Christian Vaccese - General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, USA
Victor Scalco - General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, USA
Increasing profits and maintaining a positive bottom line is critical for complex refineries. By 2020, the refining sector will be comprised of approximately 735 petroleum refineries worldwide. Over one-half of these refineries will utilize severe catalytic cracking technology to increase profits and take advantage of the existing crack spreads. Over eighteen million barrels of crude oil are processed daily through a Fluidized Catalytic Cracking system (FCC), along with three-quarters of the worldwide gasoline demand. FCC systems have become the most versatile operating units in a refinery to improve e the bottom line. With the increase in crude prices due to the pending IMO 2020 regulation enforcement, the spread between lighter, less severe crudes and heavier, opportunistic crudes will become a bigger part of the refining sector’s economics.