CC-95-133 CITGO CORPUS CHRISTI REFINERY GASOLINE BLENDER UPGRADE

Description:

To better comply with reformulated fuel requirements, CITGO’s Corpus Christi refinery installed a state-of-the-art integrated blending control system consisting of blend ratio control, multi-variable property control, on-line recipe optimization, and the integration of an off-line multi-period optimization and scheduling package and the refinery laboratory information system. Gasoline properties being controlled include the EPA simple model specifications for Toxics Reduction and Exhaust Benzene emissions. On-line analysis is done using both octane engines, RVP analyzers as well as NIR analysis technology. The on-line control system electronically receives it’s blend orders from the off-line blend planning and scheduling package which includes the blend component properties from the lab LIMS system. Final blend results are then fed back into the Refinery Information System. Future plans include the installation of MOV’s for fully automatic blend startup and shutdown and the addition of the EPA complex model equations to the on-line controls.