processing

2014

shale feedstocks

PTQ supplement

gas cov copy 6.indd 1 27/02/2014 09:59

 1215_e

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 Processing shale
feedstocks
3 Challenge of bringing shale resources to market
René Gonzalez

5 Roundtable

2014 11 Processing Trends

www.eptq.com
www.shaleenergyworld.com
15 Shale feedstocks fuel ethylene, LNG and petrochemical
derivatives expansion
René Gonzalez

25 Catalytic solutions for processing shale oils in the FCC

Kenneth Bryden, E Thomas Habib Jr, Olivia Topete and Rosann Schiller
Grace Catalyst Technologies

31 Shale crudes and FCC: a mismatch from heaven?

Bart de Graaf, Yali Tang, Jeff Oberlin and Paul Diddams
Johnson Matthey Process Technologies, IntercatJM

37 Overcoming the challenges of tight/shale oil refining

Brian Benoit and Jeffrey Zurlo
GE Water & Process Technologies

45 Better yield accounting methods improve financial results

Kaylen McMullen, Joseph McMullen and John Hernandez
Schneider Electric and Invensys

New six-furnace LNG plant employing the latest in furnace technology. Photo courtesy of Linde Engineering North America.

©2014 The entire content of this publication is protected by copyright full details of which are available from the publishers. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – 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.

ed com copy.indd 1 03/03/2014 10:51

UOP-Shale-Gas-ad-Hidden-Potential-Ad-Full-Page_UOP Ad 8.5x11 UOP6457 1/13/14 9:03 AM Page 1

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uop.indd 1 27/02/2014 09:54

 Processing
T
he European Union shale
has arguably
been the global leader in biodiesel Challenge of
feedstocks
production and use, with overall
biodiesel production increasing from 1.9
million
2014 tonnes in 2004 to nearly 10.3 million
bringing shale
tonnes in 2007. Biodiesel production in the
US has also increased dramatically in the
past few years from 2 million gallons in
resources to market
2000 to approximately 450 million gallons
in 2007. According to the National Biodiesel
Board, 171 companies own biodiesel

T
manufacturing
Project Editor plants and are actively he shale industry is expanding globally, buoyed by support from key
marketing biodiesel.1. The global biodiesel
René Gonzalez government leaders in diverse countries, from the UK to Australia. In the
market is estimated to reach 37 billion
editor@shaleenergyworld.com US, favourable politics, tax breaks, property rights, technology and market
gallons by 2016, with an average annual drivers created the ideal environment for shale industry investment. However,
Production
growth rateEditor
of 42%. Europe will continue to imbalances still prevail, which is the reason for all the wasteful flaring of shale
Rachel Storry
be the major biodiesel market for the next gas, as midstream infrastructure and downstream processing assets are still not
production@petroleumtechnology.com
decade, followed closely by the US market. in place to monetise these resources. Elsewhere, Australia, China and Argentina
Although
Graphics Editor high energy prices, seem to be the next lucrative regions for exploiting shale plays.
increasing
Rob Fris global demand, drought Now that the shale industry is a major segment of the energy industry value
and other factors are the primary
graphics@petroleumtechnology.com chain, on par with the petrochemical process industry or the deep offshore oil
drivers for higher food prices, food and gas industry, a reassessment of future shale industry opportunities and
Editorial
competitive feedstocks have long challenges is forthcoming. This reassessment is necessary because the shale
tel +44 844 5888 773
been and will continue to be a major industry has created its own energy market (such as cheap natural gas sup-
fax +44 844 5888 667
concern for the development of biofu- porting the rebirth of the LNG, ammonia and ethylene industry in the US),
els. To Development
Business compete, Director
the industry has while affecting other previously dominant energy markets (such as marginalis-
responded
Paul Mason by developing methods to ing OPEC’s influence).
increase process efficiency, utilise or
sales@petroleumtechnology.com This begs the question if the return of the US as the world’s largest oil and
upgrade by-products and operate gas producer is simply a mere ‘mid-course’ adjustment until the Middle East
Advertising
with Sales quality
lower lipids as exerts its true potential. The ultimate answer may be that beyond 2020, no one
Bob Aldridge
feedstocks. region may dominate with the same vigour as OPEC since the 1973 Arab Oil
sales@petroleumtechnology.com
Embargo. Thousands of wells have been drilled in the US over the past five
Feedstocks
Advertising Sales Office years to achieve the current level of 9.0 million bpd crude oil production. In
Biodiesel
tel +44 844refers to a diesel-equivalent
5888 771 comparison, less than 200 shale wells have been drilled in the entire world out-
fuel consisting
fax +44 844 5888 662of short-chain alkyl side the US.
(methyl or ethyl) esters, made by the With an average 60% hydrocarbon depletion rate reported per well after
Publisher
transesterification of triglycerides, only one year of production (post-fracking), drillers must continue punching
Nic Allen
commonly known as vegetable oils or thousands of holes into shale source rock to maintain or exceed current pro-
publisher@petroleumtechnology.com
animal fats. The most common form duction rates, predicating some skeptics to warn that the US shale boom could
uses methanol, the cheapest alcohol
Circulation turn into the world’s largest Ponzi scheme and fizzle out by the end of 2015.
available,
Jacki Watts to produce methyl esters. Then why are multi-billion dollar capital projects going forward (15 LNG
The molecules in biodiesel are pri-
circulation@petroleumtechnology.com export facilities, six ethylene steam crackers, methanol-to-olefins units, and so
marily fatty acid methyl esters on)? These projects depend on ‘reliable’ long-term access to competitively
Crambeth Allen
(FAME), Publishing
usually createdLtd by trans- priced shale feedstocks. ‘Reliable’ in this instance means that there is no worry
Hopesay, Craven Arms SY7 8HD, UK
esterification between fats and metha- about oil and gas running out any time soon.
tel +44 844 5888 776
nol.
fax +44Currently,
844 5888 667 biodiesel is produced Technological advances in the downstream refining and petrochemical pro-
from various vegetable and plant oils. cess industry are viewable in plain sight. However, most of the technological
First-generation food-based feedstocks advances in the upstream exploration and production industry are hidden
are straight vegetable oils such as from view, such as multi-well pad lateral drilling technology and multi-stage
ptq (Petroleum Technology Quarterly) (ISSN
soybean
No: 1632-363X,oilUSPS
and animal
No: 014-781) fats such as
is published hydraulic fracturing. Many of the challenges are also hidden, such as the diffi-
tallow, lard,
quarterly plus yellow
annual Catalysisgrease, chicken fat
edition by Crambeth cult geochemistry affecting the Sichuan shale play in China. Under these
Allen Publishing Ltd and is distributed in the US
and the by-products
by SP/Asendia, of the
17B South Middlesex production
Avenue, circumstances, this annual issue of Processing Shale Feedstocks endeavours to
of Omega-3
Monroe fatty acids
NJ 08831. Periodicals postagefrom fish oil.
paid at New illustrate the challenges (such as corrosion and fouling) and opportunities
Brunswick, NJ. Postmaster: send address changes to
Soybean
ptq (Petroleumoil and rapeseeds
Technology Quarterly), 17B oil
Southare the (such as ethane to ethylene monetisation) in the shale industry going forward.
common source
Middlesex Avenue, Monroefor biodiesel produc-
NJ 08831. We wish to extend our appreciation to all the contributing authors and their
Back numbers available from the Publisher
tion
at $30 in theincUS
per copy and Europe in quanti-
postage. companies for participating in this special report.
ties that can produce enough biodie-
sel to be used in a commercial market
with currently applicable rené gonzalez

Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 3

ed com copy.indd 2 27/02/2014 10:01

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grace.indd 1 27/02/2014 09:56

 Roundtable
Collaborative technology, remote monitoring and new catalyst formulations are all
part of the business of monetising tight oils and shale gas
Q Are technology suppliers and refiners in concurrence with
strategies for dealing with furnace fouling, overhead corrosion,
naphthenic acid corrosion, and so on? What unique approaches
are evolving that can further enhance profitability?
A Gary Hawkins, Senior Refining Consultant, Emerson
Process Management – Refining Industry Solutions Group, gary.
hawkins@emerson.com and Tim Olsen, Refining Technical and
Business Consultant, Emerson Process Management – Refining
Industry Solutions Group, tim.olsen@emerson.com:
Emerson’s experience as an automation solution
provider is that refiners are investing in additional
measurement devices to sense the onset of fouling and
corrosion. Mixing a paraffinic crude such as the shale
derived oils with asphaltenic crudes can result in
increased rates of fouling in the hotter sections of the
crude preheat exchanger train. In addition to the hot
section fouling, the heavier paraffinic components are
fouling the colder section of the preheat train upstream
of the desalter. For exchanger fouling detection Emerson
sees refiner investment in wireless temperature sensors
in locations around heat exchangers that were previ-
ously only test thermowells. With the addition of online
monitoring and analysis software, refiners are able to
detect accelerated fouling with additional temperature
measurements. This information can be used to avoid
blending incompatible crude mixtures that lead to accel-
erated fouling. Blending is required because light tight
oils typically do not have the right balance for the refin-
ery with bottom of the barrel processing, or for heat
balance in the crude preheat exchanger train.
For aqueous corrosion in the overhead system
Emerson sees installation of wireless pH transmitters to
monitor the circulating wash water and corrosion trans-
mitters that are in contact with the process fluids. For
naphthenic acid corrosion in the hot sections, in particu-
lar the transfer piping from the crude and vacuum
heaters to the crude and vacuum columns, Emerson
sees the installation of corrosion detection solutions that
do not penetrate the process piping. Also, improved
emulsion level detection in the desalter helps refiners
avoid carrying over brine into downstream units.
A Bart de Graaf, FCC R&D Director, Johnson Matthey, bart.
degraaf@matthey.com and Charles Radcliffe, Technical
Consultant, FCC and Refining – Refineries Business, Johnson
Matthey charles.radcliffe@matthey.com:
Additional Q&A can be found at www.eptq.com/QandA
www.eptq.com
Q&A copy 13.indd 1
For FCC units the introduction of iron as contaminant
metal is a game changer. Because of the high concentra-
tion of silica from zeolite (and sometimes from matrix as
well) the FCC catalyst is ill equipped to deal with the
eutectic and melting process that seals off the catalyst
interior. After extensive screening Cat-Aid turns out to
be very effective at dealing with iron and does so in
several high iron applications.
Q How are refiners tracking the quality of highly variable
unconventional crudes and predicting their behaviour
throughout the refinery process?
A Hege Dammen, Spiral Software (an Invensys Company),
hdammen@spiralsoft.com:
We provide the CrudeSuite toolset, which allows refin-
ers to capture and use up-to-date crude quality data
— for example, the latest pipeline quality data — to
generate a complete assay, with missing quality data
predicted as an integral part of the process. The refiner
can then immediately run it through our rapid commer-
cial evaluation (Netback) model, which provides
diagnostics and alerts as to the various behaviours this
crude has on each unit and the overall refinery process.
One recent example is the prediction of the various
qualities from the Eagle Ford shale plays processed by
Corpus Christi refiners. These refiners process a large
amount of this unconventional grade and, based on a
few quality measurements from the delivery point
samples, any group within the refinery can set up alert
messages and get notified as soon as a batch delivery is
outside the acceptable limits. By using the updated
quality data in the refinery model, they can quickly
generate all data necessary to predict the behaviour for
all processing units.
The most common issue is to handle the overhead
constraints in the CDU tower to ensure the maximum
throughput is achieved. Even if the really light ends are
not causing an issue, the refiners need to keep an eye on
the amount of propane (C3), butane (C4) and pentane
(C5: natural gasoline) to ensure the correct feeds to
downstream units such as alkylation and isomerisation.
Eagle Ford is also more paraffinic than some other shale
grades and as such the refiner might need to adjust their
cut-point to ensure on-spec product for jet/kero, or
increase severity on the reformer. In addition, we have
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 5
03/03/2014 10:52
 heard that this paraffinic grade can cause compatibility
issues when blended with other grades. Spiral’s
CrudeSuite tools can capture the P-value and other
quality parameters to help assess compatibility.
Q Many inland refinery facilities are located close to shale
crude plays. However, with the composition of shale crude
chemistry being highly variable, what are the most favourable
technical solutions for small-to-medium sized refiners?
A Hawkins and Olsen:
Although smaller facilities may lack the monitoring and
analytical support infrastructure, wireless technology
has enabled the opportunity to add measurements at a
fraction of the cost of wiring. The investment in sensing
is relatively low cost and attractive to the smaller refin-
eries. With this measurement capability, refiners have
the opportunity to analyse, learn and optimise opera-
tion based on this new available information.
A de Graaf and Radcliffe:
As most shale feedstocks vary considerably within the
same field, robust catalyst technology is key. Having a
range of catalysts and additives available that can be
added separately can help to address these variations
before they become a problem. IntercatJM loaders give
precise, reliable control and allow refiners to tune their
FCC catalyst to the current feed, rather than a single
catalyst with a compromised formulation to cope with
many different contaminants and hydrocarbon
make-up. For example, during iron excursions the addi-
tion of an external metal trap such as Cat-Aid will
restore activity rapidly, or during a potassium excursion
more high zeolite catalyst/additive can quickly be
loaded to restore e-cat activity and selectivity.
Q What evolving in-the-field midstream oil and gas processing
solutions should be of direct interest to downstream refiners
in terms of making it easier to deal with shale crudes and
asphaltenic crudes, beginning at the desalter/CDU interface?
A Hawkins and Olsen:
Emerson sees the wireless technologies being adopted
upstream, midstream and in refining to help manage
production. Wireless technologies make it easy to moni-
tor new wells that are relatively far apart. And in
existing refineries, wireless makes it easy to add
measurements that did not exist previously. We also
believe we will see expanded definitions of the crude oil
assays to include information that is useful to determine
stability of blended crudes.
Q Going forward beyond 2015, when should we see overseas
refiners expressing concern about processing shale-based
crudes? Is that already happening? Are there any take-aways
or lessons to learn from the US refining experience, so that
refiners in Asia and other regions will not have to deal with the
same learning curve as North American refiners?
6 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com
Q&A copy 13.indd 2
A Hawkins and Olsen:
As a refiner climbs the learning curve, their experiences
become their intellectual property with little business
reasons to share with their competition without some
appropriate return on the value of the information that
they share. Again, a key lesson learned is to improve
their visibility to the condition of their assets, primarily
heat exchanger fouling, more than what was typically
done for processing ‘conventional’ crudes; refiners can
now detect the onset of adverse operations. The first
refiners to process light tight oils experienced acceler-
ated fouling and early unscheduled shutdowns to clean
heat exchangers.
Q Iron’s (Fe) detrimental effect on shale crude processing
with regard to deactivation/poisoning of FCC catalyst has been
an important concern since the shale boom. In addition, shale
crudes may contain significant levels of arsenic (As). Other
types of contaminants originating from upstream fracking
operations, such as phosphorous (P), have been getting the
attention of refiners lately. What types of operational solutions
are available to resolve this threat?
A Dorian Rauschning, Strategic Account Manager –
Principle Engineer, Criterion Catalysts & Technologies, Dorian.
Rauschning@cri-criterion.com:
Along with the typical FCC feed pretreatment (FCC-PT)
contaminants of nickel (Ni) and vanadium (V), refiners
are beginning to focus on additional feed contaminants,
such as Fe, P and As, that are inherent to the shale or
synthetic crude sources and are compromising down-
stream catalyst performance.
Hydrotreater feed arsenic (As) concentrations greater
than 50 ppb will typically lead to top bed catalyst
exotherm loss, overall catalyst deactivation and shorter
catalyst cycle lengths. Arsenic will attach itself to the
catalyst’s active metal site resulting in a loss of activity.
Feed As concentrations will vary with boiling ranges
and have been shown to concentrate in the naphtha/
kero range. While the As concentration may peak in the
naphtha/kero range, it has also been shown to contrib-
ute to exotherm loss and catalyst deactivation in gas oil
hydrotreating (GOHT) service as well. In response to
the threat of rising feed As concentrations, Criterion has
developed a series of As trap catalysts specifically
designed to absorb feed As and reduce its contribution
to catalyst deactivation. Criterion’s latest generation
product MaxTrap[As]syn has 70% more trap capacity
than its predecessor MaxTrap[As] and is used to treat
feedstock with as high as 300-500 ppb As.
Feed Fe contaminants can be in the form of particu-
late corrosion product or Fe naphthenates. Both forms
can lead to catalyst pressure drop growth and activity
loss. Pressure drop growth occurs when feed Fe particu-
lates enter the reactor and deposit/accumulate between
pellets at the interface of different sized catalysts.
Alternatively, organic Fe will react with H2S and precip-
itate iron sulphide (FeS) between the pellets, which then
accumulate and cause pressure drop growth. The Fe can
also deposit on the exterior of the catalyst pellet and, in
27/02/2014 12:21
 conjunction with the interstitial deposits, inhibit catalyst
activity. A full range of top bed catalysts are available
that have a range of activities, shapes and sizes, which
can be optimised within a reactor to provide higher
void fraction capacity and slow down the rate of pres-
sure drop growth.
Phosphorous (P) can also contribute to catalyst deacti-
vation by depositing on the exterior of the catalyst
pellet. Depending on the feed density, a larger or
smaller pore volume catalyst can be used to absorb the
feed P and mitigate its impact on catalyst deactivation.
In many cases, all of these previously noted contami-
nants will be present in a reactor feed stream and the
catalyst metals trap loading strategy needs to be opti-
mised for the type of contaminant as well as its
deposition mechanism. While catalyst trap loading
strategies can mitigate the impact of feed poisons, Shell
Global Solutions offers HT reactor internals technology
that can mitigate the impact of feed contaminants on
catalyst pressure drop growth and activity loss.
A de Graaf and Radcliffe:
Shale feedstocks come with ‘new’ contaminants. Nickel
and vanadium are the most frequently occurring
contaminant metals with conventional feeds. But shale
oil often introduces Fe, calcium and potassium. The
effect of Fe (or Fe and calcium) is detrimental for FCC
catalyst performance. During Fe poisoning the catalyst
interior is blocked by the formation of a dense outer
layer. Bulk density decreases and can lead to fluidisa-
tion issues. In several applications Cat-Aid has shown it
can not only prevent Fe poisoning, it can cure the base
catalyst from Fe nodules and the dense outer layer,
enabling the full use of the catalyst interior again.
A Henrik Rasmussen, Vice president, Catalyst & Technology,
Haldor Topsøe, Inc., hwr@topsoe.com:
Haldor Topsøe has developed guard bed catalysts
designed for maximum pick-up of Fe, Ni, V, Na, Si, P
and As. We have launched a new As trap catalyst desig-
nated TK-49 to handle the increased level of As from
shale crudes and tar sands crudes. This Ni-based trap is
designed with a pore size and pore distribution to
ensure that the As is able to penetrate all the way
through the particle, thus maximising the pick-up,
resulting in a 40% higher pick-up than our previous
generation As trap TK-47. We also have P trap material
originally designed for our renewable fuels business,
but it will work for the P in the shale oil crudes. In
summary it is possible to properly protect the main bed
catalyst from these additional poisons that may be pres-
ent in the shale oil. We recommend having a detailed
dialogue regarding the future use of these crudes early
on, so we can assist in designing the proper graded bed
and trap system to avoid any surprises such as prema-
ture activity decline and increased pressure drop.
Q The upstream/midstream unconventional oil and gas
industry is well capitalised, with onshore shale and ultra-
deep offshore projects competing for most of the financial
www.eptq.com
Q&A copy 13.indd 3
resources available in the energy industry value chain. Where
does this leave downstream processors in terms of technical
and human resources? Is the technology supplier to supply
the capabilities that oil companies and large refiners once
maintained in-house, such as research centres, pilot plant
testing and modelling?
A Pat Gripka, Regional Technical Manager, Criterion Catalysts
& Technologies, Pat.Gripka@cri-criterion.com:
Downstream processing will continue to be an
extremely competitive business with capital and
resource constraints. Criterion has state-of-the-art pilot
plant facilities for both R&D and refiner support stud-
ies and analytical facilities to characterise customer
feedstocks and intermediate/product samples.
Criterion, Zeolyst and Shell Global Solutions are all
part of the Shell group of companies and we have
invested in development of robust models to support
hydroprocessing and hydrocracking technologies.
These models can determine the impact of actual or
proposed feed changes on parameters like temperature
requirements, hydrogen consumption requirements,
product properties and unit cycle life. Technical
support personnel provide unit performance model-
ling and troubleshooting expertise to assist refiners in
maximising the value from Criterion and Zeolyst cata-
lysts in hydroprocessing units. In conjunction with
Shell Global Solutions, Criterion provides integrated
and customised solutions to take advantage of crudes
available to a particular refinery, whether they are
shale oil or synthetic oil or anything in-between.
A Hawkins and Olsen:
Improved asset condition monitoring helps mitigate
unscheduled shutdowns and slowdowns. The trend
towards rationalisation of human resources over the
past several decades has resulted in many refiners
staffed with the minimum personnel to handle the core
operational activities, making them more dependent
on help from vendors, contractors and consultants.
Emerson has seen that the availability of technical
consultants within the supplier and service community
has grown to fill this knowledge gap. With currently
available collaborative technology, access to plant data
by remote subject matter experts from both within the
refiners’ own organisations and from the external
community is gaining a lot of interest.
Q What midstream gas processing challenges need to be
addressed to ensure the ethylene cracker receives quality
feedstock? What technical and operational challenges are you
prepared to address in the LNG industry?
A Hawkins and Olsen:
Product quality from the midstream facilities that
provide the ethylene cracker feedstock can often be
addressed with improved automation: better controller
and control valve dynamic performance and multivari-
able predictive controller applications. Today’s modern
control system with embedded APC technology like
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 7
27/02/2014 12:21
 FCC iron trap
Our INTERCATJM FCC additive, CAT-AID, not
only traps vanadium, it has also been found
to prevent iron nodules from forming on the
surface of the base catalyst particle.

When the base catalyst is cured from iron

poisoning, the inner pores once more become
available for cracking reactions. With CAT-Aid,
iron poisoning can be cured without reformulating
fresh catalyst or reverting to flushing with e-cat.

Base catalyst before CAT-AID Base catalyst after 2 months

0.8 wt% Fe of CAT-AID 0.8 wt% Fe

UK Tel +44 (0)1642 553601 Fax +44 (0)1642 522542

www.jmprotech.com

j matthey.indd 1 26/02/2014 13:51

 multivariable controllers and neural networks have
enabled cost-effective and fast implementation of
pre-engineered APC modules that allow for quick and
easy implementation of advanced controls for common
unit operations such as distillation.
In the LNG industry, Emerson sees a trend towards an
increasing amount of instrumentation and control that
was typical of the process designs of the past. As
process units become larger the financial impact of
unplanned slowdowns and shutdowns has become
greater and greater, thus driving the new unit designs to
have a greater emphasis on incorporating more
measurements for asset health monitoring and for
improving safety.
A de Graaf and Radcliffe:
The shift in feedstock for steam crackers to mainly
natural gas liquids leaves the product slate long in
propylene, butadiene and benzene. The production of
these chemicals in steam crackers have dropped in the
past five years by 50%, 30% and 15%. This places extra
emphasis on the FCC as the major ‘other’ supplier for
propylene. Most FCC units can boost their product
slate rapidly by using ZSM-5 additives that are very
selective towards propylene.
Q In managing environmental challenges from the wellhead
to the refinery/petrochemical product terminal, can you
elaborate on recent cases where exposure to environmentally
related risks and challenges were reduced or eliminated?
A Hawkins and Olsen:
Emerson sees more emphasis on organisations investing
in storage tank overfill protection systems per the prac-
tices recommended in API RP 2350, such as a secondary
level measurements. We also see investment in
improved pump monitoring to mitigate risks of seal fail-
ures and hydrocarbon release.
Q What refinery cases would be of direct interest to refiners
worldwide in terms of dealing with a processing challenge that
even the most experienced refiner may not have expected?
A Hawkins and Olsen:
Emerson sees increasing investment in the application
of non-intrusive corrosion monitoring on the hot crude
and reduced crude transfer piping between the crude
and vacuum heaters and the respective columns for
refiners processing high TAN crudes.
A de Graaf and Radcliffe:
The introduction of new contaminant metals in the
FCC poses issues as there is no FCC base catalyst that
contains an effective iron (or iron/calcium) trap.
Typical solutions for high iron feedstocks are using
high matrix catalyst and, if this is insufficient, adding
flushing e-cat to dilute the iron. The only effective
solution for this type of poisoning is a separate particle
metal trap such as Cat-Aid.
www.eptq.com
Q&A copy 13.indd 4
Q What arbitrage opportunities do you see evolving for
refiners in 2014, particularly in US Midwest and US Gulf Coast
(USGC)? How does the developing midstream pipeline/rail
infrastructure affect refiners’ arbitrage opportunities?
A Dammen:
As long as domestic production cannot be exported to
countries other than Canada, it all comes down to the
Brent/WTI spread, logistics and transport costs. For the
USGC, the LLS premium to WTI has a steady down-
ward trend over the past year and seems to be
dislocating from Brent. In 2014, we will not be suffering
from the same constrained infrastructure we have had
over the past years. Bakken increased discount to LLS
during the year, and Eagle Ford discount to LLS varies
with quality. It can look like LLS will become the new
WTI and the arbitrage opportunity evolving around the
Brent/WTI spread versus rail and pipeline cost to the
USGC. If LLS prices higher than Brent, Bakken goes to
the Gulf Coast, but if LLS is less than Brent, Bakken gets
better netback going to the East or West Coast. We
believe Eagle Ford production will in general be
consumed in PADD III, but with some volumes moving
up the east coast all the way to Canada.
For the US Midwest opportunities, we believe that the
Light Oil Market Access (LOMA) program, which
consists of several distinct projects that will allow
400 000 bpd light crude from West Canada and Bakken
to access Midcontinent refiners, will have a significant
impact. Although prior to this access (completed in
2016), the arbitrage for US Midwest refiners will depend
on the ability of the heavy Canadian grades to move out
of Canada to the Midcontinent as well as the North
Dakota pipeline system providing Bakken to the
Midcontinent refiners. The unit expansions from the
Midcontinent refiners to process the heavy grades will
ensure most of the heavy Canadian stays in PADD II
until 2016.
With regard to midstream pipeline/rail infrastruc-
ture’s influence on arbitrage, the development in
pipeline/rail infrastructure has a positive effect for the
USGC but may have a negative effect on the US
Midcontinent refiners who have enjoyed the landlocked
crude for a while and as such good margins. It does
provide increased flexibility, and rail often shows higher
stability in quality. Bakken crude-by-rail loading capa-
bility will pass 1.0 million bpd in North Dakota by the
end of this year. Kinder Morgan’s crude-by-rail off-load-
ing terminal in Houston provides the long awaited
optionality. Only when there is enough pipeline capacity
from the Midcontinent to the USGC can rail serve as an
arbitrage opportunity. Stroud, in Oklahoma, connects
rails to southeast pipelines and the Ho-Ho line moves
crude eastward away from Texas. The new infrastruc-
ture will affect the refineries’ optionality, and arbitrage
opportunities, when the production can move freely.
This will start partially in 2014 but likely not be
completed before 2016. The USGC will have a cost
advantage over USEC, USWC and foreign markets
mainly due to Brent price base feedstock (and lower
natural gas prices).
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 9
27/02/2014 12:45
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27/02/2014 AM
09:52
 Processing Trends
Refiners, LNG and petrochemical producers linked to shale feedstocks are the big
winners in the highly competitive market for energy-based products
EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook coincides with
future process trends
The latest US Department of Energy (DOE) Energy
Information Administration (EIA) Short-Term Energy
Outlook released on 7 January is the first edition to
include forecasts for 2015. Future process trends and
capital investment going forward into 2015 are influ-
enced by projected global market prices for
conventional and unconventional crude oil and refined
product.
The Energy Outlook generally indicates that refined
product prices will fall along with feedstock costs. For
example, after falling to the lowest monthly average in
November 2013, US regular gasoline retail prices
increased slightly to reach an average of $3.28 per
gallon (gal) during December. The annual average
regular gasoline retail price, which was $3.51/gal in
2013, is expected to fall to $3.46/gal in 2014 and $3.39/
gal in 2015.
The EIA also projects feedstock prices to fall. For
example, the North Sea Brent crude oil spot price in
December averaged near $110 per barrel (bbl) for the
sixth consecutive month. EIA expects the Brent crude
oil price to decline gradually to average $105/bbl and
$102/bbl in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Projected West
Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices average
$93/bbl during 2014 and $90/bbl during 2015.
Consistently high oil prices over $100/bbl over the
past five years have accelerated development of shale-
based oil and gas production.
EIA expects liquid fuels production from countries
outside OPEC to grow year-over-year by a record high
of 1.9 million bpd in 2014, primarily from unconven-
tional shale fields and heavy Canadian crudes, which
is why the US and Canada together are projected to
account for almost 70% of total non-OPEC supply
growth this year.
EIA estimates US total crude oil production averaged
7.5 million bpd in 2013, an increase of 1.0 million bpd
from the previous year. Projected domestic crude oil
production continues to increase to 8.5 million bpd in
2014 and 9.3 million bpd in 2015. The 2015 forecast
would mark the highest annual average level of
production since 1972.
US natural gas working inventories on 27 December
totalled 2.97 trillion cubic feet (tcf), 0.56 tcf below the
level at the same time a year ago and 0.29 tcf below
the previous five-year average (2008-2012). EIA expects
that the Henry Hub natural gas spot price, which aver-
aged $3.73 per million Btus (MMBtu) in 2013, will
average $3.89/MMBtu in 2014 and $4.11/MMBtu in
www.eptq.com
proc trends copy 12.indd 1
2015. This forms the basis for the wave of new
ethylene steam crackers planned for construction in the
US (at least six) by 2020, using relatively cheap shale-
based ethane feedstock. The shale gas revolution has
spurred an unprecedented wave of ethane-to-ethylene
cracker construction and expansion announcements in
North America, and with production capacity set to
increase by as much as 37%, the key question is: where
is all this product going to go?
With the domestic market unable to absorb the
expanded volumes, in-depth assessment of global
market opportunities is required to fully evaluate and
capitalise on the expanded feedstock supply.
Comprehensive assessment of export economics,
construction availability and co-product stream
impacts are also vital to ensure maximum profit and
minimal risk in this rapidly changing petrochemical
value chain.
With natural gas prices in parts of Asia exceeding
$17/MMBtu, several new LNG export facilities will
The shale gas revolution has
spurred an unprecedented wave
of ethane-to-ethylene cracker
construction and expansion
also be constructed in the US and possibly in the
Canadian province of British Columbia, for close
access to Chinese markets. Expansion of the Panama
Canal, permitting larger LNG tankers to traverse
between US Gulf Coast LNG facilities and Asia, will
further enhance the competitiveness of new US LNG
liquefaction facilities along the Texas and Louisiana
coast. Whether small scale (20k-150k tons per year)
‘in-the-field’ skid mounted or truck mounted LNG
facilities will become profitable is yet to be seen. The
onus is on monetising the wasteful flaring of gas at the
wellhead with small scale LNG units that can serve
regional LNG, diesel markets, as well as supply electri-
cal power into the surrounding utility grid.
Coal production, which fell by almost 9% between
2011 and 2013, is expected to increase by 36 million
short tons (MMst: 3.6%) in 2014 as higher natural gas
prices favour the dispatch of coal-fired power plants
and the drawdown of coal inventory ends. In 2015,
however, forecast coal-fired production falls by 2.5%
with declining coal use in the electric power sector.
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 11
27/02/2014 11:35
 In remote shale plays, such as the Eagle Ford in Texas and the Bakken in North Dakota, where electrical energy is not readily available
and natural gas flaring needs to be mitigated, a variety of micro-turbine generators powered by shale gas, such as the Capstone C1000
Power Package shown in the photo, ensures that producers can be quickly supplied with energy for powering critical loads such as
pumps, cooler fans and night lighting Photo courtesy of Capstone Turbine Corporation

However, coal to petrochemical process technology
applications are expected to expand in parallel with
shale to petrochemical process technology in China
and India.
Monetising flared gas
A 29 January article in the New York Times discussed a
pledge by an oil industry task force representing
hundreds of companies in North Dakota to make an
all-out effort to capture almost all the natural gas that
is being flared in the Bakken shale oil field by the end
of the decade, where an estimated $1.0 billion in natu-
ral gas was flared off last year, due to a lack of
monetisation infrastructure (pipelines, fractionators,
gas processing/treating, and so on). A recent study
performed by Ceres using official data from the North
Dakota Industrial Commission found that in May 2013,
29% of the natural gas produced was flared. In addi-
tion, the amount of natural gas flared from the Bakken
in 2012 was equivalent to adding an extra 1.0 million
cars on US roads.
According to the New York Times article, the gas
being flared as a byproduct of a rush of oil drilling
releases roughly 6.0 million tons of carbon dioxide
(CO2) into the atmosphere every year, roughly equiva-
lent to three medium-sized coal plants. The task force
reported to the North Dakota Industrial Commission,
the state regulator, that the industry could in two years
improve the percentage of gas captured to 85%, from
70%, and to as much as 90% in six years. That would
still mean more waste at the Bakken field than virtu-
ally all the country’s other major oil fields. However, it
would represent a substantial improvement because so
many new wells are being drilled. Energy experts
expect a 40% increase in the gas produced from the
Bakken field by the end of 2015. “The industry recog-
nizes the importance of capturing this valuable
resource,” said Ron Ness, president of the North
Dakota Petroleum Council, in a statement.
The task force said the industry could reach its goals
by speeding the construction of gas-gathering pipelines
and processing plants, and it called for stricter regula-
tions requiring producers to create gas-capture plans
before filing for a drilling permit. Failure to submit
such a plan, according to the task force proposal, “may
result in the denial or suspension of new drilling
permits, while existing wells may be required to
restrict production.”
The task force also recommended that the state
support the rapid build-out of pipelines and electrical
transmission infrastructure with property tax credits,
production tax credits and low interest loans along
with incentives for increased local industrial use of gas
for fuels, petrochemicals (such as ethylene, methanol
and olefins) and fertilizers.
The Bakken shale field is one of the fastest-growing
oil producers in the country, rising from negligible
production six years ago to 1.0 million bpd because of
the technological advances in fracturing shale rocks
and drilling horizontally. North Dakota has become the
second biggest oil-producing state after Texas, and it
has the lowest unemployment rate of any state thanks
mostly to the oil industry. But the increase in flaring
and a rash of explosive train accidents involving

12 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com

proc trends copy 12.indd 2 27/02/2014 11:35

 Bakken crude have raised concerns in North Dakota
that there has been too much of a rush to increase
production without adequate concern for public safety
and the environment.
Upstream producers preparing for
micro lng plants
Ensuring expertise is available when needed is just one
key to micro LNG plant offerings for monetising natu-
ral gas shows in drilling and production operations. A
win-win scenario based on economics, CO2 emissions
reduction and recent advances in micro LNG plant
technology are compelling a ‘mini-boom’ in process
technology.
In the US, wasteful flaring of natural gas produced
with crude oil and hydrocarbon liquids production is
not going unnoticed by environmental organisations
and regulators at the state and national level. Flaring is
a problem in the US fracking industry, especially in
North Dakota, but the true extent of that problem has
not been fully understood until the release of a recent
report, which suggests as much as $1.0 billion of natu-
ral gas was wasted in North Dakota last year due to
flaring activities.
It is no secret that energy companies are more inter-
ested in the oil produced by fracking, due to the far
higher price it fetches on the market compared to
natural gas, so few have been willing to invest in
the necessary technology and infrastructure to capture
the natural gas and natural gas liquids that are
co-produced with the $96 to $100/barrel high
API gravity, low-sulphur crude oil. High API gravity
shale crudes (API >33) are ‘easier’ to refine and
produce a wide variety of high-end refined products,
while requiring less severe hydrotreating due to low
sulphur content. In comparison, heavy Arab,
Venezuelan and Canadian crudes require more
complex refining due to high sulphur, asphaltenic
content (API <19).
Micro LNG is a natural gas liquefaction plant
producing in the range of 50 000 tons to 150 000 tons
per year of LNG. Technology suppliers like GE Oil &
Gas design the process, supply the equipment and
maintain the system through dedicated service agree-
ments. GE Oil & Gas also selects the machines (such as
compressors) to optimise overall plant efficiency in
real terms. All the main process units are modularised
and supplied skid-mounted, thereby minimising
on-site activities. LNG in-the-field ‘kits’, such as the
GE Oil & Gas Micro LNG system, are recommended
for the following applications:
• Substitute for diesel or fuel oil for powering remote
locations both for industrial and residential use
• Cost-effective solution for transportation and stor-
age, readily available for peak demand
• Capture methane fugitive emissions typically related
to mining, eligible for World Bank financing and emis-
sions allowances.
To be sure, world scale LNG export facilities
capture the most attention in the media due to the multi-
billion dollar capital investment. In this arena, GE Oil
www.eptq.com
proc trends copy 12.indd 3
& Gas announced at the 17th International Conference
& Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG-17) held
in Houston (6-18 April 2013) that it received contracts
to supply gas compression trains for Dominion’s Cove
Point Liquefaction Project in Lusby, Maryland. This is
one of those LNG ‘import’ terminals planned before
2006 when the nascent shale oil and gas fields were
just beginning to be probed. The existing assets are
now being repurposed and enhanced with liquefac-
tion capabilities. Adding liquefaction capabilities will
transform the existing Cove Point LNG terminal into
the first LNG terminal capable of exporting LNG on
the US East Coast. Simultaneously, the industry is also
building several LNG liquefaction terminals on the US
Gulf Coast for the export market.
2014 could see significant upstarts in world
shale development outside North America
Until recently, shale gas development was almost
entirely a North American phenomenon. According to
the latest US Energy Information Administration (EIA)
shale gas study, the US and Canada hold 16% of the
technically recoverable shale gas reserves. Despite this
relatively small amount, at the end of 2012 it is esti-
mated that 110 000 shale gas wells were drilled in the
US compared to 200 in the rest of the world. This
equated to a shale production (oil and gas) of around
6.2 million boe per day, accounting for 99.9% of global
shale production.
Record shale gas production
in the US will dominate, with
exports expected to begin in
2016, followed closely by Canada
Needless to say, although other countries are now
looking to develop their own domestic shale resources,
it is going to be difficult to repeat the North American The
success. Some factors that have accelerated the US
shale phenomena, aside from advanced downhole
safe
lateral drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology
combined with downstream advances in compact but
mu
efficient process systems, pertain to ideal property pro
rights benefiting landowners in shale regions, which is
why 2000 new millionaires were created last year in the fun
state of North Dakota alone (Bakken shale play). Other
factors, such as favourable geology and adequate water
resources for multi-stage fracking, may be difficult to
duplicate in other countries.
China and India are expected to be the biggest
sources of additional LNG demand over the coming
years, supporting the bulk of the 78.1 million tpa
demand growth seen in the Asia Pacific region by 2020.
The outlook for LNG is buoyant as shale gas produc-
tion grows globally. Record shale gas production in the
US will dominate, with exports expected to begin in
2016, followed closely by Canada.
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 13
27/02/2014 11:35
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schneider.indd 1 25/02/2014 20:27

 Shale feedstocks fuel ethylene, LNG and
petrochemical derivatives expansion
In spite of the variability in shale composition causing operational challenges for
refiners, monetisation opportunities are seen throughout the energy value chain
René G Gonzalez
A
t a recent seminar entitled, Shale feedstock learning curve
Overcoming Shale Oil With 2.5 million bpd of shale
Processing Challenges, liquids now being processed, typi-
George Duggan, Director of cally blended with a smorgasbord
Refinery and Petrochemical of other conventional and opportu-
Technology at Baker Hughes, nity feedstocks, refiners are
discussed shale crude variations, reporting formation of emulsions,
even from the same play. The low wax deposits and a host of other
sulphur and low total acid number problems not previously encoun-
(TAN) are good feeds for sweet tered by even the most experienced
crude distillation units (CDUs), and refinery operator. These blends
their paraffinic characteristics make require a higher matrix of testing
good FCC and coking feedstock. and analyses (for example, crude
However, these same shale crudes assay) to select appropriate treat-
may contain substantial solids ment (such as the use of
content and their paraffinic charac- dispersants) and adjustments to
teristic runs the risk of maintenance and operating strate-
incompatibility with asphaltenic gies, primarily at the refinery front
crude oil blends, as has been end. The ‘front end’ typically takes
reported by North American into account the plant’s tank farm,
refiners processing blends of desalter and CDU.
Canadian crudes and tight oils. In Emulsions that begin at the tank
spite of the variability in shale farm lead to emulsion excursions in
composition causing operational the desalter. According to Baker
challenges for refiners, monetisa- Hughes’ Larry Kremer, Technology
tion opportunities are seen Advisor, “A higher dose of emul-
throughout the energy value chain, sion breaker may be needed to
including LNG, ethylene, methanol, resolve a desalter emulsion excur-
olefins, polymers and petrochemi- sion.” If these types of upsets in the
cal derivatives. desalter are not dealt with, they can
Because of these variability impact key conversion units further
challenges that must be resolved downstream in the refinery, such as
before capturing monetisation the FCC unit, where iron (Fe)
opportunities, the case has been content can contaminate/deactivate
made for managing compositional high value FCC unit catalyst.
variabilities and fouling and Another potential problem with
corrosion precursors beginning at waxy shale crudes is their high salt
the upstream/midstream interface content (for example, Na >136
to avoid refinery corrosion ppm) as compared to some conven-
and fouling problems originating tional crudes. High salt content
from the midstream infrastructure, therefore leads to significant foul-
such as remain on board ing and corrosion problems in the
(ROB) material found in transporta- overheads and high temperature
tion systems (barge, rail and so zones of the CDU and downstream
on) before entering the desalter/ distillation systems and linked
CDU. furnaces (such as the coker furnace)
www.eptq.com
shale rene.indd 1
and heat exchangers, predicating
further emphasis on optimal
desalter operations.
To be sure, the refinery has
become the de facto starting point
for the introduction of shale hydro-
carbons, including tight oils and
other shale liquids, into the down-
stream value chain. The diesel
yields and other high value refinery
products are the shortest pathway
to shale monetisation, but in many
other cases seen with the new shale
energy market, the refinery is
circumvented altogether.
Refining at the wellhead
Simple, low capacity refineries
based on a desalter and CDU
provide a direct monetisation link
between the oil field and fuel
markets. The wave of unprece-
dented drilling activity in the US
has created its own energy market,
primarily for diesel, justifying
in-the-field diesel production,
which is one reason why small
refineries located in shale fields of
the US as well as in remote inland
areas of China continue to operate
profitably after projections a gener-
ation ago pointed to their inevitable
closure.
In the commodity driven fuels
business, economies of scale give
new refineries in the 400 000 bpd to
1.0 million bpd range a competitive
edge, making small refineries obso-
lete, or so it seemed. These small
facilities are known as ‘teapots’
because of their size (typically less
than 20 000 bpd) and low complex-
ity. More recently, energy
companies have upgraded the
capacity of these teapots, some of
which have been idle for almost 30
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 15
27/02/2014 12:05
 years. The upgrades include amine
based treating units, hydrogen
production, low severity hydro-
treating and desulphurisation
capacity (for distillate/diesel
production). In some cases, these
small facilities may include FCC
processing and coking capacity.
Before rapid expansion of the
shale industry, teapot refineries
historically suffered from poor
margins due to lower quality prod-
uct yields, as well as lack of access
to crude oil. In the 1980s, steadily
declining sources of conventional
crude oil led to the closure and
eventual dismantling of most
teapot refineries. Their utilisation
rates hovered at 35% to 40%, much
lower than larger and sophisticated
Gulf Coast refineries’ utilisation
rates of around 85%.
Teapot refineries, with access to
shale tight oil and cheap shale gas
(for feeding CDU furnaces and
preheaters), allow energy compa-
nies to operate competitively in
isolated geographies. These small
facilities typically integrate well
with an energy company’s
upstream/midstream operations.
Some teapots are also linked by
pipeline, rail or truck transporta-
tion to larger refineries. In fact,
some energy companies have
linked these teapot facilities to
major refining centres along the
Gulf Coast. In China, even though
Beijing issued decrees to have these
facilities shuddered by the end of
2011, they are still in operation
today and provide China with close
to 16% of the country’s refined fuel
products.
Capturing niche opportunities
How did these small refineries
suddenly become important? To
begin with, US oil production grew
by a record 1.136 million bpd in
2013 year to 8.121 million, accord-
ing to the US Energy Information
Administration (EIA), making any
efforts to upgrade tight oils and
other shale liquids at or near the
wellhead profitable due to capacity
bottlenecks at larger facilities
designed for processing heavier
crudes.
Energy companies like Blue
Dolphin, Valero Energy, Kinder
16 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com
shale rene.indd 2
Morgan and others are trying to
capitalise on the biggest oil boom
in US history, erecting on-site
modular processing and treating
units and superfractionators (sepa-
rating propane and propylene for
direct sale to the petrochemical
market). US crude (discounted at
about $98 per barrel relative to the
Brent global benchmark of about
$106) has been a boon to US refin-
ers, including the teapots. The top
three performers on the S&P 500
Energy Index since the beginning
of 2012 are all refining companies:
Valero, Marathon Petroleum and
Tesoro.
Before 2011, US refineries
invested heavily in heavy crude
processing capability before most
process engineers had even heard
of shale crudes, and were schooled
in learning how to process heavy
crudes, such as Canadian bitumen
based crudes, Venezuelan crudes
and Arab Heavy crude. Going
forward beyond 2014, in order to
mitigate this paradigm shift in the
smorgasbord of shale crudes (tight
oils) now available, energy compa-
nies use the teapots to process tight
oils separately from the heavier
opportunity crudes that are more
efficiently processed at larger and
more sophisticated refineries.
Fuel demand in remote geographies
The booming US shale industry is
the primary driver for the teapot
refinery profitability in North
America, and in China small refin-
eries continue to play an important
role in fuels production. According
to a Platts report from November
2013, China’s independent teapot
refineries in eastern Shandong
province have significantly
expanded their capacities in the last
few years, driven by an end of 2013
deadline set by the government to
eliminate smaller plants (the dead-
line was previously set for the end
of 2011). Beijing said it would
restrict building small refineries
with crude throughput of less than
10 million mtpy, FCC units and
hydrocrackers under 1.5 million
mtpy, catalytic reformers less than
1.0 million mtpy, and ethylene
steam crackers under 800 000 mtpy
capacity. While it is still too early to
speculate, it stands to reason that
these small facilities could play a
critical role in quickly monetising
China’s giant shale tight oil poten-
tial, such as in the remote Sichuan
shale basin.
Because of the rapid pace of
development in the Bakken,
demand for diesel in sparsely
populated North Dakota has gone
from 40 000 bpd to upwards of
60 000 bpd, so that teapot refineries
operate purely due to circum-
stances that exist because of the
Bakken (an energy market within
an energy market). For example, a
new teapot refinery in North
Dakota’s Dickinson County will
produce highway-grade diesel for
sale to drillers, while sending
low-octane naphtha to Canada to
be blended with bitumen for ship-
ment. The properties of shale oil,
such as its low density and sulphur
content, make it relatively easy to
process, which is why the $300
million Dickinson refinery will only
consist of a CDU, a low severity
hydrotreater, a sulphur recovery
plant, a hydrogen plant and an
amine unit. $300 million is cheap
(about $15 000 per barrel of capac-
ity) compared to $12 billion for a
400 000 bpd complex refinery. For
example, Motiva Resources spent
more than $30 000 per barrel in
2012 to refine an extra 325 000
barrels of high-density, high-
sulphur crude (Arab Heavy crude)
at its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.
Certain refiners are also investing
in ‘super teapots’. For example,
Valero is planning to invest about
$370 million on two 50 000 bpd
condensate splitters on the Houston
Ship Channel, or simple crude units
— not quite the size of a
medium-sized facility, but signifi-
cantly larger than a teapot. The
project relies on an abundant
supply of shale crude, but shale
drilling is expensive, even with the
latest in efficient upstream drilling
and fracking technology (for
example, multi-well pad drilling),
and there is a risk that if oil prices
plunge, so may production and
henceforth the ability to supply the
large, high complexity refineries,
making the low capital cost teapot
facility much less of a risk.
27/02/2014 12:05
 The Westlake, Louisiana, hydrogen production facility. Increased hydrogen availability from shale gas has provided incentives to increase
hydrogen production from steam methane reformers (SMRs)
Although teapot refineries are
dwarfed by the new complexes in
Asia and the Middle East, they
have nonetheless played a role in
creating a new energy market in
the US. Additional teapot refineries
may be built in regions where the
shale industry is expected to
expand over the next 20 years,
including Australia, China and
Argentina. In all these instances,
there are compelling reasons to
keep it simple but profitable.
Expanding chemical infrastructure
Propylene demand is booming,
shale based propane supplies are
abundant while propylene output
from refineries and olefin crackers
is declining, which is the reason for
the current interest in on-purpose
propane dehydrogenation (PDH)
facilities, as originally discussed in
the first issue of Processing Shale
Feedstocks 2013 (PTQ Q2 2013
supplement). Since then, three new
PDH units under construction are
expected online on the US Gulf
Coast in 2015 and 2016, to produce
www.eptq.com
shale rene.indd 3
4.3 billion pounds/year of polymer
grade propylene (PGP).
These plants will help close the
gap between increasing world
propylene demand and declining
‘by-product’ production from naph-
tha based olefin crackers (ethylene
steam crackers) and refineries. They
will also help soak up growing US
propane supplies. Other PDH
projects in China continue moving
forward. However, aside from the
three PDH units under construc-
tion, others have been proposed for
the US (as many as eight), but no
new construction contracts have
been tendered since early 2013. But
according to a 5 April 2013 report
from ICIS: Market outlook: new PDH
units may lead to US polypropylene
resurgence (www.icis.com), “A more
stable source of propylene tied to
natural gas will lead to less reliance
on the refining sector, which will
lead to fewer price swings during
the refinery turnaround season.” In
other markets, major licensors of
PDH technology, including Clariant
and CB&I, are currently in the post-
Photo courtesy: Air Products
start-up stage for a new world-scale
600 kta PDH unit in Tianjin, China.
Enterprise Products Partners
announced back in mid-2012 plans
to build one of the world’s largest
PDH units on the Texas Gulf Coast,
with the capacity to consume up to
35 000 bpd of propane, to produce
up to 1.65 billion pounds per year
(approximately 750 000 metric tons
per year [mtpy] or approximately
25 000 bpd) of PGP. The facility
would integrate with Enterprise’s
existing natural gas liquids (NGL)
and propylene facilities. Supported
by long-term, fee based contracts
executed with companies that have
investment grade debt ratings, the
PDH facility is expected to begin
commercial operations in the third
quarter of 2015.
From a propane feedstock supply
perspective, the PDH unit would
be supported by Enterprise’s NGL
fractionation and storage system on
the Texas Gulf Coast. By 2015, with
completion of expansions that have
already been announced, Enterprise
would have 708 000 bpd of NGL
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 17
27/02/2014 12:05
 fractionation capacity, which would
provide up to 177 000 bpd of
propane supply. In addition, the
facility would be supported by the
partnership’s approximately 100
million barrels of NGL and petro-
chemical storage facilities in the
Texas Gulf Coast region. In 2015,
the PDH unit will also be comple-
mented by Enterprise’s 5.3 billion
pounds per year (approximately 2.4
mtpy or approximately 80 000 bpd)
of propylene fractionation capacity,
which fractionates refinery grade
propylene to produce PGP.
Over the past decade, the supply
of propylene as a co-product from
the ethylene industry has decreased
in the aggregate by approximately
6.0 billion pounds and has contrib-
uted to periodic shortages of
propylene. This shortage combined
with relatively cheap propane feed-
stock from shale gas has been the
incentive for new PDH units in
North America. However, several
years of market volatility have had
a negative impact on market growth
such that no new PDH units
beyond the three projects currently
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18 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014
shale rene.indd 4
under way in the US have
progressed into the construction
phase.
Construction of the new
Canadian PDH facility by Williams
Energy Partners will allow
Williams to significantly increase
production of polymer-grade
propylene (PGP) from its Canadian
operations in Alberta province. The
facility will have the capability to
initially produce up to 1.1 billion
pounds (500 kilotonnes) per year of
PGP, with the opportunity to
double capacity with a future
expansion. The company estimates
capital expenditures of up to $900
million to be funded with expected
cash flow from its Canadian opera-
tion and international cash on
hand. Pending appropriate permit-
ting approvals, the PDH facility
is scheduled to go into service
in the second quarter of 2016.
The company will convert the
propane into higher-value propyl-
ene that will be transported to the
US Gulf Coast and sold to petro-
chemical producers. The associated
hydrogen byproduct will be sold in
the Alberta market. Williams is also
exploring the development of new
propylene markets for its produc-
tion in Alberta. The complex
includes fractionation, storage and
distribution facilities and is
currently being expanded to
produce approximately 5.0 million
barrels of propane and 280 million
pounds of PGP annually from
offgas, in addition to other NGLs
and olefins.
Shale gas to ethylene steam cracking
Ethylene production from North
America is rapidly expanding as
major petrochemical producers,
such as Dow and ExxonMobil,
launch projects to take advantage
of cheap ethane gas from shale
formations including the Marcellus,
Utica, Eagle Ford and others.
ExxonMobil plans to build a 1.5
million tpy ethylene complex at
Baytown, Texas, by 2016.
While ethane based steam crack-
ing in the US expands, marginal
liquid crackers in Europe and Japan
will be under a lot of competitive
pressure. For example, French oil
06.12.2013 10:17:28
www.eptq.com
27/02/2014 12:06
 major Total and Ineos have said
they will shut loss-making petro-
chemical plants in France and
Scotland. There is too much ethyl-
ene steam cracking capacity with
access to cheap shale based ethane
(that is currently being flared off)
coming online in the US after 2017.
For example, the BASF Total
Petrochemicals (BTP) joint venture
(40% Total, 60% BASF) revamped
the Port Arthur steam cracker in
Texas to process ethane instead of
refinery based naphtha.
“Our strategy in the United States
consists of consolidating our
production base by taking advan-
tage of market trends,” commented
Patrick Pouyanné, President of
Total Refining & Chemicals and
posted on www.total.com on 23
May 2013. “The Port Arthur steam
cracker is one of the biggest in the
world, with a capacity of 1.0
million tpy of ethylene. It was
commissioned in 2001 to process
naphtha. In response to petroleum
product price hikes and the emer-
gence of abundant gas resources,
we adapted the steam cracker to
give it flexibility and maintain its
competitiveness. It can now use as
a feedstock ethane, which costs
around $30 per barrel of oil equiva-
lent (boe) — versus around $100/
boe for naphtha — and LPG such
as butane and propane, which are
also cheaper,” added Pouyanné.
The Port Arthur steam cracker
can now be supplied with ethane
produced at the Mont Belvieu,
Texas, site, through which most US
natural gas liquids transit. Since
early April, the BTP steam cracker
has the capability to produce up to
40% of its ethylene from ethane and
another 40% from butane and
propane. In addition to this project,
BTP has begun building a 10th
ethane cracking furnace, scheduled
to come on stream in the second
quarter of 2014. The new furnace
will improve the steam cracker’s
availability and increase its crack-
ing capacity by nearly 15%, making
it even more efficient.
“In light of the impact of the
shale gas revolution on the global
petrochemical industry, Total is
also examining a project to build a
new ethane steam cracker that
www.eptq.com
shale rene.indd 5
would be tied to the original Port
Arthur steam cracker to capture
maximum synergies while leverag-
ing this cost-advantaged feedstock,”
added Pouyanné. As part of its
integrated strategy, Total is
earmarking its share of ethylene
produced by BTP for its Bayport
polyethylene (PE) plant and its
share of propylene for its La Porte,
Texas, polypropylene plant, the
world’s biggest. Chevron Phillips
Chemical, Dow Chemical,
ExxonMobil, Sasol, Formosa, Shell
and Odebrecht have all announced
PE plants downstream from their
new steam crackers. Additional PE
capacity will be built by
LyondellBasell and Sasol/INEOS.
In summary, there are now plans
announced for a total of 10 new
ethane crackers in the US — eight
on the US Gulf Coast, and two in
the northeast US. This represents
around 12.5 million tpy of ethylene
capacity, according to an analysis
by ICIS. The latest three of the 10
planned new crackers have been
announced across the span of three
months in late 2013 to early 2014.
In addition to the 10 planned
greenfield projects, there are also 10
expansions planned at existing
crackers amounting to 1.5 million
tonnes of ethylene capacity. If all 10
crackers are built and the expan-
sions go through as planned, the
US is looking at a massive 52%
increase in existing ethylene capac-
ity to over 41 million tpy, according
to an analysis by ICIS.
Engineering contractor challenges
The heavy petrochemical project
slate, along with a slew of other
industrial projects in the US, is set
to constrain skilled labour and
other engineering and construction
(E&C) resources. Kevin Swift, Chief
Economist of the American
Chemistry Council (ACC), projects
2016 as the peak year for capital
investment, although shortages in
labour and E&C resources could
push this back to 2017 or 2018, he
noted.
E&C companies have reported
extreme challenges finding engi-
neers and construction crews for
facility expansions, along with a
continued rise in wages. In
December 2013, Shell called off its
$12.5 billion gas-to-liquids (GTL)
project in Louisiana because it had
become too expensive. “Despite the
ample supplies of natural gas in the
area, the company has taken the
decision that GTL is not a viable
option for Shell in North America,
at this time, due to the likely devel-
opment cost of such a project,
uncertainties on long-term oil and
gas prices and differentials, and
Shell’s strict capital discipline,” the
company said.
LNG exports
US natural gas production was
forecast to hit a fifth consecutive
annual record high in 2015, while
net imports of the fuel next year
will drop to their lowest in nearly
30 years as output from shale fields
grows, the EIA said on 7 January
2014, as reported by Reuters. In its
January Short-Term Energy Outlook,
which extends to 2015, the EIA said
it expected marketed natural gas
production in 2014 to rise 1.45
billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), or
2.1 % from 2013’s estimated record-
high levels, to 71.66 bcfd. EIA also
forecast production will increase
again in 2015 to 72.58 bcfd, up
about 1.3% from its 2014 forecast.
EIA said rising production in the
Marcellus shale play in Appalachia
has driven much of the recent
production growth. Over the longer
term, EIA projected the US will be
a net exporter of gas beginning in
2018, in the form of LNG. EIA
lowered its estimate for gas
consumption in 2014 by 2.2% from
2013 levels to 69.71 bcfd. However,
the window for US exporters to
enter the global LNG marketplace
will not be open forever.
The US Department of Energy
(DOE), tasked with approving LNG
exports to non-free trade agreement
(FTA) countries, must weigh
approval of LNG export terminal
construction against exporting to
non-FTA countries. The US does
not have FTAs with some of the
world’s largest LNG consumers,
like Japan and South Korea that
pay some of the highest global
LNG prices. This is an important
challenge when considering
approval for new LNG projects.
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 19
27/02/2014 12:07
 However, the greatest potential
challenges to continued US LNG
expansion must take into account a
combination of challenges, include
stricter regulation, the natural gas
flaring issue, infrastructure
constraints and rising domestic
demand. One of the main issues
being studied with regard to
exporting US natural gas in the
form of LNG is whether the activity
would increase domestic gas prices,
thus making US manufacturers less
competitive. Some players in the
gas-intensive chemical industry,
particularly Dow Chemical, have
been vocal opponents of unfettered
US LNG exports for this reason.
Future LNG export facilities must
obtain both FTA and non-FTA
export approval before obtaining a
US Government (by way of the
DOE) permit before plant construc-
tion can begin. For example, Vivek
Chandra, CEO of Texas LNG,
expected to receive FTA export
approval by the end of the first
quarter or beginning of the second
quarter of 2014, and non-FTA later
in the year for construction of their
new LNG plant in Brownsville,
Texas, using natural gas from the
Eagle Ford shale. In the meantime,
“we are progressing our engineer-
ing efforts and discussions with
investors and LNG buyers,” said
Chandra.
“The Port of Brownsville’s strate-
gic geographic location as one of
the closest ports to the Panama
Canal will facilitate our efforts to
source feed gas from South Texas
gas fields such as the Eagle Ford,
where large volumes of gas are
currently flared and vented, thereby
providing both a positive environ-
mental and economic benefit to the
region,” Chandra continued. Texas
LNG’s export facility concept
involves a liquefaction barge to be
fabricated offsite by a shipyard. At
the Texas LNG site, the barge will
be permanently ‘grounded’ so that
it will no longer be a floating vessel.
“Our unique barge-based lique-
faction solution enables Texas LNG
to minimize complex onshore civil
construction works, reduce the
need to construct large LNG tanks
onsite, reduce the overall local
environmental and labor impact,
20 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014
shale rene.indd 6
and expedite speed to market,”
Chandra said. “We are in discus-
sions with shipyards and EPC
contractors to design and construct
the liquefaction barge and associ-
ated onshore facilities. We have
also received favorable indications
from both potential natural gas
buyers and producers interested in
committing supply.”
Texas LNG anticipates that LNG
export could begin in early 2018.
The company plans to make a
request to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) to
begin the pre-filing process by the
end of 2014. Commencement of
construction is subject to regulatory
approvals and a final investment
decision contingent upon Texas
LNG obtaining satisfactory
construction contracts and long-
term customer contracts sufficient
to underpin financing of the
project.
In summary, all of these
announced liquefaction projects are
in various stages of the develop-
ment process and may not proceed
to completion due to various
factors. Some challenges involved
in developing these projects
include:
• Regulatory approvals LNG opera-
tors must obtain separate
authorisations from DOE to export
LNG and from FERC to construct
liquefaction facilities
• High capital investment
Liquefaction projects require inten-
sive capital commitment, so they
reflect material financial risks for
project sponsors. Project capital
costs for international liquefaction
plants range from $1.5 to $10 billion
dollars, or about $500 to $2000 per
ton produced. For example, the
projected costs for the Freeport,
Texas, LNG plant in the US, for
example, are about $4 billion for
their 1.8 bcf/day facility
• Time Liquefaction plants are
complex engineering projects and
take around five years to build.
Construction time for a single LNG
train (the liquefaction and purifica-
tion facilities in an LNG plant) can
take 36 to 42 months, and many
liquefaction facilities have multiple
trains. Within this period, there are
significant market and regulatory
risks that might adversely affect the
economics of exporting domesti-
cally produced LNG.
In any event, just because LNG
from shale based natural gas
production is much cheaper than
most other sources in the world, it
still may not be ‘cheap enough’
going forward into the future.
Why? Project sponsors face a vari-
ety of risks related to growth in
LNG demand, economics of
competing facilities, and the price
of natural gas. According to Ruud
Weijermars, Founder and Principal
Consultant, Alboran Energy
Consultants, the economics to
exporting US shale gas as LNG
may not add up. He contends that
buyers for North American LNG
would only be prepared to pay
whatever the Henry Hub price is
(currently at approximately $4.00
per MMBtu), plus the costs of
liquefaction and transport (about
$3.00 per MMBtu). So that is about
$7.00 per MMBtu in buying and
liquefying natural gas to LNG, plus
an assumed $1.00 per MMBtu in
profit (total of $8 per MMBtu).
Today, most of Europe can buy
Russian gas for about $11.00 per
MMBtu. Having noted that, what if
the Henry Hub price for natural
gas increases to say $6.00 per
MMBtu beyond 2015, instead of
today’s $4.00 per MMBtu? Capital
construction costs could also esca-
late, for a total cost of shipping US
LNG to Europe at about $11.00 per
MMBtu, or perhaps $12.00 per
MMBtu, hardly competitive with
Russian gas. Weijermars notes that
taking a realistic and transparent
approach to the real costs of monet-
ising ‘cheap shale gas’ is one of the
reasons that the shale gas hype in
European countries like Poland has
begun to fade away, where only
about 40 wells have been drilled as
of 2013.
The expectations for long term
cheap shale gas in Europe, accord-
ing to many experts, may become
too elusive. That will be the main
limitation on quick development
unless governments are prepared to
subsidise, or if there is a price floor
for the producers so they can basi-
cally produce without any losses.
In the UK, key government leaders
www.eptq.com
27/02/2014 12:50
 are presenting the argument that it
must entertain the notion of pursu-
ing unconventional gas to maintain
its industrial competitiveness.
Overall, according to the Paris
based International Energy Agency
(IEA), European internal gas
production is declining very
rapidly and by 2030 Europe could
import at least 80% of its required
gas and oil, so there is a very
strong concern about energy secu-
rity. Whether shale gas is the
solution for Europe is yet to be
determined.
The mini-LNG plant option
2014 may be the year where small
scale LNG plants will make their
debut in active shale plays. How
small? Small enough that a standard
18-wheeled tractor-trailer transport
loaded with a modular LNG ‘plant’
can pull up to a drilling pad flaring
valuable gas. Gas flaring in the
Bakken, Eagle Ford and other shale
plays are common due to a lack
of pipeline or other gas-gathering Shale gas to methanol
infrastructure.
ProTreat Half Page Horizontal PTQ.pdf
In just a short time span of less manufacturer
CM
MY
CY
CMY
www.eptq.com
shale rene.indd 7
than a few days, crews can rig up
the small LNG plant on a drilling
pad that fits entirely within the
confines of a typical 53ft-long
trailer transport, allowing the
driller to convert flared gas to LNG
on site, as well as separate out the
even more valuable butane,
propane and other natural gas
liquids (NGLs). Both commodities
(LNG and NGL) can be trucked to
market, or even use some of the
LNG to fuel drilling rigs, reducing
or eliminating diesel powered
sources.
It may still be too early to project
the market impact of these small
LNG plants on diesel consumption
in the US, and then later in other
nascent shale plays, such as in
China and Australia. All indications
are that many energy-intensive
consumers and their technology
suppliers are expecting small LNG
plants to significantly impact the
diesel market.
The
1
Netherlands
2/17/14 4:59 PM
based fertilizer
OCI NV in
November 2013 said cheap US
natural gas will fuel the largest
ever US methanol plant, which it
proposes to build in Beaumont,
Texas. The greenfield facility
planned by subsidiary Natgasoline
could begin operations by late 2016,
capable of producing up to 1.75
mtpy of methanol. The plant would
be OCI’s third natural gas moneti-
sation project in the US, said CEO
Nassef Sawiris. OCI refurbished an
integrated methanol and ammonia
facility in Beaumont, which
currently has 730 000 mtpy of
capacity and by itself accounts for
almost 80% of US methanol
production available for sale,
Sawiris said.
The US was the largest methanol
producer in the world in the 1980s
and 1990s, producing as much as
10 million mtpy of methanol during
the surge in methyl tertiary butyl
ether (MTBE) demand in the 1980s
and 1990s, until it was banned in
most of the US gasoline market by
2002. Rising natural gas prices also
reduced methanol demand, shut-
ting down most US methanol
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 21
27/02/2014 12:08

Sulphur plant using Goar Allison & Associate’s (GAA’s) D’Gaass liquid sulphur removal
technology, which may also be supplied as shop fabricated modular units for in-the-field
applications
production by 2004, to only 8% of
total US nameplate capacity. With
natural gas prices approaching
$12/MMBtu after Hurricane
Katrina in September 2005, most
US methanol capacity was moth-
balled, including the Beaumont
facility that OCI recently refur-
bished. However, with shale based
natural gas prices now below
$4.0/MMBtu, OCI saw the
opportunity to expand the moth-
balled Beaumont facility purchased
in 2012, and now is expanding
to provide capacity of 912 000
mtpy.
22 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014
shale rene.indd 8
Photo courtesy: Air Products
Worldwide methanol demand
reached 61.1 million mtpy in 2012,
and annual methanol demand,
driven by new consumption for
light olefin production and for fuel
applications, is forecast to increase
by more than 50 million mtpy
over the next five years, IHS
Chemical says. US methanol
production is expected to reach
16.0 million mtpy by 2016 accord-
ing to information available from
the Methanol Institute (www.
methanol.org).
Shale gas based methanol
production in the US uses only
0.80-2.17 tonnes of water vs 15-20
tonnes of fresh water to make one
tonne of methanol from coal. On an
equivalent basis, according to infor-
mation available from Dewey
Johnson, Senior Director of
Chemical Market Research at IHS
Chemical in Houston, it takes 32
MMBtu of natural gas to make one
metric ton of methanol. On a larger
scale, 3.48 million metric tons of
methanol requires 111.36 trillion
Btu (111.36 Bcf) of gas.
Several other methanol plants
were announced in 2013. For exam-
ple, Valero plans to build a $700
million plant in St. Charles Parish,
Louisiana, with capacity to produce
1.6 million mtpy. At the beginning
of 2013, Chesapeake Energy agreed
to a 10-year gas supply agreement
for Methanex’s 1.0 million mtpy
methanol plant planned in Geismar,
Louisiana, set to begin operations
in late 2014. Celanese in mid-2012
said it would construct a 1.3 million
mtpy methanol facility near its
acetyl complex south of Houston.
To be sure, the announcement of a
total of seven methanol plants in
the US since 2012 is another sign
that the North American petro-
chemical industry will continue
growing alongside the booming
shale industry.
Conclusion
Capital investment for refining and
petrochemical projects announced
between 2014 and 2017 will bring
downstream project activity in
North America to a level not seen
in over 50 years. These investments
are related to world-scale LNG
liquefaction export facilities and
ethane based steam crackers,
followed by expansion into
downstream petrochemical deriva-
tives. In parallel, hundreds of
in-the-field midstream gas process-
ing, gas treating and fractionation
facilities will need to be expanded
to transport shale liquids and gas
to upgrading facilities, beginning
with the refinery fuel producer.
Energy companies continue to find
ways to monetise abundant shale
gas and tight oil inventories. The
keyword is abundance, which
seems to be guaranteed for decades
to come.
www.eptq.com
27/02/2014 12:09
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 Catalytic solutions for processing shale
oils in the FCC
Monetising tight oils requires suppression of unconventional metals contamination
and gas formation, and adherence to flexible catalyst functionality
Kenneth Bryden, E Thomas Habib Jr, Olivia Topete and Rosann Schiller
Grace Catalyst Technologies
A
s novel technology for
hydraulic fracturing with
directional drilling continues
to develop, shale oil (also referred
to as tight oil) will continue to be a
game changer for North American
refiners. Although credited with
many advantages, shale oil does
not come without its challenges.
Suppliers and processors alike are
urgently working to adapt to the
changing oil landscape. Just a few
years ago, investments were
focused on processing heavy
crudes. Now, however, the indus-
try is faced with lighter, sweeter
crude streams from shale plays.
In varying degrees at each refin-
ery, shale oil makes up only a
percentage of the total feedstock.
Current estimates put shale oil
production at ~10% of the total US
crude demand. The percentage
could grow substantially as shale
oil production increases and refin-
ers invest in process modifications
to handle this lighter feed. While
drilling technology advances and
the rapid growth of shale oil
production have made forecasts
difficult, the US Energy Information
Agency (EIA) currently forecasts
that US shale oil production will
top 4.8 million bpd in 2021.1 Shale
oil resources are not confined to the
US. Recent analysis indicates that
shale oil formations are located
throughout the world and consti-
tute a substantial share of overall
global technically recoverable oil
resources.2 The January 2014 BP
Energy Outlook projects that by 2035
shale oils will constitute 7% of the
total global oil supply, with more
than one third of shale oil produc-
tion coming from outside the US.3
www.eptq.com
shale grace.indd 1
Properties of shale oil derived FCC feeds compared to typical Mid-Continent
vacuum gas oil
Property Eagle Ford HVGO derived 650°F+ distillation Mid-Continent
condensate from 85% of whole VGO
splitter bottoms Eagle Ford Bakken crude
API gravity, degrees 36.6 30.0 23.0 24.7
CCR, wt% 0.15 0.17 2.27 0.32
K-Factor 12.48 12.39 11.86 12.01
Sulphur, wt% 0.08 0.83 0.43 0.35
Basic nitrogen, wt% 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.05
Hydrogen, wt% 13.7 13.4 12.7 12.9
Percent boiling >1000°F 10.7 13.1 23.6 16.5
Molecular weight 373 455 414 430
n-d-m analysis
Ca, aromatic ring carbons, % 14.8 15.2 22.1 17.6
Cn, naphthenic ring carbons, % 19.4 9.8 17.3 20.3
Cp, paraffinic carbons, % 65.8 75.0 60.6 62.1
D2887 simulated distillation, °F
10% 519 715 658 691
50% 735 862 844 848
90% 1006 1015 1135 1045
Table 1
Metals analysis of several shale oils
Samples in this paper Published Assay Data (Ref 6)
Property Mid- Whole 650°F+ Eagle Ford Bakken Eagle
Continent Bakken distillation condensate crude Ford
VGO crude of Bakken splitter crude
crude bottoms
Barium, ppm <0.01 0.2 0.1 0.8 0.02 0.21
Calcium, ppm <0.1 0.5 1.2 5.4 0.54 9.8
Iron, ppm <0.1 7.5 7.8 8.6 0.7 2.3
Magnesium, ppm <0.04 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.05 0.34
Nickel, ppm <0.04 0.4 1.9 0.2 0.05 <0.14
Potassium, ppm <0.04 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.5
Sodium, ppm <0.06 8.7 3.9 3.1 2.8 12
Vanadium, ppm <0.03 0.1 0.5 0.9 0.02 <0.05
Table 2
While the North American refining and other properties can show
industry undergoes a renaissance wide variation, even within the
due to abundant tight oil, the new same field.4-7 Shale oils are gener-
feeds present challenges as well as ally light, paraffinic and sweet.
opportunities. Table 1 presents properties of three
shale-based FCC feeds compared to
Shale oil properties a typical Mid-Continent VGO.
Shale oil is highly variable. Density While most shale oils are low in
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 25
27/02/2014 12:04
 nickel and vanadium, they have
been found to be high in inorganic
solids, iron and alkali metals.5,9
Table 2 presents metals analysis of
several shale-derived feed streams.
While metals levels in the samples
vary (as would be expected for
shale oil), iron and calcium levels
are generally high. Reports from
the field indicate that Bakken crude
is typically low in nickel and vana-
dium, while crudes sourced from
the Eagle Ford shale have higher
nickel and vanadium levels that
can vary significantly based on
their source.
Processing challenges
Light sweet crudes are generally
easy to process, although chal-
lenges arise when these crudes are
the predominant feedstock in refin-
eries designed for heavier crudes.
Shale oils, like other light sweet
crudes, have a much higher ratio of
650°F- to 650°F+ material when
compared to conventional crudes.
Bakken shale oil has a nearly 2:1
ratio, while typical crudes such as
Arabian Light have ratios near 1:1.
A refinery running high percent-
ages of shale oil could become
overloaded with light cuts, includ-
ing reformer feed and isomerisation
feed, while at the same time short
on feed for the FCC unit and the
coker. Many refiners report that
while they are benefiting from
favourable crude prices they often
are struggling to keep downstream
process units full. At low FCC utili-
sation rates, the alkylation unit is
often unconstrained, leading to an
octane shortage.
Unconstrained downstream units
are just one of the challenges faced
by North American refiners.
Unconventional oils can vary
wildly in composition from cargo
to cargo. Receiving crude in batches
via rail, truck or barge can result in
FCC feed changing rapidly over the
course of several weeks or several
days. To increase utilisation rates,
heavier crudes may be blended
with lighter shale oils, resulting in
a ‘barbell’ crude, which has a lot of
material boiling at each end of the
boiling point curve, but little in the
middle, reducing VGO yield for the
FCC. Some refiners have tried
26 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014
shale grace.indd 2
charging whole crude to the FCC
unit in order to boost utilisations,
to the detriment of other key yields
such as FCC naphtha octane.10
At the FCC unit, the challenges
range from difficulty maintaining
heat balance when the feed is very
light to unexpected coke make
when contaminant metals rise
rapidly. When operating with
highly paraffinic light shale oil
feeds that crack easily and produce
little coke, the FCC may become
circulation constrained due to low
regenerator temperatures. Refiners
report spikes of both conventional
(sodium, nickel and vanadium) and
unconventional metals (iron and
calcium) when running shale-
derived feeds. Sodium and vana-
dium deactivate zeolite and
To maximise
profitability with
rapidly changing
feed quality, catalyst
flexibility is key
suppress activity; nickel promotes
dehydrogenation reactions, leading
to high gas make. Unconventional
metals such as iron and calcium
deposit on the catalyst surface and
cause a loss of diffusivity, which
leads to a loss in conversion and an
increase in coke and bottoms. To
maximise profitability with rapidly
changing feed quality, catalyst flex-
ibility is key.
Catalytic solutions
Flexible functionality is absolutely
critical for processing unconven-
tional feeds. The recently developed
FCC catalyst family, that of Achieve
catalysts, is designed to provide
refiners that flexibility while miti-
gating the challenges associated
with processing these new hydro-
carbon streams.
Achieve features an optimised
matrix technology to provide
coke-selective bottoms conversion
without a gas penalty. The technol-
ogy in the high diffusivity matrix
of the catalyst is based on technol-
ogy embodied in the Midas
catalyst, which has been commer-
cially proven to be more iron
tolerant than competitive offerings.
Achieve FCC catalyst contains
best-in-industry metals traps for
nickel and vanadium, which are
highly effective to minimise coke
and gas formation due to conven-
tional metals such as nickel and
vanadium. This FCC catalyst is also
formulated with ultra-stable zeolite
that retains activity in the face of
contaminant metals spikes. The
catalyst can be formulated over a
range of activity, rare earth
exchange and isomerisation activi-
ties, to deliver an optimal balance
of gasoline yield to LPG while
maintaining an optimum level of
butylenes for the alkylation unit.
Increasing catalyst activity, via
zeolite or rare earth exchange, can
alleviate a circulation constraint
and restore the heat balance to a
comfortable level. ZSM-5 based
additives can be used to boost
octane, but the associated yield of
propylene is not always desirable.
A better solution is to boost zeolite
isomerisation activity within the
catalyst to selectively increase the
yield of FCC butylene and iso-
butane, keeping the alky unit full
and maintaining refinery pool
octane. The following examples
illustrate how the flexibility of the
Achieve catalyst family can address
the challenges posed by shale oil.
Iron and calcium tolerance
Catalyst design can be optimised to
resist the effects of contaminant
iron and calcium. High alumina
catalysts, especially catalyst with
alumina-based binders and matri-
ces, such as Midas catalyst, are best
suited to processing iron- and
calcium-containing feeds because
they are more resistant to the
formation of low melting point
phases that destroy the surface
pore structure.10 Optimum distribu-
tion of mesoporosity also plays a
role in maintaining performance
because diffusion to active sites
remains unhindered, despite high
contaminant metals. The resistance
of Midas catalyst to iron and
calcium poisoning has been demon-
strated in many commercial
www.eptq.com
27/02/2014 12:04
 applications.10,11 Figure 1 presents A
data from the application of Midas 1.15
Base
638 catalyst in an operation running
MIDAS 638
100% shale and high levels of iron. 1.10
The switch to this catalyst reduced

Ecat Fe, wt%

bottoms yield even when iron
1.05
contamination increased.

Nickel and vanadium tolerance 1.00

The incorporation of both nickel
and vanadium metals trapping into 0.95
the catalyst system mitigates the
negative impacts of the metals.
0.90
Nickel is trapped where it is

13

13

14
12

12

12

13
initially cracked on to the catalyst

20

20

20
20

20

20

20

ov

ar
pr

ov

ar

l
with a proprietary Grace alumina.

Ju

Ju
M

M
A

N
The alumina absorbs the nickel into B 10.5
the catalyst particle, forming a Base
stable nickel aluminate that is no MIDAS 638
longer active for dehydrogenation 9.5
Bottoms yield, wt%

reactions. The utilisation of this

technique has been highly success- 8.5
ful. Currently, 65+% of Grace’s
worldwide customers are taking
7.5
advantage of this technology.
For vanadium trapping, incorpo-
ration of a trap in the catalyst 6.5
system can provide widely
dispersed trapping capability, more 5.5
effectively reducing the negative
12

13

14
2

12

13

01
01

impacts of the contaminant. Grace’s

20

20
20

20

20

l2
l2

ov

ar
pr

ov

ar

Ju
Ju

IVT-4 is an integral rare-earth-

M
M
A

N
N

based vanadium trap that converts

contaminant vanadium into an
inert rare-earth vanadate, greatly
reducing zeolite deactivation and
coke and gas production. Grace is
currently using IVT-4 in 60%+ of its
worldwide catalyst formulations.
Maintaining heat balance
When processing very light
shale-derived feedstocks, insuffi-
cient catalytic activity requires that
the catalyst circulation rate increase
so that conversion, and thus the
coke yield from the catalyst, can
increase to satisfy the FCC heat
balance. If the FCC unit cannot
physically circulate enough cata-
lyst, it will be necessary to either
reduce the unit charge rate or the
reaction severity to stay within the
FCC catalyst circulation limit.
Alternatively, refiners can satisfy
the heat balance by blending in a
heavier feedstock, recycling slurry,
burning torch oil, increasing regen-
erator air preheat, or derating the
stripping steam. However, these
options often have a detrimental
Figure 1 Midas 638 catalyst maintains selectivity in 100% shale operation
effect on the operation. The best for processing lighter feeds from
way to satisfy the heat balance with shale oil or traditional hydrotreated
a very light feedstock is via proper FCC feed. In one commercial appli-
application of catalyst technology. cation, a refiner switched from a
Achieve catalyst can be formulated competitive catalyst designed for
high activity to Achieve catalyst.
Feed and catalyst properties are
A common challenge presented in Table 3. The feed was
reported by refiners light and paraffinic with an API of
29.5. Table 4 presents yields at
operating on constant conversion based on test-
ing of feed and equilibrium catalyst
unconventional feeds, from the unit. The switch to
Achieve catalyst resulted in higher
such as shale or activity, higher gasoline, higher
LCO, lower bottoms and improved
tight oil, is a loss of coke selectivity.
gasoline pool octane Maintaining refinery pool octane
A common challenge reported by
with ultra-high activity zeolite to refiners operating on unconven-
counter the effects of low delta tional feeds, such as shale or tight
coke, while delivering the proper oil, is a loss of gasoline pool octane,
coke selectivity (coke to conversion caused by reduced volume of alkyl-
relationship). Grace has had multi- ation feedstock. Within the Achieve
ple experiences with reformulations catalyst family, Achieve 400

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 27

shale grace.indd 3 27/02/2014 12:04

 Feed and catalyst properties for Achieve catalyst outperforms While shale oils are
commercial application of high activity competitive technology in a light feed
catalyst with light feed application generally light and
Feed properties Competitive Achieve sweet and easy to
API gravity, degrees 29.5 base catalyst
CCR, wt% 0.29 C/O ratio 6.9 5.8 crack, quality can
K-factor 12.19 Conversion, wt% 76 76
n-d-m analysis
Ca, aromatic ring carbons, % 13.9
H2 yield, wt%
Dry gas, wt%
0.05
1.0
0.04
1.0
vary greatly
Cn, naphthenic ring carbons, % 16.9 Propylene, wt% 4.5 4.4
Cp, paraffinic carbons, % 69.2 Total C3s, wt% 5.6 5.5
Total C4=s, wt% 5.5 5.5 be realised by use of a traditional
Equilibrium catalyst properties Total C4s, wt% 12.7 12.4
Competitive Achieve Gasoline, wt% 54.2 54.9
octane boosting FCC additive. With
base catalyst LCO, wt% 17.2 17.6 traditional ZSM-5 technology,
Surface area, m2/g 164 154 Bottoms, wt% 6.8 6.4 cracking of gasoline olefins contin-
Ni, ppm 176 203 Coke, wt% 2.7 2.5 ues past C7 into the C6 and
V, ppm 892 1022
generates a disproportionate
amount of propylene relative to
Table 3 Table 4 butylenes as shown in Figure 2.
Achieve 400 catalyst has been opti-
mised to preferentially crack
gasoline olefins at C7 and above
Relative
/
Achieve
ZSM-5 additive
Reactant Selectivity C3= C =
reactivity 4 such that the selectivity of C4 to C3
olefin yield is superior to that of
2C4 = 44% conventional light olefins additives.
C8 = 100 0.64
C3 = + C5 = 56% An example of the yield shifts
that are possible with this technol-
C3 + C4 = 95% ogy is found in Table 5, which
C7 = 12 1.0 presents yields based on DCR pilot
C2 = + C5 = 2%
plant testing. At constant conver-
sion Achieve 400 catalyst delivers
2C3 = 83%
C6 = 1.5 11 higher gasoline octane and higher
C2 = + C4 = 16% LPG olefins, with preferentially
more butylenes over propylene,
Buchanan, et al., Ref. 8
providing more total octane barrels
for the refinery. The catalyst has
Figure 2 Achieve 400 catalyst preferentially cracks gasoline olefins at C7 and above superior ∆C4=/∆C3= selectivity than
the case with conventional ZSM-5
Achieve 400 catalyst provides higher octane and more C4 olefins than additive. Coke and bottoms are
using ZSM-5 additive equivalent between the base case
and this catalyst, demonstrating
Base Midas Base Midas + OlefinsMax Achieve
that the increased butylenes selec-
Cat to oil 8.7 9.2 8.3 tivity was realised without
Dry gas, wt% 2.84 2.78 2.75 compromising the excellent
C3=, wt% 4.3 5.1 5.3 bottoms conversion activity of the
Total C4s, wt% 9.3 10.2 10.6
iC4, wt% 1.5 1.7 1.6
catalyst.
nC4, wt% 0.4 0.4 0.4
Total C4= wt% 7.3 8.1 8.5 Conclusion
∆C4= /∆C3= - 0.89 1.1 The shale oil boom has resulted in
Gasoline, wt% 50.8 49.1 48.7
LCO, wt% 18.4 18.2 18.2
a renaissance in the North
Bottoms, wt% 6.6 6.7 6.7 American refining industry. While
Coke, wt% 6.9 6.8 6.7 shale oils are generally light and
RON 93.50 93.53 94.12 sweet and easy to crack, quality can
MON 79.69 79.80 80.07
vary greatly and shale derived
feeds can contain sediments with
Table 5 high levels of iron and alkali
metals. The light nature of these
catalyst is formulated with multiple octane. Incorporation of isomerisa- feeds can result in difficulty main-
zeolites, to deliver an optimum tion activity into the catalyst taining heat balance and the
level of butylenes to keep the alky particle itself results in a more paraffinic nature of the feed slate
unit full and maintain refinery pool desirable yield pattern than would can result in octane debits in the

28 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com

shale grace.indd 4 27/02/2014 12:04

 refinery. Proper catalyst choice
allows refiners to most fully exploit
the opportunity of shale oil while
minimising the detrimental
impacts.
The Achieve catalyst family is
designed with the flexibility to
enable refiners to proactively
respond to the opportunity of shale
oil. It is currently in commercial
testing.
MIDAS, ACHIEVE, OlefinsMax and DCR are
trademarks of Grace Catalysts Technologies.
References
1 US Energy Information Administration,
Annual Energy Outlook 2014 Early Release
Overview, 16 Dec 2013.
2 US Energy Information Administration,
Technically Recoverable Shale Oil and Shale
Gas Resources: An Assessment of 137 Shale
Formations in 41 Countries Outside the United
States, Jun 2013.
3 BP, BP Energy Outlook 2035, Jan 2014.
4 Marfone P A, Refiners have a new learning
curve with shale oil, Hydrocarbon Processing,
Mar 2013.
5 Kremer L, Shale oil issues and solutions,
AFPM Principles And Practices Session, Salt
Lake City, Utah, Oct 2012.
For more articles relating to the processing of shale feedstocks, go to www.DigitalRefining.com
www.eptq.com
shale grace.indd 5
6 Haynes D, Tight oil impact on desalter of California Davis and a PhD in chemical
operations, Crude Oil Quality Association engineering from the Massachusetts Institute
Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov 2012. of Technology.
7 Ohmes R, Routt M, Characterizing and Email: kenneth.bryden@grace.com
tracking contaminants in opportunity crudes, E Thomas Habib, Jr. is Director Customer
2013 AFPM Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Research Partnerships and DCR Licensing
Texas. Manager for Grace Catalysts Technologies. He
8 Buchanan J S, Santiesteban J G, Haag W O, is an industry recognised expert with 40 years
Mechanistic considerations in acid-catalyzed of FCC experience. He is lead author of the
Fluid Catalytic Cracking chapter in the second
cracking of olefins, Journal of Catalysis, Vol 158,
Jan 1996, 279-287. edition of the Handbook of Heterogeneous
9 Savage G, Crude preheat management for Catalysts, and has authored numerous other
challenged and unconventional crudes, Crude publications including the book Fluid Catalytic
Oil Quality Association Meeting, San Antonio, Cracking with Zeolite Catalysts.
Texas, Mar 2013. Email: tom.habib@grace.com
Olivia Topete is FCC Marketing Manager
10 Bryden K J, Habib E T, Topete O A, Processing
for Grace Catalysts Technologies North
shale oils in FCC: challenges and opportunities,
Hydrocarbon Processing, Sept 2013. America. She has 11 years’ experience in the
11 Cher Y-Y, Koebel J, Schiller R, Enhanced hydrocarbon processing industry, including
bottoms cracking and process flexibility with roles in technical sales and service with Grace,
Midas FCC catalyst, Catalagram 112, W R technical service and engineering at Merichem
Grace & Co., 2012. and field operating services with UOP. She
holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from
Purdue University and an Executive MBA from
Rice University.
◗ Readers can download technical articles and other
Email: Olivia.topete@grace.com
Ken Bryden is Managerinformation from over Rosann
of the FCC Evaluations 40 categories.
Schiller is Marketing Director, FCC
Research Group at Grace Catalysts Commercial Strategy. She holds an MSE in
◗ Find relevant industry events worldwide.
Technologies. He is co-inventor on one issued Chemical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins
patent and coauthor of nine peer-reviewed University and a BS in chemical engineering
◗ Read news items focusing on contracts, company
journal articles. He holds a BS degree in from the University of Rochester.
news and new products.
chemical engineering from the University Email: rosann.schiller@grace.com
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 29
27/02/2014 12:04
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 Shale crudes and FCC:
a mismatch from heaven?
Weighing the effects that the processing of shale oils has on FCC unit operation,
such as iron poisoning of FCC catalysts

BART DE GRAAF, YALI TANG, JEFF OBERLIN and PAUL DIDDAMS

Johnson Matthey Process Technologies, IntercatJM

S
hale oils and gas have had a
major impact on the US refin-
ing landscape. The US
overtook Russia as the world’s larg-
est oil and gas producer in the
summer of 2013.1 The oil and gas
infrastructure has been turned
upside down. Pipelines designed to
provide imported or offshore crude
to inland refineries are now tasked
with transporting shale oil crudes Figures 1 and 2 SEM pictures of a healthy FCC equilibrium catalyst (e-cat) particle (left)
to Gulf Coast refineries, where and an iron poisoned FCC e-cat particle (right)
some refineries are now exclusively
processing shale oil rather than
conventional crudes. LNG import
terminals are now being evaluated
for conversion to export.

Light feeds
With increasingly tighter air emis-
sion specifications, a substantial
segment of US refiners are pre-hy-
drotreating feedstocks to remove
contaminant species such as
sulphur and nitrogen. This facili-
tates the FCC operating window
with respect to environmental
requirements. Processing very light
feeds is a well-known problem in
FCC operations. The main chal-
lenges in processing such light
feeds concern making sufficient
coke to properly manage the heat
balance. The usual response is to
use high activity catalysts and rela-
tively high catalyst addition rates to
provide sufficient delta coke, which
is crucial in this operation to main-
tain a reasonable minimum
regenerator temperature. As such
light feeds contain higher levels of
hydrogen, hydrogen transfer reac-
tions play a more pronounced role
than in FCC units processing stand-
ard VGO feeds. This boosts gasoline
selectivity, but is detrimental for
Figures 3 and 4 Cross-section of iron poisoned FCC catalyst: EM image (left) and EDS
scan of iron (right). Note the dense surface layer and the iron distribution on the iron
poisoned catalysts
octane. Lower rare earth catalysts
can help in this instance (with some
increase in catalyst addition rate) if
there is sufficient wet gas compres-
sor capacity. Another effective
alternative is octane selective addi-
tives that do not boost LPG yields
beyond the wet gas compressor or
gas plant limits.
High iron content feed
Many shale oils contain much
higher levels of iron (Fe) than
conventional crudes. In addition,
other contaminant metals that
promote the detrimental effects of
iron (such as calcium, sodium and
potassium) are often present at
elevated levels. Feeds with high
iron content create a number of
problems for refiners, but, again,
these are well known but challeng-
ing to deal with. Iron poisoning of
FCC catalysts becomes readily
apparent: slurry yield increases,
SOx often increases, apparent bulk
(ABD) decreases and sometimes
fluidisation becomes challenging.
Frequently, however, catalyst activ-
ity does not suffer, nor does its
surface area (SA).
In the case of iron poisoning,
activity and SA tests are subject to
artefacts that do not reveal that the
catalyst is nearly rendered inactive
in the FCC unit when the contact
time with feed is short (contrary to
the activity test unit). In the FCC

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 31

 catalyst, in order to dilute the iron
1.0 by flushing it out of the FCC unit.
0.9
High mobility This is a fairly effective solution to
Low mobility lower the average iron level on
0.8
catalyst particles and improve
0.7 activity in the FCC unit. A major
Frequency

0.6 drawback with this solution is that

0.5 the e-cat has very different proper-
0.4 ties compared with the catalyst that
has been carefully tailored for opti-
0.3
mal selectivities in this particular
0.2
unit and application.
0.1 Clean e-cat (in other words, low
0 in metals) generally does not
0 1 2 3 4 5 contain metal traps (as it was
Metal concentration, wt% designed for clean feed applica-
tions), is different in the
Figure 5 Distribution of contaminant metals over fcc e-cat for extremely high mobility zeolite-to-matrix ratio, has a differ-
(blue line) and extremely low mobility (red line) ent rare earth concentration on
zeolite, and so on. However, these
drawbacks are often a small price
1.0 to pay when compared to the detri-
High mobility mental effects of iron poisoning.
0.9
SEM data When a unit suffers from iron
0.8
poisoning, or if high iron feeds are
0.7 anticipated, catalyst suppliers
Frequency

0.6 usually offer catalysts with a higher

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0 but cannot completely prevent it
0 0.5
V2O5 concentration, wt%
Figure 6 Distribution of V2O5 at the surface of an FCC e-cat for extremely high mobility
(blue line) and actual SEM data (red line)
unit, the feed can no longer pene-
trate into the catalyst effectively
because the surface is smothered by
an iron-rich contaminated layer. In
extreme cases, the catalyst becomes
covered with nodules (Figures 1-4).
The iron does not penetrate the
entire catalyst, but forms a low
melting point eutectic with silica,
calcium, sodium and so on, and
forms a barrier layer over the exter-
nal surface of the catalyst particles.
The inner core of the catalyst
remains very active and retains a
high SA (as testing confirms) but is
closed for catalytic conversion of
feed. Fresh catalysts contain some
Fe associated with their kaolin filler
component (typically around 0.3
wt% as Fe2O3).
Iron poisoning can occur at as
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
low as 0.3 wt% added iron (Fe from
the feed and not that already pres-
ent on the fresh catalyst), and
pretty much all catalysts clearly
exhibit iron poisoning symptoms at
levels over 1 wt% total iron (0.7
wt% added Fe). It is worthwhile to
note that the damaging iron is
highly dispersed feed iron (organic
Fe) deposited on FCC catalyst
rather than rust particles, which
have minimal effect on FCC cata-
lyst performance.
Current solutions for iron poisoning
The most common solution for iron
poisoning is to increase the fresh
catalyst make-up rate and, in more
extreme cases, add substantial
quantities of equilibrium catalyst
(e-cat), 50 to 100% of the base
mesoporous alumina-rich matrix
content. Appropriately structured
mesopores are not so easily smoth-
ered as standard FCC catalyst
mesopores. This solution can post-
pone the effects of iron poisoning,
and dilution (high catalyst addition
rate and/or use of e-cat) will still
be required.
Iron poisoning mechanisms revisited
Metal poisoning of FCC catalyst
occurs via a number of
mechanisms:
Vanadium is known to form a low
melting point eutectic with silica,
thereby ‘dissolving’ the zeolite
component. Increasing the amount
of alumina matrix, use of high
rare earth stabilised Y-sieve or use
of a (separate) metal trap are the
most effective solutions to counter
vanadium poisoning. The metal
trap can be inter- or intra-particle,
as vanadium is highly mobile in the
FCC regenerator. Nickel poisoning
works via a different mechanism.
Nickel (and vanadium) promotes
dehydrogenation reactions in the
riser/reactor, forming hydrogen,
dry gas and coke. The introduction of
high crystalline boehmite aluminas
by Katalystiks in the late 1980s was

32 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com

shale j matthey.indd 2 27/02/2014 12:10

 When studying metal 1.0
High mobility
poisoning of catalyst, 0.9
SEM data
0.8
assessing the 0.7

Frequency
resultant dispersion 0.6
0.5
of the metals on the 0.4
0.3
catalyst can reveal 0.2
their mobility 0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
a major step in the alleviation of this Fe2O3 concentration, wt%
problem.
Nickel behaves differently from
vanadium; it is virtually immobile Figure 7 Distribution of Fe2O3 on the surface of an FCC e-cat for extremely high mobility
in the FCC unit. Metal traps there- (blue line) and actual SEM data (red line)
fore need to be situated where the
poisoning occurs: in the FCC cata-
lyst particle itself. Antimony (and 5
FE2O3
bismuth in the distant past) has
NiO
been used to counter the dehydro- 4
genation promoting effects of nickel.
Antimony forms an alloy with
Frequency

nickel, changing its catalytic charac-
teristics dramatically. Antimony is
highly mobile in the FCC unit until
it sticks to fresh nickel, effectively
poisoning/passivating it (nickel
mobility is not a requirement for
nickel passivation to take effect).
Contaminant metal mobility
in the FCC unit
When studying metal poisoning of
catalyst, assessing the resultant
dispersion of the metals on the
catalyst can reveal their mobility
(or lack of it), as will be illustrated
in Figures 5-10. Consider here the
two most extreme cases: (1) the
metal shows an extremely high
mobility, rapidly moving from
particle to particle and within parti-
cles, versus (2) the metal is
absolutely immobile; the moment it
strikes an FCC catalyst particle it
becomes stuck. In the first case
(infinitely mobile), every particle
has the same concentration of metal
(equal to the bulk concentration), as
shown in Figure 5. In the second
case (totally immobile), the distri-
bution of metal over the FCC
catalyst particles is the same as the
residence time distribution (that of
a continuous stirred tank reactor).2
When studying the distribution
of vanadium, a fairly sharp peak is
3
2
1
0
0 1
Fe2O3 and NiO concentration, wt%
Figure 8 Distribution of NiO and Fe2O3 on the surface of an FCC e-cat
observed (as expected), showing a
high degree of vanadium mobility
(Figure 6). Note that in partial burn
FCC regenerators, the vanadium
peak is somewhat broader, indicat-
ing lower mobility than in full burn
FCC regenerators. A completely
different profile is observed in the
case of nickel, one that resembles
the residence time distribution,
confirming nickel’s very low mobil-
ity under FCC conditions.
Iron mobility in the FCC unit –
mobile or immobile?
Does iron poisoning occur via
inter/intra-particle transfer mecha-
nisms similar to that of vanadium
or nickel? What happens when iron
hits a particle?
Feed iron is deposited on FCC
catalyst particles as highly
2 3 4 5 6 7
dispersed organic iron, or iron salt.
Iron can then flux with alkali or
alkali-earth metals such as sodium,
potassium, calcium and vanadium.
Fluxing helps the ‘molten’ iron
cover the FCC catalysts’ external
surface. In probing into an iron
poisoned catalyst, nodules are
observed at the surface of the parti-
cles. Close examination of these
nodules shows micro-domains of
iron oxide crystals, usually in a
silica-rich matrix. Earlier studies
have attributed these nodules to
various causes, all agreed on the
presence of an iron core.
Our previous studies3 have
shown that this iron oxide core
does not need to be situated
beneath the nodule, but is generally
nested somewhere within the
nodule. However, iron cores are

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 33

shale j matthey.indd 3 27/02/2014 12:11


Heat of reaction for coke and iron sulphide (FeS)
Reaction Heat of combustion (BTU/lb C or Fe)
C → CO 3960
C → CO2 14 150
FeS + 7/4 O2 → 1/2 Fe2O3 + SO2 4935
Table 1
Figure 9 TEM image of iron distribution on a nodule in an FCC e-cat poisoned with iron
present in nodules and are likely
the root cause of nodule formation.
Iron oxide particles have been
observed on top of nodules or
buried in their flanks (Figures 9 and
10). The particles are present in a
wide range of sizes. The location of
these particles can be both on top
of the surface or buried in the
matrix up to a few micrometers
deep. This suggests that iron parti-
cles have at least some mobility.
Further, the distribution of iron
over many FCC catalyst particles
was studied using scanning elec-
tron microscopy (SEM) for both
poisoned and non-poisoned e-cat.
When comparing the observed
distribution of these two extreme
cases (high mobility [such as vana-
dium], and extremely low mobility
[such as nickel]), to our surprise
34 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014
shale j matthey.indd 4
iron dispersion resembled that of
vanadium much more closely than
that of nickel (Figures 5-8). This
indicates a very high degree of
Figure 10 TEM image of an iron particle on
flank of a nodule in an iron poisoned FCC
catalyst. The iron particles at the surface
and buried in the matrix show a wide
distribution in particle sizes
inter-particle mobility, probably
due to the relatively large size of
the iron particles!
Iron poisoned catalysts often
behave as inverse-SOx additives (in
other words, capturing H2S in the
riser [as FeS] and releasing it as SOx
in the regenerator in the form of
oxidised FeS. Oxidation of iron
sulphide to iron oxide (Fe2O3) in the
regenerator is exothermic. Table 1
compares oxidation of C to CO2 and
FeS to Fe2O3. This causes the release
of a high amount of local heat. This
inverse-SOx effect is only associated
with the most freshly deposited iron
(half-life estimated to be one to three
days), indicating that once the iron
has become buried within a sili-
ca-rich nodule it loses its ability to
pick up H2S in the riser.
If a metal has inter-particle mobil-
ity, it can be captured by a specially
designed and proprietary metals
trapping additive. Metals traps for
vanadium are already well known
and most FCC catalyst suppliers
offer materials (typically basic
oxide) to capture (acidic) vana-
dium. Can iron be captured? To do
this, iron must be trapped in a
matrix where it will no longer
exhibit inter-particle mobility under
FCC conditions. A wide range of
proprietary materials have been
tested, and from the various tests
we have identified a mixed metal
oxide system that showed particu-
lar promise.
An analogue of this material has
been used in commercial trials. In
every case, the results were swift
and convincing: the metal trap
effectively cured existing iron
poisoning and prevented further
iron poisoning.
In an initial commercial trial, an
alumina sol-based FCC catalyst was
being used together with a substan-
tial amount of flushing e-cat
addition. The iron level on e-cat
was approximately 1.2 wt% Fe2O3
on e-cat. The nodules on e-cat
substantially decreased within the
first week of iron trap usage. After
a few weeks, the nodules were
practically absent (Figures 11 and
12), e-cat activity increased
substantially and the coke and dry
gas yields of the e-cat decreased by
approximately 15% (hydrogen
www.eptq.com
27/02/2014 12:11
 yields decreased by 40%). In this
trial, the trapping of iron enabled
the refinery to reduce additions of
both fresh catalyst and e-cat by 35%
on a continuous basis, despite lead-
ing to increased iron levels.

Conclusion
Iron is mobile under FCC condi-
tions. The distribution of iron over
FCC catalyst particles resembles
that of vanadium, which is known
to be very mobile, and differs from
nickel, which is known to be practi-
cally immobile. These findings
come from extensive studies by
Johnson Matthey-IntercatJM on iron
poisoning on many different FCC
equilibrium catalysts.
While the effects of iron poison-
ing have been known for a long
time, how the iron poisoning takes
place and distributes over the
inventory had not be understood.
Inter-particle mobility of iron under
FCC operating conditions offers the
potential for trapping the iron and
quickly restoring activity and selec-
tivity in the FCC unit. Trials have
Figures 11 and 12 FCC e-cat quality prior to trial and after two months into trial, at
equal iron level (1.2 wt%)
shown this approach to be more
effective than dilution of the iron
on the catalyst using flushing e-cat
and/or the use of highly meso-
porous high matrix/alumina
catalysts.
This article is based on a presentation from
the 5th World Refining Technology & Shale
Processing Summit in Houston on 4-5
December 2013.
References
1 Oil & Gas Journal, 16 Oct 2013.
2 Perry’s Handbook of Chemical Engineering.
3 Tang Y L, Cullen D A, Coffey D W, Allahverdi
M, Reagan W J, Allard L F, Transmission electron
microscopy study of iron oxide poisoning in
fluid catalytic cracking catalysts, Microscopy
and Microanalysis, 2011, Nashville TN.
Bart de Graaf is FCC R&D Director at Johnson
Matthey Process Technologies, IntercatJM.
Email: bart.degraaf@matthey.com
Yali Tang is Electron Microscopy Lab Manager,
Product Development, at Johnson Matthey
Process Technologies, IntercatJM.
Email: yali.tang@matthey.com
Jeff Oberlin is Regional Sales Manager at
Johnson Matthey Process Technologies,
IntercatJM. Email: jeff.oberlin@matthey.com
Paul Diddams is Senior Vice President,
FCC Additives, at Johnson Matthey Process
Technologies, IntercatJM.
Email: paul.diddams@matthey.com

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 Overcoming the challenges of tight/shale
oil refining
The impact tight oil processing can have on a refinery, particularly the considerations
that must be given to desalter performance, corrosion and fouling control

BRIAN BENOIT and JEFFREY ZURLO

GE Water & Process Technologies

T
ight or shale oils are consid-
ered opportunity crudes 4000
Bakken
because they are typically less 3500 Eagle Ford
expensive than crudes produced by
Haynesville
Production, mbpd
traditional drilling methods. 3000
Marcellus
Processing these cheaper crudes 2500 Niobrara
offers today’s refiners obvious Permian
2000
economic incentives, but they come
with their own set of unique chal- 1500
lenges. Although tight and shale 1000
oils are not technically the same
(shale oil is actually a subset of tight 500
oil), for purposes of this discussion 0
the term ‘tight oils’ will be used.
07
07
08
08
09
09
10
10
11
11
12
12
13
13
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
Tight oils have many physical
1/
7/
1/
7/
1/
7/
1/
7/
1/
7/
1/
7/
1/
7/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
1/
properties in common, but the
characteristics that differentiate
them from one another are, in Figure 1 US production report, by region
many cases, the root cause of a
variety of processing challenges. increase the porosity of the forma- • Other contaminants (Ba, Pb) may
Figure 1 breaks down about 90% tion and allow the hydrocarbons to be present
of US oil production over the last flow. Production of tight oils would • Filterable solids: greater volume
six years, as reported by the US not be economically viable without and smaller particle size
Energy Information Association these technologies. • Production chemicals or
(EIA), and includes major produc- The techniques used to extract contaminants.
tion areas from both conventional tight oil supplies often result in the
and unconventional sources. Tight oil containing more production Eagle Ford and Bakken characteristics
oils account for much of the growth chemicals and increased solids with As previously noted, this discus-
in US production. This trend is smaller particle size than conven- sion is primarily focused on Eagle
expected to continue for many tional crudes. When introduced to Ford and Bakken crudes, highlight-
years, as well as expand globally. the refining process, tight oils can ing characteristics they have in
The focus of this article will be stabilise emulsions in the desalter, common, as well as those that
primarily on tight oils produced increase the potential for system make them unique.
from the US Eagle Ford and Bakken corrosion and fouling, as well as Tight oil characteristics can vary
fields, two regions with the highest negatively impact waste water greatly from batch to batch, even
production growth. treatment. within the same type of crude oil
The term ‘tight oils’ is derived Common tight oil characteristics: supply. For example, Figure 2 is a
from the fact that the oil and gas • Batch to batch variability photo of crude oil samples that
deposits are tightly held within • Gravity ranges 20-55°API were all sold as Eagle Ford crude.
geological formations and are not • Low sulphur levels, but H2S can In addition, the range of API grav-
free flowing, as the rock is very be an issue ity for tight oils can be quite wide,
dense and not porous. Horizontal • Low levels of nitrogen from 20-55°, with most at 40° grav-
wells are used to greatly increase • High paraffin content ity and above.
the well surface area exposed to • Heavy metals (Ni & V) are low Tight oil crudes, in general, have
hydrocarbon-rich deposits, and • Level of alkaline metals may be low nitrogen and high paraffin
hydraulic fracturing is used to high content. Heavy metals, such as

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 37

shale ge.indd 1 27/02/2014 12:13

 are not typically found in virgin
crude oils. As a consequence of
these dramatic variations in quality
and physical properties, it is
increasingly more important for
refiners to be able to identify, inter-
pret and respond quickly to
changes in crude feed properties.
In general, today’s refiner is
continually adapting to increasing
Figure 2 Tight oil variability (Eagle Ford samples) variability in crude oil quality.
Combine this with the blending of
tight oils into the standard crude
100 slate, and normal refinery opera-
Light ends
90
Naphtha tions can be difficult to maintain.
80 Distillates Processing these difficult blends
70 Gas oils can have a significant negative
Residuum impact on overall profitability,
60
Yield, %

affecting product quality, unit relia-

50
bility and on-stream time.
40 Determining how a new crude oil
30 fits into a refinery operation
20 requires a comprehensive under-
10 standing of the physical properties
and unique characteristics of that
0
crude and how it will interact with
rd

en

TI

K
gh

en

gh
LL

the rest of the typical crude slate.

LL
W
Fo

kk

W
Br
Li

Li
Ba
e

ab

Figure 3 highlights tight oil distil-

gl

nn

Ar
Ea

Bo

lation cuts compared to several

Figure 3 Distillation cuts: tight oils vs benchmark crudes
nickel and vanadium, are generally
low, but alkaline metals (calcium,
sodium and magnesium) may be
high. This is highly variable as well.
In addition, other contaminants such
as barium and lead may be elevated.
Filterable solids can be higher than
conventional crude oils, with greater
volume and smaller particle size.
Select samples of Bakken crude
have contained salt concentrations
as high as 500 ppm, as well as
non-extractable salts. Some samples
of Eagle Ford crude have been
shown to contain olefins or carbon-
yls – both fouling precursors that
common North American crudes.
Note that residuum production is
low compared to high volumes of
gasoline and distillates. For refiner-
ies that are configured for
bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading,
this can be a negative and limit the
amount of tight oil that can be
added to the crude blend. In order
to balance the mix of products in
the crude distillation tower to fit
many refinery operations, blending
tight oils with heavy asphaltic
crude makes sense, as the blend
can result in a desirable distillation
profile for many refiners. However,
this practice can also lead to
compatibility issues.

Compatibility tests
Although asphaltene stability has
always played a role in crude
blending, the high paraffin content
of tight oils greatly increases the
potential impact of asphaltene
precipitation upon blending, and its
negative impact on the refinery
process. There are several estab-
lished and developing test methods
Initial mix Precipitation Flocculation and that can evaluate an oil, or a blend,
settling
for asphaltene stability.
Figure 4 Asphaltene compatibility test The photos in Figure 4 show the

38 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com

shale ge.indd 2 27/02/2014 12:13

 progression (from left to right) of a
compatibility test performed on
incompatible blends of oils that
generate agglomerated asphaltenes.
The initial mixing of the oils
produces a homogeneous mixture.
Over time, asphaltenes start to
agglomerate such that they form a
separate detectable phase in the
fluid. Finally, significant agglomera-
tion has occurred and asphaltene
particulates are forming larger parti-
cles. These precipitated asphaltenes
contribute to fouling and can also
stabilise desalter emulsions.
Another concern with tight oil
handling is the potential for low
temperature waxes to form. These
waxes can contain very long-chain
paraffins and isoparaffins, up to
C-35. The subsequent formation of
waxy sludge can be problematic in
transportation; in storage tanks,
impacting storage capacity and
tank drains; as well as increasing
the potential for fouling in the cold
train.
Tight oils are typically low in
sulphur but may, nonetheless, have
high H2S (hydrogen sulphide)
levels. Triazine-based H2S scaven-
gers are commonly used upstream
for environmental, health and
safety (EHS) compliance. However,
the triazine contaminates the crude
and can contribute to emulsion
stabilisation, amine halide salt foul-
ing and under-deposit corrosion
throughout the refinery. pH modifi-
cation in the desalter can be very
effective in removing these amines
from the crude oil.
In addition to asphaltene instabil-
ity, tight oils may introduce other
contaminants that can adversely
affect heat transfer throughout the
refinery. Chemical treatment
programs can effectively address
many of the issues related to
processing both Eagle Ford and
Bakken blends, although the best
treatment program for one blend
may be very different from the best
for the other. Critical understand-
ing of the characteristics of the oils,
as well as the blends being
processed, is needed to properly
address poor desalter performance,
corrosion and fouling.
Figure 5 highlights the main areas
throughout a refinery that are
www.eptq.com
shale ge.indd 3
impacted by the introduction of
tight oils to the process, beginning
at the tank farm. The presence of
waxes, solids and blend compatibil-
ity issues can lead to unloading
problems, wax sludge build-up and
tank drain plugging. Increased
solids, salts and other contaminants
contribute to fouling in hot and
cold exchangers, furnaces and
atmosphere columns.
Low yields of gasoils and resid-
uum may mean that production
rates of heavy ends will suffer and
asphalt volumes will likely
decrease. Likewise, low utilisation
of heavy end upgrading and
sulphur plants, due to a shortage of
feed volume, can lead to turn-down
limitations for these units.
Gasoline reforming can be nega-
tively impacted because tight oils
typically do not produce high
octane products. In contrast, cata-
Tight oils can cause
wax precipitation,
which can degrade
desalter temperatures
and plug cold train
exchangers
lytic cracking units may benefit, as
tight oils make good feedstock for
these operations.
In addition, the low porphyrin
metal content may open up resid
cracking as an option. Tight oils
tend to make a bit less jet fuel, and
cold flow properties of middle
distillate products may change.
Depending on what tight oils are
blended, the cold flow properties
can deteriorate or actually even
improve. Since the production of
both tight oil and tight gas are so
closely aligned, typically as tight oil
production increases, natural gas
prices decease, improving fuel gas
economics.
Finally, the wastewater treatment
plant may experience operational
difficulties when blending tight oils
into the supply. High levels of
solids and smaller particle size may
challenge the primary waste treat-
ment equipment, which may
require a redesign or a change in
the chemical treatment program.
Increased levels of COD, BOD and
nitrogen load into the waste plant
from contaminants removed in the
desalter, such as solids, other
contaminants and the H2S scaven-
gers that are fed upstream, can
place an additional load on the
biological system. Also, the pres-
ence of some heavy metal
compounds may compromise
discharge limits.
The specific challenges associated
with the processing of Bakken and
Eagle Ford tight oils are presented
in three different sections: desalting
challenges, corrosion and fouling.
Practical field experiences with
these crudes highlight what they
have in common, as well as what
sets them apart.
Crude oil desalting
Desalter performance has tradition-
ally been measured by salt removal,
oil dehydration and chloride
control efficiency. However, the
recent influx of opportunity crudes,
has introduced tremendous varia-
bility in the quality of the crude
blends, prompting many refiners to
rethink the role of the desalter.
Refiners are now often running this
equipment more as an extraction
vessel, removing many more
contaminants than just salt. While
the individual desalter challenges
may not be particularly new, the
combination of issues is.
Compatibility problems can result
from blending highly paraffinic
crudes with asphaltenic crudes,
which lead to asphaltene destabili-
sation that can stabilise emulsions,
as well as accelerate preheat and
furnace fouling. Tight oils can
cause wax precipitation, which can
degrade desalter temperatures and
plug cold train exchangers.
Variability, due to raw salt and
BS&W, can stabilise emulsions in
the desalter, as well as impact
corrosion control in the overhead
system. Increased solids loading
may exceed the desalter’s design
capability, resulting in emulsion
control issues, accelerated fouling
of the preheat train and furnace, as
well as more difficult phase
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 39
27/02/2014 12:13
 Tank farm Low cost natural gas

Waxy-water draw /
From
blending compatibility Utilities To units
suppliers
Fouling

rt
Cold train

po
ns d
tra oa

op
R
+

Sl
H2 Isom unit
To
Sats gas
Lower octane
+ Isomerate
Light H2
Desalters naphtha Reformate
+
Naphtha C12
Cold-flow Tank farm /
Reformers property issues blending
Hot train +
NHT H2 KHT
Kero/Jet/ULSD
Kerosene
+
Crude H2 Low P
Distillate DHT
ULSD
+ Cracker
H2

C 4s ULSD
+ C3s and + Isom + High P
H2 higher HF H2 DHT
C 4s
LAGO/HAGO
ULSD
To Alky
Sats gas Vac GHT
VGO Alkylate
GDU
VTB

ip

e
lin
FCCU

Sh
Low

pe
Rx/Reg

Pi
utilisation
Cracks well
Low yield SDA unit
Naphtha
Asphalt
LCGO/HCGO/distillates

Cokers
Asphalt to Coke to Slurry to
road transport barge barge

Fouling

Refinery sour water Waste water

treatment plant

Refinery gases
SWS
High solids,
COD/BOD,
H 2S N2, metals
Sats gas
Lean amines

Rich amines
From Vac and Crude
Amines
Low
utilisation
Flare

C2s-C4s

Merox
Pipeline Refinery Sulphur to To river
fuel gas road transport

Figure 5 Impact of tight oils on refinery-wide processing

40 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com

shale ge.indd 4 27/02/2014 12:13

 separation downstream in the
primary wastewater and slop oil 100
handling systems. 90
‘Tramp’ amines are defined as Desalter program modified
those amines not intentionally 80

Efficiency, %
introduced to the crude unit for 70
halide neutralisation. Tramp
60
amines found in tight oil crudes are
predominantly the result of 50
triazines-based H2S scavengers.
40
These amines can cause emulsifica-
tion issues at the desalter, as well 30
as increase the salt potential in the 20
crude tower and overhead system.

9/ 7/2 08
7/ /20 8
7/ /20 8
6/ /20 9
10 7/2 09
2/ /20 9
2/ /20 9
1/ /20 0
29 7/2 10
28 /9/ 010
28 2/2 10
26 3/2 10
24 6/2 11
23 /9/ 011
22 2/2 11
20 3/2 11
18 6/2 12
17 /9/ 012
17 2/2 12
15 3/2 12
13 6/2 13
/2 3
3
10 00
1 0
4 0

/4 00
1 0
4 1

/9 01
01
/ 0

/1 20
/ 0
/ 0

/1 20
/ 0
/ 0

/1 20
/ 0
/ 0
If not properly managed, severe

corrosion can result when these
amine salts form. Additional
amines and ammonia can tax the
waste treatment systems as well,
due to nitrogen loading. Variable
metals can cause catalyst poisoning
at the FCC unit, as well as impact
coke quality. As a result, GE Water
& Process Technologies (GE W&PT)
recommends a new paradigm with
regard to treating desalters. It calls
for the use of ‘multiple levers’ or
select chemistries to address issues
specific to a refinery site. These
levers may include options such as
split feed, which is primarily inject-
ing the primary emulsion breaker
into both the oil and the water, as
well as using crude stabilisers,
wetting agents, reverse emulsion
breakers, amine/metals removal
aids and pH modifiers.
Chemical programs have to be
carefully evaluated, taking into
account several considerations,
including crude tank dewatering,
slop system management and wash
water quality. Even the make-up of
the chemistry selected has to be
taken into account when accessing
the overall treatment program.
Application technology is another
variable that can impact program
performance. 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 help-
ing more basic compounds
partition into the water. There is
tremendous benefit associated with
removing amines at the desalter. If
the amines or ammonia are not
partitioned into the water, they
11 4/2
/
12
Reduced solids in crude = reduced fouling potential
Figure 6 Solids in desalted crude
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.
Wetting agent adjunct chemistry
can also be very helpful when
processing tight oils. The fracking
process used to extract tight oils
increases the amount of entrained
solids. Compared to those found in
traditional crudes, these solids are
smaller and the volume is typically
higher as well. The increased solids
loading can easily overwhelm the
desalter’s ability to remove them.
Loadings as high as 300 pounds per
thousand barrels in the raw crude
have been documented when
processing certain tight oils. The
Figure 7 Benefit of crude stabilizer
higher loadings can cause stabilised
emulsions, which can lead to water
carry-over in the oil and oily efflu-
ent brine as well. Entrained oil in
the effluent brine can cause prob-
lems in the wastewater treatment
plant. The solids are inorganic
particles that are coated in oil.
Wetting agents help strip the oil
layer from the particles and make it
easier for them to be removed from
the desalter.
Desalter treatment programs can
be combined or modified to
enhance solids removal. One US
Gulf Coast refiner wanted to
improve solids removal to address
downstream heat exchanger and
furnace fouling. The modifications
at the desalter included changes to
the chemical program and to the
operating parameters. Prior to the
modifications, the desalter program
had performed successfully with
respect to salt removal and dehy-
dration. However, Figure 6 clearly
illustrates the benefit of the
program modifications, with solids
removal efficiencies approaching
90%.
When paraffinic tight oils are
blended with asphaltenic crudes,
the asphaltenes can destabilise and
agglomerate, leading to emulsion
stabilisation, increased oil in the
effluent, as well as preheat
exchanger and furnace fouling. The
photos in Figure 7 illustrate the
benefit of applying an adjunct
chemistry, called a crude stabiliser,
designed to condition the crude oil

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 41

shale ge.indd 5 27/02/2014 12:14

 overhead system. In some
Amine salt point higher than water dew point instances, overhead systems
become so loaded with these
amines that the traditional neutral-
Dew point
isers are actually turned off. Even
with no neutralisers added, the pH
Salt point remains well above control limits in
some of these systems. The amine
hydrochloride salts that form in
this situation can produce corrosion
rates in excess of 1000 mils per year
Wet salts
Very high corrosion
under some conditions. Because of
Overhead the concentration of the tramp
vapour
amines and subsequent salt forma-
tion, total system amine
Figure 8 Overhead corrosion mechanism management is extremely critical to
equipment reliability.
and keep asphaltenes from precipi- and reduced use of ammonia as a Figure 8 illustrates how and
tating. Here the adjunct chemistry primary neutraliser, the industry where these very corrosive salts
is used independent of the emul- has witnessed a dramatic shift from might begin to form. In addition to
sion breaker to minimise the rag traditional ICP (initial condensation H2S scavengers, there are several
layer build-up in the desalter and point) or dew-point, corrosion other sources of tramp amines.
to control the effluent water mechanisms to amine salt corro- They can enter the system via:
quality. sion. Tramp amines are becoming • Steam neutralisers
considerably more prevalent, • Slop oils charged back to the
Corrosion and distillate contributing to high pH corrosion, desalter
maximisation and increased fouling in overhead • Sour waters used as desalter
In today’s market, it is often an exchangers and fin fans. wash water
economic advantage to increase • Atmospheric tower reflux streams.
distillate production. Some refiners Tramp amines Cold, wet atmospheric tower
are lowering tower top tempera- Depending on the amine properties reflux streams can exacerbate this
tures to achieve distillate and concentrations, amine salts can problem by recycling the various
maximisation. While this will yield form at, or even above, the system amines in the overhead system.
higher distillate production, it may dew-point, making it difficult to Unless adequately purged, these
also increase corrosion potential control salt deposit-related corro- recycled amines can concentrate up
and reduce unit reliability. sion. In addition, when tramp and lead to higher salt points and
Corrosive salt formation and/or amines are introduced, uncon- increased corrosion potential in the
shifts in salt point temperatures can trolled acid neutralisation can occur overhead.
compromise crude unit integrity. and further contribute to salt Figure 9 details a deposit analysis
Due to better wash water systems build-up in the tower top and/or from a failed pumparound
exchanger at a US Gulf Coast refin-
ery. The overhead system had
500 experienced three corrosion-related
450 failures within a two-year period.
Prior to that time, they had not
400
experienced an unplanned corro-
350
sion event for decades. The results
300 of the deposit analysis revealed that
ppm

250 the neutraliser amine, probably

200 from wet reflux, was the highest
150
concentration; the second highest
was the plant amine used for acid
100
gas sweetening, coming in via the
50
slop oil system; and the third high-
0 est amine concentration was from
MEA scavengers. The plant had
av am r
g e
av in 2
Amge F
Am ine 1
i C
Am in M
m eL

Am ine a
A
D
i G
H
Am ine I
Amine J
N
O
P
R
in S
T
sc nt lise
en in

Am ine
Am on
sc Am er

r
en e

e
Amine
Am e
Amine
Am ne

Amne
Am e

Amine
Amne

n
n

previously been unaware of the

2 S la tra

i
i
i
P u
e

amines from the MEA scavengers.

N

2S

The plant had maintained good

H

desalter performance and chloride

Figure 9 Heat exchanger deposit analysis control in the overhead, yet the

42 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com

shale ge.indd 6 27/02/2014 12:14

 elevated amine concentrations
increased the salt formation Temp Salt point boundary product Fraction of time salting
temperature to the point where it 250 142 33%
formed in the tower’s top pump- 261 204 21%
around section, resulting in the 272 324 17% Average 22%
284 274 18% StDev 6.1%
high corrosion rates.
Rigorous control of chlorides can only
address half the salt equation, even at
Statistical salt analysis high tower temperatures
GE W&PT has developed a propri- 100
etary technique to analyse the Temp = 250
90
output data of ionic equilibrium (CI, MEA)
80
models under different operating Temp = 261
conditions to develop salt forma- 70 Temp = 272

tion curves. Ongoing amine
mapping and amine speciation of
the system is used to understand
which amine is driving the salt
point. Once the salting frequency of
the system is established, custom-
ised operating envelopes are
developed to help maintain reliable
overhead system control and
increase operating flexibility.
In the following example (see
Figure 10), GE helped one refiner
manage atmospheric tower salt
formation by generating salt point
operating envelopes. These curves
helped identify safe tower top
operating temperatures while
increasing distillate production. The
lines represent MEA salt point
boundaries at various tempera-
tures. The data to the left or below
the lines indicates that there is no
salting occurring. The data to the
right or above means that there is
salting. Plotting the actual data
with these lines can help determine
the percentage of time the system is
actually forming salt, depending on
the system operating parameters.
Since the salt point is a function of
the concentration of both the acid
and the base, it is imperative to
manage both chlorides and amine
concentrations in the overhead
system to avoid forming salts and
control corrosion. KPIs are then
(MEA), ppm
60 Temp = 284
Linear ((CI, MEA))
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
CI, ppm
Figure 10 Monoethanolamine (MEA) salting frequency
top temperatures have to be aware represents temperature differences
of the change in monitoring that in degrees between the water dew
should occur to optimise the points and the salt points.
economic benefits while managing The blue bars have a 10 degree
the corrosion. difference or greater. Yellow indi-
GE helped a US refiner define a cates 0-10 degree differentials. The
new operating envelope in order to red bars are instances when the salt
limit overhead corrosion and point actually fell below the water
improve the unit’s economic dew point in the system. Prior to
balance. First, the relationship December 2010, the refiner had
between the salt point and the experienced very high corrosion
water dew point was correlated because of several instances when
using GE’s LoSalt* ionic equilib- the salt point dropped below the
rium model. Corrosion in the water dew point. Recognising the
overhead was identified and quan- impact salt point had on corrosion
tified by overlaying the data. Each control, the output of the ionic
one of the bars in Figure 11 equilibrium model was then used to
128 MPY <5 MPY
average corrosion rate average corrosion rate
40
30
∆Temperature, ºF

established around salt point

20
boundaries instead of just chlorides
alone, providing a more complete 10
picture of the operation envelope
needed to maintain system 0
reliability.
–10 Crude tower operating conditions
With increased production of altered, based on model
tight oils, tramp amine salt initiated –20
corrosion is becoming more preva- (Water dew point vs salt point)
lent in the industry. Refiners that –30
are considering processing these
lighter crudes or lowering tower Figure 11 Impact of amine salt corrosion

www.eptq.com Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 43

shale ge.indd 7 27/02/2014 12:14

 establish a new, safer operating
envelope to reduce system corro-
sion. Since that time, corrosion rates
have been maintained 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.
Fouling
In addition to the desalting and
corrosion challenges associated
with processing tight oils, equip-
ment fouling can be a major
concern. The processing of lighter
crudes, with low asphaltenes, is not
typically thought of as being
particularly problematic. However,
there are specific issues associated
with these crudes that have been
identified to cause issues in the
refinery process.
The cold train can experience
wax precipitation, with the result-
ant loss of heat transfer causing
low desalter temperatures in addi-
tion to increased pressure drop
across the cold train heat exchang-
ers. Also, increased preheat and
furnace fouling potential can be
experienced with these crudes due
to asphaltene precipitation, metal
catalysed polymerisation and/or
solids deposition.
There are typically two types of
fouling in the hot train and
furnaces. Coke and inorganic solids
are the primary culprits. The coke
can result from asphaltene precipi-
tation or polymerisation byproducts
that fall out of the bulk fluid onto
the tube surfaces and dehydrogen-
ates. Metal catalysed polymerisation
is somewhat rare in crude oil, but
does occasionally occur due to
sporadic spikes in the levels of reac-
tive metals. Finally, high solids
loading, common with these crudes,
along with any carryover from the
desalter can significantly contribute
to fouling issues. Most refiners run
years before fouling requires the
furnace to be cleaned. Recently,
some refiners have experienced as
little as three months between turn-
arounds to clean the crude furnace.
Asphaltenes and asphaltene
precipitation
Asphaltenes are compounds that
are n-heptane insoluble yet soluble
44 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 www.eptq.com
shale ge.indd 8
in toluene and are believed to be
suspended by resins. The resins are
polyaromatic compounds that are
considerably lower in molecular
weight than asphaltenes, and help
to suspend the asphaltenes in the
crude. When these resins become
destabilised, such as upon heating
or mixing with paraffinic crudes,
agglomeration can occur in the
desalter, the bulk fluid, the preheat
train, or the furnace and cause foul-
ing. The photos in Figure 4,
mentioned earlier, show the results
of a lab technique GE has devel-
oped to help predict asphaltene
stability. This test can be performed
on-site to help determine the
asphaltene precipitation potential
of a specific crude or blend of crude
oils, allowing refiners to better
predict the behaviour of crude
blends, as well as help set blending
strategies.
Effective baseline
monitoring is
extremely important
to understand the
status of the
current system
Refiners employ many perfor-
mance management strategies to
reduce or mitigate equipment foul-
ing, including operational and
mechanical adjustments as well as
anti-fouling chemistries. Some of the
common operational or mechanical
approaches are: reducing solids and
salts by optimising desalter perfor-
mance, increasing fluid velocities to
minimise deposition potential, and
modifying furnace flame patterns by
cleaning or changing burner tips to
maximise performance and mini-
mise impingement that can cause
coking.
Chemistries have been used
successfully through the years to
help reduce equipment fouling. GE
recommends a multi-functional
approach, tailored to the individual
refinery and focused on addressing
each specific issue with the most
cost-effective program.
Using proper characterisation
methods to understand the root
cause of the fouling can help deter-
mine the most appropriate
management strategies. When start-
ing to process problematic crude
blends or increasing a problematic
crude type in a blend, effective
baseline monitoring is extremely
important to understand the status
of the current system, as well as to
anticipate what limitations may
develop.
Conclusion
In closing, the unique challenges
associated with processing tight
oils can be overcome with a combi-
nation of baseline and ongoing
monitoring, defining and imple-
menting new operating envelopes,
and utilising multi-functional
chemical treatment programs that
provide refiners with the tools and
the flexibility to address the specific
process problems as they arise.
LoSalt is a mark of GE Power & Water.
Brian Benoit is the Hydrocarbon Processing
Industry Leader for GE Water & Process
Technologies. He provides customer technical
support to the refining industry, with a
principal focus on refinery best practices
implementation, customer training seminars,
refining technical audits and problem solving
and troubleshooting. He has 24 years of
experience in refinery process chemical
treatment sales and support, as well as regional
engineering technical support. Having spent
his entire career with GE Water & Process
Technologies, his areas of expertise include
desalting, crude unit corrosion control, fouling
control and primary wastewater treatment
systems. Benoit holds a bachelor’s degree in
chemical engineering from Louisiana Tech
University. Email: brian.benoit@ge.com
Jeffrey Zurlo is a Senior Project Manager for GE
Water & Process Technologies, with 23 years
of experience in process engineering, refinery
treatment sales and services, hydrocarbon
product applications and technical support.
He currently provides global technical support
to the refining industry, with a primary
focus on refinery best practices, knowledge
management, technology development, and
alkanolamine programs. Prior to joining GE,
he held various process engineering positions
at Sunoco, Koch Refining, and Hercules. Zurlo
holds a bachelor’s of engineering degree
in chemical engineering from the Stevens
Institute of Technology.
Email: jeffrey.zurlo@GE.com
27/02/2014 12:14
 Better yield accounting methods improve
financial results
A yield accounting system can improve the efficiency of solving material balance
errors and correct measurement errors throughout an entire facility
Kaylen McMullen, Joseph McMullen and John Hernandez
Schneider Electric and Invensys
R
efineries, petrochemical plants
and other processing facilities
must accurately account for all
material in the plant. They simply
cannot afford to give material away
and incur monetary losses due to
incorrect tracking and financial
assessment of receipts and ship-
ments. Small percentages of
unaccounted material relative to
the entire plant throughput add up
during the course of the year. This
could have a negative impact on
the plant’s profitability, as well as
its competitive market position.
Hydrocarbon processing facilities
must also ensure they are minimis-
ing or eliminating true material
losses as they strive to comply with
stringent regulatory controls. So,
any methods that properly measure
receipts, shipments, process streams
and tank inventories to help meet
compliance targets should be a
welcome addition to their business
practices.
Additionally, if a plant has the
capability to keep an accurate
material balance while identifying
faulty measurements, quality and
other performance targets will be
improved, while losses due to
inaccurate metering and product
downgrades will be reduced.
Therefore, it is imperative to have
an accurate account of where plant
material is located. Leaders in the
processing industries accomplish
this using meticulous yield
accounting procedures aided by
state-of-the-art software.
Beyond financial, regulatory and
quality issues, the inability to prop-
erly reconcile the material balance
of streams and components
adversely affects accounting, where
www.eptq.com
shale invensys.indd 1
comingled ownership of processed
materials is involved and/or there
is a joint venture involved requir-
ing an accurate distribution of costs
and profits.
Properly implemented yield
accounting practices and technol-
ogy are the key to better tracking of
materials, closing the material
balance around an entire process-
ing facility, reducing booked losses
and properly assessing the financial
performance of the facility. To
understand the financial magnitude
of the issue, consider that the typi-
cal material balance around a
250 000 bpd refinery will show
Properly implemented
yield accounting
practices and
technology are the
key to better tracking
of materials
imbalances of 1.5 to 2%. Best prac-
tices in yield accounting, including
advanced software methods, can
reduce this imbalance by 0.5% or
more. This improvement in the
closure, appraised at today’s refin-
ery margins, can represent up to
$5.0 million per year. Today’s yield
accounting software solutions
provide necessary assistance in
closing the balances by identifying
measurement and data-entry errors,
performing mathematical reconcili-
ation of the plant measurements
and accurately reporting reconciled
consumption and production
information to the financial
systems.
Improving the overall effective-
ness of the yield accounting system
will lead to more reliable plant and
business performance metrics and
more accurate financial reporting.
The primary issues are data quality,
data sources and important charac-
teristics of a best of breed yield
accounting application. A facility
that utilises the suggested practices
and techniques, and implements
such an application, will make
positive improvements in the accu-
racy of their financial reporting.
Data quality
All raw plant data need to be
reconciled before they can be used.
Reconciliation turns raw data into
useful information by removing
data in gross error and determining
statistically correct data for each
instrument based on the process as
a whole.
The key data issues that impede
closing the material balance are
plant data measurement errors,
data entry errors and missing data.
Raw plant measurements can vary
based on instrumentation accuracy,
maintenance and calibration
history, and changes in the process
conditions and compositions of the
materials being measured. The
objective in using a yield account-
ing software application is to adjust
the raw measurements within their
measurement tolerances to close
the balance. However, the reconcili-
ation procedure may have to adjust
some of the measurements beyond
their tolerance limits in order to
close the balances. A good yield
accounting application will perform
Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 45
27/02/2014 12:18
 the reconciliation, automatically
(programmatically) detect and
identify meters that are grossly
erroneous, and close the balances
within measurement tolerances of
the remaining (good) meters.
Even the most experienced user
is likely to make errors in data
entry, which can bias the solution
completely by incorporating
nonsensical data. A validation
process is therefore required on
manually entered data so that
many errors may be corrected
immediately at their source.
Wherever possible, data validation
rules should be configured at the
point where manual data are
entered. The user makes entries
and the interface layer should
immediately flag any values that
are not within acceptable limits.
This saves time for the yield
accountant by cleaning up the data
near the start of the process.
Nevertheless, it should be possible
to configure data value constraints
within the yield accounting
software.
Missing data also pose a problem
for the yield accountant. This can
occur due to a number of reasons.
An interface between the yield
accounting software and source
data may fail and may not have
appropriate store-and-forward
procedures to recover from
communication failures or the data
simply may not have been recorded
in the source database. For exam-
ple, operators receive orders and
directives for material movements
in and around tanks, receiving
terminals and shipping terminals.
They are tasked with starting and
stopping the transactions and
monitoring the movements as they
occur. This monitoring and execu-
tion process typically requires
operators to log start and end times
along with other related data for
each transaction by making data
entry or pressing a button. If the
required actions are not done prop-
erly and completely, this may cause
gaps in the information that is
available to the yield accounting
application. The yield accounting
solution should be capable of iden-
tifying missing movements based
on the rest of the information and
46 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014
shale invensys.indd 2
will bring this to the attention of
the yield accountant.
Automated data sources
Yield accounting requires various
types of information as input. Some
of the data may be manual, but
most of the data will be automated;
that is, they come from electronic
databases connected to the plant
network and are communicated
electronically to the yield account-
ing application. The main
automated data sources are process
Wherever possible,
data validation
rules should be
configured at the
point where manual
data are entered
stream data, tank inventories,
movements (receipts, shipments
and inter-plant transactions) and
quality data (lab and process
analysers). The process data are
obtained from a process historian
that is closely coupled with the
plant control systems. The tank
inventories come from tank gaug-
ing systems and possibly from an
application that may be used to
monitor and control tank opera-
tions. Movement data may come
from the process historian, a move-
ment software management
application or manual entry based
on operator logs. Quality data orig-
inate from a plant laboratory and/
or on-line process analysers. Often,
quality data generated in the labo-
ratory are passed into the process
historian. This is a challenge with
the rapid expansion of shale crudes’
physical and chemical properties
and their effect on the laboratory
data quality passed into the process
historian. The yield accounting
application obtains those data along
with other process data directly
from the process historian, elimi-
nating the need for integration to
the laboratory information system.
Each of the mentioned data
systems provides necessary data to
the yield accounting application,
although those data come in differ-
ent forms. Some data are
aggregated stream rates, some are
movement quantities, some are
contained volume and/or mass
quantities, and some values may be
composition (percentage) values.
The yield accounting application
must provide mechanisms to
retrieve or receive the data in their
original forms and translate them,
as needed, into a consistent set of
transactional quantities for the time
period that is to be balanced. The
most common mechanisms in use
today for transferring yield
accounting input data are flat files
(for example, comma delimited),
spreadsheet files, relational data-
base connectivity (SQL Server or
Oracle) or OPC connection (process
data).
Integration to data sources is
more efficient when done directly
from within the yield accounting
application rather than via various
integrations outside of the program.
This allows the yield accountant to
work in one environment only
instead of having to open and navi-
gate through several applications to
trace the data to their sources.
Navigation, analysis and mainte-
nance are greatly reduced by this
approach.
Each of the data sources, if
compliant with the latest industry
practices, will have configuration
options to validate data values as
they are collected and assign
“state” or “condition” attributes.
For example, a value may be
recorded that is outside of a normal
or expected range, hence the data
application may assign an attribute
such as “dubious” or “out of
range”. The important point here
about data attributes is that the
data sources can provide more than
just raw data as input to the yield
accounting application. The yield
accounting package should have
the capability to receive and utilise
the additional information. Where
data are marked as out of range, or
with some other characteristic, the
yield accounting package must be
configurable with different options
for handling each situation. For
example, the application can use an
www.eptq.com
27/02/2014 12:18
 alternate measured or fixed value,
or it can calculate the value from
other measured values, or it can
simply disregard the value and
calculate the value via the reconcili-
ation process. This kind of
flexibility for handling data greatly
assists the yield accountant in
analysing the input data before and
after the reconciliation is
performed. A yield accounting
application with this capability
stands out as the more advanced,
state-of-the-art package.
Composition tracking
Errors in the material balance can
occur where any kind of mixing
operation is performed. In the
physical plant, this occurs where
streams merge, for example, in
manifold operations and/or in feed
and product blending operations
for quality control. From a model-
ling perspective, streams (or
transactions) of differing composi-
tions are brought together in a
node and exit as a combined entity.
Due to the variance in densities of
the streams, a mechanism is needed
to determine the exiting density.
The problem involves both the
volumetric and mass balances.
Volumes should be balanced to
determine amounts of material that
have been combined, then the
mixture densities can be calculated,
in order to calculate the mass
balance.
But the problem gets more
complicated when the transactions
involve tanks, particularly with the
growing investment in tankage at
US Midwest and Gulf Coast refin-
eries confronted with a wider
variety of unconventional shale
crudes, in addition to heavy
Canadian crudes. In the tank farms
(off-sites), material quantities are
moved into and out of tanks at
different times; each transaction can
and will have slightly different
physical properties. What is
required is a method that will
balance the volumetric quantities of
the material that enter and exit the
tanks and in what time sequence.
The method should also incorpo-
rate assumptions about how the
material mixes, or does not mix,
within the tank. And it should
www.eptq.com
shale invensys.indd 3
determine what quality of material
leaves the tank based on tank
configuration (for example, FIFO,
LIFO, and so on). This kind of
balancing and tracking can be done
in an off-site operations manage-
ment application or within the Our knockout drum needs
yield accounting application. As a a mist eliminator!
result of composition tracking, the
yield accounting package can better
reconcile the material balance. It
has been demonstrated at some
facilities that the losses (non-clo-
sure) around processing units,
where mixing takes place, are
sometimes attributed to errors in
the density data that occur if no
tracking function is performed. Can we add one without
overhauling the vessel?
User-imposed constraints IT’S A MORE COMMON problem than
and calculations you might think. A vertical knockout
An experienced yield accountant drum removes free liquid from a
and process engineer know where certain gas stream. But at the time the
certain materials should or should plant was built, a mist eliminator was
not considered necessary. Now mist
not appear in the balance. They
is carrying over and causing trouble
also know certain conditions that downstream. There is no manway, so
should be imposed on the balance adding a conventional mist eliminator
for different operating modes at would require cutting the vessel open.
different times. For example, the
overall material balance is the chief
concern of the daily reconciliation,
but there are streams where a
component should be tracked. In
this scenario, the user requires the
capability to specify composition
limits or component balances as
needed. As another example, if a
balance is being done around a
steam supply system, certain oper-
ating modes will have specific
energy consumption targets as key
MistFix® insertion mist eliminator
performance indicators (KPIs)
based on feed, production or some Instead, if the flanged exit nozzle
other parameter. These targets will is at least six inches in diameter, you
fall only within known tolerances, can simply hang a patented MistFix®
outside of which are infeasible. mist eliminator inside, securing it
And beyond the reconciled transac- between the flanges.
Even when there is a manway,
tion values, the user should be able MistFix avoids entry, welding, and
to easily configure calculations for recertification in retrofits. For new
other useful information; for exam- and old vessels, it drastically cuts
ple, unit and overall yields, installation cost and downtime.
consumption ratios and gains/
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equations directly into the reconcili-
ation? A state-of-the-art, flexible
yield accounting package has this
capability. The application should
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allow the process engineer and amacs@amacs.com
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Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014 47
27/02/2014 12:59
 component balances and other
calculations without programming.
The user interface should allow
easy reference to the instrument
tags and other input data for inclu-
sion in these calculations. And the
calculated parameters must be
reportable from within the applica-
tion or exportable to spreadsheets
or other external disposition.
Modelling environment
The yield accountant must have
quick access to input data, recon-
ciled results, model connectivity
information, and details on the
instruments. Today’s best practices
dictate that the user interface to the
yield accounting application be a
graphical modelling environment.
From this environment, the user
must be able to quickly navigate to
different representations of the
plant, review source data, run the
reconciliation and review the
results. The user must also be able
to adjust the model (add/remove
connections, change tolerances,
add/remove calculations, and so
on) on a temporary or permanent
basis and those changes must be
maintained with the model data-
base. The yield accountant must
also be able to rerun balances for
several balance periods in the past.
Therefore, it is crucial that the
model changes and adjustments
done during each balance period
have been properly stored and
aligned to each period.
Model changes and additions
should be possible by simple drag
and drop actions. Details for the
objects placed in the graphical space
are configurable by simple click and
populate methods, making defini-
tion and text file methods a thing of
the past. Object icons and right-click
fill-in-the-blanks are the latest and
greatest way to make the job of the
yield accountant easier and less
time consuming. As the user
reviews the model on his graphical
display, the appearance of the
objects should convey some mean-
ing in terms of suspect data, values
in gross error and balance condi-
tions such as gain/loss information
around a unit.
And, finally, composition track-
ing and reconciliation results
48 Processing Shale Feedstocks 2014
shale invensys.indd 4
should be viewable within the same
graphical environment. Reported
information should be displayed
alongside the model objects as
values, in table format or even as
an embedded spreadsheet. The
guiding principle for a state-of-the
art graphical user interface is that
the yield accountant should be able
to find all his required information
quickly, easily and without moving
to other software applications.
Yield accounting software
The Invensys yield accounting solu-
tion, based on ErrorSolver software,
is an example of a yield accounting
system designed to address the
previously discussed problems. It
provides refineries and chemical
plants with a solution for data
validation, automated data
source integration, user-definable
constraints, composition tracking
Today’s best practices
dictate that the
user interface to
the yield accounting
application be a
graphical modelling
environment
and a very easy-to-use graphical
modelling environment that makes
closing the balance a more effective
process while requiring less time to
complete.
ErrorSolver software integrates
directly into Invensys’ existing
solutions so data do not have to be
imported by multiple sources or
entered manually. This direct inte-
gration lessens the implementation
time and eliminates a source of
errors that arise from manual entry
of tank and movement data.
Invensys also offers the software as
an application that will integrate
with tank information and move-
ment management systems that are
already implemented at a facility.
ErrorSolver has been implemented
in several large companies across
the globe since its inception in 1998.
It features a flexible and easy-to-use
graphical modelling environment,
automated gross error detection,
composition tracking and data
reconciliation performance. Users
have reported that the work time to
reconcile and close the balances has
been cut in half. Reduced gross
errors, more consistent feed, produc-
tion and consumption information,
and lower unaccounted losses are
among the chief benefits of this
solution. Data accuracy is among
the most important aspects in
running a profitable refinery in
today’s competitive economy.
Facilities using this solution on their
utilities systems have also realised
improved energy management.
Conclusion
Today’s yield accounting solution
improves the efficiency of solving
material balance errors and correct-
ing measurement errors throughout
an entire facility, resulting in
improved profits. Yield accounting
involves a combination of compre-
hensive data management
techniques, gross error detection
and reconciliation methods, compo-
sition tracking and constraint
configuration capabilities, all
backed by a powerful graphical
user interface and modelling envi-
ronment. The solution produces
reconciled, balanced and consistent
data in support of many plant KPIs
and their financial reporting.
Invensys’ solution provides all
these crucial features.
Kaylen McMullen is Marketing Assistant at
Invensys, Massachusetts.
Email: kaylen.mcmullen@invensys.com
Joesph McMullen is Product Marketing
Manager for the SimSci brand within Invensys.
Most recently, he managed all of Invensys’
steady-state simulation software products for
the SimSci brand. He holds a degree in chemical
engineering from Villanova University.
Email: joseph.mcmullen@invensys.com
John Hernandez is Senior Managing Consultant,
Invensys, a member of the company’s
advanced applications group, and has over 30
years’ experience in process automation and
production management systems in refining,
petrochemicals, oil and gas. Prior to joining
Invensys, he held positions with Setpoint Inc,
AspenTech and Exxon Chemicals Americas. He
holds a degree in chemical engineering from
the University of Houston.
Email: john.hernandez@invensys.com
www.eptq.com
27/02/2014 12:19
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