Optimization of Modular Refinery Operations in Nigeria's Striping Section: An Update

Abstract

This chapter focused on optimization of petroleum refined products from conventional modular refinery operations in Nigeria through the processing of its residue to more valuable products such as liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha and diesel via a hydrocracker reactor. Petroleum refining includes processing of crude raw material in different physical and chemical processes, thereby yielding several products cuts. Thus, the processes of refining crude oil are chemical engineering based in addition to other suitable facilities present in crude oil refineries (oil refineries) to process petroleum into valuable products, which include liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and fuel oils. As a result, modified modular refineries produced more valuable products including liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, and diesel, which resolved the residue or bottom product issue related to the operation of conventional modular refineries in Nigeria.  Models were developed from the first principle through the application of the principle of conservation of mass to predict the performance of the hydrocracker reactor and the developed mod- els were sets of ordinary differential equations, which were solved using Mat- Lab ODE45 solver and validated using simulation data of Aspen Hysys soft- ware for the hydrocracker reactor. The results gave a minimum percentage absolute error (deviation) between model predictions and Aspen Hysys re- sults of 4.45%, 5.0% and 2.02% for liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha and di- esel products respectively. Based on the validation of the developed models, models simulation was per- formed to study the effects of catalyst effectiveness factors on feedstock conver- sion and products yield of the hydrocracker reactor. The proposed model was used to examine or simulate the impacts of the catalyst effectiveness factor on the overall performance of the hydrocracker reactor. It accurately predicted the output performance of the hydrocracker reactor.