Scopes for Impromements on Preheat Trains of Crude Refineries Subject to Fouling

Crudes processed in refineries are continuously subject to variation based on availability and economics of crudes in the market. Recent discoveries on the large reserves of tight oil in the US have further influenced the techno-economics of crude refining [1]. Understanding the fouling behaviors of new crude blends, evaluating technical feasibilities of processing such crude blends and quantifying economic desirability of cleaning actions, are some of the topics that are continuously debated among plant operators, engineers and managers. Optimizing operations of preheat trains subject to fouling have attracted a wide research interest [2]–[5]. Recently, we presented a comprehensive methodology on managing operation of crude preheat trains subject to fouling [6]. In this paper, we extend the fouling analysis to a US refinery that processes new crude blends including blends of tight oil. We have identified scenarios where data reconciliation plays a vital role; economic benefits of historical cleaning benefits under different cleaning actions were then quantified and key recommendations were discussed. SmartPM^TM software tool from IHS Downstream Research was used in this study.