you see refiners adopting beyond 2030? To what extent can renewable feed pretreatment be simplified (if at all)? A Arun Arora, arun.arora@lummustech.com, Daniel Gillis, Daniel.gillis@lummustech.com, Theo Maesen, tmae- sen@chevron.com, Chevron Lummus Global An FCC will convert biomass into renewable naphtha, for which there are policy incentives in some parts of the world. Due to feedstock volume limitations, the size of an FCC typically limits renewable gasoline production to co- processing. In most parts of the world, stand-alone opera- tions are more policy-enabled than the co-processing of biomass and fossil-derived feedstocks. Since the feedstock volumes suffice to hydroprocess biomass into renewable diesel and jet in a stand-alone operation, hydroprocessing is usually preferred over FCC. Renewable feed pretreatment typically consists of multi- ple unit operations to make RBD (refine, bleach and degum) grade biomass. An alternate approach is a hydrothermal water wash to hydrolyse most of the gums. How effec- tive this simpler approach is will depend on the feedstock portfolio. A Nieves Álvarez, Senior Advisor in Oil Refining/ Petrochemical Technology, MERYT Catalysts & Innovation, nalverez@meryt-chemical.com As always, it will depend on what products we want to obtain in 2030 from the FCC and the kind of biofeed to the unit. Although we use renewables as feed, it will have the same principle as fossil fuels, the carbon/hydrogen ratio of the feed vs C/H of the product that will be obtained. So, if we want to obtain olefins, biofeed to the FCC should be hydrotreated to be able to convert it unless the biofeed is composed of paraffins, which so far does not happen. Most of the compounds obtained from the biofeed have a high content of aromatics or compounds with a carbon greater than 75% in their composition. These compounds gener- ate a lot of coke in FCC or aromatics even more complex, and again the FCC feed will be hydrotreated before enter- ing FCC units. Moreover, do not forget that CO2 emissions should be captured and/or transformed into other products. A Charles Brandl, Senior Director, Customer Marketing, Honeywell UOP, charles.brandl@honeywell.com The most noticeable option for refiners adapting and maximising renewable and biomass feeds would be the increased availability of these feeds. As innovative tech- nologies such as hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), Fischer- Tropsch, and other pyrolysis oil technologies are developed and commercialised, these feeds will become more eco- nomically available. As refiners continue to drive for net zero targets, they can take advantage of the FCC unit as an ideal existing asset and a robust process to effectively co-process these non-fossil-based feeds at an increasingly higher amount, much beyond the typical 5 vol%. In FCC, pretreating the renewables feeds such that the physical properties (viscosity and temperature) are ideal for effec- tive atomisation of the feeds within the riser is critical for complete conversion.
Lastly, predictive analytical tools that crunch large amounts of data are being adopted more widely, pro- vided the operator feels comfortable sharing their data. Solenis’ HexEval performance monitoring program for heat exchangers is an example of AI enabling decision-makers to identify, with confidence, which heat exchangers pose the greatest threat to reliable operation due to scale, corrosion, and/or fouling. Consequently, plant personnel can develop appropriate plans to optimise heat exchanger efficiency. Digital twins are another form of emerging AI that allows refiners to model the impact of process changes before implementation. With refinery operators striving to improve sustainability, for example, by reducing water use, these digital solutions are critical to ensuring that production, efficiency, and asset protection are not sacrificed in exchange for sustainabil - ity improvements. Reducing water use, for example, often increases scaling, corrosion, and fouling, which all nega- tively affect energy use, maintenance costs, and downtime. Seeing in real-time or via digital twins how each step change in water use reduction affects key performance indicators is powerful and readily available through industry leaders. A Charles Brandl, Senior Director, Customer Marketing, Honeywell UOP, charles.brandl@honeywell.com As the refining and petrochemical industry evolves to address challenges related to the energy transition, sustain- ability and digital transformation (digitalisation) are critical to be viable and competitive. Adoption of digital applications, including cloud-enabled solutions, continues to improve and deliver benefits to the industry. Digitalisation is transform - ing how we will run sustainable, reliable, safe plants in the future. Advanced analytics (machine learning/AI) is becom- ing an integral part of digitalisation efforts. Intelligent, AI-driven applications are at the core of the journey from automation to autonomous operations, enabling self-optimising applications, autonomously adjust- ing to different operating conditions and environments and orchestrating disparate applications to optimise the opera- tions. Adoption of AI technology is key to delivering on the promise. The commercial success will depend not just on the technology readiness (maturity) but also on the organ- isational readiness to deploy the applications and sustain the value delivered. This will entail focusing on workforce development and organisational structure that can drive change management, successfully scale up, and deliver value to the business. Simply bolting machine learning or AI solutions onto specific layers may help with engineering productivity but will not provide an optimisation step change or add mil- lions in new margins to your bottom line. For example, our Performance Services offer digital applications and consult- ing services that help our customers to run sustainable, safe, reliable, and optimum operations. Q Considering the growing interest in maximising renew- able and biomass feeds (including Fischer-Tropsch liquids) through the FCC, what are the most noticeable options
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PTQ Q2 2023
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