Tag: Refinery

Following the completion of expansion work on the ultra-sour gas Shah field in May 2023, production has been ramped up. Occidental, which owns 40% of the Shah project and which operates the field in conjunction with ADONC Sour Gas, reported in July that it had achieved record output at Shah, with gross gas sales reaching 722 million scfd in Q2 2023 (equivalent to 1.1 billion scf/d of raw gas, which is 23% H2S and 10% CO 2 ). The expansion has taken processing capacity at Shah to 1.45 billion scf/d and forms part of the UAE’s plans to achieve gas self-sufficiency by the end of the decade. The expansion was conducted by Saipem, who were awarded a $510 million contract in 2021 to expand output from 1.3 billion scf/d to the current 1.45 billion scf/d. Work was completed two months ahead of schedule, according to Occidental.

With the aid of a rigorous kinetic model for TGU hydrogenation reactors, incorporating catalyst deactivation mechanisms, designers and operators can forecast the life expectancy of reactor catalyst beds.

Comprimo and Ametek now offer the Analyser Air Control Technology (2ACT) Solution to the industry in which the information for the SRU air control is available 6-7 minutes earlier with the installation of an acid gas feed analyser-based feed forward control. This improvement to conventional SRU combustion air control systems enables operating companies to control their assets closer to design capacity at higher recovery efficiency and with fewer unscheduled outages.

The possible failure of refractory in a Claus unit is a concern to both licensors and operators of Claus units. Bob Poteet of WIKA discusses a novel and easy way to monitor the shell temperature of the Claus thermal reactor using proven technology and highlights the benefits a purge-less thermocouple system for high temperature measurement.

Debopam Chaudhuri of Fluor Daniel India Pvt Ltd and Michiel Baerends of Fluor B.V. Netherlands investigate how SO2 impacts the Claus furnace temperature in an SRU and the ways to mitigate it. This article studies the extent of quenching experienced in the Claus furnace with varying amounts of SO2 in the Claus feed. A case study is presented based on real operating data of a refinery Claus plant with a feed gas cocktail that includes substantial SO2 recovered from a regenerative flue gas desulphurisation unit.

The modern sulphur industry is in effect a response to the environmental problems created by the presence of sulphur compounds in oil and gas, and the consequent release of sulphur dioxide when they are burned. The tens of millions of tonnes extracted, formed, traded and used for sulphuric acid production every year would otherwise be entering the atmosphere and causing health issues, especially in major cities, or returning as acid rain. One of the most recent step changes in sulphur recovery has come from the extension of rules on sulphur content of fuels that have been commonplace for road vehicles for many years into the maritime transport sphere. The International Maritime Organisation has mandated a reduction in sulphur content of bunker fuels to 0.5% worldwide, and 0.1% in busy shipping regions that have become designated emissions control areas (ECAs). Because bunker fuels were made from refinery residues, they often had high concentrations of sulphur in them; the limit before 2020 was 3.5%. As a result, a recent paper by two climate scientists calculates that global SO2 emissions have dropped by as much as 10% since 2020 because of the IMO limits. Given that atmospheric sulphur dioxide is responsible for an estimated 20-90,000 preventable deaths per year, this is surely a good thing.

Kazakhstan’s oil and condensate output increased by 7% from 1.79 million bbl/d to 1.92 million bbl/d in early June after sour gas reinjection operations resumed at the Kashagan offshore oil and gas development following a recent outage, according to the Kazkah Energy Ministry. Reinjection of sour gas into two wells resumed on 8th June, enabling operator the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) to boost oil and condensate production at a large artificial island in Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea waters. Reinjection was paused on May 20th following the detection of sour gas during routine sampling and a subsequent integrity test. Kashagan normally produces about 300,000 barrels of oil per day. Kazakhstan expects Kashsgan to raise oil production this year to 18.2 million t/a from 12.7 million t/a in 2022.

Sulphur production continues to expand in the Middle East and China both from new refineries and major sour gas projects.

Suncor has selected Rich Kruger to be the company’s next president and CEO, effective from April 3rd, according to the company. Kruger will also join the Suncor board of directors. The announcement follows a search process conducted by a special committee of the board. Rich Kruger previously worked for ExxonMobil for 39 years, and was the chairman and CEO of Imperial Oil Ltd from 2013 through 2019 before retiring from the company, where he focused on safety, reliability and operational excellence. Kris Smith, who has been interim CEO since July 2022, will work with Kruger to ensure a smooth transition before assuming the role of Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, at the conclusion of Suncor’s annual general meeting on May 9, 2023. Alister Cowan, the current CFO, plans to retire but has offered to remain with the company through the end of the year to support the transition to Mr. Smith and to provide advisory services. Smith replaced previous CEO Mark Little, who resigned in July 2022 following investor pressure after a series of safety incidents and fatalities.

The sulphuric acid process is virtually carbon free and, as such, it is important to consider the energy requirements of the associated industrial complex before deciding upon what form the energy should be exported from the acid plant. In this article, Stefan Braeuner, Stefan Mohsler and Anne Mohsler of Metso Outotec use case studies to exemplify the need to fully analyse the local conditions at site before a decision is taken on a specific flowsheet.