Refining Processes & Petroleum Products



PETROLEUM PRODUCTS



• Energy and non-energy products and their main uses, CO2 emissions and main regulated pollutants in the end use.



• Principal components of petroleum products general hydrocarbon classification and main impurities (sulfur, nitrogen, metals and asphaltenes, etc.).



• Quality requirements imposed on petroleum products in view of their utilization: quality specifications measured by standard tests, characteristics related to the product composition, origin and processing routes.



• New trends in market structure and product characteristics to European and worldwide scale, post-combustion depollution systems, biofuels (nature, alternative fuel pathways for transport, strengths and weaknesses).




REFINING PROCESSES



• Crude oil fractionation:



• Origin, overall characteristics and classification of crude oils.



• Yields and properties of straight-run cuts obtained by distillation, potential destinations.



• Industrial units: atmospheric distillation, vacuum distillation, light-ends fractionation.



• Typical process scheme, operating conditions, energy consumption.



• Catalytic reforming and isomerization:



• Octane improvement of virgin naphthas.



• Basics of processes, types of catalyst, product yields and hydrogen production.



• Industrial units: process flowsheets, operating conditions, equipment, low pressure processes.



• Hydrorefining processes:



• Main features of impurities removal by catalytic hydrogen treatment.



• Main refining applications.



• Example of ULSD hydrotreatment unit: operating principles, operating conditions.



• Scrubbing treatments: amine washing, sulfur production, treatment of residual gases from Claus units.



• Conversion units:



• Outline of conversion and various cracking processes.



• Characteristics and origin of feeds for cracking.



• Conversion by means of thermal cracking: visbreaker, various cokers.



• Conversion by means of catalytic cracking: FCC and related units, gasoline sweetening and desulfurization, alkylation, production of MTBE, ETBE and propylene, hydrocracker and related units, hydrogen production (SMR, POX).



• Recent developments in hydrotreatment and hydroconversion of heavy residues.



• Hydrogen balance in the refinery, energy consumption per unit, CO2 emissions at the outlet of the refinery.



• Other processes for production of petroleum products: GTL, synthetic crude oils.




MANUFACTURING FLOWSHEETS



• Main routes to major products.



• Up to date refining schemes including the production of petrochemical intermediate products.



• Impacts of the evolution of market demand and the quality of the products on manufacturing patterns.



• Base lube oil manufacturing.



• Virtual visit of a refinery using the augmented reality will enable the trainees to gain a direct understanding of the field life.




MAIN ECONOMIC FEATURES OF REFINERY OPERATION



• Prices of crude oils and products, operating costs, economic margin of a refinery.



• Examples of flexibility in operation and its economic consequences