Grapevine, Texas 2005 NPRA Q&A and Technology Forum

Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center Grapevine, TexasOctober 18 – 21, 2005

Grapevine, Texas

2005 NPRA Q&A and Technology Forum

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Tuesday October 18, 20052:00 pm – 5:00 pm Registration Texas 1 Registration Desk

5:30 pm – 8:00 pm Registration Texan Station: Lone Star Entrance

6:00 pm – 10:00 pm Opening Reception Texan Station

Wednesday October 19, 20057:00 am – 5:00 pm Registration Texas 1 Registration Desk

8:00 am – 8:30 am Keynote Address Texas Ballroom B

8:30 am – 12:30 pm FCC Q&A Texas Ballroom B(concurrent) Gasoline Processes P&P Texas Ballroom A

Plant Automation: Process Control Texas Ballroom 1-3

10:00 am – 10:30 am Coffee Break Texas Lobby

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Luncheon Center Lobby

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Gasoline Processes Q&A Texas Ballroom B(concurrent) FCC P&P Texas Ballroom A

Plant Automation: Operator Tools Texas Ballroom 1-3and Effectiveness

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm Refreshment Break Texas Lobby

Thursday October 20, 20057:00 am – 5:00 pm Registration Texas 1 Registration Desk

8:00 am – 8:30 am Lifetime Service Awards Presentation Texas Ballroom B

8:30 am – 12:30 pm Crude / Vacuum / Coking Q&A Texas Ballroom B(concurrent) Hydroprocessing P&P Texas Ballroom A

Plant Automation: Managing the Texas Ballroom 1-3Business – Decision Support

Design & Operations Safety Session Texas Ballroom C


12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Luncheon Texas Ballroom D

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Hydroprocessing Q&A Texas Ballroom B(concurrent) Crude / Vacuum / Coking P&P Texas Ballroom A

Plant Automation: Maintaining & Texas Ballroom 1-3Upgrading the Plant Automation Infrastructure

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm Refreshment Break Texas Lobby

Friday October 21, 20057:00 am – 11:00 am Registration Texas 1 Registration Desk

7:00 am – 7:30 am Continental Breakfast Texas Lobby

7:30 am – 9:00 am Plant-wide Systems P&P Texas Ballroom A(concurrent) Plant Automation: Texas Ballroom 1-3

The Refinery of the Future


9:30 am – 11:00 am The Refinery of the Future Texas Ballroom 1-3Panel Discussion

Schedule of EventsTable of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Keynote Address

2 Session Information

2 Sponsors

3 Wednesday Sessions

5 Lifetime Service Awards Presentation

5 Thursday Sessions

8 Friday Sessions

9 Q&A Panelists

13 Q&A Screening Committee

14 NPRA Committees

15 Questions 1 - 14

16 Questions 15 - 26






22 Affiliate Directory

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2005 NPRA Q&A and Technology Forum

The 2005 NPRA Q&A and Technology Forumaddresses real problems and challenges that youface at your facility and helps you sort throughsolutions as you discuss them with panelists and in networking with other attendees. Today’s com-petitive refining environment requires attention toplant safety, superior technology, innovation, andexcellence in operations. Networking with refiners,petrochemical producers, catalyst and chemicalssuppliers, process licensors, engineering firms,and other industry experts at the Q&A andTechnology Forum keeps you on top of the latestdevelopments as you cope with demanding business conditions.

Principles & PracticesThe Principles & Practices (P&P) sessions, whichcorrespond to and complement the Q&A sessions,will be ideal for operations superintendents,process engineers and others that can benefit froma session that is focused on practical issues, thefundamentals of good operations, and eliminatingpersistent problems.Crude & Vacuum Distillation and Delayed CokingGasoline ProcessesFCCDistillate HydroprocessingPlant-wide Systems

October 18 - 21, 2005

New in 2005:This year’s program has been expanded to includea Design and Operations Safety Session which willuse refiners’ experiences and lessons learned fromincidents and near misses as a basis for makingimprovements in plant safety.

Plant Automation & Decision SupportIn 2005, the Plant Automation and DecisionSupport Conference is being co-located with theQ&A and Technology Forum so that attendeeswhose responsibilities overlap between processengineering, unit operations, process control, andplanning will be able to use their conference timeeffectively. This “conference within a conference”will have its own program and will provide a comprehensive array of topics for plant automationprofessionals.Process ControlOperator Tools and EffectivenessManaging the Business – Decision SupportMaintaining and Upgrading the Plant AutomationInfrastructureThe Refinery of The Future

Attendees will be able to attend any of the Q&A,P&P, plant automation, or safety sessions. Therewill be one keynote session for all attendees onWednesday and the hospitality suites will be opento every attendee.

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Keynote Address

8:00 am – 8:30 am Texas Ballroom B

Principles & Practices Sessions

Plant Automation and Decision Support

Session Information WednesdayOctober 19, 2005

The Principles & Practices (P&P) sessions are discussion-oriented sessions that complement the informationexchange that occurs in the Q&A sessions. Each of the P&P sessions will address the fundamentals of goodoperation and the bedrock principles for the technologies that are commonlyemployed. These sessions will usuallyhave short presentations which will befollowed by a time where attendees canask further questions or present their own particular problems and benefit fromthe collective experience of the otherattendees. The five P&P sessions are:Crude & vacuum distillation and delayed coking Gasoline processes FCC Distillate hydroprocessing Plant-wide Systems (Hydrogen Systems,Tank Farm, Corrosion Control, Automation & Instrumentation, Flare Systems, Safety, Utilities)

Sponsors

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Opening Reception Co-Sponsors:Advanced Refining TechnologiesAir Products / Technip Hydrogen AllianceAspen Technology, Inc.BJ Chemical ServicesChevron Lummus GlobalEmerson Process ManagementEngelhard CorporationExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co.Fluor CorporationGE Infrastructure Water & Process

TechnologiesGrace DavisonGulf Chemical & Metallurgical Corp.Honeywell Process SolutionsJohnson Matthey CatalystsNalco Energy ServicesShaw / Stone & WebsterSTRATCO, DuPont Refinery SolutionsUOP LLC

Wednesday Morning Coffee Break:Air Products / Technip Hydrogen Alliance

Wednesday Afternoon Refreshment Break:CB&I Howe-Baker

Thursday Morning Coffee Break:Plant Automation Services, Inc.

Thursday Afternoon Refreshment Break:Air Liquide

The NPRA Plant Automation and DecisionSupport Conference is ideal for thoseindividuals who are responsible for plantautomation, process control, planningand scheduling, IT and modeling/simulation. Unlike other plant automationand decision support conferences, thisconference is designed by operatingcompanies for operating companies.

The Plant Automation and DecisionSupport Conference will have five separate sessions: Process ControlOperator Tools and EffectivenessManaging the Business – DecisionSupportMaintaining and Upgrading the PlantAutomation InfrastructureThe Refinery of the Future

J. William HaywoodSenior Vice President, RefiningTesoro Petroleum Corporation

The refining industry faces multiple,simultaneous challenges while navigating a chaotic business environment and the Gulf Coast hurricanes. What must we do?

Conference Bag:GE Infrastructure Water & Process

Technologies

Q&A Screening Meeting:Criterion Catalysts & TechnologiesFlint Hills Resources, LP

Electronic Session Counter:Baker Petrolite Corporation

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WednesdayOctober 19, 2005

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PresiderRon Marrelli, Holly Refining & Marketing

1. Alkylation Acid Consumption – ConocoPhillips

2. Monitoring and Operation of ReformerHeaters – Turpin Consulting

3. Corrosion Monitoring and Control for Naphtha Hydrotreaters – Baker Petrolite

4. MACT II Issues for Reformers – UOP and Chevron Products

PresiderSteve Elwart, Ergon Refining

Auditing APC Applications forImproved PerformanceJames Gunderman, Staff Process Control

Engineer, Chevron Corporation

Plant process control engineers need toaudit advanced process controls (APC)to improve APC application performance.This presentation will discuss Chevron’smethodology for conducting APC audits,their evolving approach and lessonslearned in this process.

Identification of Dynamic InferentialModels Using Slow and IrregularAnalyzer and Lab DataDr. Yucai Zhu, Tai-Ji Control;

Jinghua Wang and Qingling Fu, Sinopec Guangzhou Refinery

Knowledge of the dynamics in inferentialmodeling is critical to determining the accuracy of data that the model provides. Using a newly developed identification method, dynamic inferentialmodels of several product qualities (e.g. endpoints, flash point) for a crudeunit at Sinopec’s Guangzhou Refineryhave been developed.

Security and Data Access – Striking the Right BalanceRick Kaun, Collaborative Production

Management, Matrikon Inc.; Donovan Tindill, Supervisor, CPM Network Services, Matrikon Inc.

Data from remote locations needs to besecure and readily accessible. There is away for operating companies to strike abalance between security and dataaccess without increasing security risksor investing large amounts of capital.

Securing Control Systems in the Oil and Gas Infrastructure: The I3PSCADA Security Research ProjectDr. Ulf Lindqvest, Program Director,

SRI International; Ben Cook, ResearchStaff, Sandia National Laboratories.

Cyber secuirity should be a high priorityat every refining and petrochemical company. The Institute for InformationInfrastructure Protection (I3P) is workingwith 10 research institutions to undertakea two-year R&D effort to improve thecyber security of control systems in theoil and gas industry. This presentation willidentify some cyber security concerns forthe industry, provide an overview of theresearch program, and highlight somespecific tools and technologies underdevelopment by the I3P team.

Reduction of “Bad Actor” NuisanceProcess Control Alarms Douglas Rothenberg, D-RoTH, Inc.,

Probir Shah, ConocoPhillips

Refiners and petrochemical producersneed to be able to evaluate the perform-ance of their DCS alarm systems. Thispresentation will review current best practices in DCS alarm management and describe an effective program forreducing nuisance alarm activations.Attendees will learn how a program ofdata capture, analysis and the pruningand tuning of alarms can result in a 10-15% initial reduction of nuisancealarms.

Gasoline Processes Principles & Practices

8:30 am – 12:30 pmTexas Ballroom A

Plant Automation:Process Control

8:30 am – 12:30 pmTexas Ballroom 1-3

FCC Q&A

8:30 am – 12:30 pmTexas Ballroom B

PanelistsKen Bruno, Albemarle CatalystsRajan Krishnan, TOTAL Petrochemicals

USA Inc.Marshall Letts, Shell Canada ProductsPat Maher, ExxonMobil Research &

EngineeringJoe Niedecken, Valero Energy Corp.Jeffrey Spearman, Barnes & Click, Inc.Herb Telidetzki, Tesoro Petroleum Corp.

See page 15 for questions.

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WednesdayOctober 19, 2005

PresiderCheryl Joyal, BP, p.l.c.

1. Fluidization Fundamentals – Grace Davisona. Fluidization fundamentalsb. Standpipe aeration calculations

and FCC pressure balancec. Troubleshooting-commercial case

studies and examples

2. Heat Balance Fundamentals and the Effects of Changing Feed – UOPa. Heat balance fundamentals and

key variables b. Commercial case studies – feed

effects and combustion modesc. Heat balance quiz

3. FCC Equipment Technology Types and Key Design Parameters

PresiderSteve Venner, Honeywell Inc.

Ensure Safe Production (ESP) andAchieve Economic Targets throughImproved Work Processes andIncreased CollaborationBart Winters, Honeywell Inc.

Shell affiliates implemented an operatingmanagement solution to support Shell’sESP process at all US refineries. Thispresentation will describe how theseadvanced applications enabled the ESPwork processes and the benefits Shellreceived by using these applications.

Establishing Operator PerformanceImprovements and Economic Benefitfor an ASM® Operator InterfaceDal Vernon Reising, Partner,

Jamie Errington, Senior Partner, Peter Bullemer, Senior Partner and Time SeMaere, Partner, Human Centered Solutions, LLP

A controlled comparison of an abnormalsituation management (ASM) operatorinterface to that of a traditional DCS interface was conducted with 21 profes-sional operators. The results indicatedthat operators using the ASM® interface completed fault scenarios 41% faster and were 26% more successful. A MonteCarlo simulation using these results estimated an economic benefit of$870,000 per year for an average-sizeplant.

Operator Situation AwarenessIan Nimmo, President, User Centered

Design Services LLCAlarm management, human interfacedesign, and control room ergonomics are all important topics for today’s plantoperations however, if they are done in

isolation, they will be unsuccessful. Thispresentation will introduce “operator situ-ation awareness” and how each of these disciplines can impact the operator’s abil-ity to respond to abnormal situations; howmodifying the alarm system can be sup-ported by enhancement of the graphics;how the graphics can be improved byhuman factors and ergonomic design ofthe operating console and how the con-sole communications can be improvedby ergonomic design of the control room.

Improved Operation PerformanceDelivers Better Plant ReliabilitySanjeev L. Mullick, Aspen Technology

Today, oil companies are focusing onincreasing production to improve profitability with historically high margins.Running more barrels through the refineryat top capacity introduces a whole newset of issues related to safe, reliableoperation. Plant reliability and safety ini-tiatives can help minimize the potentialfor disruptions. Equipment reliabilitythrough condition-based monitoring andreliability-centered maintenance is oneway to ensure plant uptime. Anotherimportant approach for overall plant relia-bility is business process improvementand execution. This paper will focus onthe best practices in business processesand performance management for betterplant reliability. Industry examples andcase studies will be highlighted.

Panel Session to Discuss Alarm ManagementPeter Jofriet – Honeywell Inc.Dave Shook – Matrikon Inc.Fred Woolfrey – Yokogawa Corporation

of America

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FCC Principles & Practices

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Texas Ballroom A

Plant Automation:Operator Tools and Effectiveness

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Texas Ballroom 1-3

Gasoline Processes Q&A

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Texas Ballroom B

PanelistsDarryl Hess, ExxonMobil Refining &

Supply CompanyTom Johnston, Murphy Oil CompanyGreg Joppa, Flint Hills Resources, LPRon Marrelli, Holly Refining and MarketingJean-Luc Nocca, Axens North AmericaJeffrey Spearman, Barnes and Click, Inc.


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Crude / Vacuum Distillationand Coking Q&A

8:30 am – 12:30 pmTexas Ballroom B

PanelistsJeff Handwerk, Tesoro Petroleum Corp.Tom Johnston, Murphy Oil CompanySonny Loudon, CITGO Petroleum Corp.Mike McGrath, Foster Wheeler North

AmericaBob Reynolds, Nalco Energy Services Co.Sim Romero, Valero Energy Corporation


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ThursdayOctober 20, 2005

The Peter G. Andrews Lifetime ServiceAward honors members who have madelong lasting contributions to the valueand vitality of the NPRA Q&A meeting.Recipients of this award have served as Q&A panelists, screening committeemembers, and, most importantly, activeparticipants in the dialogue that is fundamental to the meeting. During their careers, the recipients have demonstrated a willingness to pass ontheir knowledge and expertise to future generations in this forum, have made significant contributions to the meeting’squality, and have emphasized the importance of sharing knowledge in making continuous improvements.

PresiderJeff Johns, Chevron Products

1. Reactor Safety – Chevron Products

2. Reactor Gas Scrubbing in Hydroprocessing Units – UOP

3. Process Monitoring – ExxonMobil Research & Engineering

4. Catalyst Handling – Cat Tech

2005 NPRA Q&A Peter G. Andrews Lifetime Service Awards

8:00 am – 8:30 amTexas Ballroom B

Hydroprocessing Principles & Practices

8:30 am – 12:30 pmTexas Ballroom A

This year NPRA’s Fire and AccidentPrevention Committee will present a session on plant safety topics for processengineers, design engineers, and opera-tions supervisors and managers. TheDesign and Operations Safety sessionwill cover best practices, lessons learnedfrom recent events, the use of safetyinstrumented systems, and designing forloss-control. The program will consist ofpresentations and information sharing byattendees on issues that impact safeoperations.

Operator Alarm OverloadDavid Strobhar, President, Beville

Engineering

Process Hazard AnalysisRevalidations: Team Composition andOther ConsiderationsJoseph E. Zanoni, Vice President, Baker

Engineering and Risk Consultants

Ergonomics for the EngineerDennis Attwood, Principal Human Factors

Engineering, RRS Engineering

Design and Operations Safety Session

8:30 am – 12:30 pmTexas Ballroom C

George Quinn

Art Suchanek

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PresiderJack Davis, Aspen Technology

Planning & Optimization BestPracticesMichael Hileman, Vice President,

Solomon Associates

The common work practices, routines, orprocedures used in Pacesetter refinery /petrochemicals facilities to guide the purchase of feedstocks, set refineryprocess unit conditions, and determineproduct marketing plans constitute a setof industry best practices. This paper isan overview of these planning and opti-mization best practices, including use ofLP models to help planners unlock thepotential for increased margin generationfor their operations.

Supply Chain Decision Support for aMulti-Site Refining CompanyPaul Fetter, Honeywell, Inc.

This presentation will describe a projectin which an Asian oil company decidedto implement numerous advanced deci-sion support solutions to integrate andoptimize the corporation’s hydrocarbonvalue chain. It will also discuss how thesupply chain planning decision supportwas integrated across the corporationthrough a hierarchy of optimization models. This resulted in an integratedplanning model that covered the entiresupply chain.

Crude Supply and InventoryManagement: Tools and TechniquesDarrell Rangnow, Director, Invensys

It may seem to some people that theprocess of having the right crude at theright place at the right time for the rightprice would be straightforward, but forthose in the industry that are trying to dojust that it is anything but straightforward.The decisions made by these individualshave a large impact on overall refiningprofitability and must be made with largeuncertainties in demand, product prices,crude quality, logistics, and refinery operating capabilities/capacities. As aresult of these risks and incentives, manycompanies have focused significant efforton developing tools and techniques tomaximize the value gained and reducethe uncertainties. This paper describessome of these innovative approaches,characterizes the effectiveness of thesepractices, the various business strategiesemployed, and provides industry examples.

Better Decisions, Less Effort, viaScheduling TechnologiesCraig Acuff, Valero Energy Corporation

Plant scheduling tools have evolved sig-nificantly over the past five years. Severalvendors are addressing issues such ascost benefits, complexity, functionality,and integration. Better decisions aremade with less effort using integratedscheduling tools. This presentation pres-ents an overview from an operating com-pany perspective on how today’s tech-nologies have overcome legacy issuesand provide the basis for making betterdecisions.

Intelligent Information ManagementKen Johnson, Account Manager,

Matrikon Inc.Tom Porritt, Operating Engineer, Tesoro

Alaska Refinery

Movement management is a key area inthe refinery, and typically the focus of theoil accountants. All refineries have amovement management system of onesort or another, whether it is in the form ofa logbook, a spreadsheet, an Accessdatabase or an automated system pro-vided by DCS vendors. If information isgathered at the source, how can we usethis information in a more efficient way tocreate significantly more value throughhighly efficient business processes? This presentation will discuss how onerefinery has optimized their informationmanagement by changing their businessprocesses and adding additional appli-cations without putting any additionaldata collection or management burdenon Operations.

Panel Session on Cutting EdgeTechnology in Decision SupportRich Bowman – TOTAL PetrochemicalsBasil Joffe – Aspen TechnologyPat Kennedy – OSIsoftDean Trierwiler – Haverly Systems


Managing the Business –Decision Support

8:30 am – 12:30 pmTexas Ballroom 1-3

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PresiderBlake Larsen, Western Refining

2006 Industry ComparativePerformance Analysis to DriveAutomation UpgradesJohn Havener, Senior Consultant,

Solomon Associates

There is significant interest in upgradingthe automation systems which in the refining industry average 15 years of service. This presentation will describethe areas presently targeted in the studyand describe how the study results will be targeted to help drive automationupgrades. The first step will be a compar-ative performance analysis followed byidentification of gaps to the best perform-ers. Quantification of the financial impactprovides a springboard to determine ifupgrades are justified; define the projectsand returns; and implement change.

Integration of Wireless Technologiesinto Operational Work PracticesStephane Lauzon, Honeywell Inc.

Wireless technologies are becoming pervasive and surround us in our dailylives. Wireless technology in an industrialsetting, while not yet as commonplace, is also growing. An industrial setting,however, brings a different set of uniquechallenges. The purpose of this paperwill be to review the current “state-of-the-art” in wireless technologies and providean example with guidelines for theirappropriate integration into work prac-tices at an industrial plant. First will be areview of existing wireless technologiesand standards. Following this, an opera-tions scenario from one of Honeywell’soperating facilities will be presented anddiscussed. Finally, there will be a lookahead at future technological develop-ments in this area and their potentialimplications.

A Future Vision of IT-based Systemized Control Room OperationTetsuji Tani, Engineering Consultant and

Fumitaka Higuchi, Chief Engineer of Idemitsu Kosan Co.

Since the year 2000, over 30 ISCS /AMSsystems have been applied at theoil/petrochemical refineries operated byIdemitsu Kosan in Japan. As a result: 1) manual operation time has beenreduced by 98% through the applicationof ISCS to the grade change operation;2) monitoring time has been reduced by85% through the application of AMS tothe grade change operation; 3) theexpert’s operational knowledge has beenpartially systematized to help automatestart-up and shutdown operations; and 4) knowledge sharing and the dissemina-tion of operational skill have improved.

Application of Automated Step Testingand Modeling on a FCC Unit at theHovensa St. Croix RefineryPhil Celaya, Senior Applications Engineer,

Jasna Zekic, Process Engineer, Zul Bandali, Applications Developer and Rohit Pantwardhan, Advanced Control Engineer, Matrikon Inc.

Technology that facilitates automatedmonitoring and maintenance of modelpredictive control (MPC) applications iscritical to sustaining these applications.The Hovensa St. Croix refinery has several MPC applications that were commissioned, on average, 5-7 yearsago. This presentation describes the MPC maintenance efforts on the FCCapplication based on automated, closedloop, multivariable step testing and modeling technology.

continued on page 8


Maintaining and Upgrading the Plant Automation Infrastructure

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Texas Ballroom 1-3

PresiderPaul Moote, Sinclair Oil

1. Heater Design and Heater Decoking Techniques – Foster Wheeler

2. Expansion Options – Pre-flash Towersand Flash Drums – Process Consulting Services

3. Heat Exchanger Train Design for Minimum Energy Usage and MinimumFouling – Process Consulting Services

4. Getting More out of your Crude and Vacuum Towers – Koch Glitsch

5. Coke Cutting Optimization – Flow Serve

6. Resid Contaminants a. Effects on operationb. Effects on liquid products and

cokec. Effects on heater coking

Crude / Vacuum Distillation and Coking Principles & Practices

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Texas Ballroom A

Hydroprocessing Q&A

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Texas Ballroom B

PanelistsCT Chang, Sunoco Inc.George Hoekstra, BP Refining TechnologyGreg Joppa, Flint Hills Resources, LPLarry Kraus, Albemarle CatalystsMike McGrath, Foster Wheeler North

AmericaJeffrey Spearman, Barnes and Click, Inc.Brent Stratton, Lion Oil Company


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PresiderMatt Baebler, Tesoro Petroleum

1. Tank Farm and Blending Logistics in aClean Fuels Environment

2. Optimizing Hydrogen Production andUtilization

3. Controlling Corrosion in Process Units

PresiderAnne Keller, Jacobs Consultancy

Keynote:“Plant Automation as Seen by a Plant Manager”Wouter Raemdonck, Vice President

of the Americas Refining, TOTAL Petrochemicals

Keynote:“A Refinery of the Future”Mike Sarli, Plant Automation Technology

Program Manager, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company

Panel Discussion on “The Refinery of the Future”Jay Atkins – BearingPointWendy Foslien – Honeywell Inc.Mike Sarli – ExxonMobil Research and

Engineering Company

FridayOctober 21, 2005

Plant-wide Systems Principles & Practices

7:30 am – 9:00 amTexas Ballroom A

“The Refinery of the Future”

7:30 am – 11:00 amTexas Ballroom 1-3

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Maintaining and Upgradingthe Plant AutomationInfrastructure

continued from previous page

Managing Security for Open Control Systems Johan Nye, ExxonMobil Research and

Engineering Company

This presentation will illustrate exactlywhat an open control system is, how itdiffers from a DCS system and the chal-lenges it brings to operators. These chal-lenges are managerial (evaluation, riskassessment, roles, training) and technical(separation from other control systemsand networks, cyber security and criticalprocess control functions). The presenta-tion will conclude with a short case studyof how this works at ExxonMobil.

Technical Forum on the “Normalization of Deviation”“Normalization of Deviation” is when indi-viduals or teams repeatedly accept alower standard of performance over timeuntil that lower standard becomes the“norm”. Usually, the acceptance of thelower standard occurs because the indi-vidual/team is under pressure (budget,schedule, etc.) and perceives it will betoo difficult to adhere to the expectedstandard. Their intention may be to revertback to the higher standard when thisperiod of pressure passes. However, by“getting away” with the deviation, it islikely they will do the same thing whenthe same stressful circumstances ariseagain. Over time, they fail to see theiractions as deviant. This open forum willdiscuss the concept of normalization ofdeviation in the refining and petrochemi-cal industries from a plant automation ori-entation.

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NPRA Q&A Panelists

Ken Bruno began his career with Amocoat the Research Center in Naperville, IL.His focus was catalytic cracking where heserved as Pilot Plant and ExperimentalDesign Engineer, Technical ServiceEngineer, FCCU Model Development andApplication Engineer, and FCC ProcessSpecialist. Ken then moved to Amoco’s (BP) Whiting, IN, refin-ery as the FCC and Alky Consultant where he was responsiblefor process and catalyst optimization.

In 1999, Ken joined Albemarle Catalysts, LLC in Houston, TX,as Sr. Technical Representative, performing technical serviceand catalyst selection for customers across North America. In2002, he was named FCC Development Manager, NA, respon-sible for developing and introducing new products, and provid-ing the interface between customer’s new product require-ments, research and development initiatives, and marketing.

Ken Bruno received his BSChE from the University of Akron and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University ofNotre Dame.

CT Chang is the Hydroprocessing andHydrocracking processes Specialist forSunoco R&S. He is responsible for catalystand technology evaluation and selectionfor Sunoco’s 15 hydroprocessing units.More recently he has been involved in thetechnology selection and implementationof Sunoco’s clean fuel projects. He spent the first 20 years of his24-year career at Sunoco in lube base oil process developmentand manufacturing support. CT has a BSChE and a MSChEand a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Illinois atUrbana, Illinois.

Jeff Handwerk is Process SafetySuperintendent and Process Consultant foroperations engineers at Tesoro Petroleum,Salt Lake City, UT refinery. He providessupport for all refinery operations and isresponsible for power sales from new refin-ery cogeneration units. Before joiningTesoro he provided technical assistance and project develop-ment in the areas of crude distillation, reforming, aromaticsrecovery, alkylation, and lube oil and wax production for Sun OilCompany and Amoco Oil Company.

Jeff received his BS and MS degrees from the Colorado Schoolof Mines.

Darryl Hess is Fuels SystemsCoordinator at ExxonMobil’s BatonRouge, LA refinery. Darryl has workedin several engineering assignments atthe Benicia, CA, refinery for Humble Oiluntil 1976 when he transferred to theBillings, MT refinery, serving in severalsupervisory assignments until 1979. Relocating to BatonRouge as the Cogeneration Project Site DevelopmentCoordinator, he was transferred to the Baton Rouge RefineryCoordination and Product Quality Department in 1982. Afterseveral staff assignments in Refinery Economics andChemicals Interface Coordination, he moved into his currentjob in 1992 where he has oversight for the scheduling, blend-ing, shipping, and quality management of up to 450 kB/D ofmotor gasoline, aviation gasoline, jet fuel (including JP-8), anddiesel production from the Baton Rouge, LA refinery.

Darryl received his BSChE from Montana State University andhis MBA from Louisiana State University.

George Hoekstra is process specialistfor hydroprocessing in BP’s RefiningTechnology Department. His currentwork focuses on evaluation of new cata-lysts and providing support to BP’s refin-ing business units for all hydroprocess-ing issues. George has worked for 32years with Amoco and BP as a Research Engineer andResearch Supervisor in hydroprocessing, catalytic cracking, oilshale, and lubricants. For several years, he worked in Amoco’slubricants business, serving as Product Manager for industriallubricants and Director of Lubricant Product Development andTechnical Services. George has a BSChE from PurdueUniversity and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Tom Johnston is the ProcessEngineering Supervisor at Murphy OilUSA, Inc., Meraux, Louisiana. Tombegan his career in 1968 at ShellChemical Co. Over the next 23 years heworked for Crown Central Petroleumand Fina Oil and Chemical. He heldvarious positions in process engineering, process develop-ment, operations and refinery management.

In 1992, Tom joined Murphy Oil USA, Inc. and held positionsin technical services and project management and in 2004began his current assignment as Process EngineeringSupervisor where his responsibilities included oversight ofcrude, vacuum, naphtha hydrotreating, Platforming, distillatehydrotreating, amine treating, and sulfur recovery.

Tom received his BSChE from Louisiana Tech University andhis MSChE from the University of Houston.

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Rajan Krishnan is presently theAssistant General Manager andTechnical Manager for TOTALPetroleum Port Arthur, TX, refinerywhere Rajan leads and manages therefinery Technical Department and isresponsible for maximizing refineryearnings by continuous improvement of unit performance,advanced process control, development of investment strate-gies, project management, mechanical integrity and reliability,quality control (including ISO 9000 certification) and informa-tion management. He has 27 years of professional experiencein refining, petrochemicals and gas processing, asDevelopment Engineer, Process Engineer, Project Manager,Business Unit Manager, Department Head, Process Managerand Technical Manager.

Rajan received his Masters degree in Refining and ChemicalEngineering from the French Petroleum Institute and hisBSChE from Calicut University, India.

Marshall Letts is the TechnicalManager, Shell Canada Products,Sarnia Ontario, Canada where he isresponsible for the ProcessEngineering, Process Control/Instrumentation and EngineeringServices. He has been with ShellCanada for 24 years and has performed a number of rolesinvolving process design, unit start-up, projects and consul-tancy at Shell Canada’s head office and the Sarnia andMontreal East refineries. Prior to his current position, he wasHead Engineer- Catalytic Cracking and Thermal Cracking forShell Canada Products. He received his BSChE from theTechnical University of Nova Scotia.

Arthur ‘Sonny’ Loudon has been withCITGO since 2000 and is currently theProcess Technical Manager at CITGO’sCorpus Christi, TX refinery. He has alsoserved as Manager of ProcessDevelopment and Section Supervisor atthe CITGO Lake Charles, LA refinery.Sonny started his career in Conoco’s Process EngineeringDepartment in Ponca City, OK, and also worked in engineer-ing and operations assignments at the Conoco ChemicalsComplex in Lake Charles, LA. He then worked for Pennzoil intheir Roosevelt, UT refinery. In 1995, he was the lead processengineer in Pennzoil’s Houston Corporate Design Group for agrassroots RCC/alkylation unit which was built at the PennzoilShreveport refinery where, after startup, he served as therefinery Chief Process Engineer.

Sonny received his BSChE from Brigham Young Universityand is a Registered Professional Engineer in LA.

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NPRA Q&A Panelists

Greg Joppa is Strategic Planning Managerat Flint Hills Resources’ Corpus Christi, TX,refinery. Greg worked for five years atUNO-VEN/CITGO in Lemont, IL, as aprocess engineer where he dealt mostlywith the chemicals units, including a naph-tha hydrotreater and fixed-bed reformer. In1999, he started working with Koch/Flint Hills Resources inCorpus Christi, Texas. He spent almost three years as the oilflow optimizer for the chemicals complex before taking his pres-ent assignment as a process engineer on the CCR.

Greg received his BSChE from the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign.

Larry Kraus is the hydroprocessing cata-lysts Technical Service Manager forAlbemarle Catalysts Co. He has worked forAlbemarle Catalysts Co. (and Akzo NobelLLC) for six years. In his current position,he provides technical advice and supporton catalyst system design, unit operations,unit monitoring, and unit troubleshooting for technical servicerepresentatives, reviews catalyst technology applications; anddevelops/coordinates training for Albemarle and client person-nel. Prior to the Technical Service Manager role, Larry held posi-tions as a hydroprocessing specialist for the fixed bedresid/heavy FCCU feed pretreat, diesel, and reactor internalsareas, and as a hydroprocessing technical service representa-tive on a commercial team.

Larry’s career began over 15 years ago with Amoco Oil R&D.He spent six years working on a variety of projects includingsynthetic/alternative fuels process design, catalyst develop-ment, and commercial hydroprocessing catalyst evaluation.Following this, Larry worked four years at Amoco WorldwideEngineering & Construction in Houston and the Amoco/BP-Amoco Texas City refinery on small/medium capital project eval-uation/implementation and unit optimization studies in hydropro-cessing and other refining areas.

Larry received BS degrees in Chemical Engineering andChemistry from Kansas State University and MS and PhDdegrees in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.

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Patrick Maher is a DistinguishedEngineering Associate for ExxonMobilResearch and Engineering Company atBaytown, Texas. Pat began his career in1978 at the ExxonMobil Process ResearchLaboratory in Baton Rouge, LA, where hedid R&D work in the areas of FCC,hydroprocessing and reforming. He held positions in theRefining & Supply organizations in Baton Rouge and Houstonbefore joining the ExxonMobil Area Engineering Office inBaytown. He provides technical support for ExxonMobil FCCoperations in the U.S. and South America. Pat received hisBSChE from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and his MSand DSc degrees from Washington University in St. Louis.

Ron Marrelli is the Engineering Managerfor Holly Refining & Marketing Co. inWoods Cross, UT. Ron has 32 years expe-rience in the refining industry most ofwhich was with Phillips PetroleumCompany and the past two years withHolly. In his current position, Ron is respon-sible for overseeing the engineering activities, capital projectdevelopment and providing support to the operations and main-tenance groups at the refinery. Ron has experience in variousprocess units during his time at Holly and Phillips, includingreforming, HF alkylation, isomerization, crude fractionation,naphtha and distillate hydrotreating, solvent de-asphalting, sul-fur recovery and amine treating. During this time in refining, Ronworked in various refinery engineering and operations positionsand worked as a team leader on the alkylation/reforming/iso-merization team at the Phillip’s Research and DevelopmentCenter. Ron holds a BSChE from the University of Utah.

Michael McGrath is the Director ofRefining for Foster Wheeler North AmericaCorporation in Houston, TX. Mike joinedFoster Wheeler Corporation as a processdesign engineer in Livingston NJ. Afterprogressing through various positions,including Group Supervisor ofHydroprocessing, Chief Process Engineer of Light Oils,Manager of Light Oils and Petrochemicals, Manager of ProcessDesigns Operations, he was promoted to head the ProcessDesign & Development Department in 1993. In this position hewas responsible for the process groups both in Houston, TXand Perryville, NJ. He assumed his present position in 2004. Hehas authored several papers on heavy oil processing and was amember of the 1987 NPRA Q&A panel.

Mike received his BSChE from Texas A&M University.

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Joe Niedecken is the Economics andPlanning Manager at the ValeroMemphis, TN refinery. He has over 17years of refining experience at severaldifferent facilities with BP, ToscoPremcor and ConocoPhillips. He hashad operations or technical experienceon most major refining processes, including FCC, reforming(CCR and semi-regen), delayed coking, hydrocracking,hydrotreating, HF alkylation and crude units.

Joe holds a BSChE from the University of Cincinnati.

Jean-Luc Nocca is Vice President ofTechnology Sales & Marketing forAxens North America, Inc. Prior to hold-ing this position, Mr. Nocca carried outvarious technical and commercialassignments in North America (Houstonand Princeton) and at IFP’s headquar-ters in Rueil-Malmaison, France.

Mr. Nocca has over 25 years experience in the refining indus-try. He is the author of several technical papers in the field ofpetrochemicals and clean fuels production.

Mr. Nocca holds a Bachelor of Science degree from “EcoleSupérieure des Industries Chimiques” (ENSIC), Nancy, Franceand from the “Ecole Supérieure des Pétroles et Moteurs”(ENSPM), Rueil-Malmaison, France.

Robert Reynolds is the R&D Managerfor Downstream Research in the EnergyServices Division of Nalco Company inSugar Land, TX. Bob currently man-ages Nalco’s research and technicalsupport activities for the refineryprocess treatment and fuel and lubri-cant additives areas. His experience includes desalting, corrosion inhibition, fouling control, FCCU catalyst metals passivation, slurry oil settling aids, antifoams, H2S treatmentand cleaners. Bob joined Nalco in 1977 and has had priorassignments as District Manager, Technical Director, ProductManager, Research Group Leader and Research Chemist. He holds a BSChE from Clarkson University.

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NPRA Q&A Panelists

Brent Stratton is Manager of ProcessEngineering for Lion Oil Company in ElDorado, AR. During his 11 years at LionOil, Brent has been responsible fortechnical service, optimization, andprocess design at the El Dorado, ARrefinery. In his current role, Brent isresponsible for coordinating the activities of the ProcessEngineering department, including catalyst management, unitmonitoring and optimization, and capital projects. Prior to join-ing Lion in 1994, Brent was employed by Walk, Haydel, andAssociates in New Orleans where he did contract refineryengineering. Brent received his BSChE from the University ofArkansas.

Herb Telidetzki is presently TesoroPetroleum’s FCC and alkylation special-ist assisting in project development, unittroubleshooting and monitoring at theirvarious facilities. His career begannearly 25 years ago with EssoPetroleum Canada at their Vancouver,British Columbia, facility in their Process Control and TechnicalServices group, primarily for the FCC area. After 10 years, hemoved to the Project Design and Technical Services group inDartmouth Nova Scotia specifically to debottleneck and startup a revamp of the FCC gas plant, polymerization unit anddownstream fractionation.

Herb then joined Amerada Hess for two years at their PortReading, New Jersey, FCC unit as their FCC Technical Serviceengineer, including start-up of the MTBE unit. After Hess hespent 11 years with KBC Advanced Technologies as their spe-cialist for FCC, alkylation and FCC light ends processing. Thiswork included process optimization studies, development ofstrategic capital projects and implementation of initiatives.Later, he was also the project leader for a process optimiza-tion study and site implementation involving all areas of therefinery (crude fractionation, FCC, alkylation, isomerization,hydrotreating, reforming).

Herb received his BSChE from the University of Alberta.

Sim Romero is Director of Coking andHeavy Oils for Valero EnergyCorporation. As Director of Coking andHeavy Oils, Mr. Romero is activelyinvolved with the expansion, optimiza-tion and troubleshooting of Valero’sresid conversion units. Mr. Romero hasover 25 years experience in delayed coking and heavy oil con-version and has worked for Conoco, BP, ARCO, Bechtel andExxonMobil.

Jeffrey Spearman is PrincipalConsultant at Barnes and Click, Inc.Jeff began his career in 1985 atMarathon Oil Company’s Garyville, LA,refinery, where he was initially responsi-ble for process engineering support ofFCC, HF acid alkylation, isomerization,gas separation/treating, and sulfur removal/recovery processunits. He subsequently held positions of increasing responsibili-ty, including Lead Process Design Engineer for a 30 Mb/dROSE unit, Capital Projects Coordinator, and Foreman over therefinery’s four-unit reforming and hydrotreating complex. Jeffwas transferred to Marathon’s Robinson, IL, refinery in 1992 andnamed the Operations Supervisor for the refinery’s FCC, alkyla-tion, MTBE, and gas recovery complexes. He was later namedthe Start-up Supervisor for a new 75 Mb/d distillate desulfuriza-tion and sulfur recovery complex, and then assumed completeresponsibility for a new business area consisting of the start-upunits and the refinery’s reforming, hydrocracking, and isomer-ization complexes. Jeff broadened his expertise beginning in1995 as a consultant, and later as a principal of his firm, spe-cializing in refining & marketing strategy, feasibility studies,independent engineering, and litigation support. He has assist-ed clients in the U.S., Latin America, West Africa, the MiddleEast, and Southeast Asia. Jeff joined Barnes and Click, Inc. in2001.

Jeff received his BSChE from the University of Michigan.

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NPRA Q&A Screening Committee NPRA Manufacturing Committee

The Q&A Screening Committee is a forum where NPRA mem-bers can discuss operations in the refining and petrochemicalindustries, with special emphasis on process technology. TheQ&A Screening Committee and panelists met on June 13-15 in Colorado Springs, CO, where the Committee selected 102 questions deemed most interesting and beneficial to theconference from those submitted. If you submitted questionswhich are not adequately covered by the selected questions,you may still present them from the floor during the appropriateQ&A session. The following are members of the 2005 ScreeningCommittee:

Vito Bavaro, Criterion Catalysts & TechnologiesSandie Brandenberger, ConocoPhillipsTim Campbell, Axens North AmericaKen Chlapik, Johnson Matthey CatalystsGerianne D’Angelo, Advanced Refining TechnologiesDaryl Dunham, ConocoPhillipsJim Evans, Shaw/Stone & Webster, Inc.Gary Everett, LYONDELL-CITGO Refining, LPJon Finch, Flying J Inc.Tom Germany, Murphy Oil USA, Inc.Stephen Haik, Motiva Enterprises LLCFred Hill, Marathon Petroleum Company LLC Dave Holbrook, UOP LLCDavid Hunt, Grace DavisonCheryl Lynn Joyal, BP p.l.c.Larry Kremer, Baker Petrolite CorporationLarry Lacijan, UOP LLCWarren Letzsch, Shaw/Stone & Webster, Inc.Larry Lew, Chevron Products CompanyLinda Lord, Western Refining CompanySam Lordo, Nalco Energy ServicesBob Ludolph, Sunoco Inc.Tariq Malik, CITGO Refining & Chemicals Company LPRon Marrelli, Holly Refining & MarketingChris McDowell, Tesoro Petroleum CorporationJoe McLean, Engelhard CorporationDave Mendrek, Murphy Oil USA, Inc.Michael Mills, GE Water and Process TechnologiesPaul Moote, Sinclair Oil CorporationBrian Moyse, Haldor Topsoe, Inc.Donald Mulraney, CB&I Constructors, Inc.Dan Neuman, Tricat Industries, Inc.Randy Peterson, STRATCO-DuPontKevin Proops, Flint Hills Resources, LPBob Roddey, Roddey Engineering Services, Inc.Glen Scheirer, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co.Gary Stephens, Coastal Chemical Co., Inc.Brent Stratton, Lion Oil CompanyMichael Toole, United Refining CompanyLee Turpin, Turpin ConsultingBill Wilson, Barnes and Click, Inc.

Steve Cousins, Lion Oil CompanyChair

Gary Fuller, Placid Refining CompanyVice Chair

Kevin Brown, Sinclair Oil CorporationAl Cabodi, U.S. Oil & Refining Co.Ernie Cagle, Murphy Oil USA, Inc.Jay Churchill, ConocoPhillipsLarry Cunningham, Afton Chemicals Corp.Rick Fontenot, Lyondell Chemical Co.Jim Gillingham, Valero Energy Corp.Steve Jackson, Hunt Refining CompanyVince Kelley, Sunoco Inc.Pat Kimmet, CHS Inc.David Lamp, Holly CorporationRick Leicht, National Cooperative Refinery AssociationMike Lewis, Motiva Enterprises LLCRich Mendel, Afton Chemicals Corp.Keith Osborn, Coffeyville Resources LLCAl Prebula, CITGO Petroleum CorporationJay Reinhardt, Flint Hills Resources, LPJaspal Singh, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.Stephen Smiejan, Amerada Hess Corp.Jim Stump, Frontier El Dorado Refining Co.Roy Whitt, Marathon Petroleum Company

Maurice McBride, NPRAAttorney

Jeff Hazle, NPRASecretary

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Rich Bowman, TOTAL Petrochemicals USA, Inc.Chair

Blake Larsen, Western Refining Company Vice Chair

Craig Acuff, Valero Energy CorporationDarrell Bond, Celanese Ltd.Jack Davis, Aspen TechnologySteve Elwart, Ergon, Inc.Phil Hodges, Pasadena Refining SystemAnne Keller, Jacobs Consultancy Inc.Dan Mason, ExxonMobil Research &Engineering Co.Paul Millner, Chevron CorporationCliff Pedersen, Suncor Energy Inc.Gail Powley, Matrikon Inc.Kurt Rickard, Lyondell Chemical Co.Steve Venner, Honeywell Inc.Doug White, Emerson Process Management

Daniel J. Strachan, NPRASecretary

Rich Bowman, TOTAL Petrochemicals USA, Inc.Jack Davis, Aspen TechnologySteve Elwart, Ergon Refining, Inc.Anne Keller, Jacobs ConsultancyBlake Larsen, Western Refining CompanyDan Mason, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co.Gail Powley, Matrikon Inc.Steve Venner, Honeywell Inc.

Willis Jernigan, Flint Hills Resources, LP Chair

Fritz Kin, Marathon Petroleum Co., LLCDave Worthington, Amerada Hess Corp.

NPRA Plant Automation &Decision Support Committee

NPRA Plant AutomationProgram Committee

NPRA Fire and AccidentPrevention Program Committee

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FCC

Process1. What are your plans for FCC feed

selection and treatment to meet theupcoming ULSD regulations?Specifically, are you planning or considering atmospheric residhydrotreaters?

2. Are you processing unhydrotreatedheavy coker gas oil (HCGO) in theFCC? What are the impacts on yields,product qualities and heat balance?

3. What types of slops streams arecharged to FCC’s? Are there any lim-its for the various slops streams, andwhy? What contaminants could bepresent that affect FCC catalyst addi-tives as well as the cracking catalyst?

4. How can oxygen contaminated FCCgasoline be reprocessed to preventproblems in downstream units?

5. What options are available to main-tain the heat balance on full or partialburn units as they process moreseverely hydrotreated feeds? As anextreme case, how would a two-stageregenerator resid FCC unit run with100% hydrocracker bottoms as thefeed?

6. What is your recent experience withcatalyst fines removal from FCC maincolumn bottoms product, either usinga mechanical device or a chemical?If a backflush system is employed,where is the backflush material rout-ed? If routed to the FCC riser, what isthe impact on regenerator emissions?

7. To what extent does LCO cloud pointimpact your distillate blending? Whatchanges in feed properties, catalystformulation, riser/reactor conditions,product fractionation and/or FCCequipment technology will impactLCO cloud point? By how much?

8. Have you seen FCC equipmentdegradation over a 5-year run thathas affected LCO quality (gravity,cetane, sulfur, nitrogen)? Whatchanges are needed to maintainproduct quality specifications?

9. What FCC unit feedstock, operating,equipment and catalyst factors affectgasoline olefin production? Whatsteps do you take to increase ordecrease FCC gasoline olefins con-tent? Will a lower FCC gasolineolefins level help preserve octanethrough a gasoline hydrotreater?

10. What factors influence the ratio of C3olefins to C4 olefins in the FCC? Whatcould cause a reduction in the propy-lene yield at constant butylenesyield? We have seen this with noapparent increase in propylene lossto the fuel gas system.

11. What are the options for processingor reducing LCO yield from the FCC?

Q&A and Tecnology Forum:Questions 1 – 14

Environmental12. When considering the addition of a

wet gas scrubber to the flue gas system, how important is the flue gas piping arrangement for inlet gasdistribution to the scrubber? Has theliquid spray distribution ever been thecause of a scrubber performanceproblem?

13. Have you quantified the SO2 lossassociated with a condensing dryingsystem for FCC stack analyzer sample conditioning? For drying oursample, we have a cooling/condens-ing drying system followed by areverse osmosis drying system. Weare concerned that at 20ppm SO2 wemay be losing a significant amount ofSO2 in the condensing coolers (v. theamount lost at 150ppm SO2) and thatthis is possibly related to ammonia(NH3) slip rates. Is anyone using adifferent sample conditioning systemwithout these issues?

14. What ratios of SO2 to SO3 have youobserved in the FCCU regeneratorflue gas? What are the key processvariables impacting this ratio? DoesSOx reduction additive affect theratio? We have seen changes from10% SO3 in SOx to 40% but don’tknow why. Have others seen thesehigh SO3/SOx ratios at very low SO2?Could there be issues with analysisrelated to sampling and/or samplemoisture levels?

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15. NH3 can be added at several locations in the flue gas system –upstream of the electrostatic precipitator (ESP), upstream of theCO boiler for selective non-catalyticreduction (SNCR), or upstream of aselective catalytic reduction (SCR)unit. Where and how are you moni-toring the NH3 slip? Do you haveexperience with continuous NH3 slipmonitoring? What do you consider tobe state-of-the-art? Have you moni-tored NH3 at the wet gas scrubber(WGS) stack and what would impactNH3 slip through the WGS?

16. What are the FCC equipment capabilities and analytical measure-ment concerns for meeting PM10(particulate matter, <10 microns)from the FCC flue gas stack? Whatlevels of PM10 have been measuredfrom tertiary cyclones or ESPs? How do the measurement methodand NH3 affect the determination of PM10 from precipitation of saltsand/or inclusion of condensable particulate matter?

Equipment17. How is the run length or reliability of

a FCC feed fired heater affected if itis used to control reactor tempera-ture versus supplying a constanttemperature?

18. Have you used computational fluiddynamics (CFD) modeling to studyvapor-catalyst flows in FCC risers(sloped riser, new feed nozzles,etc)? How did you validate the models?

19. What practices do you use for online cleaning of air blower turbine surface condensers? Whatproblems have been encountered?How do you address energy controlto allow cleaning half of a split-boxcondenser?

20. What could cause a gradual(months long) localized reduction inthe regenerator dense bed tempera-ture to less than 1200°F? The othertwo bed temperature indicatorsremained above 1250°F. There hasbeen no step change in air gridpressure differential (dP) and a pro-file gamma scan of the bed showsrelatively even fluidization, though agrid tracer study indicates that moreair is passing through the coolerside of the bed.

21. What are the coking mechanismsand ways that coke formation hasbeen controlled in the FCC mainfractionator bottoms system? Have you experienced coke lay-down in the fractionator bottomssystem piping? What analytical mon-itoring can help make adjustmentsto reduce coking tendency?

22. More severe hydrotreating of FCCfeed reduces H2S in the main column overhead system. Whatchanges have you made in yourwash water scheme to avoid higherpH water and potential carbonatestress corrosion cracking in theoverhead carbon steel piping?

23. Our FCC emergency shutdown systems include feed block valvesand diverter valves which dump gas oil feed to the main fractionator.The dump valves protect the feedpumps and charge heater from lossof flow. Our emergency proceduresshut down the FCC feed pumpswithin minutes. Leaking divertervalves may put gas oil into decantoil during normal operation, which isa significant economic penalty. Do you divert feed back to the feeddrum instead? Is there a risk of losing main fractionator bottoms circulation in this case?

Catalyst24. Have you used a ZSM-5 additive

and seen no apparent effect on FCC gasoline octane? What wouldbe a possible explanation?

25. Will the use of ZSM-5 additives influ-ence the effectiveness of a gasolinesulfur reduction catalyst or additive?Do high amounts of ZSM-5 additive(>10% of fresh catalyst makeup)have more influence than lower(more typical) concentrations ofZSM-5?

26. The resid FCC generates spent cat-alyst with metals content of about10,000 to 12,000 ppm nickel plusvanadium. We have not found a suitable disposal option to either thecement or clay manufacturing indus-tries. Are there viable options suchas metals recovery that could makethis spent catalyst suitable for landfilland prevent leaching of the metalsto soil?


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Gasoline Processes

Alkylation27. What is the minimum acid consump-

tion achievable in a hydrofluoric (HF)or sulfuric alkylation unit? Pleasespecify feed type and alkylationtechnology. What operating prac-tices and technologies are availableto reduce acid consumption?

28. What are the “best practices” formonitoring and combating corrosionin alkylation units (both HF and sulfuric)?

29. What has been your experience withonline acid analyzers in HF and/orsulfuric alkylation units? How haveyou resolved the differencesbetween laboratory and online analyzers results? What reduction in frequency of sample collection (if any) have you observed whenonline acid analyzers are installed insulfuric acid and HF units?

30. Do you analyze your sulfuric acidalkylation unit’s spent acid for watercontent? Is there an optimum watercontent for HF or sulfuric acid withrespect to octane response? Is therean online analyzer available that willmeasure acid strength and watercontent for sulfuric acid?

31. In sulfuric acid alkylation units, doyou direct the olefin feeds segregat-ed by carbon number to separatepoints in the reactor or to separatereactors? Are the separate reactorsrunning at conditions optimized forthe feed carbon number? What arethe advantages of doing this?

32. Please share your commercial expe-rience with alkylation contactor tubeinserts. What increase in apparentheat transfer coefficient have youobserved? Did adding inserts allowyou to increase unit capacity?

33. Do you alkylate amylene? If so, why are you doing so and whattechnology are you using?

34. Are you doing alkylation unit API RP-751 audits and how often?Please estimate how many refinersare doing these audits. What kindsof things are you finding?

Gasoline Post-Treating35. As of January 1, 2005 each refin-

ery’s annual average sulfur contentin finished gasoline may not exceed30 ppm (credits can be used) andbeginning January 1, 2006 sulfurcontent may not exceed 80 ppm ona per gallon basis (except forrefineries that have temporaryexemptions). How will you ensurethat the FCC gasoline desulfurizationunits meet that specification? Forexample, will you consider produc-ing a lighter gasoline cut from theirprefractionator? Will you hydrotreatFCC feed and, if so, will you install aspare recycle hydrogen compressorto keep the unit on line in case of acompressor trip?

36. What has been your experience with silver strip corrosion testing of gasoline? What are the bestproven means of avoiding failure of the silver strip test? Has themechanism for silver strip test failure been determined definitivelyand, if so, what is it?

37. Additives, such as anti-oxidants, are currently added to the FCCgasoline. Are such additivesrequired after hydrotreating of theFCC naphtha? What is current commercial practice?

38. Which gasoline streams have onlineanalyzers installed for measuring lowlevels of sulfur? Have online sulfuranalyzers been installed for severitycontrol of FCC gasolinehydrotreaters?

Naphtha Hydrotreating39. What are the important parameters

to consider when designing andimplementing a system to removesilica from naphtha? Please shareyour experiences with hydrotreatingcatalyst, silica guard beds forreformer feed, and sources of silica.

40. Have you experienced nitrogenbreakthrough in naphthahydrotreater (NHT) units, includingammonium salt formation in associ-ated reformers, due to processingcrudes containing higher concentra-tions of organic nitrogen? What solutions have been or could bedeveloped to address this problem?


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Naphtha Reforming41. Do you have experience with hydro-

carbon emissions from the dust collectors in continuous reformersand, if so, how do you handle theemissions? What are typical ben-zene concentrations when openingthe dust collectors?

42. Due to upstream limitations, weoften operate below the ammoniumchloride sublimation point in the top of our reformer stabilizer. Whatstrategies can be employed to miti-gate the impact of salt formation (i.e.water wash, stabilizer feed chlorideremoval, process changes, etc.)?What problems or complications canresult from these solutions and howcan they be handled?

43. What experience do you have withsending platinum-group metals(PGM) catalyst offsite for screeningand/regeneration? Under what conditions would a refiner send catalyst offsite for regeneration?Please address the impact of quanti-ty of catalyst to be handled, ultimatecatalyst destination (reload or sendto metals recovery), hazardousmaterial handling of unregeneratedcatalyst, distance to offsite facilityand economic incentives. Have youquantified the difference in PGMfines recovery between on-site andoffsite screening?

44. Which FCC naphtha cut points areacceptable for reformer feedstock?What are your experiences whenstraying from these cut-point limits?Do these cut-point limits change ifyou operate a resid FCC?

45. What advances have been made innaphtha reforming with respect tohigher hydrogen production?

46. What are you doing (or plan to do)to reduce benzene in gasoline if regulations impose a cap of 0.95,0.75, or 0.5 vol-%? How low canbenzene be reduced by prefraction-ating the reformer feed?

Isomerization47. What is the maximum concentration

of benzene in light straight run (LSR) isomerization unit feed thatrefiners have demonstrated can besaturated within the safe operatingenvelope of the isomerization unit?What solutions have been, or couldbe, developed to increase this concentration?

48. Do you feed butanes from HF alkylation units to isomerizationunits? If so, how do you handle fluorides in the butane stream?

Blendstocks49. What gasoline blending problems

related to Driveability Index (DI)arise when replacing MTBE withethanol?

50. What will you do with surplus pentanes that may result from lowerRVP requirements and the use ofethanol?

51. Are there any catalyst alternativesfor catalytic polymerization (cat poly)units other than solid phosphoricacid (SPA) catalyst? Are there anytechnical advances to oligomeriza-tion processes?

52. For refiners converting MTBE unitsto isooctene units, what are youdoing (or plan to do) with the alcoholside stream?

Crude / Vacuum Distillationand Coking

Crude Oil Evaluation53. It seems that treatment of crude

cargoes with amine-based hydrogensulfide scavenger chemicals isbecoming more common. Whichcrudes are being treated withamines? What negative effects have been observed from process-ing these crudes? What are theeffects on corrosion and wastewaterquality?

54. What are the “best practice” techniques for analyzing the saltcontent of crude oils? Are there anycompounds in the crude that willinterfere with the salt content analy-sis’ accuracy and what are they?

55. What chloride species are found invacuum resids from heavy crude oilprocessing? Why are they notremoved in the desalting process?What laboratory methods are usedto identify these species? Is there anupper limit specification for chloridein delayed coker feedstocks?


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Desalting56. What technologies would you rec-

ommend for desalter level controlinstruments in heavy oil applica-tions? What new technologies havebeen implemented or are being considered? What is your experi-ence with these technologies withrespect to reliability?

57. What operational, mechanical, orchemical approaches are beingemployed to increase removal of filterable solids in crude tankage orduring desalting? Where is the mosteffective place to do this? Whichmethod do you use to measure filterable solids?

58. What are you doing to prepare forthe processing of high conductivity,high calcium, and high TAN (totalacid number) crude types (such asAsian, African and North Seacrudes), especially with regard todesalter design improvements,chemical emulsion breakers andrelated corrosion control treatment?What impacts do you expect in thewastewater treatment plant (WWTP)?

59. We observe oil soluble organic chlorides that carry corrosive salts to downstream process units. Whatare the sources of these compoundsand why are they showing up indownstream units? What are the preferred analytical techniques?

60. What have been your recent experiences using naphthenic acid corrosion inhibitor chemicals?Have they been cost effective?

Distillates61. Do you experience thermal stability

problems in your straight runkerosene and what may be the pos-sible causes? Do you use chemicaladditives (stabilizers) or clay treatthe product? What criteria are usedto select the clay type?

62. What are the pros and cons of NaCl versus CaCl2 drying for middle distillate haze suppression?

63. Our refinery has been strugglingwith premature failures of claytreaters in jet fuel service. Ourgauge for determining a failure iswhether we pass a JFTOT testdownstream of the clay treater. Weused to run for several years withouta clay changeout and now we arelucky to make three months. Are youseeing the same trend? If so, whatare the possible causes?

General64. What cutpoint can be achieved in an

atmospheric crude tower runningheavy crudes? What is limiting –heater outlet temperature, atmos-pheric tower pressure, or somethingelse? What are your “best practices”to minimize diesel to the vacuumunit?

65. What is the average energy con-sumption (MMBTU per barrel ofcrude oil) of your crude/vacuumunits? What is currently being moni-tored to optimize energy recovery?What is being done to improve theenergy efficiency of your crude/vacuum units?

66. What parameters are used to controlcorrosion in the naphtha section of acrude tower? Do you have packingin the naphtha section of the towerand are you experiencing any prob-lems with corrosion? What metallur-gy is being used with success?

67. What layers of protection do youemploy to minimize risk of a catastrophic pump seal failure inhigh vapor pressure streams, includ-ing streams such as unstabilizednaphtha? Are you evaluating doubleseals, increased monitoring (vibra-tion, lubrication), local hydrocarbondetectors, and/or pump operatingcriteria such as minimum flowrates?

Vacuum Distillation68. Do you have any experience with

high performance vapor horns invacuum towers? If so, what improve-ments have you seen? What are thekey design parameters to minimizeentrainment?

69. What parameters do you use to optimize the wash oil rate in vacuum towers?

Coking70. Have you analyzed coker heater

deposits for percentages of organicsv. inorganics and speciated thesedeposits to determine possiblecauses for accelerated coke deposi-tion? Is sodium or iron an issue?

71. Have you seen the exact samecoker furnace spalling procedurework one time and not another? Are there differences in the cokerfeed or heater deposits which prevent effective spalling?


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72. What is your experience with coker3-way switching valves? What typeare you using? What is their mainte-nance history and what are youdoing to improve their reliability?

73. Is there a “best practice” to mini-mize/eliminate hot spot formation inthe coke beds of delayed cokers?

74. What type of coke drum unheadingdevices are you using? Are you satisfied with their safety and performance?

75. What is the minimum outage thatcan be run without risk of foamoverthat you have experienced? What isthe drum reference point for themeasured outage?

76. Please provide your “best practice”guidelines for antifoam usage in thecoker drums. Specifically, pleaseanswer these questions:

a) What is your as-delivered strength ofsilicone? What is the strength ofdiluted silicone as injected into thedrum?

b) At what drum level should you startadding antifoam? When should oneend?

c) What is a reasonable amount ofantifoam to use in a complete cycle(pounds silicone per 1000 barrels offeed)?

d) What viscosity antifoam do you use?e) What carrier for the silicone do you

use?f) What type of antifoam injection

system do you have?g) What silicon levels do you experi-

ence in coker product streams?


77. Have you used hollow cone spraysin the coker fractionator? What arethe advantages and disadvantagesof this application? How many levelsof sprays do you recommend? Whatangle and pressure differential (dP)do you use?

78. How are you currently injectingsludge streams into your coker?What are the sludge sources? Whatlimits the amount of sludge you caninject?

Hydroprocessing

Catalyst79. Please share examples of problems

that you have encountered and lessons learned as a result of denseloading techniques.

80. Please discuss quality assuranceand “best practices” during catalystloading. Please contrast inert atmos-phere procedures with proceduresused when air is present.

81. Will the increased severity anticipat-ed for ULSD operations increase theprobability of runaway reaction con-ditions occurring? What mitigationstrategy are you planning to reducethe probability of runaway reactions?What additional operating training isplanned? How does the presence ofLCO impact the probability of a run-away reaction?

82. How have recent molybdenum priceincreases impacted your strategy formanaging spent hydroprocessingcatalyst?

83. Hydrotreating catalyst availabilityhas been very tight in 2005. How are you managing the current longlead time requirements for catalysts,associated materials, and services?What is the outlook for availability in the next 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and beyond? Are there plans for increasing catalystproduction?

84. Are hydrotreating catalyst vendorsand/or refiners planning to maintaincatalyst in inventory for emergencyrequirements?

Process85. How do you manage cracked stock

introduction during start-up of newcatalyst, especially in light of newlow-sulfur fuels specifications?

86. Have you had success in producingULSD as a side cut from a cat feedhydrotreater (CFHU or FCCPretreater) fractionator? Describewhat was done to the fractionatorand other considerations.

87. Why does light naphtha producedfrom mild hydrocracking containmore than 1% benzene? What can you do to reduce the benzenecontent?

88. Please discuss “best practices” for the location and number of thermocouples within hydrotreatingreactors for assessing temperaturedistribution in the catalyst beds.

89. Please comment on how existingCFHU’s are being utilized in the production of ULSD. Are they part of the solution?

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90. Are you designing ULSD hydrotreat-ing units to operate in trickle flowduring the entire catalyst cycle orallowing 100% vapor operation atsome point in the cycle? Please discuss actual experience.

91. What crudes or purchased feedstocks are presenting the greatest challenges for hydropro-cessing catalysts with respect to contaminants? How are you managing these crudes and/or protecting the catalysts?

92. Are there “best practices” for pre-dicting hydrogen consumption whendesigning a make-up hydrogencompressor? If you rely on pilotplant data, how do you obtain the most accurate hydrogen con-sumption information (flow meters,carbon/hydrogen balance, etc.)?

93. How are you dealing with increasedloading in amine systems due toincreasing hydrotreating severityand increasing crude oil sulfur content?

94. How are you dealing with increasedhydrogen demand/consumptionresulting from low-sulfur fuels regula-tions and lower quality feedstocks?

95. Are you planning to use any non-traditional heat exchangerdesigns in ULSD units (e.g. plate-type exchangers, etc.)?

96. How are you planning to communicate and mitigate theeffects of transient upstream operations to downstream ULSD hydrotreaters?

Quality97. Have you observed that new ULSD

hydrotreaters generate a by-productnaphtha stream with high benzenecontent? Is this causing problemswithin your gasoline pool and howdo you plan to handle it?

98. Remembering the issues thatoccurred with low-sulfur diesel (500 ppm max) in 1993 with respectto lubricity additives, are there similar concerns associated with the introduction of ULSD regardinglubricity, conductivity, and/or thermal stability, etc.?

Safety99. Please discuss pros and cons and

your criteria for using independentshut-down valves in hydrocarbonand sour water lines between thehigh pressure and low pressure separators in terms of safety.

100. What are your “best practices” forinspection of hydrogen steamreformer furnace tubes by non-destructive techniques? How willthese practices change as a resultof the critical need for on-streamreliability in ULSD units?

101. What is your experience with highpressure testing of process unitswith media other than hydrogen?

102. For your hydroprocessing personneltraining, are you outsourcing ordeveloping/using your own in-housetraining? How are the trainingapproaches different for training operators and engineers?


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Affiliate Directory

BJ Chemical ServicesLee Ann Maxwell707 N. LeechHobbs, NM [email protected]

CB&I Howe-BakerPaul W. Fisher9800 Centre Parkway, Suite 700Houston, TX [email protected]

CDTECH / ABB LummusScott Shorey3010 Briarpark DriveHouston, TX [email protected]

Chevron Lummus GlobalLori De Amaral100 Chevron WayRichmond, CA [email protected]

ConocoPhillipsWendy Olson600 N. Dairy Ashford, TR3016Houston, TX [email protected]

Criterion Catalysts & TechnologiesJoyce M Hurst16825 Northchase Drive, Suite 1000Houston, TX [email protected]

Emerson Process ManagementSarah Danaher7070 Winchester CircleBoulder, CO [email protected]

Engelhard CorporationTeresa Garcia1800 St. James Pl., Ste. 400Houston, TX [email protected]

Flint Hills Resources, LPKevin R. ProopsP.O. Box 64596St. Paul, MN [email protected]

ExxonMobil Research & Engineering CompanyCharlene Kegerreis3225 Gallows RoadFairfax, VA [email protected]

Fluor CorporationGail CornellOne Enterprise DriveAliso Viejo, CA [email protected]

GE Infrastructure Water & Process TechnologiesMichael Gibson9669 Grogan’s Mill RoadThe Woodlands, TX [email protected]

Grace DavisonBetsy Mettee7500 Grace DriveColumbia, MD [email protected]

Gulf Chemical & Metallurgical Corp.Jay S. JaffeeP.O. Box 2290Freeport, TX [email protected]

Advanced Refining TechnologiesBetsy Mettee7500 Grace DriveColumbia, MD [email protected]

Air Products / Technip Hydrogen AllianceShirley Miller7201 Hamilton Blvd.Allentown, PA 18195-1501610- [email protected]

Albemarle CatalystsLinda Lopez2650 Bay Area Blvd.Houston, TX [email protected]

Aspen Technology, Inc.Larry Gill2500 City West Blvd., Ste. 1500Houston, TX [email protected]

Arkema (TotalFinaElf)Rita Longan2000 Market St.Philadelphia, PA [email protected]

Axens North AmericaRobyn Gordon1800 St. Jame’s Place, Suite 500Houston, TX [email protected]

Baker PetroliteJerry Basconi12645 West Airport BoulevardSugar Land, TX [email protected]

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Haldor TopsoeVickie Daniel17629 El Camino Real, Suite 300Houston, TX [email protected]

Honeywell Process SolutionsSteve Clark1250 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. S.Houston, TX [email protected]

IntercatJennifer RennickP.O. Box 412Sea Girt, NJ [email protected]

Invensys SimSci-EsscorKathy Beckman26561 Rancho Pkwy. SouthLake Forest, CA [email protected]

Johnson Matthey CatalystsKaren SlehoferTwo Trans Am Plaza Dr., Ste. 230Oakbrook Terrace, IL [email protected]

KBC Advanced Tech.Tamra Daniels14701 St. Mary’s Ln., Suite 300Houston, TX [email protected]

Koch Heat TransferRick Covey12602 FM 529Houston, TX [email protected]

Matrikon Inc.Gail PowleySuite 1800, 10405 Jasper Ave.Edmonton, T5J 3N4, Alberta, [email protected]

Nalco Company, Energy Svc. Div.Brandy Obvintsev7705 Highway 90-ASugar Land, TX [email protected]

Pall CorporationNorm Cathcart2200 Northern BoulevardEast Hills, NJ [email protected]

PARC Technical SvcMichelle Kozlowski100 William Pitt WayPittsburgh, PA 15238412-423-1120 [email protected]

Plant Automation Services, Inc.Ray Pullmann16055 Space Center Blvd., Suite 600Houston, TX 77062281-286-6565 [email protected]

Quest TruTecMargaret Bletsch11005 W Fairmont Pkwy.LaPorte, TX [email protected]

Shaw / Stone & WebsterStephanie Davis1430 Enclave ParkwayHouston, TX [email protected]

SoteicaKevin BishopWestgate Atrium, Suite 1981550 Fox Lake DriveHouston, TX [email protected]

STRATCO, DuPont Refinery SolutionsPamela Pryor11350 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Suite 150Leawood, KS [email protected]

Sud ChemieJill M. ParmanPO Box 32370Louisville, KY [email protected]

TracercoJudy Seabrook1173 Michener, #9Sarnia, Ontario, N7S 5G5 [email protected]

UOP LLCMargaret M. Oak25 East Algonquin Rd.Des Plaines, IL [email protected]

Companies in bold are sponsors.

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Notes

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Notes

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202.457.0480 www.npra.org

1899 L Street, NWSuite 1000Washington, DC20036.3896

© 2005 National Petrochemical & Refiners Association

National Petrochemical & Refiners Association

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