Optimization of Atmospheric Distillation Unit of Lavan Oil Refinery by Changing the Gas Condensate Ratio in the Feedstock Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Lavan Oil Refining Company, Lavan Island, I.R. IRAN

2 Deputy of COO of Lavan Oil Refining Company,

Abstract

In thisarticle, a statistical modeling methodology was presented for the optimization of Lavan oil refinery atmospheric distillation unit operation. The simultaneous effects of crude oil and gas condensate flow rates on liquefied petroleum gas, light and heavy naphtha, middle distillate (gasoil), and fuel oil production were investigated using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) by Design Expert Software. For this purpose, 623 experimental data under various operating conditions were used. To identify the significance of their effects and interactions, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for each parameter on the production of liquefied petroleum gas, light and heavy naphtha, middle distillate (gasoil), and fuel oil. The results indicate that the R2 values are more than 0.92 and adjusted R2 are in a reasonable agreement with R2.  After that,
optimization was also carried out to increase the production of valuable products such as light and heavy naphtha and to reduce the fuel oil production as undesirable products. According to the optimal conditions and consideration of operational constraints, the maximum amount of naphtha production and minimum fuel oil production as the main goal of this study were gained in the total feed flow rate 56500 BPD and with a 57% gas condensate and 43% of crude oil blending. Also, the process modifications were applied and the optimum operating conditions were implemented successfully.

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