VOCATIONAL TRAINING REPORT

INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LIMITED

MATHURA REFINERY
PERIOD OF TRAINING

(16th May 24th JUNE 2016)

Submitted By:

VIJENDRA KUMAR
B.Tech (Chemical Engineering)
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROORKEE

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PREFACE
Industrial training is the beginning of students journey in the corporate
world. Not only does it provide insights about the industry concerned, it also
bridges the gap between theory and practical knowledge. We were fortunate
that we were provided with an opportunity of undergoing Industrial training at
INDIAN OIL CORPORATION Ltd ., Mathura, one of the leading refineries
in India.
The experience gained during this short period was fascinating to say the
least. It was a tremendous feeling to observe the operation of different
equipments and processes. It was overwhelming for us to notice how such a
big refinery is being monitored and operated with proper co-ordination to
obtain desired results.
During our training we realized that in order to be a successful process
engineer one needs to possess a sound theoretical base along with the acumen
for effective practical application of the theory.
Thus, we hope that this industrial training serves as a stepping-stone for us
and helps to be successful in future.

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project report is the record of authentic work carried out by us during
the period from 16.05.2016 to 24.06.2016 and has not been submitted to any other factory or
industry for the award of any certificate. I also assure that this report doesnt contain any
confidential information of IOCL.

Student Signature
Vijendra Kumar
Date: 19/06/2016

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Acknowledgement
I feel immense pleasure and privilege to express my deep sense of gratitude, indebtedness and
thankfulness towards those who generously helped me color the mosaic of this training with their
knowledge, expertise and memories. I shall remain ever grateful to all the persons of I.O.C.L,
who have helped, inspired and encouraged me and above all made me an ever more experienced
person.
I am greatly indebted to my Industry guide Mr. B.S Pachahara, Senior Production Manager
who inspired, encouraged and guided me throughout my summer training.
For their invaluable guidance, kind cooperation, inspiration and encouragement during all the
stages of my training, I would like to thank Mr. Brijesh (DMPN CCRU), Mr. Akash Puri
(DMPN FCCU) who all has been of immense help during my training period and thousands of
other I.O.C.L employees whose name I could not mention just for the lack of space. Last but not
least, I would like to convey my hearty and blossom thanks to my friends and fellow mates who
have directly or indirectly helped me in the compilation of this report
I would also like to express our deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Dalip Singh (Senior Training
and Development manager) for granting us permission to undergo training at IOCL, Mathura
refinery over a period of one month and for providing us with necessary inputs as and when
needed.
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. At the end, I again express my
gratitude to all those who helped me in any way to complete my training successfully.

THANKING YOU

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. VIJENDRA KUMAR, 3rd year (6th sem), IIT, Roorkee, has
successfully completed her vocational training from 16/5/16 to 24/06/16 at Indian Oil
Corporation Limited, Mathura Refinery in partial fulfillment of her course during the degree
of Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology,
Roorkee.

Mr. B.S PACHAHARA

(Senior Production Manager)
Mathura Refinery

Mr. DALIP SINGH

(Senior training and
development officer)
Mathura Refinery

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INTRODUCTION
India is the sixth largest consumer of oil in the world and the ninth largest crude oil importer. The
oil and gas sector is life line of the countrys rapid economic growth it contributes over 15% to
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).Oil is extremely crucial commodity; it accounts for 34% of
Indias total energy consumption and has been growing gradually .The consumption of oil is
increasing rapidly but the production is more or less constant. According to Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural Gas, India has a total reserve of 1201 million metric tonnes of crude oil
and 1437 billion cubic meters of natural gas as on 01 April 2010. The total number of
exploratory and development wells and meterage drilled in onshore and offshore areas during
2009-2010 timeframe was 428 and 1019 thousand meters respectively. This means that oil
marketing companies have huge scope to capitalize this gap by tapping more reserves and
producing hydrocarbons because India has 26 sedimentary basins covering an area of 3.14
million km2, of which only 20 per cent has been moderately to well explore. Exploration efforts
have been initiated in 44 per cent and 36 per cent remains poorly to completely unexplore. Oil
and gas industry of India is broadly classified as Upstream, Downstream and Industry bodies.

OIL REFINERIES
An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more
useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene,
and liquefied petroleum gas. Oil refineries are typically large sprawling industrial complexes
with extensive piping running throughout, carrying streams of fluids between large chemical
processing units.

OIL REFINERIES IN INDIA

1. Barauni Refinery
2. Bina Refinery
3. Bongaigaon Refinery
4. Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited
5. Digboi Refinery
6. Essar Oil refinery
7. Gujarat Refinery
8. Guwahati Refinery
9. Haldia Refinery
10. Jamnagar Refinery
11. Kochi Refineries
12. Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Limited
13. Mathura Refinery

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14. Mumbai Refinery

15. Mumbai Refinery Mahaul
16. Nagapattnam Refinery
17. Numaligarh Refinery Limited
18. Panipat Refinery
19. Visakhapatnam Refinery

OPERATION
Raw or unprocessed crude oil is not generally useful in its raw or unprocessed form, as it comes
out of the ground. Although "light, sweet" (low viscosity, low sulfur) crude oil has been used
directly as a burner fuel for steam vessel propulsion, the lighter elements form explosive vapors
in the fuel tanks and so it was quite dangerous, especially in warships. Instead, the hundreds of
different hydrocarbon molecules in crude oil are separated in a refinery into components which
can be used as fuels, lubricants, and as feedstock in petrochemical processes that manufacture
such products as plastics, detergents, solvents, elastomers and fibers such as nylon and
polyesters. Petroleum fossil fuels are burned in internal combustion engines to provide power for
ships, automobiles, aircraft engines, lawnmowers, chainsaws, and other pieces of power
equipment. Different boiling points sallow the hydrocarbons to be separated by distillation. Since
the lighter liquid products are in great demand for use in internal combustion engines, a modern
refinery will convert heavy hydrocarbons and lighter gaseous elements into these higher value
products.
Crude oil is separated into fractions by fractional distillation. The fractions at the top of the
fractionating column have lower boiling points than the fractions at the bottom. The heavy
bottom fractions are often cracked into lighter, more useful products. All of the fractions are
processed further in other refining units

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INDIAN OIL REFINERY: - AN

OVERVIEW
Introduction
Indian Oil Corporation (Indian Oil) is India's largest commercial enterprise, with a sales turnover
of Rs. 3,50,603 crore (US$ 53,560 million) and profits of Rs. 10,399 crore (US$ 1,589 million)
for the year 2015-16. Indian Oil is ranked 119th among the world's largest corporates (and first
among Indian enterprises) in the prestigious Fortune Global 500 listing for the year 2015.
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. Indian Oil accounts for nearly half of India's petroleum products market
share, 35% national refining capacity (together with its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum
Corporation Ltd., or CPCL), and 71% downstream sector pipelines through capacity. The Indian
Oil Group owns and operates 11 of India's 23 refineries with a combined refining capacity of
80.7 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum). The Corporation's cross-country pipelines
network, for transportation of crude oil to refineries and finished products to high-demand
centers, spans about 11,750 km. With a throughput capacity of 85.5 MMTPA for crude oil and
petroleum products and 9.5 MMSCMD for gas, this network 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

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It has a portfolio of powerful and a much-loved energy brand that includes Indane LPG as,
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 more than 61.8 million. Indian Oil
has a keen customer focus and a formidable network of customer touch-points dotting the
landscape across urban and rural India. It has 25,000 petrol and diesel stations, including 6200
Kisan Seva Kendras (KSKs) in the rural markets. Over 9400 fuel stations across 55 cities are
now fully automated.
The Corporation has a 65% share of the bulk consumer business, and almost 6,500 dedicated
pumps are in operation for the convenience of large-volume consumers like the defence services,
railways and state transport undertakings, ensuring products and inventory at their doorstep.
They are backed for supplies by 129 bulk storage terminals and depots, 101 aviation fuel stations
and 91 LPG bottling plants.
Indane LPG cooking gas reaches the doorsteps of 9.88 crore households in about 3,270 markets
through a network of 9144 distributors. Indian Oils world-class SERVO lubricants have
presence in 27 markets worldwide. Riding on 50 successful years as the market leader, the
Aviation Service commands a 63.6% market share in aviation fuel business. Indian Oil is the
Supplier of Choice for aviation fuel to the Indian armed forces and over 150 national and
international flag carriers, private airlines based in India and abroad.
During the XII Plan period (2012-17), the Corporation is investing Rs. 56,200 crore in a host of
projects that include augmentation of refining capacity, expansion of petrochemicals
infrastructure, and building the E&P portfolio.

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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 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 self-sufficiency 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 .
Organizational Set-Up and Network of Marketing Division
The Marketing Division, with its headquarters at Bombay and headed by Director (Marketing),
has four regional offices located at Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Madras. All regional offices are
headed by either Executive Directors or General Managers. There are 44 Divisional Offices,
including two of the Assam Oil Division. As on 31 March, 1995, the Company had 39 bulk
storage installations (including 3 of AOD) and 117 storage depots, which fed 5995 retail outlets.
In addition, there were 2898 kerosene/light diesel oil dealers who also move these products from
the depots to 4379 consumer outlets for sale. The Company had a total product tankage of 3.93
million kilo liters at its installations and depots. Being the major producer and distributor of LPG
to various types of consumers in India, the Company has 32 area offices to deal with LPG
marketing, as on 31 March, 1995, the Company had 33 LPG bottling plants with a total bottling
capacity of 11.92 lakh ones per annum. Indane cooking gas (LPG) is distributed to 12 million
households.
Products
Auto LPG
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)
Bitumen
High Speed Fuel
Industrial Fuels
Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Lubricants and Greases
Marine Fuels
MS/Gasoline
Petrochemicals

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Services
Refining
Pipelines
Marketing
Training
Research & Development
Location of various I.O.C Refineries:
Digboi Refinery,
Guwahati Refinery,
Barauni Refinery
Gujarat Refinery
Haldia Refinery
Mathura Refinery
Panipat Refinery
Bongaigon Refinery

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MATHURA REFINERY
The Mathura Refinery, owned by I.O.C.L is situated in Mathura, Uttar 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 western region of the country, which includes National
Capital Region. Refinery is located along the Delhi-Agra National Highway about 154 KM away
from Delhi. The refinery processes low sulphur crude from Bombay High,imported low sulphur
crude from Nigeria, and high sulphur crude from the Middle East.The refinery, which cost
Rs.253.92 crores to build, was commissioned in January; 1982.Construction began on the
refinery in October 1972. The foundation stone was laid by Indira Gandhi, the former prime
minister of India. The FCCU and Sulphur 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), Visbreaker 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
Desulphurisation Unit (DHDS) licensed from Axens, France was commissioned in 1999 for
production of HSD with low Sulphur 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 EuroIII grade HSD & MS w.e.f. 1st April 2005 as per Auto Fuel Policy of Govt. of India. Project for
FCC Gasoline Desulphurization (FCCGDS) and Selective Hydrogenation Unit (SHU), the
Prime-G technology of Axens, France was commissioned in February 2010 and supply of EuroIV 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 take care of environment.
For upgrading environmental standards, old Sulphur Recovery Units (SRU) was replaced with
new Sulphur Recovery Units with 99.9 % recovery in the year 1999. Additional Sulphur
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-

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gradation, Energy Conservation and Environment Protection. Mathura Refinery is the first in
Asia and third in the world to receive the coveted ISO-14001 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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AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Safety:

Mathura Refinery received the prestigious Oil Industry Safety Award 2008-09 for Best
Overall Safety Performance among Refineries. Shri J.P. Guharay, ED Mathura Refinery
received the award from Shri Murli Deora, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas at a
glittering function held in Oct 09 at Delhi.
Mathura Refinery received Gold Award in Petroleum Refinery sector from Greentech
Foundation, New Delhi, for outstanding achievement in Safety Management in 2008. The
award was presented by Shri R.K. Srivastava, Director General, Ministry of Health & Family
Welfare, Govt. of India, New Delhi on 4th May 2009 at Goa.
Received British Safety Council Award08 in May09 for excellence in Health, Safety and
Environment Management.
Received Safety Innovation Commendation-2009 award from Institution of Engineers in
Sep09 for innovation in Safety for 2008-09.

Security:

Received Best Corporate Security Trophy (Refinery Category) for two consecutive years i.e.
2008 & 2009.

Energy Conservation:

Mathura Refinery received First Prize of 'Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight - 2009' for
lowest Steam Consumption Performance amongst Refineries having steam consumption
<= 0.5 MT/MT and same was received by ED, MR during 15th RTM at Mahabalipuram
on 5th Nov.09.
Received 'Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Award 2008-09' - second prize for Specific
Energy Consumption Performance amongst all refineries in the public sector. ED, MR
received coveted award during 15th RTM held at Mahabalipuram on 5th Nov-09

Environment:

Received Gold Award-2009 from Greentech Foundation for outstanding achievement in

Environment Management in Oct09.

Financial:

Received the Sammaan Patra for the year 2009-10 in the category of Large Scale Units, by
Central Excise Dept., Lucknow Circle in recognition of the highest levels of compliance with

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regard to Indirect Taxes apart from contribution to the exchequer. The trophy was received by
GM(F)-MR at Lucknow on 24th February, 2010.

TPM:

Mathura Refinery TPM health checkup was carried out by CII on 23rd December09
thereby approving the nomination of Mathura Refinery for final audit on Excellency
Certification in TPM activities by JIPM.
Propylene bulk truck loading facility completely shifted to new location outside refinery
premises at Marketing Terminal in Oct09.
In land matters, the search certificates as well as Non-encumbrance Certificates for
1199.49 acres of land of Mathura Refinery received from District Revenue Officer. The
UP Gov. has also provided the NOC for 1199.49 acres of land enabling appropriate
mortgage with State Bank of India.
70 cases with Customs were settled and refund of Rs 55.12 crores received from Customs
Department in Mar10.
Various PFIs of Business Improvement Program with M/s Shell Global were successfully
implemented.

At Mathura refinery, technology and ecology go hand in hand with continuous endeavour for
product quality up-gradation, energy conservation and environmental protection. Mathura
refinery is the first in Asia and third in the world to receive the coveted ISO-14001 certification
for environment management system in 1996. It is also the first in the world to get OHSMS
certification in 1998.

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

3. Other Products:

Slack Wax
Carbon Black Feed Stock
Bitumen
Sulphur

FUTURE:
With Indian oils achievement of a high degree self-reliance defining technology, Mathura
refinery is poised for a bright future. All out action have taken for capacity augmentation,
increase in distillate production, value addition, cost reduction for obtaining higher margins and
improving productivity. All environmental friendly products with latest technology is being
incorporated to meet the challenge of change. Mathura refinery will continue to play a significant
role in meeting the vital needs of petroleum products in the country.

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SAFETY ASPECTS
Safety, Health & Environment (S, H&E) Policy
Indian Oil Corporation is committed to conduct business with strong environment conscience
ensuring sustainable development, safe workplaces and enrichment of quality of life of
employees, customers and the community. We at Indian Oil believe that good safety, health &
environment performance is integral part of efficient and profitable business management.
We shall:
Establish and maintain good standards for safety of the people, the processes and the
assets.
Comply with all rules and regulations on safety, occupational health and environment
protection.
Plan, design, operate and maintain all facilities, processes and procedures to secure
sustained safety, health and environmental protection.
Remain trained, equipped and ready for effective and prompt response to accidents and
emergencies.
Welcome audit of our safety, health & environment conduct by external body, so that
stakeholder confidence is safeguarded.
Adopt and promote industry best practices to avert accidents and improve our safety,
health & environment performance.
Remain committed to be a leader in safety, occupational health and environment
protection through continuing improvement.
Make efforts to preserve ecological balance and heritage.

COMPOSITION OF CRUDE OIL

Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of hydrocarbons. (i.e paraffins, napthenes &
aromatics). It is brownish black in colour and colloidal in nature. It contains small amounts
of non-hydrocarbon impurities in the form of organic compounds of sulphur, oxygen,
nitrogen, metals, water and salts.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESS

ATMOSPHERIC-VACUUM DISTILLATION
UNIT (AVU)
AVU consists of following sections:

Crude Desalting section

Atmospheric Distillation section

Stabilizer section

Vacuum Distillation section

PROCESS FLOW DESCRIPTION

FEED SUPPLY
Crude oil is stored in eight storage tanks (eight tanks each having a nominal capacity of 50,000
m3 whereas remaining other 2 tanks are of 65,000 m3 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 off-site area, which regulate the quantity of slop into the crude header after
filters. Provision to inject proportionated quantity of demulsifier into the unit crude pumps
suction header with the help of dosing pump is available.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
Before treating the crude it is necessary that the salts and sediments from it be removed
because the hydrolysis of salts in crude oil at high temperature produces hydrochloric acid
which corrodes the Column Internals and overhead system. The sediments in crude oil foul the
heat exchanger, furnace tubes and erode the pipelines by abrasive action. Desalting approaches
to reduce soluble salt content, to reduce suspended solids and to reduce residual water.
Desalting of crude oil is carried out in a vessel provided with electrodes under high potential
field(15000-18000 Volts)
Provision to use DM water/ services water is also provided. The electric field in the desalter
breaks the emulsion and the outlet brine from the 1st stage desalter is sent to ETP on level
control.
The crude after leaving the desalter is preheated to 250 to 265 C. The preheated crude is
further heated and partially vaporized in Atmospheric Furnace (four furnaces with four pass
each).

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.
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.

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 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.
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.

SIGNIFICANCE OF VDU
RCO from CDU is heavy, and the separation of this stream into various fractions would
normally require more energy and higher temperatures. Also higher hydrocarbons
promotes coking reactions at more than 380 deg c at atmospheric pressure fouls the
furnace tubes.
The vacuum condition reduces the boiling point of the RCO and the fractions are
separated relatively at lower temperature which lead to energy saving and reduces
fouling ofthe furnace tubes
Reduce the amount of energy input required, and to recover the valuable products from
RCU cracking, it is distilled under vacuum.

VISBREAKER UNIT
The Visbreaker Unit is a thermal cracking unit, designed for processing a mixture of
Atmospheric and Vacuum Residue from 1:1 mixture of Light Arabian and North Rumila
crudes .It reduces the viscosity and pour point of heavy petroleum fractions so that product can
be sold as fuel oil. It reduces the viscosity and pour point of heavy petroleum fractions so that
product can be sold as fuel oil. The design capacity of the plant is 1000,000 TPA.

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 Thermalcracking reaction, heavy oil is kept at a high
temperature of 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 characterised as "Cracked" products and
contain a certain percentage of olefinic compounds. Whenever a molecule breaks one of the
resulting molecules is an olefin.
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3

CH3-CH2-CH=CH2 + CH3- CH2-CH3

During the cracking operation, some coke is usually formed. Coke is the end product of
polymerisation reaction in which two large olefin molecules combine to form an even larger
olefinic molecule.
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 40 .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.

VB FRACTIONATOR
Soaker effluent after quenching enters fractionator. Temperature in the flash zone is around
420 (C. 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. 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 stabiliser 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 4.5 kg/cm2 (g). Column overhead line is provided with working and
controlled safety valves.
The heavy naphtha at a temperature of about 170 (C 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 (C is withdrawn from the blind accumulator tray
under tray level controller. It is steam stripped in the stripper to maintain its flash point. Vapour
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 stripper 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 generator where it is cooled from 260 (C to 214 (C. The second stream supplies reboiling heat to stabiliser re-boiler and gets cooled from 260 (C to 215 (C. To protect column
bottom against coking, cooled VB tar at 225 ( C is injected into bottom as quench. Gas oil
vapours from top of stripper get condensed in air cooler and go to reflux drum. Safety valve is
provided to release gas and protect the vessel from over pressure.
Tar is cooled from 351 (C to 225 (C in feed exchangers and further 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 VB tar is then cooled in boiler feed water
exchanger from 2320 C to 2100 C. It is further cooled to 900 C and sent to storage with gas oil.

STABILISER
Un-stabilised gasoline from reflux drum is picked up by reflux pump and then it is pumped to
stabiliser through stabilised gasoline exchanger. In heat exchanger, feed is heated from 43 (C
to 120 (C while stabilised gasoline is cooled from 180 (C to 120(C. The column has 30 trays
and the feed enters on the 19th.
The 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 drum is maintained around 8.4 kg/cm2 (g). In case FCC is shutdown, gas is burnt in furnaces

via gas knock out drum. Column overhead has working and controlling safety valves, which
release gas.

VBU PRODUCT YIELD

FLUIDISED CATALYTIC CRACKING UNIT

(FCCU)
INTRODUCTION
Fluidised catalytic cracking is a process for converting higher molecular weight hydrocarbons
into lighter, most valuable product through contact with a powdered catalyst at appropriate
Process conditions. Typically FCC process is used to
convert excess refinery gas oil
& heavier refinery stream into gasoline, C3 & C4, olefins and light cycle oil bringing
the
Refinery out more in line with product market demand. FCC is often the heart of a modern
refinery because of its adaptability to changing feed stocks and product demands and because
of the high margin that exists between FCC feed stock and converted FCC products.

PROCESS DETAILS:Originally Designed Capacity : 1.0 MMTPA

Capacity After Revamp : 1.34 MMTPA

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

FEED & PRE HEAT SECTION:1. HVGO Feed is received in feed surge drum (19V-4) from three different sources, viz., from
feed tanks in cold feed, directly from VDU (Vacuum Distillation Unit) as hot feed and directly
from Hydro cracker Unit.
2. Hot feed from VDU and OHCU is received directly in 19V-4.
3. Balance amount of feed is fed by pumps at OM&S and received in 19V-4 (vessel) through 19
FRC-118, which can be cascaded with 19V-4 level controller in 19 LRC 121.
4. From Feed surge drum (19V-4), feed is pumped by 19P-2A/B feed pumps through
pre heat exchanger train. Flow to both trains is regulated by 19FRC-292A/B.

5. Pre heated feed (275 310 C) is pumped by booster pumps 19P-25 A/B and
made to pass through 19F-1 (Furnace) into passes where it is heated up to 355
o
360 C.
6. Pre heated feed injected to reactor riser at the bottom through 4 Nos nozzles.
(B) REACTOR SECTION
1- At riser bottom feed comes in contact with hot stream of regenerated catalyst and cracking
starts occurring. Flow of hot catalyst is regulated by slide value in order to control reactor
temperature.
2- HCO and slurry recycles are injected into riser through 2 Nos Nozzle. Each of spray nozzle
is at two different elevations.
3- The cracking reactions are
gets deposited on the surface
reduced.

endothermic. Coke generated in the cracking reaction

of the catalyst particles and thus the catalyst activity gets

4- The catalyst gets separated from cracked and uncracked HC vapours and steam at riser
termination and then at reactor cyclones.

(C) REGENERATOR SECTION:1- The spent catalyst gets accumulated at reactor stripper and HC
vapour enters 19C-1 for fractionation.
2- Oxidation of coke is highly exothermic reaction and it provides the necessary heat to reactor
for reaction in such a way that the unit remains in heat balance always.
3- Flue gases rich in CO pass through CO-boiler where CO is burnt and generated heat is used
for steam production.

(D) FRACTIONATOR SECTION:-

1- The super heated vapours from reactor enters 19C-1 below the bottom most tray and is

cooled down to 360 c for fractionation. Main column bottom (MCB) is circulated back to
column through two sets of exchanger (19 E-3 A/B/C/D, 19D-4 & 19 E -21) to de-super
heat the vapour coming from reactor.
2- A stream of MCB is taken to 19V-3 slurry settler where catalyst gets settled at circulating
reflux after supplying heat to reboiler 20 E-7 of stripper bottom and exchanging heat with
raw oil in 19-E-17. A stream of LCO is used as an absorbent in 20C-2 & is also returned
back to 19C-1 with other LCO reflux streams.
3- The de-super heated vapour rise up in the fractionation column. The first fraction accumulated
in draw off tray is HCO. The Heavy cycle oil circulating reflux transfers its heat to 20C-4 bottom
in reboiler 20 E-12 and in steam generator drum 19E-7 and in 19E-2 with raw oil. A part of the
HCO is recycled back to riser at HCO nozzle & a stream
injected at 19V-3 bottom cone to
dilute the catalyst mixed slurry.
4- LCO drawn from accumulator below 19

th

tray is sent back to column as a reflux.

nd

5- Heavy naphtha cut is drawn from accumulator below 2 packing and return back to column
as a circulating reflux for the heat balance after exchanging heat is 18E-21 with hot water
and in 19E-15 with raw oil. Return stream after passing 18E-21 & 19E-15 further can be
cooled in air coolers on requirement.
6- A part of LCO & heavy naphtha draws are stripped in 19C-2& 19C-3 respectively and routed
to product tanks after exchanging heat in PRU and cooling as diesel component.
7- Overhead vapours from the top of column pass through air coolers 19 E 13 A/B/C/D.
(E) GAS CONCENTRATION UNIT
1- Some amount of liquid from 19 V-5 is pumped back to column as reflux to control the 19 C-1
temperature and balance amount of net over head liquid is pumped out to 20 C-1.
2- Uncondensed vapours from 19 V-5 are sucked and compressed by WGC, cooled and
liquid is collected in HP receiver 20 V-3.
3- Liquid from 20 V-3 is fed to stripper where it is heated in 20E-8 & 20E- 7 to strip out
hydrogen sulfide, methane and ethane etc. before sending to debutanizer for stabilization. 4Stripped gases from 20C-3 top combined with WGC discharge, 20C-1 bottom liquid &
20V-1 bottom stream are cooled down to recover LPG.
5- Gases and H2S pass through absorber for the recovery of LPG & Gasoline and finally
routed to refinery fuel gas system after H2S absorption in 20C-6.
6- 20C-3 bottom material in fed to 20C-4 where it is separated into LPG & Gasoline. 7LPG is routed to merox unit for H2S and mercaptans removal.
8- Gasoline is routed to Gasoline splitter unit for preparation of MSQU feed. Top and bottom
material of GSU is routed to merox for mercaptans to disulphide oil.

FCC Feed Characterization

FCC feed characterization is one of the most important requirements of catalyst cracking.
Understanding feed properties and knowing their impact on unit performance is essential
in anything that has to do with FCC operation including troubleshooting,catalyst selection,
unit optimization and subsequent process evaluation. Feed characterization is a means of
relating feed quality to product yield and quality. Knowing the effect of a feed stock on
unit yields, a refinery can purchase the feed stock that would maximize profitability. It is
not uncommon for many refineries to purchase raw oil (crude oil or FCC feed stock)
without knowing their impact on unit operation At times, this lack of knowledge can cause
unit shutdowns for several weeks.

MEROX UNIT
Mercaptans are undesirable in the final products because it effects their stability, sulfur
content, odour etc. Objective of merox treatment process is the conversion of Mercaptans
to di-sulphides.
Feed used is ATF, Gasoline, VB Naphtha and
LPG. Reaction observed in the process is:

2RSH + /2O2 RSSR + H2O

Straight-run LPG, gasoline and kerosene fractions obtained from atmospheric distillation
may contain hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans. the extent of which mainly depends upon
the type of crude processed. Similar products from secondary processes such as FCC also
contain hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans to a greater degree compared to straight-run
products. Hydrogen sulphide is corrosive and should be remove in order to meet
specifications on corrosion rate. The specification for LPG, gasolene, Kerosene and ATF
include copper strip corrosion test which is a measure of rate of corrosion on copper
containing materials.Mercaptans are substances with obnoxious odour and, therefore, in
order to handle and store them, mercaptan level will have to be brought down to a
acceptable odour level. Hydrogen- sulphide can be easily removed by washing with dilute
caustic solution. However, for reducing the mercaptans level many processes are available
like:
Strong alkali-wash
Copper sweetening
Doctor
sweetening

MEROX PROCESS
The removal of mercaptans may be either partial or full. The chemical treatment is
based on the ability of Merox catalysts to promote the oxidation of mercaptan to
disulphide using air as the source of oxygen. The overall reaction is as follows:

2RSH + /2O2 RSSR + H2O

The oxidation is carried out in the presence of an aqueous alkaline solution such as either
sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. The reaction proceeds at an economical rate
at normal rundown temperature of refinery streams. Low molecular weight mercaptans
are soluble in caustic solution and therefore when treating LPG and light gasoline
fractions, the process can be used to extract mercaptan to the extent, they are soluble in

caustic. Extraction of
ercaptan reduces the sulphur content of the treated product.

PROCESS DESCRIPTION OF ATF/SKO

Pretreatment for kero/ATF consists of a coalescer and caustic prewash vessel, for removal
of suspended water and hydrogen sulphide, Naphthenic acid etc.
Sweetening is achieved in supported catalyst bed reactor. Two reactors in parallel have
been provided. Air requirement of all Merox units is supplied from a common compressor.
Also, storage tanks for receipt, dilution and storage of caustic and storage for methanol
have been provided.
Post treatment for kero/ATF consists of caustic settling. water wash to wash of any carryover caustic salt drier for drying and clay filters forimproving colour stability of treated
product. Clay adsorbs coloured nitrogen compounds.

CONTINUOUS CATALYTIC REFORMING UNIT (CCRU):

Objective: To Upgrade the Naphtha to High Octane MS Component
(Reformate). Feed: 85-160 Deg C cut Naphtha / Visbreaker Naphtha
Catalyst: Ni-Mo Oxides for NHTU
Reactor Pt-Sn or Re for
Reforming
Product Yields:
Sl. No.
Products
1
Motor Spirit
2
Hydrogen rich gas
3
LPG
Operating Conditions:
Temperature range: 490-540 C
2
System Pressure: 2.0 -30 kg/cm

wt%
92.6
6.8
0.55

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. Reformate produced by this process has a very high octane rating. Significant
quantities of hydrogen are also produced as a by-product.
The whole CRU can be divided into three subunits as:
Naphtha Splitting Unit (NSU)
Naphtha Hydro-treater Unit (NHU)
Catalytic Reforming Unit
NAPHTHA SPLITTING UNIT
This unit has been designed to split SR naphtha (144 MT/hr for BH and 95 MT/hr for
o
o
AM) to C5-80 C and 80-115 C cut. Due to the restriction on Benzene content in the
o
final product (motor spirit), the IBP of the heavier cut is raised to approximately 105 C.
NSU can be operated with naphtha directly from AVU (hot feed) and from OM&S (Cold
feed), it can also be operated using both the feed simultaneously. For removal of
benzene, the gasoline from storage tanks and CDU is sent to a column, containing 40
valve trays, which is called naphtha splitter. The bottom product of naphtha splitter is
sent to the NHU.
NAPHTHA HYDROTREATER UNIT
The purpose of Naphtha hydrotreater is to eliminate the impurities (such as sulphur,
nitrogen, halogens, oxygen, water, olefins, di-olefins, arsenic and metals) from the feed
that would otherwise affect the performance and lifetime of reformer catalyst. This is
achieved by the use of selected catalyst (nickel, molybdenum) and optimum operating
conditions except for water, which is eliminated in stripper.

In this unit, the naphtha coming from the NSU is mixed with H2 which comes from the
O
reforming unit. This mixture is heated to 340 C in the furnace and then passed to the
2
hydrotreater reactor at a pressure of 22 kg/cm . In the reactor, there are two beds of
catalyst. In
one bed, the unsaturated hydrocarbons are converted to saturated hydrocarbons and in the
second bed impurities like N, S, and O are converted to NH3, H2S and H2O respectively.
The effluent of the reactor is sent to stripper section to eliminate the light end, mainly the
H2S and moisture from the reformate feed. The light gases from the top of stripper are sent
to amine wash unit. There is a reboiler attached to the bottom of the stripper, which
maintains the heat requirement. The bottom product of the stripper is either sent to storage
or the reforming unit.
REFORMING UNIT
Feed for the Reforming unit (94 m3/hr at 14 kg/cm2 and 110 oC) 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. CCl4 solution of 1% in
reformate is dosed by pump. Dosing @ 1 ppm wt CCl4 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.
Feedo mixed with recycle H2 stream gets preheated in PACKINOX exchanger
fromo 91 oC to
o
451 C by the effluent from 3rd Reactor 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.

The Hydrogen Generation unit

To meet the Hydrogen requirement of DHDS unit the Steam Naphtha Reforming Process
has been considered. Naphtha is first De-Sulfurised in the Pre-Desulfurisation Section
(PDS) by converting Sulphur in the Raw Naphtha to H 2S in presence of H2. The reaction is
promoted by Co-Mo Catalyst. The H2S in then stripped of in a stripper column.
The Sweet Naphtha is further De-Sulfurised in the Final De-Sulfurisation Section (FDS).
Here again Co-Mo Catalyst is used in presence of Hydrogen. The HCI formed is absorbed
in the K2CO3 (HTG-Bed) and the H2S is adsorbed in the ZnO (HTZ-Bed). The DeSulfurised Naphtha is mixed with Steam and sent to the Pre-Reformer at 500C, for
conversion of Naphtha to lower Hydrocarbons, CO, CO2 & H2 in presence of Nickel
Catalyst. The gases along with Steam enter the Reformer at 630C. The Reforming reaction
is Endothermic. Heat is supplied through the side-fired Reformer by burning off gases of
PSA, Vaporized Naphtha/ Fuel gas.
The reformed gas at exit of Reformer is cooled from 930C to 200C for Medium
Temperature Shift Reaction (MT-shift). The MT-shift converts CO to CO2 in presence of
Excess Steam. Cu Catalyst promotes the reaction. Pre-Heating Naphtha, BFW and DM
water cool the synthesis gas leaving the Reactor.
The impurities like CO2, CH4, CO & water vapour are removed by high Pressure
adsorption on molecular sieve, activated Carbon and Alumina in the PSA system to give
99.99% pure Hydrogen. The adsorbed impurities are removed during De-sorption &
Regeneration of the beds and used as Fuel in the Reformer.
The main sections in Hydrogen unit:
1)

NAPHTHA PRE-DE-SULPHURISATION.

2)

NAPTHA FINAL DE-SULPHURISATION.

3)

STEAM REFORMING.

4)

MEDIUM TEMPERATURE SHIFT CONVERSION.

5)

GAS PURIFICATION SECTION USING P.S.A TECHNOLOGY.

Different type of Catalysts are used in each of the above four sections. As Steam Reforming
is high Temperature Process and shift conversion is a low Temperature Process. The Waste
heat is used for Steam generation, the Steam generated meets Steam requirement of the unit
and surplus Steam is exported.
The PSA system designed by M/s UOP comprises of six Adsorbers, each Adsorber is
having three different types of adsorbents. The PSA purification system is Micro Processor
based control system supplied by M/s UOP.

PRE-DE-SULPHURISATION SECTION
The Nickel based Catalyst used in Reformer will be poisoned by the Sulphur present in the
Naphtha. In the Pre-De-Sulphurisation section Sulphur content in Naphtha is reduced to 5
ppm wt (approx). In the De-Sulphurisation section Sulphur content in reduced to 0.05 ppm
wt.
In the Pre-De-Sulphurisation section all Organic Sulphur is converted into H2S in a
Hydrogenator which contains TOPSOE TK-550 Catalyst (Co-Mo bed) and H2S formed is
removed in a stripper column. The reactions in Co-Mo bed are as follows:
RC1 + H2

RH + HC1

RSH + H2

RH + H2S

R1SSR + 3H2

R1H+RH+2 H2S

R1SR2 +2H2

R1H+R2H+ H2S

(CH)4S (THIOPHENE)+4H2

C4H10 +H2S

COS + H2

CO + H2S

Where R is a radical of HydroCarbon.

Besides above-mentioned reactions the Catalyst also hydrogenates olefins to saturated
Hydrocarbons and Organic Nitrogen compounds are to some extent converted to Ammonia
and saturated Hydrocarbons.
FINAL DE-SULPHURISATION SECTION
In the final De-Sulphurisation section all the remaining Organic Sulphur compounds are
converted into H2S in the second Hydrogenerator. HCl and H2S formed in second
Hydrogenator are absorbed in Chlorine guard bed containing HTG-1 Catalyst and in
Sulphur guard bed containing HTZ-5 Catalyst respectively.The reactions and Catalyst in
the second Hydrogenator are same as first Hydrogenator. In order to maintain the activity
in the Co-Mo Catalyst Sweet Naphtha should have minimum 2 ppm Sulphur.In the
Chlorine guard bed which contains K2CO3 following reactions take place:
K2CO3 + HCI

KCI + KHCO3

KCI + KHCO3

2KCI + H2O + CO2

The rate of all the above reactions depends on Temperature, Pressure and Diffusion
properties.
REFORMING SECTION
Steam Reforming of Naphtha takes place in two Reactors, Adiabatic Pre-Reformer &
Tubular Reformer. Both Reactors are having Nickel based Catalyst.In the Adiabatic PreReformer having RKNGR Catalyst all heavier Hydrocarbons are converted to Hydrogen,
Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide & Methane.In the Tubular Reformer having Catalyst a
R-67-7H Hydrogen is produced from Methane & Steam by Reforming.

Reactions in Pre-Former are :

1.

CnHm + nH2O (Steam)

nCO + [ n + m/2 ] H2

- heat

2.

CH4

+ H2O (Steam)

CO + 3H2

- heat

3.

CO

+ H2O (Steam)

CO2 + H2

+ heat

Reactions are 1 & 2 strongly Endothermic while reaction 3 is Exothermic.

Reactions in Tubular Reformer are as follows:

Reforming Reactions:
CH4 + H20 (Steam)

H=219 KJ/MOL

CO + 3H2

Shift Reaction:
CO + H20

Co2 + H2

H= -41 KJ/MOL

Ci is the partial Pressure of components in Atm.(absolute).

Reaction equilibrium is controlled by the partial Pressure of CH 4, H2, CO & CO2. The
Reforming reactions are strongly Endothermic hence forward reactions are favored by high
Temperature as well as by low Pressure while the shift reaction is Exothermic and is
strongly favored by low Temperature and is largely unaffected by Pressure.To maximise
overall efficiency of the conversion for higher yield of Hydrogen, reformers are operated at
high Temperature and relatively lower Pressure.
MT SHIFT SECTION
This is followed by shift conversion, which permits the Shift Reaction to be brought to
equilibrium at a lower Temperature in a Medium Temperature Shift converter, which
contains LK-811 Catalyst. This Catalyst consists of oxides of Copper, Zinc and Chromium.
The reaction taking M.T Shift converter is:
CO + H20

CO + H2

H= -41 KJ/MOL

PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION

The PSA system is designed for full automatic operation with respect to variations in the
process gas flow.Variations in the composition (especially the CO content), pressure or
temperature of the process gas may require a variation of the adsorption time period of the

adsorbed.The desired purity of the Hydrogen determines the adsorption time of the
Adsorbers. This time should be as long as possible to obtain a high efficiency of the PSA
system.
The temperature of the inlet gas to the PSA must be maintained at design temperature or
below. Too high a temperature will result in too high moisture content in the inlet gas, and
less adsorbent efficiency. Too high a temperature inlet the PSA (above 40o C) indicates bad
cooling efficiency upstream.

DHDT UNIT
PURPOSE OF UNIT:
To reduce low sulphur (<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.
SPECIFICATIONS OF BHARAT STAGE I AND IV:
SULPHUR IN DIESEL CETANE NUMBER
BHARAT STAGE I 2500 ppm
BHARAT STAGE II 500 ppm
BHARAT STAGE III 350 ppm 51(min)
BHARAT STAGE IV 50 ppm
Cetane number:
A rating on a scale use to indicate the tendency of a fuel for diesel engines to 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-amine-naphthalene (0). The cetane of diesel is the
54
percentage by volume of the cetane(say 55) in the mixture of alpha-methy-naphtalene
(say 45)then the cetane number of the said diesel is 55
CHEMICAL REACTIONS:
The main reactions taking place in the process are refining and hydrogenation reactions, in
addition some hydrocracking reactions takes place as well.
Refining reactions:
Refining reactions involve the removal of heteroatoms, namely sulphur, nitrogen and
oxygen.
It also includes the saturation reactions of olefins and di-olefins.
Treating reactions:
3.1.Metal removal
3.2.Olefin saturation
3.3.Sulphur removal
3.4.Nitrogen removal
3.5.Oxygen removal
3.6.Aromatic saturation(cetane number improvement)
Desulphurisation reactions:
The aliphatic sulphur compounds, namely mercaptants, sulphides and di-sulphides react
easily leading to the corresponding saturated or aromatic compounds. Thiophenes sulphur
is
most difficult to react. The reaction is exothermic.
Mechanism:
Sulphur removed first, and then the olefin is saturated. Three mole of hydrogen consumed
per
mole of sulphur. 560 kcal of heat liberated per Nm3 of H2 consumed.
Mercaptant
R-SH + H2 RH + H2S
Sulphides

R-S-R + 2H2 2RH + H2S

DENITROFICATION REACTIONS:
These reactions lead to ammonia formation and are exothermic in nature. The hydro
denitrogenation reactions are slower than the hydro desulphurisation 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.
Amine
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-NH2 +H2 CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3 + NH3

Process flow description:

The Diesel Hydro treating Unit (DHDT) is a new unit of capacity 1.8 MMTPA. The unit
has
been designed using IFP licensed hydro treating technology to treat a mixture of straight
run
distillates, cracked feed stocks, and a partially hydro treated diesel from an existing DHDS
unit. The straight run distillate comprises of Heavy Kerosene, LGO, HGO, LVGO, and ATF
streams derived from the processing of a 65/35 blend of Arab Light and Arab Heavy crudes.
It also includes an AGO stream that is derived from the Nigerian crudes. The cracked feed
streams comprise of TCO from the FCC unit and a Heavy Naphtha stream from the
Visbreaker unit. The unit is designed for deep desulfurization and significant cetane number
improvement. The product gas oil would be blended into the High Speed Diesel (HSD)
pool.
The wild naphtha produced in the DHDT unit is processed in a Stabilizer together with an
external wild naphtha stream from the existing DHDS unit, and the combined stabilized
naphtha product is sent to storage. The sweet Low Pressure Off-Gas stream is sent to the
fuel
gas system.
The hydro treating reactions are carried out using two specific catalysts in two reactors
connected in series containing a total of five catalytic beds. The operating conditions are
chosen to meet the desired product qualities, and to obtain a longer cycle length for the
catalyst. The unit is comprised of the following sections:
Reaction
Recycle Gas Circuit
Stripper and Stabilizer
Amine Scrubber
The feed consists of straight run distillate and cracked streams supplied from the battery
limits. The DHDT feed blend is supplied from a common storage, except for the TCO and
the
Visbreaker, Naphtha streams that are supplied directly from the FCC and the Visbreaker
units, respectively. The feed mixture could also enter the unit directly, while bypassing the
storage. The gas oil blend flows to the Feed Surge Drum through a feed filter. The feed
drum
is fuel gas blanketed and the drum pressure is controlled using a split range control scheme.

Gas oil feed is pumped to the reactor circuit on flow control using the Reactor Feed Pumps.
The feed drum level is controlled by varying the DHDT feed supply from storage. Make-up
hydrogen is supplied at 19 Kg/cm2 (G), to the Make-up Compressor, and then is
compressed
57

by the Make-Up Hydrogen Compressors. The make-up compressor has two stages and the
interstage gas cooling is done with cooling water.
The make-up hydrogen flow rate to the reaction section is controlled by means of a
compressor spillback to the K.O. Drum. An additional compression stage is eliminated for
the
Make-up Hydrogen Compressor, by utilizing the Recycle Compressor, to achieve the final
compression requirement. The recycle gas stream containing the make-up hydrogen is
combined with the oil feed, and the total feed mixture is heat exchanged against the reactor
effluent in the Reactor Feed/Effluent Exchanger. A by-pass is provided on the feed side to
facilitate the Reactor Feed Heater operation at the minimum turndown situation. The
preheated oil and hydrogen mixture is heated to the reactor inlet temperature in the Reactor
Feed Heater. An air preheater is used in the convection section of the reactor feed heater to
enhance the overall heater efficiency.
The Hydrotreater Reactor contains two reactors in series, with the 1st reactor containing
three
catalytic beds, and the 2nd reactor containing two catalytic beds. Recycle hydrogen is used
as
the quench gas, for maintaining the desired WABT in each of the catalytic beds. The top
catalyst layer of the first bed in the 1st reactor operates at a lower temperature, and this bed
saturates the feed olefins and diolefins. The inlet temperature to the Reactor is adjusted so
that the required inlet temperature is obtained for the subsequent HDS catalyst in the same
catalytic bed. The effluent from the first catalytic bed is quenched to control the inlet
temperature of the second catalytic bed. In the remaining two catalytic beds, the targeted
average WABT is about the same to complete the remaining reactions. Quench gas is also
used for controlling the 2nd reactor inlet temperature and the temperature of the two
catalytic
beds. The quench gas is supplied on flow control, reset by the catalytic bed inlet
temperature.
The reactor effluent is cooled by preheating the stripper feed, and by preheating the
oil/hydrogen feed in the feed/effluent exchangers. Wash water is injected into the reactor
effluent at the outlet of the final feed/effluent exchanger shell, in order to prevent any
deposit
of ammonium salts. The wash water is a mixture of recycled water from the Stripper reflux
Drum and Coalescer water, plus make-up stripped sour water supplied from the Sour Water
Stripping Unit. Additional water injection facilities are provided for the last two shells of
the
feed/effluent exchanger to wash out any salt deposits, and this injection is normally not
required.
The wash water is pumped from the Wash Water Drum on flow control to the reactor
effluent
upstream of the air cooler to avoid ammonium salt deposit and the risk of corrosion.
Reactor
effluent leaving the Reactor Effluent Air Cooler is collected in the HP Cold Separator
Drum.

The vapor phase from this drum consists of the recycle and quenches gas circulated by the
recycle compressor. The hydrocarbon/water separation obtained in this drum is not sharp,
and
hence both the hydrocarbon rich and water rich streams are let down and combined in the
downstream MP Cold Separator. The MP Separator Drum is equipped with a water boot,
and
adequate residence time is provided for obtaining a good separation of the liquid and sour
water streams. Sour water is separated from the hydrocarbon liquid phase, and is routed to
the
battery limits on HC/water interface level control from the settling zone of the separator.
The
hydrocarbon liquid flows on level control to the stripping section. The separator also
contains
a coalescing pad closer to the feed inlet nozzle. In addition to coalescing the small water
droplets, the coalescing pad also helps to streamline the HC/H2O flow in the settling zone.
The recycle hydrogen stream leaving the HP Separator Drum is routed to the HP Amine
Absorber for H2S removal. The flow of recycle gas to the HP Amine Absorber is controlled
by manually diverting a part of the recycle gas to bypass the absorber, for maintaining a
desired H2S content in the recycle gas stream. The lean amine is a 25 Wt.% DEA solution,
supplied on flow control to the HP Amine Absorber using the HP Lean Amine Pumps. The
rich amine from the HP absorber bottoms is sent to the LP Amine Absorber on level
control,
for flashing off the dissolved light ends. Recycle gas leaving the HP Amine Absorber is
combined with the bypass vapor, and the total recycle gas is routed to the Recycle
Compressor, through the Recycle Compressor K.O.Drum. The hot make-up hydrogen from
the Make-up Hydrogen Compressor discharge is cooled in the Make-up H 2 Cooler, 301AC04, and the make-up H2 is combined with the recycle gas upstream of the Recycle
Compressor K.O. Drum. Therefore, the make-up hydrogen is compressed together with the
recycle and the quench hydrogen in the Recycle Compressor.
There is a provision to remove a small amount of the sweetened gas stream leaving the HP
absorber on flow control as a high pressure purge, to provide added flexibility during
operation. However, the unit is designed based on no purge gas flow, and hence normally
there is no high pressure purge gas leaving the unit. The recycle compressor is driven by a
back pressure turbine using HP Steam. The reactor circuit pressure is controlled at the HP
cold separator. The pressure is controlled through a split range control adjusting the makeup
hydrogen supply to the reactor circuit and the HP purge gas. Recycle Compressor discharge
is split into the recycle and the quench gas streams. The recycle gas containing the make-up
hydrogen is combined with the gas oil feed, and the total feed enters the reactor circuit. The
recycle plus make-up hydrogen flow is controlled by diverting the excess gas to the reactor
effluent air cooler, if that is required by pressure drop or heater firing limitations.
The Diesel Stripper fractionates the diesel product from the reactor effluent liquid stream
supplied from the MP Cold Separator Drum. The wild naphtha product from the stripper
overhead is stabilized and H2S stripped in the Stabilizer. Liquid feed from the MP Separator
is preheated by heat exchange with the stripper bottoms in the Stripper Feed/Bottoms
Exchanger, followed by the final heating by heat exchange with the reactor effluent in the
Stripper Preheater. The stripper feed temperature is controlled by varying the feed flow
through the Stripper Feed Preheater and the exchanger bypass streams.

The feed is stripped of H2S and light ends from the diesel product using the MP steam. The
Stripper overhead vapor is condensed in an air-cooled condenser, and the trim condenser.
The
pressure control. The water condensate containing dissolved H2S and traces of NH3 is
removed from the Stripper Reflux Drum water boot on interface level control. This sour
water is recycled to the Wash Water Drum, for water injection upstream of the Reactor
Effluent Air cooler. The stripper reflux is returned to the tower on flow control, and the
Wild
Naphtha overhead product is sent to the stabilizer on flow control, reset by the reflux drum
level. The stripped diesel product is pumped to the battery limits on level control of the
stripper bottoms. Heat is recovered from the diesel product by preheating the stripper feed.
The diesel product is further cooled in the gas oil air cooler, and gas oil trim cooler. The
dissolved water in the diesel product settles out as free water as the product stream is
cooled.
The entrained water is removed in the Coalescer, before the diesel product is routed to the
battery limits. The wild naphtha product from the stripper overhead is combined with the
wild naphtha from the existing DHDS unit, and the total naphtha feed is stabilized and H2S
stripped in the stabilizer.
The stabilizer is reboiled with MP stream on temperature control. Stabilized naphtha
product
is pumped on flow control reset by the stabilizer bottoms level control to the battery limits.
Naphtha product is cooled in the stabilizer feed/bottoms exchanger and a trim cooler with
cooling water before routing to storage. The stabilizer overhead vapor is condensed with
cooling water in a condenser. Off-gas product from the stabilizer reflux drum containing
H2S, butanes and lighter components, is sent for amine scrubbing to the LP amine absorber
on pressure control. The specified operating pressure for the stabilizer enables maximum
recovery of butanes in the off-gas product. The entire liquid product from the stabilizer
reflux
drum is returned to the stabilizer as a reflux stream on flow control. The stabilizer reflux
drum level is controlled by resetting the reflux flow to the stabilizer.
Facilities are provided for intermittent wash water injection if required upstream of the
condenser, 301-E-12, to wash out any ammonium salt deposits. There are two amine
scrubbers, namely, HP Amine Absorber, and LP Amine Absorber. Lean amine is supplied to
the unit in two separate streams, to take advantage of the lean amine supply pressure when
routing to the LP Amine Absorber. Lean amine for the LP Absorber is boosted to the
required
pressure with the LP Lean Amine Pumps, 301-P-08 A/B. The lean amine supply for the HP
Absorber is collected separately in a surge drum, 301-V-12, and then pumped to the HP
Absorber on flow control. The amine surge drum level is controlled by varying the lean
amine feed flow rate. The surge drum pressure is controlled using a split range controller
with
N2 blanketing. Individual steam heaters are specified on the lean amine supply to both the
LP
and the HP absorbers, for heating up the lean amine to a temperature few degrees hotter
than
the feed gas, to avoid any hydrocarbon condensation and subsequent foaming of the
absorbers.
The HP Amine Absorber was already discussed in the Recycle Gas section. The LP Amine
Absorber, 301-C-03, scrubs the sour off gas mixture from the Diesel Stripper, the Stabilizer,

and the MP Separator. The absorber operating pressure is selected high enough to obtain
sufficient H2S scrubbing with a lean amine H2S loading as high as 0.02 mole per mole.
The
sour off-gas is routed to the LP Absorber through the K.O. Drum, 301-V-10. The sweet
offgas
product from the LP Amine Absorber is leaving the unit on pressure control to fuel gas.
The rich amine from the HP Amine Absorber is let down to the LP Absorber for flashing off
the dissolved H2 and light ends. The total rich amine leaves the LP Absorber bottom on
level
control to the battery limits.
Facilities are provided in the flow scheme for insitu regeneration of the reactor catalyst per
the client request. The reactor circuit equipment as designed is used for this intermittent
procedure, except for the additional fresh caustic storage facility.
The catalyst regeneration is performed at a sufficiently high reactor operating pressure
within
the mechanical design limits of the reactor circuit, specifically the reactor. The catalyst is
regenerated by circulating nitrogen containing a small amount of oxygen (up to 1 vol%)
through the reactor. The make-up nitrogen required for the initial system fill-up, and the
subsequent plant air make-up required during the regeneration is supplied by the make-up
H2
compressor. The make-up H2 compressor is utilized for boosting the plant air and nitrogen
pressure to the recycle hydrogen compressor. The recycle compressor suction pressure is
controlled during regeneration using a separate pressure control valve that had been
specified
only for the regeneration step. At the desired N2 circulation rate, if the recycle hydrogen
compressor discharge pressure is much higher than the maximum allowable reactor
pressure,
the excess pressure is dropped across a hand control valve that has been specified in the
regeneration circuit at the inlet to the Feed/Effluent Heat Exchanger.
The regeneration gas is preheated against the reactor effluent in the exchanger shells. The
remaining shells are not used during the regeneration procedure to avoid excessive cooling
of
the effluent stream that could lead to salt deposit in the exchangers. A portion of the gas is
by
passed around the Feed/Effluent Exchanger to control the furnace inlet temperature, and
also
to avoid excessive cooling of the effluent stream. The same bypass is also used during the
cooling phase of the regeneration procedure. The required reactor inlet temperature is
reached
in the hydrotreater reactor feed heater. At the reactor outlet, the effluent is neutralized by
injection of anhydrous ammonia to neutralize traces of SO3 formed in the reactor. Then it is
cooled down in feed/effluent exchanger, and the reactor effluent air cooler. A caustic soda
solution is injected at the outlet of the reactor effluent air cooler, and a static mixer is
provided to obtain good contacting between the acid gases and caustic.
The caustic soda is supplied as an 8 wt. % solution, utilizing one of the Wash Water Pumps.
The spare wash water pump could be utilized for washing any salt deposits during
regeneration by injecting wash water simultaneously to the Effluent Air Cooler Inlet. The
spent caustic from the Separator Drum is routed to the battery limits for treatment.

Reaction section and feed preheat section offer great hazard due to presence of large
quantity
of Hydrogen at high temperature and pressure. Failure of flange leak result in jet flame.
Stabilizer reflux drum, handle large inventory of highly volatile compounds, thus contribute
to hazard value of the plant. This unit has source of ignition due to the presence of heater
which may ignite passing through hydrocarbon flammable mixture.

ONCE THROUGH HYDROCRACKER UNIT

(OHCU):
Hydro cracking is an extremely versatile catalytic process in which feed stock ranging from
naphtha to vacuum residue can be processed in presence of h2 and catalyst to produce
almost
any desired products lighter than the feed. Thus if the feed is naphtha it can be converted
into
LPG and if the feed is vacuum gas oil, it can produce LPG, naphtha, ATF, diesel and FCCU
feed in varying proportions as per design.
HYDROCRACKING UNIT IN MATHURA REFINERY:
Primary function of hydrocracking unit is to reduce sulphur emission and maximize middle
distillate production. Feed to the unit consists of vacuum gas oil (VGO) from atmospheric
distillation unit (AVU) 70% high sulphur and 30% low sulphur.
Primary products:
LPG
Stabilized naphtha
Heavy naphtha
Aviation turbine fuel(ATF) / superior kerosene
High speed diesel(HSD)

FCC

feed
CAPACITY : 1.2 MMTPA
INTRODUCTION:
Hydrocracking is an extremely versatile catalytic process in which feedstock ranging from
Naphtha to Vacuum Residue can be processed in presence of Hydrogen and catalyst to
produce almost any desired products lighter than the feed. Thus if the feed is Naphtha, it
can
be converted into LPG and if feed is Vacuum Gas Oil as in Mathura Refinery, it can
produce
LPG, Naphtha, ATF, Diesel and FCCU feed in varying proportions as per design
requirement. Residue up gradation into middle distillates and light distillates is currently
being done in the Indian Refineries primarily by employing FCC process, delayed Cocking
process & Visbreaking. The quality of products obtained from FCC, delayed Cocker &
Visbreaker are relatively poor in quality with respect to stability, & sulphur and have to be
blended with other straight run products to be able to market them. In view of these
problems
hydrocracking process is gaining more and more popularity for upgrading residues into
higher value products since the products are stable & contain very low percentage of
sulphur.
PROCESS DESCRIPTION:
Make up hydrogen section:
This section supplies pure H2 for the hydrocracking reactions & making up the lost
hydrogen
in the reactor from the hydrogen generation unit & membrane separation unit. The pump
used
in this section in a three stage centrifugal compressor. Pump takes suction at a pressure of
20
kg/cm2 discharges at a pressure of 198 kg/cm2.There are three pumps of such kind out of
which two are in line.
This section also consists of the recycle gas compressor which is a centrifugal compressor
operating on steam turbine. It sucks the recycle gas at the system pressure & discharges at a
pressure of around 190 kg/cm2.The two streams combine before mixing with the feed &
help
in maintaining the high pressure in the reactor.
Feed supply:
Feed is supplied by the feed booster pumps located in the off-site area taking suction from
the
storage tanks. Feed is passed through a series of heat exchangers exchanging heat with the
product streams. The hot feed passes through the feed filter which retains any foreign
particles in the feed & gets collected in the feed surge drum. The feed booster pump located
in the plant takes suction from the surge drum & discharges at a pressure of 235
kg/cm2.Then
the feed passes through the preheat exchangers exchanging heat with the reactor effluent
getting heated up to 347 oC. The combined stream from the compressor house joins the feed
at this point. The combined feed goes into the reactor furnace getting heated up to 365 oC.
Then the feed enters the reactor.
Reactor section:

There are two reactors operating in series. The hydro treating & hydrocracking reactions
take
place in the reactors under high pressure of 185 kg/cm2 & high temperature of 365-441 oC.
A
high hydrogen partial pressure is required in the reactor to promote the reactions & prevent
the coking of the catalyst. The first reactor consists of three beds of catalyst & the second
rector consists of two beds of catalyst. Between all the catalyst beds & at the inlet of the
second reactor quench recycle gas is supplied to reduce the temperature rise across the bed
since all the reactions are exothermic. In the reactor nitrogen & sulfur are converted to NH3
65

& H2S.The higher hydrocarbons are broken into small chain hydrocarbons to increase the
productivity of the middle distillates.
Hot high pressure separator:
After the effluent stream cooled, it sent to the HHPS (34 kg/cm2). In this separator the
reactor
products are separated into gases (mainly hydrogen,H2S & NH3) & hydrocarbon. The
effluent inlet temperature should not be more than 210 0C.The gases from the separator
pass
through the exchangers & then air coolers. Before entering the air cooler water is mixed so
that the ammonia gets dissolved in it. Then it goes into the cold high pressure separator.The
bottom product goes into another vessel.
Cold high pressure separator:
In the cold high pressure separator (34 kg/cm2) the effluent gets separated into three layers,
gas (mainly H2 & H2S), hydrocarbon layer & the sour water. The gases are sent to the
amine
absorber to absorb the H2S.The gases coming from the absorber is mainly hydrogen is sent
to
the membrane unit for purification. Sour water is drained from the bottom & hydrocarbon
is
sent with the other hydrocarbon separated earlier.
Fractionator:
The hydrocarbon is sent via exchangers to the fractionator furnace where the temperature is
raised to 350 oC. After this the feed is sent to the fractionating tower having 52 trays.
Medium pressure stripping is sent from the bottom of the fractionator. The overhead
product
in LPG & light naphtha is sent to the gas recovery section. The next side cut is heavy
naphtha
is sent to the naphtha stripper. The temperature stripper bottom is maintained using the
reboiler. The bottom of the stripper is sent to storage tanks & top product is sent for reflux.
The next side cut is kerosene/ATF is sent to the stripper. The temperature of the stripper
bottom is maintained using the reboiler. The bottom product of the stripper is sent to the
storage tanks & top product is sent to the reflux in the fractionator. The next side cut is high
speed diesel which is sent to the stripper. The stripper bottom temperature is maintained
using steam. The stripper bottom is sent to the storage tanks & top is refluxed. All the
reboilers are heated using hot diesel. The fractionator bottom is sent as FCC feed.
Light end recovery section:
Light end gases from the fractionator are sent to the deethanizer, where the gases are
removed

& sent to the amine absorber. The bottom of the deethanizer is sent to the debutanizer, for
the
recovery of LPG.LPG is taken out as the top product sent to the caustic removal section to
get
pure LPG. The stabilized naphtha is taken as the bottom product & sent to the storage tanks.
Product routing:
Hydrocracker unit produces fuel gases, LPG, Naphtha, ATF/SK, HSD and unconverted oil
as
products. Routing of these products is as follows.
1.) FUEL GAS
Fuel gas from KOD of H2S absorber is routed to fuel gas system in MEROX unit.
2.) LIGHT NAPHTHA
Light naphtha is routed to naphtha storage.
3.) HEAVY NAPHTHA
It will be normally blended with HSD at HCU. However it can be routed to Naphtha
along with light naphtha.
4.) LPG
LPG product in the HCU can be routed to Horton sphere in the LPG area of existing
refinery.
5.) SK/ATF
SK/ATF from HCU goes to existing SK/ATF tanks. Hock ups are provided to route it
either ATF run down tanks or to SK rundown tanks. It can also be blended to diesel at
HCU.
6.) HSD
HSD from FCCU goes to existing diesel fuel through a 6 diameter line.
7.) FCC FEED UNCONVERTED OIL
Unconverted oil (hot FCC feed) can be routed directly to FCCU by passing air cooler
or can be routed to FCCU feed tank after air cooler feed.
All the product lines (except LPG and Gas) are connected to a 8 dia slope line at the
battery limit which is going to slope tank.

PROJECT DONE

PROJECT 1: SULPHUR RECOVERY UNIT REVAMPING

INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTION OF SULPHUR BY USING
ENRICHED AIR INSTEAD OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR.
Objective: To Reduce the SO2 emission from the Refinery by recovering Sulphur from
Amine Acid and Sour Gases produced during various Hydrotreating Process.
Feed : Amine Acid gases and Sour acid gases
Operating Conditions:
Temperature Range : 195-320oC
Pressure: 0.56 kg/cm2(g)
Introduction:
The sulphur recovery unit is design in accordance with the Claus process to recover sulphur
in its elemental form. The unit consists of three identical units A,B &C. Each unit consist of
the thermal stage in which H2S is partially burnt partially followed by three catalytic stages
& a super Claus stage. A catalytic incinerator is there for incineration of all the gases to
prevent pollution of the atmosphere.
Product Yield:
Sl. No.
1
2

Products
Off-Gas
Sulphur

wt%
0.1
99.9

Chemical reactions in SRU:

The sulphur recovery process is applied to the present design, which is known as the Claus
process is based on the combustion of hydrogen sulphide with a controlled flow rate of air
which is maintained automatically by the gas analyser to burn completely ammonia,
hydrocarbons & burn one third of hydrogen sulphide to sulphur dioxide & water.

H2S + 3/2 O2 SO2 + SO2 + HEAT

The major percentage of the residual H2S combines with SO2 to form elemental sulphur,
according to the equilibrium reaction.

2 H2S + SO2 3S + 2 H2O HEAT

The sulphur formed is in the vapor phase in the main combustion chamber.

PROCESS DESCRIPTION :
The sour gas from the amine recovery unit & sour water unit is passed through the knock
out drum.to remove any water from it. The sour gas from the ARU contains 85 % H 2S &
sour gas from the SWS contains around 55 % H2S. The two streams combine & are
preheated in a steam heater to 209oC.The air supplied to the burner is also preheated to 125130oC by the steam heater & is supplied by the blower. The heated sour gas flows into the
burner & combustion chamber. To process the sour gas from the SWS, the temperature in
the burner should be maintained about 1250-1400oC .
In the main burner air is supplied in sufficient quantity to burn all the hydrocarbons,
ammonia & one third of H2S to sulphur dioxide & water. In order to remove the heat
evolved in the combustion chamber the gases pass through the tube bundle of the waste
heat boiler. The temperature of the combustion chamber is around 1056oC & pressure is
around 0.5-0.7 kg/cm2.At this stage the water is charged in the shell side to produce
medium pressure steam (13 kg/cm2).The sulphur in the combustion chamber is condensed
& is transferred to the sulphur pit through the 1st sulphur lock.
The process gases leaving the waste heat boiler contains a high percentage of H 2S & SO2
which has to be lowered. In order to do this it is passed through a set of three reactors
containing a special catalyst of TiO2.The process before going to the first reactor goes to the
steam reheater where it gets heated to 230oC.It passes through the catalyst bed where H2S
reacts with SO2 to form elemental sulphur. Since the reaction is exothermic the temperature
rises to around 304oC. From the rector it goes to the 2 nd sulphur condenser from where
sulphur goes to the sulphur pit & the process gas goes to the 2 nd reactor through the steam
re-heater & so on.
Atmospheric (Normal) Air: 21% Oxygen + 79% Nitrogen + Minor Inerts
Enriched Oxygen: 40% Oxygen + 60% Nitrogen
This Enriched air is produced as a bi-product in Nitrogen Plant. Here it can be provided
into the SRU for increasing its efficiency.

MATERIAL BALANCE FOR SULPHUR RECOVERY UNIT

Material balance in SRU involves calculation around individual equipment of the unit and
samling from various points provided in the equipments.
Feed Rate : 2200 kg/hr

H2S in acid gas sample = 70%

Sample analysis of feed gas
S.No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Component
H2S
CO2
H2
CH4
C2H6
C3H8
C4H10
C5H12
H2O
TOTAL

Wt. (kg)
1540
316
0.200
2.910
0.620
0.210
1.200
0.180
338.68
2200.000

kg moles
45.2942
7.1819
0.1000
0.1819
0.0207
0.048
0.0207
0.0025
18.8156
71.6223

Wt (%)
70.00
14.37
0.01
0.140
0.03
0.010
0.060
0.010
15.400
100.000

Reactions (Chemistry) inside the main combustion chamber

S.No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Reactants
H2S
H2S + 3/2O2
2H2S + SO2
H2 + CO2
CH4 + 2O2
C2H6 + 7/2O2
C3H8 + 5O2
CO + S
CH4 + 4S

Products
H2 + S
SO2 + H2O + Heat
3S + 2H2O
CO + H2O
2CO2 + 3H2O
2CO2 + 3H2O
3CO2 + 4H2O
COS
CS2 + 2H2S

Calculations
Hydrogen produced (by reaction 1) = 6% of total H2S get converted into hydrogen as given
in manual ( STORK AND COMPRIMO)

H2 produced = 45.2942 x 0.06

= 2.7176 kg-moles
= 92.4001 kg

Calculation

of H2S / SO2 / Sulphur

The idea is to burn 1/3rd of H2S in the feed gas (mol%) in order to create the right ondition
for CLAUSE reaction to take place and to maximize the sulphur recovery nearly 1/3rd of the
total H2S should be burnt to SO2 to facilitate the reactions.
Thus..
H2S converted to SO2 = (45.2942 2.7176 ) x 0.35
= 14.9018 kg-moles
( 2.7176 kg-mol H2S get converted into H2 )
Balance H2S in MCC = 42.5766 14.9018
= 27.6748 kg-moles
SO2 formed

= 14.9018 kg-moles

H2S reacted with SO2 = 27.6748 x 0.82

= 22.6933 kg-moles ( Reaction no. 3)
SO2 reacted with H2S = 22.6933 x 0.50
= 11.3476 kg-moles
Balance SO2

= 14.9018 11.3467
= 3.5551 kg-moles x 227.5284 kg
= 808.8862 kg

Elemental Sulphur produced

By reaction 3rd =22.6933 x 1.50
= 34.0400 kg-moles
By reaction 1st = 2.7176 kg-moles
Total = 34.0400 + 2.7176
= 35.7576 kg-moles
= 1176.2432 kg ( 1176.2432 / 1540 ) x 100 = 76%
(Conversion of H2S in Sulphur )
H2S produced by reaction 9th = 0.0038 kg-moles
Thus total H2S in process gas (o/l of MCC )
= ( 27.6748 22.6933 ) + 0.0038

= 4.9853 kg-moles
= 169.5002 kg
Hydrogen Balance
H2 by reaction 1st = 2.7176 kg-moles
H2 with feed

= 0.1000 kg-moles

Total

= 2.8176 kg-moles

CO by reaction 4th = 2.8176 x 0.90(90% Conversion)

= 2.5358 kg-moles
Balance H2

= 2.8176 2.538
= 0.2818 kg-moles

COS by reaction 8th = 2.5358 kg-moles x 152.1480 kg

= 385.8169 kg
Sulphur consumed by reaction 8th = 2.5358 kg-moles x 81.1456 kg
= 205.7690
Balance elemental sulphur = (34.00400 + 2.7176 0.0076 2.5358 )
= 34.2142 kg-moles
= 1094.8544 kg
Sulphur recovery in MCC/ frist condenser = 1094 / 1540 = 0.71
(range ito 70 to 75% as STOCK )
CO2 balance
CO2 from reaction 5th = 1.800 kg-moles
6th = 0.207 x 2 = 0.0414 kg-moles

7th = 0.0048 x 3 = 0.1444 kg-moles

Total = 0.2358 kg-moles
Consumed in reaction 4th = 2.5358 kg-moles
Balance

= 7.1819 + 0.2358 2.5358

= 4.8819 kg-moles x 214.8036 kg-moles

H2O balance
Water formed by reaction 2th = 14.9018 x 1 = 14.9018 kg-moles
3rd = 27.6748 x 0.82 x 1 = 22.6934 kg-moles
4th = 2.5358 x 1 = 2.5358 kg-moles
5th = 0.1800 x 2 = 0.3600 kg-moles
6th = 0.0207 x 3

= 0.0621 kg-moles

7th = 0.0048 x 4

= 0.0192 kg-moles

Total = 40.5723 kg-moles

H2O with feed gas=18.8156 kg-moles
Total

=59.3879 kg-moles
=1068.9814 kg

Combustion air required:

O2 for reaction (2)---14.9018*1.5=22.3527 kg-moles
(5)---0.1800*2=0.3600 kg-moles
(6)---0.0207*3.5=0.0725 kg-moles
(7)---0.0048*5=0.0240 kg-moles
Total

== 22.8092 kg-moles
(729.8944 kg)

Air supplied--- 729.8944/0.21==3475.6875 kg

N2 with air --- 3475.6875*0.785= = 2728.4148 kg
Inerts

3475.6875*0.005= = 17.3784 kg

Material balance around the condenser (05-E-02)

The o/l stream of MCC (main combustion chamber) is fed to 1st condenser, here 99% of the
sulphur vapour get condensed in to liquid.
Condensed sulphur vapour ---34.2142*0.99=33.8721 kg-moles
= 1083.9059 kg
Uncondensed sulphur vapours =0.3421 kg-moles= 10.9485 kg

H2S=168.6536
kg
CO2=214.8036
kg
H2=0.5634 kg
C4H10=1.200 kg
C5H12=0.1800 kg
H2O=1068.9 kg
SO2=227.5285
kg
CS2=0.1444
kg
COS=152.1480
kg

S=10.9485 kg
N2=2728.41 kg
Inerts=17.38 kg
Process gas

Total=4690.94

5675.6875 kg/hr

05-E-02

S=1083.90 kg
H2S=0.8473 kg
Total=1084.75
Total A+B = 4690.94+1084.75 = 5675.69 kg

MATERIAL BALANCE SUMMARY AROUND- THE MCC

Component
H2S
CO2
H2
CH4
C2H6
C3H8
C4H10
C5H12
H2O
SO2
CS2

Inlet stream, kg/kg-moles

1540/45.2942
316/7.1816
0.200/0.100
2.910/0.1819
0.620/0.0207
0.210/0.0048
1.200/0.0207
0.1800/0.0025
338.680/18.8156
-----

Outlet stream , kg/ kg-moles

169.5002/4.9853
214.8036/4.8819
0.5634/0.2817
------1.200/0.0207
0.1800/0.0025
1068.9814/59.3879
227.5285/3.551
0.1444/0.0019

COS
O2
N2
Inerts
Sulphur
Total

--729.8944/22.8092
2728.4148/194.8868
17.3784/--5765.6876

152.1480/2.5358
--2728.4148/194.8868
17.3784/-1094.0544/34.2142
5675.6871

Conclusion from the chemistry of MCC:

Sulphur recovery--- 1094.8544/1540(32/34)
=0.7548=75.48%
Air required (air/fed gas) =3475.6876/2200
=1.6
3475.6876/(2200*0.7)
=2.2 (in terms of H 2S only)
Feed intake of SRU = 2200 kg
Oxygen required by 2200 kg of feed = 729.8944 kg
Air intake as per oxygen required = 729.8944 x (100/21) [21% of Air is oxygen in
atmospheric air]
= 3475.6876 kg
If the conventional atmospheric air is replaced by the enriched air.
Enriched air required will be = 729.8944 x (100/40) [40% of air is oxygen]
= 1824.736 kg
New Air to feed ratio = 1824.736 / 2200 = 0.829
Total mass input = 2200 + 3475.6876
= 5675.6876 kg
New mass input via revamped process = 2200 + 1824.736
= 4024.736 kg
Total increment in feed = (5675.6876 / 4024.736 ) x 2200
= 3102.585 kg
Total oxygen intake required by 3102.585 kg of feed = 2573.2449 kg
Hence increment in efficiency = (3102.585-2200) / 2200 = 41.02 %
Total in sulphur produced = 1094.0544 x (3102.585 / 2200)
= 1542.9076 kg

Hence increment in sulphur production = 1542.9076 - 1094.0544

= 448.8532 kg

CONCLUSION
The report includes process description of all units (AVU, FCCU, VBU, MEROX
treatment, DHDT, OHCU, HGU). A detailed analysis of the SRU(Sulphur recovery unit)
has been done.
A project has been done on usage of enriched air(containing 40% oxygen) instead of
atmospheric air(containing 21% oxygen).
The increase in efficiency of the system is 41.02% and hence the increment in Sulphur
produced is 448.8532 kg.