Refinery Profitability, Flexibility, and Optimization I

Key issues facing refineries today include maintaining the profitability and increasing the flexibility of their operations. The availability of opportunity crudes, a need for flexibility in product slates, and changing environmental regulations have led to increased activities in these areas. Profitability improvements through optimization and investments in plant and energy efficiency are a major focus. This session invites papers that discuss how existing refineries can be made more profitable and/or flexible. Papers should address these items using existing systems with minimal capital investment required, as well as major changes in processing schemes and tools.