Thursday, November 29, 2018

What Is the Petroleum Research Center? (HINT: It’s in Kuwait)


OK, technically, there are Petroleum Research Centers in various places in the world. The one we are exploring, however, is located in Kuwait.

A recent interesting PRC article is described below.

TIP: For background on the PRC, Google® Petroleum Research Center Kuwait

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Catalysis Today
Available online 6 November 2018
In Press, Accepted Manuscript
Hydroprocessing of Heavy Residual Oil: Opportunities and Challenges
A. Marafi, H. Albazzaz, Mohan S. Rana
Petroleum Research Center (PRC), Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR), Kuwait
Highlights
•Heavy oil contains a number of contaminants and a significant fraction of residue.
•Molecular analysis of heavy oil remains the most significant challenge.
•Complex feedstock force refiners to use more advanced process technologies.
•A proper catalyst selection and operating condition are vital to upgrade heavy oil.
ABSTRACT
Recently, significant changes in petroleum sources have been observed where light crude sources are becoming heavy or extra heavy, containing a large number of contaminants (S, N, metals, asphaltene, etc.), and producing a significant fraction of the bottom of the barrel (residue) after distillation. Thus, the future crude slate is a vital issue facing refiners to invest strategically in processing larger quantities of sourer crude. Due to the feedstock, refinery process operations must advance and include next-generation processes and catalysts to fulfill the demand and supply. The qualities of these products primarily meet or satisfy stringent environmental regulations. On the other hand, traditional light crude oil refineries have seen drastic changes into heavy crude oil, which present enormous challenges to the refining industry to process heavier crude oils. The global trend indicated that the world oil refining industry has to face several challenges in demand as well as supply. At the same time, refineries are expected to be under a great deal of pressure to accomplish the market demand for high-quality fuels (i.e., gasoline and diesel). The global demand for diesel fuels is increasing, while fuel oil demand is decreasing. The fuel composition and their efficiency (energy content) remain a decisive factor for the price and the communally acceptable parameter. This review will focus primarily on the relationship between the various parameters of composition, physicochemical properties of crude oil, and their impact on hydroprocessing.
Keywords
Heavy crude; residue; hydroprocessing; refining; feedstock; API gravity; sweet crude; TAN; sour crudes
source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920586118312069
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Sunday, November 25, 2018

The Lightness of Being, The Heaviness of Oil


From Abdulrahman Khateeb, associated with the Clean Combustion Research Center, comes the following interesting article …

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Influence Of Asphaltene Concentration On The Combustion Of A Heavy Fuel Oil Droplet
Abdulrahman Khateeb, Ayman M. Elbaz, Paolo Guida, and William L. Roberts
Energy Fuels, Just Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b03260
Publication Date (Web): November 16, 2018
Abstract
Heavy fuel oils consist of a blend of middle distillates, mainly diesel fuel, and heavy oil residuals. Varying the fraction of the mixture changes the weight percentage of the asphaltene in the heavy fuel oil (HFO) sample. Asphaltene is a very high molecular weight complex component in the fuel which increases the fuel viscosity, surface tension, and chemical reaction rate. Here, we investigate the influence of high asphaltene concentration on the combustion of a single HFO droplet. In this experimental work, we used the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the suspended droplet techniques. We tested HFO samples containing asphaltene at 8, 16, 24 wt% (HFO8, HFO16, and HFO24). The TGA result shows a residual amount of approximately 2.4 wt% of the HFO24 compared to no residuals for the HFO8 at the end of the process. The suspended droplet technique results reveal the following seven consecutive burning stages for the entire burning process of the liquid and solid phases: 1) pre-heating, 2) flame startup, 3) inner evaporation, 4) thermal decomposition, 5) solidification, 6) coke pre-ignition, and 7) smoldering. The temperature range of the various burning stages is seen to be independent of both the concentration of the asphaltene and the initial size of the droplet. On the other hand, both the total burning time and ignition delay time become longer by 40% and 26% respectively as the content of the asphaltene increases from 8 to 24 wt% in the HFO sample. The evolution of the droplet’s size in time shows that the maximum size of the droplet becomes larger by a factor of 2 for the HFO24 compared to the HFO8 sample.
source: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b03260
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TIP: Add value to the article by Googling the authors’ names and their affilliations.  For example …

Google: Abdulrahman Khateeb

One result is …

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Clean Combustion Research Center - Abdulrahman A. Alkhateeb
https://ccrc.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/khateeb.aspx
Home > People > Ph.D. Students > Abdulrahman A. Alkhateeb. Abdulrahman A. Alkhateeb PhD Student. abdulrahman.khateeb@kaust.edu.sa ...

Abdulrahman A. Alkhateeb PhD Student
abdulrahman.khateeb@kaust.edu.sa
Research Interests
HFO Single Droplet Combustion Characterization Analysis.
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Education Profile
•B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2012.
•M.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, 2014.
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Professional Profile
•2012-2013: Mechanical Engineer, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
•2014-2016: Fired Equipment Engineer, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
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KAUST Affiliations
• Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC)
•Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE)
Source: https://ccrc.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/khateeb.aspx
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Tuesday, November 13, 2018

IRPC Europe Call For Papers

Hydrocarbon Processing has issued a call for papers for its 2019 IRPC Europe Conference. Details appear below.

TIP: Not sure if you want to invest time and money in this conference? Google® IRPC Europe. Browse the results of past conferences to see if you might find the 2019 conference to be worth your time.

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IRPC Europe
The Evolution of the Downstream
—Share your Innovative Technology Developments, Case Histories + Best Practices: Submit your abstract by January 8th
For more than 10 years, Hydrocarbon Processing’s International Refining and Petrochemical Conference (IRPC) has been the leading downstream technology event. IRPC Europe will bring together refining and petrochemical professionals from around the world to highlight the latest technical innovations, share regional market insights and provide exceptional networking opportunities with the leaders in the hydrocarbon processing industry.
IRPC Europe will be held in Helsinki, Finland 5-7 June 2019. The event is supported by Neste, and provides a valuable forum for HPI innovators and practitioners to share their knowledge and expertise with industry peers, as well as hear current and future business strategies from leading refiners and petrochemical producers.
If you would like to showcase your latest projects and innovations, we invite you to submit an abstract for consideration by our advisory board.
We're looking for submissions on the following topics:
•Biofuels/alternative fuels
•Digital transformation
•Clean fuels/Fuels of the future
•New transportation technologies
•IMO regulations
•Emerging technologies in the refining and petrochemical sectors
•Carbon capture/CO2 emissions mitigation
•Heavy oil/bottom-of-the-barrel
•Catalysts
•Feedstocks
•Refinery-petrochemical integration
•Policy and regulations
•Process controls, instrumentation and automation
•Economics/financing
•Maintenance/reliability (equipment lifecycle, new materials revolution, corrosion, benchmarking/analytics/metrics, troubleshooting, etc.
•Safety/environment
•Energy efficiency
•Water management
•Projects (revamps, turnarounds, grassroots, design, EPC, commissioning)
•Advancements in petrochemicals technology
•Upgrading
•The "green refinery"
•Circular economy/plastics recycling
Do not miss this opportunity to be involved in IRPC Europe as we look at the challenges affecting the industry, as well as opportunities that are emerging. We will discuss the industry’s latest technologies and best practices, from regional and global perspectives, with conference attendees from leading operators, refineries and petrochemical plants, engineering and construction companies and licensors, looking to maximize margins and ensure operational availability while complying with industry regulation targets.
Submission deadline: 8 January 2019. Abstracts should be approximately 250 words in length and should include all authors, affiliations, pertinent contact information and the proposed speaker. The content of the presentation should be original. Please submit abstracts here.
Questions? Please contact Lee Nichols, Editor/Associate Publisher, Hydrocarbon Processing, at Lee.Nichols@HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
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