Journal of Electrical Engineering

The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh

Vol. EE xx, No. xx, June/December xxxx

Operation and Control of Crude Oil Refining Process

using Atmospheric Distillation Column with PLC
P.K. Bhowmik1, J. A. Shamim2, and S. k. Dhar3
1
Department of Instrumentation and Communication, Eastern Refinery Limited, North Potenga, Chittagong, Bangladesh
1
Department of Inspection, Eastern Refinery Limited, North Potenga, Chittagong, Bangladesh
1
Member IEEE, Chittagong, Bangladesh
E-mail: [email protected] [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— The operation & control of crude oil distillation to automate the operation & control of crude oil distillation
process, which is a very sophisticated system involving modern process and subsiding human intervention, there is a need for
technologies, is of utmost importance in any crude oil refinery. developing PLC based control system. Typical applications of
In this paper, prominent features of a PLC based automatic PLC based control systems are in the industries e.g. power
operation and control of crude oil refining process in an plants, oil refineries, ship building industries etc. The process
atmospheric distillation column has been outlined. The complete system of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), Chittagong,
crude oil distillation process has been ramified into four
consecutive phases’ viz. initial start-up & cold circulation,
Bangladesh is taken as a reference for this study.
furnace firing & selection of appropriate fuel, hot circulation &
commissioning of reflux system & finally storage of the refined II.PLC MODULE SETUP
products. In first phase, if all the physical systems are in good
PLC is a 'digital operating system' designed especially for
condition, then all respective valves will be opened so that the
crude may be circulated through the associated circuit from use in an industrial environment, which uses a programmable
crude oil storage tank by the action of gravity. After that the memory for its internal operation of user-orientated
main feed pump will be started to continue the flow of crude instructions and for implementing specific function such as
until 50% bottom level of the distillation column if filled up & logic, sequencing, timing, counting and arithmetic [2-3]. The
this circulation of crude is termed as cold circulation. In the Sucosoft V5.02 PLC software is used in this study [2-3].
second phase, the furnace will be fired after completion of
furnace pre-purging, steam commissioning in the super-heated III. PROCESS DESCRIPTION
circuit & appropriate fuel (NG/RG/FO) selection. In this stage,
the temperature of crude oil is also gradually increased at The feed (crude oil) is pumped directly from the crude oil
furnace outlet and maintained by throttling the fuel supply storage tank by the feed pump P1101A/B. The flow rate of
valves. In the third phase, a temperature gradient is maintained the feed is controlled by FRCV. Feed (crude) in furnace is
in the distillation column by commissioning the reflux (top, mid heated to 360˚ C and so the crude is partially vaporized. This
& bottom) systems and thus the fractional distillation is
partially vaporized feed is then sent to the atmospheric
facilitated. Finally, the purified products are stored in the
respective storage tanks from the distillation column. If any distillation column C1101, which is equipped with 33 trays.
aberrant situation arises, owing to which the operation may be In this column the crude is fractionated to give the following
unstable & unsafe, the feed pump, furnace fuel supply valves products: TG, KI, KII, LGO, HGO, and Residue.
and respective safety shutoff valves will be tripped and thus the TG is condensed in the aero condenser EM-1123, then in
entire cycle is accomplished. the water cooler E1110AB. The pressure of the reflux drum
B1102 is controlled by departure of gas to the flare through
Index Terms—PLC, Crude oil refining process, Distillation PICV 1101. In this reflux drum, gasoline and water are
column, Sucosoft V5.02 Moeller PLC software separated by decantation; part of the gasoline is taken out by
pump P1109A/B to be refluxed under temperature control
I. INTRODUCTION valve TRCV1102 at the top of the column. The other part is
taken out by pump P1110A/B and sent as feed for the
T HE demand for higher quality, greater efficiency &
automated control in the arena of process plant, chemical
industry and energy sector has been aggrandized to a
stabilization column under the level control valve LCV1103
of B1102. Water is evacuated by gravity to the sewer under
the level control valve LCV1104.
great extent [4]. To cope with this advancement & also to
construe the advantages of using PLC based automation in KI, KII, LGO and HGO are withdrawn separately from
crude oil distillation process, an attempt has been taken in this their respective trays which are flow by gravity into the
paper. Every crude oil refinery requires continuous stripper column under the respective LCV. After that thus
monitoring & spasmodic inspection of its various process products are taken out by pump cooled by exchanging heat
parameters in order to ensure safe and smooth operation. through exchanger and cooler and stored in the storage tank.
There are possibilities of errors in human operation. In order The bottom product (residue) is stripped by superheated
steam and is taken out by pump P1107 then cooled by heat
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 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009

exchanger and cooler and stored in the storage tank. Its flow Start up of furnace firing is performed by the following
rate is controlled by LCV. The column temperature gradient steps-
is maintained to get the required products by commissioning • Commissioning the furnace by snuffing steam to remove
the reflux (top, mid and bottom) system [1]. gases to avoid explosion during furnace firing.
• Superheated steam vent and low points open to allow the
IV. PROCESS SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM flow of steam in superheated coils at 3.0~3.5 bar.
Check and maintain the negative draft pr. of the furnace
The process schematic diagram of crude oil distillation
10~12 mm of H2O.
process is as follows-.
• Select the required fuel system. Pilot valve open and pilot
burner fired by spark plug. Then main gas valve open
to fired main burner. For FO (Furnace Oil) both FO
valve and atomizing steam valve have open
simultaneously with maintaining 1.6 bar higher
pressure at steam than FO pressure. After main burner
fired the pilot valve closed to off the pilot burner.
C. Hot circulation & commissioning of Reflux and product
storage system
• Furnace outlet crude temperature increased gradually and
maintained near 360°C by TRCV1101A/B, or
TRCV1101 and PDCV1101.
• In the C1101 the crude is fractionated to TG, KI, KII,
LGO, HGO, and Residue. The refluxed drum B1102 is
commission to get the TG by maintaining pressure and
level of the balloon. A part of TG is taken out by pump
P1109A/B to be refluxed under temperature control
valve TRCV1102 at the top of the column.
• The stripping column, C1102 is commission to get the
fractionated products KI, KII, LGO and HGO under the
respective LCV and FRCV to store in the tank. The
circulating reflux is commission to maintain C1101
mid zone temperature gradient.
• The bottom product of C1102 is taken out by pump
P1107 and flow is controlled under the LCV1102 and
finally stored to the tank.
Fig. 1 Simplified schematic diagram of the crude oil refining process [1] D. Process Flow Diagram
Start
V. PROCESS OPERATION DESCRIPTION
Successful operation of a process system depends upon Furnace purging & steam commissioning completed
careful installation & initial start up. Before start up there
should be a thorough check of the system, like valves, control Start Feed pump fill the C1101 bottom 50% by crude
trip, safety device, and all the mechanical and electrical
system. The crude oil distillation process is categorized in the Required fuel system NG/ RG/NG+RG/FO selected
subsequent phases: [1].
A. Initial Start up and Cold Circulation Furnace purging & steam commissioning completed
At the initial start up the respective valves to ensure the
Yes Pilot valve
flow of crude by gravity from the crude tank to the crude Main burner closed & pilot
circuit. Start Feed pump that will force crude to circulate fired burner off
though the full crude circuit. The flow of crude is controlled No
by FRCV and circulation continues to the circuit up to 50%
Pilot valve opened and header pressure maintained
bottom level build up in C1101.
B. Furnace Firing and Fuel Selection Pilot burner fired by spark plug ignition
In ERL NG, RG and FO are used as fuel of the furnaces
through their consequent fuel system network. A

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 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009

E. Program Development
A Moeller PLC is programmed and simulate in Sucosoft
V5.02 programming software. The Ladder Diagram (LD)
NG/RG/NG+RG FO
Fuel PLC programming language used easy to understand. LD is
selection based on graphical representations with contacts, coils and
Main gas valve open Start FO Steam boxes, as per the circuit diagrams [2-3].
pump to valve open
maintain to maintain
Main burner fired FO header header pr.

Maintain
Pilot pr. Diff.
burner off

Low High
Furnace outlet
temp
TRCV Opening TRCV Closing

B1102 commissioning & start respective pumps

High Low
B1102 pr.
(than set)
PICV1101 Opening PICV1101 Closing

High
Low
B1102 level
(than require)
LCV1103 Opening LCV1103 Closing

High Low
B1102 water
level
LCV1104 Opening LCV1104 Closing

Low High
C1101 top
temp
TRCV1102 Closing

C1102 commissioning & start respective pumps

High Low
C1101
distillate level
LCV1105~8 Opening LCV1105~8 Closing

Circulating reflux commissioning

Low High
C1101 Mid
zone temp
TICV1101 & TICV1101 & Fig. 4 Process variable declaration for PLC system
FRCV1108 Opening FRCV1108 Closing

Bottom Residue pump start

High Low

C1101 bottom
level
LCV1102 Opening LCV1102 Closing
Return
Fig. 3 Crude oil refining process flow diagram

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Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009

Fig. 5 LD program for crude refining process

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 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009

F. Program Execution VII. CONCLUSION

The ladder logic program execution by Sucosoft V5.02 To cope with the technological advancement, to ensure
software requires the following steps [2-3]: higher efficiency and effectiveness and reliability in a more
• Program development in pou editor, economical way this proposed system will be a great scope. It
• Topology configuration, will also provide better flexibility in customization of
• Program code generation, operation and control with minimum effort. The paper has
• Program transfer from computer to PLC, furnished itself to study the integral parts of the entire process
• Test and commissioning, involved, their implementation and the problems that may
• Program run. show up have also been given their due importance.

Then the PLC executes the program successfully after ACKNOWLEDGMENT

pressing the start switch. As the number of input & output The authors would like to thank Mr. Sharafat Ali, Assistant
address is restricted in the software used in this study, so few General Manager, Department of Instrumentation &
false address is used in the program. PLC always scan its Communication, Eastern Refinery Limited, Bangladesh for
input address and give an output signal according the his valuable guidelines and supervision to complete the task.
instruction of the program. Cordial thanks also to Md. Ali Zulquarnain, Member,
Planning, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC)
VI. RESULT AND DISCUSSION for his valuable review and comments.
The modification of many single loop control loops by a
single PLC will provide more flexibility of the system in case REFERENCES
of operation, control, troubleshooting, commissioning, testing [1] Crude Oil Refining Process Operation Guideline, Eastern Refinery
and modification. The proposed system will also be Limited, Chittagong
beneficiary to the economical aspect. Though the practical [2] GUNTE, Equipment for Engineering Education,(04/02/2012)
process control system have used several PID (proportional http://www.usdidactic.com/html/p3562.htm
[3] Sucosoft S40 V5.02, Moeller PLC Software
derivative and integral) control, due to the limitation of PLC [4] P. K. Bhowmik and M. Dey, “Protection and Control of Steam
software used in this study all the control loops are simplified Turbine Generator using PLC” First International Conference on
for analysis that can be easily improved by using higher Mechanical Engineering and Renewable Energy 2011
version of the software. It has also ensured the option of (ICMERE2011), Chittagong, Bangladesh, December 22-24, 2011.
further advancement in system modification by advance PLC [5] S. K.Dhar, P.K. Bhowmik and S. Chakraborty, “Operation and Control
of Nuclear Reactor with PLC” International Conference on
that is SCADA system. Information and Communication Technology, volume 3, 11C-25,
Yantai, CHINA August 27-28, 2011.

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