Automatic Crude Switching: myth or reality? Filippo Trivella – Alpha Process Control srl

Agenda About Motor Oil Hellas About Alpha Process Control Crude switching Methodology Case Study APC implementation at MOH Overview Results Lessons learned

About Alpha Process Control Engineering Consulting Company specialised in Process Performance Optimization Experts in the implementation of APC strategies to the Refining and Petrochemical Industry And now Filippo will give you a short overview of the methodology used for crude switching Technology Independent to maximize flexibility of implementation AS Channel Partner in EMEA

About Motor Oil Hellas MOH was founded in 1970 by Vardinoyiannis Group. Located near the city of Corinth in Greece One of the largest and most flexible Refineries in the Eastern Mediterranean In full operation since 1972 and gradually expanded to an industrial complex of over 30 licensed processes; the major unit blocks are as follows: 2 CDU, 2 VDU, FCC, CCR, LUBES PLANT, MHC, HPU, 3 HDT, VISBREAKER, MTBE, HF ALKYLATION, TIP, 4 SRU, DIMERSOL Nominal capacity of 173,000 barrels/day But only after 1972 full operation, production of base lubes, 1975 CDU,1978 reformer, 1980 FCC, 2005 MHC along with HPU, 2010 new CDU

About the Opportunity Implementation of Advanced Process Control (APC) Advanced Solution APC portfolio (Profit Suite) Profit Controller: multivariable predictive control technology Profit Sensor Pro: online estimation of product qualities Profit Expert: monitoring of APC performances Competitive Bid with other technologies Price was a differentiator

The Process – Crude Distillation Crude separated in valuable products: LPG Gasoline Kerosene Diesel Kero LGO HGO FEED HN Reid

The Customer Requirements Refinery frequently changing crude type Every 3-4 days More than 150 switches a year (2 Crude Units) Crude quality not known Mixture of crudes In Manual crude switch was taking 8-16 hours High frequency of off-spec product of significant give-away Automatic Crude switch Reduce 50% time to complete switch Improve quality control Significant potential benefits (ROI of 3-4 months)

Benefits of APC Traditional APC NO APC MPC

The myth about crude switching Quality predictions are not accurate during switches Disturbances are too fast for APC Only operators know what to do! There are not enough details about the crude Metti foto dell’acropoli???

Project History Project executed in 2013 Completed on schedule From March to September Two crude units and one gas plant Project was extremely succesful Conducted rigorous post-audit with performance guarantees MOH selected Alpha as single source provider of APC MOH now has a Site License for Profit Suite Vacuum FCC Hydrocracker CCR HDS ……

U1100 – Ural to Kirkuk No APC OFF SPEC © 2012 Alpha Process Control srl. Confidential information. The change in crude quality form Ural to Kirkuk is significant. Without APC and inferentials the operators adjusted the yields several times until it got back on specification. For more than 24 h the disel distillation was of spec With APC the products are always on specification even during the switch itself With APC ON SPEC

U7100 – Basrah to Arabian Light No APC This is another very interesting example on the new crude unit with a change from Basrah to Arabian light. The controller identifies from the changes on the column temperature profile that the yield on products in order to keep the same quality should be reduced and that is what is happening. With APC

Reduction of more than 70% - products always on SPEC U1100 – Ural to Kirkuk PRODUCT ARE ALWAYS ON SPEC This graph illustrates the prevous ones togethsr .With automated crude switch the products are always on spec TIME (min) Reduction of more than 70% - products always on SPEC

Quality control: Diesel specification NO APC: standard deviation 6degC WITH APC: standard deviation 4.3 degC This figure shows the distance from the operating target before and after the implmenetaion of APC. The implementation of APC resulted in a signficant reduction of the variability of the quality spefification Diesel 95%ASTM: distance from target 6 months of operation More than 50 crude switches

Exceeded Performance Guarantees values: ROI <2 monhts Audited Results APC is meeting expected results Better control of product quality (reduction of variability of more than 40%) Yield maximization of most valuable products (e.g. naphtha reduced by more than 1%) Crude switch time reduction: product are now ALWAYS on spec The results are audited regularly and show that the quality variaiblity has been reduced by more than 40% and products yields have been optimized With APC product qualities are now always on specification also during the switches Exceeded Performance Guarantees values: ROI <2 monhts

Summary Build a long-lasting relationship with customer DELIVER the benefits and PROVE the results Use best in class technologies Honeywell key player in APC market Critical domain knowledge Alpha has a significant expertise in the O&G sector