Refinery utilities

Boilers

 Treated water is
heated by burners to
produce steam.
Steam drives pumps
and compressors
and supplies heat to
the process units.
Flares

 Hydrocarbons
released from the
process units via
safety valves during
upsets or start-ups are
burned in a flare.
Cooling towers

 Large structures filled

with wood slats.
 Warm water is
pumped into the top
and air is blown up
from the bottom.
 Evaporation cools the
water
Sulphur Recovery
 Sulphur in crude oil is
removed from most of
the products and
recovered as a by-
product.
 In the Bay area,
sulphur is not stored
in the open as shown
here
Heaters
 Furnaces are used
throughout the
refinery to warm up
the various streams
for processing in the
refinery
Heat exchangers
 Transfers heat from
one refinery stream to
another.
 As an example, the
heat from hot product
out of a unit can be
used to heat the feed
and cool the product
going out.
 Hydrogen plants
 Produce H2from
imported natural gas
or refinery gas.
 The hydrogen is
used in the process
units to reduce the
size of some
molecules and to
remove sulphur and
nitrogen
Tankage
 Refineries have
many tanks for
crude oil and
product storage.
 A tank “farm” is a
grouping of many
tanks.
Other refinery utilities include
 Electricity generation or
purchase
 Water treating for boiler
water preparation
 Wastewater treatment
 Co-generation of power
and steam