Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022 - 17

Special Focus Sustainability
M. CARUGO, Emerson Automation Solutions,
Austin, Texas
Sustainability through efficiency:
A plan for the refining industry
The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that
carbon dioxide (CO2
) emissions will decrease through 2050
This projection
in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
countries (OECD), which includes the U.S.1
assumes energy consumption will increase through 2050, with
producers meeting these demands through a combination of
traditional and renewable energy sources. Well sites and refineries
can contribute to these projected emissions reductions by
following the best practices outlined in this article.
Driving higher efficiency. Any facility setting out to increase
efficiency must have its operations in order on all fronts. This
means production must be controlled effectively with stable
operation, with well-maintained equipment and safety. If there
are any operational issues in these areas, management should fix
these first since related costs and incidents can have far greater
negative effects when compared to reductions in energy use.
This article will examine three areas where facilities can improve
energy efficiency using technologies available today:
* Energy management information system (EMIS)
* Predictive emissions monitoring system (PEMS)
* Energy and mass flow management.
Based on projects where the author's company's engineers
have worked in a variety of refineries, improvements can add
up to 2%-3% of the relevant cost. Given the amounts a typical
refinery spends on energy, these figures translate into very
large numbers, with any reductions resulting in substantial
increases in profitability, along with corresponding improvements
to sustainability.
EMIS: Understanding energy consumption. Measurement
is a critical first step to energy management because many facilities
do not know enough about how they are using energy to
reduce it. Obviously, the facility has an aggregate amount, but
it may not be able to pinpoint the volume associated with an
individual unit or specific fired heater. Let us pull this situation
apart and see how to address this issue.
Energy costs at a typical refinery are among the highest,
if not the highest, operating cost, often up to 50% of refining
costs. The total cost comprises numerous factors related to
available fuel types, individual fuel costs, equipment efficiency
(boilers, fired heaters, etc.), operating conditions and a variety
of other factors. To complicate matters further, at an average
refinery, about 41% of energy is simply lost.
Can this situation be fixed? Yes, without question. Here is
the reality: the top quartile of performers in the industry have
less than one-half the energy intensity of the fourth quartile.
Think about what that means. The best refineries use half the
energy per volume of output than the worst. How do those top
performers do it?
First, they measure energy consumption (FIG. 1) on a granular
basis in real time. It is possible to see how much and what
kind of fuel any given fired heater, boiler or other item of
equipment is consuming at any time. This capability requires
instrumentation and the networks to support it, with advances
in wireless sensors simplifying implementation, while cutting
costs. This often includes adding instrumentation to equipment
currently not monitored comprehensively, or at all.
Second, all the instrumentation creates copious quantities
of data that must be captured and historized. There are many
platforms capable of providing visualization; however, some
facilities stop here, as if data capture is an end to itself. Such
programs do not deliver the desired results, requiring advancement
to the next step.
Third, the data must be analyzed. This is where facilities
realize the true differences in methodology and effectiveness.
A basic analytical platform should cover, at least, the following
five areas:
1. Validate sensors to ensure accurate measurements
without noisy and faulty values.
FIG. 1. Dashboards can show energy consumption, including wasted
energy, in real time.
Hydrocarbon Processing | JANUARY 2022 17
Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022
