Refiners generally strive to maximize the utilization of existing assets regardless of the economic climate. During periods of economic expansion, there is a strong incentive to increase throughput in order to capture favorable margins. During economic downturns, potential scenarios include consolidation of assets, maintaining flexibility to capture niche market opportunities and increasing the production of a key unit by-product, such as hydrogen from a reforming unit. One of the biggest challenges Refiners are facing is how to meet these objectives when capital budgets are limited. Revamp options that require significant turnaround implementation time are becoming less attractive as unit down time becomes increasingly expensive. Revamp options with limited turnaround scope are therefore preferred.

This presentation will highlight a number of innovative revamp options that expand the processing capabilities of an existing CCR Platforming unit at a fraction of the cost of traditional options. These revamp options include:

o Alternative catalyst solutions to meet revamp objectives without equipment modifications

o Reactor bypasses as a cost effective means to debottleneck key reactor circuit constraints

o Auxiliary reactor section heaters connected in parallel to existing heaters and constructed primarily before the implementation turnaround

o Radiant followed by convective heater design to avoid costly turnaround scope modifications to an existing reactor section heater

A case study showing how a refiner was able to revamp an existing CCR Platforming unit to achieve a 90% capacity increase above name plate utilizing revamp innovations will also be described.