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VOCATIONAL TRAINING REPORT

MATHURA REFINERY
PERIOD OF TRAINING

(1st JUNE-30th JUNE 2016)

Submitted By:

ABHISHEK GAUTAM
B.Tech (Chemical Engineering)
ROLL NO: 1305251002
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
LUCKNOW

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INDIAN OIL REFINERY: - AN OVERVIEW

Introduction
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India's largest company by sales with a turnover of Rs. 3, 50,603 c
rore and profit of Rs. 10,399 crore for the year 2015-16. Indian Oil is the highest ranked India
n company in the latest Fortune Global 500 listings, ranked at the 98th position (2011). Indian
Oil's vision is driven by a group of dynamic leaders who have made it a name to reckon with. Ind
ian Oil Company Limited, a wholly owned Government company was incorporated on 30 June,
1959 to undertake marketing functions of petroleum products. Later, Indian Oil Corporation Lim
ited (IOC) was set up on 1st September, 1964 by amalgamating the Indian Refineries Limited (st
arted in August, 1958) with the Indian Oil Company Ltd., for better coordination between refiner
ies and marketing. Indian Oil Corporation Limited or IOCL is Indias largest commercial enterpr
ise and the only Indian company to be among the worlds top 200 corporations according to Fort
une magazine. It is also among the 20 largest petroleum companies in the world. The Indian Oil
Group of companies owns and operates 10 of India's 20 refineries with a combined refining capa
city of 65.7 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA, .i.e. 1.30 million barrels per day approx.).
This network is the largest in the country and meets the vital energy needs of the consumers in an
efficient, economical and environment-friendly manner.
Indian Oil Corporation has four divisions:
Marketing Division with Headquarters at Bombay;
Refineries and Pipelines Division with Headquarters at New Delhi;
Assam Oil Division with Headquarters at Digboi; and
Research and Development Centre at Faridabad.
The Assam Oil Division was established on 14th October, 1981 on taking over the refining and
marketing operations of Assam Oil Company Limited.
The Company wholly owns a subsidiary Company viz. Indian Oil Blending Limited, which is en
gaged in the manufacture of lubricants and greases. The products of the subsidiary Company are
also marketed by the Company. Indian Oil and its subsidiary (CPCL) account 12 for over 48% p
etroleum products market share, 34.8% national refining capacity and 71% downstream sector pi
pelines capacity in India.

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Products
Auto LPG
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)
Bitumen
High Speed Fuel
Industrial Fuels
Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Lubricants and Greases
Marine Fuels
MS/Gasoline
Petrochemicals
Services
Refining
Pipelines
Marketing
Training
Research and Development

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ONCE THROUGH HYDROCRACKER

UNIT (OHCU)
INTRODUCTION
It is commissioned on 6th July, 2000 with a capacity of 1.2 MMTPA which is revamped up to 1.4
MMTPA. The conversion of the feed is 65%.
Mathura Refinery from its inception in 1981 has been processing the Crude Oils which are classi
fied primarily in to two categories viz.. Low sulfur & High sulfur Crude oils (i.e. Bombay High a
nd Imported).
Residue up gradation into middle distillates and light distillates is currently being done in the M
athura Refinery primarily by employing FCC process, & visbreaking. Visbreaking is adopted pri
marily to reduce the viscosity of the residue thereby making it marketable. The quality of product
s obtained from FCC & Visbreaker are relatively poor in quality with respect to stability, & sulfu
r and have to be blended with other straight run products to be able to market them. Otherwise, p
roduct treatment would be necessary (Hydro treatment,
Merox treatment etc.)
In view of these problems Hydrocracking process is gaining more and more popularity for upgra
ding residues into higher value products. By comparative study of different processes it is seen th
at hydro-cracking process is best suited for maximizing the production of distillates from a given
feed stock.
Products from OHCU are:

L.P.G

Stabilized Light Naphtha

Heavy Naphtha

Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)/ Superior Kerosene (SK)

High Speed Diesel (HSD)

FCC Feed

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PROCESS DESCRIPTION
In Hydrocracker, the VGO feed is subjected to cracking in reactor over catalyst beds in presence
of Hydrogen at pressure of 185 kg/cm2 & temperature ranging from 365 to 441 0C. The cracked
products are separated in Fractionator. Light ends are recovered/stabilized in Debutanizer colum
n. The process removes almost all sulfur and Nitrogen from feed by converting them into H2S &
Ammonia respectively. Thus the products obtained are free of Sulfur & Nitrogen compounds and
saturated. Therefore, except for mild caustic wash for LPG, post treatment is not required for oth
er products.
The unit consists of the following sections:
i. Make-Up Hydrogen Section
ii. Reaction Section
iii. Fractionation Section
iv. Light Ends Recovery Section
Make up hydrogen Section:
The make-up hydrogen compression section consists of three identical parallel compressor trains
, each with three stages of compression. During normal operation two trains are in use and compr
ess make-up hydrogen from a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit to reaction section pressure.
The compressed make-up hydrogen is combined with hydrogen recycle gas in the reaction sectio
n to form reactor feed gas. The make-up hydrogen compression section is also used to compress
a mixture of nitrogen and air during catalyst regeneration.

Reaction Section
The reaction section contains one reaction stage in a single high pressure loop. Due to a reactor
weight limit of approximately 400 metric tons, the reaction section consists of two reactors in ser
ies. The hydro treating and hydrocracking reactions taking place in the reaction stage occurs at hi
gh temperature and pressure. A high hydrogen partial pressure is required to promote the hydrocr
acking reactions and to prevent coking of the catalyst. An excess of hydrogen is recirculated in th
e reactor loop for reactor cooling, to maintain a high hydrogen partial pressure, and to assure eve
n flow distribution in the reactors. In the lead and main reactors, fresh feed is partially converted
to mid-distillates and lighter products. Sulfur and nitrogen are also almost completely removed a

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nd aromatic content is reduced. The reaction section contains additional equipment for separatio
n of hydrogen-rich gas from the reactor effluents which is compressed and recycled back through
the high pressure reactor loop. The recycle gas contains H2, by-products generated from the hyd
rocracking reactions, H2S, and NH3. Nearly all of the NH3 and some of the H2S are removed in
the form of ammonium bisulfite by water that is injected upstream of the cold high pressure sepa
rator. H2S is removed from the reaction section in the liquids from the hot and cold high pressure
separators and in the hydrogen-rich recycle gas which is then scrubbed using DEA in an H2S ab
sorber to remove H2S.
FRACTIONATION SECTION
The purpose of the fractionation section is to separate reaction section products into sour gas, uns
tabilized light naphtha, heavy naphtha, kerosene, and diesel. Furthermore, bottoms containing un
converted product serves as feed to the FCC unit or is sent to tankage. The sour gas and unstabili
zed light naphtha are sent to the light ends section to make fuel gas, LPG, and light naphtha.
LIGHT ENDS RECOVERY SECTION
The light ends section is designed to take the sour gas and unstabilized light naphtha from the pr
oduct fractionator overhead and produce sweet fuel gas, LPG, and light naphtha as products. The
system includes light ends compression, a sponge absorber, a deethanizer, a stabilizer, and an L
PG caustic treating system. Light ends (C2-), hydrogen sulfide, and water are first removed from
the LPG and light naphtha in the deethanizer. LPG and light naphtha are then separated in the sta
bilizer. Stabilized light naphtha from the stabilizer bottoms is sent to the sponge oil absorber to
maintain good LPG recovery. The LPG undergoes further treatment in the caustic treating sectio
n to meet sales specifications. The sour gas treating system is designed to remove traces of H2S f
rom the sour gas being sent to fuel gas. The system includes a sour gas absorber which uses DEA
to remove H2S.

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WHOLE PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

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PROCESS VARIABLES
1) Feed Effects
2) Hydrogen Effects
3) Catalyst Effects
4) Reaction Section Operation Effects
5) Fractionation and Lights Ends Section Operation Effects
6) Effects of Distillation and Reaction Installation Effect

Feed Effects
1. Feed Boiling Range
As the feed boiling range increases, the levels of nitrogen, polycyclic aromatics (PCA) asphal
tenes, and metals increase. Increasing the feed boiling range shortens the run span by increasi
ng both the required CAT and the fouling rate.

Feed Nitrogen
Feed nitrogen is a temporary catalyst poison. Nitrogen tends to exist as basic compounds in the
feed. The sites on the catalyst that crack the feed are acidic. The nitrogen is adsorbed on the acidi
c active sites, thus neutralizing their effectiveness to crack the feed.
Feed Asphaltenes and Metals
Feed Asphaltenes and heavy metal content must be limited to very low levels to prevent rapid c
atalyst deactivation. Asphaltenes content of the hydrocracker feed should be well below 100 ppm
.
Polycyclic Aromatics
Polycyclic aromatics are catalyst coke precursors. These large multi-ring aromatic compounds
tend to dehydrogenate on the catalyst, ultimately forming coke Feed Sulfur

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Feed sulfur must be limited to protect hydrocracker metallurgy from excessive corrosion. Hydroc
racker metallurgy and corrosion allowances were based on a limited sulfur content in the feed.
HYDROGEN EFFECTS
Hydrogen is the key ingredient in Hydrocracking. Without it, the ISOCRACKER is worthless.
Most of the hydrogen feed to the ISOCRACKER is consumed chemically. Hydrogen partial pres
sure has an important effect on catalyst fouling rate. An increase in hydrogen partial pressure act
s to suppress the coke fouling of catalyst. The hydrogen partial pressure should be maximized wi
thin the mechanical limits of the reactor system to maximize run length
The hydrogen partial pressure can be increased by:

Increasing total system pressure

Increasing make-up hydrogen purity

Increasing recycle gas rate

Increasing bleed gas rate

Decreasing HPS temperature

HYDROGEN RECYCLE RATE

Recycle gas has four major functions:
1. Maintaining high hydrogen partial pressure in the reactor.
Gas /Oil Ratio =
N m3/ m3Feed

Total Circulating Gas to Reactor, Nm3/hr

Total Feed to Reactor Inlet, m3/hr

2 Providing a heat sink for the high heat reaction in the reactor.
3 Distributing reactants over the catalyst.
4 Minimizing re cracking of products by carrying them out of the reactor before they can re crac
k.

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Fractionator Variable
Flash Zone Temperature: At a given column pressure, the amount of feed that vaporizes in th
e flash zone is determined by flash zone temperature. The amount of vaporization determines the
over flash rate that can be obtained. Increasing the flash zone temperature gives better distillate
yields and/or increased over-flash rate.
Column Pressure. Pressure is an important variable in determining the Fractionator feed heate
r duty. For a fixed distillate yield and over-flash rate, reducing the column pressure reduces the h
eat duty of feed heater. Conversely, for a fixed furnace heat duty, reducing the column pressure i
mproves the distillate yield.
Over flash Rate: The column over flash rate determines the sharpness of separation between th
e HSD side-cut and the fractionator bottoms. The Over Flash rate is generally kept between 3-5%
of fractionator feed rate.
Stripping Steam Rate. Increasing the stripping steam will improve the recovery of distillate pr
oducts by reducing the amount of lighter boiling products in the Fractionator bottoms. High stea
m rates increase the amount of steam that must be handled in the column (high vapor loadings in
the column can lead to flooding), the optimal stripping steam rate should be based on operating e
xperience balancing product recovery and sharpness of separation.