f(ECEiVED FES 2 5 1976Vol. 74, No.8 Oll&( ,A"

OUR:\l;\l

CONTENTS Feb. 23, 1976

~~- Record capital spending seen for 1976 despite price rollback

GaleNt I~i:U.S. oil budget this year hits record $26.5 billionCanadian firms slate 34% jump in capital spending for 1976Exact timing of resid decontrol still unknown .ARCO gets big advance payment from Northern in gulfFEA proposes revisions to entitlements programU.K. seen near first participation pactSenate loan-guarantee bill pushes energy conservation .FEA hearings draw strong decontrol supportJoint microwave system set in western Gulf of MexicoShale output of 50,000 bid sought for Colorado tractU.S. BriefsTwo-tier crude-price suit advancesFEA opens fire on House-passed natural-gas billGas curtailments threaten southern CaliforniaInternational Briefs

Drilling- Pro4uction:OCS 41 high bids total only $183 millionMarathon to file for Yates unit soonIran's price' cut aims for boost in production .ERDA to seek waterflood-pilot proposalsNew crude postings reflect $11.28 lidPublic drilling funds decline for third yearSoviets claim gas-production gain of over 1 trillion cu ftRecord Yugoslavian oil production still short .

Processing:Refiners sue FEA for entitlementsAlgerian LNG-plant contract awarded to Pullman KelloggU.S. December ammonia output up 10%

Transportation:NGPL joins HIOS gas project off TexasTexaco hits Puget Sound superport planMove to speed Alaskan gas line seenWatching the World-More gloom for the tanker tradeWilliams expansion, oil swaps favored to feed Northern Tier

Exploration:Deep wildcat staked in Central Utah .Pan arctic hits deeper gas pay in Arctic Islands' Hecla fieldSmaller Gulf of Alaska sale gets green lightDrilling programs link Oklahoma gas fieldsS. Laredo gas-field play continues along Rio Grande .

AdvertisersCalendarClassified AdvertisingDeaths

Regular features178 Discoveries ... 161 Letters36 Equipment/Literature 134 Personals

168 Industry Statistics 166 Point of View165 Journally Speaking 43 Services/Suppliers

THE COVER:Ammonia plant at Donaldsonville, l.a., is owned by First Mississippi Corp. and TriadChemical. A special report on how refiners and plant operators are boosting plant efficiency beginson p, 79. Photo courtesy First Mississippi Corp.

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. 163145

Increased Processing EfficiencyPractical analysis can cut plant energy use, trim operating costs

George H. Perry and James D. MonteauxA computer program to evaluate fired heater performance and ananalysis of electricity use are the elements of a basic approach toenergy conservation.

Boiler blowdown source of heat, condensateH. H. Comstock and B. T. BoneRecovery of steam at usable pressures, improved condensate collec-tion, and reduced steam venting can justify equipment revisions in anolder refinery.

PSA system can reduce hydrogen costsWesley WolfThe pressure swing adsorption process (PSA) , widely used to recoverpure hydrogen from fuel streams, can be used with steam-reformerplants to reduce hydrogen-generation costs by 5-7%.

Process computer monitors, reduces energy usePierre R. LatourSavings resulted from installation of a computer to monitor fuel-gasconsumption, fuel-oil firings, and steam use in this Canadian refinery.

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If/

TECHNOLOGYPipeline

Pipeline contractors gain Arctic construction experienceTravis E. SmithContractors have found that special techniques make it possible tobuild a pipeline under severe Arctic conditions.

Drilling/ ProductionInjection-pump study can cut costs

Robert S. SmithThe design of a complete waterflood-injection system requires analysisof the cost of various equipment arrangements.

Lost circulation complicates well-killing operationsBill RehmLost circulation during well killing operations is both expensive andhazardous, but several techniques can help minimize the cost anddanger.

Refining/ProcessingIntegrating two processes makes petrochemicals from full crude

S. (Ray) SinkarProper integration of two proven processing sequences provides anefficient energy-self-supporting process for making petrochemicalsfrom full crude.

Process costimating-68AW. L. NelsonUse of TEL in U.S. gasolines (approximate).

Biodisk improves effluent-water-treating operationGary E. CongrcmChevron Oil chose the biodisk to complement its revised effluent-water-treating system.

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The Oil and Gas Journal is published weekly by The Petroleum Publishing Co., 1421 S. SheridanRd., Tulsa, Okla., Box 1260, 74101. Second-class postage paid at Tulsa, Okla. Copyright 1975 by ThePetroleum Publishing Co. under International Universal, Pan American, and Buenos Aires copy-right conventions. All rights reserved, including right of reoroduction in whole or in part in anyform. Qualified subscription rates in U.S. and Possessions: 1 yr. $17.00; 2 yrs. $30; 3 yrs. $40.50;Canada and Pan America: 1 yr. S19; 2 yrs. $34; 3 yrs, $46.50; all other countries: 1 yr. $33; 2 yrs.$58; 3 yrs. $75. Rates apply only to individuals holding responsible positions in the petroleumindustry and engaged in the operation, management, maintenance, and design of petroleumindustry fields, plants, and headquarters operations. Position and company affiliation must be in-dicated on subscription orders. Non-industry rate is $52jyr. Single copies are $1.25 each. Publisherreserves the right to refuse non-qualified subscriptions. Microfilm copies available through Uni-versity Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106.Subscribers: Address change notice, letters about subscription service, or subscription orders toSubscriber Service Manager, P.O. Box 1260, Tulsa, Okla. 74101. Change of address notices shouldbe sent promptly; provide old as well as new address: include ZIP code or postal zone. Allow30 days for change of address. Postmaster, please send Form 3579 to The Oil and Gas Journal.Box 1260, Tulsa, OK 74101.

INCREASEDPROCESSINGEFFICIENCY

Process computer monitors, reducesPIERRE R. LATOUR

Biles & AssociatesHouston

Condensed from a paper given at the68th Annual AIChE, Los Angeles, Nov.16-20, 1975.

LOCATED on the St. Lawrence Riverat Quebec City, Que., the lOO,OOO-b/dGolden Eagle refinery serves as atopping plant for local gasoline mar-kets, fuel oils, and utility bunker oils.Crude is supplied by tanker and mostproducts are shipped by water.

The refinery has atmospheric andvacuum-distillation units, a catalyticreformer, HDS units, and LP-gas re-covery. Important energy consumersin this plant include: crude and vac-uum heaters, three boilers for pro-cess and winterizing steam, distilla-

Fuel-gas controlsFig. 1

Unifiner charge

t·~.8 in. - - . fuel-gas supplyP---~~--~--~~~~~~~~~--------------~~--~------~~Aare

Relief to flore

IIC7---IIIIIIIIIIII,-----,IIII,IIIIIIII

Vapor-balance

drum

3 in.

Platformer stabilizer

toPilot supply

Stripper receiver

low-pressure flash

I

~W

Reactor-product separator

1----11-- ••........- Plotfonner low-pressure separator

Unifiner stripper

±~-_ ...•

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Stabilizer receiver

Stripper receiver

Unifiner-product separator

De"ethonizer receiver

Depropanizer overhead

lP-ga$ surge

Compressor-discharge receiver

-~III Butane'--~~4;><J--+;';';";;----Depropanizer

load dump

1><1 2 in. ~ Flore

r0I

II ~ Vacuum heater

:0II •. Crude-unit heater

i0II •. Crude-unit heater

:0II ~ Boiler

:0'11 ~ Boiler

:0·11 •. Boiler

:0Ii •. Naphtha-splitter heater

:-011 •. Platfonner -charge heater

:-0II •. Platformer heater

r0II •. Platformer heater

'-- .- Hot-oil heater andHrregenerator heoler .

92 THE OIL AND GAS JOURNAL - FEBRUARY 23, 1976

energy usetion column reboilers, and reformerfurnaces.

Winters in Quebec City are coldwith subzero weather and 150 in. ofsnow annually. Average fuel-oil andgas consumption for the plant isabout 1,160MMBTU/hr.

In 1972, Golden Eagle installed aGeneral Electric 4020 process-controlcomputer for logging and informa-tion about utilities consumption tohelp the refinery reduce costs. Witha reduction of 5% in consumption, therefinery would save nearly $700/dayin 1972 (based on $0.50/MMBTU cost).The 1975 incentive at $2/MMBTU re-sults in savings of $2,800/day.

Fuel-gas control. Not all of the gas

Fuel-gas systemFig. 2

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Vaporizer makeup Fuel gas colleded

Fuel-oil control

Tank ~ lStrai~er5P~mp I .-Filters 1

0Tank

oI1

Return header I~~----------~Ir-~~--~--~~--~

Fromstorageor resid

line

To tank

Flare Burn

Fig. 3

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Process

Crude-unit heater

Unmeasured

No meterr---,.- •..-r------t~Asphalt hot-oil heaters

1---0II-I --- __ •. ~ Boiler

,--01+-1 ----t.~Boiler

1--0II-I --~ .•~~ Boiler

")--0·':2~·~",--0

II-r--~-~ Va~uum heater

(rude heater

Crude heater

THE OIL AND GASJOURNAL-FEBRUARY 23,1976 93

Refinery-steam systemFig. 4

Boilers Refonner-woste-heat boiler

Total 140-psi supply

Off sites

Winterizing

Tanks

Process

Unmeasured

Crude-unit stripping

De-ethanizer reboiler

Deproponizer reboiler

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flows (Fig. 1) are measured, sinceonly orifices, or flow elements (FE),are installed without transmitters orcabling to the control room and com-puter.

Total fuel-gas, boiler-fuel-gas, andflared-gas flows are corrected tostandard cubic feet by computer cor-rections for flowing temperature,pressure, and gravity which can dif-fer from orifice-factor assumption.

A specific - gravity analyzer plustemperature and pressure signals areinstalled on the hydrocarbon - vapor-collection header near orifice FIT 30.Computer corrects flowing gravity forpressure and temperature and deter-mines standard 60° F. gravity.

Computer uses a constant standardspecific gravity for makeup butanefrom the LP-gas vaporizer. Designvalue is 2.00 using a mol wt of 58 forthe butane.

With this information, gravity ofthe fuel-gas mixture can be calcu-lated from the hydrocarbon-vapor-bal-ance drum which is the refinery-fuel-gas supply. Fuel-gas variables are re-ported in sequence as in Fig. 2.

Fuel-oil system. Sup ply - headerflow, return flow, net flow to eachboiler, gross flow to each crude-unit

94

heater cell and return flow from eachcrude-unit-heater cell are scannedby the computer (Fig. 3). Theseflows are corrected for temperatureand gravity and are expressed in1,000 bid for consistency and errorreduction.

Fuel-oil variables are reported inthe following sequence: .

1. Total fuel oil burned (differencebetween supply and return headerflows plus pitch to platformer andunifiner heaters).

2. Fuel oil consumed in the threeboilers.

3. Fuel oil burned in the crude-unitheater (sum of four orifices).

4. Unmeasured fuel oil burned inthe vacuum heater, hot-oil heater,and three reboiler furnaces.

Percentage of crude-unit-heater fuelvaries with crude type and rate. Thecrude-unit heater is a dual - firedheater and is the swing on fuel oil.Total fuel consumed by the refinery,fuel oil plus equivalent barrels of fuelgas, is expressed as a percentage ofcrude so that processing efficiency canbe checked.

Steam. Primary orifice measure-ments for the refinery-steam system(Fig. 4) include three individual boil-

ers; reformer waste-heat boiler; twotank-heating steam flows; winteriz-ing steam flow; five crude-unit strip-ping steams; and two column reboil-ers (others are measured but notscanned by the computer).

Crude-unit heat. Crude-unit heaterduty/barrel of crude charge is cal-culated with both gas and oil fuels.Accurate study of this variable canshow trends with crude types, rates,and yield patterns.

Oxygen-analyzer and stack-tempera-ture readings allow computation ofexcess air and fur n ace efficiencywhich lead to crude-heat uptake.

A crude-tower overall-heat balancegives another determination of crude-heat uptake and discrepancy showsnonclosure of heat balance and mea-surement problems.

Heat-exchanger duties for importantexchangers are calculated by thecomputer. Rigorous calculation ofoverflash has h e I p e d in reducingcrude-unit-energy consumption.

Reformer and hydrotreater. Signalsfrom the naphtha hydro treater andcatalytic ref 0 r mer are computerscanned. Many of these signals areused for process engineering calcula-tions and controls not directly relatedto energy savings but some do playimportant roles in energy reduction.

Heat duties and heat consumption/bbl feed are calculated for all fur-naces. Accurate analysis of gas-recy-cle ratio saves furnace-heat require-ments and compressor loads.

Feed composition (paraffins, ole-fins, naphthenes, and aromatics) andits effects on total reformer energyuse can be evaluated with on-line com-puter data. Effect of reformer sever-ity and octane number can be accu-rately evaluated for energy consump-tion with this information.

DistiUation columns. Signals fromsix distillation columns are scannedby the computer. Naphtha stabilizer,de-ethanizer, and depropanizer haveexchanger reboilers with measurableduty. Steam used per bbl of columnfeed and reboiler MBTU/bbl columnfeed are calculated for these columns.Ratio of reflux to column feed is alsocalculated for these columns.

Data reporting. Utilities variablesare reported in three groups for gas,oil, and steam on one shift/daily re-port. Average value and 95% confi-dence interval (two standard devia-tions) for the period (hour, shift, orday) are also reported. END

THE OIL AND GAS JOURNAL - FEBRUARY 23, 1976