OPTIMIZATION OF THE OPERATING CONDITIONS OF A REFINERY USING HIGH PERCENTAGES OF HEAVY CRUDE OIL

摘要

Many different types of crude oils are extracted from Mexican wells and mixed to produce commercial mixtures that are well known and highly demanded in the export market. These mixtures are also used as feed in Mexican refineries. However, to make the best out of our refineries, crude oils should be mixed according to the particular characteristics of each refinery. It is also possible to define optimal operating conditions for a particular refinery as a function of the crude mixture. Processing of heavy crude in existing refineries can not be significantly increased because of limitations such as: a decrease in the yield of light products, equipment metal restrictions, and greater environmental impact. However, it is our belief, that the efficiency of the oil industry can be significantly increased. This paper visualizes one approach: improving the productivity of individual refineries in order to increase heavy crude refining capacity and reduce costs. We develop an optimization model of a typical FCC-configuration refinery and analyze alternative ways of improving heavy crude processing efficiency. Our modeling efforts concentrate on the selection of the ideal mixture of crude and on hydrotreating and catalytic cracking of atmospheric and vacuum gas oils.