shrinking, as an important new component in the refinery configuration of the future. For this reason, conventional residue cat cracking technol - ogy has been widely employed in today’s refining scheme at its full technology limit (i.e. high severity conditions to maxi - mise the conversion of residue into propylene and aromatics). Processing heavy feedstocks at such a condition requires specific design know-how and optimisations as well as some specific technology features to manage secondary cracking through different recycling options. However, a technology breakthrough is necessary to transform the refinery’s original gasoline producer(s) into a petrochemical conversion unit. Some of the technology breakthroughs pertain to over - coming the operating limits of conventional riser technol - ogy (such as back-mixing and overcracking). To turn these challenges into opportunities, global cooperation, as seen with the alliance comprising Saudi Aramco, ENEOS, King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals and Axens/ Technip Energies, has developed the previously men - tioned proprietary High-Severity Fluid Catalytic Cracking (HS-FCC) process that has been described extensively in the trade press, including PTQ and Digital Refining. 6 Conclusion With all the challenges, opportunities, and execution strate - gies discussed, there is large-scale adoption of automation technology, including AI,nmachine learning, and cloud- based services. Automation increases human-machine
interaction at facilities with high sustainability rankings, leading to better returns. Simultaneously, data generation is undeniably increasing at an unmanageable rate now that efforts are being made to connect every equipment asset to the cloud (compressors, pumps). However, we are under no illusion that all important or yet-to-be-seen factors and trends in the downstream industry have been covered. Redistribution of capital in the downstream industry could inevitably need to be shared with a wider array of energy sources, including LNG, green hydrogen, and biochemicals. Regardless, all indications are that the fossil fuel-based refining and petrochemical could continue to dominate the energy markets well beyond 2050. References 1 J A Melero, J Iglesius, A Garcia, Biomass as renewable feedstock in starndard refinery units. Feasibility, opportunities and challenges, Energy & Environmental Science , no. 6, 2012. 2 R Lodeng, H Bergen, Co-hydroprocessing of Bio-oils to Middle Distillates, Trondheim Norway, 2021. 3 C Dorado, C Mullen, A Boateng, H-ZSM5 catalyzed co-pyrolysis of biomass and plastics, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering , vol.2, no.2, 301-11, 3 Feb 2014. 4 A Alvarez-Majmutov, S Badoga, J Chen, J Monnier, Y Zhang, Co-Processing of Deoxygenated Pyrolysis Bio-Oil with Vacuum Gas Oil through Hydrocracking, Energy & Fuels , vol.35, no.12, 9983-9993, 2021. 5 R D Allen, J I Martin, Chemical Recycling of PET, American Chemical Society, 2021. 6 HS-FCC is a mark of Axens.
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