processing

2016

shale feedstocks

PTQ supplement
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Processing shale
feedstocks
2016
www.eptq.com 3 Pain then gain
Chris Cunningham

4 shale q&a

7 Latin American shale oil: promise or pipedream?

Jeffrey Zurlo
GE Water & Process Technologies

15 Novel processing ideas for a condensate refinery

Donald Eizenga, David Shecterle and Frank Zhu
UOP, a Honeywell Company

22 Monitoring against process problems

Tim Olsen
Emerson Process Management

25 Impact of light tight oils on distillate hydrotreater operation

Robert Ohmes and Matt Lehr
KBC Advanced Technologies

35 Chinas shale gas

Lee Fagg
Nexant

Cover
MarkWests Majorsville complex in West Virginia gathers and processes shale gas from the Marcellus measures.
Photo: MarkWest

2016 The entire content of this publication is protected by copyright full details of which are available from the publishers. All rights
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electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
The opinions and views expressed by the authors in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher and while every
care has been taken in the preparation of all material included in Petroleum Technology Quarterly and its supplements the publisher cannot
be held responsible for any statements, opinions or views or for any inaccuracies.
 PTQ-MIDSTREAM-FY17_300dpi.pdf 1 3/1/2016 8:49:16 AM

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Processing shale Pain then gain
feedstocks
2016

N
Editor obody expected a great year for shale oil. If not quite the shale
Chris Cunningham Armageddon that some predicted late in 2015, the downward bump in
editor@petroleumtechnology.com crude markets at the beginning of 2016 did nothing to stop the expected
and continuing cutbacks and sell-offs among North American producers. Over-
Production Editor stocking of crude, not expected to ease much before 2018, and declining margins
Rachel Storry
and output among refiners will ensure that light tight oil (LTO) production will
production@petroleumtechnology.com
be in retreat for the time being.
Graphics Editor In the meantime, as this issue of Processing Shale Feedstocks demonstrates,
Rob Fris refiners can mark time increasing their expertise in handling a relatively
graphics@petroleumtechnology.com unfamiliar feedstock: how to deal with exchanger fouling issues; best practice
for hydrotreating LTO sub-products; and making the most of new flows of
Editorial condensate. And, with our coverage of emerging production in Latin
tel +44 844 5888 773
America and China, there is a view of the horizon, rather than imminent
fax +44 844 5888 667
expectation, of shale oil as a mainstream global commodity.
Business Development Director While the downturn in shale oil production is leading to frowns among its
Paul Mason owners, other producers are even more worried about its medium- to long-
sales@petroleumtechnology.com term prospects and for different reasons. The recent deal between the
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, which produces
Advertising Sales Office around 40% of the worlds crude) and Russia to cap production and so help
tel +44 844 5888 771
oil prices to ease upwards was the competitions latest aggressive response to
fax +44 844 5888 662
shale oil. The first, back in 2014, was OPECs determination to keep produc-
Publisher tion going at full pelt in the hope of choking off the shale drillers. Instead,
Nic Allen crude prices dived to the gain of nobody inside the oil and gas industry. As
publisher@petroleumtechnology.com OPEC now admits, it did not expect prices to fall so far, so fast when it
decided to shore up output.
Circulation However, while fracking may falter at sub-$30 price levels, highly distrib-
Jacki Watts
uted production of LTO in North America can quickly swing back into action
Louise Shaw
circulation@petroleumtechnology.com when the price bounces back. It is a flexibility that is unavailable elsewhere.
When demand begins to outstrip supply and prices do recover, shale is the
Crambeth Allen Publishing Ltd most likely source to fill the gap. With crude exports from the US at last on
Hopesay, Craven Arms SY7 8HD, UK the agenda, that may mean filling a supply gap among some of OPECs
tel +44 844 5888 776 prized European and perhaps Asian customers as well as in local markets.
fax +44 844 5888 667 So when will the upwards bounce come about? The best neutral view is
from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which reckons that production
of US crude, the greater part of which comes from shale measures, will even-
PTQ (Petroleum Technology Quarterly) (ISSN tually rise by 1.3 million b/d by 2021, with a starting point of the beginning
No: 1632-363X, USPS No: 014-781) is published
quarterly plus annual Catalysis edition by Crambeth
of 2016. During the current year, production will tumble by 600 000 b/d, says
Allen Publishing Ltd and is distributed in the US the IEA, which means a great deal of pain for the producers. Output will fall
by SP/Asendia, 17B South Middlesex Avenue,
Monroe NJ 08831. Periodicals postage paid at New by a further 200 000 b/d in 2017, but crude inventories will rise only by a rel-
Brunswick, NJ. Postmaster: send address changes to atively modest 100 000 b/d over the same period. Stocks will then begin to
PTQ (Petroleum Technology Quarterly), 17B South
Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831. fall sharply, by 400 000 b/d in 2018, when a rapid upward swing in shale oil
Back numbers available from the Publisher production is set in motion
at $30 per copy inc postage.
Adding to the unique fouling, corrosion and catalyst contamination issues
reported by refiners processing LTOs, the challenges become further compli-
cated due to the heat and energy imbalances occurring when a facility
designed to run on heavy and sour crudes starts processing higher percent-
ages of light and sweet shale crudes and LTOs.

CHRIS CUNNINGHAM

Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 3

 shale q&a
Q Shale oil is low in sulphur but for how long? Should we
allow for more desulphurisation capacity for the future?
A Tim Olsen, Refining Consultant, Emerson Process
Management
The main question is what form the sulphur is in, and
it is hydrogen sulphide (H2S). Amine based H2S scaven-
gers are added prior to transporting the tight oil.
Although amine based H2S scavengers are added,
crude from North Dakota Bakken can be loaded in the
cold of winter and have safe conditions, and then trans-
ported via railcar to a warmer climate. The mixing of
the railcar during movement along with a change in
temperature can result in higher vapour pressure and
the release of entrained H2S, making the offloading a
potential safety hazard. The more appropriate question
is why are they not stripping off the H2S in the field
prior to transporting. For refiners using tight oil,
Emerson recommends H2S monitoring in the tank farm.
Prior to the shale oil boom, refiners in the US
invested significantly to upgrade their refineries to
handle heavy sour crude oil from Canada and
Venezuela. In addition, Tier 3 regulations take effect
in 2017 for larger refiners and have resulted in addi-
tional hydrodesulphurisation capacity to reduce
sulphur in gasoline from 30 ppm to 10 ppm. Smaller
refiners will need to comply by 2020. Conversations
about desulphurisation have been around Tier 3, not
the possibility of tight oil increasing in sulphur
content.
The sulphur levels in shale oils
should not increase unless high
sulphate waters are injected into
the reservoir during fracs or refracs
A Sam Toscano, Senior Product Manager, GE Water &
Process Technologies
The sulphur levels in shale oils should not increase
unless high sulphate waters are injected into the reser-
voir during fracs or refracs. Many of the Eagleford
locations have high natural H2S levels, so the oil and
gas produced typically requires removal or treatment
prior to going into sales lines. Also, some reservoirs
have sulphate reducing bacteria present, which convert
the sulphate in water to sulphides.
The best solution is to assess water used in fracs to
Additional Q&A can be found at www.eptq.com/QandA
4 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016
ensure that the sulphate levels are low and you are not
introducing additional sulphates into the reservoir.
Q The more paraffinic nature of LTO means we are
encountering excessive fouling in our preheat exchangers
and in pipelines from the tank farm. Do you have solutions to
either or both of these issues?
A Xiomara Price, Center of Excellence Leader Fouling
Control, GE Water & Process Technologies
Light tight oil (LTO) has brought about a new challenge
with line plugging issues for some refiners. The plug-
ging of the transfer lines from the tank farm can be
addressed by a treatment programme that preconditions
the wax crystals in such a way that it inhibits growth
and provides great dispersant qualities. Additionally,
the processing of LTO crude has generated an increase
in cold preheat fouling attributed to paraffinic waxes,
lowering the desalter operating temperature. This type
of fouling cannot be mitigated by adding water in front
of the cold preheat exchangers as is often done for other
cold preheat fouling issues. Chemistries like those in
GEs Thermoflo product line can be used to mitigate the
cold preheat fouling without negatively impacting the
desalter. Furthermore, the hot preheat exchangers are
experiencing fouling due to incompatibility between the
LTO and other crudes.
A Tim Olsen, Refining Consultant, Emerson Process
Management
Because tight oils tend to be lighter, they need to be
blended with medium or heavy crude oils to get the
right balance for best utilisation of existing down-
stream unit capabilities. In addition, tight oils tend to
have a large percentage of naphtha, which is meaning-
ful when blending with other crude oils. Asphaltenes
do not dissolve in crude oil but exist as a colloidal
suspension and will precipitate in the presence of light
paraffinic compounds such as pentane. Mixing stable
crude blends and asphaltic and paraffinic oil creates
the potential for precipitating the unstable asphaltenes
by reducing the solvency capability of the base crude.
Therefore, tight oils have more naphtha content and
create favourable conditions for asphaltenes to precipi-
tate out more readily. It should also be noted that the
percentage of crude blends will have an impact on
crude incompatibilities. For example, an 80-20 blend
with 20% tight oil may not be enough to see acceler-
ated fouling, whereas a 70-30 blend may be unstable
and have additional unwanted fouling.
www.eptq.com
 Emerson has been equipping additional wireless
temperature and pressure sensors around both sides
of heat exchanger bundles along with predictive
analytic software. The combination of process data
and analytics enables the ability to trend the rate of
fouling, alert of accelerated fouling, and determine
which bundle requires cleaning. When accelerated
fouling is detected, the refiner can adjust the blend
percentage (if possible) and learn that particular
crude blend is incompatible, and thus avoid that
mixture combination in the future. With the increased
use of discounted opportunity crude oils, operations
are providing more insight to production planners on
which crude oils are not favourable within their
refinery.
Q What are the cold flow issues to watch out for in diesel
make starting from LTO and how do we overcome them?
A Ron Gropp, Center of Excellence Leader Fuel Additives,
GE Water & Process Technologies
I do not know of significant cold flow issues in diesel
make starting from LTO. The paraffinic nature of
crudes produced from shale plays like Eagleford
results in more paraffinic diesels, and in some cases
related higher cloud points, cold filter plugging points
and cloud points, but treating the fuels with our cold
flow improver additives to meet pour point, cold filter
plugging point, and cloud point specifications has
proved to be very effective.
Q How do we counter the formation of emulsions in the
desalter?
A Tim Olsen, Refining Consultant, Emerson Process
Management
Most refiners are challenged with significant filterable
solids (~200 lbs per thousand bbl) and paraffin waxes
that accompany tight oil crudes. Chemicals are added
to treat the waxes and wetting agents applied to help
solids exit with the desalter brine. Although refiners
are trying to filter the solids at the refinery entrance, it
would be nice to remove the solids and paraffin waxes
prior to leaving the field, similar to removing H2S.
A Mike Dion, Center of Excellence Leader Process
Separations, GE Water & Process Technologies
Many factors can influence emulsion stability. For
shale oils, two predominant factors are crude blend
instability and solids. Instability occurs when a resul-
tant blend of crudes is deficient in resin and aromatic
fractions relative to quantity of asphaltenes. When this
occurs, the crude blend is unstable and precipitation of
asphaltenes and other high molecular weight aliphat-
ics may occur. This precipitation can result in
asphaltene stabilised emulsions.
Shale oils can also contain a high amount of solids
from either hydraulic fracturing of the reservoir, or
sand, which is injected downhole to be used as a
www.eptq.com
proppant to hold open the fractures. In certain situa-
tions, these solids can stabilise emulsions (Pickering
emulsions).
Shale oil desalting is usually accomplished with a
demulsifier, crude stabiliser and solids wetting agent.
On-site testing is conducted to optimise dosage rates
of each product for the most cost-effective desalter
performance.
Q It seems that there is increased risk of naphthenic
corrosion in the crude unit with an LTO feed? How does it
occur and what measures should we take to avoid it?
A Collin Cross, Center of Excellence Leader Refinery
Corrosion, GE Water & Process Technologies
We do not really see any predominant trend towards
increased naphthenic acid correlated with the
increase in LTO processing. Likely, we see more of the
opposite. However, the mechanisms for naphthenic
acid corrosion remain the same. Heavy carboxylic
acid species native to the crude, and produced in situ
via the furnace, are introduced in the tower feed then
interact with passivation mechanisms for native
sulphur species. Second order blending interactions
with additional crudes blended into the LTO
We do not really see any
predominant trend towards
increased naphthenic acid
correlated with the increase in
light tight oil processing
feed could synergistically increase or decrease base-
line naphthenic acid corrosion rates based upon
well-known mechanisms for second order blending
effects and their potentiation of naphthenic acid
corrosion. In our experience, we do not really see
such impacts consistently across our customer base,
but maintain certain cases could be possible in
selected conditions.
A Tim Olsen, Refining Consultant, Emerson Process
Management
Many refiners are seeing naphthenic acid because of
the selection of opportunity crudes that are abundantly
available in todays competitive and over-supplied
market. In addition, many refiners are blending more
than two crude oils in order to get the right match for
their processing configuration. There are definitely
challenges when using discounted opportunity crudes
to get the right match. For Emerson, we are seeing
refiners investing in non-intrusive corrosion monitor-
ing solutions along with continuing their traditional
coupon or probe approach. Both methods provide
valuable insight into corrosion issues prior to integrity
issues.
Processing Shale feedstocks 2016 5
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 Latin American shale oil:
promise or pipedream?
The challenges faced by Latin American refiners in processing fast emerging
sources of shale oil in a low price environment

JEFFREY ZURLO
GE Water & Process Technologies

A
s a crude oil importer for
over 30 years, the North
American renery market
focused on heavy gravity, high
sulphur crude oil processing to take
advantage of the lower purchase
prices and abundant volumes
offered on these crude oils. Over
the last decade, the proliferation of
shale gas and shale oil (also known
as tight oil) production in North
America has literally changed the
regions renery landscape seem-
ingly overnight. Shale gas has
reduced the cost of natural gas
signicantly, and some predict low
gas prices will continue through at
least 2020.1 Shale oil has very differ-
ent characteristics to what was
considered opportunity or price
advantaged crude oils in the past;
this relatively new oil is light in
gravity, low in sulphur, and
contains very little heavy residuum.
As a result of developing the
production of these raw materials,
the US is on the road to energy
independence, possibly within the
next 5-15 years.2 North American
reneries have signicantly
changed operating conditions, are
reconguring their equipment,
expanding production, and new
facilities are being built specically
to handle shale oils. Despite the
recent drop in global oil prices,
shale oil appears to remain an
important part of the North
American renery landscape.
In Latin America, and specically
Argentina, the conditions are ripe
for a similar shale revolution. In a
2014 study, the US Energy
Information Administration ranked
the country as having the third
largest technically recoverable shale
A
0.25 billion cf/d of shale
China
Canada
Non-shale gas Shale gas
United
States
0 15 30 45 60 75
Volume, billion cf/d
B
0.02 million b/d of tight oil
Argentina
Canada
Non-tight oil Tight oil
United
States
0 2 4 6 8 10
Volume, million b/d
Figure 1 Shale gas and oil production Source: US Energy Information Administration (2015)
gas resource in the world, with 11% using the one-two punch of hori-
of the worlds total, and the fourth zontal drilling and hydraulic
largest technically recoverable shale fracturing.5 Much of the shale play
oil resource, with 8% of the worlds resides in the area of the province
total.3 In addition, Venezuela has known as Vaca Muerta. The terrain
the seventh largest technically of this region is fairly at, which
recoverable shale oil resource, with helps optimise well pad placement
4% of the worlds total.4 and simplify equipment move-
Geologically, the shale formations ments. The province also has a
discovered in Argentinas Neuqun relatively low water-stress level
province have been deemed an key for the large quantities of water
excellent thickness and pressure for needed to conduct hydraulic frac-
favourable oil and gas production, turing. Since the Neuqun province

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 7

 main approaches to processing
Light ends Naphtha Distillates
additional shale oil crudes success-
Gas oils Residuum
fully can be described in a few
100%
points. Those approaches include:
90%
Enabling better blending strate-
80% gies to identify and respond to
70% compatibility issues
60% Defining new operating enve-
50%
lopes for unit operations and
challenging the markets to test
40%
production volume changes
30% Adopting different treatment
20% approaches from tank farms to
10% waste treatment since the tradi-
0 tional chemical treatment approach
does not always work with this
al a

TI

K
gh

en

gh
Sh tin

al

LL

LL
W
e

new crude, so a paradigm shift is

Sh

W
Br
Li

Li
n
ge

ab
S

nn

often required
Ar

Ar
Bo

Identifying capital expenditures

Figure 2 Distillation cuts of various crude oils needed to remove the bottlenecks
of bringing shale oils into the refin-
already has significant conventional tunity crude oils. Normal refinery ery crude oil diet.
hydrocarbon production, there is operations can be difficult to main-
an established gathering and trans- tain in the face of todays refining Blending and compatibility
portation infrastructure in place, environment of increasing crude oil Figure 2 highlights the distillation
which gives this region an advan- variability combined with the cuts of several types of crude oil:
tage over what the North American blending of shale oils into the Argentina shale oil, the US shale
shale plays had at the start of standard crude slate. Processing oils, and several conventional crude
ramping up shale production. these potentially problematic oils. For the shale oils (two left
Argentina is one of only four blends can have a significant nega- bars), note that residuum produc-
countries in the world so far to tive impact on overall profitability, tion is low, compared to high
produce commercial quantities of affecting product quality, unit relia- volumes of gasoline and distillates.
shale oil or gas the others are the bility, and on-stream time. Some For refineries that are configured
United States, Canada, and China aspects of refining have not for bottom of the barrel upgrading
and Argentina is the only shale changed, such as determining how (such as the typical US and Latin
producer in Latin America (see a new crude oil fits into a refinery American refinery), this can actu-
Figure 1).6 Several joint ventures operation by acquiring comprehen- ally be a limiting factor for the
between Argentinas national oil sive understanding of the physical quantity of shale oil that can be
company, YPF, and international properties and unique characteris- added to the crude blend. Blending
producers have been ramping up tics of that crude and how it will shale oils with heavy asphaltenic
production. Also, the introduction interact with the rest of the crude crudes makes sense to balance the
of newer technologies is reducing oils in the refinery crude diet. mix of products produced from the
the cost of drilling and producing Todays environment does, crude distillation tower since the
from shale oil and gas reserves. however, make obtaining this resultant blend can produce a
From the authors experience, a knowledge quickly and efficiently desirable distillation profile for
number of Argentina refineries are more important than ever to be many refiners based on their
already processing some level of able to adapt to changing condi- current configuration and product
tight oil produced in the country, tions. Several companies have mix. However, this practice is likely
or are considering what changes developed, or are working to to produce blend compatibility
may be needed in their operations develop, more rapid evaluation issues that can negatively affect
to start processing this local methods that improve upon refinery operations.
resource. Indications are that Latin analytic models to help understand Although asphaltene stability has
American shale oil and gas produc- the impacts of adding a particular always played a role in crude
tion shows more promise than pipe crude oil to a refinery blend before blending, the high paraffin content
dream, assuming that it can the blend is processed at the plant, of shale oils greatly increases the
weather the current low-price oil moving from experience based potential negative impact on the
environment. reaction to prediction of potential refinery process from asphaltene
With a low density, low sulphur, challenges. agglomeration and precipitation
and lack of a large residuum cut, Using the learning experiences of out of the bulk crude oil. To illus-
shale oil certainly breaks the mould North America and Argentina, trate, Figure 3 shows the saturate
of historic characteristics of oppor- which are processing shale oil, the and asphaltene component content

8 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 www.eptq.com

of several crude oils. While the
100
asphaltene content of commercially
Saturates
produced shale oils is low, the satu- 90
Asphaltenes
rated hydrocarbon components are 80
markedly higher than in most other 70
crude oils. As mentioned earlier, 60
the typical refinery configured to

wt%
50
process heavier feeds will need to
40
blend shale oils with other, heavier,
and likely more asphaltenic crude 30
oils. Since asphaltenes are, by defi- 20
nition, insoluble in paraffinic 10
hydrocarbons, blending shale oils 0
into heavy crudes can often upset

a a

rd

en

i b

a 6/

ke

D ga s
Sh ntin

ed Ara
the natural stability of the

Fo
Ea le

M um

30

O
kk

sr

La
es 1

a
C
Ba

M y
Ba
ge

on
e

d
e
gl
asphaltenes in the blended mixture.

er

ol
Ar

m
M

tro
Another method to show the

impact a crude oil may have on
blending is to use the Asphaltene
Phase Separation Index. This is a
measure of a crude oil or blend to
cause an upset in asphaltene stabil-
ity when mixed with other crudes.
As compared to the other bench-
marks shown in Figure 4, it can be
seen that the Argentina shale oils
analysed are very high on this
scale, exceeded only by the US
Eagle Ford shale oil.
There are several established and
developing test methods that can
evaluate an individual crude oil, or
a blend of two or more crude oils,
for asphaltene stability. The photos
in Figure 5 show the progression
(from left to right) of a compatibil-
ity test performed on an
incompatible blend that generates
agglomerated asphaltenes. The
initial mixing of the oils produces a
homogenous mixture (left photo).
Over time, asphaltenes start to
agglomerate such that they form a
separate detectable phase in the
fluid (middle photo). Finally, signif-
icant agglomeration has occurred
and asphaltene particulates are
forming larger particles (right
photo).
The effect of precipitated
asphaltenes can negatively impact
refinery operations in a number of
ways, including:
Generating stable emulsions in
the desalter, leading to poor
desalter performance
Fouling of heat exchange equip-
ment and furnaces in the crude unit
heat exchanger network down-
stream of the desalter the hot
train
Pe
Figure 3 Saturates and asphaltenes of various crudes
Petromonagas
DCO
Cold Lake
Merey 16 /
Mesa 30
Arab Medium
Basrah
Bakken
Eagle Ford
Argentina
shale
Fully stable Unstable
Figure 4 Asphaltene Stability Index
Increased oil content in the tices at the tank farm, chemical
desalter brine, from oily solids and treatment with stabilisers to avoid
generation of organic solids from precipitation, or applying treat-
precipitated asphaltenes themselves ments at the desalter, hot train,
Higher slop oil generation and and/or waste treatment plant to
lower recovered oil quality at the overcome the issues related to the
waste treatment plant precipitated asphaltenes.
Increase in COD in the waste As an illustration, Figure 6 shows
treatment influent. brine samples from a US refinery
The most common methods to that was experiencing asphaltene
avoid precipitated asphaltenes compatibility issues. Using a tradi-
include modifying blending prac- tional demulsifier treatment
programme at the desalter could
not effectively resolve the issue.
A crude stabiliser treatment
programme was added to the refin-
ery tank farm injecting into the
crude oils caused the instability
and resulted in a consistently clean
brine and more efficient desalter
operation.
High temperature waxes
Figure 5 Asphaltene precipitation Another concern with shale oil

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 9


Figure 6 Resolving oily brine
C10
C20
0 5 10
Figure 7 Chromatograph of shale oil wax deposit
handling is the potential for low
temperature waxes to solidify and
precipitate out of solution. These
waxes can contain very long
chain parafn and isoparafn
compounds. The subsequent forma-
tion of waxy sludge can be
problematic in transportation and
in tank storage by impacting usable
capacity and plugging tank drains,
and increases the fouling potential
in the crude unit cold heat
exchanger preheat train upstream
of the desalters. Figure 7 shows a
gas chromatograph of a wax
extracted from an Argentina shale
oil sample. The peaks indicate
hydrocarbon compounds with
increasingly longer carbon chains
in the molecule. Note that parafns
over C70 are present in the sample.
BS&W test
2% precipitated
paraffins
Figure 8 Treating a paraffin based emulsion
10 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016
C50
C40
C60
C30 C70
15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Time, minutes
For reference, a C50 isoparafn will
typically melt at around 100C.
One effect observed in some
Argentina reneries processing
shale crude oils is relatively low
desalter temperatures as low as
100C. Low desalter temperatures
can make successful desalting more
difcult by creating more stable
emulsions, reducing uid mobility
due to increased uid viscosities,
and inhibiting efcient crude oil
scrubbing. It is generally desirable
to operate desalters at higher
temperatures above 120C for the
typical crude slate seen in
Argentina containing shale oils.
Lacking this ability, other operating
modications may be needed to
process shale crudes at these low
temperatures.
Blank Treated
4% paraffins-based 6% water drop without
emulsion emulsion
Figure 8 shows the case of an
Argentina renery processing shale
oil that experienced a desalter issue
due to an emulsion stabilised by
parafns. The left photo shows the
precipitated parafns remaining in
a centrifuge tube after a sediment
and water lab test about 2% of
the total sample volume. The
middle picture shows a desalter
simulator test using oil treated with
the normal demulsier programme,
resulting in relatively poor water
dehydration and a persistent emul-
sion layer. Adding a crude
stabiliser chemical which helps
condition the crude and prevent
precipitation of asphaltenes and
waxes in crude oil blends to the
programme improved water dehy-
dration dramatically and eliminated
the stable emulsion. This renery
has been able to continue to process
shale oil as a result of implement-
ing the change in the desalter
treatment programme.
Triazine based hydrogen sulphide
scavengers
Shale oils are typically low in
sulphur but can, nonetheless, have
high hydrogen sulphide (H2S)
levels that could require treatment
for personnel protection during
production, transport, and storage.
Triazine based H2S scavengers are
commonly used upstream for
personnel safety. However, triazine
and its reaction products contami-
nate the crude oil and can
contribute to emulsion stabilisation,
amine halide salt fouling, and
under-deposit corrosion throughout
the renery. More recently, deposi-
tion of the reaction products when
treated at high levels has contrib-
uted to equipment plugging, as
seen in Figure 9.7 pH modication
in the desalter can be very effective
in removing these contaminants
from the crude oil and avoiding
negative downstream impacts.
Solids
Particulate content in shale oils
varies considerably, relative to
conventional crude oil sources. In
addition, the particle size of the
solids is often very small, possibly
a result of the hydraulic fracturing
process. Small particle size solids
www.eptq.com
can increase solids related emulsion
formation in the desalter, can be
more difficult to remove due to the
effect of their small diameter in
Stokes Law, and can increase foul-
ing in the preheat system. When
solids are removed in the desalter
and transferred to the brine
directed to waste treatment, they
can cause difficulty in settling in
the primary waste treatment unit
processes. Settling issues can
increase chemical cost and/or cause
solids related issues in the biologi-
cal treatment process. To illustrate
the extent of the issue, Figure 10
charts the results of a filterable
solids test on a shale crude, using
different micron rated filter pads
(the standard ASTM D4807 test
uses a 0.45 m pad). Notice that the
small size pads capture solids an
order of magnitude higher (in
weight) than the standard test pad.
A US Gulf coast refinery with an
aggressive strategy to maximise
shale oil processing needed to
increase solids removal efficiency to
minimise downstream impact. By
as well as accelerating preheat and
furnace fouling. Shale oils can also
cause wax precipitation, which can
produce a waxy sludge in storage
tanks, degrade desalter tempera-
tures and plug cold train
exchangers. Variability, due to raw
salt and basic sediment and water,
can stabilise emulsions in the
desalter, as well as impact corro-
sion control in the overhead
system. Increased solids loading
may exceed the desalter design
capability, resulting in emulsion
Figure 9 Deposits from H2S scavenger control issues, accelerated fouling
treated crude oil of the preheat train and furnace, as
well as more difficult phase separa-
particularly new, the combination tion downstream in the primary
of issues is. wastewater and slop oil handling
Compatibility problems can result systems.
from blending highly paraffinic As always, chemical programmes
crudes with asphaltenic crudes, have to be carefully evaluated. One
which leads to asphaltene destabili- should take into account several
sation that can stabilise emulsions, considerations, including crude
1200
1100
1000
Filterable solids, ptb

900
working to change operating condi- 800
tions at the desalter, as well as 700
modifying the treatment 600
programme with a combination of 500
new demulsifier chemistry and 400
controlling desalter wash water pH, 300
solids removal above the 70% KPI 200
for this plant was achieved (see 100
Figure 11). Additional benefits to 0
implementing this programme 0.45 0.22 0.10 0.05
included increased metals removal Filter pore size, m
and improved flexibility for the
plant to be able to process addi- Figure 10 Filterable solids test using various pads
tional residuum in their fluidised
catalytic cracker.8
100
Crude oil desalting 90
Desalter performance has tradition- 80
ally been measured by salt removal,
70
oil dehydration, and crude tower
Efficiency, %

chloride control efficiency. 60

However, the influx of opportunity 50
crudes, including shale oils, has 40
introduced tremendous variability 30
in the quality of the crude blends,
20
prompting many refiners to rethink
10
the role of the desalter. Refiners are
now often running this equipment 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
more as an extraction vessel,
Month
removing many more contaminants
than just salt. While the individual
desalter challenges may not be Figure 11 Filterable solids removal efficiency, %

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 11

 40
30
20
Temperature F
10
10
20
30
128 average
Figure 12 Crude tower condition assessment, water dew point vs salt point
tank dewatering, slop system
management, and wash water
quality. Even the make-up of the
chemistry selected has to be consid-
ered when accessing the overall
treatment programme. Application
technology is another variable that
can impact programme perfor-
mance. So, how and where
chemical treatment is applied is
almost as important as the selection
of the chemistry itself.
Amine and ammonia removal
can be improved by reducing the
pH of the water and thereby driv-
ing more of these compounds into
the desalter brine water. There is
tremendous benet associated with
removing amines at the desalter. If
the amines or ammonia do not
partition into the water, they
remain in the crude and form
amine-hydrochloride salts in the
crude tower and overhead system.
They are especially troublesome
when they form in the top pumpa-
round sections.
Corrosion and distillate
maximisation
Increasing distillate production
yield is an overall global renery
trend. One technique employed
fairly regularly to increase straight-
run distillate volumes is to lower
the crude tower top temperature.
While yielding higher distillate
volumes, this may also increase
corrosion potential in the crude
tower and overhead system, nega-
tively impacting reliability and
reducing the prot potential of the
renery. Due to better wash water
12 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016
Crude tower operating conditions altered
based on model results
Corrosion rate, MPY
systems and reduced use of ammo-
nia as a primary neutraliser, the
industry has witnessed a dramatic
shift from traditional initial conden-
sation point (ICP) or dew point
corrosion mechanisms to amine salt
corrosion. Corrosive salt formation
and/or shifts in salt point tempera-
tures can compromise crude unit
integrity by laying down liquid or
solid salt deposits that are difcult
to remove and result in an under-
salt deposit corrosion mechanism.
Tramp amines are dened as
The unique challenges
associated with
processing shale oils
can be overcome with
a combination of
baseline and ongoing
monitoring
any amine compounds not inten-
tionally introduced to the crude
unit distillation tower overhead
system for pH control to prevent
acidic corrosion. Tramp amines
found in shale oil crudes are
predominantly the result of triazine
based H2S scavengers, but can be
present from other upstream treat-
ments. (Amines do not generally
exist naturally in crude oil forma-
tions.) If this is not properly
managed, severe corrosion can
result from amine salt formation.
<5
As a side note, tramp amine
contamination can cause difculty
in desalter operations and increase
nitrogen loading at the waste treat-
ment system, in addition to the
corrosion issues just outlined.
Reners who are considering
processing the lighter shale crudes
or lowering tower top temperatures
have to be aware of the change in
monitoring that should occur to
optimise the economic benets
while managing corrosion.
Fortunately, methods to accurately
measure tramp amines in the ren-
ery more quickly have emerged,
and advances in data communica-
tion and handling have enabled
more rapid calculation of system
salt points and potential impacts.
The following describes how GE
assisted a rener in dening a new
operating envelope in order to limit
overhead corrosion and improve
the units economic balance. As a
result of very high corrosion rates
being measured in the overhead
system, an investigation was
conducted to determine the root
cause and develop measures to
restore system corrosion under
acceptable limits. First, the relation-
ship between the salt point and the
water dew point was calculated
using GEs LoSALT ionic equilib-
rium overhead model, and the
system condition was plotted over
time (see Figure 12). Each of the
bars in the chart represents temper-
ature differences in degrees
between the water dew point and
the salt point on a given day.
The purple bars represent meas-
www.eptq.com
urements where the water dew
point is 10F or greater than the salt
point temperature. Yellow indicates
0-10F differential. The red bars are
instances when the saltpoint actu-
ally fell below the water dew point
in the system. Prior to the red verti-
cal line, several instances are
measured when the salt point
dropped below the water dew
point, and many more that are
below the safety margin. Based on
this data, in conjunction with corro-
sion measurements and analysis of
the deposits found in the system, it
was surmised that salt induced
corrosion was the root cause of
high corrosion. An operating
routine was established where the
output of the ionic equilibrium
model was used to establish a new,
safer operating envelope to mini-
mise system corrosion on an
on-going basis. Since that time,
corrosion rates have been main-
tained at 5 mils per year or less,
and the operating envelope is
actively managed based on the
calculated salt points as the system
conditions change.
In addition to overhead and
tower top corrosion concerns, high
temperature naphthenic acid corro-
sion may be an indirect concern
when processing shale crude oils.
As mentioned previously, blending
shale oils with heavier crudes is a
typical practice to achieve the
needed volume of the various refin-
ery distillation cuts. It has been
observed in Argentina that the
crudes being blended with shale
oils often contain high levels of
naphthenic acids, resulting in a net
increase in TAN values. While
beyond the scope of this article to
detail, increased naphthenic acids
in the crude supply can increase
high temperature corrosion in the
hot sections of the crude and
vacuum distillation systems, stabi-
lise emulsions in the desalter, and
increase the toxicity of the refinery
wastewater as some of the naph-
thenic acids are absorbed into the
brine leaving the desalter.
Conclusion
The unique challenges associated
with processing shale oils can be
overcome with a combination of
baseline and ongoing monitoring;
defining and implementing new
operating envelopes; investing in
capital to alter the equipment
configuration where warranted;
and utilising multi-functional
chemical treatment programmes
that provide refiners with the tools
and the flexibility to address the
specific process problems as they
arise. The shale revolution in North
America has truly changed the face
of the energy industry there; the
potential exists to do the same in
Latin America.
Acknowledgement
The author greatly appreciates the work
provided by Tatiana Schmitt Barbosa from
GE Water & Process Technologies for her
contributions of local data used in some of
the examples.
References
1 IMF Commodity Price Forecasts, Oct 2015,
www.imf.org
2 Annual Energy Outlook 2015, US Energy
Information Administration, Apr 2015.
3 More about Shale, Azabache Energy Inc,
www.azaenergy.com/more-about-shale, 2014.
4 Technically Recoverable Shale Oil and Shale
Gas Resources: An Assessment of 137 Shale
Formations in 41 Countries Outside the United
States, US Energy Information Administration,
13 Jun 2013.
5 Rudgley G, Argentina: best candidate for
next shale boom?, Rigzone, 26 Jan 2015.
6 Arthur A, Can Argentina capitalize on its vast
shale reserves? oilprice.com, 27 Mar 2015.
7 Patel A, Contreras J, Green J, Wodarcyk J,
Physical fouling inside a crude unit overhead
from a reaction byproduct of hexahydro-
1 , 3 , 5 - t ri s ( 2 - hy d rox ye t hy l ) - s - t ri a z i n e
hydrogen sulphide scavenger, NACE Corrosion
2015, Paper no. 6054.
8 Kohl K, White, P, Valle A, Trigg J, Emulsion
breaker and metal removal technology
increased FCC residuum processing,
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2015.
Jeffrey A Zurlo is Senior Strategic Project
Manager with GE Water & Process
Technologies. With over 25 years experience
in process engineering, refinery treatment
sales and services, hydrocarbon product
applications and technical support, he
provides global marketing and technical
support to the refining and gas processing
industries, with a principal focus on best
practices, knowledge management, web
enabled analytics, technology development,
and amine sweetening programmes. He holds
a BE in chemical engineering from Stevens
Institute of Technology, New Jersey.

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 Novel processing ideas for a
condensate refinery
Synergised unit flow schemes for a condensate refinery aim for high value
refined products

DONALD EIZENGA, DAVID SHECTERLE and FRANK ZHU

UOP, a Honeywell Company

R
ecent increases in hydraulic
fracturing operations have
produced a significant amount
of condensate liquids, particularly
in the US. Conversion of these light
liquids into finished products for
sale at maximum value is being
considered via new units or expan-
sion of existing facilities. The
quality of many condensates is
such that minimal hydrotreating is
required, but significant upgrading
of the paraffinic naphtha is
required to meet gasoline specifica-
tions. A condensate refinery is
therefore expected to include
reforming and isomerisation of
naphtha along with naphtha and
diesel hydrotreating. In this article,
novel synergised unit flowscheme
solutions will be discussed, which
consists of three key ideas.
Idea 1
The goal of the alternate conden-
sate fractionation unit (CFU) design
was to reduce equipment count and
save capital and/or to reduce
energy consumption for opex
savings, especially when upstream
of combined naphtha and diesel
hydrotreating (CHT). Typically
naphtha and diesel are rigorously
separated in the CFU, but they
would need to be combined and
then re-separated for a CHT unit
approach, resulting in redundant
fractionation. Innovative designs
were considered to overcome the
penalty of redundant fractionation.
Options to either eliminate a
column or to adjust the column
operating conditions and draws
were considered. Energy benefits
were found by optimisation of the
columns, and capital cost savings
Current shale plays
Prospective shale plays
Basins
Stacked plays
Shallowest/youngest
Mid-depth/mid-age
Deepest/oldest
Figure 1 US based oil and gas shale plays1
were identified. The energy benefits
were not sufficient to overcome the
cost of redundant fractionation
with a combined hydrotreating
approach. The lowest operating
costs were achieved when the
hydrotreating units are individually
optimised and a three-column CFU
design is employed, while alternate
approaches may provide modest
capital cost benefits.
Idea 2
The goal of the combined hydro-
treating design was to minimise
equipment count and thereby opti-
mise the refinery economics. In the
final analysis, the combination of
naphtha and diesel in a single
hydrotreating unit was found to
have limited economic justification.
Cost penalties were associated
with reactor section pressure, cata-
lyst volumes, and redundant
fractionation of naphtha. Efficient
combinations of shared auxiliary
systems and novel combinations
were proposed so that each unit
could be individually optimised.
Idea 3
UOP explored novel solutions for
using isomerisation with the UOP
Platforming process to determine
an economic optimum configura-
tion for gasoline production in the
proposed design. A number of
options and synergies were evalu-
ated to reduce capital costs and
operating costs. Significant capital
cost savings were achieved using
innovative naphtha complex
schemes relative to the base case
separated unit configuration. A

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 15

 higher yield case was found to
have highest net present value
(NPV), while a lower capital
approach was evaluated, which
may make sense when a customer
is severely capital constrained.
The market seeks the technology
with minimal capital investment as
installation in remote locations
could be a significant factor. UOP
proposes to handle these issues
with construction of modular units,
which have been optimised for
capital and operating expenses in
consideration of the feed properties
and product quality targets.
While the various technologies
used for hydraulic fracturing of
shale to produce natural gas have
developed over the last 40 years,
the rapidly escalating energy prices
through 2014 led to a boom in use
of the technology, particularly in
the United States. Technology
advances significantly reduced the
cost for obtaining gas and light
condensate oils, which has
sustained some production even as
crude prices have fallen in 2015.
Projections suggest that extraction
of such liquids may increase further
and they will likely be processed for
many years to come. US shale
deposits are distributed over a wide
range of the country in a number of
formations (see Figure 1).
In the process of extracting gas
from the wells, condensates and
natural gas liquids (NGLs) are also
1 NHT
Condensate CFU
feed
DHT
Figure 2 Condensate refinery: a big picture
16 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016
Study basis: processing objectives
(for instance, via a modular expan-
sion). Alternatively, new processing
facilities could be developed for
Feed Light case Heavy case
local markets, which may be placed
Condensate, b/d 25 000 25 000
API/SG 59.4/0.741 52.0/0.771 near the feed sources in remote
Sulphur, ppm 22 31 locations.
Products, BPSD
Off-gas, MMBTU/h 171 151
Condensate properties
Total LPG 2800 2000
Gasoline In order to understand how best to
(R+M)/2 = 87 12 600 10 300 process condensate liquids, a good
ULSD 7200 9600 understanding of the properties is
Low sulphur residue 1000 2000
required. One key attractive prop-
erty in the current market
Table 1 environment is that they are rela-
tively low cost and sold at a
extracted. These liquids include a discount to crudes, in part owing to
full range of hydrocarbon constitu- the major recent increases in frack-
ents from propane to heavy ing. The other key attractive
residues that boil at and above property is that they are light
1000F (540C). The liquids are liquids, which makes them ideal for
therefore similar to other petroleum refining into higher margin gaso-
crudes, but are lighter and gener- line and diesel products. Recent
ally sweet. For example, crudes are estimates have predicted dramatic
often differentiated by API gravity, growth and sustained high levels of
with heavy crudes averaging ~15 production of condensate; however,
API, medium at ~25 API, light at this has been impacted by the high
~35 API, and extra light at ~45 volatility in crude oil market pric-
API. Condensates average 55 API, ing. Legislation on the sale of
but there is a wide range of compo- crude oil and lightly processed
sitions depending on the source, condensates from the US is also
and the composition may change as having further impacts, and in 2015
the field matures. the US began trading light crude oil
The question for gas producers, for heavy Mexican crudes to the
midstream companies, and refiners mutual advantage of refiners in
is how best to process these liquids. both countries.
Certainly, adjustment to refinery Condensates may contain up to
operation is required, and possibly 10% LPG, and are typically high in
revamp of existing equipment and/ both light and heavy naphtha. In
or addition of new process units fact, a survey of over 100 world-
wide condensates showed that LPG
+ light naphtha + heavy naphtha
ranged from 30% up to over 90%,
LPG
with a median near 60%. The
remaining material is mostly in the
Isom. distillate range, suitable for jet fuel
and/or diesel fuel with appropriate
processing. Condensates are mostly
To quite low in the heavy residue
gasoline
range (boiling above 685F, 360C).
For the study, a light case and
Reforming heavy case feed were considered
3 for a 25 000 b/d condensate refinery
(see Table 1). The API gravity was
2 59.4 for the light case and 52.0 for
Distillate the heavy case. Sulphur was low at
product 20-30 ppm compared with levels of
up to 2% in more contaminated
condensates and conventional
Residue
crudes. Target products for the
study included off-gas, which could
be used as fuel gas for the complex,
www.eptq.com

LPG
Light naphtha
Heavy naphtha
Condensate
fractionator 1 hydrotreating
Condensate
Stripping steam
Commercialised
configuration
Figure 3 Commercial CFU and redundant CHT fractionation
LPG, gasoline (or blending compo-
nent) with an octane target of 87,
ultra-low sulphur diesel, and a low
sulphur residue (for refinery FCC
or hydrocracking feedstock or fuel
oil).
Ideas for condensate processing
For the base case of the study, a
small hydroskimming style conden-
sate refinery was proposed (see
Figure 2). The objective of the study
was to analyse opportunities that
might optimise the overall complex.
The original premise of the study
was that reduction of equipment
count and minimisation of capital
would be the most important objec-
tive. Three parts of the study will
be summarised:
Idea 1. Efficient CFU design
Idea 2. Combined hydrotreating
design
Idea 3. Innovative naphtha complex
schemes.
Idea 1: efficient condensate
CFU design
An early assumption in the project
was that equipment count and
capital could be minimised by
combining the naphtha and diesel
hydrotreating units into a CHT
unit. For commercial designs where
traditional separate hydrotreating is
employed, the CFU has been
designed with a three-column
approach that achieves a rigorous
www.eptq.com
LPG
3 Naphtha
Stabiliser to splitter
Naphtha Naphtha
Distillate
Distillate
hydrotreating
2
Distillate Proposed reduced equipment
fractionator Diesel hydrotreating configuration
product
Traditional hydrotreating
Atmospheric
residue
split between process streams. For
a CHT approach, rigorous separa-
tion of naphtha from diesel is not
required and overall economics
would be penalised by the redun-
dant fractionation illustrated in
Figure 3.
The first question posed when
reviewing the CFU for the
Condensate Refinery was: Can we
use just one column like a typical
Processing condensate
LPG in a CHT unit
carries a significant
economic penalty
with no product
quality benefit
Crude unit? Various options were
then explored with a target of opti-
mising the design for expected use
of downstream combined hydro-
treating (CHT, discussed below)
and to minimise capital and/or
operating costs in general. The
questions then became:
1. What is the best condensate frac-
tionation unit (CFU) configuration?
2. Can costs be reduced if combined
hydrotreating is used?
Upon further examination of the
crude column approach shown in
Naphtha
to splitter
Combined
hydrotreating
Fractionator
Diesel
product
the first schematic of Figure 4,
issues quickly became apparent.
While the crude unit is typically a
single column, the overhead gas
(LPG at low pressure) is typically
compressed and then processed in
a gas concentration unit. This
requires a high capital off-gas
compressor. Higher crude column
pressure can be used to keep the
overhead as totally condensing, but
there are constraints on the column,
whereby fouling is expected at the
bottom of the column when high
pressure leads to bottoms tempera-
tures above about 725F (385C),
and higher pressure is less efficient
for diesel fractionation from resi-
due. The study did show that use
of steam stripping and adjustments
to the column pressure could
handle a higher LPG and lower
residue feedstock. Sufficient naph-
tha in the overheads of the column
keeps the LPG as liquid at moder-
ate pressure (<50 psig), but then a
second higher pressure (>120 psig)
stabiliser column is required to
separate the LPG product.
Processing condensate LPG in a
CHT unit carries a significant
economic penalty with no product
quality benefit. Surprisingly, the
energy input requirements
remained high for this crude
column approach even when rigor-
ous separation of naphtha and
distillate range streams was not
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 17
 A
LPG

LPG 3 Stabiliser
Naphtha
3
Crude column
Naphtha

1 Stabiliser
Distillate
Condensate

Stripping steam

Atmospheric
residue

B C
LPG

LPG
Light naphtha 3 Stabiliser
LPG

Condensate Condensate
splitter Light stabiliser
naphtha
1 1
Condensate Condensate
Light and
Heavy heavy
naphtha naphtha

2 Fractionator 2 Fractionator
Heavy Heavy
distillate distillate
Stripping steam Stripping steam

Atmospheric Atmospheric
residue residue

Figure 4 Alternative CFU: crude, three-column and two-column configurations

required. The heat exchanger
network was more constrained, so
capital savings were not
substantial.
The three-column CFU design
approach (see Figure 3) avoids the
use of an overhead compressor. A
separate distillate fractionator
column allowed for higher pressure
in the rst column and lower pres-
sure in the second heavy oil column
to effectively avoid fouling.
However, capital cost and operat-
ing costs were high to meet on-spec
product cuts with rigorous separa-
tion that was not optimised for a
downstream CHT.
Two alternative congurations
with relaxation of design targets for
the product cuts were then devel-
oped, shown in the second two
schematics in Figure 4. The congu-
ration optimisation study included
adjustment of the column pres-
sures, product draws, minimisation
of reux rates, and optimised heat
exchanger networks. Higher pres-
sures where LPG is processed along
with naphtha avoids the use of
compression, while adjustments to
draw rates and locations shifted the
compositions to avoid high temper-
ature fouling. Product draws and
locations along with a diesel pump-
around are also used to optimise
the process heat exchanger
network. Lower pressure distillate
fractionation with steam stripping
maximises recovery while minimis-
ing the energy requirement.
Minimisation of reux rates shrinks
the columns and energy, but this
approach is only applicable for a
downstream CHT where rigorous
splits are not required as naphtha
and distillates are co-processed.
Optimisation of the conguration
did result in minimisation of
energy input and capital reduction.
One key capital reduction method-
ology proposed is to use a hot oil
system, which minimises the
number and size of the high cost
red heaters in the entire conden-
sate renery complex. Similarly, the
use of a steam system can allow for
stripping, which improves product
recovery and may reduce or elimi-
nate heater services. These are parts
of an overall complex outside
battery limits (OSBL) optimisation,
and the adjustment of draw rates
and locations in the CFU allowed
use of hot oil exchangers rather
than red heaters in the alternate
congurations.
A summary of the CFU column
analysis is shown in Table 2. It is
interesting to note that optimisation
within the CFU leads to lower
temperature naphtha and distillate,
which would require more energy

18 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 www.eptq.com

in the CHT to reheat, and the ques-
CFU options comparison
tion of whether the capital and
energy savings in the CFU could
compensate for the additional capi- Parameter Commercial
tal and energy required by the CHT Column 1 pressure, psig 25-75
Column 2 pressure, psig <25
fractionator column (relative to Column 3 pressure, psig >120
separate hydrotreating units) was Column stages Base
not yet resolved. Exchanger duty Base
Fuel gas savings were achievable Heat required Base
Equipment capital Base
in the CFU, and the alternative
three-column and especially the
alternative two-column approach Table 2
showed reduced capital. It was
determined that the crude column which can be accomplished with
approach was not in fact optimised minimal capital and operating
and did not provide any heat expense. Interestingly, it was found
advantage. The three-column that, even for small units, some-
approach was good for high LPG/ times the addition of equipment
low residue condensate processing, such as a hot separator or addi-
with potential minimum capital tional diesel drying equipment can
using an adjusted two-column be more cost effective. While
configuration. To determine a clear combined hydrotreating can signifi-
winner, the entire complex must be cantly reduce equipment count (by
considered. Once the overall analy- about 30%), full fractionation is
sis of CFU and CHT including
redundant fractionation
considered, it was found that the
was In combination with
energy savings in the CFU were an optimised CFU
offset by the higher energy costs of
the downstream CHT. approach, the CHT
Idea 2: combined hydrotreating approach showed
design
For the relatively easy hydrotreat- a marginal NPV
ing requirements within the small
condensate refinery study, it was
advantage with lower
initially proposed that the objective
should be to minimise equipment
capital but higher
by combining the feeds into a CHT operating expenses
unit (see Figure 3). The expectation
was that significant cost savings
could be achieved. required to cleanly separate the
The high level concerns about diesel product from the naphtha.
this approach were whether the This fractionation requires a rela-
naphtha was being over-processed, tively high cost column and fired
and also whether the cost of redun- heater. The naphtha is now being
dant fractionation of the naphtha processed at the more severe condi-
from the distillate feeds could be tions required for ULSD
overcome. Additionally, it was production, and especially in the
questioned what the best approach
might be within the diesel hydro-
treating (DHT) unit to optimise the CHT options comparison
separated configuration.
In the case of separate hydro- Parameter Separated Combined
treating, each unit has optimised NHT & DHT hydrotreating
catalyst selection, pressure condi- Equipment capital Base 110%
Installed capital Base 90%
tions, gas circulation, and Heat required Base 144%
fractionation to meet the product Annual operating
objectives. The naphtha and distil- expenses Base 180%
late products require only stripping
to remove H2S and light ends, Table 3
Crude column Alt 3 column Alt 2 column
25-50 25-50 >120
--- <25 <25
>120 >120 ---
67% 67% 67%
100% 73% 72%
110% 87% 87%
95% 90% 80%
case of condensates where naphtha
quantity is higher than distillates,
this is a significant processing
penalty.
Estimated capital costs for the
approaches were found to be similar
(see Table 3). The combined
approach had slightly higher equip-
ment costs, but with lower
equipment count the erected equip-
ment cost estimate and plot area
required was slightly lower. This
was a surprising result, explained
by the fact that savings in reducing
a number of pieces of equipment
were offset by higher costs for the
larger, higher pressure reactor
section exchangers, reactors, and the
fired heater reboiler (more expen-
sive equipment). The main penalty
with the CHT approach is the addi-
tional heater duty and operating
cost associated with the required
naphtha/diesel fractionation.
In combination with an optimised
CFU approach, the CHT approach
showed a marginal NPV advantage
with lower capital but higher oper-
ating expenses. Equipment
installation factor estimates and
fuel costs have a strong effect on
the conclusion, and they are some-
what speculative for study level
estimates. In this case, a more tradi-
tional, commercialised route could
be chosen to minimise the project
risk and fuel costs, or the more
novel approach could be taken to
minimise capital cost. In cases
where the naphtha processing
requirement is more severe, or the
ratio of naphtha to diesel was
lower, it is expected that a CHT
approach could show greater bene-
fits. The properties of the
condensate feeds must be well
understood, and the optimisation
approach must consider the overall

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 19

 required to meet the gasoline octane
target (87 R+M / 2). A variety of
isomerisation unit technologies and
configurations is available, depend-
ing on the octane level required and
any other limitations such as gaso-
line pool aromatic and/or benzene
content. Isomerisation processes can
be used with the UOP Platforming
process unit. For typical refinery
Hot separated unit configurations, each
DHT reflux
separator unit may have a reasonable design
liquids
Naphtha to which is best for operability and
Stripping steam
processing maintenance, but this may be a high
Naphtha capital approach. On the other
separator liquid hand, novel synergised solutions
may be used to optimise the refin-
Diesel product ery economics by integrating the
to drying units, reducing equipment, and
adjusting the process operating
Figure 5 Novel combined stripping approach conditions (see Figure 6). Both prod-
uct value and equipment capital
costs need to be considered (see
H2 MUG Figure 7). For example, a low capex
Naphtha
NHT H2 net gas approach may eliminate equipment,
feed but result in lower yields of gaso-
Light
naphtha line, higher LPG production, or
Isom.
even going off-specification for
certain feeds. On the other hand, a
Naphtha Heavy To high yield approach may also be
naphtha gasoline
stripper Reforming able to eliminate some equipment
H2 net gas as well but require more frequent
catalyst regeneration. In the system
Figure 6 Illustrative naphtha complexes studied for the condensate refinery,
it was found that the high yield
complex rather than individual services to reduce column overhead approach had a payback of less
units. equipment shown in Figure 5. than two years for the additional
In the separated unit case, each capital costs relative to a lower
individual unit could be better opti- Idea 3: innovative naphtha complex capital approach.
mised, and shared auxiliary systems schemes UOPs capabilities in kinetic
and more limited integration is also Due to the paraffinic nature of the modelling of catalyst performance
possible. One such novel approach study feed, both catalytic reforming and process simulation of a variety
is the combination of stripper and isomerisation processes are of flowscheme options were used
to optimise the unit. An economic
analysis considering capital and
0 10 operating expenses, yields, and
High yield C5+ yield cycle length impact was carried out
LPG yield for several solutions. Significant
1 8
capital cost savings were achieved
LPG volume, LV%
C5+ volume, LV%

using innovative naphtha complex

2 6 schemes relative to the base case
separated unit configuration. A
3 4 higher yield case was found to
have the highest NPV, while a
Low capital
lower capital approach was evalu-
4 2
ated, which may make sense when
a customer is severely capital
5 0 constrained.
Operating condition Even for a small complex where
equipment minimisation appeared
Figure 7 Naphtha complex trade-offs to be a sound approach from a high

20 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 www.eptq.com

level, catalyst and process condi-
tions have a signicant impact on
project economics.
Conclusion
In the construction of new plants,
two choices are generally available:
stick built construction and modu-
lar construction. There are a
number of reasons why modular
may be preferred for the study
case, including:
25 000 b/d capacity is ideal for
modular scale
Higher levels of quality control
can be achieved in the design
Shop fabrication and inspection
lead to higher quality and
improved schedule
Modular is more suitable for
remote locations where skilled
labour is limited
Signicant schedule reductions
and logistics savings are realised
Projects can be executed with a
xed lump sum price.
UOP and UOP Russell have
signicant experience in the design,
construction, and delivery of
modular units. This includes natu-
ral gas liquids separation units,
isomerisation units, Merox units,
and catalytic process units such as
NHT and reforming.
The recent expansion of shale
fracking for gas and generation of
condensate feedstocks has been a
great opportunity and a challenge
to produce high value rened prod-
ucts. In order to capture the value,
a good understanding of the feed
and processing technologies is
required. As illustrated, optimising
is not the same as minimising, and
the effort should consider the
whole effected complex.
The use of innovative naphtha
processing approaches and poten-
tial for condensate reneries
represent value added opportuni-
ties. Use of a modular approach
can bring signicant advantages in
project execution.
Platforming is a trademark of UOP.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to express sincere thanks
to the following Honeywell UOP personnel
who participated in the work described here:
Joshua Kaye, Ron Long, Charlie Van Zile, Dick
Hoehn, Dave Bachmann, Paul Steacy, Mark
Benson, and Rich Russeff.
Reference
1 Photo: American Petroleum Institute; Patrick
C Miller, APIs Energy from Shale campaign
features Bakken, thebakken.com, 21 Jan 2015.
Donald A Eizenga is a Principal Optimization
Engineer with Honeywell UOP. He has 19 years
at UOP in R&D, field operating services, and
engineering design and holds a BS in chemical
engineering from Michigan Technological
University.
Email: Don.Eizenga@honeywell.com
David J Shecterle is a Fellow and Isomerization
Technology Specialist with Honeywell UOP. He
has 34 years at UOP and holds over 20 patents
and a BS in chemical engineering from the
University of Wisconsin.
Email: David.Shecterle@honeywell.com
Frank (Xin) Zhu is a Senior Fellow and Leader
of the Engineering Innovation Group with
Honeywell UOP. Before joining UOP, he was
a Research Professor at the Centre for Process
Integration, University of Manchester, UK. He is
the author of Energy and Process Optimization
for the Process Industries by Wiley in 2014.
Email: Frank.Zhu@honeywell.com

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 Monitoring against process problems
Careful monitoring for preheat exchanger fouling and H2S release during
unloading is vital when tight oil blends are processed
TIM OLSEN
Emerson Process Management
T
he rening industry has
changed over the past few
years with an ample supply
of opportunity crude oils available.
Opportunity crudes have been
around for many years, but only
until recently has the abundance of
these discounted crudes changed
the behaviour of reners to shift
away from their usual feedstocks.
Tight oil, sometimes referred to as
light tight oil or LTO, is also an
opportunity crude oil from shales or
other low permeability formations.
Although most of the news about
tight oil production is in the United
States, tight oil is not unique to this
region and is found throughout the
world; see Figure 1 with the map of
basins with assessed shale oil and
shale gas formations, as of
September 2015 (US Energy
Information Administration, EIA).
Production from tight oil formations
requires the same hydraulic fractur-
ing and often uses the same
horizontal well technology employed
in the production of shale gas.
Figure 1 World shale resource assessments, US Energy Information Administration,
24 September 2015
22 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016
Crude variability challenges
The main challenges with process-
ing opportunity crudes include:
crude blending to match the ren-
ers conguration and processing
capabilities, crude switch distur-
bances, fouling and accelerated
fouling from incompatible crude
blends, corrosion, and energy
balancing across the crude unit
Having a more
consistent feed to
the crude unit allows
for the opportunity
to optimise operation
preheat exchangers. In addition to
the above mentioned issues, light
tight oils also have challenges typi-
cally related to H2S (treated with
amine-based H2S scavengers),
parafn waxes, signicant quanti-
ties of lterable solids, variability in
With resource estimate
Without resource estimate
API gravity from the same source,
and catalyst performance related to
cold ow properties.
Heat exchanger fouling is one of
the biggest challenges in renery
operations. Many reners still use a
spreadsheet with monthly calcula-
tions, typically based on incomplete
data, to evaluate heat exchanger
condition, with manual checks on
individual bundles just prior to a
turnaround to determine if cleaning
is required. The traditional
approach to monitor heat
exchanger fouling through spread-
sheets with manual entry of
temperatures and pressures was
usually sufcient before the
increase in crude blending from
opportunity crudes such as tight
oil. However, some crude oil
blends are not compatible, leading
to unanticipated accelerated
fouling.
Because tight oils tend to be
lighter, they need to be blended
with other crude oils to get the
right balance for best utilisation of
existing downstream units. Having
a more consistent feed to the crude
unit also allows for the opportunity
to optimise operation. If light tight
oil feeds are not blended, the
lighter oil can bottleneck the crude
overhead and downstream naphtha
processing units, and limit produc-
tion for bottom of the barrel
processing. Some reners are
blending more than two crudes to
get the right balance of feed quali-
ties, which creates unknown issues
with crude incompatibilities. When
crudes are incompatible, acceler-
ated fouling occurs in the crude
unit preheat exchanger train due
to asphaltene precipitation.
www.eptq.com
Accelerated fouling can lead to
additional energy costs with the
crude unit fired heater, limited
throughput when the fired heater
becomes duty limited, or earlier
shutdown for heat exchanger clean-
ing. All these negatively impact the
profitability of the refinery.
Traditional manual heat exchanger
fouling monitoring with limited
data and Excel spreadsheets does
not always catch which crude
blends are incompatible, thus the
same condition for accelerated foul-
ing can be repeated in the future. It
should also be noted that the
percentage of crude oils blended
will have an impact on crude
incompatibilities. For example, an
80-20 blend with 20% tight oil may
not be enough to see accelerated
fouling, whereas a 70-30 blend may
be unstable and have additional
unwanted fouling.
For the US, the EIA expanded its
monthly reporting of crude oil
production with new data on API
gravity. What was so interesting
was that, for the first nine months
of 2015, most (50.8%) of the crude
oil produced in the Lower 48 states
were light oils with an API gravity
above 40 degrees (see Figure 2).
The largest share of production
was in the 40.1 to 45 degree
API gravity range. Production
increases over the past several
years in the Bakken, Permian
Basin, and Eagle Ford formations
account for almost all recent
growth in US crude oil output.
These low permeability (tight oil)
formations are producing mostly
light crude oils.
For the US Gulf Coast, there was
a major investment in refineries to
process heavier and sour crude
oils from sources like Venezuela
and Canada. This upgrade invest-
ment in refineries was done prior
to technology advancements and
the shale boom that has taken
place in the United States over the
past several years. Unfortunately,
tight oil is not heavy or sour, so
this creates a mismatch in crude
oil properties required for refiner-
ies upgraded to handle heavier
and sour crudes.
Another noticeable change is the
crude unit cold section preheat
www.eptq.com
3.0
Oil production, million b/d
2.5 28%
2.0 20%
1.5
14%
1.0 11%
7%
5% 5% 6%
0.5
3%
0
20.0 20.1 to 25.1 to 30.1 35.1 40.1 45.1 50.1 >55.0
25.0 30.0 to 35.0 to 40.0 to 45 to 50.0 to 55.0
API gravity, crude oil density
Figure 2 EIA expands monthly reporting of crude oil production with new data on API
gravity www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=23952
Source: US Energy Information Administration
exchangers prior to the desalter. Crude incombatability and fouling
When operating with one crude oil Today, refiners are also installing
or a stable crude oil blend, fouling WirelessHART (IEC 62591) temper-
occurs primarily in the hot section ature and pressure measurements
downstream of the desalter and not around all crude unit preheat
in the cold section. Because of this, exchanger bundles and implement-
the cold section exchangers typi- ing predictive analytic software
cally have minimal process applications to monitor and analyse
measurements like temperatures heat exchanger performance and
and pressures in and out of each minimise energy and capacity
losses. Improvements in online
Improvements in monitoring and analysis enable
refineries to better understand
online monitoring accelerated fouling due to crude
incompatibilities and identify
and analysis which tube bundles require clean-
ing. Fouling across the bundles is
enable refineries to not linear, so determining which
bundle is fouled and needs clean-
better understand ing can be difficult to determine
accelerated fouling without all the process measure-
ments like temperature, flow, and
due to crude differential pressure.
For example, a Gulf Coast refiner
incompatibilities that was one of the first to use tight
oil experienced severe and unex-
pected fouling in the crude unit
bundle for monitoring heat preheat exchangers. Unfortunately
exchanger fouling. But tight oils for the refinery, it was forced to
have paraffin waxes and significant shut down to clean the excessive
quantities of filterable solids (as fouled heat exchangers, resulting in
much as 200 lb [90 kg] per thou- lost production and additional
sand barrels) that are fouling the cleaning costs. The refiner has since
cold section heat exchangers. added online temperature and
Refiners are now beginning to pressure measurements on all heat
monitor these heat exchangers exchanger bundles, implemented
more closely and work with both software to analyse fouling, and the
automation and chemical compa- crude unit process engineer reviews
nies to mitigate abnormal and fouling every day. They also have a
accelerated fouling. better understanding on the
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 23

Non-upgraded bitumen
Heavy diluted bitumen
Shaunavon
Syncrude
Alaska North Slope
Spearfish
Viking
Uinta Black Wax
Cardium
Niobrara
Alberta Bakken
Miss Lime
Wolfcamp
Marmaton / Hogshooter
Cline
Bakken
Avalon / Bone Spring
Duvernay
Utica
Cana Woodford / SCOOP
Barnett Combo
Eagle Ford
0 5 10
Figure 3 API gravity variability
percentage of different crudes
blended to determine what crude
blends are incompatible, resulting
in accelerated fouling; this informa-
tion is forwarded to the schedulers
and planners. Although tempting
to buy any discounted opportunity
crude on the market, now crude oil
purchasers also utilise crude incom-
patibility information along with
crude properties and price to deter-
mine compatible feedstocks for
the renery.
Even with knowledge about
crude blend incompatibilities, a
rener may still experience acceler-
ated fouling issues when the
supply chain is disrupted. For
example, a crude shipment may be
delayed due to severe weather in
the Gulf, thus a renery will run
with what crude is available on
site, which may not be the
preferred crude blend.
H2S and safety
A further challenge in processing
light tight oils is hydrogen sulphide
(H2S) and the amine based H2S
scavengers added prior to trans-
porting. Although tight oil is
considered sweet (little sulphur
content in the crude oil itself), there
is H2S that needs to be addressed at
24 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016
Light crude to condensate
Canadian Play
USA Play
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Source: Platts
the drill site, during transporting,
and when ofoading. While amine
based H2S scavengers are added,
tight oil loaded in the cold of
winter can have safe conditions at
the site prior to leaving and then
transported to a warmer climate.
The mixing during transport along
with a change in temperature can
result in higher vapour pressure
and the release of entrained H2S,
making off-loading a potential
safety hazard. To mitigate the
safety risk, hydrogen sulphide
monitoring and vapour recovery
should be standard for loading and
ofoading tight oil.
Crude blending complexities
As was mentioned earlier, the API
gravity of opportunity crudes can
vary despite coming from the same
source. Figure 3 highlights these
variations, showing Eagle Ford
basin tight oil with the highest vari-
ability. Reners should be aware of
this variation to ensure modern
crude tank level measurements can
accurately measure the tank, no
matter the API gravity, and mass
ow measurements with crude oil
blending to ensure more consistent
blends. If blending is based on a
volume basis, additional laboratory
samples or online density measure-
ments are needed to monitor for
varying crude oil gravity.
Finally, reners processing light
tight oils initially saw deciencies
in fuel product qualities such as
cold ow properties. However,
catalyst manufacturers quickly
changed the functionality of their
catalysts to compensate for changes
in the raw feedstock qualities. In
addition, tight oil has shown higher
levels of calcium and iron, which
can lead to catalyst poisoning.
Although the catalyst loaded will
be xed until the next turnaround,
there are options to change depend-
ing on expected future use of crude
oil feedstocks and product quality
specications and desired yield.
Conclusion
Light tight oil production is
currently being tested with low
crude oil prices globally and the
abundance of other opportunity
crudes. There may be a temporary
decline in tight oil production
during this over-supply period, but
long-term tight oil will be a crude
oil that reners use and they need
to understand the challenges asso-
ciated with this different oil.
Because their properties can vary, a
traditional crude assay does not
always represent the crude oil
delivered to the renery. Hence,
reners will learn to process this
tight oil and make the required
modications to their processing
conguration to best utilise the
lighter crude oil.
Tim Olsen is a Refining Consultant within
the global refining industry solutions group
of Emerson Process Management where he
supports Emersons technical and business
strategy. He has been with Emerson for 18
years and was previously with UOP as a
technical advisor on refinery start-ups around
the world. Tim is a past chair for the AIChE
Fuels & Petrochemicals Division (F&PD), and
was the Meeting Program Chair for the 2014
AIChE Spring Meeting in New Orleans, LA. He is
currently a three-year F&PD Director, a member
of the Chemical Engineering Operating Council,
a member of the AFPM Plant Automation and
Decision Support Committee, and is on the
Board of Directors for Emersons Global Users
Exchange. Email: Tim.Olsen@Emerson.com
www.eptq.com
 Impact of light tight oils on distillate
hydrotreater operation
Addressing the range of challenges brought to diesel and jet production by light
tight oil processing

ROBERT OHMES and MATT LEHR

KBC Advanced Technologies

L
ight tight oil (LTO, also known
as shale oil) formations are
providing a new crude source
to North America and soon to the
world, with the construction of
condensate splitters in the US Gulf
Coast and the announcement that
the US government was lifting the
crude export ban. Agreements
between the US and Mexico have
been announced that will allow
crude swaps, thereby sending LTO
into reneries in Mexico. Other
countries in the region are also
examining the potentials of LTO
imports. The economic advantages
of processing LTO crudes are the
low crude cost relative to world
benchmark crudes and higher qual-
ity compared to other available
crudes.
The production and processing of
LTO crudes is relatively new,
whereas Asia Pacic conventional
crudes that have similar qualities
(when compared to LTO crudes)
have been in production and
rened for many years. In addition,
West African crudes and conven-
tional US crudes (such as West
Texas Intermediate, WTI) have
been displaced from US reners
and replaced with LTO crudes.

Low-cost natural gas

Utilities from Utilities Utilities Hydrotreated

suppliers to units Lower octanes/yields naphtha

Virgin naphtha
Catalytic
NHT reforming Reformate
unit
Waxy fouling Gasoline
Wild naphtha Problems with pool
Kerosene cold flow properties
Crude Kerosene DHT
tower
HT jet Oil
Waxy fouling Middle distillate Naphtha Naphtha movement
HT and
Crude
diesel storage
Diesel
Atmospheric
gas oils DHT Jet and
Crude GOHT diesel pool
Synthetic jet/diesel
feedstock or CHU
Cutter stock for fuel oil

Vacuum
overheads
Low utilisation

Naphtha Fuel oil

Cracks well pool
CFHT

Vacuum
FCCU
gas oils FCC
naphtha
Low yields Vacuum
tower
Coker FCC
gas oils C3S and C4S Alkylate
Wild naphtha
Atmospheric
Coker
resid Alkylation
C3S and C4S

Vacuum
Coker
Coke
resid High olefins
Low rate

Figure 1 LTO impacts on refining

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 25


Reactor(s)
Fired
heater
Hydrogen-rich
make-up gas
Kerosene
feed
Feed/effluent
exchanger
Reactor effluent
cooler
Figure 2 Single separator hydrotreater configuration
Therefore, a comparison of example
LTO, conventional US, Asian
Pacic, and West African crude
distillate qualities presents a possi-
ble mechanism to provide
operating and product impact
insight for hydrotreaters in LTO
processing facilities. The following
will provide some high level
impacts of LTO processing on a
facility, and then use a kinetic
model to highlight the unit specic
impacts that can occur.
Impact of light tight oils on refinery
operation
Figure 1 summarises some of the
high-level impacts of processing
LTOs in a conventional renery.
The key challenges include, but are
not limited to:
Managing crude compatibility,
asphaltene deposition, wax forma-
tion, and fouling in the crude and
vacuum units
Handling the higher content of
naphtha in crude, as well as the
lower content of vacuum resid
Managing impact on reformer
yields due to the poor N+2A
content of naphtha
Finding ways to handle poor cold
ow properties in distillate train
Identifying alternative operating
and optimisation opportunities to
fully leverage LTO processing.
Though outside the remit of this
discussion, several resources are
available to address the items listed
26 Processing Shale Feedstocks
CW
Stripper
tower
CW
CW
Separator
Stripper
bottoms pumps CW
above.1-10 The focus of this article is
to understand the impact of LTOs
in the distillate train, and highlight
areas that reners should evaluate
and consider as part of LTO
processing in their facilities.
Distillate evaluation methodology
To begin the process of understand-
ing the impact of LTO on
conventional rening operations,
benchmark crudes were selected
that have similar properties of LTO
crudes (high parafn content, lower
sulphur/nitrogen, poor cold ow
properties, for instance). In review-
ing crude qualities on a global
basis, some of the sweet waxy
crudes from Asia Pacic have simi-
lar qualities to LTO crudes. Hence,
for this study, the comparison
crudes chosen were Bach Ho,
Gippsland, Cossack, and Kutubu.
In addition, West African light
sweet crude (Qua Iboe) was
included in the analysis, as these
crudes typically compete with LTO
crudes in US reneries.
Crude assays from an assay data-
base that KBC licenses were used
Hydrotreater operating conditions
Kerosene HDT
LHSV ~2.5
Reactor inlet P ~600 psig
Cycle length ~ 4 years
Table 1
as the basis to generate kerosene
and diesel hydrotreater feeds. Each
assay was individually processed in
a Petro-SIM simulation model to
H2-rich generate a typical kerosene and
offgas diesel fraction. Each fraction was
then processed in a generic kero-
To sene or diesel hydrotreater
fuel gas
(DHTR-SIM) model to predict the
performance changes in unit opera-
Overheads tion. The model not only predicts
receiver the operational and product quality
Possible changes, but also the reactor heat
light liquid balance and catalyst deactivation
overheads
impacts.
Hydrotreated Table 1 summarises the general
distillate operating conditions of each
product
hydrotreater.
Though the design parameters,
catalyst type, and operating targets
for each reners distillate hydro-
treater units will vary, these generic
units should provide valuable
insight into the impacts of process-
ing LTO crudes versus similar
crudes.
Co-processing LTO with other
feeds is an operational advantage
for kerosene and diesel feeds. The
unit capacity may not be entirely
utilised by the LTO and a heavy/
sour/aromatic feed might be
included to utilise hydraulic and
severity capacity. Kerosene and
diesel boiling range fractions are
generally compatible and opera-
tional issues due to blending of
these dissimilar fractions are mini-
mal. Compatibility for heavier
boiling fractions (gas oils and resids)
do exhibit different behaviour, but
are excluded from this discussion.
Therefore, cases were included to
understand the impact of processing
blended distillate feeds, especially
cracked stock streams.
Prior to beginning the evaluation
process, some background is
included on distillate hydrotreater
congurations and catalyst systems.
Fixed bed hydrotreating background
With renery installed or revamped
hydroprocessing units, the design
basis was often dictated by process-
ing of feedstock from heavy crudes,
Diesel HDT
~1.0 especially in the last decade. The
~1200 psig aromatic nature of these heavy
~ 2 years unconventional crudes, along with
more heteroatoms in cracked
lighter products, typically requires
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Hydrogen-rich recycle gas
Reactor(s)
Quench H2
Fired
heater
Distillate
feed
Feed/effluent
exchanger
Reactor effluent
cooler
Wash
water
Figure 3 Three separator hydrotreater configuration
saturation and conversion via
hydrotreating. The hydrotreater
operation is severe and requires
high temperature and pressure
operations, with shorter run lengths
than similar downstream renery
processes. 7,8,12,18
When examining LTO processing,
the initial belief was that the exist-
ing unit can likely handle this
feedstock. However, the parafnic
nature of LTO presents a different
challenge, as the severity require-
ment is low yet must be high
enough to remove the required
sulphur. This feedstock provides an
opportunity for reners to modify
catalyst selection, feed rate, hydro-
gen partial pressure (ppH2), and
operating temperature to maximise
utilisation of a given hydroprocess-
ing asset.
Fixed bed hydrotreating
configuration
Two typical hydrotreating congu-
rations are utilised for hydrotreating
distillate range material. The typical
single stage separator conguration
is shown in Figure 2.
The single reactor and single
separator hydrotreater design (see
Figure 2) is typical for a kerosene
and light diesel feedstock. The high
www.eptq.com
Hydrogen
recycle
compressor
Sour offgas
Stripper
tower
HP
Separator
Air
cooler
HP
Separator
LP Stripper
Separator bottoms pumps
pressure separator hydrogen-rich
off-gas can be used in a once
through mode (naphtha hydrotreat-
ing units) basis or recycled with a
compressor (kerosene and light
diesel units). The recycle gas is
typically treated to remove H2S in
this conguration in ultra-low
sulphur service, but some congu-
rations do not amine treat the
recycle gas.
More severe feedstocks require a
more complicated reactor and recy-
cle gas system. A multi-bed reactor
with three separator hydrotreater
conguration and recycle gas treat-
ing is shown in Figure 3.
The reactor shown in Figure 3
includes a hydrogen quench to
control the reactor temperature rise,
which is caused by signicant
hydrogen consumption, and an
amine treater on the recycle gas to
remove H2S. This conguration also
includes a water wash to remove
the ammonia bisulphide from the
reactor efuent air cooler (REAC).
When processing LTO feeds in
these more complicated reactor
systems, the operating conditions
will change. The LTO feeds have
low aromatics, sulphur and nitro-
gen, and hydrogen consumption is
typically low. Therefore, the result-
Lean
amines
Gas
scrubber
Rich
amines
LP vent to
fuel gas
CW
To
fuel gas
CW
Overheads
receiver
Possible
light liquid
overheads
CW
Hydrotreated
distillate
product
CW
ing heat release and temperature
rise are lower, thereby reducing the
need for hydrogen quench. The low
heat release reduces the feed/efu-
ent heat recovery and increases
duty requirements on the feed
heater, as well as impacting reactor
quench control. Hence, these
systems will require review as part
of processing LTO feeds within
these units to avoid operating
outside of design conditions or reli-
able equipment capabilities.
Catalyst systems
The kerosene catalyst systems focus
on stabilising product colour, meet-
ing sulphur specication (if one
exists), and removal of potential
contaminants such as arsenic and
silicon in the top portion of the
catalyst load. The low hydrogen
consumption and deactivation rate
allow for long cycle length and a
low activity catalyst is successful in
this application. The kerosene cata-
lyst system might include a
consideration for a dewaxing
component to improve cold ow
properties.
The diesel catalyst system can also
have a relatively low hydrotreating
activity but needs sufcient activity
to meet sulphur and cetane
Processing Shale Feedstocks 27

Property WTI Bakken Eagle Ford Bach Ho Cossack Gippsland Kutubu Qua Iboe
API 43.2 41.2
Sulphur, ppmw 1271 75
Paraffins, vol% 42 35
Aromatics, vol% 14 16
Freeze point, F -52 -47
Table 2
Property WTI Bakken Eagle Ford Bach Ho Cossack
Sulphur, ppmw 10 <1
LHSV, hr-1 Base Base
WABT1, F Base Base
Chemical H2 Base 1 -8
consumption1,
scf/bbl FF
Note 1 Variable value is delta of new case minus base case
Table 3
improvement to meet ultra-low
sulphur diesel (ULSD) specification.
These units also need to consider
the removal of potential contami-
nants in the top catalyst load plus
cold flow property improvement in
products. The hydrotreating bed can
have a first bed that manages pres-
sure drop due to feed contaminants
and saturates the olefins contained
in cracked stocks, the remainder of
the first bed and other reactor beds
being hydrotreating catalyst.
Operational options might be to
split the catalyst load, with a higher
activity catalyst and dewaxing cata-
lyst occupying the same reactor.
Other options would be to use two
separate reactors, thereby allowing
more operational flexibility.
The catalyst system chosen for
each feedstock in this study was
appropriate for the paraffinic feed
quality. Hence, the results provided
here give the general impact
of alternate feedstocks, but each
catalyst system and reactor configu-
ration will impact a refiners
specific results.
Kerosene hydrotreater operations
Kerosene has two potential product
dispositions: jet product or diesel
blending. The jet option has more
stringent specifications to meet than
diesel, making jet a more restrictive
specification to meet without
hydrotreating. LTO jet streams are
28 Processing Shale Feedstocks
impact of crude type on cold
Kerosene properties
properties.
As shown above, the key differ-
ences in properties are sulphur and
44.6 46.8 42.2 43.7 40.0 38.7
freeze point. The LTO kerosene
42 52 70 587 68 516
45 54 43 47 36 30 streams have sulphur similar to
13 12 17 20 21 17 their Asia Pacific crude counter-
-49 -28 -52 -38 -31 -55 parts. In fact, most LTO kerosene
streams require very little hydro-
treating to achieve sulphur levels
for blending into the diesel pool.
Kerosene hydrotreater KPIs Regarding freeze point, LTO cold
properties are on par with conven-
tional US crudes as well as West
Gippsland Kubutu Qua Iboe
<1 <1 <1 3 <1 4 African crude sources. However,
Base Base Base Base Base Base Asia Pacific crudes have extremely
Base Base Base Base Base Base poor freeze point values. To meet
-12 -2 -5 4 8
the specification for jet production,
the back-end cut point would have
to be adjusted down by as much as
50F, which will significantly
decrease jet production but will
result in additional material in the
nearly at jet quality and can be met diesel pool and for hydrotreating in
with blending or clay treating. The the diesel units. Therefore, refiners
diesel option requires hydrotreat- processing Asia Pacific crudes that
ing. Some facilities see the kerosene are considering LTO imports may
stream as a fungible product and be able to substantially increase jet
hydrotreat to meet the ULSD speci- production, at the expense of diesel.
fication and clay treat when
producing jet. The fungible advan- Reactor operating results
tage is most readily captured in Using the generic reactor discussed
northern tier refineries in the above, each of the LTO and
production of Arctic diesel. paraffinic kerosene feeds were
processed through the unit. As
For refineries most kerosene hydrotreaters oper-
ate in either a sulphur mode to
considering LTO meet ultra-low sulphur kerosene
(ULSK) qualities or in low severity
processing, the key mode to meet jet specifications, we
challenge will be chose to operate the reactor at the
more severe ULSK conditions of
managing the cut <10 ppm sulphur. Given the low
sulphur content of the feeds in
point implications on question, the reactor was run to a
typical middle of run (MOR)
jet/kerosene yield WABT and at constant LHSV.
Obviously, each crude has a differ-
Feedstock qualities ent yield of kerosene, especially
Table 2 summarises the typical when cut point impacts to achieve
properties of the kerosene range freeze point are addressed, but the
material (350-500F) for the crudes constant LHSV approach helped
reviewed in this analysis. These normalise the results for demon-
cuts were generated by taking the stration purposes. Table 3
respective crude assays and summarises the key operating
processing them in a KBC Distop conditions and performance results.
simulation to produce as-cut kero- As expected, the LTO and Asia
sene streams. Though this stream is Pacific crudes produced minimal
typically drawn to a freeze point product sulphur when compared to
specification, this fixed cut range a conventional US crude and West
was selected to demonstrate the African crude. Therefore, most
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kerosene hydrotreaters should be Diesel properties
able to process LTO crudes if they
are capable of processing the other
Property WTI Bakken Eagle Ford Bach Ho Cossack Gippsland Kutubu Qua Iboe
peer crude kerosene streams.
API 35.3 34.7 38.5 40.5 34.8 36.0 32.3 33.0
Hydrogen consumption does not Sulphur, wt% 0.25 0.08 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.12 0.05 0.12
vary substantially, as most ULSK Nitrogen, wt% 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.01
units are focused on meeting the Paraffins, vol% 35 29 42 46 40 49 31 27
Aromatics, vol% 20 24 17 16 23 24 28 23
sulphur target for ULSD blending.
Cloud point, F 10 4 17 39 15 37 26 15
Minimal conversion, gravity shift, Pour point, F 8 0 14 7 13 32 22 10
boiling point shift, and cold Cetane index, D4737 61 59 68 76 59 63 54 55
property shift occur across conven-
tional hydrotreating units in ULSK Table 4
mode.
For refineries considering LTO Feedstock quality nitrogen then their US conventional
processing, the key challenge will Table 4 summarises the key feed crude counterpart. When comparing
be managing the cut point implica- properties for our marker crude, LTO crudes to other Asian light
tions on jet/kerosene yield rather LTO crudes, and global paraffinic sweet crudes, the properties are
than hydrotreater performance, as crudes. These cuts were generated quite similar (low sulphur, high
well as managing any trace contam- by taking the respective crude paraffins, low aromatics). Therefore,
inants contained in the crude that assays and processing them in a refineries that are currently process-
appear in the kerosene range. KBC Distop simulation to produce ing these (or other) light sweet
Optimisation opportunities may as-cut diesel streams. The cut point crudes can consider processing LTO
exist if the LTO crude provides ranged between 500F and 650F crudes. Finally, many US refiners
hydraulic capacity in the unit or have been displacing West African
allow the refiner to run the unit in A key advantage of crudes for domestically produced
block operation to create capacity LTOs. As shown, though the West
for treating other streams such as processing LTO crudes African crudes have similar sulphur
naphtha and distillate. and nitrogen levels as LTOs, these
is that the severity same crudes have lower paraffins
Diesel hydrotreater operations and higher aromatics. Hence, the
One of the key advantages of
requirements are LTO crudes should be easier to
processing LTO crudes is that the
severity requirements are signifi-
significantly lower process within the distillate hydro-
treater than the West African
cantly lower than medium or heavy than medium or counterparts.
crudes. Therefore, for any given
refiner, including LTO in the heavy crudes Reactor operating results
process mix can allow for alternate Each crudes diesel was processed
operating scenarios, such as addi- by itself through the generic hydro-
tional throughput, including some (260C and 340C). Though multi- treater mentioned previously. Each
or more cracked stocks, or extend- ple assays exist for each crude type, case was run at constant through-
ing catalyst cycle length. However, Table 4 provides a general indica- put (LHSV) and to either an 8 ppm
these paraffinic crudes have poorer tion of the distillate qualities for sulphur target or to minimum
cold flow properties compared to each respective crude. WABT to understand the impact of
conventional crudes and must be As Table 4 shows, LTO crudes crude type on hydrotreater opera-
managed through product blend- such as Eagle Ford and Bakken have tion. Though most refiners will
ing, additives, or catalyst systems. significantly lower sulphur and process a blend of several crudes at

Diesel hydrotreater KPIs virgin diesel feeds

Property WTI Bakken Eagle Ford Bach Ho Cossack Gippsland Kutubu Qua Iboe
Sulphur, ppmw 8 8 <1 <1 3 <1 8 8
LHSV, hr-1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
WABT1, F Base 1 -23 Minimum WABT Minimum WABT Minimum WABT Minimum WABT -10 3
Total delta T1, F Base 1 -7 -33 -49 -8 -19 20 24
Chemical H2 consumption1, scf/bbl FF Base 1 -56 -164 -227 -62 -105 69 101
Delta API (bottoms feed)1 Base 1 -0.4 -1.9 -2.9 -0.4 -1.1 1.2 1.5
Delta cetane (bottoms feed)1 Base 1 -0.4 -3.7 -6.6 -0.3 -2.0 2.8 3.2
Cycle length1, years Base 1 2.6 2.7 2.6 3.0 2.8 1.0 0.0

Note 1 Variable value is delta of new case minus base case

Table 5

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 29


Diesel hydrotreater KPIs virgin and cracked diesel feeds
Property WTI Eagle Ford
+ LCO + LCO
Sulphur, ppmw 8 8
LHSV, hr-1 0.84 1.0
% Cracked stock, vol% 10 18
Total delta T1, F Base 2 -14
Chemical H2 Base 2 -91
consumption1, scf/bbl FF
Cycle length1, years Base 2 Base 2
Note 1 Variable value is delta of new case minus base case
Table 6
any one time and a complete 100%
swap on crudes is not typical, the
analysis does provide insight into
the impact of diesel quality on
hydrotreater performance. Table 5
summarises key performance indi-
cators of the unit, with WTI crude
as the base operation.
A few interesting findings come
out of this analysis:
As expected, processing LTO
diesel significantly reduces the
operating severity (WABT) and
associated hydrogen consumption
The lower WABT also increases
total cycle length, thereby provid-
ing for optimisation opportunities
on alternate operating scenarios
For those crudes that result in
minimum reactor WABT operation,
additional catalytic capacity
exists for alternate operating
considerations
With a reduction in hydrogen
consumption, the reactor delta
temperature decreases as well
This reduction will impact the
heat recovery train in the unit and
may require additional heater firing
to achieve reaction temperatures
Many of the Asian crudes show
similar performance to Bakken and
Eagle Ford
Bach Ho performance is signifi-
cantly different, given its low
sulphur, low aromatics, and high
API gravity
For refineries processing West
African crudes, the performance
shift can be even more significant,
as these crudes are higher in
aromatics and tend to have higher
levels of very difficult sulphur in
the diesel feed
For diesel units or refineries
with hydrogen limitations and
30 Processing Shale Feedstocks
most severe feedstock within most
refineries.
For the second set of cases, LCGO
Cossack WTI Bakken Gipssland was chosen as a feed. Given the
+ LCO + LCGO + LCGO + LCGO
8 8 8 8
global trend to reduce fuel oil
0.92 0.89 0.92 1.0 production by processing vacuum
10 10 10 14 resid in delayed cokers, most refin-
0 Base 3 4 -9 ers are processing LCGO in their
-19 Base 3 7 -57
distillate units or soon will be
Base 2 Base 3 Base 3 Base 3 doing so. The challenge for LCGO
processing is the high olefin content
as well as other contaminants that
come with the process, such as
silica.
To examine the impact of these
constraints, the LTOs can provide a alternatives, the following cases
capacity advantage. were run. For LCO, the same
As shown above, processing LTO generic model was used and 10%
is quite similar to processing other LCO was added to the feed mixture
global paraffinic crudes that refin- for the base WTI crude. Total
ers have vast experience treating. throughput was adjusted to return
These crudes can also provide the operation to base line cycle
additional advantages, as they length while retaining LCO
relieve other constraints within the percentage at 10%. Then, crude
unit, especially those driven by types were changed and the unit
severity and cycle length. throughput and LCO percentage
Therefore, by including some of adjusted to return the unit to base-
these feeds within the crude mix, line cycle length, with the priority
being to first return the unit to base
Processing LCO or throughput (LHSV) and then
increase LCO percentage. For the
LCGO with virgin cases, LCO qualities were held
constant, though in reality the FCC
stocks may require LCO would shift with change in
crude type.
a reduction in For the LCGO cases, a similar
approach was used. The base WTI
feed rate (or other crude and 10% of a generic LCGO
mechanisms) to was processed in the unit.
Throughput was adjusted to return
maintain overall the unit to baseline cycle length
while retaining the LCGO percent-
cycle length age at 10%. Crude types were
changed and throughput and
LCGO percentage adjusted to meet
the refiner may be able to operate baseline cycle length, with the
the unit and possibly the wider priority being to first return the
refinery in a more advantageous unit to base throughput (LHSV)
manner. and then increase LCGO percent-
age. As with LCO, LCGO qualities
Cracked stocks were held constant, though they
Most distillate hydrotreaters have would shift in a real plant with
to process not only virgin diesel crude changes.
material from the crude unit, but Table 6 summarises the KPIs for
also cracked stocks, such as LCO each of the cases. Note that the
(FCC light cycle oil) or LCGO (light LCO and LCGO each have different
coker gas oil). A set of cases was base cases.
run using a typical LCO from a Some conclusions on the cracked
high severity FCC that is process- stock studies:
ing unhydrotreated feed. This Processing LCO or LCGO with
feedstock was chosen as it is the virgin stocks may require a reduc-
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Name Growth
mechanism agglomeration
Heat of fusion
Cold flow depressant;
reduces the rate of agglomeration
Figure 4 Crystallisation mechanisms
tion in feed rate (or other
mechanisms) to maintain overall
cycle length, which is expected
given the difficulty of treating these
streams
By utilising LTO feeds, the unit
can increase throughput and/or
increase cracked stock processing
while maintaining constant cycle
length
If the unit is hydrogen consump-
tion limited, additional capacity
may be available to increase
cracked stock percentage, though
cycle length may be impacted
In comparing Asian light sweet
diesel versus LTO diesel, the unit
performance is similar on a relative
basis, but each crude will have a
distinct impact on unit performance
that should be analysed.
Using a tool like DHTR-SIM can
assist the refiner in understanding
the reactor performance and prod-
uct quality impacts of processing
LTO crudes at their facility.
Cold property management
As the tables show, LTO distillates
have poor cold properties, which is
common in Asia Pacific light sweet
crudes. Though hydrotreating
impacts cetane and sulphur, this
process does not appreciably
change the cold flow properties.
The high straight chain paraffinic
concentration and yields make
these crudes good for diesel
www.eptq.com
Nucleation
Wax Appearance Temp Extension
(WAT) molecular alignment
ion
usf
of
at
He
Cloud point depressant;
reduces the rate of wax nucleation
Temperature
production. Straight chain paraffin
properties are prone to wax
production, thereby creating floccu-
lation observed as high cloud
points and, as they crystallise, high
pour points. This phenomenon is
shown in Figure 4.
Several mechanisms exist to
manage these properties and meet
final blending requirements. These
include:
Kerosene blending
Pour point depressants
Catalytic dewaxing.
For most refiners, a combination
of the first two options is the most
typical. However, many refiners are
now looking to utilise the final
option, given the high percentage
of paraffinic and waxy crudes they
are processing. A fourth option of
reducing back-end cut point also
exists, but the economics for
reduced diesel recovery normally
does not make this option attractive
in distillate-centric markets.
Kerosene blending
This option is one of the easiest to
Pour point depressant performance
Depressant type
Treatment concentration, wppm
Distillate from crude type
Pour point reduction, Delta T, F
Table 7
Liquid state
random motion Molecular type
n-paraffin
Iso-paraffin
Cyclo-paraffin
(Naphthene)
utilise. Often, it is used by default,
as most refiners are limited in the
amount of jet or kerosene that can
be sold as a standalone product.
Therefore, many refiners naturally
blend kerosene range material into
the diesel pool. Of course, with
ULSD specifications, the kerosene
must be highly hydrotreated, either
within a dedicated hydrotreater or
as part of the diesel hydrotreated
feed mix. Software like KBCs
Petro-SIM tool can be used to
understand the blending impacts
on cold properties for various
crude blends.
Pour point depressants
Cold flow depressant (CFD) addi-
tive chemistry involves blending
polymers with distillate, such that
the initial wax formation is modified
from large to small wax crystals and
inhibits agglomeration. Wax forma-
tion starts with a nucleation point
for small crystals to collect (cloud
point). As the crystal grows, the
larger crystals combine or agglomer-
ate into larger collected masses until
IFP, TPE 101 Chem Link P 7599 or 7590
500 3,000 500
Bombay High Bach Ho Bach Ho
18 6 12
Processing Shale Feedstocks 31
 the fuel begins to gel, as indicated
by the pour point or CFPP. The
thermodynamics are such that the
heat of fusion can be measured by
the differential temperature of the
mixture. The end point of the diesel
negatively impacts the effectiveness
of these suppressant additives.
Reported effectiveness of pour
point additives is summarised in
Table 7 for two paraffinic crudes.19
Each crude and distillate blend
(virgin versus cracked) responds
differently to CFD additives.
Therefore, refiners should work
with their chemical vendors to
complete the necessary testing to
select the right additive for their
operation while managing the
economic impact.
Catalytic dewaxing
Catalytic dewaxing has existed for
many years and has been applied
in many refineries, especially those
in Asia processing highly waxy
crudes or those refiners making
diesel for cold weather climates.
With the advent of LTO processing,
many refiners should consider
utilising this technology.
Given that most refiners need a
small amount of cold property
improvement, especially cloud
point, most facilities can just install
a layer of dewaxing catalyst in an
existing unit bed. Since the catalyst
operates better on low sulphur and
nitrogen feedstock, most refiners
put the catalyst at the bottom of the
last bed.
The catalyst improves cold prop-
erties through two potential
mechanisms. The first mechanism
is through cracking of the straight
chain molecules that lead to high
cloud and pour point. This mecha-
nism was used by many of the first
generation catalysts. Though effec-
tive, the downside of this
mechanism is that a significant
amount of distillate yield is lost to
naphtha and gas due to cracking,
and hydrogen consumption
increases across the process unit.
The second mechanism is
through isomerisation. This mecha-
nism changes the normal paraffins
to iso-paraffins, thereby improving
the cold properties of the stream.
The advantage of this mechanism is
32 Processing Shale Feedstocks
that diesel yield is retained and
hydrogen consumption is minimal.
Many catalyst vendors offer this
technology and will work with
refiners to include a dewaxing layer
in their catalyst load. The key chal-
lenge of using this catalyst in an
existing unit is that the amount of
hydrotreating catalyst in the reactor
will be reduced. Therefore, the
refiner and catalyst vendor will
need to determine the impact of
this change. If the refiner has spare
catalyst activity due to processing
LTO, the impact on cycle length
may be minimal. However, if the
unit is tight on overall activity, the
refiner may need to load a higher
activity catalyst, which impacts unit
performance and catalyst costs.
Potential operating issues
Though the focus of any significant
feed change is always on the reactor
operation and resulting product
yields and properties, processing
LTO distillates will have other
Tools like DHTR-
SIM and Petro-SIM
can assist refiners
in evaluating the
specific impact of
these crudes on their
unique operation
impacts on unit operation. As
discussed above, the unit heat
balance may change significantly,
due to the lower hydrogen
consumption reducing the exotherm
in the reactor. Therefore, the feed
furnace load will increase and may
become a limiting factor. Including
cracked stocked in the feed mix can
help mitigate this issue, as these
feeds will increase hydrogen
consumption and exotherm.
Another impact is on the heat
recovery train. Given that these
feeds are waxy, deposits can form
on the initial preheat exchangers,
thereby reducing thermal efficiency.
In addition, LTO crudes may
contain other chemical additives
that deposit on exchanger surfaces,
reducing heat recovery and possi-
bly increasing pressure drop across
the exchangers or even reactor bed.
Some mitigation options exist, but
the most common method is dili-
gent unit monitoring and the ability
to clean exchangers on-line.
Finally, trace contaminants can
exist in LTO kerosene or diesel
streams that will foul or deactivate
the catalyst. Some examples include
phosphorus, arsenic, and silica.
Phosphorus has become a signifi-
cant problem in the industry and is
thought to be caused by oil recov-
ery and transport additives used by
the upstream producers. These
contaminants show up particularly
in the kerosene cut and have been
known to cause significant fouling
and catalyst deactivation.
Conclusions
LTO has become a commonplace
crude source within the US over
the last five years, and is now
poised to become a crude source on
a global level. These crudes provide
a unique opportunity for refiners to
supplement their existing crude
basket. Most of the challenges of
processing LTO in the distillate
train are around managing the
impact on unit heat balance and the
opportunities that arise to increase
throughput or cracked stock
processing. Care should be taken to
track and monitor trace contami-
nants that can impact heat recovery,
pressure drop formation, and cata-
lyst deactivation.
Tools like DHTR-SIM and Petro-
SIM can assist refiners in evaluating
the specific impact of these crudes
on their unique operation, such that
the operational changes can be
anticipated and any necessary
design, operational, or procedural
changes made in advance. Those
refiners that can quickly evaluate
and manage LTO processing will
have a distinct advantage to their
peers.
Finally, the authors would like to
thank Scott Sayles for his valuable
insight on this subject as well as the
original genesis for the idea of this
paper, as well as John Fagley and
Quang Vu for their assistance with
DHTR-SIM.
www.eptq.com
Petro-SIM and DHTR-SIM are trademarks of
KBC Advanced Technologies plc.
KBC licenses the Chevron Crude Assay
Database.
References
1 Kuhl, et al, Capitalizing on Shale Gas in
the Downstream Energy Sector, AFPM Annual
Meeting, Mar 2013.
2 Sayles, et al, Unconventional Crude Oil
Selection and Compatibility, NPRA Annual
Meeting, Mar 2011.
3 Ohmes, et al, Analyzing and Addressing the
Clean Fuels and Expansion Challenge, NPRA
Annual Meeting, Mar 2007.
4 Sayles, Unconventional Crude Processing
Part 1: Metals, Crude Oil Quality Association
(COQA), Oct 2008.
5 Sayles, Unconventional Crude Processing
Part 2: Heteroatoms, Crude Oil Quality
Association (COQA), Oct 2010.
6 Lordo, et al, Shale and Tight Oil New
Frontier, 3rd Opportunity Crude Conference,
Mar 2012.
7 Sayles, Upgrading Technology Selection,
2007 Oil Sands and Heavy Oil technology
Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Jul 2007.
8 Ohmes, et al, Characterizing and Tracking
Trace Contaminants in Opportunity Crudes,
AFPM AM13-3.
9 Lordo, Opportunity Crude Conference
2008.
This could be your
profiled picture.
Profiled valve plates made of PowerPEEK:
the CP and XP reciprocating compressor valves combine
he efficiency of profiled valve rings with the reliability
and simplicity of conventional valve plates
www.hoerbiger.com
PTQ_shale_feedstocks_120x178.indd 1
www.eptq.com
10 Saleh, et al, Blending Effects of Fouling on
Four Crudes, ECI Symposium Series Vol RP2:
Proceedings 5th International Conference on
Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning, 5-10 Jun
2005.
11 http://crudemarketing.chevron.com/crude/
far_eastern
12 Sandu, et al, Innovative Solutions for
Processing Shale Oils, Hydro Proc, 7/2013.
13 OSHA regulations, 29CFR 1910.119 Process
Safety Management of Highly Hazardous
Chemicals, state that any time a critical
component in an oil or chemical plant changes,
a formal MOC program is required to ensure
that the proposed change is made safely.
14 Sayles, Shale or Tight Oil Processing, AFPM
Q&A, 10/12.
15 Kramer, Using Proven Technology to
optimize Profits when Processing Opportunity
Crudes, 3rd Opportunity Crude Conference,
Mar 2012.
16 Defense Standard 91-91 Issue 7
(Amendment 21 Mar 2013).
17 Sayles, et al, Solutions to Common
Problems in Scoping, Designing, Implementing,
and Operating ULSD Units, AM-06-07, 2006
NPRA Annual Meeting.
18 Sayles, et al, Upgrading HTU-Feed
Hydrotreating, Hydro Proc, 9/05.
19 Pham Quang Du, Detailed Assays
Conducted on Vietnamese Crude Oils, O&GJ,
7/16/90.
20 Cookson, et al, Property-composition
relationships for diesel and kerosene fuels,
FUEL, 1985, Vol 64, April.
21 Palmer, et al, Stability of Australian
Automotive Diesel Fuels, Symp. on Stability
of Mid Dist Fuels, Div of Pet Chem, Div of Fuel
Chem ACS 8/26-31, 1990.
Robert Ohmes is a Principal Consultant with
KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc., Houston,
Texas. His primary responsibilities are
centred on profit improvement initiatives,
hydroprocessing unit consulting, and
organisational consulting for domestic and
international clients. Prior to joining KBC, he
worked as a refinery engineer for Flint Hills
Resources in Corpus Christi, Texas. He holds
degrees from Kansas State University (BSChE)
and Tulane University (MBA) and is a licensed
professional engineer in Louisiana.
Email: rohmes@kbcat.com
Matt Lehr is a Senior Engineer with KBC
Advanced Technologies. He has worked
and consulted in almost 20 refinery and
petrochemical facilities in North America,
South America, and the Middle East.
Knowledgeable in hydrocracking/hydrotreating
operations, as well as refinery planning
practices, he previously worked with The Dow
Chemical Company, Freeport, Texas, and holds
a BS in chemical engineering from Colorado
School of Mines. Email: mlehr@kbcat.com
26.02.2016 14:01:41
Processing Shale Feedstocks 33
Process Notes

This exchanger is a victim of its design.

Opportunity or Annoyance?
Price differentials between conventional and opportu-
nity crudes compel refiners to process increasing per-
centages of lower valued opportunity crude. However,
as many refiners have learned the hard way, opportu-
nity crudes are tied to unique processing challenges.
Furthermore, existing crude unit configurations may
limit high-profit opportunity crude to a disappointingly
small proportion of the total unit blend.
Over the course of 20 years, Process Consulting Ser-
vices has completed more than 130 revamp and grass-
roots designs supported by over 75 detailed test runs.
An extensive collection of test run equipment perfor-
mance data and feed/product analyses enables confi-
dent prediction of real-world opportunity crude perfor-
mance. PCS has enabled refiners worldwide to extend
crude unit run lengths from months to years while im-
proving yields and operability.

Processing a changing slate of opportunity crudes of

varying compositions requires a CDU/VDU design that
is flexible, reliable, and commercially proven. A good
design must control chronic problems associated with
many of these crudes including corrosion, exchanger
fouling, tray plugging, vacuum heater and wash bed
coking, and unreliable product quality prediction. CDU/
VDU designs for challenging crudes should be based
on proven best-practices rather than simply on a low-
CAPEX strategy. For example, a poorly designed heat
exchanger may operate well initially, but high foul-
ing will quickly lower efficiency and eventually limit
throughput. Up front investment in engineering expe-
rience and know-how pays dividends when units meet
Test run feed and product samples
capacity and run-length targets.

3400 Bissonnet St. +1 (713) 665-7046

Suite 130 info@revamps.com
Houston, TX 77005, USA www.revamps.com
 Chinas shale gas

The outlook and opportunities for petrochemicals based on Chinas development

of shale gas

LEE FAGG
Nexant

N
exant has recently completed
a detailed analysis of the
current and developing
status of Chinas shale gas sector.
The report has been tailored to
explore potential opportunities and
implications for downstream petro-
chemicals particularly associated
with ethane. To date, the shale gas
sector in China is in its infancy and,
as a result, there is relatively
limited data available in the public
domain. This is especially true
when compared to published infor-
mation sources associated with the
shale gas sector in North America.
The North American shale industry
is well established and in most
cases shale resources have been
mapped in great detail. In compari-
son, Chinas shale industry is still
very much in the early exploration
phase, with information tightly
held amongst a few organisations
directly involved in oil and gas
exploration.
China is the worlds most popu-
lous country and one of the leading
consumers of global energy. The
domestic economy has grown
rapidly over the past 20 years,
creating both a surge in demand
Additionally, due to growing envi-
Renewables ronmental concerns such as air
2% quality and global warming, there
Oil is a greater push to enact policies
18% that diversify the energy mix in
Nuclear favour of cleaner burning fuels.
1% Within this aspect of the energy
Natural gas sector, natural gas is forecast to
5%
become an increasingly important
Hydro component of the overall energy
7%
mix. However, China only has
Coal modest reserves of conventional
67%
gas and therefore unconventional
gas reserves are being actively
Figure 1 China energy consumption 2013 targeted to meet the countrys
energy objectives. Within this
China today is relatively small context, the countrys shale gas
compared to other energy sources potential is therefore highly signifi-
and accounts for approximately cant on two fronts:
5% of total domestic energy First and foremost, the potential
consumption. presence of large quantities of
Future sources of energy supply indigenous gas could significantly
in China are forecast to change boost the fuels share of the
over time as the government primary energy mix, assuming the
continues to drive increased gas can be extracted and trans-
self-sufficiency through the promo- ported economically.
tion of wider energy diversification. Secondly, shale gas production
35
30
Reserves, trillion m3

for energy and a desire for securing 25

future energy resources. Currently,
the major part of Chinas energy 20
consumption is derived from 15
domestic coal reserves. In 2014, coal
accounted for approximately 10
67% of Chinas total energy
consumption. In comparison, oil 5
consumption is relatively modest at
0
around 18% (see Figure 1). Despite
na

ria

pe

lia

ia

Ve azil

a
.S
in

ad

el
ss
ra
hi

ge

ro

this, China is the worlds second

U

zu
nt

Br
an

Ru
C

st
Eu
ge

Al

ne
Au
C

largest consumer of oil behind the

Ar

US and the worlds largest net oil

importer. Total gas consumption in Figure 2 Technically recoverable shale gas reserves

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 35

 Recoverable GIP
Resource GIP
80
70
Production, trillion m3
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 0%
Sichuan
Figure 3 Overview of shale gas reserves by basin
could displace (in the long term) or
partially displace (short term)
Chinese gas imports from LNG and
neighbouring countries via
pipelines.
The Chinese government was
aiming to increase the natural gas
share of total domestic energy
consumption to around 8% by the
end of 2015 and to 10% by end
2020. These increases are expected
to substitute for domestic coal due
to growing environmental concerns.
To achieve these targets, the
government has placed strong
emphasis on developing its domes-
tic shale gas reserves (see Figure 2).
Recent data suggest that total
Chinese shale gas reserves are the
highest in the world at approxi-
mately 31 tcm. This estimate has
been derived from an assessment of
seven major prospective shale
basins distributed across the coun-
try. Despite its immense shale gas
resources, China has only recently
commenced shale gas production
and actual production levels to date
(initiated in 2012) are very small.
However, based on current shale
gas resource estimates and domes-
tic natural gas demand there is
significant potential for develop-
ment over the long term.
Shale gas development in China
has not attracted the same level of
environmental concern that has
developed in other regions of the
world such as North America and
Europe. This is partly because of
the industrys infancy, but also
because China is still developing its
36 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016
Percentage recoverable
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
Tarim Yangtse Junggar Songliao Subei Jianghan
economy. Consequently, the
Chinese government has not placed
the same emphasis on environmen-
tal sustainability as have some of
the worlds more economically
mature countries. This attitude may
change as the Chinese economy
matures, but for now the achieve-
ment of economic objectives is the
governments number one priority.
However, the nascent Chinese shale
gas industry faces multiple chal-
lenges, which include:
Recent data suggest
that total Chinese
shale gas reserves
are the highest
in the world at
approximately 31 tcm
Land access Access to land surface
for operations is particularly diffi-
cult in China as it is one of the
most densely populated nations in
the world. This will severely restrict
shale gas operations, which require
around 0.3 km per well (average
US well spacing used as proxy).
The need for additional land
required to construct water pits,
gas processing and transport infra-
structure, and roads further
complicates matters.
Complex topography If China
aims to reach 50 billion cu m (1.8
tcf) of shale gas production by
Yangtse
13%
Subei
4%
Songliao
2%
Junggar
3%
Jianghan
3%
Tarim
19%
Sichuan
56%
Total reserves 31.6 trillion m3
Figure 4 Overview of recoverable reserves
2020, and maintain it for 10 years,
at least 5100 sq km of land is
required for drilling operations.
This may not seem much compared
to Chinas vast area, but the prob-
lem becomes apparent when
topography is taken into account.
Only 1% of Chinas land is in
plains, while the rest is mostly
plateaus, hills, and basins.
However, plains are the only areas
suitable for shale gas exploration
and production operations. This
presents another significant bottle-
neck for shale gas development.
Low crude oil pricing Recent price
lows in global crude oil markets
have resulted in a dramatic U-turn
in E&P spending globally. As a
result, higher cost unconventional
energy resources have become less
attractive to energy companies and
in many cases not economically
viable. The current low oil price
environment has led to a number
of high profile foreign companies
exiting China shale gas projects
over the past 18 months. Despite
this, Chinas national oil companies
remain highly committed to the
sector and under pressure to meet
government set production targets.
Water constraints Typical water
usage per shale gas well for frack-
ing and other operations is 11 000
to 15 000 cu m. To support 50
billion cu m (1.8 tcf) of shale gas
production, an estimated average
of 18 million cu m of fresh water
annually would be required. Given
that Chinas estimated per capita
annual renewable water availability
is around 2080 cu m, this poses a
significant challenge. The situation
is exacerbated by the fact that
www.eptq.com
several shale basins are in
water-constrained provinces.
Chinas shale resources
Total shale gas resources are largely
concentrated in three principal
basins: Sichuan, Tarim and
Yangtze. Combined, these three
basins hold an estimated 87% of
total recoverable gas. The Sichuan
basin alone accounts for 56% of the
countrys total recoverable shale
gas resources, and it is within this
region that the majority of explora-
tion and initial production is taking
place. Initial shale gas exploration
and production efforts under way
are largely concentrated in the
Sichuan Basin. However, there is
also reasonable interest in explora-
tion in Yangtze, Subei and Tarim
regions. The remaining shale basins
appear to offer lower prospects in
the near term. This is largely due to
technical challenges and infrastruc-
ture issues (see Figures 3 and 4).
Official government shale gas
production targets are set by
Chinas National Energy Bureau as
part of the 12th five-year plan and
Outlook for NGLs current E&P data and Nexants
The shale gas produced to date in analysis.
China is relatively dry, especially Our base case scenario for theo-
compared to major shale plays in retical ethane availability is forecast
the US where the ethane content at approximately 37 000 b/d in
2020, but is forecast to ramp up to
approximately 186 000 b/d by 2030.
The shale gas The increase in ethane post-2020 is
produced to date in attributed to a forecasted increase
in shale gas production (see
China is relatively Figure 6).
Determining estimates for theo-
dry, especially retical ethane availability is
challenging and will be highly
compared to major sensitive to Chinas total shale gas
production. To combat this, we
shale plays in the US further analysed various produc-
tion scenarios within its study to
can be as high as 15-20%. Available measure the sensitivity of ethane
gas specification data for Sichuan availability. These scenarios cover
Basin suggests a methane content both variances in total shale gas
estimated in the range 95-99%. The production and variances in gas
estimated ethane content of the gas specification and the average
is within the range 0-4%, with an ethane content.
average content of 2% based on Across the different scenarios, the
250
Initial target
Revised target
Production, billion m3

200
the shale gas development plan
(2011-2015). However, in 2014 all
shale gas production targets were 150
revised down as initial progress in
the sector was slower than 100
expected. Previously, the govern-
ment had set a target of around 60
50
billion cu m by 2020, but this
number has now been revised
down to 30 billion cu m. Based on 0
reported progress, this production 2015 2020 2030
appears to be realistic. However,
there are concerns that reported Figure 5 Shale gas production targets
shale gas production numbers may
also incorporate some conventional
gas production. 160 200
Longer term shale gas produc- Based on 2% ethane content
140 180
tion targets have also been reduced Total production
Shale gas production,

160
Ethane production,

marginally and are now forecast at 120 Total ethane production from shale gas
120 140
thousand b/d

around 150 billion cu m for 2030.

billion m3

100 120
However, Nexant notes that
production levels are forecast to 80 100
accelerate greatly post-2020 due to 60 80
the completion of key infrastruc- 60
ture projects, greater economies of 40
40
scale, reduced drilling costs, and 20 20
improvements in fracking
0 0
technologies.
14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

Figure 5 provides an overview of

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

previous and revised shale gas

production targets. Figure 6 Forecast shale gas and theoretical ethane availability base case

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 37

 so far. Based on US shale gas
Operating rate Net import Production production, gas specifications can
Consumption Capacity Net export vary greatly between wet and
60 100 dry gas within close proximity.
Production of shale gas is real-
50 ised within the wet shale gas fields
80
Volume, million tons

Operating rate, %
in Subei and Jianghan. Based on the
40
analysis, Nexant has concluded at
60
this stage that these fields will not
30
produce shale gas before 2030.
40
20
Potential for ethylene
10 20 China consumes over 20 million
t/y of ethylene and is the largest
0 0 market for ethylene in the Asia
2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 2027 2029 Pacific region, accounting for more
than one-third of regional demand.
Figure 7 China polyethylene supply/demand and net trade Polyethylene accounted for about
65% of total ethylene consumption
A in China, with new HDPE and
200
LLDPE capacity driving consump-
180 Approximately 182 000 b/d of ethane tion growth. Furthermore, China
Production, thousand b/d

160 is theoretically feasible based on the

base case shale gas forecast for 2015-2030 imports around 1 million t/y of
140 ethylene, but this represents a rela-
120 Theoretical ethane production tively small portion of total
100 Theoretical ethane availability domestic demand at less than 5%.
Additionally, China is the worlds
80
largest importer of ethylene deriva-
60
tives. These include polyethylene,
40 styrene monomer and ethylene
20 glycol. Total polyethylene imports
0 into China in 2015 are forecast at
2014 2016 2018 2020 2020 2024 2026 2028 2030 around 10 million tons (see
B Figure 7).
3500
Many of Chinas steam crackers
Production, thousand t/yr

3000 Approximately 3 million t/yr of ethane based consume a mixture of naphtha and
ethylene production is feasible based on heavy gasoil, also known as hydro-
2500 theoretical ethane production during 2015-2030
wax. The hydrowax is residue from
2000 refinery hydrocrackers, which are
Theoretical ethylene production
prevalent in the recent generation
1500 Theoretical ethylene availability
of Asian oil refineries mainly fed
1000
with heavy Middle Eastern crudes.
As refinery development has
500 slowed, the focus has shifted to
largely coal based methanol-to-ole-
0
2014 2016 2018 2020 2020 2024 2026 2028 2030
fin (MTO) developments. Currently,
conventional ethylene production
via steam cracking accounts for
Figure 8 Overview of theoretical ethane and ethylene production via ethane (base case approximately 83% of domestic
shale gas production, 2% ethane content) ethylene capacity. However, by
2030 close to half of domestic ethyl-
theoretical ethane content of Current production estimates are ene capacity will result from
Chinas shale gas production conservative and focused in the methanol conversion.
ranges from 123-91 000 b/d, 2030 Sichuan Basin only. Currently, there is no ethylene
basis. The analysis presented is on Discovery and production of production from ethane in China.
the conservative side. However, higher ethane gas within the This is due to limited availability of
potentially theoretical ethane avail- Sichuan Basin. Initial exploration domestic ethane. However, this
ability could be higher due to the has resulted in relatively dry gas situation may change longer term if
following: being produced. However, Nexant theoretical ethane availability from
Higher than expected shale gas notes that only a relatively small shale gas is realised and recovered.
production over the longer term. area of the basin has been analysed Figure 8 provides an overview of

38 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 www.eptq.com

ethane potential and ethylene
production based on the base case Methanol conversion
6% Others
shale gas scenario with 2% ethane 2%
Steam cracker naphtha
content. 9% Ethane
The following should be noted: 6%

10th
REFINING
Additional ethane availability
increases year on year in line with
shale gas production
Regent Hotel
In 2020, theoretical ethane availa- Beijing

CHINA
bility will be sufficient to produce
around 600 000 t/y of ethylene 13-14
In 2030, theoretical ethane availa-
bility will be sufficient to produce Steam cracker naphtha/gasoil Aprilconversion
Methanol
46%
2016
85%
around 3 million tonnes of ethyl- Steam cracker naphtha
ene. This will PTQrequire
's international
around conference for China 9%
182 000 b/d of ethane (see Figure 9). held in association with SINOPEC Steam cracker naphtha/gasoil
37%
Ethylene production from ethane
assumes that all theoretical ethane Total capacity 2014 = 19.6 million tons Total capacity 2030 = 50.6 million tons
is recovered.
Significant ethylene production, at Figure 9 Chinas ethylene capacity
approximately 8 million tons per
annum, from ethane may be feasible scenario with 4% ethane content. limited to mixed feed cracking until
if total shale production is in line Speculative ethylene capacity enough ethane supply is available.
with the high case scenario with an additions are not forecast to materi- By 2030, potentially 2 million
average ethane content of 4% alise until post-2020. Furthermore, tonnes of additional ethylene
assumed. This will require approxi- the amount of theoretical ethane production capacity could be based
mately 490 000 b/d of ethane available initially will be relatively on theoretical ethane. Nexant has
production to be realised. Figure 10 small until shale production incorporated some speculative
provides an overview of ethane volumes are ramped up post-2020. ethylene capacity based on theoreti-
potential and ethylene production Therefore, initial opportunities for cal ethane to illustrate the potential
based on the high case shale gas ethane www.Refi consumption would be
ningChina.com impact of shale gas on the domestic

4th
REFINING Lalit Hotel
New Delhi

INDIA 19-20
September 2016

PTQ's international conference for India

held in partnership with Industrial Development Services

www.refiningindia.com

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 39


Low gas production
High gas production
Base gas production
Other feedstocks
55
50
Spec cap, million tons
to China showed a fall of around
100 000 tonnes in 2014, while South
Total ethylene firm
Total ethylene spec
Koreas exports to China were
Total spec cap from gas production reduced by almost 350 000 tonnes.
South Korea is generally the
worlds largest ethylene exporter,
25
but its exports declined signifi-
cantly in 2014 due to a combination

20 of economic and production issues

45 (see Figure 11).

Spec cap, %
15 Although new MTO plants are
40
expected to relieve the tightness of
35 10
domestic ethylene supply in China,
demand will still be partly met by
30 imports, which are encouraged by
5 the Chinese government. From
25
2015, import duty for ethylene has
20 0 been reduced to 1% from 2%
2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 2027 2029 in China.
China is a major importer of
Figure 10 China ethylene capacity development polyethylene and other ethylene
derivative such as styrene and
ethylene market. However, it South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. ethylene glycol. Despite a recent
should be noted that the forecast The recent excess of ethylene in wave of new ethylene capacity
assumes the following: Western Europe led to imports coming on-stream, China will still
Base case shale gas production remain highly dependent on
targets are met Speculative ethylene polyethylene imports. In 2025
Assumed theoretical ethane we forecast total polyethylene
content averages 2% or higher capacity additions imports at around 20 million
Theoretical ethane is extracted t/y. This is equivalent to around
and consolidated. are not forecast to 44% of total domestic demand.
China has been a big net importer China has a clear incentive to add
of ethylene for the past eight years materialise until additional ethylene capacity.
due to the fast development of However, the rate at which naph-
ethylene derivatives capacity.
post-2020 tha cracking can develop is
However, imports were down by hindered by domestic refinery
around 200 000 tonnes in 2014. Due from new ethylene exporters such capacity development. Therefore a
to the high cost of ethylene ship- as Belgium, the Netherlands and considerable amount of olefins
ping, most imports are from nearby Sweden, and other regions such as capacity will come from coal based
exporters in East Asia such as Turkey and Mexico. Japans exports projects or MTO.
Ethane based ethylene projects
may be feasible longer term.
However, as highlighted in
Middle East Western Europe Africa
Nexants report, a critical mass of
North America Central Europe Asia Pacific
ethane will need to be available to
South America
2000
warrant economic extraction. Based
on current shale gas production
forecasts, this situation will not be
Trade, thousand tons

1000 viable until post-2025 at the earli-

est. However, the planning process
for these investments will
0 commence over the next few years.
Lee Fagg is Principal and Practice Leader for
Nexants Chemicals Consulting business in
1000
Asia, based in Singapore. He has more than
20 years of combined consulting and industry
experience covering technology, markets,
2000
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 business planning, strategy and M&A, spanning
all major regions. He studied chemistry and
business at Leeds University, UK.
Figure 11 Ethylene global trade development Email: lfagg@Nexant.com

40 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2016 www.eptq.com

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