Journal of Electrical Engineering

The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh

Vol. EE 38, No.2, December 2012

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
2
Department of Inspection, Eastern Refinery Limited, North Potenga, Chittagong, Bangladesh
3
Member IEEE, Chittagong, Bangladesh
E-mail: [email protected] [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— The operation & control of the crude oil to automate the operation & control of the crude oil
distillation process, which is a very sophisticated system distillation process and subsiding human intervention, there is
involving modern technologies, is of utmost importance in any a need for developing a PLC-based control system. Typical
crude oil refinery. In this paper, prominent features of a PLC applications of PLC-based control systems are in the
based automatic operation and control of crude oil refining industries e.g. power plants, oil refineries, shipbuilding
process in an atmospheric distillation column has been outlined. industries etc. The processing system of Eastern Refinery
The complete crude oil distillation process has been ramified
into four consecutive phases’ viz. initial start-up & cold
Limited (ERL), Chittagong, Bangladesh, is taken as a
circulation, furnace firing & selection of appropriate fuel, hot reference for this study.
circulation & commissioning of reflux system & finally, storage
of the refined products. In the first phase, if all the physical II.PLC MODULE SETUP
systems are in good condition, then all respective valves will be
opened so that the crude may be circulated through the PLC is a 'digital operating system' designed primarily for
associated circuit from the crude oil storage tank by the action use in an industrial environment, which uses a programmable
of gravity. After that, the main feed pump will be started to memory for its internal operation of user-orientated
continue the flow of crude until 50% bottom level of the instructions and for implementing specific functions such as
distillation column if filled up & this circulation of crude is logic, sequencing, timing, counting and arithmetic [2-3]. The
termed as cold circulation. In the second phase, the furnace will Sucosoft V5.02 PLC software is used in this study [2-3].
be fired after completion of furnace pre-purging, steam
commissioning in the super-heated circuit & appropriate fuel III. PROCESS DESCRIPTION
(NG/RG/FO) selection. In this stage, the temperature of crude
oil is also gradually increased at the furnace outlet and The feed (crude oil) is pumped directly from the crude oil
maintained by throttling the fuel supply valves. In the third storage tank by the feed pump P1101A/B. FRCV controls the
phase, a temperature gradient is maintained in the distillation flow rate of the feed. Feed (crude) in a furnace is heated to
column by commissioning the reflux (top, mid & bottom)
360˚ C and so the crude is partially vaporized. This partially
systems and thus the fractional distillation is facilitated. Finally,
the purified products are stored in the respective storage tanks
vaporized feed is then sent to the atmospheric distillation
from the distillation column. If any aberrant situation arises, column C1101, which is equipped with 33 trays. In this
owing to which the operation may be unstable & unsafe, the feed column, the crude is fractionated to give the following
pump, furnace fuel supply valves and respective safety shutoff products: TG, KI, KII, LGO, HGO, and Residue.
valves will be tripped and thus the entire cycle is accomplished. TG is condensed in the aero condenser EM-1123, then in
the water cooler E1110AB. The pressure of the reflux drum
Index Terms—PLC, Crude oil refining process, Distillation B1102 is controlled by the departure of gas to the flare
column, Sucosoft V5.02 Moeller PLC software through PICV 1101. In this reflux drum, gasoline and water
are separated by decantation; part of the gasoline is taken out
I. INTRODUCTION by pump P1109A/B to be refluxed under temperature control

T HE demand for higher quality, greater efficiency & valve TRCV1102 at the top of the column. The other part is
automated control in the arena of process plant, chemical taken out by pump P1110A/B and sent as feed for the
industry and energy sector has been aggrandized to a stabilization column under the level control valve LCV1103
great extent [4]. To cope with this advancement & also to of B1102. Water is evacuated by gravity to the sewer under
construe the advantages of using PLC-based automation in the level control valve LCV1104.
the crude oil distillation process, an attempt has been taken in KI, KII, LGO, and HGO are withdrawn separately from
this paper. Every crude oil refinery requires continuous their respective trays which are flow by gravity into the
monitoring & spasmodic inspection of its various process stripper column under the respective LCV. After that these
parameters in order to ensure safe and smooth operation. products are taken out by the pump cooled by exchanging
There are possibilities of errors in human operation. In order heat through the exchanger and cooler and stored in the
storage tank.
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 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 38(II), December 2012

The bottom product (residue) is stripped by superheated B. Furnace Firing and Fuel Selection
steam and is taken out by pump P1107 then cooled by the In ERL NG, RG and FO are used as fuel of the furnaces
heat exchanger and cooler and stored in the storage tank. Its through their consequent fuel system network.
flow rate is controlled by LCV. The column temperature The following steps perform start-up of furnace firing-
gradient is maintained to get the required products by  Commissioning the furnace by snuffing steam to remove
commissioning 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.
The process schematic diagram of the crude oil distillation Check and maintain the negative draft pr. of the furnace
process is as follows-. 10~12 mm of H2O.
 Select the required fuel system. Pilot valve open and pilot
burner fired by a spark plug. Then the main gas valve
opens to the fired main burner. For FO (Furnace Oil)
both FO valve and atomizing steam valve have to open
simultaneously with maintaining 1.6 bar higher
pressure at steam than FO pressure. The pilot valve
closed to the pilot burner after the main burner fired.
C. Hot circulation, Reflux, and 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
commissioned 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 commissioned 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 commissioned to maintain the
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 in the tank.
D. Process Flow Diagram
Fig. 1 Simplified schematic diagram of the crude oil refining process [1]
Start
V. PROCESS OPERATION DESCRIPTION
Furnace purging & steam commissioning completed
The successful operation of a process system depends upon
careful installation & initial start-up. Before start-up, there Start Feed pump fill the C1101 bottom 50% by crude
should be a thorough check of the system, like valves, control oil
trips, safety devices, and all the mechanical and electrical
Required fuel system NG/ RG/NG+RG/FO selected
systems. The crude oil distillation process is categorized in
the subsequent phases: [1].
Furnace purging & steam commissioning completed
A. Initial Startup and Cold Circulation
At the initial start-up the respective valves to ensure the Yes Pilot valve
Main burner closed & pilot
flow of crude by gravity from the crude tank to the crude fired burner off
circuit. Start Feed pump that will force crude to circulate No
though the full crude circuit. The flow of crude is controlled
by FRCV and circulation continues to the circuit up to 50% Pilot valve opened and header pressure maintained
bottom level build up in C1101.
Pilot burner fired by spark plug ignition

A
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 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 38(II), December 2012

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 easily 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.
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 the 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, 38(II), December 2012

Fig. 5 LD program for the crude refining process

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 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 38(II), December 2012

F. Program Execution VII. CONCLUSION

The ladder logic program execution by Sucosoft V5.02 To cope with technological advancement, to ensure higher
software requires the following steps [2-3]: efficiency and effectiveness and reliability in a more
 Program development in the 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
addresses is restricted in the software used in this study, so General Manager, Department of Instrumentation &
few false addresses are used in the program. PLC always Communication, Eastern Refinery Limited, Bangladesh for
scans its input address and gives an output signal according to his valuable guidelines and supervision to complete the task.
the 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, [1] Crude Oil Refining Process Operation Guideline, Eastern Refinery
testing, and modification. The proposed system will also be Limited, Chittagong
beneficial to the economic aspect. Though the effective [2] GUNTE, Equipment for Engineering Education,(04/02/2012)
process control system has 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 a 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] P.K. Bhowmik, S. K.Dhar, S. Chakraborty, “Operation and Control of
Nuclear Reactor with PLC” International Conference on Information
that is a SCADA system. and Communication Technology, volume 3, 11C-25, Yantai, CHINA
August 27-28, 2011.

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