EXPERIENCE WITH OPTIMIZING STEAM TO GAS RATIO IN STEAM METHANE REFORMING HYDROGEN UNIT - KNPC MINA ABDULLA REFINERY

摘要

The global oil prices have been falling in the latter period making it most important and essential for refineries to optimize its performance and conserve as much as possible of the energy in order to sustain a feasible margin. This paper starts by giving an overview of Kuwait National Petroleum Company - Mina Abdulla Refinery, and then, specifically, provides an outline of the Hydrogen Plant in MAB refinery along with some highlighting of the timeline for various improvements done in the unit. The paper then dwells upon the MAB Refinery experience in optimizing the steam to gas ratio in the Hydrogen Steam Reformer units in order to conserve as much amount of energy whilst meeting the Hydrogen supply quantity and quality for all the catalytic units in the Refinery. Moreover, the paper will also address the integration and interaction of Hydrogen production in the Refinery with the steam balance and how both supplement each other towards energy conservation. The main discussion in this paper will show how the optimum balance and collaborative work between the Refinery units have led to optimised Hydrogen unit catalyst utilization; resulting in reducing the energy consumption while maintaining design unit throughputs and desired product specifications. Included also in this part, highlights illustration explanation of the process/operational experiences, the quantification of the energy savings (about $ 6.7 Million per annum) as well as the impact of resetting the steam to gas ratio on the catalyst and the reformer's tubes.