Abstract:
The presence of contaminants in naphtha, including sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen,
and organometallic compounds, poses a substantial obstacle to the refining process of
crude oil into useful products. The effectiveness and durability of the reformer's
catalyst, which is essential and expensive, are threatened by these contaminants. This
project's goal was to model and create a pre-reformer unit that would produce "sweet"
naphtha devoid of these harmful contaminants.
The study began with a thorough analysis of the literature to understand the issues and
current approaches in naphtha purification. After providing a brief overview of the
project, we meticulously calculated the energy and mass balances of every piece of
equipment. A comprehensive evaluation of the energy and material balance was then
carried out to guarantee the process's feasibility.
A thorough simulation was run using the potent simulation tool HYSYS, which made it
possible to assess several operational factors and setups. In order to ensure the safety
and dependability of the suggested design, a Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study
was also carried out on the primary equipment to detect and minimize any risks.
In addition, a thorough cost analysis was carried out for every part of the pre-reformer
unit, offering information on investment considerations and economic viability. The
project's design of a pre-reformer unit using Co-Mo catalyst, which showed
encouraging results and supported its possible integration into refinery operations,
was its climate.
The study's conclusions not only provide a sustainable way to produce sweet naphtha,
but they also improve refinery operations by making the best use of available resources
and reducing their negative effects on the environment.
