AM-15-77 Vacuum Bottoms Upgrading: Add Hydrogen, Reject Carbon, or Do Both?

Description:

Upgrading refinery residues such as Vacuum Tower Bottoms (VTB) is an ever changing landscape within the refining industry. The need to upgrade residue is market driven and will continue to be in demand, especially as the world moves away from the use of residues in bunker fuel. The complexity of the refining configuration including VTB upgrading becomes a crucial driver with the refinery economic sustaining threshold increasing beyond 250 KBD. Additionally, upgrading residue provides a means to tap into the vast potential of the world’s heavy oil reserves as the VTB upgrading facility may be located as part of Upstream E&P or Downstream Refining portfolios.