ChE Tulsa University

 
           

CHE 6583 Petroleum Refinery Design'
Required course for ChE program

Catalog Description:   The application of chemical engineering principles to the design of petroleum refinery equipment, including crude fractionators, heat exchangers, and fired heaters. Computer simulation is emphasized.

Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

Recent Textbook:   J.H. Gary and G.E. Handwerk, “Petroleum Refining”, Marcel Dekker, 3rd ed., 1994; class handouts.

Recent References:   “API Technical Data Book – Petroleum Refining”, 1988; R.E. Thompson, “Introduction to Refinery Analysis Using Computers”, O&GCI, 1997.

Set of Course Goals/Objectives:   (1) To study the processing of crude oil to produce salable products; (2) To study the methods used to characterize crude oil as a mixture and to find the properties of the mixture; (3) To study the design of several of the important refinery processes.

Prerequisites by Topic:   (1) Senior standing; (2) Unit operations

Major Topics Covered in the Course:   (1) Refinery flow and products; (2) Crude-oil characterization, distillation curves, properties; (3) Pseudocomponent breakdown, properties of cuts; (4) Crude-oil distillation, prediction of products by hand method; (5) Simulation of atmospheric and vacuum crude distillation columns by HYSYS, heat balance on atmospheric fractionator; (6) Calculation and optimization of crude-oil/product heat-exchange train including a detailed cash-flow analysis; (7) Catalytic reforming; (8) Catalytic cracking; (9) Alkylation and isomerization; (10) Coking and visbreaking; (11) Hydrocracking; (12) Hydrotreating; (13) Lubricating oils; (14) Product blending; (15) Environmental aspects, reformulated gasoline, diesel fuel; (16) Refinery wastewater treatment; (17) Sulfur recovery

Class/Laboratory Schedule:  Three (3) 50-minute lectures per week for 14 weeks

Professional Component Contribution:  Three (3) hours of Engineering Science and Design

Relationship to Program Outcomes: 

  • Outcome a:  Design of complex fractionators with side draws and pumparounds is covered.  Pinch analysis as applied to heat exchange is presented.
  • Outcome b:  The complex and detailed techniques of characterizing crude oils are presented.
  • Outcome c:  The design of both the atmospheric and vacuum crude fractionators is explored in detail, as is optimization of the heat exchanger train.
  • Outcome d:  Students work in groups of two on the more lengthy assignments.
  • Outcome f:  Safety, emissions, wastewater treatment, sulfur recovery, etc. are discussed.
  • Outcome g:  Each group prepares a standard design report on their column simulation and preheat exchanger trains.
  • Outcome j:  Emissions, health, and safety are considered.
  • Outcome k: Excel is used for tabular solution of crude-oil product characterization.  Extensive use of a state-of-the-art simulator package, HYSYS (from Hyprotech) for simulation of crude-oil fractionators and the entire crude preheat train.

Modified by:    Laura Ford