CC-97-133 MINING GOLD FROM BLACK OIL USING VIRTUAL PICKS AND SHOVELS

Description:

Various datamining techniques were applied to a non-steady swing crude unit. Without th tankage and pump capacity to segregate crudes, and without the money or management priority to fix the process, these techniques became a last resort to attempt the recovery of a $3 MM/y potential sitting in the unit. Using over two years of process control da@ plamtin assay and plant yield data, laboratory and product cut analyses, and crude supply delivery records, a “virtual” assay of the net crude feed was established using only on-line makim feed gravity analysis and the knowledge of the actual crudes delivered to the feed tanks. Integration of this information with HEXTRAN and PRO/II models, along witb real time dat retrieval into these models, tempted operations personnel to actually use the applications to save money.