AIChE Chicago 2006 Symposium

ABSTRACT:
Solvent Deasphalting (SDA) typically uses C3-C5 hydrocarbon under pressure at near-critical conditions to break the colloidal structure of heavy oil, causing a phase separation. Recovered deasphalted oil (DAO) is substantially reduced in metals, polar aromatics and asphaltenes. SDA alone or in combinations can be a low capital cost and very energy-efficient upgrading system. With the recent high light-heavy crude price differentials, SDA has undergone a kind of renaissance from a minor technology to a prime player in bottom-of-barrel conversion schemes; Deep lift SDA is increasingly used to recover maximum quantities of FCC or hydrocracking feedstock, where the bottoms pitch can be ideal gasification feed to produce hydrogen or power, or blended off with feed to existing cokers.

The SDA process and its application will be briefly reviewed. At UOP, a recently improved standard "resid assay" techinique has been adopted which progressively extracts heavier and more polar material by precise adjustment of the solvent parameter. This technique can be used to show the incremental yields and properties versus lift, in much the same way as a distillation assay functions for lighter petroleum feedstocks. Results can be used in process modeling, economic projections and fundamental studies for economic targets and upgrading potential for any heavy residue.

ABSTRACT:
The paper will briefly review the role that delayed coking plays in residue upgrading with comments on the general benefits of delayed coking as a route for residue upgrading. Salient features of the SYDECsm Delayed Coking process will be reviewed with emphasis on safety, environmental issues and reliable operations. Concerns about fuel coke disposal will be addressed.

Finally a case study will be presented to define the economic impact and benefit a coker project can provide to a cracking refinery with no residue upgrading. The case study will look at converting the cracking refinery processing a light crude (WTI) to a coking refinery processing a heavy crude (Cold Lake). Cost information for crude and products will be based on spot market published values. The overall refinery economics will be presented.

BIO:
David Wedlake is a process engineer for Foster Wheeler USA Corporation, Houston, Texas. Since joining Foster Wheeler in 2001, he has been actively involved in refinery planning and economic evaluations for numerous clients worldwide. David received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University.

ABSTRACT:
Hydrotreating and hydrocracking are two of the best suited upgrading technologies to help meet the increasingly challenging clean and reformulated fuels challenge. The wide variety of hydrocracking catalyst and process schemes currently available offers a fair degree of leverage which can be utilized to meet the challenge. The most effective approach to meet the clean fuels challenge will greatly benefit from enhanced knowledge of the chemistry taking place in under varied process conditions. However, due to the very complex nature of typical feed stocks and the simpler but still complex product composition, detailed assessment and control of the required molecular transformations has eluded technologists in the field. New developments will require increasingly specific tailoring of new catalysts to optimize the desired reaction pathways which vary with process design and the consequent environment the catalyst must operate in. Development efforts to meet clean fuels production objectives must start by establishing a detailed knowledge of the required molecular transformations and then coupling this knowledge with catalyst design principles and process conditions. This presentation will illustrate the benefits achieved through application of new tools for detailed catalyst and hydrocarbon characterization can help in enhancing the reaction pathways in the hydrocracking unit to achieve these goals. Examples of catalyst and process schemes offered for the upgeading of cycle oils into a mix of clean, high-value gasoline and diesel products under hydrocracking conditions will be presented to illustrate these principles.

BIO:
I graduated with a Bachlors degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001 and started at UOP the very same year. I had spent the first year operating pilot plants and working in the light fuels area. In 2003 I joined the hydroprocessing development group where I had the oppertunity to work on several intersting projects.

ABSTRACT:
The objective of FCC naphtha selective hydrodesulfurization (SHDS) technologies, such as the SelectFining(TM) process licensed by UOP, is to reduce the sulfur content of the naphtha while simultaneously maintaining its octane value by minimizing olefin saturation. Both of these objectives are complicated by recombination, the term applied to the reaction of H2S and olefins to form thiols. A solid understanding of recombination reaction kinetics is critical in the design and operation of selective hydrodesulfurization units as the lowest achievable sulfur level in a single stage may be dictated by the extent of recombination. Furthermore, recombination contributes to the conversion of the valuable high octane olefins. Thiols formed by recombination are converted through a hydrodesulfurization mechanism. This so-called drainage reaction creates a second route for olefin conversion.

BIO:
Laura Leonard joined UOP in February 2002 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin � Madison with a B.S. in chemical engineering. During her time at UOP Laura has worked in the hydrorpocessing process development group, primarily focusing on reaction engineering and hydrotreating technologies.

ABSTRACT:
Utilizing Heat Transfer Technology to Provide Process Solutions: Koch Heat Transfer Company, known as Brown Fintube for many years, is a company that provides process solutions for heat exchangers by utilizing our "toolbox" of capabilities. For years we have used hairpin and insert technology to make designs efficient and effective. In 1995 we started offering Twisted Tube Technology to provide unique solutions for TEMA type exchangers. In the past year we've added to our fabrication and mechanical expertise by merging with the well respected Italian company IMB. This merger has given us new mechanical closure solutions as well as allowing us to offer our technology in the high pressure shell and tube market. Recently we have introduced HELI-BAFFLE to the market, which will give end-users an alternative design for this baffle configuration.

The focus of this presentation will be on the Twisted Tube Technology and discussing applications where it had provided solutions in the refining market.

BIO:
Mike Buettner is a Regional Sales Manager with Koch Heat Transfer Company. Mike has worked in Koch Industries for most of his career, starting with Koch Refining in Minnesota, then Koch Materials in Chicago, and most recently working in Houston to provide heat transfer solutions.

ABSTRACT:
This paper 1) presents an overview of FCC technology, 2) discusses several hydrodynamic and solid circulation problems and their solutions, and 3) presents some recent advances in FCC technology. Problems discussed are 1) unstable and low standpipe flow which affects refinery capacity, 2) gas streaming in cyclone diplegs which leads to excessive temperatures in the regenerator, and 3) gas bypassing in regenerators which can cause excessive solids carryover as well as afterburning in the regenerator freeboard.

A discussion of recent advances in FCC technology will also be presented. Advances in stripping technology will be discussed that allow operation at much higher mass flux rates through the stripper - thus allowing increased refinery capacities. In addition, an improved technique to contact gas and solids in the riser reactor by adding internals will be presented.

ABSTRACT:
Process simulations are used frequently in refining to determine the optimum operating parameters for a wide range of processes. The development of Omega technology by the oil industry in the 1990’s led to the development of a new type of simulation that made it possible to assess the effects of past service on high temperature equipment and to predict future equipment performance. Furnace tubes are a type of high temperature equipment that is well suited to Omega simulation analyses. Furnace tubes fail due to the combination of creep and corrosion processes. Creep is a process that involves diffusion, crystal deformation, crystal boundary slipping, and dislocation motion – processes that eventually results in equipment failure. These degradation processes can be simulated by Omega software, and the simulation results predict the remaining life of the furnace tubes under the existing process conditions or when exposed to new process conditions. This type of simulation is more complex than typical process simulations because past equipment history is an essential part of the simulation. Omega simulations deal with years of past operating data and typically predict performance years into the future.

This paper describes the application of Omega simulations to coker furnaces tubes that have been in service since 1968. Coker furnaces are somewhat unique in that furnace tube metal temperatures and pressures change as coke accumulates on the ID of the tubes. This complicates modeling because the simulation has to include the changing process conditions to be accurate. Corrosion and other damage mechanism also depend upon temperature and the concentration of corrosives in the process stream, and this has to also be included in the simulation. Corrosion and other forms of damage are not necessarily phenomena that occur at constant rates, and the simulation has to include changes in these rates. To further complicate the situation, the pressure and temperature also change depending upon the location in the furnace. The pressure is higher near the inlet and the temperature is higher near the outlet. Also, as coke forms in the tubes the pressure distribution in the furnace changes and the pressure in each tube has to be adjusted to simulate the actual process conditions. Also, infrared scans of the furnace tubes can be used to better characterize the temperature distribution in the furnace. Despite the complicating factors involved in coker furnace tube simulations, it is possible to accurately assess furnace tube remaining life in a coker furnaces using Omega simulations, and the example provided in this paper demonstrate how this can be done.

BIO:
Jerry Wilks began his technical career working as a summer intern for Continental Can R&D while attending IIT to get a BS degree in metallurgical engineering. At that summer job, he was actually doing chemical engineering work to developing a way to recycle cans through an electroplating process. One of the process problems pertained to electrolyte regeneration, and he built a pilot plant in the laboratory to test his ideas about electrolyte regeneration. His experiments led to his first patent. After graduation, he went into the Air Force and worked gathering intelligence information on the Soviet Union from a small base in northern Turkey near the town of Karamürsel (about 70 km from Istanbul ). There he learned Turkish. After finishing his military commitment, he moved back to Illinois and began working as a research engineer at LaSalle Steel Company in Northwest Indiana . At LaSalle he developed processes for rapidly heat treating steel that led to two more patents. While working at LaSalle he took evening classes at IIT, and in 1982 received a MS degree in metallurgical engineering.

In 1986 Jerry switched industries and joined Amoco R&D in Naperville . His work there primarily pertained to solving corrosion problems that were occurring in all aspects of Amoco's operations: exploration & production, refining, and chemicals. He published 4 papers on oil industry problems. He worked in R&D for about 10 years and also worked at Amoco's Whiting Refinery for about 10 years. His refinery work entailed materials selections for new equipment, material upgrades, corrosion analyses, failure analyses, welding process problem solutions, equipment reliability analyses and other aspects of refinery operations. While analyzing process equipment it became obvious that chemical engineering expertise would compliment his work so he began taking chemical engineering courses at IIT. After he took several courses, he joined AIChE to learn more about the chemical engineering profession. His studies led to a MS in chemical engineering in 2005. In late 2005, Jerry left BP/Amoco and joined CITGO Petroleum, and today he is Senior Metallurgy & Corrosion Engineer at the Lemont Refinery, and leader of CITGO's Metallurgy and Corrosion Community of Excellence.

ABSTRACT:
Bio-fuel production has been expanding worldwide, driven by increasing petroleum prices, government mandates and incentives, and commitments to Green House gas reduction. Despite this growth in bio-fuel production, there has so far been little integration of bio-fuels production with petroleum refineries. The segregation of bio-fuels increases the cost of their use, since existing infrastructure for distribution and production of fuels is not utilized. Bio-fuels could play a stronger role in reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil if economical opportunities for blending or co-processing in traditional petroleum refineries could be identified and developed.

Recently, a US Dept. of Energy funded collaboration between UOP, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory began evaluating the economics of using bio-fuels in petroleum refineries. This project is aimed at identifying economically attractive opportunities for bio-fuels blending, co-processing and production using petroleum refinery processes.

In particular, we have evaluated the use of pyrolysis bio-oils, crude Fischer-Tropsch liquids (produced from gasifying black liquor or hog fuel) and hydrothermal bio-oils in typical oil refineries. In addition to the use of these feedstocks for the production of bio-fuels, we have also explored routes to chemicals as well as for generation of H2. The impact of bio-feedstock integration on refinery Green House gas emissions has also been examined.

The presentation will focus on a comparison of the various processing schemes from both a technical and economic perspective. This presentation should enable a dialog on the potential role of conventional petroleum refineries in the processing of bio-feedstocks.

ABSTRACT:
This division is formed in the broad field of carbonaceous fuels and petrochemicals, in accordance with the Institute's constitution, bylaws, and rules. Carbonaceous fuels include petroleum, coal, oil shale, tar sands, heavy oils, natural gas, renewable resources, and polymers or other synthetics for these materials. Petrochemicals include all chemical products made with any of these materials as a starting point.

To further the application of chemical engineering in the fuels and petrochemicals fields by industrial, educational, institutional and governmental groups.
To provide a communications medium for the exchange of non-confidential information of mutual interest among individuals engaged in all phases of fuels and petrochemicals activities.
To provide a forum for the dissemination of information, ideas, and attitudes between the practicing engineer and the chemical engineering educator.
To instill an early interest in the Institute among the engineers in these specific fields; and to promote cross-fertilization of ideas with chemical engineers in other industries and thus to stimulate transfer of knowledge from one field to another.
To coordinate the Institute's activities with other societies active in fuels and petrochemicals.
To provide leadership, assistance and expertise as appropriate to the Institute, industrial, education, and governmental groups in all fields of fuels and petrochemicals activities, including safety, health and environment.

BIOS:

Irv Wiehe Irwin (Irv) Wiehe has been president of Soluble Solutions, a consulting company specializing in petroleum processing, since 1998. Irv has a PhD in chemical engineering from Washington University (St. Louis) and worked at Exxon Corporate Research for 22 years after holding positions at Xerox and the University of Rochester. His special interests are in the processing of resids and heavy oils and in the solving of refinery fouling problems. Irv is known for unique general concepts, such as the Oil Compatibility Model, the Phase-Separation Kinetic Model for Coke Formation, the Pendant-Core Building Block Model of Resids, and the Solvent-Resid Phase Diagram. In addition, Irv is the founder of the International Conference on Refinery Processing for AIChE and of the International Conference on Petroleum Phase Behavior and Fouling.

Dennis O'Brien has extensive experience in the design of petroleum and petrochemical processes. His background includes a number of successfully executed complex revamp designs for units around the world. Before joining Jacobs Consultancy in 2005, he provided technical leadership in the engineering technical community and technical specialists network at UOP. A graduate of the University of Tulsa with a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, he received an MBA from Roosevelt University. Dennis holds 14 U.S. patents and is a professional engineer in the State of Illinois. He is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, where he is a Director of the Fuels & Petrochemicals Section.

Mr. Bipin Vora's earliest education was in India, first graduating from K.C. College of Science & Technology in Mumbai. He then earned bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from the University of New Mexico, after which Vora joined UOP in 1967. Over his notable career at UOP, Mr. Vora has held increasingly advanced positions working in experimental development, technical services, and process design and development. He has broad experience in plant start-ups, project coordination and technical management. Over these years, he has made note-worthy contributions to the development and commercialization of new UOP processes related to bio-degradable detergents (linear alkylbenzene, or LAB) technology: Pacol process, Define process, Detal process; Oleflex process and UOP/Hydro MTO process. In addition to his process contributions, Mr. Vora has to his credit more than 200 U.S. and international patents, 120 publications and several awards and recognitions including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Engineering at the University of New Mexico (1999); the Distinguished Chemical Engineers of the Chicago area at the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Chicago Chapter of AIChE (2000); the American Chemical Society National Award in Industrial Chemistry (2002); and the AIChE National Award of Chemical Engineering Practice (2003).

Mr. Ed Arnold	2:30 - 3:00PM
Jacobs Consultancy
Roundtable Discussion of Trends in Refinery Feedstocks and Processing

ABSTRACT:
This session will be a rountable discussion of the new innovations in refinery feedstocks and processing.

BIO:
Ed has provided consulting, technical, and development services to the oil, petrochemical, and other industries for the past 28 years, 26 years with UOP and 2 years with ThermoGen/MediChem. His responsibilities have included strategic planning, capital projects analysis, merger/acquisition/divestiture project support, market analysis, new product, process & service development, implementation of marketing strategies, sales management, and business development. He holds undergraduate degrees in both biochemistry and chemical engineering, a master's in industrial microbiology, and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago.

ABSTRACT:
A major incident occurred March 2005 on the Isomerization Unit at BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, one of the largest refineries in the USA.

An explosion occurred when heavier than air hydrocarbon vapors combusted after coming into contact with an ignition source, probably a running vehicle engine. The hydrocarbons originated from liquid overflow from a blowdown stack following the operation of the Raffinate Splitter overpressure protection system caused by overfilling and overheating of the lower contents. The severity of the incident was increased by the presence of many people congregated in and around temporary trailers, which were sited close to the process unit.

This paper will explain how and why the incident occurred, the general lessons learned, the actions taken to prevent recurrence, and highlight some wider messages for the industry.