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• Various derivatives of PAHs were found in air and soil from petrochemical facility. • Generation of NPAHs during petroleum smelting should be faster than halogenated PAHs. • Petrochemical workers in this facility faced potential high cancer risk for PAHs. • Non-targeted screening found additional toxic PAHs analogs in petrochemical area. This study investigated environmental distribution and human exposure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives in one Chinese petroleum refinery facility. It was found that, following with high concentrations of 16 EPA PAHs (∑Parent-PAHs) in smelting subarea of studied petroleum refinery facility, total derivatives of PAHs [named as XPAHs, including nitro PAHs (NPAHs), chlorinated PAHs (Cl-PAHs), and brominated PAHs (Br-PAHs)] in gas (mean= 1.57 × 104 ng/m3), total suspended particulate (TSP) (mean= 4.33 × 103 ng/m3) and soil (mean= 4.37 × 103 ng/g) in this subarea had 1.76–6.19 times higher levels than those from other subareas of this facility, surrounding residential areas and reference areas, indicating that petroleum refining processes would lead apparent derivation of PAHs. Especially, compared with those in residential and reference areas, gas samples in the petrochemical areas had higher ∑NPAH/∑PAHs (mean=2.18), but lower ∑Cl-PAH/∑PAHs (mean=1.43 × 10−1) and ∑Br-PAH/∑PAHs ratios (mean=7.49 × 10−2), indicating the richer nitrification of PAHs than chlorination during petrochemical process. The occupational exposure to PAHs and XPAHs in this petroleum refinery facility were 24–343 times higher than non-occupational exposure, and the ILCR (1.04 × 10−4) for petrochemical workers was considered to be potential high risk. Furthermore, one expanded high-resolution screening through GC Orbitrap/MS was performed for soils from petrochemical area, and another 35 PAHs were found, including alkyl-PAHs, phenyl-PAHs and other species, indicating that profiles and risks of PAHs analogs in petrochemical areas deserve further expanded investigation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil sludge (OS), a by-product of petroleum refinery (PR) waste, contains various toxic organic and inorganic compounds. Improper handling of OS poses serious environmental risks, highlighting the need for an effective and sustainable solution to mitigate these hazards and transform OS into a valuable product. This study converted OS into char-(OSC), including both pristine-OSC and ZnCl2-activated-OSC, for the removal of organic pollutants from refinery wastewater (WW) with a high COD concentration (89,233 mg/L). ZnCl2-activated-OSC produced at 400 °C (SB-Zn-400) showed superior adsorption capacity compared to pristine-OSC, due to enhanced oxygen-containing functional groups, crystallinity, thermostability, and superior degradation (OS). The adsorption process demonstrated rapid COD removal, reaching equilibrium within 2 h and achieving a 28 % reduction in COD. The adsorption capacity was found to be 420.5 mg-COD/g-OSC. SB-Zn-400 exhibited heterogeneous surface properties and supported multi-layer adsorption, with hydrogen-bonding and π–π interactions likely adsorption mechanisms. Moreover, the total concentration of organic compounds in PR-WW was >2700 mg/L, and SB-Zn-400 reduced this concentration to 34 mg/L, achieving >98 % removal. Although the adsorption treatment reduced the inorganic parameters of PR-WW, leaching of Mn, Ni, and Zn was observed, likely due to the nature of OS and the ZnCl2-activation process. Thermal regeneration of spent SB-Zn-400 allowed the reuse of OSC, with adsorption efficiency remaining higher than that of pristine-OSC, indicating that SB-Zn-400 has potential to be reused. These findings highlight the effectiveness of OSC in treating PR-WW, supporting a circular economy approach to enhance resource efficiency and minimize the environmental impact of OS from PR industries.

Oil refining is a branch of industry that delivers energy to move our vehicles. The transportation of people and goods by airplanes, ships, trains, trucks, buses, and cars is unthinkable for modern mankind without the use of refined petroleum automotive fuels. Thus, the optimal functioning of this industrial branch is vital to contemporary human society. The modeling of processes that take place during refined oil products' manufacturing, which are parallel in their essence, by generalized nets enables their activity optimization and better management. The generalized nets, which are in principle extensions of Petri nets, are applied in this research as a toolkit to model all processes from crude oil selection and delivery to a high complex refinery (Nelson index of 10.6) to the production of a great diversity of fuels, propylene, and polypropylene. The proposed article is a continuation and extension of the articles, published in Mathematics Journal in 2021 and 2023. It is the first (theoretical part) of our comprehensive study of modeling petroleum products' production processes in a refinery, and the second part will discuss the results of the software implementation of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research thoroughly examined the emissions of primary fine particle and precursors of secondary particles (VOCs, SO2 and NOx) originating from the petroleum refinery operation. The central aim was to quantify the emission factors of fine particulate matter and analyze their spatial dispersion and source contributions, in order to evaluate their environmental impacts.The VOCs emission measurement appeared that the wastewater treatment plant unit was the most significant source of VOCs emissions, with pentane, cyclopentane, and propane being the dominant VOCs species released. The study employed the secondary organic aerosol potential (SOAP), sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR), and nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) methodologies to calculate the emissions of secondary PM2.5. The combustion stacks were the principal contributor to secondary PM2.5 emissions, with SO2 being the predominant secondary PM2.5 precursor species contributing to fine particulate matter, accounting for 82.5% of the total secondary PM2.5 emissions. The overall emission factor for the refinery was determined to be 0.31 g secondary PM2.5 per kg of refined crude oil. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that the combustion stacks were the primary contributors to PM2.5 concentrations at all receptor sites, accounting for 64.4%–80.8% of the total contribution, followed by the wastewater treatment unit and storage tanks. The study underscored the importance of focusing on secondary PM2.5 precursor emissions to effectively reduce emissions and environmental concentrations of PM2.5, highlighting the potential for more effective management and mitigation strategies targeting these precursors.

The study was conducted in order to explore the potential of fungi isolated from surface and bottom seawater collected from the fishing harbour of Bizerte on the bioremediation of industrial effluent (IE) contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbon. Among the 128 fungal isolates, 11 were isolated from surface seawater and 7 from bottom seawater, representing 18 taxa in total. The gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used for the determination of hydrocarbon compounds in IE. An initial screening of fungal growth using six concentrations ranged between 20 and 70% (v/v) IE has allowed the identification of the optimal concentration for fungal growth as well as selection of species able to tolerate high amounts of hydrocarbon. Colorimetric test employing 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol and gravimetric method was applied for the assessment of fungal growth using 20% EI. By checking the phylogenetic affiliation of the high-performing stains as identified using ITSr DNA sequence, a dominance of Ascomycetes was detected. Indeed, Aspergillus terreus and Penicillium expansum may degrade 82.07 and 81.76% of residual total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), respectively. Both species were collected from surface seawater. While, Aspergillus niger, Colletotrichum sp and Fusarium annulatum displayed comparable degradation rates 40.43%, 41.3%, and 42.03%, respectively. The lowest rate of degradation 33.62% was detected in Emericellopsis phycophila. All those species were isolated from bottom seawater, excepting A. niger isolated from surface water. This work highlighted the importance of exploring the potential of fungi isolated from the natural environment on the bioremediation of industrial effluent. Our results promoted the investigation of the potential of the high-performing isolates A. terreus and P. expansum on the bioremediation of IE at pilot-scale and then in situ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the feasibility of removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) from petroleum refiner wastewater (PRW) was examined through an anodic oxidation process using a SnO2-copper substrate anode in a prototype tubular batch electrochemical reactor. The SnO2 anode was prepared by cathodic deposition from a nitrate solution and characterized by techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effects of current density, [Sn2+]/[HNO3] molar ratio, and time on the properties of the prepared anode were investigated. The XRD results showed that main peaks corresponded to deposition of tetragonal SnO2. Besides, broad peeks were observed indicating that the deposits have a lower degree of crystallinity. The results confirmed that increasing current density higher than 10 mA/cm2 results in formation of a mixture of SnO2 and Sn deposits. Additionally, the results proved that [Sn2+]/[HNO3] molar ratio has the main effect on the electrodeposition process, where keeping this ratio lower than 0.33 is recommended to ensure pure SnO2 film deposition. The best conditions for electrodeposition of SnO2 as a compact film on a copper substrate were a current density of 10 mA/cm2, [Sn2+] of 25 mM, [HNO3] of 125 mM to make a molar ratio of 0.2, and 30 min to confirm the formation of deposits without cracks and having an atomic percent (Sn/O) of 20.6/65. The application of the prepared anode for removing of COD from PRW confirmed a good performance with a removal efficiency of 79 % at current density of 12 mA/cm2, pH of 7.8, and operating time of 150 min in which an energy consumption of 9.93 kWh/kg COD was required. The degradation of COD using the SnO2 electrode was found to obey a pseudo first-order kinetic. The application of anodic oxidation using the new configuration of the SnO2 anode can be considered an eco-friendly process for treating wastewater, featuring easy scale-up to an industrial scale at high removal efficiency and lower cost.

The current study uses a batch electro-chemical reactor with porous graphite as an anode and a stainless steel as a cathode for wastewater treatment taken from the Al-Najaf petroleum refinery plant, Iraq. On removal efficiency regarding chemical oxygen demand (COD), the impacts of operating conditions like pH (2-10), current density (5-25 mA/cm²), time (30-70 min), and NaCl addition (0-4 g/L) were explored. The findings demonstrated that both NaCl and pH have an important effect on the removal efficiency of the COD, indicating the fact that the system is regulated through the reaction situations in the bulk of the solution rather than electrooxidation regarding the chloride ions on an electrode surface. For maximizing COD removal, response surface methodology was integrated with a Box-Behnken design in parametric optimization. COD's removal percentage was determined to be 99.6% under optimized operating parameters of a current density = 25 A/cm², initial pH: 2, time = 65 min, and NaCl concentration = 3.39 g/L, with 9.85 kWh/kg-COD energy consumption, which is lower when compared to similar works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generalized nets (GNs) are a suitable tool for the modeling of parallel processes. Through them, it is possible to describe the functioning and results of the performance of complex real processes running in time. In a series of articles, we consistently describe the main processes involved in the production of petroleum products taking place in an oil refinery. The GN models can be used to track the actual processes in the oil refinery in order to monitor them, make decisions in case of changes in the environment, optimize some of the process components, and plan future actions. This study models the heavy oil production process in a refinery using the toolkit of GNs. Five processing units producing ten heavy-oil-refined products in an amount of 106.5 t/h from 443 t/h atmospheric residue feed, their blending, pipelines, and a tank farm devoted to storage of finished products consisting of three grades of fuel oil (very low sulfur fuel oil (0.5%S) —3.4 t/h; low sulfur fuel oil (1.0%S) —4.2 t/h; and high sulfur fuel oil (2.5%S) —66.9 t/h), and two grades of road pavement bitumen (bitumen 50/70 —30 t/h and bitumen 70/100 —2 t/h) are modeled in a GN medium. This study completes the process of modeling petroleum product production in an oil refinery using GNs. In this way, it becomes possible to construct a highly hierarchical model that incorporates the models already created for the production of individual petroleum products into a single entity, which allows for a comprehensive analysis of the refinery's operations and decision making concerning the influence of various factors such as disruptions in the feedstock supply, the occurrence of unplanned shutdowns, optimization of the production process, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates photocatalytic advanced oxidation processes using iron-doped zeolite catalysts in heterogeneous Fenton reactions to degrade organic contents as chemical oxygen demand. The research revealed that the heterogenous photocatalytic Fenton process was the most successful treatment method under acidic circumstances and generated a greater rate of chemical oxygen demand degradation in a concise amount of radiation time. Compared to the heterogenous Fenton process with ultraviolet irradiation, it increased oxidation and was affected by catalyst load, power of hydrogen pH, hydrogen peroxide amounts, and temperature. The findings showed that the iron-doped zeolite catalyst, pH, and temperature significantly degraded the chemical oxygen demand. The experiment determined that the optimal conditions were obtained at a catalyst load of 0.07 g, pH of 3, with 20% excess of hydrogen peroxide, 40 °C in 2 hours for the ultraviolet/ iron-doped zeolite/hydrogen peroxide system that gave 99.84 % of the removal of the chemical oxygen demand. The heterogeneous photocatalytic Fenton method accompanied the reactions by hydroxyl radical production, which quickly reached its maximal reduction.

The treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater (PRWW) is of great interest in industrial wastewater management. This wastewater contains a diverse concentration of contaminants such as oil and grease, petroleum hydrocarbons, phenols, ammonia, and sulfides, as well as other organic and inorganic composites. Refinery wastewater treatment has been attempted through various processes, including physical, biological, chemical, and hybrid methods, which combine two or more techniques. This review aims to summarize current research studies involved in the treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater using conventional, advanced, and integrated treatment techniques. Furthermore, it critically highlights the efficiencies and major limitations of each technique and the prospects for improvements. Several conventional treatment techniques (basically, the physicochemical and biological processes) are discussed. In this context, advanced oxidation processes (AoPs), especially electrochemical oxidation and photocatalysis, as well as integrated/hybrid processes are found to be effective in removing the recalcitrant fraction of organic pollutants through their various inherent mechanisms. These techniques could effectively remove COD and phenol concentrations with an average removal efficiency exceeding 90%. Hence, the review also presents an elaborate discussion of the photocatalytic process as one of the advanced techniques and highlights some basic concepts to optimize the degradation efficiency of photocatalysts. Finally, a brief recommendation for research prospects is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parallel processes involved in the production of refinery fuel gas, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), propylene, and polypropylene, occurring in thirteen refinery units, are modeled by the use of a Generalized Net (GN) apparatus. The modeling of the production of these products is important because they affect the energy balance of petroleum refinery and the associated emissions of greenhouse gases. For the first time, such a model is proposed and it is a continuation of the investigations of refinery process modelling by GNs. The model contains 17 transitions, 55 places, and 47 types of tokens, and considers the orders of fuel gas for the refinery power station, refinery process furnaces, LPG, liquid propylene, and 6 grades of polypropylene. This model is intended to be used as a more detailed lower-level GN model in a higher-level GN model that facilitates and optimizes the process of decision making in the petroleum refining industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to the spatiotemporal assessment and monitoring of hydrocarbons contamination in water and sediments of Skikda bay (Algeria), as a result of the presence of industrial wastewater rejected by a petroleum refinery complex in the area. Water and sediment samples were obtained from six different sites during the fourth seasons in the studies area. Total Hydrocarbons (THC) were determined by a gravimetric method, while polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)(Anthracene, Pyrene and Benzo (a) pyrene) were determined by using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC-UV/Vis). The results obtained indicateda high contamination by hydrocarbons in water and sediment samples from the sites exposed to the industrial refinery.The concentrations of THC, Anthracene, Pyrene and Benzo (a) pyrene recorded in water during the four seasons were in this order: 78–9457 µg/L; < LOD Anthracene −157.1 µg/L; < LOD Pyrene- 188.6 µg/L; < LOD Benzo (a) pyrene −2224.45 µg/L respectively, with averages of: 1209.14 µg/L; 16.03 µg/L; 22.98 µg/L; 119.03 µg/L respectively. While the concentrations of THC, Anthracene, Pyrene and Benzo (a) pyrene recorded in sediments during the four seasons were in this order: 323–185,450 µg/g dw;< LOD Anthracene – 87,624.7 µg/g dw;< LOD Pyrene- 17,485.5 µg/g dw;< LOD Benzo (a) pyrene −39,555.5 µg/g dw respectively,With averages of: 13,201.264 µg/g dw; 4199.966 µg/g dw and 1524.478 µg/g dw; 2464.815 µg/g dw respectively.An important seasonal impact in the water was demonstrated by the threecompounds selected for this analysis (Anthracene, Pyrene, and Benzo (a) pyrene). While in sediments, just THC showed significant seasonal variations. This variation can be attributed to the influence of physicochemical parameters, microbial load, reject flow and the type of hydrocarbon studied. Thereby, Wastewater in the refinery should be well treated to protect marine life and human safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of theoretical models for reduction of sulfur emission and also the material consumption is of great importance for petroleum refinery to obtain high-quality fuels. The latter can be done by employing advanced optimization techniques. In this study, we have developed a modeling methodology for optimization of petroleum refinery in fuel production. Some measured data have been collected for the modeling and computational optimization. Each data point is comprised of four input characteristics: reactor pressure (bar), reactor temperature (°C), initial sulfur concentration (ppm), and dose (g). Outputs for the modeling include sulfur concentration (ppm), emission (%), and HDS cost ($). For modeling, the Adaboost ensemble model is applied on top of the three fundamental models Linear Regression, Gaussian Process Regression, and Bayesian Ridge. On the available dataset, the models are tweaked using the grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA) method, and then the optimal combination of models and parameters is selected for each output. For sulfur content and emission characteristics, the ADA-GPR model is the most accurate; however, the ADA-BRR algorithm performs the best for calculating the HDS cost. Using these models, the R2-score for outputs is 0.970, 0.950, and 0.999, respectively for sulfur concentration, emission percentage of SO2, and HDS cost.

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Fouling in crude distillation unit preheat train in petroleum refineries is a complex phenomenon. Besides, fouling of equipment by crude oil undergoes different mechanisms at different stages of preheating. Hence, understanding the fouling mechanisms is essential in formulating appropriate fouling mitigation strategies. In this respect, the use of the concept of threshold fouling conditions is one of the approaches for mitigating fouling through operating conditions. Indeed, during this study, a monitoring of the temporal fouling resistance evolution of the E102 exchanger battery of the Algerian refinery was carried out. However, this resistance was calculated based on the classical method proposed by Kern. Given that the monitoring of pressure drops is a widely used method in refineries so as to detect of fouling in the tubes of heat exchangers, it decided to study its evolution over time. Nonetheless, this study has effectively revealed that the heat exchanger battery had a clogging problem since the pressure drops increased over time. In addition, a considerable discrepancy was noted between the values read on the manometers and those calculated from a theoretical expression. In virtue of which, these deviations could be the consequence of measurement uncertainties or the instability of the operating conditions, and also to the fact of considering a constant internal diameter of the tubes.

High-purity hydrogen is a crucial input in a crude oil refinery to upgrade several products. For this reason, the effective hydrogen management is necessary to satisfy hydrogen requirements. On the other hand, adding exergy analysis to the hydrogen pinch analysis especially for refinery plants, where hydrogen reacts under high temperature and pressure, helps improve the efficiency of unit by overcoming the lack of pinch analysis. The aim of this study is the simulation and exergy analysis of reactors within hydrogen network integration of a petroleum refinery retrofitted by pinch analysis before. Two hydrogen production and four consumption units were considered and simulated by Aspen Plus, and then the exergy efficiencies were calculated. Low exergy efficiencies were determined in the hydrogen production and hydrodesulfurization units, whereas the separation of excess hydrogen from the desired product considerably effected on the efficiency. The results also show that not only the hydrogen demand of reactors has to be reduced, but also the hydrogen recovery and purification is very important for the increase in efficiency. Although the processes are carried out at the high operating conditions, the reactions significantly affect the total exergy flow rate.

The operational effectiveness of a fluid catalytic cracking unit largely depends on its catalyst, which is a mixture of zeolite, binder, matrix and filler. The filler plays an active role as it provides the catalyst with physical strength and integrity and also presents a heat exchange platform where more imperative and costly zeolite component can be incorporated. In Nigeria, foreign kaolin clay is used as fillers because it contains lesser impurities when compared to the one indigenous to the country. In contrast, Nigeria bentonite clay have unique properties that can be processed and used as an alternative. This paper evaluates the suitability of kaolin and sodium bentonite from southern Nigeria as fillers in the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. Initial characterisation with the aid of an XRF analysis confirmed the presence of iron oxide impurity on both the local and foreign crude clay (Bavaria, Germany). Wet beneficiation processes were carried out on all clay samples with different reaction times, temperatures and amounts of reagents to reduce impurities. Reaction time at 8 h proved more effective as 77% of iron oxide were removed from both the local and foreign clays. The product properties of the beneficiated samples also revealed iron oxide impurities that reduce impurities from 5.62% to 1.41% for kaolin clay and from 9.84% to 2.77% for bentonite clay. Samples of crude oil and products were tested to determine their physical properties using an Emmetteller Brunauer, a scanning electron microscope, a viscometer, and a pH meter to reveal the impact of the benefits on compliance with API standards. Aside from the increase or decrease of particulate or grain size, the structural modifications reflect the impact of mineral clay in retaining exchangeable cations (nutrients).

Energy is an indispensable requirement in all areas of social life and economic activities. According to the latest data, fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas and coal constitute 83.1% of the energy consumed in the world. Oil and natural gas have a wide range of uses as energy sources such as industry, transportation and residential heating. However, in the petroleum and natural gas sector, a large amount of emissions and wastes occur due to production and processing (especially crude oil refining), causing environmental pollution and various environmental problems. Petroleum enterprises have to use advanced production and processing technologies to reduce waste, prevent environmental pollution and other problems. In addition, in Turkey and other countries, petroleum companies have tended to understand that they have to fulfill their responsibilities for environmental problems in terms of sustainability while working within this framework. In this context, petroleum companies have adopted a green management approach including technical and organizational implementations in order to minimize the environmental impacts of their operations. "Green Management", adopted within the framework of the sustainability approach, is a modern understanding in which the activities of the enterprises are aimed at not only minimizing the damage to the environment but also protecting it. Green Management studies also provide resource savings to the enterprises and increase their efficiency. For Turkish petroleum enterprises, green management is also a modern approach in terms of efficient and sustainable operations. The aim of this article is to understand the green management implementations in the petroleum industry and to contribute to green management implementations in Turkish petroleum industry within the framework of green management principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental assessment of process kinetic is essential for process modelling and can serve as a useful tool to improve process performance. In this study, kinetic evaluation of petroleum refinery wastewater (PRWW) biodegradation in an activated sludge process (ASP) was carried out in a 25 L ASP reactor which was operated within the conventional aeration mode of 2-10 hours, hydraulic retention time (HRT), effluents from the secondary sedimentation tank were analyzed at various HRT for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and biomass growth. The data obtained were analyzed and fitted to different related kinetic models which show that the biodegradation of PRWW in ASP follows the Modified Monod Kinetic Model, amongst the related models evaluated, with 0.9745 correlations with the experimental data. Physicochemical characterization of the PRWW used for the study was carried out using the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater; which gave a biodegradability index of 0.3333. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work was focused on applying Aspen HYSYS to model, simulate and economically analyse a system for distillation of crude oil. The chemical components involved in the model development were water, methane, ethane, propane, i-butane and n-butane and some hypothetical ones that were added using light ends and TBP data with liquid volume basis before adding an output blend. Peng-Robinson was chosen as the fluid package. In the simulation environment, the crude was heated from 450 - 650 °F in a furnace before being fed into the distillation column, which was set up using Refluxed Absorber Column Sub-Flowsheet. The column had 29 stages and was also operated with a partial condenser. The outlet streams of the column were off gas, wastewater, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, AGO and residue. The developed model was simulated to convergence. The good convergence obtained from the simulation carried out on the developed Aspen HYSYS model of the atmospheric distillation unit showed that it (Aspen HYSYS) was able to handle the simulation of this process successfully. The Aspen Process Economic Analyzer tool was used to carry out an economic analysis of the developed model, and this generated an investment analysis. Therefore, it has been shown that the developed Aspen HYSYS model of the crude distillation unit that has been developed in this research work can be used to represent, simulate and analyse the cost of an atmospheric distillation unit successfully for further studies such as the development and testing of a prototype of the system as a small-scale petroleum refinery plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy integration of the existing chemical and petrochemical facilities is regarded as a keystone for sustainable energy systems. It is widely known that a considerable number of the petrochemical industries are not applying efficient heat exchanger network (HEN) systems to minimise the use of external utilities. In the present study, a Pinch Analysis-based graphical approach is used to retrofit an existing HEN for optimising a crude oil distillation operation. The existing HEN is represented using Thot–Tcold diagram, where the cold stream temperatures are plotted on the x-axis and the hot stream temperatures are plotted on the y-axis, for each exchanger unit. The graphical approach is applied to a real case study of a petroleum refinery plant located in Kuwait with the objective of performing energy analysis and retrofitting the existing HEN. Retrofit modifications are extracted from the graphical representation to enable scenarios for energy and emission reduction. The application of the proposed approach resulted in substantial energy savings of about 10.4 MW compared to the current operation, leading to annual operating cost savings of about MM$2 and less than one-year payback time. Overall, this study provides tools to address the energy traits in crude preheat trains of industrial feature, which can improve the overall economic–environmental sustainability of existing refineries.

The robust control of the crude oil outlet temperature uniformity in a heating furnace of a petroleum refinery is addressed. A reliable dynamic model of the nominal process has been attained using a system identification procedure based on real-time data. This procedure yields a second order model with a dominant time-delay. A PI controller embedded in a modified Smith predictor structure is therefore proposed. Sensitivity and robustness properties of this control system are analytically obtained. Based on that, a tuning procedure is developed for this control system which has lower sensitivity to disturbances than the standard Smith predictor while guaranteeing the system stability when plant parameters change. Simulations are carried out of the proposed control system and other well-known linear advanced process control systems. The comparison of the obtained results shows the superior performance of our control system in most cases, both in rejecting a variety of disturbances and in maintaining the closed-loop stability when the process parameters change. • Temperature uniformity of the crude oil flowrate is improved by a modified SP control. • A sensitivity analysis of this modified SP controller is carried out. • A method to tune the parameters of this modified SP controller is proposed. • Stability robustness of this modified SP controller is assessed. • Simulations prove that this SP rejects disturbances better than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A heterogeneous spent soda effluent generated from Tunisian petroleum refineries has been filtrated and separated in four solid fractions with a particle diameter of 160 to 100, 100 to 40, 40 to 16 and 16 to 10 µm and the fifth one with diameters < 10 µm obtained after total evaporation of the remained filtrate. Spectroscopic characterizations of the condensed phases by means of X-ray induced photoelectron and IR absorption, as well as pH-metry, potentiometry and stationary voltammetry at Ag2S/Ag electrode studies of the filtrate, show that the whole of the separated fractions contain Na2S, NaHS, C2H5SNa, Na2S2O3, Na2SO3 and methyl, ethyl and propyl mercaptans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-purity hydrogen is a crucial input in a crude oil refinery to upgrade several products. For this reason, the effective hydrogen management is necessary to satisfy hydrogen requirements. On the other hand, adding exergy analysis to the hydrogen pinch analysis especially for refinery plants, where hydrogen reacts under high temperature and pressure, helps improve the efficiency of unit by overcoming the lack of pinch analysis. The aim of this study is the simulation and exergy analysis of reactors within hydrogen network integration of a petroleum refinery retrofitted by pinch analysis before. Two hydrogen production and four consumption units were considered and simulated by Aspen Plus, and then the exergy efficiencies were calculated. Low exergy efficiencies were determined in the hydrogen production and hydrodesulfurization units, whereas the separation of excess hydrogen from the desired product considerably effected on the efficiency. The results also show that not only the hydrogen demand of reactors has to be reduced, but also the hydrogen recovery and purification is very important for the increase in efficiency. Although the processes are carried out at the high operating conditions, the reactions significantly affect the total exergy flow rate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petroleum refinery industry (PRI) projects are inherently unsustainable for the most part, because of their environmentally and socially negative potential effects; nonetheless, their development is inevitable due to their deep positive impact on economic development for stakeholders and the society at large. With these competing realities, it is extremely important to develop tools that can quantify the level of sustainability of various alternatives, so managers can make informed decisions about how to go forward with these projects. Due to the complexity of life cycle and sustainability assessment of PRI projects, in addition to their complicated multidisciplinary nature, indicator-based approaches are used oftentimes as sustainability assessment tools. In this paper, an indicator-based sustainability framework is proposed based on the literature review at the qualitative level to cover the pillars of sustainability (which is social, economic, and environmental). Then, a quantitative set of sustainability assessment factors is developed which tries to address global sustainability concerns and to reinforce the understanding of sustainability by utilizing quantitative means. UN sustainability indicators were used as the basis for the study, and the framework was developed further to reflect the specifics of PRI projects; the result of this step is 140 quantitative sustainability factors. To realize the highly relevant global concerns regarding sustainability assessment factors to be applied to PRI projects, the screening process has been done by Delphi technique in combination with Fuzzy set theory, to select the most important as well as relevant indicators which results in 101 relevant quantitative sustainability factors; then, a panel of experts has converted the screened quantitative factors to meaningful ones for PRI projects. The expert panel has then interpreted the list of factors, according to expert judgments. Finally, a comparative study has been done to see how the results will compare with those of frequently used systems. The results of the study are of primary importance due to their applicability in sustainable decision-making, as well as for future studies. The reinforced indicator-based sustainability framework will make a core, not only to assess existing plants with various characteristics but also for new refineries that are going to be developed based on sustainability principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, risk modeling was conducted based on the defined risk elements of a conceptual risk framework. This model allows for the estimation of a variety of risks, including human error probability, operational risk, financial risk, technological risk, commercial risk, health risk, and social and environmental risks. Bayesian network (BN) structure learning techniques were used to determine the relationships among the model variables. By solving a bi‐objective optimization problem applying the genetic algorithm (GA) with the Pareto ranking approach, the network structure was learned. Then, risk modeling was performed for a petroleum refinery focusing on HydroDeSulfurization (HDS) technology throughout its life cycle. To extend the model horizontally and make it possible to evaluate the risk trend throughout the technology life cycle, we developed a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) with three‐time slices. A two‐way forward and backward approach was used to analyze the model. The model validation was performed by applying the leave‐one‐out cross‐validation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristics and dispersion modeling of VOCs emitted from the tank farm of petroleum refinery complex were evaluated in this study. Gas phase VOCs within aboveground storage tank from all types of petroleum raw materials and products were sampled by the Tedlar bags prior be transferred to 6-Liter evacuated canisters and analyzed to determine their types and concentrations using the Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrophotometer (GC/MS) in accordance with the US.EPA TO-15 compendium method. Results indicated that alkane was the dominant compound in which pentane is the major contributor in total VOCs. Fraction of the concentration of pentane in total VOCs was then used to estimate its emission for further used as an input to evaluate the ambient ground level concentration of pentane through the simulation of the AERMOD dispersion model. Predicted 1-hr average concentrations were calculated to the 5-minutes average using the concept of the peak to mean concentration with the objective to evaluate the extent and magnitude of odor impacts caused by pentane. Results indicated that the highest predicted concentrations of pentane within the modeling domain simulated under the existing operation of the refinery were exceeded their RfC and odor threshold. Alternative mitigation measures to reduce emission of pentane were evaluated and compared with the existing business as usual of the refinery. Results suggested that adding of the secondary seal to the floating roof of crude oil storage tank will be the most appropriate measure taking into consideration its success in decreasing both of the emission and ground level concentration of pentane as well as demonstrate as the cheapest capital cost per unit of ambient concentration reduction. This study highlights the important in elucidating the source-receptor relationship which will assist in quantification of the contribution of emission sources towards the ambient air concentrations. Effectiveness and appropriate of mitigation control scenarios to be applied for industrial air pollution management should be taking into consideration not only their success in emission control but also on their achievement in reducing level of pollutants in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The operational effectiveness of a fluid catalytic cracking unit largely depends on its catalyst, which is a mixture of zeolite, binder, matrix and filler. The filler plays an active role as it provides the catalyst with physical strength and integrity and also presents a heat exchange platform where more imperative and costly zeolite component can be incorporated. In Nigeria, foreign kaolin clay is used as fillers because it contains lesser impurities when compared to the one indigenous to the country. In contrast, Nigeria bentonite clay have unique properties that can be processed and used as an alternative. This paper evaluates the suitability of kaolin and sodium bentonite from southern Nigeria as fillers in the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit. Initial characterisation with the aid of an XRF analysis confirmed the presence of iron oxide impurity on both the local and foreign crude clay (Bavaria, Germany). Wet beneficiation processes were carried out on all clay samples with different reaction times, temperatures and amounts of reagents to reduce impurities. Reaction time at 8 h proved more effective as 77% of iron oxide were removed from both the local and foreign clays. The product properties of the beneficiated samples also revealed iron oxide impurities that reduce impurities from 5.62% to 1.41% for kaolin clay and from 9.84% to 2.77% for bentonite clay. Samples of crude oil and products were tested to determine their physical properties using an Emmetteller Brunauer, a scanning electron microscope, a viscometer, and a pH meter to reveal the impact of the benefits on compliance with API standards. Aside from the increase or decrease of particulate or grain size, the structural modifications reflect the impact of mineral clay in retaining exchangeable cations (nutrients). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of biomass into gasoline and diesel in bio-refinery process is an attractive process given its carbon neutral and sustainable nature. The economics of bio-refinery can be improved via integration with petroleum refinery, whereby bio-refinery intermediates can be processed into gasoline and diesel in the well-established petroleum refinery processing units, i. e., hydrocracking (HC) and fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) units. However, the integration of the new bio-refinery into the existing petroleum refinery may not give the optimum solution given the capacities constraints of the existing petroleum refinery upgrading units such as FCC and HC units. Thus, this work proposed a superstructure comprising new bio-refinery and new petroleum refinery block diagrams. The superstructure was formulated into mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model. The model was coded into general algebraic modeling system (GAMS) platform and solved using global optimum solver, LINDOGLOBAL. The model application was demonstrated using representative case study. The model results showed that the optimum integrated bio-refinery and petroleum refinery topology favors the upgrading of bio-refinery intermediates using petroleum refinery HC unit under one-through operation mode with a marginal increase in the profit of about 0.39% compared to the second optimum case of upgrading bio-refinery intermediate using petroleum refinery FCC unit under gasoline operation mode. Thus, the decision in selecting the most suitable topology can be made based on the market demand for gasoline and diesel as the topology that uses FCC maximizes gasoline production and the topology that uses HC maximizes diesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global demand for alternative renewable fuels and chemicals has fascinated researchers to look out for bio-oil derived from lignocellulosic biomass. The unmediated usage of bio-oil is restricted due to its undesirable qualities, including high oxygen content, high corrosivity, and low thermal stability. To enhance the properties of bio-oil, catalytic intervention is very much needed during pyrolysis or liquefaction. In addition, building a grassroot refinery for bio-oil processing is economically not viable. In the existing petroleum refineries, several valuable products (olefins, aromatics, LPG, gasoline, kerosene, and diesel) are being produced from low-value feedstock (crude oil, vacuum gas oil, and vacuum residue) to improve the economics. An alternative approach is proposed to co-process bio-oil with petroleum refinery fractions in the existing petroleum refineries. Lignocellulosic biomass is available in vast quantity globally so this approach might act as a substitute to decrease the dependence on fossil fuels in a sustainable way. Co-processing can be achieved by understanding the conversion processes and their mechanistic pathways. This study reviews the available literature on different thermochemical conversions, namely, fast pyrolysis, catalytic pyrolysis, hydrothermal/solvothermal liquefaction, and hydrodeoxygenated bio-oil and co-processing of this bio-oil through fluid catalytic cracking and hydrotreating. Co-processing challenges and research gaps have also been indicated for future exploration. [Display omitted] • Thermochemical processes for the production of bio-oil from lignocellulosic biomass. • Bio-oil to biofuels. • Adopting co-processing pathways to limit the use of crude oil. • Challenges to scale up co-processing in petroleum refineries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investment in the petroleum industry is heavily exposed to various risks due to their capital-intensive nature, high initial investment, and long-lived and highly specific asset. Risk assessment methods should consider the analysis and effect of key risks on profitability indicators of such investments. This study aims to develop a method for assessing and quantifying the impact of market risks on the feasibility of petroleum refinery investments by combining simulation and econometric methods. This method utilizes historical data of risk parameters and Latin Hypercube simulation to measure the probability distribution of profitability indicators. Then, using the data obtained from the simulation and employing the stepwise regression technique, calculate the impact of each of these risk factors on profitability indicators. The study applies the proposed method to a petroleum refining investment in Iran. The initial results showed that, at a 5% α level, NPVaR is in the negative probability distribution area and the project would not be attractive to investors. According to the calculations, diesel and gasoline crack spread fluctuations have a 90% and 8% share, respectively, in the variance of the NPV of the project. The calculations show that by eliminating or reducing the risk associated with diesel and gasoline crack spread changes, the project's standard deviation decreases from $9.5 billion to $1.6 billion, and the NPV of the project will enter the positive probability distribution area, making the project justifiable to shareholders. • This study develops a method for evaluating market risks impact on profitability indicators of petroleum refinery investment. • This method utilizes Latin Hypercube simulation measuring output probability distribution and calculates risk factors impact. • Reducing risk with diesel and gasoline crack spread decreases the standard deviation of NPV from $9.5 to $1.6 billion. • This risk assessment model could be applicable in other industries as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern United States (US) sustains a disproportionate burden of incident stroke and associated mortality, compared to other parts of the US. A large proportion of this risk remains unexplained. Petroleum production and refining (PPR) is concentrated within this region and emits multiple pollutants implicated in stroke pathogenesis. The relationship between residential PPR exposure and stroke has not been studied. We aimed to investigate the census tract-level association between residential PPR exposure and stroke prevalence for adults (⩾18 years) in seven southern US states in 2018. We conducted spatial distance- and generalized propensity score-matched analysis that adjusts for sociodemographic factors, health behavioral factors, and unmeasured spatial confounding. PPR was measured as inverse-distance weighted averages of petroleum production within 2.5 km or 5 km from refineries, which was strongly correlated with measured levels of sulfur dioxide, a byproduct of PPR. The prevalence of self-reported stroke ranged from 0.4% to 12.7% for all the census tracts of the seven states. People with low socioeconomic status and of Hispanic ethnicity resided closer to petroleum refineries. The non-Hispanic Black population was exposed to higher PPR, while the non-Hispanic White population was exposed to lower PPR. Residential PPR exposure was significantly associated with stroke prevalence. One standard deviation increase in PPR within 5 km from refineries was associated with 0.22 (95% confidence interval: 0.09, 0.34) percentage point increase in stroke prevalence. PPR explained 5.6% (2.4, 8.9) of stroke prevalence in the exposed areas. These values differed by states: 1.1% (0.5, 1.7) in Alabama to 11.7% (4.9, 18.6) in Mississippi, and by census tract-level: 0.08% (0.03, 0.13) to 25.3% (10.6, 40.0). PPR is associated with self-reported stroke prevalence, suggesting possible links between pollutants emitted from refineries and stroke. The increased prevalence due to PPR may differ by sociodemographic factors.

This paper presents a case study on the enhancement of environmental sustainability in a petroleum refining process based on an exergetic diagnostic approach. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) pinpointed crude oil production and electricity generating systems as the main sources of environmental unsustainability. The existing hot utility demand of the process is 78.4 MW with a temperature difference of 40°C, where the area efficiency of the existing design is 0.7254. The targeting stage sets the minimum approach temperature at 18.96 °C, thereby establishing the scope for potential energy savings. The suggested design option with a total energy demand of 109,048 kW, the same as the existing one but 72,699 kW higher than the target, needs a 17,873 m2 area in 38 exchangers. Notably, this requires 2,914 m2 less surface area, suggesting the practicality of the project with a limited number of modifications such as the repiping of the existing exchanger units. Moreover, to enhance further the sustainability of the petroleum refining process, the possible solutions such as the renewables were evaluated through various scenarios; thus, resulting in a reduction in the environmental impacts from 2.34E-06 to 2.27E-06 according to ReCiPe, and thus paving the way towards a sustainable petroleum refining process.

Objectives: To evaluate the health effects of benzene exposure among smoking subjects from a prolonged flaring incident that occurred at the British Petroleum (BP) refinery in Texas City, USA. Material and Methods: The study included smoking subjects who had been exposed and unexposed to the benzene release. Using medical charts, clinical data including white blood cell (WBC) counts, platelet counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the case of smoking subjects exposed to benzene was reviewed and analyzed. Results: A total of 791 tobacco smoking subjects (benzene-exposed: N = 733, unexposed: N = 58) were included. Benzene-exposed subjects had significantly higher levels of WBC (×103/μl) counts (8±2.1 vs. 7.5±1.6, p = 0.003) and platelet (×103/μl) counts (263.7±69.7 vs. 222.9±44.3, p = 0.000) as compared with the unexposed subjects. The mean hemoglobin, hematocrit, BUN, and creatinine levels did not differ significantly between the benzene-exposed and -unexposed smoking subjects. Serum levels of ALP (IU/l) was significantly elevated in the benzene-exposed subjects compared with the unexposed subjects (84.5±16.9 vs. 73.8±15.9, p = 0.002). Similarly, benzene-exposed subjects had significantly higher levels of AST and ALT as compared with those unexposed subjects. Conclusions: Despite a smoking history, residents exposed to benzene from the prolonged BP flaring incident experienced significant alterations in hematological and hepatic functions indicating their vulnerability to the risk of developing hepatic or blood related disorders. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(6):849–860

A double tube heat exchanger type has been designed and built as a sub-scale sample of shell and tube heat exchanger that has been used in Midland Refineries Company-Iraq in order to evaluate the effect of nanocoating in heat transfer performance of the experimental rig with and without nanocoating of tubes made from brass alloy B-111 have been tested in order to evaluate the heat transfer performance at different inner fluid temperature (70, 75, 80)°C, different volume flow rate of inner flow at (100, 200, 300) L/h and different volume flow rate of outer flow at (60, 120, 180, 240 300, 360 420) L/h. The results have showed that the performance of coated tube has enhanced the heat transfer rate from 15.9 to 41.82 percentage compare with uncoated tube due to enhancing in heat transfer coefficient of coated surface. The percentage of enhancement heat transfer rate has increased with the increase of the inlet inner fluid temperature. From the experimental results, it has been noted that the percentage of enhancement of heat transfer depends on the heat transfer coefficient of the tube outer surface so it has increased the percentage of enhancement of heat transfer until its value has exceeded the heat transfer coefficient of tube inner surface then the percentage of enhancement has started to decrease with volume flow rate of outer fluid increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of the petroleum refinery wastewater containing complex chemicals using biological processes is usually challenging because of the inhibition and/or toxicity of these matters when they serve as microbial substrates. In addition, performance modeling and cost evaluation of processes are essential for designing, construction, and forecasting future economic requirements of the petroleum refinery wastewater treatment plants (PRWWTPs). In this study, the performance and economics of conventional activated sludge (CAS) process replacing by sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technology in a two train PRWWTP were evaluated using simulation. The final treated euent characteristics for the PRWWTPs containing CAS + CAS and SBR + CAS processes under steady state conditions were studied and evolution of the main parameters of the final euent during the 30 days of simulation for these plants were investigated. Finally, the total project construction, operation labor, maintenance, material, chemical, energy, and amortization costs of these plants were estimated and compared. Results demonstrated that the project construction cost of PRWWTP containing CAS + CAS processes was lower than that of PRWWTP containing SBR + CAS processes and the energy and amortization costs for both plants were higher in comparison with the operation, maintenance, material, and chemical costs. Note that this study is a computer simulation and drawing general conclusions only on the basis of computer simulation may be insufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Heat and water recovery system (HWRS) is suggested to improve energy efficiency for a petroleum refinery. • Optimal HWRS with an HEN is synthesized using a superstructure based method. • HWRS achieves significant CO 2 reduction and cost savings with less water demand. Abstract Energy efficiency improvement is an effective strategy for CO 2 reduction as well as cost savings in the industrial sector. Petroleum refineries generate significant amounts of hot and wet flue gas containing CO 2 given their large fuel consumption due to energy intensive processes. In addition, for those locations where the climate is arid, sustainable water supply turns out to be a serious problem to meet the large demand for steam. This paper proposes to synthesize an optimal heat and water recovery system (HWRS) using a superstructure based method to achieve CO 2 reduction, cost savings, and water recovery all simultaneously. The water recovery rate is obtained using Aspen Plus® and the HEN is designed by formulating an MINLP problem and solving it using GAMS. As a result, the HWRS could achieve 4.348% CO 2 reduction and 28 k$/day of cost savings with 29% lower water demand from the desalination plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Treat real petroleum refinery wastewater through electrocoagulation, and adsorption, individually, and in hybrid process. • The hybrid process outperformed individual processes in removing COD, TSS, and Turbidity. • 82 % of COD, 98.64 % of TSS, and 96.49 % of turbidity were removed by hybrid process after 20 min with 4 mA/cm2 and 0.5 g/l of PAC. • The hybrid treatment emerges as a promising solution for integration into the Baraki Refinery, as a tertiary treatment. • The quality of the treated effluent complies with the Algerian National Discharge Standards. In the Algiers refinery's effluent treatment plant (ETP), conventional methods fall short in handling highly concentrated liquid effluents, especially in biological treatment. Consequently, there's an urgent need for advanced pre-treatment. This study investigated the efficacy of a hybrid adsorption electrocoagulation (AD-EC) process for treating Algiers refinery effluent. The study focused on assessing the AD-EC method's capacity to remove crucial contaminants: COD, turbidity, and TSS. In the EC process, aluminum electrodes were used, and activated carbon was the adsorbent. Unfavorable operational conditions were applied for hybrid AD-EC processes including the adsorbent dosage, current density, and electrolysis duration. The SEM/EDS and BET were employed to analyze the solid generated. The result indicated that the hybrid process presented an economy of the treatment time, and was well efficient in removing COD, TSS, and turbidity. The treatment resulted in removing 82 % of COD, 96.5 % of turbidity, and 98.64 % of TSS, all well within the specified range of discharge limits set by Algeria. Likewise, these results confirm a synergistic effect between AD and EC. Moreover, this hybrid approach offers potential as a practical tertiary treatment step, enhancing the effluent quality and overall biological treatment efficiency, and providing a promising solution to the ETP. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]