(201d) Development of Rigorous Refining Simulation Models to Determine Greenhouse Gas Emission Impact of Canadian Crude Oil Bends in a Refinery

The change in crude oil blends significantly influences their properties and interactions in a refinery. Thus, crude oil blending is an important technical aspect that should be addressed for renewable transportation fuel production and reduced greenhouse gas in refineries. Previous research estimated refinery energy demand and/or greenhouse gas emissions using aggregated data and/or correlations, which are specific to a particular refinery or a crude blend. Results based on aggregated data and/correlations have limited accuracy. This study examines the properties and the interactions of five Canadian crude oil blends in a refinery using rigorous process simulation models. Data-intensive bottom-up models were developed to evaluate the energy and greenhouse gas emission profiles. Aspen Hysys simulation software was used to develop refinery process units and characterize crude oil feeds and product properties. The results of this study provides refining operators insights on how to obtain petroleum feedstocks that satisfy the desired product quality with reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.