Efficient oil distillation could save millions.

PositionYOUR LIFE

Refineries could trim millions of dollars in energy costs annually by using a new method that rearranges the distillation sequence needed to separate crude petroleum into various products. Researchers at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., have demonstrated their method on petroleum plants that separate crude, showing that 70 of the new sequences they identified could enable oil refineries to improve the energy efficiency of this step anywhere from six percent to 48%, indicates Rakesh Agrawal, professor of chemical engineering.

"This is important because improving efficiency by 10% at a refinery processing 250,000 barrels per day would save in excess of $12,000,000 a year if oil were priced at $70 a barrel--and that's just a single refinery. For the U.S. petroleum industry as a whole, this is a huge potential savings."

Chemical plants spend from 50% to 70% of their energy in "separations," which usually are distillation steps required to separate a raw material into various products. In the case of petroleum, four distillation columns are needed to separate raw crude into five components--naphtha, kerosene, diesel fuel, gas oil, and heavy residue. Some of these components later are used to make gasoline.

"Separations are a huge part of what chemical plants do," Agrawal explains. "Improving efficiency by only a few percentage points translates into major savings. For every...

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