AM-97-56 CDU AND FCCU OPTIMIZATION USING NIR TECHNOLOGY

Description:

Flexibility is the key word in modem refinery operation. Judicious selection of spot market sources for Crude Oil can dramatically enhance a refiner’s profitability. Unfortunately, the large number of crude sources - up to 20 or more for some refineries - can make efficient operation of the refinery’s Crude Unit and FCC Unit difficult. Until recently, on-line characterization of the feed to the CDU the FCCU was not possible, forcing the unit operators to operate with safety margins as the unit transitions from one feed to another. This resulted in decreased throughput, lower yields of high-margin products and higher operating costs. While the measurement of the distillate products of the CDU and FCCU have existed for many years, real-time characterization of the feeds had not been previously possible. Two advances in the analytical world now change the outlook for these measurements; reliable Fourier Transform Near Infrared (FTNIR) chemical analyzers that allows measurements in real-time that used to be done off-line in the lab, and topological-based modeling software that enables the FINIR to characterized the wide range of crude types.