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VOCATI ONAL TRAINING

REPORT
INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LTD.

M ATHURA REFINERY

Submitted By:
SAGAR GUPTA
B.TECH, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
JAIPUR

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd


Mathura Refinery-281005
U.P, India.

I, SAGAR GUPTA, student of MALAVIYA NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF


TECHNOLOGY, JAIPUR, Chemical Engineering (B.Tech), College Id:
2013uch1736, have done training in IOCL Mathura refinery from 01/06/2016 to
14/07/2016 under the guidance of Mr. R R PASWAN (SPNM, production
department) in following process areas:
1) Overview of refinery.
2) Studied FCCU and AVU in detail and have done material and energy
balance of AVU UNIT.

HOD Signature & Stamp

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is great that Indian Oil Corporation Limited
provides training to a large number of students like us
for practical assimilation of knowledge pertaining to
our respective disciplines.
After the completion of the training program, I found it
to be of immense help, not only in supplementing the
theoretical knowledge, but also by gaining highly
practical knowledge regarding the actual work carried
out in a Refinery Plant.

I am also very grateful to Mr. Vivek Vikram


Singh(Section In-charge Engineer, FCCU)&Mr.
Aakash Puri (Section In-charge Engineer,
FCCU)who patiently explained the working of the plant
and provided the needed conceptual understanding for
the project. The series of discussions with him has
increased my practical knowledge about the plant and
the industry.
I am heartily thankful to all unit heads and all
technical & Non-technical staff of MATHURA
REFINERY for their great efforts to enhance my
practical knowledge.
Thank you once again.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.N
O

PROCESS UNIT

1)

INDIAN OIL REFINERY OVERVIEW

2)

MATHURA REFINERY OVERVIEW

3)

REFINERY PROCESS

4)

PROCESS UNIT DESCRIPTION

4) a)

AVU (ATMOSPHERIC VACUUM UNIT)

4) b)

FCCU(FLUIDISED CATALYTIC CRAKING UNIT)

4)c)

VBU(VISBREAKER UNIT)

4)d)

CCRU(CONTINUOUS CATALYTIC REFORMING UNIT)

4)e)

DHDT( DIESEL HYDROTREATING UNIT)

4)f)

SRU(SULFUR RECOVERY UNIT)

5)

PROJECT -1
MATERIAL BALANCE , WT. AND VOLUME YIELD OF AVU UNIT

INDIAN OIL REFINERY: - AN OVERVIEW


Introduction : Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India's largest
company by sales with a turnover of Rs.271,074 crore and profit
of Rs. 10,221 crore for the year 2009-10.
Indian Oil is the highest ranked Indian company in the latest
Fortune Global 500 listings, ranked at the 98th position (2011).
Indian Oil's vision is driven by a group of dynamic leaders who
have made it a name to reckon with.Indian Oil Company Limited,
a wholly owned Government company was incorporated on 30
June, 1959 to undertake marketing functions of petroleum
products. Later, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) was set up
on 1st September, 1964 by amalgamating the Indian Refineries
Limited (started in August, 1958) with the Indian Oil Company
Ltd., for better coordination between refineries and
marketing.Indian
Oil Corporation Limited or IOCL is Indias largest commercial
enterprise and the only Indian company to be among the worlds
top 200 corporations according to
Fortune magazine. It is also among the 20 largest petroleum
companies in the world. The IndianOil Group of companies owns and
operates 10 of India's 20 refineries with a combined refining
capacity of 65.7 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA, .i.e. 1.30
million barrels per day approx.). IndianOil's cross-country network of
crude oil and product pipelines spans 10,899 km with a capacity of
75.26 MMTPA of crude oil and petroleum products and 10 MMSCMD
of gas. This network is the largest in the country and meets the vital
energy needs of the consumers in an efficient, economical and
environment-friendly manner.
Indian Oil Corporation has four divisions:

Marketing Division with Headquarters at Bombay;

Refineries and Pipelines Division with Headquarters at New


Delhi;

Assam Oil Division with Headquarters at Digboi; and

Research and Development Centre at Faridabad.

The Assam Oil Division was established on 14th October, 1981 on


taking over the refining and marketing operations of Assam Oil
Company Limited.
The Company wholly owns a subsidiary Company viz. Indian Oil
Blending Limited, which is engaged in the manufacture of
lubricants and greases. The products of

the subsidiary Company are also marketed by the Company.


IndianOil and its subsidiary (CPCL) account for over 48% petroleum
products market share, 34.8% national refining capacity and 71%
downstream sector pipelines capacity in India.
It has a portfolio of powerful and a much-loved energy brand that
includes Indane LPGas, SERVO lubricants, XtraPremium petrol,
XtraMile diesel, PROPEL, petrochemicals, etc. Validating the trust
of 56.8 million households, Indane has earned the coveted status
of 'Superbrand' in the year 2009 and now has a customer base of
61.8 million. IndianOil has a keen customer focus and a formidable
network of customer touch-points dotting the landscape across
urban and rural India. It has 20,421 petrol and diesel stations,
including 3517 KisanSevaKendras (KSKs) in the rural markets. With
a countrywide network of 36,900 sales points, backed for supplies

by 140 bulk storage terminals and depots, 3,960 SKO/LDO dealers


(60% of the industry), 96 aviation fuel stations and 89 LPGas
bottling plants, IndianOil services every nook and corner of the
country.
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Indane is present in almost 2764 markets through a network of


5456 distributors (51.8% of the industry). About 7780 bulk
consumer pumps are also in operation for the convenience of large
consumers, ensuring products and inventory at their doorstep.
IndianOil's ISO-9002 certified Aviation Service commands an
enviable 63% market share in aviation fuel business, successfully
servicing the demands ofdomestic and international flag carriers,
private airlines and the Indian Defense Services. The Corporation
also enjoys a 65% share of the bulk consumer, industrial,
agricultural and marine sectors.

With a steady aim of maintaining its position as a market leader


and providing the best quality products and services, Indian Oil is
currently investing Rs. 47,000

crore in a host of projects for augmentation of refining and


pipelines capacities, expansion of marketing infrastructure and
product quality up gradation.
Objectives
The objectives of the Company as approved (June, 1984) by
Government are as follows:

To serve the national interests in the oil and related sectors in


accordance and consistent with Government policies.

To ensure and maintain continuous and smooth supplies of


petroleum products by way of crude refining, transportation
and marketing activities
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Products
Auto
LPG

Turbin
Aviation
e
Fuel
(ATF

Bitumen
High Speed
Fuel
Industrial
Fuels
Liquefie
d

Petroleum Gas
Lubrica
nts
and

Services

I.O.C Refineries:

Digboi
Refinery,
Guwahati
Refinery,
Barauni
Refinery
Gujarat
Refinery
Haldia
Refinery
Mathura
Refinery
Panipat
Refinery

Bongaigon

Refining

Pipelines

Marketing

Training

Research
Developme
nt

&

Refinery

Greases

Marine Fuels

MS/Gasoline

Petrochemic
als

and to provide appropriate assistance to


the consumer to conserve and use
petroleum products most efficiently.

To earn a reasonable rate of return on investment.

To work towards the achievement of selfsufficiency in the field of oil refining, by setting

up adequate domestic capacity and to build up


expertise for pipe laying for crude/petroleum
products.

To create a strong research and development


base in the field of oil refining and stimulate
the development of new petroleum products
formulations with a view to eliminate their
imports, if any .

MATHURA
REFINERY

The Mathura Refinery, owned by I.O.C.L is situated in Mathura,


Utta r Pradesh. It is the sixth refinery of Indian Oil was
commissioned in 1982 with a capacity of 8.0 MMTPA to meet the
demand of petroleum products in north wes tern region of the
country, which includes National Capital Region. Refinery is
located along the Delhi-Agra National Highw ay about 154 KM
away from Delhi. The refinery processes low sulfur crude from
Bombay High, imported low sulfur crude from Nigeria, and high
sulfur cru de from the Middle East.
The refinery, which cost Rs.253.92 crores to build, was commission
ed in January; 1982.Construction began on the refinery in October
1972. The fou ndation stone was laid by Indira Gandhi, t he former
prime minister of India. The F CCU and Sulfur

1
0

Recovery Units were commissioned in January, 1983. The refining


capacity of this refinery was expanded to 7.5 MMTPA in 1989 by
debottlenecking and revamping. The present refining capacity of
this refinery is 8.00 MMTPA.
The major secondary processing units provided were Fluidised
Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU), Vis-breaker Unit (VBU) and
Bitumen Blowing Unit (BBU). The original technology for these
units was sourced from erstwhile USSR, UOP etc. Soaker drum
technology of EIL was implemented in VBU in the year 1993. For
production of unleaded Gasoline, Continuous Catalytic Reforming
Unit (CCRU) was commissioned in 1998 with technology from
Axens, France. A Diesel Hydro Desulfurisation Unit (DHDS) licensed
from Axens, France was commissioned in 1999 for production of
HSD with low Sulfur content of 0.25% wt. (max). With the
commissioning of once through Hydrocracker Unit (licensed from
Chevron, USA) in July 2000, capacity of Mathura Refinery was
increased to 8.0 MMTPA.
Diesel Hydro-treating unit (DHDT) & MS Quality Up-gradation Unit
(MSQU) were installed with world class technology from Axens and
UOP respectively in 2005 for production of Euro-III grade HSD & MS
w.e.f. 1st April 2005 as per Auto Fuel Policy of Govt. of India.
Project for FCC Gasoline Desulfurization (FCCGDS) and Selective
Hydrogenation Unit (SHU), the Prime-G technology of Axens,
France was commissioned in February 2010 and supply of Euro-IV
grade MS and HSD started on continuous basis from February
2010. Mathura Refinery is having its own captive power plant,

which was augmented with the commissioning of three Gas


Turbines (GT) and Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) in
phases from 1997 to 2005 using Natural Gas (NG) as fuel to
1
1

take

care
environment.

of

For upgrading environmental standards, old Sulfur Recovery Units


(SRU) was replaced with new Sulfur Recovery Units with 99.9 %
recovery in the year 1999.

Additional Sulfur Recovery Unit is under implementation as a hot


standby. Mathura Refinery had also set up four nos. of continuous
Ambient Air Monitoring Stations far beyond the working area
before commissioning of the Refinery in 1982 as a mark of its
concern towards the environment and archaeological sites. Its
close proximity to the magnificent wonder Taj Mahal adds extra
responsibility towards maintaining a cleaner environment.
Mathura Refinery has planted 1,67,000 trees in surrounding areas
including refinery & township and 1,15,000 trees in Agra region
around Taj Mahal. The Ecological Park which is spread across 4.45
acres is a thriving green oasis in the heart of sprawling Refinery. At
Mathura Refinery, technology & ecology go hand in hand with
continuous endeavour for Product Quality up-gradation, Energy
Conservation and Environment Protection. Mathura Refinery is the
first in Asia and third in the world to receive the coveted ISO14001 certification for Environment Management System in 1996.
It is also the first in the World to get OHSMS certification for Safety
Management in 1998.

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2

MAJOR UNITS IN MATHURA REFINERY


UNIT

CDU

PRESENT
FEED
CAPACITY(TM
TPA)
8000

1350

Bombay high
imported- high
sulfur
and low sulfur
crude
Vacuum gas oil ex-

OHCU

1200

IMP. LS & OHCU


bottom
VGO ex.IMP. HS

CCRU

466

VBU

1000

DHDS

1100

DHDT

1800

Biturox

750

FCCU

PENEX(MS
Quality Up
440
gradation)
PRIME G+
(FCC
Gasoline
525
desulfurisatio
n)

Naphtha
Vacuum
residue(VR)
Straight run gas oil,
total cycle oil
Straight run gas oil
and total cycle oil
Vacuum residue
Naphtha, FCC
Gasoline
heart cut
FCC Gasoline
splitter
bottom

SPECIAL FEATURES

Fuels refinery &


propylene
Product pipeline

o MJPL:3.7 MMTPA
o Mathura tundia:1.2
MMTPA
o MBPL: 1MMTPA
Bit. Drum filling: by
Mktg
LPG bottling: by Mktg.
Crude Recipient thru
SMPL
Captive Power Plant
Mode of product
despatch
tank truck, tank
wagon
and pipeline

PRODUCTS:
Finished products from this refinery cover both fuel oil products as
well as lube oil base stocks.

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1. Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)


2. Fuel Oil Products:
Motor Spirit (MS)
Mineral Turpentine Oil
(MTO)
Superior Kerosene (SK)
Aviation Turbine Fuel
(ATF)
Russian Turbine Fuel
(RTF)
High Speed Diesel
(HSD)
Jute Batching Oil (JBO)
Furnace Oil (FO)

Naphtha
Gasoline

3. Lube Oil Products:


Inter Neutral, Heavy Neutral & Bright Neutral HVI
4. Other Products:

Slack Wax
Carbon Black Feed
Stock

Bitumen
Sulfur

REFINERY PROCESS
The refining process depends on the chemical processes of
distillation (separating liquids by their different boiling points) and
catalysis (which speeds up reaction rates), and uses the principles
of chemical equilibria. Chemical equilibrium exists when the
reactants in a reaction are producing products, but those products
are being recombined again into reactants. By altering the
reaction conditions the amount of either products or reactants can
be increased.

Refining is carried out in three main steps.


Step 1 - Separation
1
4

The oil is separated into its constituents by distillation, and some


of these components (such as the refinery gas) are further
separated with chemical reactions and by using solvents which
dissolve one component of a mixture significantly better than
another.
Step 2 - Conversion
The various hydrocarbons produced are then chemically altered to
make them moresuitable for their intended purpose. For example,
naphthas are "reformed" from paraffinsand naphthenes into
aromatics. These reactions often use catalysis, and so sulfur
isremoved from the hydrocarbons before they are reacted, as it
would 'poison' the catalystsused. The chemical equilibria are also
manipulated to ensure a maximum yield of thedesired product.
Step3 - Purification
The hydrogen sulfide gas which was extracted from the refinery
gas in Step 1 is convertedto sulfur, which is sold in liquid form
to fertiliser manufacturers.

PROCESS
UNIT

1
5

DESCRIPTION

ATMOSPHERIC AND VACUUM


DISTILLATION UNIT
THE UNIT CONSISTS OF FOUR SECTIONS:
Section 1: Crude Oil Desalting
Section 2: Prefractionator column and Stabilisation of Naphtha.
Section 3: Atmospheric Distillation of Crude oil.
16

Section 4: Vacuum Distillation of Reduced Crude oil.

1.1.

STREAM DAYS: 345 days per year.

1.2.

TYPES OF CRUDE:

Low Sulfur Indian : Bombay high.


Nigerian: Girasol, Escravos, Farcados, Bonny light
High Sulfur Imported: Arab Mix, Kuwait, Dubai, Ratawi, Basra etc.
1.3.

PRODUCTS OF AVU

The unit is to produce the following products designated by T.B.P.


cuts also:Product
Stream

Use / Using secondary units

LP
G

Sent to MEROX unit for treatment

C5 - 120 C cut

Naphtha Component

C5 - 118 C cut

CCRU / NSU feed

12 - 135 C cut
0 (BH)

Heavy Naphtha for blending with Diesel

11 - 142 C cut
8 (AM)

Can be used as Naphtha component

13 C cut
5 255 (BH)

Used as Superior kerosene

14 C cut
2 255 (AM)

Sent as ATF to MEROX for treatment

25 C cut
5 296 (BH)

Used as Superior kerosene

25 C cut
5 300 (AM)

Used as Cutter stock / HSD component

296 - 325 C cut (BH) HSD component (Light Gas Oil)


300 - 330 C cut
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(AM)
325 - 380 C cut (LS)

HSD component (Heavy Gas oil)

330 - 386 C cut


(AM)

HVGO component

Light Vacuum Gas


Oil

(Heavy Atmospheric Gas Oil)

HSD component

(<380 C cut )
380 - 425 C cut

425 - 530 C cut


Vacuum Slop

Light Diesel Oil


(also HVGO component)
Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil
Used as OHCU / FCCU feed
Blended with SR for VDU feed

Atmospheric Residue Used as IFO component in LS run


RCO
Vacuum Residue

Feed for BBU in AM run

SR

Feed/Hot feed for VBU in all runs


IFO component in LS run

Hydrocarbon Gas

Used as Refinery Fuel gas

1.5. PROCESS DESCRIPTION AND PRODUCT ROUTING:


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1.5.1. ATMOSPHERIC DISTILLATION UNIT


The ADU (Atmospheric Distillation Unit) separates most of the
lighter end products such as gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, and
gas oil from the crude oil. The bottoms of the ADU are then sent to
the VDU (Vacuum Distillation Unit). Crude oil is preheated by the
bottoms feed exchanger, further preheated and partially vaporized
in the feed furnace and then passed into the atmospheric tower
where it is separated into off gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, gas
oil and bottoms.

Atmospheric and Vacuum unit (AVU) of Mathura Refinery is


designed to process 100% Bombay High Crude and 100% Arab Mix
crude (consisting of Light and Heavy crude in 50:50 proportion by
weight) in blocked out operation @ 11.0 MMTPA. Crude is received
from

the

tank

and

is

pumped

through

series

of

heat

exchangers(1st stage preheat) before sending it to desalters.In


desalters, salts bottom sediments and water are removed from
crude by injecting water and separating out brine with the help of
electrodes. This desalted crude is then passed through another
chain of exchangers(2nd stage preheat).After that crude is sent to
o
prefractionator column where IBP- 100o C, IBP 110 C cut

naphtha product BH and AM operation respectively, is recovered


from crude oil in the prefractionator column as overhead product
whereas topped crude from bottom is sent another chain of
exchangers(3rd stage preheat).The topped crude is heated further
in furnaces. This heated crude is sent to atmospheric distillation
column where fractionation of crude is sent into different products

takes place. Column profile is maintained by regulating CRs.


Different parameters are maintained to maintain product quality.

1
9

1.5.1. VACUUM DISTILLATION UNIT:


Bottom residue of 11C-1(Atmospheric Distillation Column)is again
processed in vacuum column to increase distillate yield(and
profitability).
RCO from 11C-1 is heated further in vacuum furnace before
processing it in 12C-1(Vacuum Distillation Column). In vacuum
column, pressure is maintained at around 60mmHg at column top
pressure using ejectors. Fractionation of RCO into different
products

under

reduced

pressure

takes

place.

Different

parameters are maintained to adjust and control the product


quality.
2
0

The finished products are then sent to storage tanks before


extracting heat in heat exchangers, which can be used for crude
preheating (ENCON).

1.6. PROCESS FLOW DESCRIPTION


1.6.1. FEED SUPPLY
Crude oil is stored in eight storage tanks (eight tanks each having
a nominal capacity of 50,000 m
are of 65,000 m

whereas remaining other 2 tanks

nominal capacity). Booster pumps located in the

off-sites are used to deliver crude to the unit feed pumps. Filters
are installed on the suction manifold of crude pumps to trap
foreign matter. For processing slop, pumps are located in the offsite area, which regulate the quantity of slop into the crude header
after

filters.

Provision

to

inject

proportionate

quantity

of

demulsifier into the unit crude pumps suction header with the help
of dosing pump is available.

1.6.2. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION:


Crude Oil is heated up to 136 -141 C in the first train of heat
exchangers operating in two parallel sections up to the desalter
which is connected in series. Desalting temperature as required
can be maintained manually by operating the bypass valve of heat
exchangers.
A two-stage desalter has been designed for 99% salt removal. It is
designed to use stripped sour water for desalting which is being

taken ex stripped sour water unit. Provision to use DM water/


services water is also provided. The electric

2
1

field in the desalter breaks the emulsion and the outlet brine
from the 1st stage desalter is sent to ETP on level control.

1.7.

FURNACE OPERATION:

1. CDU Fired Heater


2. VDU Fired Heater

1.7.1. CDU Fired Heater:


The convection section has 8 rows of tubes with 8 nos. tubes in
each. The two rows of shock tubes, i.e. the two rows just above the
radiant section are plain tubes without studs. The rest six rows are
of extended surface type having cylindrical studs. All the
convection bank tubes are of 152 mmx8mm dimension and 5Cr
1/2 Mo material of construction. Of these 64 tubes in the
convection section, 4 nos studded tubes are for the service of
superheating MP steam for strippers; and the rest 60 nos. tubes
are for crude oil service. Crude oil to be heated enters the
convection section in four passes. From outlets of the convection
bank, it passes through crossovers provided inside the furnace into
bottom coils of the radiant section. Steam flow is of single pass to
superheating coils.
1.7.2. VDU Fire Heater:
Like any conventional process heater, these heaters are also
having two distinct heating sections: (I) a radiant section, and (ii)
convection section.

2
2

The convection section has 13 rows of tubes with 8 nos. tubes in


each. The top three rows are for the service of superheating LP
steam for vacuum column and the rest 10 rows are for RCO
service. The three rows of shock tubes, i.e. the three rows just
above the radiant section are plain tubes without studs. The next
seven rows are of extended surface type having cylindrical studs.
Provision exists to vent out MP steam ex- super heating coils of
furnaces to atmosphere through silence.
The floor of furnace is elevated above grade and the hot air duct
(supplying combustion air to burners) runs across the length of the
furnace below the furnace floor. The skin temperature of tubes is
0
limited to 542 C.

The furnaces are of balanced draft type with forced draft (FD) fans
to supply combustion air and induced draft (ID) fan to take
suction of the flue gases through air-preheating system and
discharge the same to stack.

1.8. CRUDE DISTILLATION UNIT:


The column is provided with 56 trays of which 8 are baffle trays in
the stripping section. Heated and partly vaporized crude feed
coming from fired heater enters the flash zone of the column at
tray no. 46 at 355 C/365 C. Hydrocarbon vapors flash in this
zone and get liberated. Non-flashed liquid moves down which is
largely bottom product, called RCO.

2
3

MP steam having some degree of superheat is introduced in the


2
column below tray no. 46 at approximately3.5 kg/cm (g) and 290
C for stripping of RCO. Steam stripping helps to remove lighter
constituents from the bottom product (RCO).
Reduced crude oil product is collected at the bottom of the column
and the overhead vapors are totally condensed in Overhead air
Condenser and train condenser. This condensed overhead product
is separated as hydrocarbon and water in the reflux drum. Water is
drawn out under inter-phase level control and sent to sour water
drums.

1.9. VACUUM DISTILLATION UNIT:


Hot RCO from the atmospheric column bottom at 355 C is mixed
with slop recycle from Vacuum Column, heated and partially
vaporized in 8-pass vacuum

furnace and introduced to the flash zone of the vacuum column.


The flash zone pressure is maintained at 115-120 mm of Hg.
Steam (MP) is injected into individual passes and regulated
manually. Three injection points have been provided on each pass.
This is to maintain required velocities in the heater, which is Fuel
Gas, Fuel Oil or combination fuel fired. Each cell is provided with

10 burners fired vertically upshot from furnace floor along the


centerline of the cell.

2
4

The vaporized portions entering the flash zone of the column along
with stripped light ends from the bottoms rise up in the vacuum
column and is fractionated into four side stream products in 5
packed sections. The hydrocarbon vapors are condensed in the
Vac Slop, HVGO, LDO and LVGO sections by circulating refluxes to
yield the side draw products. Vacuum is maintained by a two-stage
ejector system with surface condensers. The condensed portion
from the condensers are routed to the hot well from where the
non-condensable are sent to the vacuum furnace low-pressure
burners or vented to the atmosphere.

FLUID CATALYTIC CRAKING UNIT (FCCU)

2
5

2
6

In this process Heavy Gas Oil cut (Raw Oil) from Vacuum
Distillation Section of AVU is catalytically cracked to obtain more
valuable light and middle distillates. The present processing
capacity of the unit is about 1.48 MMT/Yr. It consists of the
following sections:

Catalytic section,

Fractionation section and

Gas concentration section.

The unit is designed to process two different types of feed i.e.


Arab Mix HVGO, Bombay High HVGO.

2.1. CRACKING SECTION

2
7

Cracking process uses high temperature to convert heavy


hydrocarbons into more valuable lighter products. This can be
accomplished either thermally or catalytically. The catalytic
process has completely superseded thermal cracking as the
catalyst helps the reactions to take place at lower pressures and
temperatures. At the same time, the process produces a higher
octane gasoline,

more stable cracked gas and less of the undesirable heavy


residual product. The process is also flexible in that it can be
tailored to fuel oil, gas oil operations producing high yields of cycle
oils or to LPG operations producing yields of C3-C4 fraction.
The fluid Catalytic Cracking process employs a catalyst in the form
of minute spherical particles, which behaves like a fluid when
aerated with a vapour. This fluidized catalyst is continuously
circulated from the reaction zone to the regeneration zone. The
catalyst also transfers heat carried with it from one zone to the
other viz. in the vessels reactor and regenerator. The reaction and
regeneration zones form the heart of the catalytic cracking unit.
Catalyst section consists of the reactor of the reactor and
regenerator, which together with the standpipes and riser form the
catalyst circulation circuit. The catalyst circulates up the riser to
the reactor, down through the stripper to the, regenerator across
to the regenerator standpipe and back to the riser. The vertical
riser is in fact the reactor in which the entire reaction takes place.

The reactor is a container for cyclone separators at the end of


vertical riser.

2
8

Coke is deposited on the catalyst in the reaction zone. The spent


catalyst flows downwards into the stripping section of the reactor.
After steam stripping to remove oil vapours from it the catalyst
flows from the reactor standpipe to the regenerator through a slide
valve in the regenerator, the coke is burnt off, oxygen for burning
being supplied by an air blower. Air from the blower is uniformly
given to the regenerator through a pipe grid at its bottom. The
heat of combustion raises the catalyst temperature to more than
600 (C. Most of the heat in the catalyst is given to the feed in the
reactor riser to raise it to the reaction temperature and to provide
the heat of reaction. The regenerated catalyst from

the standpipe flows into the riser through a slide valve to complete
the catalyst circulation cycle. Catalyst particles in the flue gas
leaving the regenerator are separated at the top of regenerator by
three sets of two-stage cyclones. The flue gas contains both CO
and CO2 as carbon is burnt off partly to CO and partly to CO2 in
the regenerator. The sensible and chemical heat in flue gas is
utilized to generate steam in CO Boiler. The flue gas is passed
through' the orifice chamber & regenerator. Pressure is controlled
by double disc slide valve. Orifice chamber holds backpressure
downstream of double-disc slide valve. By reducing the pr. drop
across slide valve, operating life of slide valve is greatly extended
by avoiding sudden accelerations of catalyst, bearing flue gas
stream. The unit is designed for use of high ZEOLITE catalyst
(Fresh catalyst), which is microspheriadical in shape.

2.2. CATALYTIC SECTION

The fluid Catalytic Cracking process employs a catalyst in the form


of minute spherical particles, which behaves like a fluid when
aerated with a vapour. This
2
9

fluidized catalyst is continuously circulated from the reaction zone


to the regeneration zone.
Feed to the FCC Unit is gas oils obtained by vacuum distillation of
long residue from the crude distillation unit. In our unit the vacuum
cut boiling in the range 380-530C is used as feedstock to the FCC
Unit.
. Catalyst section consists of the reactor of the reactor and
regenerator, which together with the standpipes and riser form the
catalyst circulation circuit. The catalyst circulates up the riser to
the reactor, down through the stripper to the, regenerator across
to the regenerator standpipe and back to the riser. The vertical
riser is in fact the reactor in which the entire reaction takes place.
The reactor is a container for cyclone separators at the end of
vertical riser

Fresh feed after heating up to 350 C in a feed pre-heater along


with recycle streams enters the base of the riser. In the riser the
combined feed is vaporized and raised to the reactor temperature
by the hot catalyst flowing upward through the riser. Cracking
reactions start immediately as the gas oil comes into contact with
the hot catalyst. Entrained catalyst and hydrocarbon vapors, after
cracking, flow upwards and pass through two cyclone separators
attached to top of the reactor. These cyclones remove most of the
entrained catalyst. Oil vapors containing a small quantity of
catalyst

pass

fractionator.

overhead

through

the

vapour

line

into

the

3
0

Coke is deposited on the catalyst in the reaction zone. The spent


catalyst flows downwards into the stripping section of the reactor.
After steam stripping to remove oil vapours from it the catalyst
flows from the reactor standpipe to the regenerator through a slide
valve in the regenerator, the coke is burnt off, oxygen for burning
being supplied by an air blower. The heat of combustion raises the
catalyst temperature to more than 600 C. Most of the heat in the
catalyst is given to the feed in the reactor riser to raise it to the
reaction temperature and to provide the heat of reaction. The
regenerated catalyst from the standpipe flows into the riser
through a slide valve to complete the catalyst circulation cycle.
Catalyst particles in the flue gas leaving the regenerator are
separated at the top of regenerator by three sets of two-stage
cyclones.

2.3. Type of catalyst


The unit requires two types of catalyst, viz.
(1) Fresh catalyst
(2)

Equilibrium catalyst

2.4. FRACTIONATION SECTION

3
1

In this section, the vapors coming out of the reactor top at very
high temperature are fractionated into wet gas and un-stabilized
gasoline overhead products, heavy naphtha, and light cycle oil as
side products. Heavy cycle oil drawn from the column is totally
recycled along with the feed after providing for the recycle stream
to the column.
The column bottom slurry containing a small quantity of catalyst is
sent to a slurry settler. From the settler bottom, the thickened
slurry is recycled back to the riser for recovering catalyst is sent to
a settler and from the settler bottom, the thickened slurry is
recycled back to the riser for recovering catalyst and further

32

cracking. From the top of slurry settler, clarified oil product is taken
out after cooling which goes for blending in Fuel Oil.
Heavy naphtha and light cycle oil streams after steam stripping
are used as gas oil blending components. The un-stabilized
gasoline and wet gas are sent to Gas Concentration Unit for
further processing. Both heavy naphtha and light cycle oil being
blending components for HSD can be blended in the unit and sent
to product blending station, as a single stream. In addition, light
cycle oil, if required for blending in FO, fertilizer feed, etc. can be
diverted to the extent required for
product

blending

in

2.5. GAS CONCENTRATION SECTION

separate

line.

3
3

The

wet

gas

from

the

fractionator

overhead

receiver

is

compressed in a two-stage centrifugal compressor and sent to a


high-pressure (HP) receiver after cooling. Gas from the HP receiver
is sent to the Primary Absorber for recovery of C3's and
heavier components by absorption with stabilized gasoline taken
from the debutanizer column bottom and un-stabilized gasoline
from main column overhead receiver. Rich gasoline from Absorber
bottom is recycled back to the HP receiver. The stripped gasoline is
further stabilized in the debutanizer removing C3 and C4
components from it as cracked LPG and bottom product as
stabilized FCC gasoline. Both LPG and gasoline are Merox treated
before routing to storage.

2.6. CO BOILER
The flue gas leaving the regenerator via orifice chamber contains
8-13% carbon monoxide, the rest being inert like nitrogen, steam,
carbon dioxide, etc. In the CO Boiler, flue gas is burnt with air
converting, carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, thus releasing the
heat of combustion of CO in the boiler. This heat as well as the
sensible heat in flue gas available at a high temperature is utilized
for raising medium pressure steam.

3
4

VIS-BREAKING
UNIT
3.1. Introduction:
The Visbreaker Unit is
designed for
processing a mixture
of Atmospheric and
Vacuum Residue from
1:1 mixture of Light
Arabian and North
Rumaila Crudes. It
reduces the viscosity
and pour point of
heavy petroleum
fractions so that
product can be sold as
fuel oil. The nominal
capacity of the plant is
0.8 MMTPA of mixed

Feed. However, the


design capacity has
been kept as 1.0
MMTPA to take care of
Fluctuations in the
Bitumen production.
The unit produces Gas,
Naphtha, and Heavy
Naphtha, VB Gas Oil,
Visbreaker fuel oil (a
mixture of VB gas oil
and VB tar). In actual
practice design feed
was not available. So
long residue and short
Residue of Nineteen
type of imported
crudes e.g. Arab Mix,
Arab Light, Arab
Heavy, Rostam,
Solman, Light Iranian,
Algerian, Heavy
Iranian, Lagos medio,
Basrah,Ummshaif, Iran
Mix, Iran blend,
AbooAlbakoosh, Dubai,
Kuwait, Haut. Oman,
Nigerian and two types
of Indegeneous crude

Bombay High and


Ratnabad had to be
processed in the unit
from the very
commissioning. Long
And short residue
proportion also varied
to a large extent
depending on tank
Ullage position
35

etc. A provision is also made by a small modification to route V B


Gas oil to HSD / LDO pool over and above its original routing
provision to V B tar.
At present all the Short residue and vac slop produced in BH run in
AVU is routed to VBU for HPS production. Short residue and vac
slop in Nigerian crude run along with BH cold feed is routed to VBU
for HPS production. Nigerian SR and vac slop is also routed to VBU
(limited to 20% of blend) for FO production with HS as cold feed
.Balance Nigerian SR is routed along with RCO for IFO top up. Short
residue produced in HS run is routed to Bitumen unit and balance
SR along with vac slop

is routed to VBU. Following table summaries shows the mode of


operation in VBU and their feed streams.

Feed Stream
Atmospheric
Residue
Vacuum Residue

Design
Capacity,MMTPA
400
600

3.2. THEORY OF VISBREAKING


The Visbreaker is essentially a Thermal cracking unit designed to
operate at mild conditions and to retain all the cracked light oils in
the bottom product. This results in reduction of viscosity of bottom
product. In the Thermal cracking reaction, heavy oil is kept at a
high temperature for a certain amount of time and this causes the
larger molecules to break up. The resulting product has a random
distribution of molecular sizes resulting in products ranging from

light gas to heavy gas oil. These products are characterized as


"Cracked" products and contain

3
6

a certain percentage of olefinic compounds. Whenever a molecule


breaks one of the resulting molecules is an olefin.
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3CH3-CH2-CH=CH2 + CH3CH2-CH3

Cracked products are unstable and form gum. The cracked


naphtha has higher octane number than straight run gasoline.
During the cracking operation, some coke is usually formed. Coke
is the end product of polymerizations reaction in which two large
olefin molecules combine to form an even larger olefinic molecule.
C10H21-CH=CH2 + CH2=CH-C10H21C10H21-CH=CH-CH2CH2-C10H21
When above reaction gets repeated several times, the end product
is coke. This is usually found inside the walls of furnace tubes and
other spots where oil may

remain at high temperature and soak heat for some time. Severity
of

over-all

reaction

is

determined

by

residence

time

and

temperature of cracking. Residence time in the unit can be varied


by varying charge rate and steam injection rate of DMW injection
into furnace coils. Temperature can be varied as per requirement.
The cracking reaction usually does not become evident until
transfer temperature crosses 400 C. When transfer temperature
reaches 460 C; sufficient cracking of oil takes place. Gas and
Naphtha are produced, the viscosity of product is lowered and
simultaneously coke deposits in the furnace tubes & soaker.

Increased severity results in shorter run lengths and more


unstable fuel oil with sediments in it.
3
7

3.3. System Description


The feed passes through the furnace, where cracking reaction take
place and the conversion in the coil is about 50 to 60%. The
effluent from the furnace is routed to the soaker drum for
completion

of

visbreaking

reaction.

The

soaker

effluent

is

quenched before entering fractionator by injecting column bottom


product (VB Tar). The quenched effluent ten enters the VB
fractionator. In the bottom of the fractionator, steam is introduced
to remove lighter fractions. VB Tar is removed as the bottom
product. The overhead fraction is unstable naphtha and gas. The
naphtha is stabilized and sent to merox unit for sweetening.

3.4. Visbreaker Furnaces


Visbreaker unit is provided with two identical natural draft
furnaces. They are up-right steel structures with outer steel casing
lined with refractory material. Each of the furnaces is independent
with radiation section at the bottom. Convection section is at the
top of the radiation section and above convection section is the
stack. The convection further heat from the flue gases leaving the
radiation section. It is having numbering 6, 10 and 14 respectively.
The radiation section

houses the radiation tubes numbering 30 in each pass. In this


section heat is transferred primarily by radiation by flame and hot
combustible gases.
VBU furnace tubes skin temperature is measured by skin
thermocouples provided on tubes in radiation zone. Furnaces are

provided with thermocouple in radiation and convection zones for


measuring tube skin temperatures, box temperatures before and
after

steam

Thermocouples

coils,

and

flue

gas

are

also

provided

to
inside

stack

temperatures.

furnace

tubes

for

measuring liquid temperatures at


3
8

different points. The maximum allowed tubes skin and box


o
o
temperature in the heaters is 650 C and 750 C respectively.
There is a provision for on-stream analyzer of SO 2 emission from
both the stacks. The purpose of the water, injection is to maintain
suitable velocity in the furnace tubes and to minimize coking.
Effluent from these passes is gathered and sent to soaker drum. It
enters from the bottom and leaves from the top. Thermal cracking
of the feed, which is initiated in the furnace, gets completed in
soaker drum. Residence time of the order of half an hour is given
in soaker.
To arrest cracking reactions, materials from each pass of the two
furnaces are individually quenched by the injection of cooled VB
0
tar at 223 C. To increase turbulence and to prevent coke deposit

in the coils, there is provision to inject steam in each pass. The


purpose of the water injection is to maintain suitable velocity in
the furnace tubes and to minimize coking.

3.5. V.B. FRACTIONATOR


Soaker effluent after quenching enters fractionator. Temperature in
the flash zone is around 420 oC. From the column, gas & gasoline
are separated as overhead, gas oil as side stream and the VB tar
as bottoms. The fractionator has

26 valve trays and one blind tray. Feed enters flash zone below the
26th Valve tray.The overhead vapours from the column are
condensed and cooled in heat exchangers.

3
9

The liquid vapour mixture is separated in the reflux drum. Gasoline


from flash fractionator is picked up by reflux pumps and partly
pumped to column top as reflux. The remaining gasoline is routed
to stabilizer under reflux drum level controller, which is cascaded
with flow controller. The sour water is drained from the drum boot
under interface level controller and routed to sour water stripper.
Main reflux drum and its water boot are having level glasses.
Uncondensed gas from Gas oil stripper goes to FCC/AVU furnaces /
Flare. Column top pressure around 4.5kg/cm2 (g). Column
overhead line is provided with working and controlled safety
valves.
The heavy naphtha at a temperature of about 170 oC is withdrawn
from tray no. 10 under level controller. It is stripped in the stripper
to maintain its flash point. The heavy naphtha is routed to HSD.
Gas oil at a temperature of about 260 oC is withdrawn from the
blind accumulator tray under tray level controller. It is steam
stripped in the stripper ot maintain its flash point. Vapor from
stripper top returns back to column just above the blind
accumulator tray. A part of gas oil from air cooler is used for
washing VB tar filters Blind accumulator tray and strippers are
provided with level glasses.
To remove extra heat and to maintain desired temperature profile
in column, a portion of gas oil from blind tray is taken and pumped
in two streams. One stream is used as heating media in steam
o
o
generator where it is cooled from 260 C to 214 C. The second
stream supplies re-boiling heat to stabilizer re-boiler and gets
o
o
cooled from 260 C to 215 C. To protect column bottom against
coking, cooled VB tar condensed in air cooler and go to reflux

drum. Safety valve is provided to release gas and protect the


vessel from over pressure.

4
0

o
o
Tar is cooled from 351 C to 225 C in feed exchangers and further
o
cooling to 214 C is done. Pumps are having two filters in the
suction line with gas oil flushing facilities. Only one filter is kept in
service while the other remains as spare. Cooled VB tar is partly
used as quench to

1. Fractionator column bottom. Bottom temperature is


o
maintained at 355 C.
2. Transfer lines of the two furnaces. Temperature of the
combined effluent entering main fractionator is
o
maintained at 427 C.
3. Gas oil stripper bottom should be protected against
coking. Bottom
o
temperature is maintained at 351 C.
o
VB tar is then cooled in boiler feed water exchanger from 232 C
o
o
to 210 C. It is further cooled to 90 C and sent to storage with
gas oil.

3.6. Stabilizer
Un-stabilized gasoline from reflux drum is picked up by reflux
pump and then it is pumped to stabilizer through stabilized
o
gasoline exchanger. In heat exchanger, feed is heated from 43 C
o
o
to 120 C while stabilized gasoline is cooled from 180 C to 120
o
C. The column has 30 trays and the feed enters on the 19th.The
o
overhead product at 60 C goes to water condensers. The
condensed liquid is collected in the reflux drum. Uncondensed gas
from the drum goes to FCC/unit fuel gas header. Pressure at the
2
drum is maintained at 8.4kg/cm (g).

CONTINOUS CATALYTIC REFORMING UNIT(CCRU)


3.1.Introduction:

The Continuous Catalyst Regeneration type of Reforming Unit


(CCRU) , process is
4
1

based on advanced technology from IFP (France), which allows


continuous

regeneration

of

catalyst

unlike

in

earlier

semi-

regenerative type of CRU s

operating with limited cycle length between two consecutive


regenerations.Installed at the cost of about Rs. 360 crores
(inclusive of power plant), the CCRU is serving us to produce high
o
octane reformate (up to 98 RON) from straight run (C5145 C cut)

naphtha

through

catalytic

reforming

process.

Reformate

so

produced is a component used to upgrade (by blending with) lower


Octane streams up to the desired level of Octane number for
production of Euro-III and Euro-IV grade MS.
A catalytic reforming process converts a feed stream containing
paraffins, Olefins and naphthene to aromatics. The product
stream of the reformer is generally referred to as reformate. The
purpose of the CR unit is to produce a high octane no. reformate
as a blending stock for the production of motor spirit. The octane
no. of the gasoline coming from the AVU is around 66, whereas
the required value of the octane no. is 87, 88 and 93.
3.6.1. Design Capacity
The normal capacity of the CCR Unit is 466,000 MT based on
a stream factor of 8000 hours/year with 120% over design
factor.
The normal operating flexibility of the CCR is 60% of
Design.
3.6.2. Feed Specification
Naphtha from Bombay high crude oil 80 1400C TBP cut
(Feed I)


95/5 blend of naphtha from Arab mix (80-1450C TBP
cut) and vis-broken Naphtha (Feed II)
4
2

Composition: - wt.
%
Feed

Feed I

Feed II

PARAFFIN
iC5

0.20

0.00

nC5

0.3

0.04

iC6

3.80

4.29

nC6

4.98

5.61

C7

20.76

9.88

C9

5.88

5.55

C10+

0.89

0.27

N5

0.26

0.24

N6

7.97

8.91

N7

13.33

13.07

N8

3.81

7.78

N9

2.39

2.55

N10

0.00

0.00

A6

6.87

8.14

A7

7.85

12.38

A8

4.21

11.39

A9

0.32

0.07

A10

0.00

0.00

NAPHTHENE

AROMATIC

TOTAL

100.00

100.
00

43

Catalytic

Reforming

is

major

conversion

process

having

applications in Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals Industries


as it transforms low octane (Straight Run) Naphtha into:

High Octane Motor Gasoline Blending Stock


Produce Aromatic Concentrates rich in benzene ,Toluene &
Xylene(BTX)
By Products:

Hydrogen used in refinery for hydro-treating,hydro-cracking


making it a more economically viable process.Although use of
Catalytic Reforming only
as a means to produce hydrogen is not economically viable.

LPG

3.2 Unit Subdivision


The whole CRU can be divided into three subunits as:

Naphtha Splitting Unit (NSU)

Naphtha Hydro-treater Unit (NHU)

Catalyst Reforming Unit CRU &Continuous Catalyst


Regeneration Unit-

CCRU

3.2.1 Naphtha Splitter Unit:

4
4

Naphtha splitting unit produces feed of required TBP range


for the
reforming unit by splitting wide cut naphtha from CDU. The
selected cut is
then Hydro treated before feeding to the Reforming Unit.
This unit has been designed to split SR naphtha (144 MT/hr
for BH or 95

MT/hr for AM) to C5-80 C and 80-115 C cut. Due to the


restriction on
Benzene content in the final product (motor spirit), the IBP of
the heavier

cut is raised to approximately 105 C. The present operating


cut range of
o
NSU for light naphtha product is C5-105 C and for heavy
naphtha product is
o
105-160 C. NSU can be operated with naphtha directly from
AVU (hot feed) or from OM&S (Cold feed) or using both the
feeds simultaneously. NSU splits C5-150 oC cut naphtha into
C5-90 oC cut and 90-150 oC cut. Heavier cut forms the feed
for reformer. Cut point of 90 oC has been

chosen to get required octane number with moderate


severity and also to
exclude the benzene precursors from the reformer feed.
a) FEED SELECTION:
For normal operation of the plant, the feed naphtha will be
supplied by AVU

O
stabilizer section at a temperature of about 60
C. This
naphtha is pre-heated by column bottom Heavy naphtha in
feed-bottom exchanger to 95 C

The back pressure controller operates to maintain a set point


of 4.4 Kg/cm2
(g)

at the inlet of the column to avoid two-phase flow in the

feed line. The Heavy Naphtha from the Splitter column is


routed to rundown or as hot feed to NHTU.
4
5

In case of pre-planned AVU shutdown, stabilized naphtha (C5150 oC) will be stored in the existing naphtha tanks and
processed in NSU as cold feed.
b) SPLITTER SECTION:
Naphtha splitter receives feed on its 19th tray. The hot feed
from AVU/cold feed, after getting preheated goes to the LP
steam pre-heat exchanger, and the MP steam pre-heat
exchanger, before entering the splitter. In former,
0
the naphtha feed temperature is increased to 135 C from 95
0
C by LP Steam and in later the required feed temperature of
0
145 C is achieved by using MP Steam. The feed naphtha
after preheating enters the splitter through the control valve.
Splitter has a total of 40 trays.

Overhead vapours of splitter are totally condensed in the


splitter air-cooler and in the new overhead condenser before
it is collected in splitter Reflux drum. Part of the liquid
collected in reflux drum is sent back as reflux to splitter
section by splitter reflux pumps and balance is sent back to
AVU after cooling it in light naphtha cooler.

Splitter bottom product is cooled in splitter bottom Air Cooler


followed by splitter bottom Heavy Naphtha trim cooler. Heavy
Naphtha can directly send to Hydrotreater feed coalesce.
c) REBOILING HEATER:

Splitter re-boiler supplies the heat necessary for splitter reboiling. It is a six pass vertical cylindrical heater with 6
burners having provision for

4
6

combination firing of both fuel gas and fuel oil. However they
are designed for 100 % of fuel gas or fuel oil firing.
Desired
the fuel
with 12
studded

temperature at outlet is maintained by controlling


firing. The radiant section of the heater is provided
bare tubes per pass. The convection section has
as well as bare tubes. The permissible maximum

o
tube skin temperature for the heater is 253 C.

In the heat recovery system, FD fan supplies hot air for


combustion through APH and hot flue gases are discharged to
stack using ID fan after exchanging heat in APH.
d) CONDENSATE RECOVERY SECTION:
Feed naphtha preheating is achieved by LP and MP steam preheaters. The LP steam condensate vessel floats with the LP
steam header through a 1.5 line from the top of the vessel.
The level in LP condensate pot is maintained at 50% by level
control valve, which transfers the condensate to condensate
recovery drum by pressure head. MP Steam is under cascade
control splitter inlet temperature.The level in MP condensate
vessel is maintained at 50% by level control valve, which
transfers the condensate to condensate recovery drum by its
pressure

head.The

total

condensate

received

in

the

condensate recovery vessel, is pumped to condensate


polishing unit. Small quantity of steam is safely vented to
atmosphere. The

condensate recovery vessel is also provided with an


overflow line routed to drain to take care of level controller
failure.

4
7

3.2.2. Naphtha Hydro Treater Unit.


The purpose of Naphtha Hydrotreater is to eliminate the
impurities (such as sulfur, nitrogen, halogens, oxygen,
water, olefins, di-olefins, arsenic and metals, except for
water, which is eliminated in the stripper) from the feed that
would otherwise affect the performance and lifetime of the
Reformer catalyst. This is achieved by the use of selective
catalyst

(nickel,

molybdenum)

and

optimum

operating

conditions. The unit is designed to handle a wide range of


feed naphtha from very low sulfur (10.9 PPM in neat BH)
to a maximum sulfur content of 1043 PPM so as to give
treated product of sulfur less than 0.5 PPM. Nitrogen is
also reduced to less than 0.5 PPM and water content is
reduced in the stripper to less than 4 PPM.The
normal capacity of the unit is such that the capacity of the
reforming unit is
466000 MT/Year based on an On-Stream factor of 8000
hours/year (345 days operation) with 120% over design.
Operating flexibility is of 60%, same as that of the reforming
unit.The hydrogenation of di-olefins and conversion of
mercaptans take place in a fixed bed axial reactor, 14R2. The
hydrogenation of olefins, hydro-desulfurization and hydrodenitrification reactions take place in another fixed bed axial
reactor, 14R1. A middle range temperature is required to
promote the chemical reactions, which improve the product
quality. The hydrotreatment catalysts shall be periodically
regenerated to recover its activity. The liquid product from

the reaction section is then stripped to remove H2S, water


and light hydrocarbons.

4
8

3.2.3.CATALYTIC REFORMING UNIT CRU &CONTINUOUS


CATALYST
REGENERATION UNIT- CCRU
a) REFORMING UNIT
Catalytic reforming is normally facilitated by a bi-functional
catalyst that is capable of rearranging and breaking long-chain
hydrocarbons as well as removing hydrogen from naphthenes to
produce aromatics. The idea of a Catalytic Reforming Unit is to
have RON (Research Octane Number) as high as possible at the
same time keeping the Olefins, Benzene & Aromatics under the
specified limits. The different types of reformers are classified as a
fixed-bed type, semi-regenerative type, cyclic type and the
continuous regenerative type. This classification is based on the
ability of the unit to operate without bringing down the catalyst for
Regeneration. During the regeneration process, the refinery will
suffer production loss. In the Continuous Catalytic Reforming unit,
the reactors are cleverly stacked, so that the catalyst can flow
under gravity. From the bottom of the reactor stack, the 'spent'
catalyst is 'lifted' by nitrogen to the top of the regenerator stack.
In the regenerator, the above mentioned different steps, coke
burning, oxychlorination and drying are done in different sections,
segregated via a complex system of valves, purge-flows and
screens. From the bottom of the regenerator stack, catalyst is
lifted by hydrogen to the top of the reactor stack, in a special area
called the reduction zone. In the reduction zone, the catalyst
passes a heat exchanger in which it is heated up against hot feed.
Under hot conditions it is brought in contact with hydrogen, which

performs a reduction of the catalyst surface, thereby restoring its


activity. In such a continuous regeneration process,

4
9

a constant catalyst activity can be maintained without unit shut


down for a typical run length of 3 - 6 years.
o
Feed for the Reforming unit (94 m3/hr at 14 kg/cm2 and 110 C) is
received directly from hydrotreater stripper after heat exchanger.
The filters must be

provided for the protection of the welded plate exchanger. Feed is


filtered to remove any foreign particles. At the D/S of the feed
filter, chloriding agent and water injection are done. CCl 4 solution
of 1% in reformate is dosed by pump. Dosing @ 1 ppm wt. CCl 4 in
feed is done when continuous regeneration unit is down. Water
injection (not on regular basis) is done to maintain Cl-OH
equilibrium on the catalyst when regenerator is out of service.
Feed mixed with recycle H2 stream gets preheated in PACKINOX
o
o
exchanger from 91 C to 451 C by the effluent from 3rd Reactor
o
o
which gets cooled down from 497 C to 98 C. Due to the

endothermic nature of the reforming reactions, the overall


reforming is achieved in stages with inter stage heater provided to
raise the temperature. There are three Reactors (15R-1, R-2 & R-3)
each provided with reaction heater.
b) REACTORS
In the reactors, the feed contacts the reforming catalyst which is
divided approximately in the ratio 15:30:55. In the CCR process,
the catalyst circulates continuously in reactors, in the space
between the external grid and the central pipe from the top to the
bottom, from one reactor bottom to the top of the next one, from
the last reactor to the regeneration unit for regeneration. From the
regeneration unit, the regenerated catalyst returns to the first

reactor. Each reactor is a vertical cylindrical vessel with spherical


heads. It is equipped with one
5
0

inlet & one outlet nozzle for feed & effluent respectively. Catalyst
enters the reactor through 12 nos. of 3" pipes, flows through the
space between external grid and the central pipe from top to
bottom and exits through 12 nos. of 2"pipes, slow moving bed of
bimetallic catalyst and exits through the outlet nozzle at the
bottom. The radial flow of feed is achieved by directing the flow
through external grid to catalyst bed & exit is made to central
outlet collector pipe. Gas tight baffle is provided on the outlet pipe
to avoid short-circuiting of the feed to outlet pipe

at the entrance. Reactor effluent after passing through PACKINOX


exchanger is cooled in air cooler to 65

o
C and then by trim cooler

o
to 45 C before entering the separator. The separated gas is

compressed in the recycle gas compressor and a part is recycled


to the reactors. The remaining gas is routed to a re-contacting
section to improve hydrogen purity and recover liquid yield.

DHDT: DIESEL HYDROTREATING UNIT


5
1

3.7.

DHDT UNIT DETAILS:

Process Licensor:

IFP, France

LSTK Contractor:

Daelim, S. Korea

PMC:

Jacobs H& G Pvt.Ltd.

Capacity:

1.8 MMTA(Designed for 2 MMTPA)

Turndown:

50%
IFP Licensed Hydro treating
technology

Process:

Capacity Basis:

8000 HRS/YEAR

Cost:

6000 crores

Commissioning date:02/05/2005

PURPOSE OF
3.8. UNIT:
To reduce low sulfur (<30ppm) and high cetane number (55)
HSD to cater to
the needs of bharat stage II, bharat stage III and bharat stage
IV.
With recommendation of task force of governments AUTO
FUEL POLICY, following emissions norms will be followed.

3.9.

SPECIFICATIONS OF BHARAT STAGE I AND IV:


SULFUR IN DIESEL CETANE NUMBER

BHARAT STAGE I

2500 ppm

BHARAT STAGE II

500 ppm

BHARAT STAGE III

350 ppm

BHARAT STAGE IV

50 ppm

51(min)

52

3.10. Cetane number:


A rating on a scale use to indicate the tendency of a fuel for
diesel enginesto
cause knock, comparable to octane number for gasoline.

The rating is comparing the fuels performance in a standard


engine with that of a mixture of cetane 100 and alpha-aminenaphthalene (0). The cetane of diesel is the percentage by
volume of the cetane(say 55) in the mixture of alpha-methynaphtalene (say 45)then the cetane number of the said diesel
is 55.
3.11. CHEMICAL REACTIONS:
The main reactions taking place in the process are refining
and hydrogenation reactions, in addition some hydrocracking
reactions takes place as well.
3.11.1.
3.11.2. Refining reactions:

Refining reactions involve the removal of heteroatoms, namely


sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen. It also includes the saturation
reactions of olefins and di-olefins.

Treating reactions:

Metal removal

Olefin saturation

Sulfur removal

Nitrogen removal

Oxygen removal

Aromatic saturation(cetane number improvement)


5
3

Desulfurisation reactions:
The aliphatic sulfur compounds, namely mercaptants, sulphides
and di-sulphides react easily leading to the corresponding
saturated or aromatic compounds. Thiophenes sulfur is most
difficult to react. The reaction is exothermic.
Mechanism:
Sulfur removed first, and then the olefin is saturated. Three mole
of hydrogen consumed per mole of sulfur. 560 kcal of heat
3
liberated per Nm of H2 consumed.
Mercaptant
R-SH + H2
Sulphides
R-S-R + 2H2

RH +
H2S
2RH +
H2S

DENITROFICATION REACTIONS:
These

reactions

lead

to

ammonia

formation

and

are

exothermic in nature. The hydro denitrogenation reactions


are slower than the hydro desulfurisation reactions, and
generally require more severe conditions

especially for components having nitrogen as a part of an


aromatic ring such as pyridine.

Mechanism:
First saturation of the rings to which nitrogen is attached and then
carbon nitrogen bond scission. Five mole of hydrogen consumed

for per mole of nitrogen. 632 to 705 Kcal of heat liberated per Nm3
of hydrogen consumed.
5
4

Amine
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-NH2 +H2
CH3 + NH3

CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-

SULFUR RECOVERY UNIT (SRU)


6.1. INTRODUCTION
The unit consists of three identical units A, B and C. One of them is
kept standby. The process design is in accordance with common
practice to recover elemental sulfur known as the Clause process,
which is further improved by Super Clause process. Each unit
consists of a thermal stage, in which H2S is partially burnt with air,
followed by two catalytic stages. A catalytic incinerator for
incineration of all gases has been incorporated in order to prevent
pollution of the atmosphere.

SULPHUR BLOCK OVERVIEW


ACID GAS EX OLD ARU

RICH AMINE

ARU

ACID GAS

LEAN AMINE

STEAM VENT

MP STEAM

SRU

L P STEAM

LP STEAM
SOUR WATER

STRIPPED WATER

SULPHUR
TGTU

SWSU
SOUR GAS

BOILER FEED WATER

SRU (Sulfur recovery unit)

55

This unit is basically low pressure (slightly above then atm) unit
having throughput of 60 tons/day.
The Sulfur Recovery Unit is designed to recover sulfur from
the sour vapors originating from the following sources:
1) The Amine Regenerator Unit
2) The Sour Water Stripper Unit
Feed Specifications
The feedstock of the SRU is a mixture of the Acid gas ex ARU
and the Acid gas ex SWS, 50% of the feed to the SRU is to be
processed in the two of the three
trains.The quantity and quality of H2S feed to the unit will vary
depending on the shutdown of the various preceding units. The
unit should be capable of converting 99% wt. of the H 2S
contained in the feed streams to sulfur in all the following cases:
Case 1: When all units are running with HCU on 70% IMP HVGO.

Component Acid gas ex-ARU Acid gas ex-SWS Total feed


H2

2.2

2.2

H2S

4805.0

560.7

5365.7

H/S*

11.3

11.3

CO2

338.3

338.3

137.0

137.0

309.9

432.6

1007.6

6287.1

NH3
H2O

122.7

Total kg/hr 5279.5

56

* H/C will be a mixture of C1, C2, C3, C4 having an average


molecular wt. of 30.
Case 2: When HCU is down and DHDS is feed-2 operation
Component Acid gas ex-ARU

Acid gas ex-SWS

Total feed

H2

0.3

0.3

H2S

1727.2

545.9

2273.1

H/S*

11.3

11.3

CO2

338.3

338.3

218.3

218.3

364.8

412.9

1129.0

6287.1

NH3
H2O

48.1

Total kg/hr 2125.2

* H/C will be a mixture of C1, C2, C3, C4 having an average


molecular wt. of 30.
Battery limit conditions
Component

Gas ex-SWS

Gas ex-ARU

o
Temperature, C

90

40

2
Pressure, kg/cm g

0.7

0.7

Design Criteria and


Requirements

57

Capacity
The unit consists of three parallel SRU trains, each with a
sulfur production capacity of 60 metric tons/day, a tail gas
incinerator and a sulfur degassing

system. Two SRU trains are normally in operation and one SRU
train is in the hot stand-by mode.
Sulfur Recovery Rate

The unit is capable of a sulfur recovery efficiency of 99.0 wt.%


based on the operation of the unit at a capacity and acid gas
composition corresponding to one of the cases as defined under
Para 2.1.
Turndown
The turndown of the unit is 30% on the normal feed gas
rate (case 1) and composition as defined under Para 2.1.
Product Specifications
The product sulfur will meet the following specification after
degassing.

State

Color

Purity

liquid sulfur
bright yellow (as solid
state)
min. 99.9 wt% on dry
basis

H2S

10 ppm weight max

6.2. PROCESS DESCRIPTION

58

The sulfur recovery process applied in the present design, which is


known as the Clause process, is based upon the combustion of
H2S with a ratio controlled flow of air which is maintained
automatically in sufficient quantity to evolve the complete
oxidation of all hydrocarbons and ammonia present in the sour gas
feed and to burn one third of the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur dioxide
and water.
H2S + 3/2 O2

SO2 + H2O + Heat

The major percentage of the residual H2S combines with the


SO2 to form Sulfur, according to the following equilibrium
reaction
2 H2S + SO2

3S + 2H2O + Heat

Sulfur is formed in vapour phase in the main combustion chamber.


The primary function of the waste heat boiler is to remove the
major portion of heat involved in the combustion chamber. The
secondary function of waste heat boiler is to condense the sulfur,
which is drained to a sulfur pit. At this stage 60% of the sulfur
present in the sour gas feed is removed. The third function of the
waste heat boiler is to utilize the heat liberated there to produce
LP steam (4 kg/cm2).

The process gas leaving the waste heat boiler still contains a
considerable part of H2S and SO2. Therefore, the essential
function of the following equipment is to shift the equilibrium by
adopting a low reactor temperature thus removing the sulfur as
soon as it is formed.
Conversion to sulfur is reached by a catalytic process in two
subsequent reactors containing a special synthetic alumina
catalyst.
Before entering the first reactor, the process gas flow is heated to
an optimum temperature by means of a line burner, with mixing
chamber, in order to achieve a high conversion. In the line burner
mixing chamber the process gas is mixed with the hot flue gas
obtained by burning fuel gas with air.
In the first reactor the reaction between the H2S and SO2
recommences until equilibrium is reached. The effluent gas from
the first reactor passes to the first sulfur condenser where at this

stage approximately 29% of the sulfur present in the sour gas feed
is condensed and drained to the sulfur pit. The total sulfur
recovery after the first reactor stage is 89% of the sulfur present in
the sour gas
5
9

feed. In order to achieve a figure of 94% sulfur recovery the sour


gas is subjected to one more stage. The process gas flow is once
again subjected to preheating by means of a second line burner
then passed to a second reactor and the sulfur condensed in a
second condenser accomplish a total sulfur recovery of 94%. A
sulfur coalescer is installed downstream the last sulfur condenser
to separate entrained sulfur mist
fter the first reactor stage is 89% of the sulfur present in the sour
gas feed. In order to achieve a figure of 94% sulfur recovery the
sour gas is subjected to one more stage. The process gas flow is
once again subjected to preheating by means of a second line
burner then passed to a second reactor and the sulfur condensed
in a second condenser accomplish a total sulfur recovery of 94%. A
sulfur coalescer is installed downstream the last sulfur condenser
to separate entrained sulfur mist.
The heat released by the subsequent cooling of gas and
condensation of sulfur in waste heat boiler and, sulfur condensers
results in the production of low-pressure steam.

6
0

PROJECTI

61

MATERIAL BALANCE OF AVU UNIT


In any industrial plant, mass balance over the plant and/or over
any particular unit is a very important part for the daily operation
of the plant. Material balances are fundamental to the control of
processing, particularly in the control of yields of the products.
Ideally, by the Law of Conservation of Mass, the amount of feed
going inside the plant should be equal to the amount of products
leaving the plant. But this usually doesnt happen and we
encounter many losses during the process.
Mass In = Mass Out + Mass stored.
Feed + Air + Steam = Products + Coke formed + Losses.

Feed

3
Flow rate (m /hr)
1147

Density (Kg/ )
0.855

LPG(STABILIZER)

29

0.515

LIGHT
NAPTHA(STABILIZER)
ATF

181

0.720

111

0.787

HY KERO

46

0.819

HEAVY NAPTHA

21

0.762

LGO

212

0.845

HGO

45

0.875

LVGO

11

0.882

LDO

21

0.897

HVGO

175

0.929

SR

285

0.999

62

Wt. of feed = 1147 0.855 = 980.685 Kg/hr


Wt of Output = Wt. Of outlet from stabilizer + Wt. of outlet
from CDU + Wt. of outlet from CDU
= (29 0.515) + (181 0.720) + (111 0.787) + (46
0.819) + (21 0.762) + (212 0.845) + (45 0.875)
+(11 0.882)
+ (21 0.897) + (175 0.929) + (285 0.999)
= 980.632 Kg/hr

YIELD OF VARIOUS PRODUCT FORMED IN


AVU

PRODUCT

On Wt. basis

On Volume basis

1
.

LPG

0.0152

0.0255

LIGHT NAPTHA

0.13289

0.15919

ATF

0.0891

0.0976

4 HY KERO

0.0384

0.04045

5 HEAVY NAPTHA

0.0163

0.01846

6 LGO

0.1826

0.18645

7 HGO

0.0401

0.03957

8 LVGO

0.00989

0.00967

63

LDO

10 HVGO
11

SR

0.0192

0.01847

0.1657

0.15391

0.290

0.25065

64

Submitted By:
SAGAR GUPTA
B.TECH, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
MNIT, JAIPUR

65

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