Honeywell: “Future refinery” in progress

Recently, Honeywell released the “Future Refinery” white paper at the 2019 China International Import Expo, aiming to help China’s refining and chemical industry cope with a series of challenges currently encountered and adapt to future transformation and upgrading.

At present, the refining and chemical industry is in a critical period of transformation and is facing a series of new challenges. From the concept of “Future Refinery”, we can understand Honeywell UOP’s future refinery structure, and we can also see several development trends of the refining and chemical industry during the transformation period.

First, the production of petrochemical products from crude oil will be a major development trend. In recent years, the demand for transportation fuel in China has gradually shown a weakening trend. However, the growth momentum of naphtha required by petrochemical products such as ethylene, propylene, and aromatics is still strong. Therefore, Chinese refineries need to switch from the production of refined oil to the production of naphtha. oil for petrochemical production. In this regard, Honeywell UOP provides a solution for refiners, providing them with the ability to upgrade crude oil to high-quality clean fuel oil and higher value petrochemical products, which can not only produce clean fuel oil, but also realize ” Efficient conversion from crude oil to chemical products” to ensure long-term profitability.

Second, a high degree of refining and chemical integration. In the past, a refinery with a petrochemical capacity conversion rate of 15% to 25% could be called highly integrated, but Honeywell UOP provides solutions that can achieve a conversion rate of 50% to 70% or more from crude oil to chemicals . In the future, the refinery can achieve the whole plant integration, which can most efficiently convert hydrocarbons into higher value-added chemical products, effectively reduce investment costs and operating costs, and finally form a high-efficiency integrated refining and chemical green plant.

Third, interconnected intelligent production. Based on Honeywell UOP’s deep understanding of refining and petrochemical process technology, through the use of Internet big data processing, it provides the best suitable operation plan for the refinery to achieve the highest production efficiency. In addition, it can also provide fault warning and targeted solutions for problems in process, operation and equipment, improve production safety and reliability, and ultimately maximize profits.

From the above three points, it can be seen that the future refinery will have a high degree of flexibility at all levels and can adapt to continuous changes in the market.

At the same time, the future refinery is also precisely targeted. Whether it is a large-scale refinery or a small and medium-sized refinery, Honeywell UOP can tailor a feasible transformation plan according to its actual situation and different needs. According to local conditions, it can be made bigger or more refined.

So, what exactly is a “refinery of the future”? It is a high degree of integration of refining and petrochemical. It can not only meet the needs of refineries to invest in the construction of clean fuel production capacity, but also help refineries develop into integrated petrochemical enterprises.

“In the long run, the more stable profits are often refineries that have realized integrated refining and chemical production.” Vice President and General Manager of Asia Pacific of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technology Group, Honeywell UOP China Liu Maoshu, vice president and general manager of the district, said, “The design of the ‘future refinery’ is flexible and can quickly respond to market changes and adapt to future transformation needs.”

At the site of the second CIIE, Honeywell signed a project cooperation agreement with Dayuewan Petrochemical (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Zhonggu Petrochemical Group. Dayuewan will use Honeywell UOP technology to upgrade its existing assets. The concept of “future refinery” is in the process of landing.

“More and more projects are being implemented,” Dr. Wei Danhua, director of Honeywell UOP China Engineering Technology R&D Center, said at the press conference, “‘Future Refinery’ is not just a concept, it has Become a trend, it is the present tense.”