Development of a New Method to Optimize Operations of an Existing Crude Unit

Abstract

A nonlinear optimization method working with the Simplex Method was developed to find optimum operating conditions of a crude oil distillation unit subject to defined process constraints, product specifications and prevailing market conditions. Then the method was applied to a commercial crude unit. This crude unit was modeled using Aspen Hysys V12.1 process simulation software. Two sets of market scenarios designated as the maximum gasoline scenario and minimum gasoline scenario were applied to the simulation model. It was found that the model minimized naphtha production and maximized kerosene production for minimum gasoline scenarios where the price of kerosene and diesel products were higher than naphtha products. Similarly, the model maximized the naphtha product yield for the maximum gasoline scenario where the naphtha price exceeds the mid-distillate product price. The iterative procedure developed for the study monotonically converged to optimum operating conditions for both market scenarios. It was observed that the optimization scheme developed in this study could generate a significant profit increase in the conventional crude unit investigated in this study without and capital investment.

Keywords

• Optimization
• Crude Distillation Units
• Simplex Algorithm
• Aspen Hysys
• Refinery
• Test-run
• Gasoline
• Diesel

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