EP422

PETROLEUM REFINING
ENGINEERING

PRODUCT BLENDING
 Objective of Product Blending
Depend on product demand, naphtha can be
blended into either gasoline or jet fuel.

Major refinery products produced by blending

of gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil and diesel fuel.

Objective of product blending: to allocate the

available blending components in such a way as
to meet product demands and specifications at
least cost and to produce incremental products
which maximize overall profit.
 Why?
Recent pricing of ethanol compared with gasoline and potential gasoline blend
stocks:

http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-109/issue-27/processing/petcoke-methanol-
2-conclusion-how-blending.html
 How it works?
• Computer-controlled in-line blending for blending gasoline and other high
volume products.
• Parameters involved: inventories of blending stocks, cost and physical
property data
• Given volume and quality product is specified – computer uses linear
programming models to optimize the blending operations, in order to select
the blending components to produce the required volume of the specified
product at the lowest cost.
 Measured Parameters
• To ensure that the blended streams meet the desired spec. , stream analyzers,
measuring of boiling point, specific gravity, RVP, research and motor octane
… all installed to provide feedback control of additives and blending
streams.
• Advanced process control generally requires near real-time stream quality
information. The analyzers technology ensures accuracy and repeatability of
data.
 http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6540797.html

•Provided is a method for blending an unleaded summer gasoline containing ethanol.

• The method comprises providing a substantially oxygenate free unleaded gasoline blend stock
having an RVP of no greater than 7.0, and preferably no greater than 6.0.
• Adding sufficient ethanol to the gasoline blend stock such that the ethanol addition does not
cause the T50 (Temperature at 50 volume % distilled ) value to drop below the ASTM D 4814
(This specification covers the establishment of requirements of automotive fuels for ground
vehicles equipped with spark-ignition engines) minimum requirements of 170° F.
Optimization in Product Blending
• It
permit the computer to provide the optimum blend to minimize
cost and maximize profit.
• Linear and geometric programming techniques required.
• Geometric programming (GP) is an optimization model where the
variables are non-negative, and the objective and constraints are
sums of powers of those variables, with non-negative weights.
• GPis preferred if sufficient data of blend components and values are
available to define the equations.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Application

• Invensys' Blend Optimization and Supervisory System (BOSS) provides

management of the component and product tanks, blend header, on-line and
laboratory analytical systems, and planning/scheduling activities.
• Multivariable analyzer-directed control including:
Feedforward control for component quality variations
Feedback control for product quality variations
Quality integration of product and component tanks
Projected product qualities at the blend header
Refinery Product Blending Systems based on NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) Application

DBS – Digital Blender System

NMR – Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

http://www.process-nmr.com/fox-app/prdct_blndng.htm
Calculation of Blending Components
• Forpurposes of preliminary cost evaluation studies, calculations
generally are not made on the percent distilled spec. at intermediate
percentages.
• The allowable blending stocks are those with boiling ranges within
the product spec. and the control criteria are to meet Reid Vapor
Pressure (RVP) and octane requirements.
• Gasolineas the largest volume refinery product will be used as a
example of calculation.
 Reid Vapor Pressure
• Reid vapor pressure (RVP) is a way to measure how quickly fuels evaporate.
• It's often used in determining gasoline and other petroleum product blends.
• The higher a fuel's RVP, the more quickly it evaporates. The more quickly a
fuel evaporates, the more it contributes to the ozone layer.
• RVP represents the fuel's evaporation at 100 oF(37.8 oC), and is measured in
pounds per square inch, or PSIs. The property that RVP measures often is
referred to as the gasoline's volatility.
• TheRVP for gasoline should always be below 14.7 PSI, which is normal
atmospheric pressure.
• If
the RVP is higher than 14.7 PSI, excess pressure will build up, and the fuel
might boil and evaporate while in the car's gas tank.
 Reid Vapor Pressure
• The desired RVP of a gasoline is obtained by blending n-butane with naphtha
C5, required amount of n-butane to give the needed RVP is calculated by:

n
M t ( RVP )t   M i ( RVP )i
i 1

M t  total _ moles _ blended _ product

( RVP )t  specification _ RVP _ for _ product, psi
M i  moles _ of _ component , i
( RVP )i  RVP _ of _ component _ i, psi _ or _ kPa
VPBI AS A
FUNCTION
OF
BLENDING
STREAM

Reid Vapor
Blending Index
Numbers for
Gasoline and
Turbine Fuels
BLENDING
PROPERTY
DATA

Blending
Component
Values
For Gasoline
Blending
Streams
 Calculation Methods for Blending to Desired RVP
method – estimating the average molecular weight of a refinery
• Theoretical
stream from boiling point, gravity and characterization factor.
• Empiricalmethod – based on Vapor Pressure Blending Indices (VPBI) that
developed by Chevron Research Company. (more convenient way)
 Empirical Method
• Reid vapor pressure of the blend is closely approximated by the sum
of all the products of the volume fraction (vi) times the VPBI for
each component,

RVPblend   v (VPBI )
i i

In the case where the volume of the butane to be blended for a given RVP is desired:
A(VPBI)a + B(VPBI)b + ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ + W(VPBI)w = (Y + W)(VPBI)m

where
A = bbl of component a, etc.
W = bbl of n-butane (w)
Y = A + B + C+ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ (all components except n-butane)
(VPBI)m = VPBI corresponding to the desired RVP of the mixture
w = subscript indicating n-butane
 Base Stock Example
BPD lb/hr MW

LSR gasoline 4000 37800 86

Reformate 6000 54000 115

Alkylate 3000 21600 104

FCC gasoline 8000 81000 108

*BPD = Barrels per calendar day, average flow rates based on operating 365 days per
year.
Molecular weight for n-butane : 58 lb/mol

Analyze the n-butane required in moles and total 10 psi RVP gasoline in barrels per day to
give the needed blend for a 10 psi RVP using:

1-Average molecular weight estimation

2-Vapor pressure blending indices

The desired RVP of a gasoline is obtained by blending n-butane with C5-
380°F (C5-193°C) naphtha. The amount of n-butane required to give the
needed RVP is calculated by:

where
Mt = total moles blended product
(RVP)t = specification RVP for product, psi
Mi =moles of component i
(RVP)i = RVP of component i, psi or kPa
Average molecular weight estimation Method:
Vapor pressure blending indices method: