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What are the optimal unit configurations and combinations (e.g., FCC/hydrocracking) for increasing high-margins products, while reducing low-value streams (e.g., HSFO & LSFO)?
Replies: 2
Considering the growing interest in maximising renewable and biomass feeds (including Fischer-Tropsch liquids) through the FCC, what are the most noticeable options you see refiners adopting beyond 2030? To what extent can renewable feed pretreatment be simplified (if at all)?
Replies: 5
To what extent do you see the deployment of digital approaches to maintain and operate facilities while leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in the restructured operations of the petrochemical industry?
Replies: 6
Regional shifts in higher refinery capacity seem to correspond with the need for more intensive water treatment programmes involving wastewater recycle processes while protecting heat exchangers and linked assets from fouling and corrosion. At what level of investment have you seen refinery operators commit to plant water quality while reducing its consumption?
Changes in feedstocks processed through hydrotreating and hydrocracking reactors may sometimes lead to lower efficiency, such as thermal maldistribution problems and reduced cycle length. Can you report any recent cases, such as distillate hydrotreaters challenged with meeting T95 diesel specifications, where conversion problems were resolved that can be duplicated with other hydrotreating units facing similar challenges?
Replies: 3
Considering market shifts favouring petrochemicals (for example, chemical-grade propylene), what are the optimal unit configurations and combinations, such as FCC/hydrocracking, for increasing high-margin products while reducing low-value streams, such as high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) and low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO)?
What are the most attractive long-term options for incorporating autothermal reforming (ATR) and/or partial oxidation (POX) to produce blue hydrogen at near-zero CO2 emissions? Or can CO2 emissions from SMR units be further reduced?
Considering the range of petrochemicals used crosswise for preparing a wide range of marketable products, including textiles, detergents, adhesives, antifreeze, solvents, and pharmaceuticals, what state-of-the-art catalysts are emerging for production of petrochemicals such as styrene, polymers, and aromatics?
Replies: 1
What are some of the optimal strategies for processing (or co-processing) second- and third-generation renewable feedstocks?
In building the petrochemical value chain, how much further can we see the FCC unit being used to increase olefins production with the wide range of feedstocks currently available, including waste plastics-derived pyrolysis oil?
Replies: 4
What hydrocracking reactor catalysts are demonstrating optimal mid-distillate selectivity, better yield structures, and more efficient use of hydrogen? In combination, which of these catalyst systems seems to be the most flexible in adjusting to feed quality variations and heavy feeds such as DAO and HVGO molecules?
Besides improved catalyst systems, what advances in reactor internals are improving efficiency and throughput while also mitigating the effect of fouling and catalyst poisons?
Maximising cycle duration of hydroprocessing units has always been important to refiners, but what other step-out gains can we see from catalyst developments in terms of volume swell, PNA saturation, and HDN activity while achieving high HDS performance?
Unloading contractor encountered fire due to vacuum unloading of HDS reactor. Unloading a fixed bed hydrotreater reactor is classically done under Nitrogen atmosphere in order to avoid any fire due to deposit FeS. And FeS in nearly inavoidable in older units due to corrosion in the upstream equipment. Normally avoiding any fire is ensured by putting the reactor and the unloading nozzles until the drum dedicated to the unloaded catalyst under N2. Sometimes it is necessary to unload the reactor from the top by vacuum (e.g. sampling of spent catalyst is needed, or there are baskets on the distributor tray).
In that case, how the unloading company can avoid that the catalyst comes in contact with air? Can their vacuum facility be operated under N2?
We have a problem in our Desalter. When we turn on the electric transformers, the electricity feeder trips off immediately several times. One of the transformers is damaged. The desalter contains only Crude Oil (Not mixed with water) What are the causes?
Replies: 8
Does sulphiding of hydrotreater CoMo and NiMo catalyst possible with Straight run feed containing Sulphur instead of DMDS?
If so, how exactly Sulphur containing Straight run feed can sulfide the catalyst?
As in the later case, DMDS decompose at the operating temperature of above 190degC and provides required H2S for initiation of sulphiding process, but how does Sulphur containing straight run feed can provide H2S?
How does hydrotreated Vacuum gas oil product specification with respect to Sulphur content/Nitrogen content/ Aromatics/ product distillation ( D5 %) impacts the FCC unit operations and its product yields?
Emergency depressurization Valve in Diesel and Vacuum gas oil Hydrotreater unit brings down the design operating pressure to half of it on its actuation in 15minutes as per design Philosophy of the valve. What is the importance of this 15mins, why not less than or more than 15minutes.
Is it advisable to active a regenerated and/or reactivated hydrotreating catalyst with only feed?
What is the purpose of Hot H2 Stripping in Diesel and Vacuum gas oil hydrotreater units at 360degC, during shutdown steps for catalyst replacement work?
Significance of maintaining H2S and not maintaining H2S in the HP loop during Hot H2 stripping? What are the consequences?.
Loading of catalyst in Hydrotreaters units follows Dense and Sock loading, despite having many advantages of Dense loading except high pressure drop.
It is observed in plants, that 1st bed grading and bulk catalyst to be in Sock loading and following beds top catalyst layers of little height in Sock loading followed by Dense loading for remaining bed height?
Q1. During what instances we choose to go for Sock loading?
Q2. How to choose inert balls size and quantity on catalyst bed support grid and on outlet collector?
With the CO2-to-methanol route gaining more interest, what emerging technology do you see accelerating this interest?
Under what conditions do you see opportunities with the upgradation of distressed refinery products (such as vacuum resid) to higher value outlets? Are these opportunities primarily outside the fuels market?
Is it possible that refiners could be overlooking some practical solutions to increasing FCC olefins yields, such as in the gas plant/recovery section?
Do you see growing investor interest in processing plastic waste-derived pyrolysis oil through refinery assets, such as hydrocrackers? Against this backdrop, how prepared are refiners to invest in contaminants removal systems (for pretreatment of the pyrolysis oils)?
What are some of the most effective compressor performance strategies for improving the mean time between failure (MTBF)?
What heat exchanger fouling prediction frameworks do you see benefiting refinery and petrochemical operations?
What optimal hydrocracking catalysts and operating strategies are needed to co-hydroprocess waste oils with VGO?
It is well understood that the Mimium Pressurization Temperature is the temperature below which the steel is assumed to be brittle due to H2 Embrittlement in hydrotreating units.
How to understand conceptually, why beyond MPT value, H2 embrittlement is not an issue or reactor is not suspectible to loss of ductility, eventhough pressure after MPT value will be higher than before. Can someone please guide me?
What is the basis for maintaining minimum wetting rates in vacuum column (whether based on vacuum charge or design condition?) What will happen if minimum wetting rates are not adhering to?
With the enormous potential for reducing the refinery carbon footprint by increasing direct fired heater efficiency, what successful cases provide an example of increased efficiency and reduced emissions?
We’ve increased the opportunity crude content of our feed and are experiencing high calcium issues. How can we best address this?
What is the impact in the product quality if circulating refluxes return temperatures are not maintaining at design temperatures? Is it wise to reduce heat recovery in pre heat network for maintaining design pump around return temp at the expense of pre heat?
What is the best solvent to be used in a carbon capture train of syngas placed between the HTS and PSA unit?
In Crude Distillation Unit CDU, we inject caustic soda (NaOH) for treating salts in crude oil (<= 20ppm ), but if the concentration of the salt in crude became too high (e.g 40ppm), desalter (desalting system) is required for that. The query is, if the desalter is out of service, what procedures are to be taken for treating salts? And what are the disadvantages of increasing the injection of caustic soda (NaOH)?
Projected diesel shortages could become a crisis if winter conditions are severe, potentially knocking out already strained power grids. What strategies should refiners rely on to increase distillate-range material?