Richard Heniford - Bechtel
Innovations in domestic oil production have opened unique options in supply for US refiners. The blending of light sweet crudes from shale formations in the USA with conventional crudes or heavy bituminous oils from Canada has provided a new opportunity for cokers to maximize value of the existing assets through Distillate Recycle.
One major impact refiners must cope with is declining coker rates due to the significantly smaller resid fraction in light shale-derived crudes. Depending on the refinery configuration, owners may choose to compensate by buying heavier crudes to fill the coker back up, or reducing the coker throughput. In cases where it is not desirable to heavy up the crude slate, the available capacity can be leveraged to selectively adjust the product yields in favor of the intermediate streams that provide more value to your specific refinery configuration.
BHTS will present a case study illustrating how Distillate Recycle (DR) can take full advantage of the existing asset, and explore the yield adjustments that may be realized by varying the recycled stream. In addition, BHTS will explore the positive impact that DR has on furnace run length. DR acts as a stabilizing diluent by offsetting the increased fouling tendency of the crudes blended with shale-derived resids, directionally improving the run length of the furnace. Nothing offers more advantages as a stabilizing solvent for your resid than the distillate derived from that very resid.