• Economies of scale: Material streams targeted for inte - gration may be a good fit, but not available at a large enough capacity to justify the cost/complexity of the integration. • Logistical challenges: The cost of installing logistical facilities and transporting material between sites can have a significant negative impact on project economics. When developing integration opportunities, it is impor - tant to recognise and mitigate these knowledge gaps early in project development to optimise the opportunity selec - tion process. A structured knowledge transfer process is a valuable tool to integrate available knowledge across teams and organisations so that ‘known unknowns’ can be addressed and ‘unknown unknowns’ can be uncovered. This process should involve stakeholders from all involved entities, including R&D, technology, operations, mainte - nance, management, and financial personnel. A Harry Ha, Technical Fellow, Process Engineering, Energy & Chemicals, Fluor Canada Ltd., harry.ha@fluor. com The first ‘knowledge gap’ that needs to be filled is the chemistry of feedstocks and final products. Knowledge of each molecule’s complete footprint through the entire pro - Modelling the processes at molecular level will carry the chemistry from feed to products, ensuring the product’s quality and production cessing scenario is crucial for process design and opera - tions. Modelling the processes at a molecular level will carry the chemistry from feed to products, ensuring the product’s quality and production. Second, technologies that lead to the individual petro - chemical products need to be better understood. Typically, more than one path can be used to produce the targeted products from selected feedstocks. Knowledge of available technologies, in terms of maturity, consumption of materi - als and energy, catalyst yields and life, product specifica - tions, and potential Capex and Opex, is all instrumental when selecting different technology pathways. Special consideration should be given to retrofitting exist - ing units for revamp projects to achieve the best economic outcome with minimal costs, such as changing hydrocrack - ing or FCC yield patterns to produce more naphtha and C3 olefins to produce more targeted products. Last but not least, knowledge of implementing synergies between process and utility systems should be underlined. Studies of shared infrastructure and storage, logistics, and energy cost should be conducted to synergise the pro - cess unit and utility systems. Better understanding of the interactions of materials and energy handling supplies and needs will help optimise the entire system to save Capex and Opex.
improve the service life. While specific analysis is often unit specific, there is a great deal of learning from collaboration within networks on maintenance reliability issues. Q What ‘knowledge gaps’ need to be filled with expand - ing refinery/petrochemical integration and complexity? A Mark Schmalfeld, Global Marketing Manager, Refining Catalyst, BASF, mark.schmalfeld@basf.com Expanding refinery and petrochemical integration and com - plexity involves addressing several key knowledge gaps to ensure efficient and profitable operations. One of the primary areas requiring attention is the development of advanced process simulation tools. These tools need to accurately model integrated operations at a molecular level, providing detailed insights into the carbon number breakdown from crude assays to blending and petrochemical units. Enhancing knowledge on optimising feedstock selection to balance refinery and petrochemical needs is crucial. This involves identifying the best feed streams for petrochemical production, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, and gasoil, and understanding how different feedstocks impact overall operations and product quality. Effective integration strategies are also vital. Identifying and implementing strategies that maximise margins and improve competitiveness is crucial for integrated opera - tions. This includes exploring recent technologies and methods to reduce operational costs, improve efficiency, and enhance product quality. Understanding market dynamics and how they impact the value of fuels and chemicals is essential for aligning production with market demand and optimising product revenues. Addressing the environmental impact of inte - grated operations and developing technologies to minimise the ecological footprint is necessary for regulatory compli - ance and sustainability. Managing the increased opera - tional complexity and interdependency of integrated sites requires developing tools and methodologies to manage intricate mass balance and product stream management. By filling these knowledge gaps, the industry can better navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by refinery-petrochemical integration, leading to more effi - cient, profitable, and sustainable operations. A Chris Ploetz, Process Technology Manager, Burns & McDonnell, cploetz@burnsmcd.com Although multiple, large, integrated refinery/petrochemi - cal complexes have been built around the world, there is a learning curve for companies embarking on an integra - tion programme if they have previously operated as a pure refiner or pure petrochemical operator. Several com - mon challenges that can complicate integration initiatives include the following: • Material specifications: Tight feed specifications on the petchem side may require refiners to upgrade side products and focus on trace components that are not currently man - aged. Refiners may not have operational experience and history maintaining different/tighter specs on side products as crude assays shift.
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PTQ Q3 2025
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