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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious threat to mental well-being both for patients who have suffered from coronavirus disease and for medical workers of this period. The difference in perceptions about COVID-19 in patients and those who care for them reflects the peculiarities of assessing the coronavirus pandemic and their own coping capabilities. Objectives: The aim of the research was to compare the perceptions about COVID-19 in patients and medical professionals during the pandemic. Methods: A Short questionnaire of Disease Perception (E. Broadbent) was used to study patients' perceptions about COVID-19 disease. The same questionnaire was modified for the perceptions about the COVID-19 pandemic to study the peculiarities of the perceptions about COVID-19 by medical professionals. The study was conducted from January 2021 to November 2022. The sample consisted of 314 medical workers (57 men and 255 women), whose average age was 36.97±11.93, and 390 patients (64 men and 326 women), whose average age was 28.58±10.74. 35 people (11%) of the surveyed medical workers worked in the red zone. Results: Medical professionals and patients tend to assess the impact of the pandemic on life in the same way. However, according to medical professionals, the COVID-19 pandemic will last longer than according to patients (4.93±2.81 vs 3.18±2.29, p=0.000). Doctors assess their ability to control the pandemic significantly worse than patients assess their disease as a result of coronavirus infection (2.82±2.28 vs 5.30±2.88, p=0.000). Medical workers have a worse assessment of the effectiveness of the measures taken to combat the pandemic (4.75±2.63 vs 5.50±2.67, p=0.000). Doctors are less likely to find symptoms of coronavirus (2.88±2.32 vs 4.98±2.75, p=0.000) and less concerned about the spread of COVID-19 (3.75±2.55 vs 4.20±2.63, p=0.023). Whereas patients have a worse understanding of what COVID-19 is (6.32±2.87 vs 5.52±2.83, p=0.000), and they believe that COVID-19 affects their emotional state to a greater extent than doctors did (3.60±2.66 vs 4.39±2.90, p=0.000). Conclusions: Thus, the specifics of the perceptions about COVID-19 may largely depend on whether a person is faced with a coronavirus in the role of a patient or a medical worker. The emotional state of patients is more affected by the pandemic combined with a worse understanding of COVID-19, while medical workers feel less control and tend to regard the measures taken to combat the pandemic as less effective. Disclosure: Research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Since the COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on the psychological state of the population, the individual experience of COVID-19 disease may affect the content of perceptions about coronavirus in those who have been ill with it. Objectives: The aim of the research was to study the connection between patients' experience of the disease and their perceptions about COVID-19. Methods: A Short questionnaire of Disease Perception (E. Broadbent) was used to study patients' perceptions about COVID-19 disease. The wording "disease" was replaced with "COVID-19 disease". The study was conducted from January 2021 to November 2022. The sample consisted of 390 patients (64 men and 326 women), whose average age was 28.58±10.74. Results: The subjective assessment of the duration of COVID-19 disease and its impact on the patient's life is higher if the patient is still sick with COVID-19 (r=0.340, p=0.008; r=0.312, p=0.000), in a more severe form (r=0.341, p=0.000; r=0.298, p=0.000), less satisfied with the attitude of medical workers during illness (r=0.151, p=0.003; r=0.143, p=0.005), more afraid for the health of their loved ones (r=-0.194, p=0.000; r=-0.181, p=0.000). At the same time, greater concern about COVID-19 and a greater assessment of its impact on the emotional state is associated with patients' fear for the health of loved ones (r=-0.267, p=0.000; r=-0.242, p=0.000) and more severe course of the disease (r=0.107, p=0.035; r=0.126, p=0.013). Less sense of control in a COVID-19 disease situation is associated with a more severe course of the disease and greater fear for the health of loved ones (r=-0.174, p=0.001; r=0.154, p=0.002). Conclusions: Thus, whether the patient has recovered after COVID-19 or not yet, how severe this disease was, how satisfied he was with the attitude of medical workers towards him during the illness and how much he fears for the health of loved ones during the pandemic, is related to such perceptions about COVID-19 disease as an assessment of the disease duration, its impact on life, emotional state, concern about one's own illness and understanding of its nature. Disclosure: Research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly become a stressful event for medical workers, so the aim of this research was to study the pandemic-specific working conditions that may be associated with the professional burnout of medical workers in Russia. Objectives: To study the pandemic-specific working conditions that may be associated with the professional burnout of medical workers in Russia. Methods: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure the level of professional burnout. It was filled out by medical workers from January 2021 to November 2022. The sample consisted of 314 medical workers (57 men and 255 women), whose average age was 36.97±11.93. According to the level of education, the sample included specialists with secondary general education (4.14%), with secondary special education (19.4%), with incomplete higher education (11.46%), with higher education (59.87%) and PhD (5.1%). 35 people (11%) of the surveyed medical workers worked in the red zone. Results: Working in the red zone is significantly associated with Emotional Exhaustion (p=0.002) and Depersonalization (p=0.002), but not with a Reduction in Professionalism. The working conditions of medical workers who were significantly associated simultaneously with Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization and Reduction of professionalism (respectively): (1) Lack of confidence in support from the health system and the state in case of illness (r=0.170, p=0.002; r=0.202, p=0.000; r=-0.171, 0. 002); (2) Inability to meet the usual personal needs (daily routine, nutrition, communication with loved ones) as employment increases at work (r=0.200, p=0.000; r=0.154, p=0.006; r=-0.186, 0. 001); (3) Lack of confidence in their own professional competence in the fight against COVID-19 due to lack of knowledge about COVID-19 (r=0.202, p=0.000; r=0.148, p=0.009; r=-0.211, 0. 000); (4) Lack of confidence in their own effectiveness in the fight against COVID-19 due to the increase in the volume of work and the expansion of the scope of professional responsibilities (r=0.234, p=0.000; r=0.152, p=0.007; r=-0.177, 0. 002); (5) Lack of access to up-to-date information about COVID-19 (r=0.190, p=0.001; r=0.158, p=0.005; r=-0.140, 0. 013). The Emotional Exhaustion scale is also associated with the fear of getting infected and getting sick with COVID-19 (r=0.125; p=0.026), as well as the lack of quick access to testing when COVID-19 symptoms appear (r=0.169; p=0.003). Conclusions: Thus, not only work in the red zone, but also many specific working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic can become a provocateur factor for the deterioration of the emotional state of medical workers. Disclosure: Research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Many medical workers suffered from severe professional burnout while working in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, but few of them had the opportunity to find psychological help. Objectives: The aim of the research was to study the relationship between emotional burnout and self-help strategies in medical professionals during the pandemic. Methods: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure the level of professional burnout. It was filled out by medical workers from January 2021 to November 2022. The sample consisted of 314 medical workers (57 men and 255 women), whose average age was 36.97±11.93. According to the level of education, the sample included specialists with secondary general education (4.14%), with secondary special education (19.4%), with incomplete higher education (11.46%), with higher education (59.87%) and PhD (5.1%). 35 people (11%) of the surveyed medical workers worked in the red zone. Results: When medical workers experience severe Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization, they often try to help themselves by drinking alcohol (r=0.156; p=0.005; r=0.184; p=0.001), eating (r=0.227; p=0.000; r=0.151; p=0.007), taking medications (r=0.204; p=0.000; r=0.212; p=0.005), solitude (r=0.204; p=0.000; r=0.133; p=0.019), watching TV series (r=0.173; p=0.002; r=0.146; p=0.01). With an increase in the Reduction of professional skills, medical workers also eat more (r=-0.148; p=0.009) and try to learn something new, engage in self-development (r=-0.137; p=0.015). It is important to note that the desire to seek psychological help is associated only with Emotional Exhaustion (r=0.121, p=0.032), that is, he/she may be aware at an early stage of professional burnout, when the symptoms of depersonalization and reduction of professional skills have not yet occurred. Conclusions: Thus, all the considered self-help methods are already used with pronounced symptoms of professional burnout, but do not lead to its pronounced decrease. It is important to note that seeking psychological help is possible with awareness of emotional exhaustion, but not with depersonalization and reduction of professional skills. Disclosure: Research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Work in the severe conditions of the pandemic has become a risk factor for the deterioration of the medical workers' psychological state, which together can lead to professional burnout and, as a consequence, to professional mistakes (Pervichko, Konyukhovskaya, 2020). Objectives: The aim of the research was to study the connection between personal factors of medical workers and professional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The degree of professional burnout was assessed using Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach, 2000; Vodopianova, Starchenkova, 2008), HEXACO Personality Inventory (short version) was used to study personality traits (Ashton, Lee, 2007; Egorova, et al., 2019). The study was conducted from May 2020 to October 2022. The sample consisted of 197 medical workers (32 men and 165 women), whose average age was 38.85±12.05. Results: Honesty as a personality trait is negatively significantly associated with emotional exhaustion (r=-0.268, p=0.000), depersonalization (r=-0.323, p=0.000) and positively associated with a smaller reduction in professionalism (r=0.290, p=0.000). Emotionality in medical workers is positively significantly associated with emotional exhaustion (r=0.358, p=0.000) and depersonalization (r=0.243, p=0.001) and with a greater reduction in professionalism (r=-0.380, p=0.000). Extroversion is negatively associated with emotional exhaustion (r=-0.478, p=0.000) and depersonalization (r=-0.376, p=0.000) and positively associated with a smaller reduction in professional achievements (r=0.566, p=0.000). Benevolence and conscientiousness reveal negative associations with depersonalization (r=-0.248, p=0.001; r=-0.180, p=0.012) and positive associations with a smaller reduction in professionalism (r=0.190, p=0.008; r=0.301, p=0.000). Conclusions: Thus, the state of emotional exhaustion during burnout is associated with greater emotionality, less honesty and extroversion. Whereas depersonalization and a greater negative assessment of one's own professional competence and productivity is associated with less honesty, more emotionality, less extroversion, benevolence and consciousness. Disclosure: Research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises the experience gained in LUKOIL Neftohim Burgas refinery with the production of road asphalt from blends containing straight run and hydrocracked vacuum residues. The effect of diluting of the bitumen blends with fluid catalytic cracking gas oils and H-Oil heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO) and straight run vacuum gas oil (SRVGO) is discussed. The influence of sulphur treatment of the bitumen blends on oxidative ageing and H2S release is argued. The impact of bitumen softening point on the oxidation rate was found to be described by a power function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from 26 vacuum residue hydrocracking (VR HC) laboratory and commercial experiments were used to model VR HC selectivity curves employing empirical functions and boundary conditions and applying the non-linear least-squares methods. It was found that VR HC products: gas, naphtha, and kerosene can be very well modelled as stable primary and secondary products. The VGO can be modelled as an unstable primary product, while the atmospheric gas oil is best modelled as an unstable primary and secondary product. The diesel yield in laboratory and commercial VR HC conditions is very well modelled as a stable primary and secondary product. The proposed empirical functions and the non-linear least-squares method could be used to test whether a VR HC product is a result of primary and secondary reactions and whether this product further participates in secondary reactions with the progress of the hydrocracking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium content in the vacuum residue was found an issue in the LUKOIL Neftohim Burgas refinery because it led to an increased level of Na on the ebullated bed vacuum residue H-Oil hydrocracking catalyst and embarrassed the use of molecularly dispersed nano catalyst HCAT. It was found that the sodium content in the vacuum residue depended on the efficiency of crude oil desalting unit and on the NaOH injection rate to the desalting crude oil to control the level of chlorides on the top of the distillation columns in the crude distillation unit. Maintaining crude oil desalting efficiency of about 90% and optimisation of NaOH injection can provide vacuum residue sodium content in the acceptable level of 15-20 ppm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rheological property viscosity of H-Oil Unconverted hydrocracked vacuum residue (HCVR) has been followed from the start-up of the H-Oil hydrocracker in LNB refinery in 2015 till June of 2020. It has varied by a factor of ten while the vacuum residue conversion has varied between 58 and 88%. Increasing H-Oil vacuum residue conversion is associated by increasing of the unconverted hydrocracked vacuum residue viscosity, softening point and Fraass breaking point. The addition of Fluid catalytic cracking slurry oil (FCC SLO) to the HCVR decreases the Fraass breaking point but worsens oxidative ageing and increases the loss of mass. The addition of sulphur in amount of 1.5% to the blends HCVR-FCC SLO-OSRVR (Oxidised straight run vacuum residue) decreases the oxidative ageing rate and increases the softening point of the treated bitumen blends due to C7 asphaltene content increasing. The effect of sulphur addition to the bitumen blends on oxidative ageing rate decreasing and softening point augmentation linearly diminishes with amplification of the OSRVR content in the road bitumen blend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is published about the crackability of the heavy oils derived from the ebullated bed vacuum residue hydrocracking. That is why eight heavy oils derived from a commercial H-Oil hydrocracker and from laboratory residual oil hydrocracking units were catalytically cracked on a commercial Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst in a laboratory Advanced cracking evaluation (ACE) unit. The cracking experiments were performed at Catalyst-to-oil (CTO) ratio variation between 3.5 and 7.5 wt./wt. at a reaction temperature of 527°C. Along with the H-Oil derived heavy oils virgin Vacuum gas oils (VGOs) and a blend of virgin VGO and H-Oil VGO were also cracked. It was found that the dominant factor controlling the FCC feed crackability is the nitrogen content. It was also found that the reaction order of the FCC feedstocks can vary between 1.35 and 2.15. The lower reactive high nitrogen containing H-Oil derived VGO exhibits a lower reaction order and higher conversion dependence on the CTO ratio alteration. While the conversion was found to depend on the nitrogen content, the coke on the catalyst was found to correlate with the density of the studied 12 FCC feedstocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The restrictive factor for maximisation of Unconverted vacuum tower bottom (UVTB) from ebullated bed hydrocracking process - H-Oil technology in bitumen production is its low resistance to hardening, determined by using a Rolling thin film oven (RTFO). The limitation in LUKOIL Neftohim Burgas (LNB) industrial production is up to 37% UVTB in blends with air blown straight run vacuum residue (SRVR). The intention to increase UVTB content in bitumen blend passes through a dedicated evaluation of available approaches for their effectiveness and contribution for redirecting hydrocracking residue from low cost, hard to produce, high sulphur fuel oil to more valuable bitumen production. Several chemical components are tested and neither Heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO) from hydrocracking of vacuum residue, nor slurry oil from Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), nor asphaltene fraction from solvent deasphalting, nor antioxidant can inhibit softening point (SP) measured by the ring and ball (R&B) method increase due to resistance to hardening at 163°C test. A slightly positive result is assigned to SRVR addition but even that it can not lower the SP increase of UVTB to bellow specification required value of 9°C. Two substances reveal significant reduction in UVTB SP increase: 8% atactic polypropylene (aPP) is capable to obtain 5.4°C and elemental sulphur - 6°C with only 0.23% additionally bonded sulphur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

26 vacuum residual oils (VROs) were characterised and hydrocracked in the LUKOIL Neftohim Burgas H-Oil ebullated bed unit. The VRO properties: contents of saturates, sulphur, nitrogen, and asphaltenes were found to affect both feed reactivity and its propensity to form sediments during hydrocracking. The saturates, nitrogen and asphaltenes contents negatively affected feedstock reactivity and increased the feedstock propensity to form sediments. The sulphur content had a positive effect on both conversion increase and sediment content decrease. The observed results are in line with the reports from other researchers concerning the effect of saturates, nitrogen and asphaltenes contents on reactivity and sediment formation propensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern heavy oil conversion technologies are generally based on two processes: catalytic cracking and thermal cracking. They are the backbone of the modern refining business. Considering that the feedstock quality is the single variable that most affects the heavy oil conversion unit performance, and that the heavy oils are very complex mixtures, consisting of myriad components we have focused on the published results about catalytic and thermal cracking of individual hydrocarbons (n-alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkyl aromatics and polynuclear aromatics). The catalytic cracking proceeds through carbocation chain reactions, while the thermal cracking based processes proceed via free radical chain reactions. The reactivity of different hydrocarbon classes in terms of catalytic and thermal cracking increase with enlargement of molecular weight and follows the order: n-alkanes (alkanes) ˂ cyclic alkanes (naphthenes) ˂ alkylbenzenes ˂ naphtheno-aromatics. The polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are the least reactive individual hydrocarbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with reactivity of heavy oil SARA (saturates, aromatics, resins, asphaltenes) fractions during thermal and catalytic cracking, and the relations of heavy oil SARA composition to conversion level in both thermal and catalytic cracking. It was found that reactivity decreases in the order: saturates ˃ aromatics ˃ resins ˃ asphaltenes. The highest reactivity of the heavy oil saturate fraction was due to its lowest activation energy. During thermal cracking based processes, a definite order in the reactivity of the different SARA fractions was not observed. The reason for the disorder in the thermal reactivity of the different SARA fractions might be rooted in the lack of order in the content of the free radical accelerators naturally presenting in the different heavy oil SARA fractions. We suppose that in the presence of free radical accelerators like peroxides for example the higher hydrogen content heavy oils and oil fractions would achieve a higher thermal conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a study to detect potential source of contamination of cooling water in the refinery plants by applying the methods of gas chromatography. This study is conducted to analyse the cooling water heat exchange equipment performance of two refinery units, bound in a common cooling water system and the water supply unit. Main pollutants of cooling water are C6-C12 arenes, C8-C17 n-alkanes and iso-C15-iso-C18 hydrocarbons. The concentration of individual contaminants varied from < 0.1 to 31 mg/l. It was found that the total pollutants concentrations were equal to 420 mg/l. Characteristic parameters benzene/toluene, benzene/xylenes, toluene/ethylbenzene, Σ (odd alkanes)/Σ (even alkanes), iso-C15/n-C14 and iso-C16/n-C15 were the most important ratios and they were used for identification of the source of the contamination of cooling water system. Comparing chromatographic profiles and interpreting quantitative results, the source of contamination of cooling water system was identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]