INTERNSHIP REPORT

INTERNSHIP REPORT
BYCO PETROLEUM LIMITED

Submitted by:
AZKA RIZWANA SIDDIQUI
3rd Year, 5th Term
Chemical Engineering
March, 2013

DAWOOD COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

AND TECHNOLOGY

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With all my regards, I pay my thanks and acknowledgments to the management
department of BYCO Petroleum Pakistan limited (BPPL). I sincerely thank Miss.
Mehreen Bashir Nawaz, Manager HR for letting me intern in BYCO oil refining
complex.
I would also like to thank Engr. Abdul Qadir, as he supervised and advised us throughout
the internship and utilizes his time on guiding and training us. I also would like to pay my
thanks and respect to Engr. Salman Azeem and Engr. Asad ullah. I also like to
acknowledge Engr. Azeem, Engr. Shams ur Rehman, Engr. Asad, Engr. M. Irfan, Engr.
Hisham Hafeez, Engr, Aamir Iqbal and others for their support and time. This highly
informative and interactive internship would have not been possible without the support
of the Management of BPPL. I would like to mention my acknowledgments to all of the
above respected peoples for giving me such an remarkable experience for my
professional career.
All my regards and respect to all of the above mentioned.

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CONTENTS
1: INTRODUCTION TO BYCO PETROLEUM LIMITED:.............................................3
2: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY:............................................................4
3: UTILITIES OF REFINERY:...........................................................................................4
3.1: WATER TREATMENT (REVERSE OSMOSIS PLANT):......................................5
3.2: BOILER:...................................................................................................................8
3.3: COOLING TOWER:..............................................................................................10
3.4: INSTRUMENT AIR:..............................................................................................10
4: INSTRUMENTATIONS, DEVICES AND SYSTEM:.................................................10
5: REFINERY:...................................................................................................................13
5.1: TYPES OF REFINERY:.........................................................................................13
6: CRUDE OIL:.................................................................................................................14
7: CRUDE DISTILLATION UNIT (CDU):......................................................................14
8: NAPHTHA HYDROTREATING:................................................................................17
9: GAS RECOVERY PLANT:..........................................................................................18
10: ISOMERIZATION UNIT:...........................................................................................20
11: REFINING PRODUCTS:............................................................................................22

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1: INTRODUCTION TO
BYCO PETROLEUM
LIMITED:
BYCO is one of the most reputable and
highly regarded petroleum refining
industries. BYCO Petroleum Pakistan
Limited is relatively an emerging company
in the industry. From oil refining,
petroleum marketing and chemicals
manufacturing to petroleum logistics, the
group has diverse set of operations under
it. BYCO Petroleum Pakistan Limited was
incorporated in Pakistan as a public limited
company in January 1995 and was granted
the certificate of commencement of
business in March 1995.
BYCO Petroleum Pakistan's operational
refinery has the capacity of 35,000 barrels
at ORC-I and 120,000 barrels at ORC-II of
crude oil per day to various petroleum
products such as LPG, naphtha, motor
gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, HSD, furnace oil, HOBC. ORC-I (Oil Refining Complex-I)
and ORC-II (Oil Refining Complex-II) takes ISO-9000, ISO 14000 and OSHA 18000
certification. ORC-I and ORC-II operate its own electricity, steam, and water treatment
facilities.

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2: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY:
Environmental health and safety is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting
the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goals of
environmental health and safety programs include fostering a safe and healthy work
environment. EHS may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers,
and many others who might be affected by the workplace environment.
EHS can be important for moral, legal, and financial reasons. All organizations have a
duty of care to ensure that employees and any other person who may be affected by the
companies undertaking remain safe at all times. Moral obligations would involve the
protection of employee's lives and health. Legal reasons for ESH practices relate to the
preventative, punitive and compensatory effects of laws that protect worker's safety and
health. ESH can also reduce employee injury and illness related costs, including medical
care, sick leave and disability benefit costs.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or
other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury. The
purpose of personal protective equipment is to reduce employee exposure to hazards
when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective to reduce these
risks to acceptable levels. PPE is needed when there are hazards present. PPE includes
safety shoes, safety helmets, apparels, gloves, goggles or glasses, ear muff or plugs and
respirators. BYCO has got ISO-9000, ISO 14000 and OSHA 18000 certification, as its
EHS departments are working responsibly to take every measures to protect environment.

3: UTILITIES OF REFINERY:
The utility section in any industry is one of the most important departments as it provides
all the basic needs to the industrial processes and operations. The function of utility
section is to deliver the required help and services to run the plant and to yield the
product. The utility section generally includes:

Water
Steam
Electricity
Instrument air
Manufactured gas
Fuel
Inert air

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3.1: WATER TREATMENT (REVERSE OSMOSIS PLANT):

Water treatment describes those industrial-scale processes used to make water more
acceptable for a desired end-use. A lack of proper water treatment can lead to the reaction
of solids and bacteria within pipe work and boiler housing. Steam boilers can suffer from
scale or corrosion when left untreated leading to weak and dangerous machinery, scale
deposits can mean additional fuel is required to heat the same level of water because of
the drop in efficiency. Therefore water treatment is the most important facility as it
reduces many hazardous factors related to the plant and industry.
Reverse osmosis occurs when the water is moved across the membrane against the
concentration gradient, from lower concentration to higher concentration. Reverse
osmosis (RO) is a membrane-technology filtration method that removes many types of
large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it is on
one side of a selective membrane. The result is that the solute is retained on the
pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other
side. The treatment of water includes:

3.1.1: OPEN CHANNEL SYSTEM:

The source of water for reverse osmosis plant is from Bore well and Hub dam spill back.
The bore well TDS level is above 40,000 (approx. 54,000) and Hub dam spill back TDS
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level is 35000 to 39000. The both sources of water are supplied to the plant through an
open channel system.

3.1.2: CHEMICAL DOSING:

Before treating the water, chemical dosing is done as to avoid the hazardous effects that
can be happened due to the presence of some chemical impurities in water.
1. SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE: Sodium Hypochlorite 12% dose in the upstream of
DAF after open channel feed pump in order to maintain a free chlorine level of
2.0 ppm to 3.0 ppm in the raw water tank to prevent the growth of bacteria in the
system. Chlorine chemicals are very effective against bacteria, viruses and fungi
that contaminate water.
2. CAUSTIC SODA: Caustic soda is also added to the water in order to maintain the
pH of the water in between 8.2 to 8.5 to accomplish the function effectually.
3. FERRIC CHLORIDE: The impurities of water are also removed by the
flocculation and coagulation. Ferric chloride is added to DAF in order to lift up
the impurities forming cluster. These suspended clusters are then removed by
scraping them off from the surface of water.
4. POLYELECTROLYTE: Polyelectrolyte aids ferric chloride to produce flocks.
Polyelectrolyte is a polymer, which is when dissociate in water, charges the
polymers to initiate the flocculation.

3.1.3: DISSOLVED AIR FLOTATION (DAF):

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is a water treatment process that clarifies water by the
removal of suspended matter such as oil or solids. The removal is achieved by dissolving
air in the water under pressure and then releasing the air at atmospheric pressure in a
flotation tank. The released air forms tiny bubbles which adhere to the suspended matter
causing the suspended matter to float to the surface of the water where it may then be
removed by a skimming device.
After chemical dosing, water is given a certain time to react with the chemicals. The
water is then pumped to the DAF where all the suspended particles are scraped off from
the top of the tank by blowing air in it. Some of the quantity of water is recycled back to
DAF to attain maximum purity.

3.1.4: TURBIMAX FILTER:

The water is then pumped to TURBIMAX filters. These filters are filled with sand and
gravel. The water is entered from the top of the filter at a pressure of 100psi. All the
impurities are captured by the sand and gravels, leaving rather purified water than DAF.
Turbidity meter and chloride meter are installed in other to check the values during the
operation. When there is a drop in pressure, the filters are then applied to backwash
system to remove the caked impurities on sand and gravels.
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3.1.5: SEA WATER REVERSES OSMOSIS (SWRO):
The water is then introduced into 5 micron cartridge filter at a pressure of 550-890 psi.
Before introducing the water in SWRO filter, antiscalant and sodium metabisulfite is
dosed to prevent the scaling on membrane and to remove chlorine. The pressure along the
filter reduces the TDS from around 40,000ppm to 400ppm, where only 40% permeate is
recovered while the 60% is rejected water. The latter is then flushed to the raw water tank
and subjected to purify again.

3.1.6: BRACKISH WATER REVERSES OSMOSIS (BWRO):

Likewise the water is then entered to BWRO 5 micron cartridge filter at a pressure
around 150-200 psi. Caustic soda is dosed to maintain the pH of the BWRO water. The
TDS of water is reduced from 400ppm to less than 10ppm, where 90% permeate is
recovered. The 10% rejected water is flushed back to raw water tank to reprocess.

3.1.7: ELECTRODEIONIZATION:
The water is then flowed to electrodeionization filter, where at 25 volts of current, the
TDS of water is minimized to 0ppm, recovering 99% of permeate. The salts are split into
its ions and moves towards their respective electrodes when current are applied, giving up
100% purified water.
D.A.F
Open
channel

Sand
Filter

S.T

R.W
Tank

Permeate

Permeate
SWR
O

BW
RO

Reject

Reject

EDI

Reject

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3.2: BOILER:
A boiler is a closed vessel used to heat the water or other fluid for use in other operations
and process. Generally boilers are used to generate steam for the usage of plants. There
are two types of boiler, Fire Tube Boilers and Water Tube Boilers. When water is in the
boiler drum and fire is in tubes to vaporize the water, the boiler is named as fire tube
boiler. Likewise when the water is in tubes and fire is around the tubes in boiler drum, the
boiler is said to be a water tube boiler.

3.2.1: DEMINERALIZED WATER:

The demineralized water is used in boilers to convert water into steam, as demineralized
water is free from all kind of impurities and minerals that at high temperatures and
pressures can cause scaling and corrosion in the pipelines. From RO water plant
demineralized water is pumped to boiler plant to produce high pressure steam.

3.2.2: HIGH PRESSURE DEAERATOR:

Water is then pumped to high pressure deaerator to remove oxygen and other dissolved
gases to avoid scaling and corrosion in pipelines. Hydrazine (N 2H4) is dosed into the
deaerator to scavenge oxygen and moisture from water. Boiler feed water is showered
from the top of deaerator and low pressure steam is introduced from the bottom, resulting
in the rising of temperature of water up to 150C. Here the chemical dosing scavenges the
dissolved gases and moisture. All those gases leave the deaerator from vent and steam to
the economizer.

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3.2.3: ECONOMIZER:
Economizer is a mechanical device used to minimize energy consumption by reusing the
left heat to preheat a fluid. In boilers, economizers are heat exchange devices that heat
fluids, usually water, up to but not normally beyond the boiling point of that fluid.
Economizers are so named because they can make use of the enthalpy in fluid streams
that are hot, but not hot enough to be used in a boiler, thereby recovering more useful
enthalpy and improving the boiler's efficiency. They are a device fitted to a boiler which
saves energy by using the exhaust gases from the boiler to preheat the cold water used to
fill it. High pressure boiler feed water pump pumped water to the economizer at 65 bar
pressure at 140C to the economizer. Here the flue gases at 350C exchanges their heat to
steam and leaving to the stack at 160C. The temperature
of steam is elevated to 190C.

3.2.4: STEAM DRUM:

A steam drum is a standard feature of a water-tube boiler. It
is a reservoir of water/steam at the top end of the water
tubes. The drum stores the steam generated in the water
tubes and acts as a phase-separator for the steam/water
mixture. The difference in densities between hot and cold
water helps in the accumulation of the "hotter"-water/and
saturated-steam into the steam-drum.

3.2.5: SUPER HEATER:

A super heater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam
used in steam engines or in processes, such as steam reforming. The steam from steam
drum is then flowed to the super heater at a temperature of 250C. In super heater the flue
gases from the burners of steam drum, exchanges their heat to the steam resulting in the
further rise in the temperature of steam to 340C at 42 bar pressure. The steam generated
by water tube boiler is high pressure steam, which is then utilized for the refining of
crude oil and generating low pressure and moderate pressure steam as per required.
S
t
a
c
k

LP steam

D.M.W

HP
Deaerator

Econo
mizer

Steam drum

Flue gases
Super
heater
HP steam

Mud drum

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3.3: COOLING TOWER:
Cooling tower is a device used to remove the heat from the fluid to the atmosphere. The
principle phenomena of cooling tower are evaporation and condensation of fluid to the
near wet bulb temperature by using sensible heat. Cooling tower is used to cool and
humidify the hot process fluid to a certain low temperature.
Water needing to be cooled is pumped to the top of
the tower and then directed to flow down a
designated path where the water forms into
droplets. These droplets are met by a current of air
that is blowing upward and past the water. The
water is cooled by the air as it passes. It then
collects at the bottom of the cooling tower structure
where it is returned to the production process.
Some air-cooled towers use large fans at the top of
the structure to draw the air up. Cooling towers are
used to reject heat through the natural process of
evaporation. Warm recirculating water is sent to the
cooling tower where a portion of the water is evaporated into the air passing through the
tower. As the water evaporates, the air absorbs heat, which lowers the temperature of the
remaining water. This process provides significant cooling to the remaining water stream
that collects in the tower basin where it can be pumped back into the system to extract
more process or building heat, thereby allowing much of the water to be used repeatedly
to meet the cooling demand.

3.4: INSTRUMENT AIR:

Instrument air, filtered with a range of 0 to 20psig, is used for plant pneumatic
instruments such as steam flow meters, pressure controllers and valve positioners. The
instrument air is also required to regulate automatically the opening of control valves in
steam flow governors of steam driven turbines.

4: INSTRUMENTATIONS, DEVICES AND SYSTEM:

An instrument is a device that measures a physical quantity such as flow, temperature,
level, distance, angle, or pressure. Measurement instruments have two traditional classes
of use:

Monitoring of processes and operations

Control of processes and operations

A number of instruments are used to run, monitor and manage the process. These are:
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4.1: PUMPS:
Pump is a device that raises, transfers, delivers, or compresses fluids or that attenuates
gases especially by suction or pressure or both.

4.1.1: CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS:

A centrifugal pump consists of an impeller and an intake at its center. These are arranged
so that when the impeller rotates, liquid is discharged by centrifugal force into a casing
surrounding the impeller. The casing is there in order to gradually decrease the velocity of
the fluid which leaves the impeller at a high velocity. This velocity is converted to
pressure which is needed to discharge the fluid.

4.1.2: POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT PUMP:

A positive displacement pump makes a fluid move by trapping a fixed amount and
forcing and displacing that trapped volume into the discharge pipe.

4.2: COMPRESSOR:
A gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing
its volume. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and
both can transport the fluid through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor
also reduces the volume of a gas. Liquids are relatively incompressible; while some can
be compressed, the main action of a pump is to pressurize and transport liquids.

4.3: VALVES:
A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids,
fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various
passageways. Valves may be operated manually, either by a handle, lever, pedal or wheel.
Valves may also be automatic, driven by changes in pressure, temperature, or flow.

4.4: TRANSMITTERS:
An electronic device that generates and amplifies a carrier wave, modulates it with a
meaningful signal derived from speech or other sources, and radiates the resulting signal
from an antenna. These transmitters are used to measure pressure difference, velocity,
flow area, temperature and other major specifications to either monitor or control
processes.

4.5: TURBINES:
A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and
converts it into useful work.

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4.6: HEAT EXCHANGERS:
A heat exchanger is a system that exchanges heats between two fluids without bringing
them in direct contact, one fluid giving out the heat while other accepting the heat.

4.7: REBOILER:
Reboilers are heat exchangers typically used to provide heat to the bottom of
industrial distillation columns. They boil the liquid from the bottom of a distillation
column to generate vapors which are returned to the column to drive the
distillation separation.

4.8: FURNACE:
An industrial furnace or direct fired heater is equipment used to provide heat for a
process or can serve as reactor which provides heats of reaction. Fuel flows into
the burner and is burnt with air provided from an air blower. The flames heat up the
tubes, which in turn heat the fluid inside in the first part of the furnace known as the
radiant section or firebox. In this chamber where combustion takes place, the heat is
transferred mainly by radiation to tubes around the fire in the chamber. The heating
fluid passes through the tubes and is thus heated to the desired temperature. The gases
from the combustion are known as flue gas. After the flue gas leaves the firebox, most
furnace designs include a convection section where more heat is recovered before venting
to the atmosphere through the flue gas stack.

4.9: FAN:
A mechanical fan is a machine used to create flow within a fluid, typically a gas such
as air. The fan consists of a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades which act on the air.
The rotating assembly of blades and hub is known as an impeller. Fans produce air flows
with high volume and low pressure (although higher than ambient pressure), as opposed
to compressors which produce high pressures at a comparatively low volume.

4.10: DRIER:
A drier (dryer) is a process, in which moisture or water is removed from the fluid or other
substances by the application of either some mechanical treatment or by some chemical
treatment.

4.11: BLOWER:
A blower is a machine for moving volumes of a gas (air) with moderate increase of
pressure.

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4.12: CONDENSER:
A condenser is a device or unit used to condense a substance from its gaseous to
its liquid state, typically by cooling it. In so doing, the latent heat is given up by the
substance, and will transfer to the condenser coolant.

5: REFINERY:
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is
processed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum
naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum
gas.

5.1: TYPES OF REFINERY:

5.1.1: TOPPING:
The topping refinery just separates the crude into its constituent petroleum products by
distillation, known as Atmospheric Distillation. Topping Refinery produces naphtha but
no gasoline.

5.1.2: HYDROSKIMMING:
The hydro skimming refinery is equipped with Atmospheric Distillation, naphtha
reforming and necessary treating processes. This type of refinery is more complex than a
topping refinery and it produces gasoline.

5.1.3: CRACKING:
The cracking or hydro cracking refinery, in addition to hydro skimming refinery, is
equipped with vacuum distillation and catalytic cracking. The cracking refinery adds one
more level of complexity to the hydro skimming refinery by reducing fuel oil by
conversion to light distillates and middle distillates.

5.1.4: COKING:
The coking refinery is equipped to process the vacuum residue into high value products
using the Delayed Coking Process. The coking refinery adds further complexity to the
cracking refinery by high conversion of fuel oil into distillates and petroleum coke.

5.1.5: INTEGRATED:
The integrated refinery is equipped to upgrade its LPG or Naphtha into basic
petrochemicals by way of aromatics production of Benzene, Cyclo Hexene, Meta Xylene,
Ortho Xylene, Para Xylene and Toluene or Naphtha cracking.

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6: CRUDE OIL:
Petroleum is a naturally occurring flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture
of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that
are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface.
The crude oils used in BYCO oil refining complex are UMM SHAIF and UPPER
ZAKUM. The quality of crude oil mostly depends upon its viscosity and sulfur content.
The higher the sulfur content, the sour the crude will be, likewise the lower the sulfur
content, the sweet the crude will be.
CHARACTERISTICS
Specific gravity
Sulfur wt%

UMM SHAIF
0.8408

UPPER ZAKUM
0.8546

1.3678

1.91

7: CRUDE DISTILLATION UNIT (CDU):

7.1: DISTILLATION:
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatility of
components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical
separation process, and not a chemical reaction.

7.2: PROCESS FLOW:

The distillation of crude oil generally includes a distillation column and a heated feed. In
order to heat the feed up to a temperature where maximum yield can be obtained, feed is
passed through multiple stages.

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7.2.1: FEED PREPARATION:
The crude oil is pumped to the crude oil distillation plant, where it enters the preheating
by heat exchanger with hot products raising temperature of feed up to 120F. After
passing by the heat exchangers, the crude is then entered to Desalter. In desater all salts
are removed by conduction through electricity to avoid corrosion in stream lines. The
crude oil is again directed to the train of heat exchangers and then furnace, thus the
temperature of crude oil reaches 710F.
DESALTER: A desalter is a process unit on an oil refinery that removes salt from
the crude oil. The salt is dissolved in the water in the crude oil, not in the crude oil itself .
As the raw crude oil arriving contains quite a bit of water and salt, it is normally sent for
salt removing first, in desalter. The crude is mixed with a water stream and intense
mixing takes place over a static mixer. The desalter, a large liquid full vessel, uses an
electric field to separate the crude from the water droplets. It operates best at 120 150 0C, hence it is conveniently placed somewhere in the middle of the preheat train.

7.2.2: DISTILLATION:
From the furnace, the feed is then introduced into the atmospheric distillation column
having 37 trays, at 30 psig and 710F. Under these parameters, the crude is vaporized,
releasing all the other components to their specific boiling point. To attain maximum
refining, steam is injected from the bottom which strips out light materials from the
heavier ones. There are two zones in a distillation column, rectifying zone and stripping
zone.
RECTIFYING ZONE: The rectifying zone is a name given to the section above the
feed point, where the concentration of more volatile component increases in both the
liquid and the vapor.
STRIPPING ZONE: The stripping zone is a section below the feed point, where the
concentration of volatile component decreases in both the liquid and the vapor.
Five fractions are obtained from the distillation. These five are:
NAPHTHA: Naphtha is carried out from the top of distillation column and is condensed
and collected in the storage tank for further processing.
KEROSENE: After naphtha, the first side stream withdrawn from the column is
kerosene. Some of its fraction is stripped back to the column to remove the other lighter
fractions. Kerosene is then cooled by exchanging its heat to the feed in preheater,
processed and stored as a final product.
LIGHT GAS OIL (LGO): The second side stream obtained is LGO, after some of its
fraction is stripped back to remove lighter fractions. LGO is then cooled by exchanging
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its heat to the feed in preheater. It is then pumped to the hydrotreater for sulfur removal
and then stored as a product in storage tank.
HEAVY GAS OIL (HGO): The third side stream of column is of HGO, some of which
is also stripped back through strippers to remove the lighter fractions. HGO is also then
directed to the preheater to exchange its heat to the feed and is then mixed with the
reduced crude oil.
REDUCED CRUDE OIL: The reduced crude oil is fractioned out from the bottom of
the column and is cooled by preheaters and coolers. The reduced crude oil and HGO are
mixed together and is then pumped to vacuum distillation column for further distillation
under other conditions.

NAPHTHA

CRUDE OIL

DISTILLATION
COLUMN
KEROS
ENE
PREH
EATE
FURNACE
R

LGO
PREH
EATE
R

PREH
EATE
R

PREH
EATE
R

PREH
EATE
R

DESALTER

PREH
EATE
R

HGO

REDUCED CRUDE OIL

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8: NAPHTHA HYDROTREATING:
Hydro treating is a catalytic chemical process widely used to remove sulfur from natural
gas and from refined petroleum products. The purpose of removing the sulfur is to reduce
the sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions that result from using those fuels. Another important
reason for removing sulfur from the naphtha streams within a petroleum refinery is that
sulfur, even in extremely low concentrations, poisons the noble metal catalysts
(platinum and rhenium) in the catalytic reforming.

8.1: PROCESS FLOW:

The hydro treating of naphtha includes the reaction of hydrogen with the poisonous
inorganic compounds chained with naphtha. There are six reactions occur in hydro
treatment of naphtha. These are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Conversion of organic sulfur compounds into hydrogen sulfide

Conversion of organic nitrogen compounds into ammonia
Conversion of organic oxygen compounds into water
Saturations of olefins
Conversion of organic halides into hydrogen halides
Removal of organic-metallic compounds

8.1.1: FEED PREPARATION:

Naphtha from the overhead tanks of distillation column is mixed with hydrogen gas in a
stream line. The mixture is then directed into the pre heater and then to the furnace,
where the temperature of the mixture reaches in between 590F to 600F.

8.1.2: REACTOR:
The heated feed is introduced into the catalyst bed reactor. The catalyst used in reactor is
generally alumina base
impregnated
with cobalt
and
or
a
combination
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of nickel and molybdenum. The mixture flows downward through the catalytic bed and
hydrogen reacts with sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, halides and other metallic components
present in naphtha, forming hydrogen sulfides, ammonia, water, hydrogen halides etc. at
that temperature, the olefins present in naphtha becomes saturated, leaving a rather
purified form of feed for gas recovery plant.

8.1.3: SEPARATION:
The product from the reactor is firstly cooled by heat exchange with fresh feed and then
by air coolers and then flows into product separator, where liquid flows through the gas
plant for splitting further while gases to the distillate hydrotreater.
GASES

FEED SURGE
DRUM

PREH
EATE
R

FURNACE

REACTOR

PHASE
SEPARATOR

NAPHTHA

9: GAS RECOVERY PLANT:

The purpose of gas recovery plant is to remove or separate lighter ends from the feed or
naphtha. It is same as usual distillation, where feed is fractioned, recovering all the
possible products.

9.1: PROCESS FLOW:

The process consists of a sequence of fractioning columns, each with specific purposes of
removing fractions from the naphtha.

9.1.1: NAPHTHA:
Naphtha from the hydro treater plant enters the gas recovery plant to be fractioned
further.
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9.1.2: DE-ETHANISER:
The feed is then introduced in the de-ethaniser column containing 30 trays from the top at
190 psig and 350F. When the feed enters the column, light hydrocarbons flashes off and
rises up the column and is drawn off from there and cooled for using as a fuel in refinery
furnace. The bottom containing the remaining fractions is then pumped to de-butaniser.

9.1.3: DE-BUTANISER:
The bottom of de-ethaniser column is then flowed in to the de-butaniser having 24 trays,
at 146 psig and 400F. Feed enters from the top bottom of the column where propane and
butane are vaporized to flow up the column and is cooled and condensed. The overhead
product is firstly washed by gas absorption method by the solution of mono ethanol
amine to remove hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur components. The mixture of propane
and butane are then stored as a market product.
9.1.4: DE-ISOHEXANISER:
The bottom of de-butaniser is introduced into de-isohexaniser containing 70 trays, at 50
psig and 350F as the boiling points of i-hexane and n-hexane are very close (140F and
156F). Feed from the bottom is flashed into and pentanes and iso-hexanes are taken
overhead, condensed and stored. Some of the part of the overhead is refluxed back to
maintain the purity and parameters of the column.

ETHANE/METHANE

D
EE
T
H
A
NI
S
E
R

NAPHTHA

PROPANE/BUTANE

D
E
B
U
T
A
N
I
S
E
R

A
BS
O
RP
TI
O
N
C
O
L
U
M
N

LPG

I-HEXANE
D
E
I
S
O
H
E
X
A
N
I
S
E
R

HYDROGEN SULFIDE

HEAVY
NAPHTHA

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INTERNSHIP REPORT
10: ISOMERIZATION UNIT:
10.1: ISOMERIZATION:
Isomerization, the chemical process by which a compound is transformed into any of its
isomeric forms, i.e., forms with the same chemical composition but with different
structure or configuration and, hence, generally with different physical and chemical
properties.

10.2: PROCESS FLOW:

Pentane from deisohexaniser is used as a feed for the isomerization unit. Water must be
removed from feed as water is poison to catalyst. Reaction takes place in the excess of
hydrogen which must also to be dried. Two reactors are used in series to convert
maximum n-paraffin into i-paraffin. Unconverted n-paraffin is recycled back to Penex
unit. Isomerization unit consists of three sections: Feed preparation, Penex and Molex

10.2.1: FEED PREPARATION:

The light naphtha from the overhead of the gas plant de-isohexaniser column and
hydrogen is introduced in feed preparation section of ISOM plant. Here the mixture of
naphtha and hydrogen is filtered for the removal of particles and coalesce. The feed is
heated to the required temperature for sulfur removal, usually up to 250F and passed
down flow over the adsorbent. It is then flows through sulfur guard bed. The purpose of
sulfur guard bed is to protect the Penex catalyst from sulfur in the liquid feed. After sulfur
removal, the mixture is dried and cooled to 100F and send to the Penex section.

NAPHTHA
AND
HYDROGEN

PREH
EATE
R

SULFUR
GAURD

PREH
EATE
R

DRIER

FEED SURGE
VESSEL

10.2.2: PENEX UNIT:

The feed from the feed surge drum is pumped to pre heater. From the preheater the
feedstock is directed into the first reactor where saturation of olefins occurs. The feed is
then moved to the next reactor, where isomerization is occurred and n-paraffin is
converted into i-paraffin by the help of catalytic bed in the reactor.
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INTERNSHIP REPORT
The hot stream is then passed through heat exchanger giving out its heat to the fresh feed
and then is routed to the stabilizer column. The purpose of stabilizer is to separate any
dissolved hydrogen, HCl and cracked gases from isomerate. The overhead vapor of
stabilizer is cooled and stored in stabilizer receiver. The bottom product of stabilizer is
routed to Molex unit by passing through coolers. The stabilizer off gas flows up gush
through the stabilizer gas scrubber to remove hydrogen chloride by showering caustic
from the top of the tower.
GAS TO FUEL
FEED SURGE
VESSEL

LIGHT HYDROCARBONS
S
T
A
B
I
L
I
Z
E
R

HYDROGEN
PREH
EATE
R

REACTOR 1

G
A
S
S
C
R
U
B
B
E
R

CAUSTIC

REACTOR 2
CUASTIC TO KERO WASH

PARAFFINS

10.2.3: MOLEX UNIT:

The feed from the stabilizer is pumped to the rotary valve via filter for the preventative
measures against the loss to the rotary valve.
ROTARY VALVE: A rotary valve is a type of valve in which the rotation of a passage or
passages in a transverse plug regulates the flow of liquid or gas through the attached
pipes. At one time two streams is entering the chamber are the feed and desorbent.
Extract and raffinate exit the chamber. A pump around stream continually circulates from
the pump around pump to the top of the chamber, through the chamber and back to the
pump.
ADSORBENT CHAMBER: The adsorbent chamber has eight separate beds. The
adsorbent material in the beds traps normal paraffins from the charge in its pores. Other
hydrocarbons are not of a suitable shape to fit in the pores. Normal paraffins in the charge
displace desorbent from the pores and the resulting raffinate goes back to the rotary valve
and then to the raffinate mixing drums. The adsorbent in the bed is recharged by
desorbent that the valve switches to the bed. The desorbent displaces normal paraffins
due to a higher concentration of butane and resulting extract goes back to the rotary valve
and then to the extract mixing drum. Liquid flow in the adsorbent chamber is always
downwards.
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INTERNSHIP REPORT

DESORBENT

FEED SURGE
VESSEL
ROTARY VALVE
CHLORIDE
GUARD BED

DESORBENT

A
D
S
O
R
B
E
N
T
C
H
A
M
B
E
R

E
X
T
R
A
C
T

R
A
F
F
I
N
A
T
E

C
O
L
U
M
N

C
O
L
U
M
N
EXTRACT

RAFFINATE

EXTRACT: The extract contains the extracted n-paraffins and desorbent, leaves for the
extract column. The extract line enters the extract column. The lighter desorbent
components are taken overhead in the extract column receiver and are pumped to storage
tank for reuse. The extract containing n-paraffins are recycled back to Penex unit for
conversion into iso-paraffins.
RAFFINATE: The raffinate, containing the higher octane non-normal paraffins and
desorbent, leaves the chamber to the raffinate column. The raffinate column sends the
lighter desorbents components overhead and drops the non-normals out the column
bottom. The raffinate is cooled in the heat exchanger and stored in the tank.

11: REFINING PRODUCTS:

The products obtained from the refining of the crude oil are: Furnace oil, Kerosene, Fuel
oil, Diesel, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Fuel gas, petrol and etc.

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INTERNSHIP REPORT

Fractions
Gas/LPG
Light naphtha
Heavy naphtha
Kerosene
Gas oil
Residue

CRUDE ANALYSIS
UMM SHAIF
Wt%
Vol%
3.39
3.81
8.68
10.49
6.37
7.16
18.31
19.53
25.90
21.64
34.63
37.37
100.00
100.00

UPPER ZAKUM
Wt%
Vol%
4.42
5.61
7.6
9.48
5.05
5.84
14.67
15.97
21.88
22.00
46.38
41.10
100.00
100.00

Page 23