Middle Eastern Refinery Plans Expansion to Increase Throughput and Become More Competitive

Using Q1 Day 1™ methodology, Solomon reveals opportunities for greater efficiency unforeseen by management.

MODERNIZING OPERATIONS

A Middle Eastern refinery constructed in the 1930s set its sights on expanding its capabilities and improving efficiencies. While it had undergone multiple expansions over the preceding decades and had engaged consultants to develop and revise feasibility studies for the expansion, benchmarks for performance improvement remained unclear. When the project reached the end of pre-FEED (front-end engineering design) activities and it was time to make funding decisions, the refinery went to Solomon, requesting a process design evaluation.

MAPPING EXPECTED PERFORMANCE

Its goals were set high, with the hope of increasing throughput 100%, meeting government standards for the handling of heavy crude charge stock and becoming more competitive in the marketplace. With a particular focus on availability and energy, Solomon used its Q1 Day 1™ process to evaluate the refinery’s expected operational performance with revamped equipment.

Solomon’s initial analysis yielded significant findings upon which to build key performance indicators (KPIs) for the refinery’s expansion plan:

• EDC® for the revamped refinery was set to increase by 90% compared to current operations, and utilized EDC was expected to rise by 120%, reflecting very optimistic assumptions about availability and market acceptance of products compared to current practices. Related reliability assumptions were not supported by planned policy or procedure changes.
• Output from new units was assumed to be 100% of nameplate capacity, a result not possible by definition.
• The Energy Intensity Index™ (EII®), a measure of overall energy performance, was calculated at 90 for the revamped refinery, compared to an EII of 120 for existing operations. However, this assumption required new equipment to perform at energy efficiencies significantly better than those measured for similar units in the Solomon database.
• The new crude preheat exchanger network was significantly oversized compared to best performers.
• Hydrogen capacity and usage were significantly higher than for similar refineries processing similar crudes (hydrogen increase of 2.5× per barrel).
• Hydrocracker performance from licensor was outside of any demonstrated performance worldwide (feedstock, operating conditions, yield).

Solomon put KPIs in place to enhance the probability of desired performance by serving as guides and benchmarks for a successful refinery expansion. These KPIs gave management better visibility into the key drivers of operational performance.

KEEPING PERFORMANCE ON TRACK

Based on this initial analysis, Solomon relayed specific recommendations for the refinery to consider as it moved forward with the expansion project. These recommendations were as follows:

• Ensure that adequate capacity for new units is provided after consideration of downtime and availability requirements.
• Review actual energy requirements for new units within the context of proven operations. (Has the technology actually delivered similar performance in another deployment?)
• Ponder a selective upgrade of the energy performance in incumbent units to improve overall site efficiency.
• Review necessary energy requirements for utilities and off-site facilities, as they are not trivial to the site energy balance.
• Consider the expected performance of the residue hydrocracker, as the design suggests high selectivity that seems, on the surface, to be inconsistent with the operating conditions.
• Appraise total hydrogen requirements for the site, as the current design appears to be significantly higher on hydrogen demand than expected for the crude slate.
• Consider a workforce optimization project within the current refinery to enhance productivity and provide trained resources for the expansion project.
• Contemplate a second phase of Q1 Day 1 evaluations near the end of the FEED activities to provide better insight into the forecasted operating performance, considering human factors and inefficiencies.

LOOKING AT TODAY, NOT JUST TOMORROW

Solomon also identified opportunities in energy performance, reliability functions, and workforce deployment to improve current performance and segue into the refinery’s expansion plan. The refinery took these recommendations and the KPIs into consideration while updating its financial needs for the project. Once the current strategy was assessed and the issues were identified, Solomon collaborated with the client’s project management team to define a future upstream compressor maintenance and turnaround strategy and prioritize improvement opportunities.