Research Article Rethinking Petroleum Products...

Hindawi Publishing CorporationJournal of Petroleum EngineeringVolume 2013 Article ID 594368 12 pageshttpdxdoiorg1011552013594368

Research ArticleRethinking Petroleum Products Certification

Thiago Feital1 Puacuteblio Lima2 Joseacute Carlos Pinto1 Mauriacutecio B de Souza Jr3

Gilberto Xavier45 Mario Jorge Lima4 and Marcel Joly46

1 Programa de Engenharia QuımicaCOPPE Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro 68502 Rio de Janeiro RJ Brazil2 Escola Politecnica Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro 68529 Rio de Janeiro RJ Brazil3 Departamento de Engenharia QuımicaEQ Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro 68542 Rio de Janeiro RJ Brazil4 PETROBRAS Petroleo Brasileiro SA Rio de Janeiro RJ Brazil5 Faculdade de Tecnologia de Resende Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Rodovia Presidente Dutra Km 298Resende RJ Brazil

6Departamento de Engenharia Quımica Universidade de Sao Paulo Sao Paulo SP Brazil

Correspondence should be addressed toThiago Feital tfeitalpeqcoppeufrjbr

Received 23 August 2013 Accepted 12 October 2013

Academic Editor Alireza Bahadori

Copyright copy 2013 Thiago Feital et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited

Facing various challenges in the everchanging refining landscape it is essential that refiners raise their operations to new levelsof performance Advances in in-line blending (ILB) technology accuracy and reliability have encouraged refiners to take a stepforward Having ILB as a precursor a newmethodology is in concern the so-called in-line certification (ILC) procedure Blendingprocesses make use of in-line measurements which at least in principle can be used to certificate the product if the precision andaccuracy of available in-line measurements are comparable to measurements provided by standard off-line tests Such proceduremay allow for significant reduction in refineryrsquos tank farming and product inventory increase of process flexibility and reliabilitywith benefits to company image The main limitations for real-world ILC applications in the oil industry remain at the legal andtechnological levels This paper proposes novel concepts and foundations of a basic in-line certification model for petroleumproducts regarding current interdisciplinary challenges and promising solutions

1 Introduction

Petroleum refining is one of the most important industriescomprising many different and complicated processes withvarious possible configurations Globally it processes morematerials than any other industry [1] Due to the scale andsignificance of this industry it becomes more crucial toaddress the considerable challenges that the industry facestoday and in the future

Production planning and scheduling optimization areessential tasks to maximize refineryrsquos profit margins andto remain in the competitive market In this sense severalopportunities strictly related to refinery production opti-mization could be identified At the strategic level the supplychain optimization may be posed as a master problem sincethere are numerous trade-offs between decisions made atthe various nodes of its superstructure in which the refinery

planning is embedded At the tactical level two majorchallenges should be addressed by refiners [2]

The first one is that refining industry needs to effectivelyevaluate process performances to identify options for produc-ing desirable products and meeting increasing constrainedenvironment regulations The second challenge refers tomajor transformation from an industry of mainly producingfuels for transportation to one that makes a wide set of value-added products including chemicals speciality productselectricity and hydrogen

In a scenario in which the world economic growth sloweddown and demand for petroleum products flattened or evendecreased it becomes clear that flexibility is the keywordfor everybody involved in the oil sector [3] In this senseonline remote characterization and real-time optimizationof petroleum products emerge as instrumental technologiesfor competitive refineries [4] Such technologies may have a

2 Journal of Petroleum Engineering

special impact on refining profitability with environmentalbenefits when considered to provide chemical informationof great importance for real-time adjustment of short-termscheduling decisions concerned with product formulationand refinery dispatch logistics

Blending consolidates as the refineryrsquos last chance toimpact profitability at low investment levels and approxi-mately 50 of about 700 refineries worldwide have imple-mented such technology [5] Besides positively impactingthe overall refinery production scheduling in-line blending(ILB) operations at the end of the refinery allow for substan-tial benefits including end product giveaway minimizationlower inventory levels optimized logistics and thereforereduced utility consummations and atmospheric emissionseconomic savings in new hardware investment and mainte-nance and operational safety

Apart from typical economical benefits ranging fromUS$015 to 030 per crude oil processed [6] ILB represents theprecursor technology for allowing an additional efficiencyjump in refinery scheduling optimization the so-called in-line certification (ILC) (Figure 1)

As the fundamental premise an ILC-based approachshould consider product dispatch to a third party beforesending the official (ie legal) product quality certificate to itILC procedures are primarily intended to minimize refineryscheduling bottlenecks However it is not completely clearyet how large the benefits provided by ILC procedures canbe Since products can be delivered directly from processingto clients some potential advantages that can probably berelated to the implementation of ILC schemes are as follows

(i) Suppression of conventional operations as tank ho-mogenization sampling and laboratory testing andthis way saves manpower and shortening the refiningproduction cycle time (Figure 2)

(ii) Dead inventory minimization(iii) Tankage minimization and associated maintenance

costs optimization(iv) Improvement of the process reliability and optimiza-

tion (as process control techniques must necessarilybe implemented in-line and in real time)

(v) Enhanced flexibility to tightly specify different prod-uct grades according to real-time customer needs

(vi) Shipping demurrage minimization(vii) Enhanced energetic and environmental performan-

ces of the refinery storage area provided by an opti-mized scheduling

(viii) Staff safety and productivity increase provided byautomation replacing manual operations

Such benefits must compensate the investment on tech-nology and process upgrade required by ILC procedures ifactual implementation at plant site is sought Apart from legalissues the refineryrsquos logistic environment will determine howexpressive the opportunity for implementing an ILC-basedoperational philosophy is

This paper is structured as follows Section 2 proposesbasic concepts and discusses an ILC-based business model

Mixer

Component tanks

Process units

Product tanks

Final destiny

(a)

Mixer

Component tanks

Process units

Final destiny

1

2infin

(b)

Figure 1 (a) Typical configuration of ILB units (b) a virtual basicscheme for an ILC unit using two possible routes for off-spec fuels(1) reblending or (2) infinite dilution In both schemes dashedcircles represent on-line analyzers

Some practical ILC implementation issues with identifica-tion of current technical limitations promising solutionsand required investments are also discussed here Section 3discusses how the ILC scheme should work out in practice inorder to be accepted by regulatory agencies and customers ingeneral whereas Section 4 outlines some identified prerequi-sites to a generic ILC implementation Section 5 presents theconclusions of the paper

2 An ILC-Based Custody Transfer Model

Custody transfer in the oil industry refers to the transactionsinvolving transporting physical substance from one operatorto another Since presupposing product releasing before testingto a customer an ILC-based approach implies new technical-commercial paradigms

21 Model Definition Thefirst step required to support a newproposal or procedure is the definition of important relatedterms and the development of the basic ideas behind it In-line certification is defined here as a computer-controlledprocedure based on real-time data from on-line analyzersable to automatically measure stream qualities and performactions over manipulated process variables to ensure productspecification and optimization this way enabling its promptdelivery from the refinery to third parts prior to the officialissuing of the conventional laboratory-based certificate ofanalysis (CoA) Here the term quality encompasses anyphysicochemical property related to the legal specificationof a given finished product Similarly the on-line analyzersterminology encompasses American Society for Testing andMaterials (ASTM) on-line analyzers and near-infrared (NIR)systems

If the in-line certification is thought to simultaneously beperformed by an in-line blending unit one can refer to it as anin-line blending certification (ILBC) unit (Figure 3) However

Journal of Petroleum Engineering 3

Plan C2SetC1Set Mixing AdLab Mixing Lab certification

t1 t10t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7 t8 t9 Total = TC gt TILB

(a)

Plan In-line blendingSet Circulate

t998400

1t998400

2t998400

3t998400

4t998400

5Total = TILB gt TILC

Lab certification

(b)

Plan Set In-line blending and certification

Blend order planning

Equipment setup

Blend component pumping

Tank mixing

In-line blending

Lab blend analysis

Additivescorrections

t998400998400

1t998400998400

2t998400998400

3 Total = TILC

(c)

Figure 2 Time saving with ILC [7] (a) Conventional time (119879119862) operation based on manual tank blending and certification (b) in-line

blending time (119879ILB) and conventional tank certification (c) in-line certification time (119879ILC) of the finished blend product

Testimonialsample

Component 1

Mixer

Process unit

Tankmixer

Lab

Composite sampler

Storage tank

Online measurement

Electronic CoA

CoA

Regulatory control

Superior layers

Reblend line

Bypass line

1

2

3

Certified product

Wild stream

Component n

middot middot middot

Figure 3 An ILBC unit model using three routes (1) normal operation condition (2) blend through precertified tank during periods ofabnormal operation condition and (3) blend to product tank during maintenance periods


for the sake of simplicity ILC and ILBC units are genericallyreferred to as ILBC thereafter in this paper Such integratedengineering approach should be understood as a real-timeoptimization technology

Minimal requirements for an industrial ILBC applica-tion may also include on-line analyzer validity checkingautomatic composite sampler for spot and final checksand automatic generation of product info reports and theirarchiving [5]

Once homogenized in a static mixer the finished blendproduct is analyzed and then sampled by an auto compositesampler which retains a representative sample (RS) of theoverall product delivered to a third part According to atypical hierarchical planning superstructure the materialquantity that cross the refinery frontier should be defined apriori at scheduling level (Figure 4) It defines the fiscal batchwhose quality must satisfy the required specification Rightafter the fiscal batch production is concluded an electroniccertificate of analysis (ECoA based on measurements fromon-line analyzers) is available and may be sent to the thirdpart prior to the release of the conventional laboratory-basedCoA

As the basic ILBC procedure premise accounts for auto-matic product custody transfer right after production furtherextrapolations can be suggested as segmented fiscal batchMore specifically once the transferred volume of product isknown and already certificated there is no reason to wait forcompletion of the product transferring for product certifica-tion This idea follows a divide-and-conquer strategy wherethe whole amount of commercialized product is divided intosmall fractions that can be certified independently of theremaining ones

Ideally the full set of specification qualities should beevaluated in-line at real time by on-line analyzers Howeverthis may not always be technically feasible since someproduct specifications are based on experimental assays thatare inherently time demanding ones (eg gum content forgasoline) or require specific experimental apparatus (eg jetfuel smoke point) or even are not quantitative measurements(eg cooper corrosion for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG))In the general case an ILBC approach should consider asubset of critical (constrained) commercial specifications[8] and indirect measures for well-known behavior or notcritical remaining quality variables In this sense researchon physicochemical inferences development and processstatistic control techniques are prolific fields for investigationand applied developments including novel in-line testingmethodologies In addition to immediate benefits such newmethodologies could serve as truly precursors for promot-ing interdisciplinary discussions oriented to upgrade legalrequirements concerning oil product quality evaluation Inthis sense the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)has indeed taken actions to allow refineries and laboratoriesto use more current and improved fuel testing proceduresfor ASTM analytical test methods [9] On the other handemerging techniques as molecular characterization of oilproducts [10] will stress the need for revising obsolete testingmethodologies replacing them by more reliable and accurateones potentially interesting for real-time applications [11]

Corporaterefinery

Corporate strategic planning

Corporate production

planning

Refinery planning

Refinery scheduling

Real-time optimization

Advanced control

Regulatory controlProcess data

acquisitionData

reconciliation

Accounting

Feedback

Data warehouse

Corporate backcasting

backcastingRefinery

Performance monitoring

Plan

Do

Check

Act

Figure 4 A typical hierarchical decision-making framework basedon Moro [3]

After the fiscal batch custody transfer is concluded aCoA is then produced and sent to the third part A CoAmust present the complete physicochemical characterizationof the delivered product as required by regulatory agenciesand usually performed by standard tests such as thoserecommended by the American Society for Testing andMaterials (ASTM)

In principle the CoA may be based on either auto com-posite sampling (Figure 3mdashconfiguration 1) or manual tank(Figure 3mdashconfigurations 2 and 3) and laboratory testingConversely on-line analyzer measurements have also beenconsidered to compose part of the CoA data In this case on-line analyzers should use approved certification test methodsas those defined by EPA 40CFR8046 (mostly ASTM tests) orcorrelated to them [5] If real-time data is considered to finalcertification a hybrid or combined CoA results (Figure 3)This may be attractive in the sense of optimizing laboratoryresources by limiting laboratory testing only for qualities thatcan not be in-line evaluated Anyway each emitted CoAmustcount on testimonial sample for eventual counterproofingTestimonials must be representative and consider properstorage against possible degradation reactions

For pure substances as the case of petrochemicals thearrangement of Figure 3 may be simplified if a single com-ponent exists and no mixing are required In this case thecomputer-controlled system does not actuate over blendingoptimization variables but essentially (and directly) overprocess manipulated variables This may be the case ofpropylene plants a typical first generation petrochemicalNevertheless it should be pointed out that even such singlesystems may consider blending opportunities with off-specproduct

While producing a fiscal batch the ILBC unit on-lineanalyzer measurements are integrated by the computer-controlled system Anytime if mean product quality doesnot comply with the specification requirements and thereis no expectation of correcting it before batch production


conclusion then the product release should be interruptedHence ILC proceduresmust also consider fall-back strategiesto circumvent such undesired situations A reblend or repro-cess line after on-line analyzer may be provided for ready(automatic) production deviation

In-line certification should not be confounded with in-line delivery which is exclusively based on the conventionalcertification of the products after delivery usually performedto save time and storage at the plant In-line certification onthe other hand seeks for a definitive certification solutionas finished products are transferred directly to a third partas a fiscal batch and available in-line instrumentation andtechniques are supposed to provide enough informationabout the product quality in reasonable time (real time) andwith high confidence

Currently when not legally prohibited both proceduresare typically conditioned by regulatory agencies and areperiodically subject to ad-hoc independent audit programsconcerned with the computer-controlled system operation[5] The goal of the audit program is to insure that fiscalbatches data and information reported to the governmentalentity are accurate and valid Despite the lack of explicitconditions regulatory agencies usually reserve their right tomake inspections to assure compliancewith the requirements(EPA 40CFR804)

In legal terms the US legislation is virtually the mostcomprehensive one Technical and legal procedure steps aredescribed by US EPA in USA Code of Federal Regulation40CFR80 part 65 which allows refiners legally to blenddirectly to a third party before finishing product testing andCoA delivery In Europe shipping before testing practiceshave also been mentioned [8] but seem to be mediatedby bilateral agreement between refiners and third partiesHowever in both US and European cases the number ofrefineries operating ILBC-like custody transfer is very limitedand the third party is usually if not always a transportercompany (pipeline or vessel) not a final client (distributorcompany) Conversely from the aforementioned cases inBrazil the PetroleumNational Agency a governmental entitythat regulates the Brazilian oil sector currently does not allowfor finished product shipping before the CoA emission

22 The ILBC Hardware An ILBC implementation presup-poses process hardware properly designed with excellentinstrumentation Blend headers static mixers lines pumpsand valves design should consider operational feasibilityand safety accessories during transitory steady-state andfall-back conditions Coriolis flowmeters have been exten-sively recommended for in-line blending systems [5 8] andmay help to persuade regulatory agencies to approve novelphilosophies for custody transfer procedures as ILBC Inorder to reduce stream quality variability from (running)tank components a tank mixer should be provided with theobjective of allowing for inventory homogenization (during)before the fiscal batch production (route 2 in Figure 3)Whenever applicable filters and coalescer devices for solidand free water removal should also be considered as basicblending system accessory

At the design level analytical redundancy should be aproject premise Since real data conciliationmay be a valuabletool to the system reliability and early warning of problemson-line analyzers at each component should be provided inorder to produce redundant analytical information wheneverpossible Temperature-controlled sampling systems shouldconsider sampling points not susceptible to contaminantsand located at critical process points as components linesblended fuel line as well as at the refinery boundary if thein-line certified product is then stocked in a tank or passesthrough it before shipping Certified reference materials andprototype fuels (or protofuels) whose properties are knownrequire dedicated installations Fast loops are required toallow for samplemovement fromprocess lines to the analyzerhouse (shelter) and vice versa (Figure 5)

23 The ILBC Software As a real-time optimization businesslayer the ILBC operation must agree with the refineryrsquosobjectives that are defined at the strategic and tactical levelsThis is achievable through capturing the business knowledgein advanced decision-making tools which should allow forincreasing visibility into plant operations and communi-cating economic drivers to operations allowing them toidentify and eliminate constraints by better understandingthe planning economic objectives [12]

A schematic representation for ILBC software applica-tions is proposed in Figure 6 In this figure blending schedul-ing refers to an off-line optimization layer in which the refin-ery tactical planning is detailed into short-term operationaldecisions Here fiscal batches are defined and sequenced toexecution throughout a time horizon aiming at satisfying theforeseen product requests by customers subject to refineryrsquosoperational logistic and economic constraints The BlendProperty Control (BPC) comprises at least two real-timeapplications (a) the multivariable predictive control (MPC)which is responsible by the real-time blended product qualitycontrol and (b) the on-line optimization process modelwhich should maximize or minimize some performancecriteria subject to real-time constraints regarding the wholefiscal batch production On the other hand the RegulatoryBlend Control (RBC) is responsible for manipulating com-ponent flows to match an optimal blend recipe defined atthe BPC layer For each predefined fiscal batch volume theBPC application functions should include field equipmentselection and lineup pump sequencing control appropriateramps for blending start-up and conclusion and additiveinjections In addition the RBC should also be responsiblefor implementing a trim fall-back strategy in case of systemfailureThe Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a monitoringmodule from which the fiscal batch data is collected tocompose the ECoA right after the batch conclusion

It seems clear that the implementation of advancedcontrol schemes must certainly be considered during devel-opment of ILBC procedures as process disturbances areinherent to process operation and lead to some degree ofunavoidable process variability Therefore process variabilitymust be rigorously considered during the implementation of


From component tanks

To the blend header

To conditioning system and analyzers

Small diameter line

(a)

Programming interface

To DCS interface

PLCOperator interface

Safety system

Sulfur analyzer

NIR analyzer

Sample control

Sample control

Sample conditioning system

Sample recovery system

Test sample system

Outlier collect system

Shelter

Fast loop header

Sample return

Standard sample header

(b)

Figure 5 A typical fast loop scheme for refinery ILB (a) Pumping and filtering (b) the sample conditioning system

the ILBC scheme with the help of sound statistical analysesof measured data performed in-line and on real time

Similarly as instrument and operation faults cannot becompletely avoided at plant site the implementation ofadvanced tools for fault management (perhaps includingthe in-line control reconfiguration) must also be requiredduring real ILBC implementations as the process operationmust be continued in spite of the faulty event such asleaking valve sticking instrumentation failure and feedcontamination As a consequence protection actions andprotectionmechanismsmust be employed to support the ILCdecisions and the mechanisms used to maintain the productcertification scheme

3 The ILBC Unit Operation

The ILC procedure implicitly breaks the paradigm of thebatch operation and by doing so suggests a new modusoperandi for the process operation It is expected that streamproperties in process lines present larger variability whencompared to bulk properties of stored products Thereforefor the sake of certification this new vigorous dynamicoperation status certainly requires tighter control Howeverthe proper in-line measurement of the whole suit of fuelproperties necessary to certification is one of the two majortechnical challenges The other one is the analytical accuracyand reliability

Efforts have been made to address the control problembut the in-line instrumentation performance has seldombeen compared to the off-line standard test ones for the sakeof product certification (using repeatability and reprodutibil-ity) correlation measures are provided instead [4 13 14] In

Blending scheduling

BPCblend optimization

RBCblend control

Distributed control system

Field equipment Online analyzers

KPImonitoring

Analyzer validation

Figure 6 The ILBC software applications

this sense data validation is the key to assure the measure-ment precision enhancing the signals of the sensors

Since instruments must operate in-line for long periodsof time the long-term behavior of process instrumentationmust be properly evaluated and characterized In additionpart of the required properties may be not available in-line due to technological or economic issues The remainingof this section is dedicated to examine expected problemsrelated to the ILBC low-level operational layers of the super-structure schematized in Figure 4

31 Measurement Before reviewing themain techniques andinstrumentation used to monitor fuel properties two majorpractical issues must be discussed sample representativenessand sensibility to measured properties

Sample representativeness is especially critical when ana-lyzers require long times to perform the analyses More


specifically most property analyzers do not operate on areal-time basis since the analyses are complex and timedemanding The product flow rate and the sample size mustbe defined in such a mode that the on-line analysis showsvolumetric compliance without incuring into any constrainton the system production

Addressing in-line measurement ASTM D4177 standardfocuses on practices for automatic sampling of petroleumand petroleum products whereas the ASTM D6624 standardis concerned with practices for determination of averageproperty values of product streams (FPAPV) Lastly theASTM D7453 standard accounts for practices for samplingpetroleum products by process stream analyzers

Another important question refers to the analyzer sen-sitivity to a particular property Such a question has beenextensively studied in the literature for example using NIRtechnology [13] and different commercial solutions address-ing this issue have been released in the market for examplethe FUELex analyzer of the Bruker Optics company In factthe search for surrogated variables and correlation devel-opment are encouraged Agoston et al [15 16] introducedalternative sensors which enable in-line oil viscosity andcorrosiveness monitoring respectively Such sensors surelyagree with the ILC-based operational philosophyThe ASTMD6708 standard defines some statistical procedures usedfor assessment and improvement of the expected agreementbetween two test methods that are assumed to measure thesame property of a material

Concerning the technology used for in-line measure-ment in-line specialized analyzers constitute the first rea-sonable option at least for simple properties such as densityand conductivity These analyzers are usually cheap reliableand fast making them appropriate for composing an ILBCscheme For properties hard to measure in line inferencesbased on combinations of electromagnetic spectroscopy andinferencemodels have become very popular both in academicand industrial applications [13] The combination of NIRspectrometers and multivariate calibration techniques cer-tainly constitutes the most popular alternative for inferencedevelopment due to fast response times and high precision Ingeneral NIR systems present better precision (repeatability)than ASTM analyzers and same accuracy (reproducibility) asthe calibration method [17] and can produce one completeset of quality determinations in 30 seconds [5 8] Real-worldNIR in-line applications have become very attractive since10 or more product qualities can efficiently be evaluatedwith NIR technology (diesel or gasoline) herein its ability topredict blend indices which are extensively used in off-lineapplications as refinery production planning and schedulingPractices for infrared multivariate and quantitative analysesare addressed by ASTM E1655 On the other hand whileequipments based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)have also been investigated with comparable performance[18] less applications have been verified

As pointed out by some authors [19] NIR-based analyzersrequire careful building of the inferential property modelHowever suppliers of NIR-based analyzers offer poormodel-ing support and do not provide guarantees for measurementperformance [20] Acceptable performance assumes that

the defined ASTM precision is reached at least 90 ofthe time during normal operation with no more than twomodel updates every year [20] Other common complaintsinclude filters clogging andproduct filmdeposition onopticalparts Proper instrument installation standards are describedin ASTM D6122 which recommends sample conditioningsystems design including automatic probe wash and regularmodel validation (daily or twice a day) [20]

Alternative manners to cope with the aforementionedproblems are based on identification and analyses of theactual sources of property variability the sample composition[21] It is well known that the composition of a mixture candrive its chemical and physical behavior [14] Recently apromising branch of analytical chemistry based on advancedmass spectrometry usually named FT-ICR-MS or simplyFTMS [21] has been applied to determine the fuel propertiesbased on a detailed composition of the sampleThis has led todevelopment of a new family of analytical techniques calledpetroleomics

Although these techniques are still incipient and prac-tically restricted to laboratories typical analyses last from5 to 15 minutes making feasible in-line implementationsMore mature techniques that can be used to provide thedetailed composition of oil products include bidimensional(2d) chromatography especially GCtimesGC and GCtimesMS [22]However the main disadvantage in this case is the trade-offbetween data resolution and the time required for analysesaround 80minutes Specifically chromatographers can utilizevery different columns with different lengths and diameterswhich influence resolution analysis timemaintenance (clog-ging) and so forth

Since the abovementioned equipments measure compo-sitional variables it is necessary to implement particularknowledge to convert such data into specified propertiesIn this subject quantitative structure-property relationshipshave shown very promising results [23 24] despite the sparsedata of pure compounds Table 1 shows a summary of themeasurement technologies discussed here

A plausible model for producing a combined CoA maybe based on Figure 7 schematics where the NIR predictionsare first generated during in-line blending and the QSPRpredictions are then generated using the compositionalanalyses carried out by chromatographers or spectrometers

32 Validation At the second level of the operation hierar-chy validation of obtainedmeasurementsmust be performedin order to assure product certification Such control layerenhances the measurement quality by identifying outliersnoise or data trends and if necessary performing datareconciliation Moreover in case of identification of off-specmaterials protection mechanisms must detect and executethe necessary actions to ensure process safety and productquality

Data validation is usually carried out by characteriz-ing the measurement error frequently measuring protofu-els Alternatively results obtained by on-line analyzers canbe compared to standard laboratory results according tostatistical techniques aiming at detecting and quantifying


Table 1 Technologies to integrate an ILBC-based operation model

Technologies References Pros Cons

Spectroscopy

Gilbert et al2004 [18]

Morris et al2009 [13]

Fast analysishigh precisionlow prices

Subject to local and periodiccalibrationsinsensitive sulfur compounds

(2d) chromatography

Yang et al 2002[25]

Wang et al2005 [22]

Compositional dataestablished technologyvaried configurations

Trade-off between analysistime and data resolution forreal-time applications

Mass spectrometryMarshall andRodgers 2004

[21]

Fast analysisultrahigh resolutiondetailed characterization

Qualitative data due toionization deficiencieshigh prices

Quantitativestructure-propertyrelationships

Creton et al2010 [23]

Saldana et al2011 [24]

Fundamental knowledgeuniversal applications

Few pure compoundproperties knownsmall data bases

In-lineblending

Precertifiedproduct

NIR measures

Compositionalanalyses

Certifiedproduct

QSPR measures

Client

Certificate of analysis

Figure 7 Basic ILBC analytical steps

discrepancies The main standard practices available for val-idating on-line analyzers are ASTM D3764 for performancevalidation of process stream analyzers ASTM D6299 forstatistical quality assurance and control charting techniquesof measurement systems and ASTM D6122 for validationof multivariate on-line at-line and laboratory NIR-basedanalyzers

Due to well-known limitations of conventional valida-tion practices which are usually performed with long timeintervals the measurement reliability is not ensured duringthe whole period of product transferring Besides preci-sion and accuracy of nonconventional on-line analyzers areinsufficient for product certification or have not been char-acterized In this scenario simple multivariate techniquessuch as principal component analysis (PCA) and canonicalvariate analysis (CVA) can be of great interest to provideprocess data at short time intervals and reduce uncertaintiesimproving data repeatability and reproducibility [26]

Basically multivariate techniques use correlations ofpropertiesmeasured by different on-line analyzers to increasedata redundancy and to enhance capabilities for processfault detection Abnormal behaviors can also be detected bycomparing current data with successful historical runs Forexample NIR and FTMS analyzers can provide electromag-netic and mass spectra that can be used directly to provideoperation states and monitor the process behavior [27] Incase of sensor malfunction or maintenance multivariatetechniques can be used to estimate the missing propertiesbased on correlations with measurements provided by other

sensors andor historical models allowing for acceptable ILCrobustness [26] In case of process fault automatic protectionactions must be triggered such as segregation of the off-spec components or product in order to guarantee the ILBCpremises

Figure 8 illustrates the worst validation scenario of theproposed ILBC scheme in which all components behaveabnormally yielding an off-spec product thatmust be isolatedfrom the jetty line After problem detection with the help ofelectromagnetic spectra and petroleomic tools the product isthen sent back to an off-spec product storage tank through arecycle line for posterior reblending or reprocessing

33 The Human Organization Changing attitudes revisingprevious assumptions and rethinking best practices for refin-ery operation are particular challenges of all in performingoptimization

Actually rather than an interdisciplinary activity innature ILBC operationmust be understood as a very special-ized optimization activity inside refinery A major challengeto successfully implement an ILBC technologymay indeed beeducating the refineryrsquos personnel to work according to newparadigms and work process

Since at the refinery technical-commercial boundary theILBCoperation is not only strongly dependent on the refineryproduction scheduling but also provides a vital feedback forits daily updating Such collaborative scheduling formulationmay be especially important for refineries embedded in avery competitive environment in which scheduling is usuallymarket oriented In this sense rather than any computationalsystems the quality of the staff may be posed as the primesuccess factor alongwith their ability towork as a single teamdespite focusing on distinct problems and tasks [12]

Best work processes in turn enable the personnel to con-sistently achieve production plan objectives Therefore workprocess should be independent of personnel changes This isaccomplished via structuring a refinery team responsible forthe ILBC unit performance Some critical characteristics of asuccessful team are identified As pointed out by Barsamian


In-lineblending

Off-specproduct

Off-specproduct

NIR spectrum state

Segregating tankline

Compositional state

Reblending

Undesirable state

Figure 8 Segregating route of ILC procedure

[5] thinking and working oriented to ldquodo things right thefirst timerdquo should drive local raining peoplersquos attitudes andmindsets aiming at supporting the ILBC unit Rapid commu-nications faster response times (analyzer repairs with highpriority) key people on call and management motivation ofILBC team members are mandatory practices that motivatea matrix type organization in which the individuals remainphysically in their respective areas but their daily workresponsibility is to the team (Figure 9)

The ILBC team is responsible for the daily operationof the ILBC unit It comprises tight monitoring of perfor-mance indicators including critical analysis of the natureand frequency of operational issues and incidents definitionof priorities related to system maintenance and upgradingresource forecasting to ensure high factors of system avail-ability and reliability and managerial follow-up

The most prominent change in the refineryrsquos personnelprofile is certainly experimented by the laboratory staff Notonly a new work philosophy must be learned but also a setof more added-value activities should be performed Sincenow focusing on the on-line analyzers performance thelaboratoryrsquos staff must be qualified to locally provide pro-cess streams and fuel additives spectral modeling protofuelmanagement research on physicochemical inferences devel-opment and equipment monitoring and maintenance Asproduct certification process is expected to be less demandingfor laboratoryASTManalysis ofmanual operational routinesas periodic line and tank sampling mechanical work shouldbe replaced by challenging activities performed by high-profile professionals On the other hand it is uncertain to saythat ILBC automation will cause the reduction of laboratoryactivities Anyway it is worthwhile to note that those refinersthat did not reduce their technical staff when automation wasintroduced have experienced gains in operational safety [28]

Since such technologies are a major concern as theyimpact the entire plant schedule and real-time optimiza-tion process applications a highly qualified and integratedblending team becomes instrumental to the modern refiningindustry

34 Superior Control Layers The remaining control layers ofthe proposed ILBC operation hierarchy are concerned withthe blending process operations However it is importantto note that (a) product delivery underscored by ILBCtechnology is faster than the conventional one (Figure 2) and(b) on-line properties measurements present more vigorousdynamics and this way requires tighter control Once theproperty mixture rules and indexes are known and the

ILBC manager(production planning and scheduling)

Commercial Laboratory focal point

Maintenance engineer

Process engineering

CoA lab team

On-line analyzer engineer

Automation

IT system engineerBlending and

control engineer

Blending operators

Field technicians

Field technicians

Figure 9 A ILBC team model [5]

inferential models are implemented NIR-based analyzerscan quickly measure the feed and product properties [19]Hence it allows for a more sensitive control using bothfeedback and feed forward control structures An importantfeature of on-linemeasurements of oil properties is the higherfrequency of analyses which enables improved process oper-ation and more frequent optimization of process setpointsFor instance both electromagnetic andmass spectra can offeressential information for definition of the best recipe for aparticular production run [27]

4 ILBC Prerequisites

Custody transfer involves industry and legal metrologystandards contractual agreements between the parties andgovernmental regulation and taxation Therefore any con-crete investment decision on ILBC implementation shouldbe preceded by an interdisciplinary analysis of the refineryand the environment in which it is inserted Major issues areaddressed in this section as follows

41 Technical Issues At the technical viewpoint an ILBC unitmay be understood as a forward step of a reliable ILB unitThe success of an ILBC implementation is conditioned tothe maturity stage of the refinery ILB automation technologyas well as its previous experience in dealing with ILB oper-ations Table 2 summarizes major qualitative characteristicsexpected to further raise a successful ILBC application

42 Legal Issues The first question that must be consideredprior to legal implementation of an ILBC procedure is thefollowing is it legally permitted

Under the preceding US EPA proposition for shippingbefore testing based only on on-line analyzer control ofproperties of interest to EPA (USA Code of Federal Regula-tion 40CFR80 part 65) governmental regulatory legislationworldwide should be expected to be revised in the light of thefast development of ILBC technology as well as due to envi-ronmental pressures since it may optimize volatile organiccompound emissions at the end of refinery As a resultthe formulation of new modus operandi and mechanisms to


Table 2 Some critical technical requirements for an ILBC-based operation model

Discipline Item Prerequisite

Analytical

ASTM analyzers Reliability

On-line analyzersRobustnessSample condition systemRedundancy with on-line ASTM analyzers

SamplingSampling conditioning systems (on-linemeasurements)Automated composite sampling

LaboratoryLaboratory NIR spectrometerReference materialsprotofuelsSpectral database (protofuels streams and additives)

Informationtechnology

Real-time database

Process streams data storage (extensiveintensiveproperties)Discrete and continuous plant data storage (egonoff flows tank heels)

Off-line database Process configuration (eg equipment operationallimits)

Processengineering

System design Allowing for redundant measurements

Process modelingand control

Reliable inferences to noncritical product qualitiesMPC regarding feed forward on components blendindicesBlending RTO technologyRatio control including fall-back strategies

Oil movementsystem

Integration to refinery production schedulingAutomated plant operation management(i) Tanks swings heel qualities and stratificationdetection(ii) Line ups flushing valve position and pipequality tracking

Data validation Real-time data reconciliation on flowsOn-line analyzer data validation on ASTM analyzers

ensure consistent ILBC implementation and customer rightsmay be propelled by prospective studies and pilot projects bythe oil industry

43 Commercial Issues The ILBC approach may be par-ticularly attractive for vicinal companies operating localcontinuous-flow product custody transfer among them Thismay be the case of integrated industrial pools involvingrefinery and petrochemical plants

Once the ILBC operationmode is identified to potentiallybring substantial benefits to both the buyer and the seller anumber of issues should be addressed Since representing theultimate manufacturing step severe consequences may arisein case of system failure including economics and reputationdamages In this sense a comprehensive analysis of haz-ardous events should be done and translated to contractualagreements if not properly addressed by the governmentallegislation

Rather than spot commercial contacts related to demandforecasting and CoA emission such real-time integratedoperation implies a high level of multidisciplinary humaninteractions between the personnel of both parts includingcollaborative technological efforts to ensure reliability of thecontinuous operation and monitoring including commonfall-back strategies

5 Conclusions

Facing various challenges in the everchanging refining land-scape it is essential that refiners raise their operations to newlevels of performance To help refineries improve its compet-itive edge and smoothly change to future refining operationthis work has introduced a new paradigm concerned with thehigh performance refining in-line certification

This subject promises to revolutionize the whole pictureof refineries production by upgrading the blending processoperations to new ends and legal threshold The use of old-fashioned and unreliable analyzers which perform long-


run analyses may be in close connection with the his-torical background of the petroleum business but shouldnot necessarily remain the same in the near future giventhe fast technological development of new instruments andnovel analytical techniques Compound identification canbe programmed more easily and cause the reduction ofuncertainties and subjectivity suggesting that future ILBCprocedures may have close connection with petroleomics

This revolution can bring a series of advantages thatcan allow for implementation of an ILBC approach in thenear future Technical-economic advantages as well as inter-disciplinary challenges to be addressed were outlined anddiscussed In-line measurement was identified to be the keyissue for a successful certification model The inherent mea-surement complexity of some specified properties demandsvery dedicated analyzers which generate uncertain andorsubjective data after long analysis time Potential surrogatesfor these analyzers were discussed including the well-knownNIR-based and new petroleomics-based techniques Datavalidation and reconciliation were pointed out to have animportant role in the ILBC approach ensuring the requiredreliability for a real-world application Complementary dis-cussion on promising process control strategies and humanorganization for supporting ILBC operation were also pre-sented

At the managerial level clear refinery business objectivesincluding minimum inventory policies flexible neverthelessoptimized scheduling to efficiently capture commercial spotopportunities and low demurrage aiming at minimizing jet-ties occupancy should be praised as well as the commitmentof the refinery staff with a realistic scheduling and its eco-nomic performanceTherefore new work processes based onan interdisciplinary dedicated team whose core skills include(a) fast communication according to an efficient organizationworkflow in which reliable information (data and models)is available on time (b) know how autonomy to promptlysolve maintenance problems locally at the refinery and (c)new procedures regarding chemometric model maintenancereference samples management analyzers validation on-linesampling fall-back strategies implementation and customerclaims

Acknowledgments

Theauthors would like to thankGeraldoMarcioDiniz Santos(Petrobras Headquarters) Magno Schiavolin and WallaceNascimento (Petrobras REPLAN Refinery) and AntonioKatata and Aerenton Bueno (Petrobras REVAP Refinery) forvaluable collaboration with this work

References

[1] J R Katzer M P Ramage and A V Sapre ldquoPetroleum refiningpoised for profound changesrdquo Chemical Engineering Progressvol 96 no 7 pp 41ndash51 2000

[2] S Hu and X X Zhu ldquoA general framework for incorporatingmolecular modeling into overall refinery optimizationrdquoAppliedThermal Engineering vol 21 no 13-14 pp 1331ndash1348 2001

[3] L F L Moro ldquoOptimization in the petroleum refiningindustrymdashthe virtual refineryrdquo in 10th International Symposiumon Process Systems EngineeringmdashPSE 2009 R M D B AlvesC A O do Nascimento and E C Biscaia Jr Eds ElsevierSalvador Brazil 2009

[4] P A Pantoja J Lopez-Gejo G A C Le Roux F H Quinaand C A O Nascimento ldquoPrediction of crude oil propertiesand chemical composition by means of steady-state and time-resolved fluorescencerdquo Energy amp Fuels vol 25 no 8 pp 3598ndash3604 2011

[5] A Barsamian ldquoGasoline blending technology operationseconomicsrdquo Technical Seminar Refinery Automation InstituteLLC Morristown NJ USA 2007

[6] J -P Favennec Petroleum Refining Refinery Operation andManagement vol 5 Editions Technip Paris France 2001

[7] M Joly ldquoRefinery planning and scheduling the refining corebusinessrdquo Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering vol 29 no2 pp 371ndash384 2012

[8] Technip ldquoIn Line certification of petroleum productsrdquo Tech-nical Seminar Technip Advanced Systems Engineering ParisFrance 2007

[9] EPA ldquo40CFRPart80 regulation of fuel and fuel additivesgasoline and diesel fuel test methodsrdquo EPA Report OAR2005-0048 Environmental Protection Agency Washington DCUSA 2006

[10] Y Wu and N Zhang ldquoMolecular characterization of gaso-line and diesel streamsrdquo Industrial and Engineering ChemistryResearch vol 49 no 24 pp 12773ndash12782 2010

[11] M M S Aye and N Zhang ldquoA novel methodology in trans-forming bulk properties of refining streams into molecularinformationrdquo Chemical Engineering Science vol 60 no 23 pp6702ndash6717 2005

[12] N Zhang and M Valleur ldquoRefinery planning and schedulingrdquoin ASTM Handbook of Petroleum Refining and Natural GasProcessing chapter 18 ASTM International Conshohocken PaUSA 2009

[13] R E Morris M H Hammond J A Cramer et al ldquoRapid fuelquality surveillance through chemometric modeling of near-infrared spectrardquo Energy amp Fuels vol 23 no 3 pp 1610ndash16182009

[14] D J Cookson C P Lloyd and B E Smith ldquoInvestigation of thechemical basis of diesel fuel propertiesrdquo Energy amp Fuels vol 2no 6 pp 854ndash860 1988

[15] A Agoston C Otsch and B Jakoby ldquoViscosity sensors forengine oil condition monitoringmdashapplication and interpreta-tion of resultsrdquo Sensors and Actuators A vol 121 no 2 pp 327ndash332 2005

[16] A Agoston N Dorr and B Jakoby ldquoCorrosion sensors forengine oilsmdashlaboratory evaluation and field testsrdquo Sensors andActuators B vol 127 no 1 pp 15ndash21 2007

[17] A Barsamian ldquoGet the most out of your NIR analyzersrdquoHydrocarbon Processing vol 80 no 1 pp 69ndash72 2001

[18] W R Gilbert F S G de Lima and A F Bueno ldquoComparisonof NIR and NMR spectra chemometrics for FCC feed onlinecharacterizationrdquo Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis vol149 pp 203ndash215 2004

[19] A Barsamian ldquoConsider near infrared methods for inlineblendingrdquo Hydrocarbon Processing vol 84 no 6 pp 97ndash1002005

[20] A Barsamian ldquoOptimize fuels blending with advanced onlineanalyzersrdquo Hydrocarbon Processing vol 87 no 9 pp 121ndash1222008


[21] A G Marshall and R P Rodgers ldquoPetroleomics the next grandchallenge for chemical analysisrdquoAccounts of Chemical Researchvol 37 no 1 pp 53ndash59 2004

[22] F C-Y Wang K Qian and L A Green ldquoGCtimesMS of diesela two-dimensional separation approachrdquo Analytical Chemistryvol 77 no 9 pp 2777ndash2785 2005

[23] B Creton C Dartiguelongue T De Bruin and H ToulhoatldquoPrediction of the cetane number of diesel compounds using thequantitative structure property relationshiprdquo Energy amp Fuelsvol 24 no 10 pp 5396ndash5403 2010

[24] DA Saldana L Starck PMougin et al ldquoFlash point and cetanenumber predictions for fuel compounds using quantitativestructure property relationship (QSPR) methodsrdquo Energy ampFuels vol 25 no 9 pp 3900ndash3908 2011

[25] H Yang Z Ring Y Briker N McLean W Friesen and CFairbridge ldquoNeural network prediction of cetane number anddensity of diesel fuel from its chemical composition determinedby LC and GC-MSrdquo Fuel vol 81 no 1 pp 65ndash74 2002

[26] T N Pranatyasto and S J Qin ldquoSensor validation and processfault diagnosis for FCC units under MPC feedbackrdquo ControlEngineering Practice vol 9 no 8 pp 877ndash888 2001

[27] M Hur I Yeo E Park et al ldquoCombination of statisticalmethods and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance massspectrometry for more comprehensive molecular-level inter-pretations of petroleum samplesrdquo Analytical Chemistry vol 82no 1 pp 211ndash218 2010

[28] J P Favennec Le Raffinage du Petrole Exploitation et Gestion dela Raffinerie vol 5 Tome 5 Technip Editions Institut Francaisdu Petrole Paris France 1998

International Journal of

AerospaceEngineeringHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

RoboticsJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014


Active and Passive Electronic Components

Control Scienceand Engineering

Journal of



RotatingMachinery


Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom

Journal ofEngineeringVolume 2014

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration


Civil EngineeringAdvances in

Acoustics and VibrationAdvances in



Electrical and Computer Engineering

Journal of

Advances inOptoElectronics


Volume 2014

The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

SensorsJournal of


Modelling amp Simulation in EngineeringHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014


Chemical EngineeringInternational Journal of Antennas and

Propagation




Navigation and Observation



DistributedSensor Networks



special impact on refining profitability with environmentalbenefits when considered to provide chemical informationof great importance for real-time adjustment of short-termscheduling decisions concerned with product formulationand refinery dispatch logistics

Blending consolidates as the refineryrsquos last chance toimpact profitability at low investment levels and approxi-mately 50 of about 700 refineries worldwide have imple-mented such technology [5] Besides positively impactingthe overall refinery production scheduling in-line blending(ILB) operations at the end of the refinery allow for substan-tial benefits including end product giveaway minimizationlower inventory levels optimized logistics and thereforereduced utility consummations and atmospheric emissionseconomic savings in new hardware investment and mainte-nance and operational safety

Apart from typical economical benefits ranging fromUS$015 to 030 per crude oil processed [6] ILB represents theprecursor technology for allowing an additional efficiencyjump in refinery scheduling optimization the so-called in-line certification (ILC) (Figure 1)

As the fundamental premise an ILC-based approachshould consider product dispatch to a third party beforesending the official (ie legal) product quality certificate to itILC procedures are primarily intended to minimize refineryscheduling bottlenecks However it is not completely clearyet how large the benefits provided by ILC procedures canbe Since products can be delivered directly from processingto clients some potential advantages that can probably berelated to the implementation of ILC schemes are as follows

(i) Suppression of conventional operations as tank ho-mogenization sampling and laboratory testing andthis way saves manpower and shortening the refiningproduction cycle time (Figure 2)

(ii) Dead inventory minimization(iii) Tankage minimization and associated maintenance

costs optimization(iv) Improvement of the process reliability and optimiza-

tion (as process control techniques must necessarilybe implemented in-line and in real time)

(v) Enhanced flexibility to tightly specify different prod-uct grades according to real-time customer needs

(vi) Shipping demurrage minimization(vii) Enhanced energetic and environmental performan-

ces of the refinery storage area provided by an opti-mized scheduling

(viii) Staff safety and productivity increase provided byautomation replacing manual operations

Such benefits must compensate the investment on tech-nology and process upgrade required by ILC procedures ifactual implementation at plant site is sought Apart from legalissues the refineryrsquos logistic environment will determine howexpressive the opportunity for implementing an ILC-basedoperational philosophy is

This paper is structured as follows Section 2 proposesbasic concepts and discusses an ILC-based business model

Mixer

Component tanks

Process units

Product tanks

Final destiny

(a)

Mixer

Component tanks

Process units

Final destiny

1

2infin

(b)

Figure 1 (a) Typical configuration of ILB units (b) a virtual basicscheme for an ILC unit using two possible routes for off-spec fuels(1) reblending or (2) infinite dilution In both schemes dashedcircles represent on-line analyzers

Some practical ILC implementation issues with identifica-tion of current technical limitations promising solutionsand required investments are also discussed here Section 3discusses how the ILC scheme should work out in practice inorder to be accepted by regulatory agencies and customers ingeneral whereas Section 4 outlines some identified prerequi-sites to a generic ILC implementation Section 5 presents theconclusions of the paper

2 An ILC-Based Custody Transfer Model

Custody transfer in the oil industry refers to the transactionsinvolving transporting physical substance from one operatorto another Since presupposing product releasing before testingto a customer an ILC-based approach implies new technical-commercial paradigms

21 Model Definition Thefirst step required to support a newproposal or procedure is the definition of important relatedterms and the development of the basic ideas behind it In-line certification is defined here as a computer-controlledprocedure based on real-time data from on-line analyzersable to automatically measure stream qualities and performactions over manipulated process variables to ensure productspecification and optimization this way enabling its promptdelivery from the refinery to third parts prior to the officialissuing of the conventional laboratory-based certificate ofanalysis (CoA) Here the term quality encompasses anyphysicochemical property related to the legal specificationof a given finished product Similarly the on-line analyzersterminology encompasses American Society for Testing andMaterials (ASTM) on-line analyzers and near-infrared (NIR)systems

If the in-line certification is thought to simultaneously beperformed by an in-line blending unit one can refer to it as anin-line blending certification (ILBC) unit (Figure 3) However




(a)


t998400

1t998400

2t998400

3t998400

4t998400


Lab certification

(b)



Equipment setup


Tank mixing

In-line blending

Lab blend analysis


t998400998400

1t998400998400

2t998400998400

3 Total = TILC

(c)



Testimonialsample

Component 1

Mixer

Process unit

Tankmixer

Lab

Composite sampler

Storage tank

Online measurement

Electronic CoA

CoA

Regulatory control

Superior layers

Reblend line

Bypass line

1

2

3

Certified product

Wild stream

Component n









Corporaterefinery



planning

Refinery planning

Refinery scheduling


Advanced control


acquisitionData

reconciliation

Accounting

Feedback

Data warehouse


backcastingRefinery


Plan

Do

Check

Act


















To the blend header


Small diameter line

(a)


To DCS interface


Safety system

Sulfur analyzer

NIR analyzer

Sample control

Sample control



Test sample system


Shelter

Fast loop header

Sample return


(b)







Blending scheduling


RBCblend control



KPImonitoring

Analyzer validation






















Spectroscopy





(2d) chromatography

Yang et al 2002[25]

Wang et al2005 [22]




[21]








In-lineblending

Precertifiedproduct

NIR measures


Certifiedproduct

QSPR measures

Client













In-lineblending

Off-specproduct

Off-specproduct

NIR spectrum state


Compositional state

Reblending

Undesirable state










Process engineering

CoA lab team


Automation


control engineer

Blending operators

Field technicians

Field technicians











Analytical






Real-time database



Processengineering




Oil movementsystem







5 Conclusions







Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation












(a)


t998400

1t998400

2t998400

3t998400

4t998400


Lab certification

(b)



Equipment setup


Tank mixing

In-line blending

Lab blend analysis


t998400998400

1t998400998400

2t998400998400

3 Total = TILC

(c)



Testimonialsample

Component 1

Mixer

Process unit

Tankmixer

Lab

Composite sampler

Storage tank

Online measurement

Electronic CoA

CoA

Regulatory control

Superior layers

Reblend line

Bypass line

1

2

3

Certified product

Wild stream

Component n









Corporaterefinery



planning

Refinery planning

Refinery scheduling


Advanced control


acquisitionData

reconciliation

Accounting

Feedback

Data warehouse


backcastingRefinery


Plan

Do

Check

Act


















To the blend header


Small diameter line

(a)


To DCS interface


Safety system

Sulfur analyzer

NIR analyzer

Sample control

Sample control



Test sample system


Shelter

Fast loop header

Sample return


(b)







Blending scheduling


RBCblend control



KPImonitoring

Analyzer validation






















Spectroscopy





(2d) chromatography

Yang et al 2002[25]

Wang et al2005 [22]




[21]








In-lineblending

Precertifiedproduct

NIR measures


Certifiedproduct

QSPR measures

Client













In-lineblending

Off-specproduct

Off-specproduct

NIR spectrum state


Compositional state

Reblending

Undesirable state










Process engineering

CoA lab team


Automation


control engineer

Blending operators

Field technicians

Field technicians











Analytical






Real-time database



Processengineering




Oil movementsystem







5 Conclusions







Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation















Corporaterefinery



planning

Refinery planning

Refinery scheduling


Advanced control


acquisitionData

reconciliation

Accounting

Feedback

Data warehouse


backcastingRefinery


Plan

Do

Check

Act


















To the blend header


Small diameter line

(a)


To DCS interface


Safety system

Sulfur analyzer

NIR analyzer

Sample control

Sample control



Test sample system


Shelter

Fast loop header

Sample return


(b)







Blending scheduling


RBCblend control



KPImonitoring

Analyzer validation






















Spectroscopy





(2d) chromatography

Yang et al 2002[25]

Wang et al2005 [22]




[21]








In-lineblending

Precertifiedproduct

NIR measures


Certifiedproduct

QSPR measures

Client













In-lineblending

Off-specproduct

Off-specproduct

NIR spectrum state


Compositional state

Reblending

Undesirable state










Process engineering

CoA lab team


Automation


control engineer

Blending operators

Field technicians

Field technicians











Analytical






Real-time database



Processengineering




Oil movementsystem







5 Conclusions







Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation





















To the blend header


Small diameter line

(a)


To DCS interface


Safety system

Sulfur analyzer

NIR analyzer

Sample control

Sample control



Test sample system


Shelter

Fast loop header

Sample return


(b)







Blending scheduling


RBCblend control



KPImonitoring

Analyzer validation






















Spectroscopy





(2d) chromatography

Yang et al 2002[25]

Wang et al2005 [22]




[21]








In-lineblending

Precertifiedproduct

NIR measures


Certifiedproduct

QSPR measures

Client













In-lineblending

Off-specproduct

Off-specproduct

NIR spectrum state


Compositional state

Reblending

Undesirable state










Process engineering

CoA lab team


Automation


control engineer

Blending operators

Field technicians

Field technicians











Analytical






Real-time database



Processengineering




Oil movementsystem







5 Conclusions







Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation

























Spectroscopy





(2d) chromatography

Yang et al 2002[25]

Wang et al2005 [22]




[21]








In-lineblending

Precertifiedproduct

NIR measures


Certifiedproduct

QSPR measures

Client













In-lineblending

Off-specproduct

Off-specproduct

NIR spectrum state


Compositional state

Reblending

Undesirable state










Process engineering

CoA lab team


Automation


control engineer

Blending operators

Field technicians

Field technicians











Analytical






Real-time database



Processengineering




Oil movementsystem







5 Conclusions







Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation










In-lineblending

Off-specproduct

Off-specproduct

NIR spectrum state


Compositional state

Reblending

Undesirable state










Process engineering

CoA lab team


Automation


control engineer

Blending operators

Field technicians

Field technicians











Analytical






Real-time database



Processengineering




Oil movementsystem







5 Conclusions







Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation












Analytical






Real-time database



Processengineering




Oil movementsystem







5 Conclusions







Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation













Acknowledgments


References
































RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation




















RoboticsJournal of





Journal of



RotatingMachinery





VLSI Design



Shock and Vibration







Journal of



Volume 2014


SensorsJournal of





Propagation









Research Article Rethinking Petroleum Products...

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