Hassan ElBanhawi

About this Book (Preface):-

Today refiners are facing investments of billions of dollars in equipment to meet
environmental requirements frequently set by political stipulation with little regard
to true economic and environmental impacts. Guidelines set up by laws
and regulations are changed frequently. Since the design and building of new
processing units entail several years of lead time, refiners are reluctant to commit
millions or billions of dollars to constructing equipment that may no longer meet
requirements when the units come on stream. For the ‘‘short-term’’ period much
effort is being devoted to the development of reformulated fuels that have a minimal
impact on degradation of the environment. We say ‘‘short-term’’ because
laws have already been passed stipulating that within the next two decades hydrocarbon
fuel will not be acceptable and only totally nonpolluting fuels will be
acceptable. At the present time the only nonpolluting fuels specified are solar
and electric energy and hydrogen. This allows only a short time for the petroleum
industry to recover the large investment required to meet the present legal requirements.
It is apparent that the survivors of this period will be those companies
utilizing the experience and skill of their engineers and scientists to the highest
possible level of efficiency.
In writing this edition, we have taken the new environmental aspects of
the industry into account, as well as the use of heavier crude oils and crude oils
with higher sulfur and metal content. All these criteria affect the processing options
and the processing equipment required in a modern refinery.
The basic aspects of current petroleum-refining technology and economics
are presented in a systematic manner suitable for ready reference by technical
managers, practicing engineers, university faculty members, and graduate or senior
students in chemical engineering. In addition, the environmental aspects of
refinery fuels and the place of reformulated fuels in refinery product distribution
are covered.
The physical and chemical properties of petroleum and petroleum products
are described, along with major refining processes. Data for determination of
typical product yields, investment, and operating costs for all major refining processes
and for supporting processes are also given.
The investment, operating cost, and utility data given herein are typical
average recent data. As such, this information is suitable for approximating the
economics of various refining configurations. The information is not sufficiently
accurate for definitive comparisons of competing processes.
The yield data for reaction processes have been extended to allow complete
material balances to be made from physical properties. Insofar as possible, data
for catalytic reactions represent average yields for competing proprietary catalysts
and processes.
The material is organized to utilize the case-study method of learning. An
example case-study problem begins in Chapter 4 (Crude Distillation) and concludes
in Chapter 18 (Economic Evaluation). The appendices contain basic engineering
data and a glossary of refining terms. Valuable literature references are
noted throughout the book.