Case Studies Saudi Aramco Increases Capacity by 100,000 barrels/day and Upgrades Bottom of the Barrel Products

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	Saudi Aramco Increases Capacity by 100,000 barrels/day and Upgrades Bottom of the Barrel Products

Saudi Aramco Increases Capacity by 100,000 barrels/day and Upgrades Bottom of the Barrel Products

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Process Analytics Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries	Oil & Gas
Applicable Functions	Process Manufacturing
Use Cases	Predictive Maintenance Process Control & Optimization
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services
Challenge	Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was facing a challenge with one of its semi-conversion refineries. The refinery was producing excessive fuel oil, which was limiting the facility’s margin to a level lower than comparably sized refineries. The company decided to revamp the refinery to upgrade the bottom of the barrel products to create more value and improve the refinery’s profit margins. The refinery was also considering changing the crude oil it was processing. The revamp plan included adding new units and modifying existing ones. Read More
About Customer	Saudi Aramco is the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1933, the company focuses on hydrocarbons exploration, production, refining, distribution, shipping and marketing crude oil to customers worldwide. Saudi Aramco has a refining capacity of 5.4 million barrels per day from their operations around the globe. One of the company's semi-conversion refineries was producing excessive fuel oil, limiting the facility’s margin to a level lower than comparably sized refineries. To address this, Saudi Aramco decided to revamp the refinery to upgrade the bottom of the barrel products to create more value and improve the refinery’s profit margins. Read More
Solution	Saudi Aramco chose residue hydrocracker technology to upgrade heavy oil to high-value products and increase diesel production. The company used Aspen HYSYS to analyze the feasibility of the refinery reconfiguration plans by rigorously simulating operations of the hydrocracker, crude distillation unit (CDU), vacuum distillation unit (VDU) and other units. The software helped the team to debottleneck and suggest modifications for critical existing units such as the CDU and the VDU to perform in new operating conditions. Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining enabled development of a rigorous model of the new reactor unit, which generated data required for the respective reactor sub model in Aspen PIMS. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Process Analytics

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Oil & Gas

Applicable Functions

Process Manufacturing

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance

Process Control & Optimization

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

Challenge

Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was facing a challenge with one of its semi-conversion refineries. The refinery was producing excessive fuel oil, which was limiting the facility’s margin to a level lower than comparably sized refineries. The company decided to revamp the refinery to upgrade the bottom of the barrel products to create more value and improve the refinery’s profit margins. The refinery was also considering changing the crude oil it was processing. The revamp plan included adding new units and modifying existing ones.

About Customer

Saudi Aramco is the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1933, the company focuses on hydrocarbons exploration, production, refining, distribution, shipping and marketing crude oil to customers worldwide. Saudi Aramco has a refining capacity of 5.4 million barrels per day from their operations around the globe. One of the company's semi-conversion refineries was producing excessive fuel oil, limiting the facility’s margin to a level lower than comparably sized refineries. To address this, Saudi Aramco decided to revamp the refinery to upgrade the bottom of the barrel products to create more value and improve the refinery’s profit margins.

Solution

Saudi Aramco chose residue hydrocracker technology to upgrade heavy oil to high-value products and increase diesel production. The company used Aspen HYSYS to analyze the feasibility of the refinery reconfiguration plans by rigorously simulating operations of the hydrocracker, crude distillation unit (CDU), vacuum distillation unit (VDU) and other units. The software helped the team to debottleneck and suggest modifications for critical existing units such as the CDU and the VDU to perform in new operating conditions. Aspen HYSYS Petroleum Refining enabled development of a rigorous model of the new reactor unit, which generated data required for the respective reactor sub model in Aspen PIMS.

Impact #1	The new reconfiguration plan projects a 100 MBD increase in the refinery’s processing capacity.
Impact #2	A substantial reduction in fuel oil production together with a significant boost in diesel production capacity was achieved.
Impact #3	Aspen PIMS and Aspen HYSYS were used in tandem for the overall feasibility analysis of the refinery reconfiguration plan.

Impact #1

The new reconfiguration plan projects a 100 MBD increase in the refinery’s processing capacity.

Impact #2

A substantial reduction in fuel oil production together with a significant boost in diesel production capacity was achieved.

Impact #3

Aspen PIMS and Aspen HYSYS were used in tandem for the overall feasibility analysis of the refinery reconfiguration plan.

Benefit #1	100 MBD projected increase in the refinery’s processing capacity.
Benefit #2	Substantial reduction in fuel oil production.
Benefit #3	Significant boost in diesel production capacity.

Benefit #1

100 MBD projected increase in the refinery’s processing capacity.

Benefit #2

Substantial reduction in fuel oil production.

Benefit #3

Significant boost in diesel production capacity.

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Overview

Saudi Aramco Increases Capacity by 100,000 barrels/day and Upgrades Bottom of the Barrel Products

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit