
Assessing process schemes to counter loss of gasoline road octane when the crude feed includes tight oil
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Higher margin from the bottom of the barrel
Jul-2017
Treating slurry oil in an electrostatic precipitator helps refiners increase production and profits and reduce environmental impact when processing heavier ...
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A few sweet tricks for sour gas
May-2014
Large volumes of acid gas (H2S and SO2-rich gas) are generated from various technologies used to sweeten sour off-gases, or acid gas.
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Predicting reactive heavy oil process operation
Oct-2014
Characterisation of feed and product yields through component structures for better understanding and prediction of operations
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Apr-2005
The detrimental effect of nickel and vanadium in forming contaminant coke and hydrogen can be reduced via appropriate passivation technology
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Corrosion monitoring improvements
Oct-2005
Case study examines prediction, monitoring and mitigation of corrosion-related effects at a West European refinery operating in a high temperature, naphthenic ...
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Reducing sulphur oxide emissions from the FCC unit
Feb-2010
Application of a SOx-reduction additive enabled a refiner to meet a pressing requirement to reduce emissions from its FCCU
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Enhanced bottoms cracking and process flexibility with Midas FCC catalyst
Jan-2013
This premium bottoms cracking FCC catalyst family is formulated with advanced zeolite stabilisation technology plus matrix metals passivation technology, ...
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Combining mesoporosity with metals tolerance for residue upgrading in FCC
Jul-2013
This article highlights the performance of Grace resid FCC catalysts with a range of zeolite-to-matrix (Z/M) ratios, optimised mesoporosity and metals ...
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Oil sands-derived feed processing
Jul-2013
Processing crudes derived from oil sands requires a good understanding of the facility, and of the sources and processing requirements of the available ...
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Maintaining reliability when processing opportunity crudes
Oct-2013
A risk-based approach that considers crude oil corrosivity can allow refiners to safely and reliably process increasing levels of opportunity crude
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High-acid crude processing enabled by unique use of computational fluid dynamics
Oct-2013
A methodology for applying CFD enables faster identification of pipe elements that are the most vulnerable to attack by high-acid crudes
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Enhancing bottoms cracking and 
process flexibility
Oct-2014
Catalyst designed with advanced zeolite stabilisation technology provides selective conversion of heavy FCC feed molecules
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Seven rules of sedimentation in hydrocracking
Apr-2015
Guidelines to mitigate sedimentation fouling in heavy sour crude processing together with case studies illustrating how the improvements are captured.
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Jan-2016
2015 was highlighted by a crude oversupply of 1.3 million b/d, which played a part in keeping oil prices at a low level, fluctuating between $40 and $60/bbl. ...
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Monitoring against process problems
Apr-2016
Careful monitoring for preheat exchanger fouling and H2S release during unloading is vital when tight oil blends are processed.
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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
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New process arrangements for upgrading heavy oils and residua
Jan-2014
Simulation studies reveal increased gasoline and diesel production from extra-heavy oil by means of RFCC and hydrocracking units with a mild hydrogenation ...
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Characterising and tracking contaminants in opportunity crudes
Jan-2014
The specific properties of contaminants in opportunity crudes affect the selection of crude slates for existing facilities and the design of revamps and ...
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Sulphur recovery from lean 
sour gas streams
Nov-2013
Gas streams are often treated with amine or membrane systems to meet specifications before the gas can be sent to a pipeline or used in a fuel gas system. ...
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High-acid crude processing enabled by unique use of computational fluid dynamics
Oct-2013
A methodology for applying CFD enables faster identification of pipe elements that are the most vulnerable to attack by high-acid crudes
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Maintaining reliability when processing opportunity crudes
Oct-2013
A risk-based approach that considers crude oil corrosivity can allow refiners to safely and reliably process increasing levels of opportunity crude
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Strategies for improved naphtha processing
Oct-2013
To take advantage of dilbit from Alberta and light oils from shale formations, refiners must develop a strategy for processing additional naphthas and ...
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The importance of using pilot plant testing for FCC catalyst selection
Aug-2013
In the EMEA region, over 65% of refineries perform catalyst testing prior to selecting FCC catalysts for their units.
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Oil sands-derived feed processing
Jul-2013
Processing crudes derived from oil sands requires a good understanding of the facility, and of the sources and processing requirements of the available ...
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Chemical analysis in amine system operations
Jul-2013
The array of contaminants that can disrupt the operation of alkanolamine systems needs to be precisely characterised and analysed
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Combining mesoporosity with metals tolerance for residue upgrading in FCC
Jul-2013
This article highlights the performance of Grace resid FCC catalysts with a range of zeolite-to-matrix (Z/M) ratios, optimised mesoporosity and metals ...
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Simulation of the Benfield HiPure process of natural gas sweetening for LNG production
Apr-2013
Achieving specifications given by customers, including pipeline-operating companies, LNG storage facilities, and gas-processing plants requires the removal ...
-
Enhanced bottoms cracking and process flexibility with Midas FCC catalyst
Jan-2013
This premium bottoms cracking FCC catalyst family is formulated with advanced zeolite stabilisation technology plus matrix metals passivation technology, ...
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Jan-2013
Poor-quality crude oils and strict environmental regulations promote the use of technologies that favour energy savings and environmental protection
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Designing a crude unit heat 
exchanger network
Oct-2012
Preheat train design for heavy Canadian crudes can be very challenging, requiring an approach not normally required with other crudes
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Desalting heavy Canadian crudes
Oct-2012
Effective desalting requires large desalters and attention to all variables associated with good desalter performance
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Oct-2012
Inaccurate feed characterisation and process modelling errors are major contributors to poor performance in a vacuum unit as refiners switch to heavier ...
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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 ...
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Challenges of heavy crude processing
Oct-2012
A review of upgrading options and refinery configurations to process heavy crudes profitably. Refiners have long faced a major dilemma when designing refineries ...
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Hydrogen - the key refinery enabler
Aug-2012
In the 21st century, the term “scraping the bottom of the barrel” has become quite literal to the refining industry and hydrogen comes to the fore ...
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High-quality products from heavy sour crudes
Jul-2012
Application of current and emerging technologies will determine the potential of poor-quality crudes as sources of high-quality products
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Maximise distillate yield to meet growing market demand
Jun-2012
Despite a mild winter thus far, industry analysts forecast ULSD demand growth in the second half of 2012. This is in part due to global demand growth for ...
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Maximise yields of high-quality diesel
Jun-2012
Global growth in distillate demand has driven refiners to investigate ways to increase middle distillate yields. Figure 1 shows the diesel-gasoline spot ...
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New crude oil basket for hydrogen 
savings
Jan-2012
The processing requirements of opportunity crudes are considered for the operations of the Indian refineries
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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