AM-10-178 Technologies for Improved Refinery Gas Utilization

Description:

The trend of processing more heavy and sour crudes, the shift in demand away from gasoline towards more distillate, and more stringent fuel qualities change the fuel and hydrogen balances in most refineries. Finding the right solution to managing fuel gas and hydrogen requirements has become essential for refineries to remain profitable. With a combination of proven and new technologies, Praxair is well positioned to address refinery “fuel long” situations. The refinery gas value is higher for hydrogen generation than for generating power and slightly lower than the value for using it as chemical feedstock. Cryogenic processing of refinery fuel gas to recover valuable products (hydrogen and LPG) is also a viable option, especially when it is integrated with post-purification technologies (e.g. PSA). Praxair has also developed a patented refinery gas processor based on a short contact time catalyst that can reliably process refinery gas and convert it into SMR suitable feed. We will discuss how different technologies are suited to different refinery gas streams and how to optimize recovery given differing energy and capital cost constraints.