STUDENT INDUSTRIAL TRAINING (SIT) REPORT

JANUARY 2020 – AUGUST 2020

MALAYSIAN REFINING COMPANY SDN BHD

(MRCSB)

AHMAD SYAHMI BIN AHMAD FARID

24437
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMME
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to
Malaysia Refining Company Sdn Bhd (MRCSB) for accepting my internship application and for
making me a part of the MRCSB family. It has been an honor to be doing my industrial training
here at MRCSB because of its working culture and also all of the knowledge gained throughout
the process. Learning something new everyday in a place that is beyond a regular classroom has
been phenomenal and for that I am deeply grateful.

Next, I would also like to give my biggest appreciation to Mr. Abu Huzaifah, my host
company supervisor for his many contributions towards me especially in guiding me and
teaching me the work culture, technical process and working guidelines here in MRCSB.
Throughout my industrial training Mr. Abu has always been patient in coping with my
unorthodox questions and attitude. Mr. Abu Huzaifah happens to be an operational engineer for
Melaka Group 3 (MG3), which is the name of my department and he is in charge of running the
MG3 refinery area. I have the chance of witnessing how Mr. Abu works with his fellow
technicians and operators in making sure that the refinery produces products that achieves the
specifications of the market. Clearly a huge burden was already in the shoulders of Mr. Abu but
still he had the decency to take me in as a trainee and educate me in any way he could so that I
could be prepared for the working life.

Last but not least I would like to say thank you to Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP)
which includes lecturers and also supporting staff for educating me prior to my industrial training
and for helping me secure an internship placement at one of my dream company which is
MRCSB, a subsidiary company of Petroleum Nasional (PETRONAS).

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 VERIFICATON STATEMENT

I hereby verify that this report was written by

AHMAD SYAHMI BIN AHMAD FARID (
and all information regarding this company and the projects involved are NOT
CONFIDENTIAL / CONFIDENTIAL (strikethrough not relevant).

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Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................4

1.1 General Overview of the Company..................................................................................5

1.1.1 Petroleum Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)...............................................................5

1.1.2 Malaysia Refining Company Sdn. Bhd. (MRCSB)...................................................6

1.2 Core business of MRCSB.................................................................................................9

1.3 Products of MRCSB..........................................................................................................9

1.4 MRCSB Complex and Description.................................................................................10

1.4.1 PETRONAS Second Refinery Phase 1 (PSR-1).....................................................10

1.4.2 PETRONAS Second Refinery Phase-2 (PSR-2).....................................................12

1.4.3 Cogeneration (COGEN) Plant.................................................................................14

1.4.4 Melaka Group 3 (MG3)...........................................................................................14

2 WORK CULTURE................................................................................................................15

2.1 Occupational Health and Safety......................................................................................15

2.1.1 General HSE Rules..................................................................................................15

2.1.2 ZeTo Rules...............................................................................................................16

2.1.3 Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Policy.......................................................18

2.1.4 Stop Work Policy.....................................................................................................19

2.2 Company Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).............................................................19

2.3 Work Environment..........................................................................................................22

3 WORKING EXPERIENCE...................................................................................................23

3.1 Skills gained....................................................................................................................23

3.1.1 Communication Skills.............................................................................................23

3.1.2 Time Management Skills.........................................................................................23

3.1.3 Team Work..............................................................................................................24

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 3.1.4 Technical Drawing Interpretation............................................................................25

3.2 Knowledge......................................................................................................................26

3.2.1 Introduction to Melaka Group 3 (MG3)..................................................................26

3.2.2 Unit 18 (Vacuum Distillation Unit).........................................................................27

3.2.3 Unit 19 (Hydrotreating and Mobile Selective Dewaxing).......................................32

3.2.4 Principles of Ejector................................................................................................35

3.2.5 PI Processbook.........................................................................................................37

3.3 Understanding Job Requirement.....................................................................................38

3.4 Completing Task Given on Time....................................................................................40

4 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES IN HOST COMPANY...........................................................43

4.1 Economical......................................................................................................................43

4.2 Political and Cultural Dimensions..................................................................................43

4.3 Environmental.................................................................................................................44

5 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................45

6 REFERENCE.........................................................................................................................46

7 APPENDIX............................................................................................................................47

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1 INTRODUCTION
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) is currently one of Malaysia’s top engineering
universities, ranking in the top 500 in the world as listed in QS World University Rankings.
UTP is well recognized as a top university that produces well-rounded students who has
numerous added traits such as holistic personality and communication skills, on-point
critical thinking and solution synthesis ability. Besides that, UTP nurtures students to
achieve a high business acuity, the mindset of lifetime learning capacity and also the
knowledge to have technical competency.

It is beyond doubt that these values are difficult to be instilled amongst students however,
UTP believes that through industrial training program, the objectives can be met. UTP’s
Career Development Office (CDO) has developed an industrial training program that is
quite unusual compared to other universities throughout Malaysia. This industrial training
program is divided into two parts which are Student Industrial Training (SIT) followed by
Student Industrial Project (SIP). This industrial training program targets to expose students
to the real working life which leads to acquiring enough technical knowledge and enhancing
soft skills to live the corporate life.

Student Industrial Training, which is the first part of the internship program requires
students to get to know the host company and understand the working environment besides
the technical process of the given department. The course learning outcomes for SIT is
students should be able:

1. To demonstrate their communication, management and teamwork skills.

2. To adopt ethic, professionalism and HSE practices in work culture.
3. To demonstrate continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the training.
4. To appreciate sustainability issues in the industry.

In this industrial training report, the trainee has been offered an internship placement at
MRCSB whereby he has been placed in MG3 production department under the supervision
of Abu Huzaifah bin Bidin, the operational engineer of that area. All the content from this
report are based on the experience, tasks, assignment and training the author has been
involved throughout SIT.

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1.1 General Overview of the Company
1.1.1 Petroleum Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)

Petroleum Nasional Berhad which is also known as PETRONAS was established in

1974. PETRONAS is Malaysia’s first national oil company and the logo was originally designed
by Dato’ Johan Ariff in the year that it was established which reflected as an oil drop. The color
emerald green was chosen as the official corporate color of PETRONAS which symbolizes the
color of the sea where oil and gas are drilled in the sea.

Figure 1.1.1.1: PETRONAS logo.

According to FORTUNE Global 500, PETRONAS is currently ranked amongst the

largest corporations in the world. This is because it uses innovative technology to help maximize
energy sources from even the most remote and difficult environments. PETRONAS has
operations running from over 50 countries all over the world with integrated value chain spans
from exploration to marketing and from logistics to technological infrastructure. Other than that,
PETRONAS is quite famous for its various social, environmental and community programs for
the present and future generations.

It has always been PETRONAS’s vision to be a leading multinational oil and gas
company. This vision has led PETRONAS to improve itself in areas that requires a lot more
focus for instance in the research and development area and also sustainability of resources.
Nevertheless, this company strives to contribute back to the people and nation. In order for
PETRONAS to do such a thing is through believing in the four shared values that PETRONAS
has instilled in its fellow workers which are loyalty, integrity, professionalism and cohesiveness.

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 LOYALTY INTERGRITY
- Loyal to nation and - Honest and upright
corporation

PROFESSIONALISM COHESIVENESS
- Committed, innovative - United in purpose and
and proactive and fellowship
always string for
excellence

Figure 1.1.1.2: PETRONAS shared values

As of 7th March 2007, the PETRONAS group comprises of 107 wholly owned subsidiaries, 28
partly owned subsidiaries and 52 associated companies. In 2008, PETRONAS was the 95 th
largest company in the world. FORTUNE also ranked PETRONAS as the 8 th most profitable
company in the world and the most profitable in Asia. Since its incorporation, PETRONAS had
involved in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities including exploration, production and
development of upstream sector, oil and gas downstream sector, distribution of petroleum
products and marketing.

1.1.2 Malaysia Refining Company Sdn. Bhd. (MRCSB)

Malaysian Refining Company Sdn Bhd is the biggest operating refinery in Malaysia. It
produces a total capacity of 270000 barrels per stream day (BPSD). Located within Sungai
Udang and Tangga Batu (northwest area with the land size of 926 acres), Melaka Refinery is
the second oil refinery of PETRONAS. It comprises of two processing trains, PETRONAS
Second Refinery Phase 1 (PSR-1) and PETRONAS Second Refinery Phase 2 (PSR-2). PSR-1,
wholly-owned by PETRONAS started its operation in 1994 with a design capacity to process
100,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) of domestic sweet crudes and condensates. PSR-2, a
sour conversion refinery with a design capacity to process 170,000 bpsd of sour crude is
owned by Malaysian Refining Company Sdn. Bhd. (MRC) which is a joint-venture between
PETRONAS and Conoco Philips, an international oil and gas company based in United States
of America.

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MRCSB consists of three processing trains which are PETRONAS Second Refinery Phase-1
(PSR-1) and PETRONAS Second Refinery Phase 2 (PSR-2). Figure below shows the logo of
MRCSB and MRCSB layout.

Figure 1.1.2.1: MRCSB logo.

Figure 1.1.2.2: MRCSB plot plan.

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 In addition to that, as time progresses, there are two other production facilities namely the
Melaka Group 3 Base Oil (MG3) plant and a Cogeneration (COGEN) plant. MG3 plant was
commissioned in 2008 in an integrated facility for the production of Group III lubricant base oil
known as ETRO while COGEN was commissioned in 2007 which aimed to supply 140MW of
electricity and steam to the entire refinery complex. Meaning to say that MRCSB was able to
generate its own electricity and steam by its own without any reliability towards external parties.

Even though, PETRONAS will be opening a new refinery complex called Refinery and
Petrochemical Integrated Complex (RAPID) which was said to be the next biggest operating
refinery in Malaysia, MRCSB still holds the record until RAPID proves otherwise. MRCSB also
shares its location with other sub-companies such as Petronas Lubricant International Sdn Bhd,
Petronas Dagangan Berhad and Sungai Udang Port Sdn Bhd. Below is the Layout of MRCSB
with the aforementioned companies.

Figure 1.1.2.3: MRCSB plot plan with other sub-companies

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1.2 Core business of MRCSB
Oil refining has always been Malaysian Refining Company Sdn Bhd core business. The
power plant strives to refine crude oil everyday into specific products like motor gasoline, jet
fuel, kerosene, lube base oil and many more side products. MRCSB refines domestic crude oil
and also imported crude oil. The power plant gets its domestic crude oil from Petronas Penapisan
Terengganu in Kerteh, Terengganu while imported crude oil is usually supplied from the Middle
Eastern Countries like the United Arabian Emirates and even Saudi Arabia. Some of the crude
oil names are TAPIS, DULANG and KIMANIS.

1.3 Products of MRCSB

As stated, MRCSB has three main processing trains which are PSR-1, PSR-2 and MG3.
There are a few distinct features for each processing trains. For instance, in PSR-1, it only refines
sweet crude oil while in PSR-2 refines sour crude oil. The difference between sweet crude oil
and sour crude oil is the Sulphur content of the crude oil. Sweet crude oil is crude oil containing
low Sulphur while sour crude is vice versa. MG3 processing train actually produces top tier lube
base oil which is also known as lubricating oil without addictive by taking the bottom stream of
PSR-1 as inlet. This means that MG3 power plant does not refine crude oil but refines products
from PSR-1 into more subsequent products. Table below shows the products produce by PSR-1,
PSR-2 and MG3.

PRODUCTS USAGE
PETROLEUM GAS Heating, cooking, making plastics & etc
NAPHTHA Intermediate that will be further
processed
to make gasoline
GASOLINE Motor fuel
KEROSENE Fuel for jet engines, heating oil, starting
material for making other products.
GAS OIL & DIESEL DISTILLATE Diesel fuel & heating oil.
LUBRICATING OIL Motor oil, grease & other lubricant.
HEAVY GAS OIL OR FUEL OIL For industrial fuel.
RESIDUALS Coke, asphalt, tar, waxes
Table 1.3.1: Products of MRCSB.

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 Table 1.3.2: Products of MRCSB.

Certain products are produced in same refinery and certain products are produced in
certain refinery only. PSR-1 and PSR-2 mostly produced same products but with
different percentage. Same goes to MG3.

1.4 MRCSB Complex and Description

There are six different area in MRCSB refining facilities. Each area plays an important role
towards the company.

Area 1: Sweet Hydroskimmimg and Lube Base

Area 2: Sour Hydroskimmimg

Area 3: Sour Conversion

Area 4: Storage and Distribution

Area 5: Utilities, Sulphur Complex and Cogen

Area 6: MG3 (Lube Base oil)

1.4.1 PETRONAS Second Refinery Phase 1 (PSR-1)

PSR-1 which is wholly owned by PETRONAS, was commissioned in September
1994 and it processes local sweet crude only at sweet hydroskimming process train.
Sweet crude is crude oil that has Sulphur content less than 0.5%. The products from PSR-
1 are liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petrochemical naphtha (PCN), gasoline, kerosene,
diesel and low Sulphur Waxy Residue (LSWR). The process units under PSR-1 are:

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 • Unit 11: Crude Distillation Unit

• Unit 12: Naphtha Hydrotreating Unit

• Unit 13: Catalytic Reforming Unit with Continuous Catalytic Regenerator

• Unit 14: Saturated Gas Concentration Unit

• Unit 15: Sour Water Stripping Unit

• Unit 16: Kerosene & Heavy Naphtha Treating Unit

• Unit 17: Mercury Removal Unit

Figure 1.4.1.1: Process Overview of PSR-1.

PSR-1 is divided into two operating areas which are:

Area 1A

 Crude Distillation Unit (CDU)

 Saturated Gas Recovery Unit (SGCU)
 Sour water Stripping Unit (SWSU)

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  Heavy Naphtha and Kerosene Treating Unit (HN/KTU)
 Mercury Removal Unit (MRU)

Area 1B

 Naphtha Hydrotreating Unit (NHT)

 Catalytic Reforming Unit with Continuous Catalytic Regenerator (CRU/CCR)

1.4.2 PETRONAS Second Refinery Phase-2 (PSR-2)

PSR-2 is operated by the Malaysian Refining Company (MRC), however it is a joint
venture with Conoco-Philips with a share percentage of PETRONAS (53%), Conoco-Philips
(47%). The production capacity of PSR-2 alone is 100000 BPSD and it was commissioned in the
year 1998. Since the day of commissioning, progress has always been made on the numerous
options of feed crude oil that PSR-2 can process which eventually extended MRCSB’s market to
foreign buyers. Noting the fact that only sour crude that is imported from the Middle East is
processed here. This is because the feed crude oil has a sulfur content of 2.5 wt%. PSR-2
produces Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), gasoline, kerosene, sulfur, fuel oil, asphalt and coke.
PSR-2 was built after PSR-1 therefore PSR-2 is imminently more sophisticated in terms of
technology and also keep in mind that the byproducts of sour crude are more than sweet crude.
The process units under PSR-2 are:

• Unit 21: Crude Distillation Unit and Vacuum Distillation unit

• Unit 22: Naphtha Hydrotreating Unit

• Unit 23: Catalytic Reforming Unit/Continuous Catalyst Regeneration

• Unit 24: Saturated Gas Recovery Unit

• Unit 25: Isomerization Unit

• Unit 26: LPG Treating Unit

• Unit 27: Naphtha Treating Unit

• Unit 28: Kerosene Treating Unit/Caustic Neutralization Unit

• Unit 29: Distillate Hydrotreater Unit

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• Unit 30: Hydrocracker Unit

• Unit 32: Delayed Coker Unit

• Unit 33: Amine Regeneration Unit

• Unit 35: Sulphur Recovery Unit

• Unit 39: Hydrogen Production Unit

Figure 1.4.2.1: Process overview of PSR-2

PSR-2 is divided into four areas for operating convenience. PSR-2 includes area 2A, 2B, 3A and
3B.

Area 2A

 Unit 21: Crude and Vacuum Distillation Unit (CDU/VDU)

 Unit 24: Saturated Gas Recovery Unit (SGRU)
 Unit 26: LPG Treating Units (LTU)
 Unit 27: Naphtha Treating Units (NTU)
 Unit 28: Kerosene Treating Unit / Caustic Neutralization Unit (KTU/CNU)

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Area 2B

 Unit 22: Naphtha Hydrotreating Unit (NHT)

 Unit 23: Catalytic Reforming Unit Continuous Catalytic Regenerator (CRU)
 Unit 25: C6 Isomerization Unit (LTU)
 Unit 29: Distillate Hydrotreating Unit (DHT)

Area 3A

 Unit 30: Hydrocracker Unit (HCK)

 Unit 31: Hydrogen Collection and Distribution Systems (HCDS)
 Unit 39: Hydrogen Production Unit (HPU)

Area 3B

 Unit 32: Delayed Coker Unit (DCU)

1.4.3 Cogeneration (COGEN) Plant

COGEN was commissioned in 2007 to supply electricity and steam for the entire
refinery complex. It was built initially to ensure that MRCSB does not rely on Tenaga
Nasional Berhad (TNB) on electricity source. It is much more cos efficient to produce the
refinery’s own electricity than purchasing it from TNB. Other than that, COGEN also
acts as a steam provider to the refinery either Low Pressure Steam (LP steam), Medium
Pressure Steam (MP steam) or High-Pressure Steam (HP steam). It is a financial strategy
that MRCSB produces its own electricity and steam so it does not rely and depend on
external parties. COGEN consists of five gas turbines, five heat recovery steam generator
and one steam turbine generator.

1.4.4 Melaka Group 3 (MG3)

MG3 started commissioning in 2008 where the objective was to convert Low
Sulphur Waxy Residue (LSWR) into Lube Based Oil (LBO). Basically, this project is
part of an expansion project for PSR-1 Refinery which is fully owned and operated by
PP(M)SB. There are four types of LBO and they are all separated based on its quality
ranging from Group I to Group IV LBO. MG3 produces Group III Lube Base Oils which
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 consist of 100N and 150N and Group II Lube Base Oil which is 500N. In MG3, there are
numerous crucial units such as vacuum distillation unit, hydrotreating unit, Mobill
Selective Dewaxing Unit and Hydrofinishing unit. The capacity of MG3 Lube Base oil
Project is it can produce up to 16000 barrel per stream day (BPSD).

2 WORK CULTURE
In order for an organization to work effectively and productively, there is always
a work culture that employees need to follow. In doing so, it helps the organization to
work as unit with the littlest chances of miscommunication and misinterpretation. Every
organization has their own working culture and it must be adapted by the organization to
symbolize the organization itself. Supposedly, the working culture of each organization is
inline with the organizational roles, vision, mission and social etiquette. The working
culture is beyond doubt developed through the implementation of a set of rules that direct
the employees to work and follow the standard procedure of the company. Indeed, a
working culture requires time and patience to be instilled in staffs but through practice
and time, it will form an organizational structure. MRCSB has its own unique and strict
working culture that the author had experience firsthand.

2.1 Occupational Health and Safety

Health, Safety and Environment or also known as (HSE) has always been an
important aspect that MRCSB focuses on. It is critical that every employee follows and
obey the HSE guidelines so that it minimizes and prevents any accidents from ever
occurring in the first place. MRCSB’s pride and joy is that it has always been one of the
safest running oil and gas refineries in Malaysia with a record of 250,000 safe man hours.
Obviously, any oil and gas refinery in the world is dangerous and full of hazards
therefore MRCSB has prepared some HSE policies in order to prevent accidents from
happening and also minimize the consequences of the accidents after they had occurred.

2.1.1 General HSE Rules

The MRCSB HSE department has established 21 HSE General Rules that all
employees, interns and contractors need to obey. These set of rules are mostly related to

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 the working environment in the plant area as well as the administration office. The 20
general HSE rules are stated as below:

1. Zeto Rules
2. PTW Requirements
3. Smoking Policy
4. Dress Code
5. Drinking Water
6. Handphones
7. Material Movement
8. Personal Protective Equipment
9. Handling of Chemicals
10. Electrical Safety
11. Confine Space Entry
12. Traffic and Road Safety
13. Scaffolding and Staggering
14. LOTO and Energy Isolation
15. Hand Tool
16. Grating
17. Falling Object
18. H2S gas Badges
19. Breathing Apparatus (BA) set
20. Housekeeping

2.1.2 ZeTo Rules

MRCSB requires all employees within the premise to follow the Zero Tolerance
(ZeTo) set of rules. There are 10 basic rules that must be followed to avoid any kind of
accidents from happening or even worse casualties. For every ZeTo rule broken there is a
specific punishment for instance suspension for a week, a month or even full resignation.
Each ZeTo rule has its own level of priority and attentiveness. Below are the ZeTo Rules:

1. Work with a valid work permit (PTW) required for the job.

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2. Use the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling hazardous
chemicals.
3. Verify energy isolation before starting work.
4. Obtain authorization before excavation or entering a trench
5. Obtain authorization before entering a confined space.
6. Obtain authorization before overriding or disabling safety critical equipment.
7. Do not position yourself under a suspended load
8. Do not smoke outside of designated area or bring potential ignition sources into
process area without authorization.
9. Protect yourself against a fall when working at height.
10. Do not use your mobile phone / walkie talkie while driving, , follow the speed limit
and use your seat belt.

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Figure 2.1.2.1: ZeTo rules description.

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 Figure 2.1.2.2: PPE procedure.

2.1.3 Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Policy

This policy was developed to ensure that the people, community, property and
environment are safe in terms of its usage and sustainability. This policy is more like a
checklist that employees need to entertain prior to any task given at hand. The principles
of HSE policies in MRCSB are:

1. Manage HSES matters as serious as any other business activity.

2. Comply to all legal requirements in term of health safety and environment.
3. We engage personnel at all level to participate and commit in the implementation of
HSES program.
4. We provide all necessary supports and resources to ensure effective and smooth
implementation of the program.
5. Everyone has the right to say no, stop and correct any unsafe act, work and condition.

Safety equipment are well-maintained and readily available. Safety equipment includes
alarms, intercoms, sprinkler systems, self-contained breathing units, and first-aid kits.
Safety training is rigorous and continuous. Some of the training topics are as below:

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 1. Emergency procedures which includes where to go and what to do when different
alarms are being triggered. There are four different alarms in MRCSB and they are,
fire alarm, gas release alarm, evacuation alarm and all clear alarm. Every Monday
after lunch there will be a test run for all four-alarm system.
2. Maintenance safety is done because according to facts and figures, most refinery
accidents occur during maintenance. In MRCSB, all proposed maintenance work
must be reviewed and pre-approved by operations team, engineering department,
crafts people and process safety management (PSM). Lock-out and tag-out
procedures that have been implemented prevent unsuspecting employees from trying
to start equipment that should not be started.

2.1.4 Stop Work Policy

Stop work policy has been implemented as a measure of immediate treatment to
the health and safety of the employees, contractors and interns. Stop work policy is also
to ensure that employees do not over work with long work hours because it may harm
them when doing so. Whenever an employee exceeds the maximum amount of work
hours, he is deemed to not be within the working premise. This is what HSES department
refer to as Fatigue Management. Other than fatigue, stop work policy also applies when
the activity is giving negative impacts to the environment. Every employee has the right
to stop other employees work if the activities affect the health, safety and environment.

2.2 Company Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

In any corporate company there will always be a Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP). An SOP is very crucial because it ensures the safety of either contractors,
engineers or even technicians to do their job. That is why all work must review their
respective SOPs first before proceeding the work. It is essential for any party from any
department to make guidelines and review them so that it may turn it into a proper
procedure for the use of the company. MRCSB has a system called Plant Modification
Project Management System (PMPMS) as a governance. This governance system is
basically a customized framework adopted from PETRONAS Project management
System (PPMS).

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 PMPMS’s gated frameworks involves splitting a project’s life cycle into distinct phases
with the use of gates as transition points between phases. Processes are defined in each
phase to assist the project team with identifying relevant activities in developing directions
which ultimately meet the defined decision review criteria for each gate. At the gate, the
gatekeeper exercise authority and decides if the project should proceed to the next phase,
be shelved, or be recycled. There are four main phases which are:

 Framing
 Front End Loading (FEL)
 Execution
 Start-up & Operation

Figure 2.2.1:Plant Modification Project Management System Overview

MRCSB also has a system for the management of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE). It
includes the policies, objectives, organizational structure, resources, responsibilities,

23
standards, procedures and communication that shall be in place in order to manage HSE
effectively. This system is called HSE Management System (HSEMS). This system ensures
that all practicable steps are taken to identify the hazards and risks that will affect any
MRCSB department. There are eight management system elements under this system model:

1. Leadership and commitment

2. Policy and strategic objectives
3. Organization, responsibilities, resources, standards and documents
4. Hazard and effect management process
5. Planning and procedures
6. Implementation and monitoring
7. Assurance
8. Management Review

Figure 2.2.1: Management system.

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2.3 Work Environment
One of the main reasons why all universities in Malaysia have student industrial training is
because to inculcate the working environment to the students. Students need to differentiate the
studying environment with the working environment and how it deviates in so many forms. In
Universiti Teknologi Petronas especially, the students are usually spoon-fed by the lecturers and
tutors with knowledge whereas in a working environment, students need to communicate with
others and have the urge to seek new knowledge. The distinct difference is that there is no such
thing as spoon-feeding in a working environment. The desire to gain new input must always be
within an intern in order for the intern to be more progressive. Hence, the students must be able
to adapt the change in environment as both environments are totally different. It may take some
time to be comfortable and to adapt to the changes in the beginning of the internship period but
eventually adaptation towards the environment can be achieved.

Based on working experience, in MRCSB, the working environment was hard to detect
after a few weeks. However, after approaching different people within the area like technicians,
technical specialists, operators and even operational engineers it was found that the workers here
are very supportive with one another. They will have each other’s back even though it was not
part of their job initially. For example, if an operator was assigned to take care of a certain area
only, let’s say area A and another operator was asked to take care area B. If operator A was
called to do a different task at a different area, the operator from area B will cover for him
because he knows what operator A needs to do and how to do it. Meaning to say that they have
each other’s back if the task is doable.

The next feature of MRCSB’s working environment is that they have a very strong self-
owning principle. Their employees will have the tendency to finish the job no matter what time it
is and how difficult it is. The task at hand must be done as soon as possible. Some of the
employees here work at office hours but they stay back a couple more hours later because they
know that their task was urgent and important to MRCSB.

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3 WORKING EXPERIENCE
3.1 Skills gained

3.1.1 Communication Skills

Communication skills is always a crucial trait to have in a working environment
obviously to ensure that any information is being passed on effectively and clearly. The author
was able to strengthen his communication skills throughout his internship period when he had to
deal with different people having different styles of socializing. Some staffs require time for a
trainee to interact with them while some staffs socialize freely and makes a new intern feel
welcome. Communication is only successful when information is being passed on in a good
manner and clear to prevent any miscommunication that will decrease the efficiency in a
workplace. In addition, level of confidence can be boosted when communication skills are being
practiced from time to time. Confidence level must be at a high state because it is an advantage
to be an engineer to have that special trait.

3.1.2 Time Management Skills

Time management skill is the ability for an individual to prioritize tasks at hand. Meaning
to say the individual knows which task is urgent and which task is less urgent. There was a time
management strategy that the author has learned during his internship and he is currently
implementing this time management strategy in his daily life. This strategy is actually
segregating tasks into four sections which are Urgent & Important, Urgent & Less Important,
Not Urgent & Important, Not Urgent & Less Important. The author has put this strategy in a
table form so it is more visually accessible and for aesthetic purposes. Other than that, a
timetable can also make time management easier especially a personal timetable. This is so that
we would not leave out any task and at the same time we can track our progress. With the above
strategies done by the author, it prevented him from procrastinating any job or task.

26
3.1.3 Team Work
In MG3 production department, there will be shift handover meeting every morning at
7.45 am and 7.45 pm. During this meeting, operators will exchange information amongst their
shifts so that every operator will know what task has not been completed yet, still ongoing or
even task that has already been completed. Operators will also have to report in about their daily
routine checkup on the equipment so that the other shift of operators will know on the defects or
ability of the equipment.

The shift handover meeting will be attended by operational engineers, technical

supervisor and plant supervisor so that they may present what task must be done during their
shift and what has been done during their shift. In this meeting it was clear that within the
production department there was a sense of team work. Everyone who was involved with the
meeting came 15 minutes early so that the meeting could start on time and that their following
task would not be delayed. Based on observation, it was a consistent act of attendance during the
meeting and no one came to the meeting late.

Another display of teamwork is when operators including myself were involved in the
switching of pump during lube base oil production. Usually, when there is a task of switching
pumps, it requires more than one operator. The normal number of operators needed would be
three or four. This is because operators would need to cater a few criteria such as switching
blinds, monitoring warmup line and closing valves slowly and simultaneously. Team work was
definitely showed throughout this task because everyone communicated and played their role in
making that task easy and achievable.

27
3.1.4 Technical Drawing Interpretation

The tasks which were assigned allowed me to learn on technical drawings and
documents of the company such as piping and instrument diagram (P&ID), Isometric
Drawing and Process Flow Diagram (PFD). Besides that, I was also introduced to
PETRONAS Technical Standard (PTS) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME) which outlined the standards of every drawing to be used.

What the author learned is that a process flow diagram is the most general form of
drawing. It symbolizes the general process of the plant and only depicts the main
components. A process flow diagram does not show every single equipment because not
every equipment in the plant is related to the synthesis of the product.

In order to see every equipment that exist in the plant, a piping and instrument
diagram can be referred. A piping and instrument diagram is a diagram that fully
illustrates what is in the plant ranging from the name of the equipment to the exact value
of the variables of the equipment for example the name of the pump is P-1904A with
design pressure of 5kg/cm2. The author had no chance dealing with isometric drawing but
what the author gained is that an Isometric drawing or Iso-Drawing is a very specific
illustration on what the equipment should look like. This means that it shows the exact
dimension of the equipment like length, thickness and type of material.

28
3.2 Knowledge
Throughout Student Industrial Training (SIT), there were a lot of knowledge, experience
and skillsets gained. This was achievable through assignments given by my supervisor, plant
visits and talks with senior engineers and operators. Even though, some of the input was already
gained prior to SIT, I got to experience how that theory was implemented in a real-life oil and
gas production plant. It was outstanding that all the theories learned during lectures and tutorials
before SIT acted as a reference to relate it with practical application. The theories that I have
obtained before were very useful as it acts as a basic understanding for me to fully get the idea of
the following detailed process.

3.2.1 Introduction to Melaka Group 3 (MG3)

Melaka Group III or MG3 is a production plant that consists of two units which are Unit
18 and Unit 19. MG3’s main goal is to convert Low Sulphur Waxy Residue (LSWR) to Top-tier
lube base oil which are 100N, 150N and 500N and to optimize integration of fuels by-products
from MG3 with the existing facilities. Base oil is a refinery product and not a lab base product
hence it is a mineral base stock which is also known as lubricating oil without the chemical
addictive. Base oil contains a hydrocarbon range C25 to C40 and the quality of base oil depends
on the type of crude feed. The crude is usually waxy with low Sulphur content hence the name
Low Sulphur Waxy Residue (LSWR).

The LSWR that is being used for MG3 plant actually comes from Crude Distillation Unit
One (CDU-1) which is another area within MRCSB which is Area 1. Next, the LSWR is fed to
Unit 18 where in this unit, fractional distillation occurs in the Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU).
The VDU is the spotlight of unit 18 because it undergoes the fractionation at vacuum pressure
and its distillates the feed based on the required boiling point and viscosity. The product is then
rundown into its respective intermediate tank before being fed into Unit 19. At Unit 19, the
process is actually a batch process where it can only run one specific product from Unit 18 at a
time. Each specific product from Unit 18 produces different types of base oil, so the decision to
produce which type of base oil is solely dependent on production planning department. Unit 19
has three main processes which are hydrotreating, selective dewaxing and hydro finishing. The
processes of Unit 19 are the heart and sole of MG3 because the key reactions that make the
products meet the specifications occur there. These processes will produce lube base oil from

29
lube distillates by re-arranging the hydrocarbon molecules to meet the specifications given by the
customers. Example of specification that is needed to be monitor are Viscosity Index, Pour Point
and Noack Volatility. Viscosity index is the relative measure at the extend of which an oil
viscosity will change if the temperature change. This property can be controlled by manipulating
the temperature of the hydrotreating process. Whereas pour point is the temperature where the
fluid becomes nearly solid and it can be controlled by manipulating the temperature of mobile
selective dewaxing process. Noack Volatility is usually in weight percent which means it is how
much weight percent is loss after the product is heated at 250oC.

Vacuum Distillation Unit Catalytic Dewax Unit Product Fractination

(VDU) (MSDW) Unit
Hydrotreater Unit Hydrofinishing Unit
Mode 1, 2 & 3
(HDT) (MAXSAT)
Products
VDU HDT MSDW MAXSAT PFU
Group III LBO:
70N(not GIII)
100N
LSWR 150N
H2 H2 H2
300N(rating)
500N (GII)

Intermediate
Tanks
Vacuum Sulphur Light Diesel /
Overhead Nitrogen HC Light HC
Bottom Light HC
Residue

Figure 3.2.1.1: Process overview of MG3

3.2.2 Unit 18 (Vacuum Distillation Unit)

MG3 is under Area 6 and usually it is dissociated with Area 1 production. The reason
why MG3 is always related to Area 1 is because its feed is coming from CDU-1 which is from
Area 1. The main purpose of Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU) is to fractionate Low Sulphur
Waxy Residue (LSWR) into waxy distillate as feed for Unit 19. The bottom residue that is from
CDU-1 is firstly transferred into a feed tank and it is fed to Unit 18 as cold feed. One of the
products of unit 18 is the bottom residue or vacuum residue (VR), this product is transferred to
Unit 32 which is the Delayed Coking Unit to produce Petroleum Coke.

The following are the side streams produced from VDU column:

30
  A Light Vacuum Gas Oil (LVGO) product stream, which is routed to Intermediate
Tankage (Unit-72) and finally to Distillate Hydrotreater (Unit-29)
 A Medium Vacuum Gas Oil (MVGO) product stream, which is routed to Intermediate
Tankage (Unit-72) and finally to Hydro Cracker unit as feed stock (Unit-30)
 V1SS product is routed to the MG3 Intermediate Tankage in 100D Tanks
 V2SS product is routed to the MG3 Intermediate Tankage in 150D Tanks
 V3SS product is routed to the MG3 Intermediate Tankage in 500D Tanks
 Vacuum Residue stream is routed to Delayed Coking Unit (Unit-32) for further
processing
 Hydrocarbon Condensate Stream from Overhead accumulator is routed to Light Slop
tank.
 Sour Water from the overhead system, is routed to the Sour Water Treating unit (Unit-34)

The design feed rate for the MG3 VDU is 19800 BPSD of LSWR which includes a design
margin over the anticipated processing rate of 16500 BPSD to cover future processing flexibility.
Based on design on-stream factor of 0.97, the MG3 project overall design feed rate is 16000
BPSD of LSWR Feed. Unit 18 can run in three different modes which are:

TYPE OF MODE PRODUCT PRODUCE

Mode 1 100D & 300D
Mode 2 70D, 100D & 150D
Mode 3 100D, !50D & 500D
Table 3.2.2.1: Mode in MG3.

However, since MG3 commissioned in 2008, the unit has been running at mode 3 due to the
demands of customers. Below is Unit 18 or Vacuum Distillation Unit process flow diagram.

31
 Figure 3.2.2.1: Process flow diagram of Unit 18/VDU.

Feed System

The feed that is charged to the VDU is LSWR from existing PSR-1 Crude Distillation
Unit (CDU-1). The feed goes to an intermediate tankage first and enters at 79 oC. The feed is
passed through the Distillate Coalescer Pre-Filter and Distillate Coalescer. The LSWR then
flows through a preheat train, heated by the side streams, pump around and vacuum residue in a
series of heat exchangers. The LSWR is then mixed with the over flash liquid from the vacuum
tower and then combined stream flows to the feed heater.

The feed heater produces the desired furnace coil outlet temperature (COT) for the given
mode of operation. The Feed Furnace provides the heat input to partially vaporize the feed
sufficient to recover the side stream at the desired cut point plus the amount of over flash
required to maintain adequate wetting of the tower wash zone grid.

The Feed Furnace is a four-pass furnace, and feed is separately controlled to each pass.
The feed is initially heated in a convection coil and then passed to the radiant section of the

32
furnace. Medium Pressure (MP) Steam is injected into the coils at the crossover. This steam
injection controls residence time in the tubes and is provided to reduce the potential for tube
coking. The furnace coil outlet temperature is based on expected outlet transfer line pressure
drop and VDU column flash zone temperature necessary to achieve the required degree of
product separation.

Vacuum Distillation Column (C-1801)

The partially vaporized feed enters the tower at the flash zone. Feed is passed into the
tower, via a tangential inlet and internal annular ring. This baffled section is designed to stop
passage of feed liquid up the tower walls, and minimize entrainment of residue into the wash
section, which could potentially cause contamination of the lower side stream. The C-1801 flash
zone is maintained at 40mmHg and an approximate temperature of 405 oC. The hot vapors flow
up from the flash zone and the liquid flows down into the stripping section. The tower is
provided with multiple separate packed sections above the flash zone to accomplish heat transfer
for the pumparounds as well as mass transfer to meet product quality requirements.

The wash zone immediately above the feed section is installed with a bed of grid to
provide contacting surface for the vapor rising from the flash zone to be washed by wash oil
from the BPA pumps. The excess liquid leaving the bottom of the wash zone is collected
internally on a chimney tray and then routed via gravity back into the tower bottoms stripping
section or to furnace feed.

Vacuum Distillation Column Side Draws

Three main side stream products are withdrawn from the tower: lights, medium and
heavy distillates. The V1SS product stream is removed from a side draw between the top and
bottom pumparounds. This is cooled against the LSWR feed in heat exchanger E-1802 and by air
fin cooler E-1811 to product rundown temperature. There is a middle pump around (MPA)
between V1SS and V2SS for tower heat balance. The MPA exchanges heat with the feed LSWR
in E-1805 and then generates steam in a kettle reboiler, E-1812.

The V2SS stream is removed below the MPA. This stream allows independent control of
the V1SS and V3SS viscosity. It is cooled against the LSWR feed in E-1804 and finally by air
fin cooler E-1813 to product rundown temperature.

33
 The V3SS product stream is removed in the bottom pump around (BPA). The BPA
exchanges heat with feed LSWR in E-1808. V3SS preheats feed LSWR in E-1806. It then
preheats Boiler Feed Water (BFW) in E-1814 before being cooled down in E-1815 to product
rundown temperature.

An over flash stream is included in the design of this tower. The purpose of the over flash
stream is to remove the heavy hydrocarbons and entrained contaminants from the hot vapor
leaving the flash zone. It is drawn above the flash zone and under normal operation it combines
with the preheated LSWR prior to F-1801. The over flash may also be returned to the tower
below the flash zone where it combines with the liquid entering the stripping section.

VDU Column Bottoms

The VDU Column bottoms stripper section below the flash zone is comprised of 5 sieve
trays, which serve to remove light components entrained from the flash zone. MP steam is
injected into the tower bottoms to provide the stripping medium. Thermal cracking and coking in
the bottoms liquid pool is reduced by use of a cooled quench recycle to the tower bottom and
minimization of tower bottoms holdup. The stripped vacuum residue is drawn from the bottom
of the tower and cooled against LSWR in heat exchangers E-1807 and E-1803. The quench
stream is removed between E-1807 and E-1803. The vacuum residue is cooled in E-1816 to
product rundown temperature.

VDU Column Overhead

C-18101 vacuum is maintained by the overhead vacuum system package. The vacuum
system consists of three stages of ejectors, using Medium Pressure steam as a motive fluid. The
vacuum system maintains tower top pressure at 20mmHg. Uncondensed vapor above the top
pump around section of the tower is drawn overhead by the vacuum system. Vapor is drawn off
by the first stage ejector, 1 out of 2 of the parallel ejectors being used under normal operation.

The vapor and motive steam is condensed in first stage ejector condenser and the
condensate collected in Overhead Accumulator Drum V-1802. The evacuation and condensation
of this system is repeated in the second and third ejector with inter-stage condensing in second
and third stage ejector condensers. All condensate and non-condensable are collected and

34
separated in V-1802. Hydrocarbon distillate separated inV-1802 is routed to Light Slop. The sour
water from V-1802 is directed to the sour water-stripping unit.

Tail Gas Scrubbing System

The non-condensable from the Overhead Accumulator drum are sent to the Tail Gas
Scrubber (C-1802). Here the Tail gas containing H 2S is scrubbed with Methyl-Di-Ethanol Amine
(MDEA). The H2S free tail gas from C-1802 overhead is burnt in F-1801 in addition to Fuel Gas.
The ruch MDEA from C-1802 bottom is pumped to Amine Recovery Unit (Unit 33) for further
treatment.

3.2.3 Unit 19 (Hydrotreating and Mobile Selective Dewaxing)

Unit 19 cannot cater all of unit 18’s products in one go but in fact, it only takes in or
processes one Unit 18’s product at a time either 100D, 150D or 500D. Unit 19 is designed to
process waxy distillates into high quality Group 2 and Group 3 Lube Base Oils. Unit 19’s
maximum feed flow rate of 13000 barrels per day. Below is the Process Flow Diagram of Unit
19.

Figure 3.2.3.1: Process flow diagram of Unit 19.

35
Hydrotreating (HDT) Reactor

In this particular reactor, most of the sulfur and nitrogen contaminants in the oil feed are
converted to hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. This hydrotreating step prepares the feed fro the
dewaxing reaction stage as well as meeting product specifications. Temperature required to carry
out the hydrotreating reactions increases gradually throughout the run due to aging of catalyst.
The hydrotreating reactions are exothermic which means the reaction releases heat to the
environment causing the reactor to heat up exponentially. The resulting temperature rise is
controlled by inter-bed quench using cold Recycle Gas directly from the Recycle Gas
Compressor (K-1901). There are three main reactions occurring in this reactor which are
desulphurization, denitrification and olefin and aromatic saturation. The hydrogen which is being
fed into the reactor will react with the feedstock that contains Sulphur and form H 2S. The H2S is
removed from the reactor effluent, making the hydrocarbon effluent having low Sulphur content.
When hydrogen react with nitrogen in the feedstock, it will form ammonia which is removed
from the hydrocarbon. Reactor internals between catalysts beds ensure thorough mixing of the
reactants with quench gas, and good distribution of vapor and liquid flowing to the next bed.
Good distribution of the reactants prevents hot spots and maximizes catalyst performance and
life.

Mobile Selective Dewaxing (MSDW) Reactor

In the MSDW reactor, the paraffins in the waxy oil feed are selectively cracked and
isomerized to improve the feed cold flow properties. As in the HDT reactor case, the dewaxing
reactions are also exothermic and require inter-bed quenching which uses treated hydrogen rich
gas. The MSDW reactor consists of four beds of catalysts where the first bed act as a pre-HDT to
further improve the feed quality. The second and third beds of catalyst act in a similar function
which is to dewax the feed. These dewaxing catalysts are extremely sensitive to even small
levels of contaminants in the feed therefore, extra efforts were made to ensure only clean feeds,
low in both nitrogen and aromatics, are processed over the MSDW catalysts. The estimated C5
yield of dewaxed oil ranges from 98.6-99.4 wt%, reflecting the high selectivity for dewaxing or
isomerization and very low selectivity for boiling range conversion. The n-paraffins in the waxy
oil feed are selectively cracked and isomerized, in the presence of hydrogen and the MSDW

36
catalyst, to improve the feed cold flow properties. Temperature control of the MSDW reactor,
specifically the bottom two beds of active dewaxing catalyst, will be based on the pour point of
the finished base stock. Adjustments can be made to the average reactor temperature. However,
the impact of catalyst aging on the adjustments will be more significant than for the HDT.
Temperature adjustments will need to anticipate such aging behavior. And, as with the HDT
reactor, adjustments will also be needed to compensate for day-to-day changes in feed quality,
such as wax content.

Hydrofinishing (HDF) Reactor

The hydrofinishing reactor is designed to stabilize the finished base stock by saturating
poly-nuclear aromatics (PNA’s). This is accomplished using an ExxonMobil proprietary, noble-
metals, zeolite crystals. PNA’s are compounds that negatively impact base stock performance in
fully-formulated lube products. PNA’s are present in the unit feed and are formed from reactions
that occur at high temperatures in the HDT reactor, where equilibrium favors the formation of
low-levels of PNA’s from naphthenes. In light of the significant activity of the MSDW catalysts
- resulting from the noble-metals loading on both the pre-HDT and dewaxing catalysts – the
requirements placed on the HDF are admittedly low. However, the HDF function is still
important, especially when either the pre-HDT and/or MSDW catalysts are operating at high
temperatures. The HDF reactor Average Reactor Temperature (ART) will be set to meet a
certain lube aromatics specification as measured by the absorption of UV-radiation. Once this
temperature is established for each of the feeds processed, only small and infrequent HDF
temperature adjustments will be required, reflecting the very low aging rate of this catalyst.
However, there is an optimum temperature for each feed, which can only be determined by
commercial experience, Hence, the need for thorough data collection and unit monitoring
throughout the unit’s catalysts lives.

37
3.2.4 Principles of Ejector
As described in Unit 18, the unique characteristic of the distillation column is that it runs
using vacuum pressure. The operating pressure of the Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU) is 20
mmHg which is indefinitely lower than atmospheric pressure. In order to create a vacuum
pressure within the distillation unit, an ejector system is installed on top of the overhead of the
distillation column.

An ejector is a device used to suck the gas or vapor from the desired vessel or system.
Ejectors actually have similarities as a vacuum pump or compressor, but the distinct difference
between them is that an ejector has no moving parts. This means that it is relatively low-cost and
easy to operate and maintenance free equipment.

The working principle of an ejector is that it follows the Bernoulli’s Principle. Bernoulli’s
principle is an idea of fluid dynamics which states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs
simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure or a decrease in the fluid’s potential energy.
The author got a chance to see the application of Bernoulli’s famous principle. To explain more
on the operating principle of the ejector, firstly, the pressure energy in the motive fluid is
converted to velocity energy by an adiabatic expansion in the Nozzle. In Unit 18’s case, the
motive fluid used is Medium Pressure (MP) Steam which is injected to the ejector from the
COGEN unit. Due to the pressure drop of the motive fluid, it will create a low-pressure zone
before the mixing chamber. This creates a low-pressure zone in the mixing chamber which will
later cause the suction fluid to start moving towards the mixing chamber and mix with the motive
fluid. To put things into perspective, the overhead of the column which mostly contains
hydrocarbon products ranging from C5 and below will be the suction fluid and mix with the
Medium Pressure (MP) steam in the mixing chamber. In mixed fluid enter the diverging portion
of the ejector where its velocity energy is converted into Pressure energy.

To further understand the workings of an ejector, the ejector has its own specific parts
which are the motive fluid injector, the nozzle, the mixing chamber which lines in with the
suction fluid, the diffuser and the mixing fluid outlet. The suction line of the ejector is connected
to the vessel which is kept under low pressure so the high-pressure motivating fluid will pass
through the converging-diverging nozzle. This creates a vacuum in the mixing chamber where

38
the pressure is decreased and velocity is increased. Due to this suction fluid from the connected
vessel is moved toward the mixing chamber. Therefore, the suction fluid starts to mix with the
motive fluid in the mixing chamber and then moves through the diffuser. When the mixed fluid
passes through the diffuser, the velocity energy is converted into pressure energy thereby the
mixture gained higher pressure send to the atmosphere or closed system. Below is the figure of
an ejector.

Figure 3.2.4.1: A schematic diagram of an ejector

39
3.2.5 PI Processbook
In order for engineers, operators, technicians and even maintenance staff to track on the
variables of the plant, they will use a specific software. That software is PI Processbook or PI for
short. PI is an organized software manufactured by a company called OSIsoft which primarily is
for data collection, historicizing, finding, analyzing, delivering and visualizing. This software
allows users to collect real-time data and events. These real-time data are very useful in the
power plant because it shows the impact of anything that engineers or maintenance do in the
field. Data can be automatically collected from many sources and most information is gathered
using one of many PI Interfaces. Later, users are able to access this information using a common
set of tools for instance Microsoft Excel, web browser or even PI ProcessBook itself in order to
find correlations. Some of the tasks that engineers and operational staff use PI for is analyzing
seasonal trends, determining if utilities are meeting the demands of production and also
optimization the utilization or performance of a production line. Therefore, this software is very
useful in the refinery. Just to add, this software is also being used in some of the other refineries
in Malaysia. PI system consists of four basic components.

COMPONENTS DESCRIPTION
DATA SOURCE The main source of data.
INTERFACE NODE Software that connects between PI server
and data source.
PI SERVER Consist of hardware and software.
PI CLIENT APPLICATIONS Program that run on PC at workstation.
Table 3.2.5.1: Components in PI system.

In PI, every detail is important to track the process variable. For example, to acquire the
real-time data of the flow rate in a pipe, engineers must know at which point do they want to
know the flow rate, which control valve can give that data and also how to read the historical
graph of the results. In order to check the trending of equipment performances, the tagging of the
instrumentation on the equipment needs to be inserted. All the results of PI will be plotted
automatically in a line graph which can be tracked back up to 4 years of data. To put in simple
terms, PI gets real-time data from the site and stores it in the respective PI servers and Interfaces.

40
3.3 Understanding Job Requirement

This student industrial training period has given me the opportunity to know what it is like
to work in an oil refinery. Even though the decision-making process was not given to me, I got to
see clearly the role of an expert engineer in optimizing the plant. Under the supervision of Mr.
Abu Huzaifah, the operational engineer of MG3, he taught me how crucial his role was in
making sure that the products of MG3 meet demand’s specifications and that no equipment
within MG3 was faulty and needed attention. Other than that, in production, the main job is to
trouble shoot the plant when the product specification is not in line with the demand’s needs. In
this case, the product is called off-spec. When a product is considered off-spec, the product is
transferred into an intermediate multipurpose tank so that it can be processed back. Hence,
limiting the cost of wasting of produce. This is where the role of an engineer comes to the
spotlight, it is Mr. Abu’s responsibility to know where to alternate the variables either in the
reactor, the pump or even in the column. There are many aspects that an engineer must look into
because different changes can lead to different consequences. For example, if we alter ever so
slightly the temperature of reactor, it will disrupt the viscosity index of the product. All of this
data and consequences must already be in the minds of an engineer and it comes with time and
experience. All the specification can be obtained in the PI Processbook. That is why Mr. Abu
specifically told me that an engineer must understand the whole plant first before understanding
the controlling variable of the product. In order for an engineer to manipulate which variable, he
must know the flow of the plant, the functionality of each equipment and designing conditions of
the equipment. Usually the production team will consult the technology department if the
problem is serious. Example of trouble shooting are as shown in table below:

41
 SPECIFICATION TROUBLESHOOTING
VISCOSITY INDEX Increase or decrease the average reactor
temperature of R-1901.
POUR POINT Increase or decrease the average reactor
temperature of R-1902.
COLOUR OF LUBE BASE OIL Increase or decrease the average
temperature of R-1903.
VISCOSITY Manipulate the draw off velocity of each
side stream.
Table 3.3.1: Ways of troubleshooting.

Besides, the engineer also needs to ensure all the equipment in the plant are in good
condition. For that the operation engineers need to make sure the operators do their structure
round to check whether all equipment is in good condition.

Housekeeping is another job requirement when working in the process area. The
operation engineer needs to make sure that the unit that are under them is always safe for
operation. The common housekeeping practice is to make sure the ground is not oily and no
sharp object or obstacles that can cause any incident. The operation engineer will supervise the
operator to make sure they always do housekeeping.

As a new intern, before even doing the daily job reequipment it is important to understand
the whole plant. Any new intern, engineer or even operator need to study the process flow
diagram of the unit. Once they master the process flow diagram, they can start looking at the
process instrumentation diagram to get a more detailed information about the plant. Once they
understood about the process, they can study the plant plot to know where each equipment is
place and at the same time, they can do line tracing to understand the flow of feed from the feed
battery limit back to product battery limit. Line tracing will teach us about all the valve and
bypass line and its functions.

42
3.4 Completing Task Given on Time

Every employee in any company will have tasks given to them with a dateline. As a
responsible employee we should follow the dateline and at the same time deliver the best results
for the task or job given. As an intern, there were not much task given to us unless we ask for it
or offer help. During my SIT period, I was given the task to calculate the amount of flushing oil
used during the collection of samples. Collection of samples is a routine task done by field
operators every day at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Whenever a field operator wants to acquire samples
from products’ specific sample points, they will use flushing oil to ensure that no products will
solidify in the sampling points. This is because all of the products and even feed in MG3 is waxy
and therefore it will solidify easily leaving trails of wax in the pipelines. The use of flushing oil
will prevent this from happening. The properties of flushing oil are similar to diesel but the most
important characteristics of flushing oil is that it can act as a smoothing agent. This means that
the solid hydrocarbons will liquify when flushing oil is flowed to the pipeline.

However, the refinery wants to do budget cuts to ensure that there will be a profitable
return at the end of the year. In addition, flushing oil is quite expensive with a buying price of
RM106 per liter, so MG3 saw this as an opportunity to cut cost.

Upon using flushing oil, how the field operator uses it is actually after the collection of
samples, they will flow in flushing oil into the sampling point’s pipeline. Therefore, I took the
liberty to time when the sample flow disappears and the flushing oil appears so that I could know
the duration of flushing oil used. I repeated the collection of samples for seven days so that I
would acquire an average value and so that my results would be precise and reasonable. There
were three samples that were routine in MG3 which are V1SS, V2SS and V3SS hence only these
three samples were recorded its duration of flushing oil used. Expectedly, there would be 21
readings. Below are the results of the assignment:

43
 TYPES OF SAMPLES AVERAGE DURATION OF FLUSHING
OIL USED (S)
V1SS 61.14
V2SS 80.57
V3SS 81.29
Figure 3.4.1: Table of flushing oil used for each sample.

After obtaining the duration of flushing oil used, thorough research was done on how to get the
amount of liquid with only knowing the pressure of the sampling point as information. It turns
out that the Bernoulli Equation must be used which is:

2 2( P t−P s)
v=
ρ

Flow rate equation was also important:

1
Flow rate= × π × diameter 2 × velocity
4

Knowing that,

Density of flushing oil=800 kg /m3

Diameter=0.019 m
kg
Pt =15000
m2
kg
Ps =10330
m2
And from the flow rate we would know the amount of flushing oil by simply multiplying the
value with time.
Volume=flow rate × time

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After doing the calculations, below are the results:

TYPES OF SAMPLES AMOUNT OF FLUSHING OIL USED

(LITRES)
V1SS 59.23
V2SS 78.05
V3SS 78.75

After the results were obtained it was clear that the amount of flushing oil could be
reduced by a lot if the samples were taken one at time. Usually, field operators tend to open up
the sample points simultaneously and that might be the reason that several liters of flushing oil
are being wasted. A total of RM22899.18 is being used for flushing oil but apparently the cost is
going to be higher if flushing oil keeps on getting wasted.

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4 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES IN HOST COMPANY
PETRONAS has developed seven key sustainable frameworks to convince and maintain the trust
of the stakeholders wherever they plan to operate or operating. The seven keys cooperate
sustainability can be divided into three categories which is environment, economic and political
and cultural dimension.

4.1 Economical
A. Shareholders Values
To sustain the company’s profitability through value creation and efficient
extraction and manufacturing processes.

B. Natural Resources Use

Making oil and gas products available at reasonable market prices, promoting
efficient use of energy and water, and support the use of renewable energy.

C. Product Stewardship
Ensuring that products conform to quality and HSE standards, and meet the
needs of the society.

4.2 Political and Cultural Dimensions

A. Societal Needs

Safeguarding the human rights within our sphere of influence contributes to

community needs, investing in training and education, promoting arts and

sports, and conducting our business in a transparent manner.

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4.3 Environmental
A. Biodiversity
All the projects and operation done by PETRONAS must not have significant impact
to the diversity of human, animals and plants.

B. Climate Change
Limits all greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere.

C. Product Stewardship
All product produce meets the HSE standards and the need of the society.

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5 CONCLUSION

This student industrial training program has really been beneficial to me because of the
knowledge that I have obtained. Even though I am only half way through my internship period, I
have already learned a lot because of the brilliant staff that MRCSB has employed. Besides that,
doing internship at MRCSB has nurtured me about the working environment, how overly
committed you must be in order to run a specific task. There is no such thing as procrastinating
or even doing things half-heartedly. The staffs here especially my supervisor, Mr. Abu Huzaifah
has done a great job in teaching me the culture of PETRONAS.

During my internship, I could really integrate all the theories learned in classrooms with
practices in MG3 production site while completing assignments and tasks given by engineers.
Other than that, I was able to understand what professions are there besides engineers in a
refinery for instance, contractors, technologists, field operators, technical specialists, principals
and more. This really opened my point of view towards any refinery in Malaysia.

In addition, not only that I get to learn the flow process of an oil plant, I was also able to
gain a few basic skills that will be useful later in my working life. Some of those skills are
communication skills, work ethics and even management skills in terms of time and leadership. I
got to experience various levels of personnel form field operators up to senior manager level, and
this has helped me see different types of environment and how to adapt to each environment.

This program has been a success with all of the goals achieved beyond doubt. This program
should be continued for future students as it will allow them to gain whatever I have gained
during my internship period. I really hope that Univerisiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) will help
students to get their internship placement at Malaysian Refining Company Sdn Bhd (MRCSB)
and vice versa MRCSB accepting more students from UTP to do their internship there. Both
parties should continue their great work in assuring that students get the perfect learning
experience so that they will turn out to be well-rounded individuals for themselves, their families
and also for the nation.

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6 REFERENCE

Centre for Student Internship, Mobility and Adjunct Lectureship (CSIMAL), UTP Industrial

Internship Guidelines: 2015, University Teknologi PETRONAS

Ahmad, H. (2011, March). Plant Modification Project Management System Guideline.

PETRONAS Penapisan (Melaka) Sdn Bhd.

History of PETRONAS. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2014, from Wikipedia:

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas

HSES, S. (2010, December). HSE Management System Manual. HSEMS-10010.

PETRONAS Penapisan (Melaka) Sdn Bhd.

HSES, S. (2012, July). Personal Protective Equipment. HSEMS-20040. PETRONAS Penapisan

(Melaka) Sdn Bhd.

Melaka PSR-2 Refinery, Malaysia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2014, from Hydrocarbon

Technology: http://www.hydrocarbon-technology.com/projects/melaka

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7 APPENDIX
Appendix 1: MG3 Plant Overview

Appendix 2: Overall Yield Chart of MG3

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Appendix 3: Example of Process and Instrumentation Diagram

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