Petrochemical Enterprises Research Articles

ПОТЕНЦИАЛ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО РАЗВИТИЯ НЕФТЕХИМИЧЕСКОГО КОМПЛЕКСА

In this study, the potential for technological development of enterprises in the petrochemical complex is considered. The main production assets of the enterprises of the petrochemical complex were considered as the main object. The purpose of this article is to establish the relationship that the main production assets are the basis for the technological development of the petrochemical complex. The main problems of using fixed production assets are presented. Based on the problems considered, the key directions for increasing the efficiency of using the fixed production assets of petrochemical enterprises are presented. The dynamics of the availability of fixed assets at the full book value and at the book value of commercial enterprises for three years - 2019-2021 is analyzed. The degree of depreciation of fixed assets of commercial organizations was also analyzed for the period from 2019 to 2021. It is noted in connection with which the depreciation of fixed assets was observed and why it decreased. The coefficient of renewal of fixed assets was considered both for the Russian Federation as a whole and for the manufacturing industry in comparable prices. As a result, it was concluded that the fixed production assets of enterprises are their integral part, the main source of income, and the competitiveness of enterprises in the petrochemical complex depends on the fixed production assets.

Технико-экономическая оценка использования обогащенного кислородом потока воздуха для процесса горения в топочных нагревателях для снижения углеродного следа

. In the article, the authors solve the problem of non-urgent search for effective and affordable in the short and medium term technological solutions for oil and gas processing, petrochemical enterprises to reduce gross (total) emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and related combustion products that fall under the definition of greenhouse gases nitrogen oxides (NOx and N2O) from combustion. The subject of consideration in this article is the process of burning hydrocarbon fuel, and the object of consideration is a typical fire heater – a vertical cylindrical tubular furnace.

ESG-ПЛАТФОРМА КАК ИНСТРУМЕНТ УСТОЙЧИВОГО РАЗВИТИЯ НЕФТЕГАЗОВОГО СЕКТОРА ЭКОНОМИКИ

The article proposes the formation of a promising model of sustainable regulation of the oil and gas sector of the economy (in particular, carbon-intensive industries). The ESG platform developed by the authors, as a tool for the transition to a sustainable development model, creates the necessary conditions for business initiatives of the oil and gas sector of the economy and determines their preferential position in the market. In turn, restrictive measures taken against carbon-intensive industries determine new growth points for petrochemical enterprises that create high added value. This is characterized by the fact that high-tech solutions are being created in such industries, which are necessary in modern conditions of energy transfer.

Analysis of change in toluene concentration during periods with different industrial load

A study of the peculiarities of the change in the concentration of toluene in the atmospheric air of the city, where the sources of the substance are both vehicles and an industrial enterprise for the production of synthetic rubber, has been carried out. The paper analyzes the behavior of methylbenzene in different periods: with small and large volumes of industrial emissions. The sources of the substance intake are described. A diagram of the change in the emission volumes of the toluene source enterprise has been built. The periods, characterized by different industrial load on the hygienic state of the air in the city, have been determined. Statistical characteristics of data arrays of methylbenzene concentration for the periods of 2010–2012 and 2015–2017 were calculated. Wind directions are obtained showing the priority influence of the pollution source. The nature of the influence of meteorological parameters on the toluene content in the air of the residential part of the city was revealed at various volumes of the petrochemical enterprise’s emission. The study revealed a change in the influence of temperature and wind speed on the toluene content in the atmospheric air of the city under various anthropogenic load.

Инженерная подготовка к низкоуглеродному переходу в промышленности

The implementation of a low-carbon transition in industry is an important factor in improving the climate situation. All industries in Russia have begun to implement low-carbon development plans, but this task is most relevant for companies in the energy sector, whose activities are accompanied by large carbon emissions. The low-carbon transformation of petrochemical enterprises is associated with the introduction of circular technologies, increasing energy efficiency, reducing emissions and unproductive combustion of hydrocarbon gases, and intersectoral integration. Therefore, companies are highly interested in innovative engineers ready to solve these problems. In this regard, this paper is devoted to the study of the features of engineering activities and engineering education in the conditions of low-carbon development and analysis of the readiness of the educational process to implement engineering chemical-technological training. In order to study the content of engineering activities, the sustainable development strategies and the results of the low-carbon transformation of the leading industry companies were analyzed. Based on a survey of representatives of enterprises of various skill levels, the composition of the competencies of engineering personnel was determined, which included technological-transformational, environmental-regulatory, managerial-economic competencies of low-carbon development. For their formation, training program for chemical engineers has been developed, which is characterized by innovation, leading character, interdisciplinarity, a high level of environmental orientation, and the use of digital tools. The article presents the pedagogical methods and practices implemented at the Kazan National Research Technological University. They present a promising field in the engineering preparation for the transition to a low-carbon production.

In situ bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil: isolation and application of a Rhodococcus strain.

Due to low consumption and high efficiency, in situ microbial remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs)-contaminated sites in in-service petrochemical enterprises has attracted more and more attention. In this study, a degrading strain was isolated from oil depot-contaminated soil with soil extract (PHs) as the sole carbon source, identified and named Rhodococcus sp. OBD-3. Strain OBD-3 exhibited wide adaptability and degradability over a wide range of temperatures (15-37°C), pH (6.0-9.0), and salinities (1-7% NaCl) to degrade 60.6-86.6% of PHs. Under extreme conditions (15°C and 3-7% salinity), PHs were degraded by 60.6 ± 8.2% and more than 82.1% respectively. In OBD-3, the alkane monooxygenase genes alkB1 and alkB2 (GenBank accession numbers: MZ688386 and MZ688387) were found, which belonged to Rhodococcus by sequence alignment. Moreover, strain OBD-3 was used in lab scale remediation in which the contaminated soil with OBD-3 was isolated as the remediation object. The PHs were removed at 2,809 ± 597mg/kg within 2months, and the relative abundances of Sphingobium and Pseudomonas in soil increased more than fivefold. This study not only established a system for the isolation and identification of indigenous degrading strains that could efficiently degrade pollutants in the isolated environment but also enabled the isolated degrading strains to have potential application prospects in the in situ bioremediation of PHs-contaminated soils.

Characteristics of VOCs Emissions from Circulating Water of Typical Petrochemical Enterprises and Their Impact on Surroundings

The petrochemical industry is regarded as the main source of anthropogenic VOCs emissions in China. As one of the main sources of unorganized emissions, circulating water is scarcely studied and reported. In this research, six circulating water systems (LC2X, HGLY, YJ, XJ, LC4X and LC5X) of a typical petrochemical enterprise were selected as targets to characterize VOCs emitted from such unorganized emissions. The results showed that there was a great difference in the VOCs disorganized emissions from the six circulating water systems, among which the main VOCs of HG2X, HGLY and YJ were oxygen-containing VOCs (OVOCs), accounting for about 48.0–81.2%. The main compounds of XJ, LC4X and LC5X were alkynes (89.1%), aromatic hydrocarbons (69.7%) and alkane (50.1%), respectively. TVOCs ranged from 276.0 to 23,009.6 µg·m−3. Based on POC test results, VOCs emissions of the circulating water system were 1237.5 tons, indicating further control was needed. As for their ambient impact, XJ had higher OFP contribution, and the OFP values of the six systems ranged from 823.3 to 145,739.0 µg·m−3, among which the major contributors were aromatic hydrocarbons (0.2–85.1%), OVOCs (0.1–77.2%) and alkynes (1.7–97.6%). In addition, aromatic hydrocarbons showed the largest contribution of the potential of SOA generation, which was more than 88.0%. As far as control was concerned, the replacement of an open cooling tower to closed cooling tower combined with regular POC detection will be an efficient way to control VOCs from such sources.

The collaborative monitored natural attenuation (CMNA) of soil and groundwater pollution in large petrochemical enterprises: A case study

A large in-service petrochemical enterprises in Northeast China was taken as the research object, and the Collaborative Monitored Natural Attenuation (CMNA) for soil and groundwater pollution was carried out to remedy combined pollution and reduce environmental risks. The pollutants distributions were obtained based on detailed regional investigation (Mar. 2019), and feature pollutants in soil and groundwater were then screened. The spatiotemporal variations of feature pollutants and relative microbial responses were explored during the CMNA process. Furthermore, the CMNA efficiency of the contaminated site at initial stage was evaluated by calculation of natural attenuation rate constant. The results showed that the feature pollutants in soil were 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (2,2′,5,5′-TCB) and petroleum hydrocarbons (C10∼C40), and the feature pollutant in groundwater was 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA). The concentrations of all feature pollutants decreased continuously during four years of monitoring. Feature pollutants played a dominant role in the variability of microbial species both in soil and groundwater, increasing the relative abundance of petroleum tolerant/biodegradation bacteria, such as Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota. The average natural attenuation rate constant of 2,2′,5,5′-TCB and C10∼C40 in soil was 0.0012 d−1 and 0.0010 d−1, respectively, meeting the screening value after four years' attenuation. The average natural attenuation rate constant of 1,2-DCA was 0.0004 d−1, which need strengthening measures to improve the attenuation efficiency.

Metagenomic and Metatranscriptomic Analysis of Nitrogen Removal Functional Microbial Community of Petrochemical Wastewater Biological Treatment Systems

Petrochemicals are one of the pillar industries of China. Despite this, the treatment of petrochemical wastewater has long been seen as a massive challenge in the field of water pollution control, hindering the high-quality and sustainable development of the petrochemical industry. The majority of petrochemical enterprises and zones are located near rivers or seas, so their wastewater discharges can easily cause watershed or regional water ecological risks. Specifically, nitrogen pollution in petrochemical wastewater poses a significant threat to water ecological safety and human health. Sludge samples were collected from a petrochemical wastewater A/O nitrogen removal process line in a chemical industry zone in Shanghai. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic methods were used to analyze the community structure of microorganisms, the functional characteristics of nitrogen removal bacteria, and the key nitrogen metabolism pathways in different sludges during the period when effluent water quality was stable and fluctuating. During the study, it was found that the nitrite and nitrate removal was relatively stable in this process, but ammonia oxidation fluctuated easily. In the study of microbial communities, it was found to be a nitrification-denitrification pathway that primarily removed nitrogen from the A/O process, and no genes related to ANAMMOX were detected. Approximately 90% of the functional genes responsible for removing nitrogen were responsible for denitrification, whereas only 0.17% of them were involved in the conversion of ammonia nitrogen in the nitrification process. Moreover, the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the process was extremely low, and the main genus was Nitrosomonas. It is likely that this is the main cause of fluctuations in ammonia nitrogen concentration in effluent due to water quality shocks in the process line.

Evaluation of the Effect of Changing the Composition of Wastewater on Biological Treatment when Adding a Mixture of Sulfide Alkali for the Treatment of Petrochemical Wastewater

The influence of a pilot assessment based on the results of a change in the composition of wastewater on the quality of biological wastewater treatment when a sulfide alkali mixture is added to the feedstream of petrochemical enterprises is presented. It was found that the results of wastewater treatment at biological treatment plants are not affected by phenols in sulfide alkali wastewater. It was confirmed that activated sludge retains the ability to extract organic compounds without reference to the proportion of sulfide alkali effluents in the treated water.

Risk assessment of hearing loss of noise workers in three petrochemical enterprises

To evaluate the risk of noise induced hearing loss among workers in petrochemical enterprises. Number of workers exposed to noise were recruited from three petrochemical enterprises. The noise exposure level(L_(EX, W)) of the research objects was measured, their occupational history was investigated, and the audiometric testing was carried out. The ISO 1999:2013 model was used to calculate the change of hearing threshold level and the risk of hearing loss in each post, and compared the result of model with the result of the audiometric testing. The median of L_(EX, W) is range from 79.8 to 85.0 dB(A). L_(EX, W) among all posts were greater than 80 dB(A) except naphtha processing operators. The result of pure tone hearing threshold test showed that the prevalence of high-frequency hearing loss among workers exposed to noise was 12.8%. According to the classification of noise operation according to the maximum value of L_(EX, W), the operator for styrene dry gas combined unit is the only post that is extremely dangerous in the department of chemical, the other posts in the department of chemical and all posts in the department of public works are exposed to light and medium noise hazards, and 62.5% the external operators of the oil refining department are under heavy and extremely hazardous. According to the evaluation result of ISO 1999:2013, the risk of high-frequency hearing loss among workers in crude distillation unit, hydrogen production unit and the electricians of electrical system is high. The measured median of noise-induced pernament threshold shift(NIPTS) among male workers in different workstation was higher than the predicted median of NIPTS of ISO 1999, and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.01), and the predicted values for four-fifths of positions were more than 10 dB lower than the measured value. The risk of noise induced hearing loss of workers in petrochemical enterprises is high.

Simulation of Combustion Performance of High Salinity Organic Waste Liquid Incinerator

High-salinity organic waste liquid is one of the important industrial pollution sources and the main by-product of petrochemical enterprises in China. Incineration is the mainstream technology for treating this kind of waste liquid. A three-dimensional numerical simulation of a practical 18t/h waste liquid incinerator was carried out using Fluent. The velocity, temperature, component concentration and particle trajectory distribution in the incinerator were obtained, proposing a corresponding incinerator performance optimization scheme according to the simulation results. The results demonstrate that the numerical combustion model established in this paper can accurately simulate the distribution of flow, combustion and heat transfer in the incinerator, verifying the reliability of the numerical model; The overall temperature and flow field organization of this type of waste liquid incinerator is relatively reasonable, with heat exchange reported only in the flue corner and some heat exchange surfaces. The flow field and temperature field distribution in the incinerator can be effectively modified so as to improve the boiler operation and maintenance cycle by optimizing the corner flow line and furnace structure.

Intelligent HAZOP analysis method based on data mining

Accidents in production equipment are occurring with increasing frequency, which has caused serious negative impacts on society and petrochemical enterprises. It is important to learn prevention and control rules and lessons from accident cases to prevent accidents and improve intrinsic safety levels of enterprises. The hazard and operability (HAZOP) analysis method has been widely used for risk identification and accident prevention in petrochemical enterprises. However, the rules contained in many completed HAZOP analysis reports have not been deeply studied, inherited, or extensively applied. The analysis of a new process, however, relies on expert experience, which is usually subjective and time-consuming. This paper proposes an intelligent HAZOP analysis method based on data mining to explore the law of accident cause mechanisms, help promote intelligent analysis, and improve the accuracy of analysis results. A HAZOP analysis data table structure is proposed. The frequencies of all words in the process parameter, guide word, cause, and consequence were calculated, and the words were sorted based on the word frequency statistics method. Words with high word frequencies were considered key in formulating the safety inspection checklists. The latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) model and contingency table were used to explain the correlation between the process parameters, guide words, causes, and consequences. The co-occurrence probability sequence of the elements can then be acquired. Using the naive Bayes algorithm, a method for calculating the likelihoods, severities, and risk levels of accidents is proposed. The accident risk ranks can be intelligently predicted to realize an intelligent HAZOP analysis. This study developed a software to help execute the method. The intelligent HAZOP analysis method was applied based on data from 14 petrochemical units; the raw oil buffer tank in the wax oil hydrocracking unit was taken as an example to illustrate the application of the method. The method provides a technical basis and basic guarantee for risk identification, accident prevention, and rescue of petrochemical plants.

The Quantitative Study on the Influence of Operating Parameters Upon Thermal Performance of Heating Furnace

Abstract With the development of the social economy, people’s demand for energy is increasing. As a kind of high energy consumption equipment in petrochemical enterprises, the heating furnace is imperative to reduce its energy consumption. Therefore, in order to further improve the thermal efficiency of the heating furnace and reduce the emission of pollutants, this paper combines the actual operation of the SRT-III heating furnace in the chemical plant to establish a fluid domain model. The effects of different values of excess air coefficient, air preheating temperature, and oxygen concentration on the flow field characteristics and furnace thermal efficiency under two kinds of blackness were analyzed by numerical simulation. The results show that higher blackness has higher furnace thermal efficiency. Under the conditions of a balance between thermal efficiency and environmental protection performance, the optimal values of excess air coefficient, air preheating temperature, and oxygen concentration are 1.20, 473 K, and 25%, respectively.

Energy Consumption Analysis of a Diesel Hydrotreating Unit Using an Aspen Simulation

The petrochemical industry is traditionally a high energy consumption industry, thus energy saving in this industry is of great significance in terms of trying to achieve the national goal of “carbon-peak and carbon neutrality” in China. Diesel is one of the main products of petrochemical enterprises. The energy consumption of a diesel hydrotreating (HDT) unit is relatively high due to the high reaction temperature and pressure of HDT reactors. In order to further explore the energy consumption of diesel HDT units under different operating conditions, this paper establishes a full-process simulation based on the kinetics of hydrodesulfurization, hydrodenitrogenation, and aromatics saturation, in Aspen Plus to discuss the effect of different operating conditions on the electricity, steam, and fuel gas consumptions. The results show that with the increase of reaction temperature or reaction pressure, the sulfur content in diesel oil decreases, but the consumption of related utilities and comprehensive energy consumption increases. In addition, this paper also analyzes the energy consumption changes under the operating condition boundaries when the diesel quality is unchanged. When the reaction pressure is 8 MPa and the reaction temperature is 317.5 °C, the comprehensive energy consumption is 5% lower than the energy consumption with the reaction pressure of 6 MPa and the temperature of 320 °C. Therefore, on the premise of satisfying the diesel product quality, the comprehensive energy consumption of the diesel HDT unit can be reduced by increasing the reaction pressure and decreasing the reaction temperature.

Hematological parameters in workers of water supply facilities of petrochemical enterprises

Introduction. One of the major petrochemical complexes of the Republic of Bashkortostan is Limited liability company (LLC) «Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat». The normal operation of industrial enterprises requires the use of large volumes of water. Its water supply, water disposal, waste disposal, reclamation of sludge reservoirs, equipment repair, cleaning of oil sludge reservoirs is provided by LLC «PromVodoKanal». The main technological personnel are wastewater treatment operators, process plant operators, pumping plant operators, chemical analysis laboratory assistants, commodity operators. Their work is associated with exposure to harmful and / or dangerous production factors. Objective. Search and substantiation of laboratory markers of early health disorders in workers of water supply facilities of petrochemical enterprises. Materials and methods. Hygienic and clinical laboratory studies were carried out among workers of the main occupations of the «PromVodoKanal» station who have contact with various harmful derivative factors. A complex of hematological and biochemical research methods was used in the work. Results. A comparative analysis of the frequency of occurrence of deviations of hematological parameters from the norm in all examined (occupational) groups was carried out. A laboratory study showed that hematological parameters are characterized by an increased content of hemoglobin, erythrocytes, and hematocrit. Changes in the mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and thrombocytes count, were detected in every fifth worker. Over the years of work, the share of workers with high levels of glucose and cholesterol increases markedly, the correlation of which reaches from 0.90 to 0.97. Limitations. The article has limitations on the scientific study of working conditions, as periodic medical examinations are carried out by occupational pathologists. Conclusions. Red blood values are specific markers of workers’ health problems and require special attention during periodic medical examinations.

An improved method for fault diagnosis of rolling bearings of power generation equipment in a smart microgrid

In the construction of smart microgrids for petrochemical enterprises, the generating unit is an important part, and the rolling bearings are one of the key components of the generator. The condition of the rolling bearing directly affects the safe operation of the entire generating unit and an accurate fault diagnosis of the bearing not only can improve the stability of the smart microgrid, but also can reduce the risk of loss of the factory. This study proposes an improved fault diagnosis method based on variational modal decomposition (VMD) and a convolutional neural network (CNN). The VMD algorithm was used to remove random noise in the original signal and a CNN was used to extract useful data from the vibration signal processed by VMD. Since the modal number and penalty parameter of the VMD are difficult to choose and they have a profound impact on the decomposition results, differential evolution (DE) was used as the optimization method and envelope entropy was used as the fitness function to optimize the VMD parameters. Since it is difficult to ensure the best fit of the hyper-parameters of CNN, this study proposes a method for using the DE algorithm to obtain suitable hyper-parameters for the CNN, and then used the CNN to diagnose a fault. The test results using the vibration data of Case Western Reserve University show that the combination of VMD and CNN can improve the convergence speed more than 10% and the accuracy to over 99.6%.

Characteristics of Chemical Accidents and Risk Assessment Method for Petrochemical Enterprises Based on Improved FBN

Refining and chemical integration is the major trend in the development of the world petrochemical industry, showing intensive and large-scale development. The accident risks caused by this integration are complex and diverse, and pose new challenges to petrochemical industry safety. In order to clarify the characteristics of the accident and the risk root contained in the production process of the enterprise, avoid the risk reasonably and improve the overall safety level of the petrochemical industry, in this paper, 159 accident cases of dangerous chemicals in China from 2017–2021 were statistically analyzed. A Bayesian network (BN)-based risk analysis model was proposed to clarify the characteristics and root causes of accident risks in large refining enterprises. The prior probability parameter in the Bayesian network was replaced by the comprehensive weight, which combined subjective and objective weights. A hybrid method of fuzzy set theory and a noisy-OR gate model was employed to eliminate the problem of the conditional probability parameters being difficult to obtain and the evaluation results not being accurate in traditional BN networks. Finally, the feasibility of the methods was verified by a case study of a petrochemical enterprise in Zhoushan. The results indicated that leakage, fire and explosion were the main types of accidents in petrochemical enterprises. The human factor was the main influencing factors of the top six most critical risk root causes in the enterprise. The coupling risk has a relatively large impact on enterprise security. The research results are in line with reality and can provide a reference for the safety risk management and control of petrochemical enterprises.

Identifying the influence factors on low-carbon behavior of employees from petrochemical enterprise under “Carbon Neutrality”

Identifying the influence factors on low-carbon behavior of employees from petrochemical enterprise under “Carbon Neutrality”

Comprehensive Analysis and Targeting of Distillation Integrated into Overall Process Considering Operating Pressure Change

Distillation is important to chemical processes but it is energy intensive, and its optimization is of great significance to energy savings and emissions reduction. Varying the operating pressures of distillation columns could assist heat integration of distillation columns into the overall process, thereby reducing energy consumption. However, influences of varying column pressures on the energy profiles of the overall process have not been systematically analyzed in previous studies. This paper presents an insightful analysis of heat integration of distillation into the overall process considering the change of operating pressure. Firstly, effects of changing the operating pressure of a distillation column on its own utility requirements and the related process streams are studied. Next, such effects are graphically represented and incorporated into the grand composite curve (GCC). The change tendencies of the GCC, pinch temperature, and total utility consumption are analyzed and presented. On this basis, rules to identify the best operating pressure that minimize the overall energy consumption are proposed. A continuous reforming unit in a petrochemical enterprise is quantitatively analyzed to verify the obtained rules. The result indicates that the hot utility of the overall process can be reduced by 758 kW when the column pressure is lowered by 260 kPa.