Abstract
Crude oil atmospheric distillation units consume substantial amounts of energy, as equivalent to a 2 % of the total crude oil processed (Errico, 2009). An existing crude distillation unit is costly to modify due its complex configuration and existing limitations of structure, space area, matches, bottlenecked equipments, etc. Thus, a few new crude distillation units are built and most projects are directed to revamping existing equipments. Modifying an existing plant is a tedious task, more complex than a new process. While revamping, many parameters must be considered and structure limitations need to be met. This paper develops a new revamping method based on rigorous simulation and optimisation procedures. This method accounts for both the distillation column and the associated heat exchanger network at the same time to maximise the use of existing equipments. The methodology considers process changes and structural modifications together with the interactions between the existing distillation process and heat recovery system. The new method is valid for multiple objective functions, i.e. saving energy, reducing emissions, enhancing production capacity, and profit improvement.
The new presented methodology is applied to a local atmospheric plant for MIDOR, as an Egyptian refinery case study. Many revamping options were obtained, including no structural modifications, simple additional exchanger areas, and additional units or equipments.
