LC Finer in NWR

From October 2012 to January 2015, I worked on NWR Sturgeon Refinery LC-Finer Unit. This project is owned by North West Redwater Partnership and will be Alberta’s first new oil refinery in 3 decades.

In NWR LC Finer Unit, the feed is Vacuum residue from the Vacuum and Distillation Unit, and cracked under high pressure in the presence of hydrogen in a reactor.  Catalyst is also used in this process to ensure high yield and quality products.  Hydrogen is supplied from the Gasifier Unit and imported H2.  The product from the reactor is distilled in a process similar to the Vacuum and Distillation Unit producing distillates and hydrocracked residue.  Hydrocracked residue is sent to the Gasifier Unit (Hydrogen generation unit) as feed.  The distillates produced are sent to the Hydrotreater and Hyrdrocracker Unit for further treatment. What a complicated process. There were challenges for all the disciplines.

Meanwhile, to execute Fluor 3^rd generation module concept, piping, vessels, instrument and electrical equipment and cables had to be fit into limited sized modules. Thus site work could be minimized. That made things even more difficult!

During the 28 months on NWR, I had to resolve problems every day and meet super tight schedule. As the lead designer of Reactor Effluent Area, I finished 10 modules and 2 stick built areas design. I’m proud of being a member of the team.

The LC-Fining process is a proprietary Bed Residue Hydrocracking process offered by Chevron Lummus Global. It treats heavy hydrocarbons with hydrogen in the presence of catalyst, provides high product yields and a high removal of metals, sulfur and CCR (Conradson carbon residue) from difficult feed stocks. The reactor construction and operating conditions are as showing below:

 

As we all know, delayed coking also converts heavy bottoms from the atmospheric or vacuum distillation column to higher grade product. It is a popular residue upgrading technology and a large number of refineries utilizing it. Comparing with delayed coking process, the pros and cons of LC Finer are:

As the name implies, coking produces petroleum coke - a coal-like material. The yield of coke ranges from about 18 to 30 percent by weight of the feedstock residual oil. LC Fining produces a high yield of products and upgraded crudes with a commercial value larger than coking. Though LC Fining requires more investment, the cost difference is offset by the increase in revenue resulting from the incremental conversion.