Petropower TM

Coker + CFB = higher refining margins

Combining our refinery engineering
and construction expertise with our
leading petroleum coking and
cogeneration technology in a single
project can offer real benefits to the
refiner. This is especially true in
today’s market where demand for
light refined products is growing and
where lower-quality crudes are
trading at a significant discount to
higher-quality crudes.

PetropowerTM in Chile
This innovative coker/cogeneration concept, termed
PetropowerTM by Foster Wheeler, was implemented
at Petrox’s Talcahuano refinery in Chile. This is the
largest crude oil refinery in Chile, with a refining
capacity of approximately 100,000 barrels per
stream day (bpsd).

Coking
We designed, supplied and built a new 12,000 bpsd
delayed coking plant at the refinery. The coker uses
heat and moderate pressure to upgrade the tar-like
heaviest residues from the distillation process to light
distillate fractions.

These light fractions require a hydrotreating step for

sulphur removal and product upgrading, resulting in a
mix of finished products, which includes gasoline,
kerosene, diesel fuel and refinery fuel gases. These
products have substantially higher market prices than
vacuum residue, the feed to the coker.

46 FW NEWS
Cogeneration
The coker produces about 660 tonnes per day of
green coke. The cogeneration plant burns this coke
in our own custom-designed and manufactured
circulating fluidised-bed boiler (CFB), which was
the first ever CFB to be installed in South America.
We have pioneered CFB technology, which is fuel-
efficient and environmentally-friendly, making it one
of the most efficient ways to generate steam.
The cogeneration plant generates 74 MW (nominal,
gross) of electricity, demineralised water and
26 tons per hour of high-pressure steam. The single
CFB boiler has an efficiency of over 90% with a
sulphur capture of 90%. The cogeneration unit is
also designed to export boiler feedwater and plant
air to the delayed coker.
19MW is sufficient to power the whole refinery and
the surplus electricity is exported to the Chilean
national grid. It’s enough to power more than
40,000 households!
A great success
Overall, this unique PetropowerTM approach at
Talcahuano, combining coking and cogeneration,
has enabled Petrox to refine heavier, cheaper
crudes and to make lighter, more valuable products.
The cogeneration unit provides a long-term,
environmentally-friendly solution for disposal of the
high-BTU and high-sulphur green coke produced by
the coker, maximising its value as a fuel for the
cogeneration facility.
The overall project, which started up in 1998 has
resulted in a decrease in SO2, hydrocarbons and
particulate emissions because of the improved
quality of internal refinery fuel.
Finally, the on-going ability to export power to both
the national grid and third parties has helped to
stabilise the overall distribution system within the
area and the facility is supplying all the refinery’s
utility needs, reliably and cost-effectively.
FW infobase
For more information, please contact us at:
refining@fwc.com
European Refining
Technology Conference
Vienna
‘A meeting of minds’
described the 10th Annual
ERTC event in Vienna in
November 2005, which
attracted over 700
visitors from refiners
and contractors to
process licensors and
catalyst suppliers.
This annual event is one of the premier technology events of
the year for Europe’s oil refining industry and there is strong
competition to secure a presentation ‘slot’. This year’s key
topics focused on the key strategic challenges facing refiners
today, with a special focus on residue upgrading.
John Elliott, director, refining and coking, from our Houston
office, gave a presentation centred on our leading-edge
delayed coking technology. John’s paper, co-authored with
MOL’s Miroslav Kovac and Gabor Movik, was entitled
‘SYDECSM Delayed Coking at the MOL Szazhalombatta
Refinery in Hungary’.
This was a very successful coker project, due in no small part
to the effective teamwork between MOL and Foster Wheeler
to define the design, control the execution and start up the
unit without incident.
The Foster Wheeler licensed SYDECSM delayed coker achieved
the processing targets set in the design phase and the project
was profitable for MOL, enabling it economically to reach its
goals of exiting the uncertain heavy fuel oil market, improving
competitiveness and improving environmental conditions.
John went on to explain why delayed coking is frequently
chosen as the preferred method of residue upgrading and how
the processing of more difficult crudes offers an opportunity to
increase refinery margins.
FW infobase
For a full copy of this paper and presentation visit:
www.fwc.com/publications/tech_papers
FW NEWS 47