INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT

ON
MECHANICAL MAINTENANCE

INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LTD.

(ASSAM OIL DIVISION)
DIGBOI REFINERY

Submitted by
• DHIRAJ RABHA
ME16/142

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Assam Engineering College, Jalukbari
July, 2019
 DECLARATION

I sincerely declare that:

1. The Manuscript is not an exact copy from any source.

2. All the information contained in this report is correct to the best of the knowledge of the

author.

SIGNATURE:

DHIRAJ RABHA
ROLL No. ME16/142
DATE
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A detailed report such as this one doesn't become possible without the contribution of several
people who are willing to help wholeheartedly. Through this training, I've been lucky to have
got the opportunity to learn so much from the Engineers, Officers, and Staff members of IOCL
(AOD), Digboi who have always helped me through the period of my training
I would give thanks to the Training Department of IOCL(AOD), Digboi as they have
given me the chance of having this wonderful learning experience.
I am also indebted to respected DGM R.L SARMA sir of Mechanical Maintenance for
his contribution during my training period.
 Certificate from Depart of Mechanical Engineering

This is certify that the practical training report on MECHANICAL MAINTAINCE submitted
by the following student of 7th Semester of Mechanical Engineering of 2016

Dhiraj Rabha

ME16/142

Is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the requirements for the award of the
degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering Under Gauhati University.

HOD, Mech. Engg. Internal Examiner

Date: Date:
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the following 6th semester students of ASSAM

ENGINEERING COLLEGE undergone summer industrial training at IOCL
(AOD) Digboi Refinery, under my guidance from 24/06/19 to 23/07/19. Their
behavior was good during the whole period and they attended the training
sincerely.

Dhiraj Rabha.
ME16/142

R. L. SARMA
DGM

.
CONTENTS Page

1) Introduction 6-7
2) Safety guidelines at IOCL (Digboi) 8-9
3) Fuel Sector 10-16
• Atmospheric and Vacuum distillation Unit

• Catalytic Reforming Unit

• Delayed Coking Unit

• Motor Spirit Quality Upgrad[7]7ation Unit

4) Captive Power Plant 17-21

• DM Water plant

• Gas Turbines

• Heat Recovery Steam Generation

5) Hydro treating Block 22-27

• Hydrogen Generation Unit

• High Purity Nitrogen Generating Unit

• Sour Water Stripping Unit
• Sulphur Recovery Unit

6) Wax Sector 28-32

• Solvent Dewaxing Unit

• Wax Hydrofinishing Unit

• Wax Rundown Shed Unit

• Wax Palletization Unit

7) Motor Garage and Workshop 33-45

8) Conclusion 46
 ABSTRACT

This report is prepared at Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Digboi, Assam as a part
training and content brief description of maintenance and description of various units and
respective demonstration of the units. The details of which I have briefed in the following
pages.
 INTRODUCTION

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is a state-owned oil and gas company. It is
the largest commercial oil company in the country ranked 137th in Fortune's
‘Global 500’ list of world's largest companies in the year 2018. It is also the
nation’s largest downstream oil company. Indian Oil's business interests overlap
the entire hydrocarbon value-chain, including refining, pipeline transportation and
marketing of petroleum products, exploration and production of crude oil,
natural gas and petrochemicals.

Indian Oil accounts for nearly half of India's petroleum products market share,
35% national refining capacity and 71% downstream sector pipelines through
capacity. The Indian Oil Group owns and operates 11 of India's 23 refineries
with a combined refining capacity of 80.7 MMTPA (million metric tons per
annum). Indian Oil's cross-country pipeline network, for transportation of crude
oil to refineries and finished products to high-demand centers, spans over
13,000 km. The company has a throughput capacity of 80.49 MMTPA for
crude oil and petroleum products and 9.5 MMSCMD (million standards cubic
meters per day) for gas.
 Digboi Refinery

The Digboi Refinery was set up at Digboi in 1901 by Assam Oil Company Ltd. The
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) took over the refinery and marketing management of
Assam Oil Company Ltd. with effect from 1981 and created a separate division,
Assam Oil Division. This division has both refinery and marketing operations. The
refinery at Digboi has an installed capacity 0.65 MMTPA. Digboi refinery is known as
birth place of the oil Industry in India. It was commissioned on 11 December 1901. It
has the distinction of being Asia's first refinery and one of oldest still in operation. Oil
was accidentally discovered in 1867 while laying a railway line in Digboi area. It was
just found seeping out in dense jungles in Tinsukia district. Digging for oil was started
in 1889 and the refinery set up in 1901 at Digboi.

Earlier owned and operated by Assam Oil Company Limited/ Burmah Oil Company, it
came into the folds of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited by an act of parliament on 14th
October, 1981, and became the Assam Oil Division of Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
Today, with its vastly modernized operations and facilities, Digboi refinery is an ISO-9002,
ISO-14001 and OHMS-1997 accredited refinery, manufacturing major petroleum
products and a wide range of specialty products. The refinery is accredited with ISO-
9002 and ISO-14001 certification. Digboi refinery is also accredited with BS- 8800, a
standard, testifying to its commitment to occupational health and safety of its
employees in its operation and follows TPM.
The refinery presently processes mainly high wax crude and a small quantity of
medium and low wax crude. It turns out the conventional products such as LPG,
Motor Spirit, Mineral Turpentine Oil, Superior Kerosene, High Speed Diesel, Light
Diesel Oil, Furnace Oil, Bitumen and raw petroleum coke besides producing some
specialty product such as Solar Oil, Jute Batching Oil and most importantly Paraffin
wax.
Refinery Flow Diagram
 SAFETY GUIDELINES AT IOCL
(DIGBOI)

Indian Oil Corporation Limited is committed to conduct business with strong

environment conscience ensuring sustainable development, safe workplace and
enrichment of quality of the employees, customers and the community. It has the
following safety guidelines in general for the visitors.

• Always carry gate pass and produce whenever required.

• Always enter refinery wearing safety shoes only.

• Always use personal protective equipment inside the plant/hard hat area.
• In case of any fire call/emergency disaster call, go to the nearest
assembly point.

• In case of fire / emergency escape in crosswind direction.

• In case of fire / emergency, break the nearest available manual call point.
• Always stay away from suspended load.
• Don’t carry match box, lighter, mobile phones inside the refinery.

• Smoking inside refinery installations is strictly prohibited.

• Don’t touch / operate any equipment / valve in plant / off-sites.

• Don’t touch any hot surface or chemicals.

• Don’t walk close to any evacuated area / ditch / holes/ drains/ sumps.

• Don’t touch any electrical equipment.

• Don’t walk on pipelines/ false ceilings.

• Don’t enter confined space without permission.

• Don’t make thoroughfare across the refinery plant.

• Photography inside the refinery is strictly prohibited.

FUEL SECTOR
Atmospheric and Vacuum Distillation Unit

Introduction
The atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit of Digboi refinery is designed to process 0.65
MMTPA of crude oil blend comprising Duliajan, Digboi, Kharsang crude oils. It is called as
mother plant of the refinery because the final products of this plants are used as feed for other
plants like DCU, NSU, CRU, MSQU, SDU etc.
The crude distillation unit (CDU) can be operated based on four different cases of operation viz.
Normal case, MTO case ATF case & Solar oil case (SO). Accordingly, vacuum distillation unit
(VDU) can be operated based on two cases i.e. Normal & Solar
oil case.

Products obtained from CDU during normal case of operation are

Light kero (LK)
Heavy kero (HK)
Light gas oil (LGO)
Heavy gas oil (HGO)
Reduced crude oil (RCO)
Raw naphtha

During MTO case of operation:

MTO be produced instead of LK

During ATF case of operation:

ATF will be produced instead of HK

During SO case of operation:

SO will be produced instead of HGO
All other products will remain same as for normal case.
CDU stabilizers may be operated on LPG and non-LPG mode. When it operates on LPG mode,
fuel gases from stabilizer reflux drum will be routed to LPG recovery section in Delayed Coker
unit (DCU). When stabilizers operate on non-LPG mode (i.e. lower bottom temp. and higher
top pressure conditions), more stabilized naphtha and less fuel gases will be produced. This
fuellgas will be diverted to refinery fuel gas network.
The vacuum distillation unit (VDU) is designed to produce high speed diesel (HSD) heavy
waxy distillate (HWD), pressable waxy distillate (PWD) and vacuum residue (VR) as product.
When CDU operates on SO case, SO is produced instead of HSD. It is recommended to start
the CDU & VDU on solar oil case. This is because of the fact that turn down condition for
vacuum column operation may not be achieved corresponding to turn down conditions in CDU
for normal case of operation.

Process description
CDU/VDU is integrated unit having no battery limit segregation. The entire unit is divided into
3 sections, as discussed below.
a) Crude distillation unit
b) Naphtha stabilizer unit
c) Vacuum distillation unit

Crude distillation unit

CDU separates crude oil into overhead vapors (fuel gas & stabilized naphtha), light kero, heavy
kero, LGO, HGO & RCO. It is further subdivided in to following sections:
Crude preheat train

Crude oil preheat train is divided in two sectors; first is upstream of the desalter and the second
is downstream of the desalter. Section after the desalter is again divided into two heat exchanger
trains. Crude is charged into the unit by crude charge pump 01 PA-00-001 A/B which takes
suction from offsite crude pump 40PA-CF-802-A/B. The crude oil is heated in preheat
exchanger train to achieve desalting temperature & heat recovery by successive heat exchange
with HSD product +PA (EE-oo), TOP PA (EE-002), HY kero (EE-003A/B), HGO (EE-
004A/B), HK PA (EE-005) and PWD PA (001-EE-NI). In this section crude is heated from the
storage temperature to desalting of 128°C. Desalting is done at 128.5 and 10kg/em pressure.
There is a temperature drop of 50°C in desalter. Provision for caustic injection is provided at
upstream of desalter to neutralize acids present in crude and convert them into salts Ammonia
cylinder manifold: Ammonia solution drum (02-VV-006 A/B) & Ammonia solution pump (02-
PA-010 A/B & 02-PA-13) are provided for ammonia solution to atmospheric column overheads
as well as vacuum column overheads with the help of injection with necessary instrumentation.
Corrosion inhibitor solution shall be injected corrosion inhibitor pumps (02-PA-011 A/B).
Caustic solution of required strength shall be prepared in caustic solution tanks (01-TT-001
A/B) with the help of DM water. This caustic solution shall be injected into crude caustic
solution pumps.

Crude Preheat Train –II & III

Desalted Crude oil passes through preheat train II & III and finally combine to
give a designed preheat of 274 0C before furnace.

Crude furnace
The combined crude oil stream is further heated to a temperature of desired
vaporization in atmospheric heater to temperature of 356 0C.

Atmospheric Column
The crude oil after final heating in atmospheric heater is fed to the Atmospheric
Column for separation of products. The atmospheric column contains 54 trays.
The column has a stripping section at the bottom.

Vacuum Distillation Unit

Reduced crude from the bottom of crude column is further heated in vacuum
furnace to a temperature of 396 0C and then it enters the vacuum column.

Naphtha Stabilizer Unit

Naphtha obtained in overhead Naphtha reflux drum also contains lights ends,
C3 and C4 which vaporize at normal atmospheric conditions. This Naphtha is fed
to Naphtha stabilizer where C3 and part of C4 hydrocarbons are removed from
naphtha.
 CATALYTIC REFORMING UNIT

The catalytic reformer unit is one of the most important units of refinery. The
catalytic reforming is a major conversion process that transforms low octane
naphtha feed stock to high octane reformate for use as gasoline blending
component to make lead free petrol. Due to the presence of contaminants,
naphtha is first hydro treated and then fed to catalytic reforming unit. Feed stock
of catalytic reformer is hydro treated naphtha received from HDTU.
The Digboi CRU consists of the following units
• Naphtha stabilization unit (NSU)
• Hydrotreater unit (HDT)
• Catalytic reformer unit

(CRU) Operation
The full range naphtha cut from CDU is split in the NSU to produce the special cut
naphtha. This naphtha is then treated in the HDT in presence of H2 to remove impurities
viz. Sulphur, nitrogen and other metals to form feed stock for the reformer unit. In the
reformer unit, the naphtha feed after adequate hydro treatment is passed over a
bifunctional catalyst in three reactors in presence of hydrogen. Reformate obtained is
then stabilized and routed for blending into MS pool. The hydrogen rich gases produced
in reformer are recycled partly to reformer and balance to the naphtha hydro treatment
section.

Various products from CRU unit are

1. Light naphtha
2. Gasoline or stabilized reformate
3. Hydrogen rich gas
4. LPG rich off gas
Light naphtha and stabilized reformate is blended into motor spirit. Hydrogen
rich gas is sent to wax hydrofinishing unit and fuel gas system. LPG rich off
gas is sent to LPG recovery unit.
 DELAYED COKING UNIT

The unit uses conventional delayed coking technology with operation of two
coke ambers to upgrade feed mix consisting of vacuum residue and heavy waxy
distillate and foots oil, LPG, fuel gas, naphtha, kerosene, LDC, CFO, Coker
residue and coke .DCU unit is an economically viable and competitive
process to upgrade the heavy residuals from refinery to a more valuable distillate
products and premium grade coke.

Flow Process Description

From the operational point of view, the Coker plantcan be classified into the
following sections:
• Feed surge drum and preheat section
• Coker Furnace
• Coke chamber and quench column
• Coker Fractionator
• LPG Recovery section
• Hydraulic Decoking, Water reuse and coke cutting
• Coke Chamber blow down system
• Naphtha caustic/water wash system

MOTOR SPIRIT QUALITY UPGRADATION

The MSQU unit is newly commissioned unit, used for further refine the Motor
Spirit after it comes out as a final product from the hydrotreater unit (HDT).
Initially the motor spirit output from HDT was used as the final product and
release in the market. But after 2010 the commissioning subjected to further
treatment in the MSQU of BS-II (Bharat Stage-II) the motor spirit is being
subjected to further treatment in the MSQU.
The MSQU has four subunits:
i. Naphtha Splitter Unit- 130TMTPA
ii. Reformate Splitter Unit-82 TMTPA
iii. Isomerization Hydrotreater Unit-47.6 TMTPA
iv. Isomerization Unit – 46.7 TMTPA
Naphtha Splitter Unit
The purpose of the NSU is to split the naphtha feed composed by Straight Run
Naphtha & Coker Naphtha into Light & Heavy Naphtha. The light naphtha is
fed to the ISOM-HDT to Isomerization unit while the heavy naphtha is routed
to the Catalytic Reforming Unit.

Reformate Splitter Unit

The purpose of the RSU (unit 035) is to split reformate feed from the existing
HDT/CRU reforming unit into: - Light Reformate which contains most of the
benzene is sent to HDT stripper. - Heavy Reformate (Benzene
:< 1wt %) sent to MS pool.

CAPTIVE POWER PLANT (CPP)

A captive power plant is a facility that is dedicated to providing a localized source

of power to an energy user. These are typically industrial facilities or large offices.

Gas engines make ideal captive power plants where there is a localized supply
of gas. This might be from a gas pipeline, but can also be transported via
vehicle as compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Gas-fueled captive power plants are most fuel efficient when used in a
combined heat and power (CHP) configuration. Here a facility can generate not
only electricity, but also heat which can be offset.

Benefits of captive powerplants:

• Security of power supply through self-generation.

• Reduced costs through high fuel efficiency.

• Improved environmental performance resulting from fuel efficiency.

The CPP in the Digboi Refinery produces the following:

• Dm Plant & Pump House

• Gas Turbine

• Air Compressor House

• Cooling Tower

DIMINERALIZATION PLANT ( DM WATER PLANT )

Demineralization is the process of removing mineral salts from water by using

the ion exchange process.

Demineralized water is water completely free (or almost) of dissolved minerals

as a result of one of the following processes:

• Distillation

• Deionization

• Membrane filtration (reverse osmosis or Nano filtration)

• Electro dialysis
Demineralized Water also known as Deionized Water; Water that has had its
mineral ions removed. Mineral ions such as cations of sodium, calcium, iron,
copper, etc. and anions such as chloride, sulphate, nitrate etc. are common ions
present in Water. Deionization is a physical process which uses specially-
manufactured ion exchange resins which provides ion exchange site for the
replacement of the mineral salts in Water with Water forming H+ and OH- ions.
Because the majority of water impurities are dissolved salts, deionization
produces a high purity Water that is generally similar to distilled Water, and this
process is quick and without scale buildup. De-mineralization technology is the
proven process for treatment of Water. A DM Water System produces mineral free
Water by operating on the principles of ion exchange, Degasification, and
polishing. Demineralized Water System finds wide application in the field of steam,
power, process, and cooling.

GAS TURBINE

Two types of Gas Turbine operates in the Digboi Refinery based on Power
 Rating:

• FRAME 3: Three Gas Turbine of 8.5 MW each with three Combustion

Chambers on each side.

• FRAME 5: One Gas Turbine of 20 MW with five

Combustion Chambers on each side.

Gas Turbine operates on Brayton Cycle. The gas is compressed isentropically

with isobaric combustion followed by isentropic expansion in the turbine and
finishes with isobaric heat rejection.

A gas turbine compresses air and mixes it with fuel. The fuel is burned and the
hot air-fuel mixture is expanded through turbine blades, making them spin. The
spinning turbine drives a generator which converts the spinning energy into
electricity. The exhaust gases with low energy are passed to the Heat Recovery
Steam Generation Plant (HRSG) where they are further used in the production of
power.
Heat Recovery Steam Generation (HRSG)

The HRSG is a natural circulation, single drum, single pressure, supplementary

fuel, water tube boiler. It is basically a heat exchanger composed of a series of
preheaters evaporators, re-heaters and super- heater, which recovers heat from
the turbine exhaust flue gases having temperature of almost 500°C to produce
superheated steam, heating feed water. The HRSG also has a supplementary
firing duct that raises gas
temperature and mass flow rate.

Why HRSG is required?

• To improve the efficiency of GT.
• Effectively using the flue gases/ exhaust of GT.
• Economical then other steam generation methods.

HRSG Natural Circulation

Natural circulation is based on the difference in density between water and steam.
The circulation process continues with a steam/water mixture being generated
in and being replaced with heavier water from the down comers. As more heat
is added to absorbed, a steam/water mixture is generated in the tube which is
less the tube the boiler tubes, the steam quality of the fluid increases and greater
pumping force is available.

Components of HRSG
1. Economizer: An economizer's function is to increase the water temperature
to an "approach" temperature near the saturation temperature. Approach
temperature is carefully chosen to ensure maximum heat energy absorption
efficiency and operational flexibility. Economizer sections are composed of
finned tube surface, multi-pass, three row modules with required drain and
vents. These modules are arranged in series/parallel configurations to reach the
desired final water temperature and capacity.
2. Steam drum: The steam drums are steam/water separator, storage tanks for
steam purity control. In steam drum saturated steam is separated from
steam/water mixture as the separated steam rises up through the drum as the
feed water enters the drum from economizer. The separated water is then
recirculated together with the feed water to the heat absorbing tube through
circulation loop.
3. Down comers/feeder header: The feeder header receives water from the steam
drum and distributes it to the evaporator modules. The feeder header also acts
as sediment trap that must be blown clear from the evaporator circuit.
4. Evaporator: Evaporator sections are where the boiling process or steam
generation occurs. As heat energy is absorbed by water from the gas stream, the
water temperature increases. When water reaches the boiling point or saturation
temperature, some of the water vaporizes to steam. The evaporator sections are
single pass, two and three row modules.
5. Super heater: The last major component of HRSG is super heater. The major
function of a super heater is to increase steam temperature above saturation.
The super heater absorbs heat energy from GT exhaust and transfers it to the
steam. The steam superheat energy level is measured as an increase in steam
temperature beyond the steam temperature achieved in evaporator section. The
super heat section typically has the highest metal temperature in the HRSG.
6. Supplementary firing system: It is capable of firing natural gas as fuel and
heats up the GT exhaust to a required temperature. The duct burners are located
at the inlet of HRSG between super heater I & screen evaporator.
7. Duct burner: It provides the capability of supplementary firing into the gas
turbine exhaust steam prior to its entry into HRSG. The duct burner consists of
a ceramic lined duct section flanged at both ends for bolting to the associated
ducts. The cross-section is 2290mm x 4700mm x 1100mm. The ceramic fiber
lining is covered by a 2.5mm thick stainless steel cladding sheet. There are 5
nos. of gas burners in 5 elevations arranged horizontally across the duct.
8. Supplementary firing system: A supplementary firing system is capable of
firing natural gas as fuel heats up the GT exhaust to the required temperature
whenever required. The duct burners are located at the inlet of HRSG between super
heater I and screen evaporator.
9. Chimney: The GT exhaust, after passing through all the heat transfer
surfaces are discharged into the atmosphere at the safe height through a 60m
high steel chimney.
 HYDRO-TREATING UNIT
(HDTB)

The HDTB consists of the following units

• Hydro- treating unit (HDT)
• Hydrogen Generation Unit (HGU)
• Sour Water Stripping Unit
• Sulphur Recovery Unit
• High Purity Nitrogen Unit

The HDT unit treats different gas oils from various origins, straight run or
cracked products. The feed is a mixture of products containing unsaturated
components, aromatics, sulphur compounds and nitrogen compounds.
Sulphur and nitrogen contents depend upon the crude. The purpose of DHDS
Unit is to hydrotreat a blend of straight run gas oil and cracked gas oil for
production of HSD(High Speed Diesel) of sulphur content less than 500 ppm
wt. Hydrodesulphurization reaction releases H₂S Gas which is removed by
continuous absorption process using 25 wt. DEA solutions. Along with
desulphurization, saturation of unsaturated compounds and nitrification
occurs. The Hydrogen is supplied from the hydrogen unit. Lean amine for
absorption is obtained from Amine Regeneration Unit (ARU).Rich Amine
containing absorbed H₂S is sent to ARU for amine regeneration.

Hydrogen Generation Unit

The unit is designed to process straight run naphtha or natural gas to hydrogen
that will cater to the need of HDT and other units. The process involved for
conversion of naphtha or natural gas to hydrogen is stream reforming. The unit
consists of Desulphurization, Reforming and process gas cooling with high
temperature shift conversion to increase the hydrogen content of the process
gas. Purification is done with PSA Unit. The feedstock to the Hydrogen unit is
Natural Gas.
The Hydrogen plant is divided into six main sections:
i. Feed treatment consisting of feed compression and desulphurization
ii. Reforming
iii. Heat recovery
iv. High Temperature Shift
v. Product purification by means of PSA unit
vi. Steam system consisting of water conditioning by means of
degasification and chemical dosing. The steam generation is based on a
natural circulation system

High Purity Nitrogen Generating Unit

The present plant is a high purity plant which consists mainly of air
compressors, refrigeration unit, purification unit, and cold box. Cold box, air
compressors, refrigeration unit are installed indoors whereas air
purification unit, cold box housing low temperature equipment, compact heat
exchangers, expansion turbine and distillation column are installed
outdoor.
Various controls are provided for smooth functioning of the plant. Necessary
alarms and safeties have been provided in anticipation of failures in utility
circuits like cooling water, instrument air, or electricity. The oxygen content of
product nitrogen is continuously monitored by an oxygen trace analyzer which
isolates the nitrogen header if the purity of product fails below the permissible
level. There is a provision of liquid nitrogen into distillation column to facilitate
quick start-up or to maintain the plant under cold condition while shutdown.
Equipment description
• Air compression unit
• Refrigeration Unit
• Moisture Separator
• Air Purification
-Adsorbers
-Post Filters
-Regeneration Heater
-Silencer

Sour Water Stripping Unit

The primary function of the Sour Water Stripping Unit is to remove H2S and NH3
from sour water streams before discharging these streams to effluent treatment
plant.
The Sour Water Stripping Unit consists of Sour Water Degassing and storage
section, Sour Water Stripping Section, the Stripped Water Section, Condensate
Recovery System, Closed Blow Down system, Acid Gas Flare System. The
sour gases from the sour water stripper overhead will be sent to the Sulphur
Recovery Unit (SRU) for Sulphur recovery.
The single stage sour water stripper is designed to treat sour water generated in
Hydrotreater unit and intermittent sour condensate from SRU & ARU.

Sour Water Degassing and Storage

Sour water from two sources of Hydrotreater unit is received through a
common line in a sour water surge drum floating on acid gas flare header. This
surge drum is a three phase (V-L-L) separator. The surge drum is operated at a
low pressure (1.0 kg/cm2g) to maximum removal of hydrocarbons present, if
any in the sour water via flashing. This also provides a stable liquid feed to the
sour water feed day tank.
The surge vessel is blanketed with nitrogen to maintain steady operating
pressure. Nitrogen is used to control the pressure of sour water surge drum by
means of self-actuated pressure control valve. The flashed hydrocarbon vapors,
mixed with some NH3 and H2S, are sent to the single stage stripper overhead
line and then routed to the Sulphur recovery unit.

Sour Water Stripping Section

The sour water from surge drum/storage tank is pumped by single stage SWS
feed pump to single stage stripper column under surge drum level control
cascaded to flow controller through feed/bottom exchanger which preheats the
sour water feed to 99˚C. A low level trip is provided on the surge drum to trip
the SWS feed pumps.

Sour Water Stripped Section

Stripped water at 124.5˚C containing NH3 and H2S less than 50 ppm each is
pumped by stripped water pumps under level control and is cooled in feed
bottom exchanger to 75.3˚C.
A water cooled exchanger which is designed to cool stripped water from single
stage stripper is also provided to cool the stripped water to 40˚C before routing
to Hydrotreater unit or to the ETP.

Condensate Recovery System

LP condensate generated in reboiler is sent to the condensate recovery system
in Hydrotreater unit under level control on the condensate pot.

Closed Blowdown System

In order to prevent evolution of H2S / NH3 while draining sour water to an Open
Sewer, closed blow down system is envisaged. All the equipment and low
point drains in sour service in the SWS unit are connected to the
common CBD system. The CBD system consists of a CBD drum and a CBD
pump. The CBD drum connected to the acid gas flare in order to route all the
H2S/NH3 rich vapors, which may evolve during equipment draining to flare.
Provision is kept for pumping all the drain liquid collected in CBD drum back-
to sour water or to single stage sour water surge drum for stripping. The spare
pump is available in Refinery warehouse.

Acid Gas Flare System

Acid/Sour gases from all vents/relief valve of SWS/SRU/ARU areas are routed
to Acid Gas Relief Header, which is connected to OSBL Sour Flare
K.O. Drum. The sour gas/vapor from top of this drum is sent to acid gas flare
system. The liquid collected at bottom of drum is sent to Closed Blowdown
Drum located in SWS area.

Sulphur Recovery Unit

The process design of Sulphur Recovery unit is based on the 3 Stage Modified
Clause Process. The process consists of one thermal stage (Main Combustion
Chamber) and three catalytic stages (Catalytic Converters).96% (min) sulphur
recovery is achievable from this configuration.
Acid gas from Amine Regeneration unit (ARU) & sour gas from the Sour
Water Stripper Unit (SWSU) are fed to Sulphur Recovery Unit (SRU). In SRU,
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) present in the feed gas is converted to elemental
sulphur.

Modified Claus Section

Claus section includes Main Combustion Chamber (also called as reaction
furnace), three catalytic converters and heat recovery facilities. A feed mix of acid
gas & sour gas is fed to the burner of Main Combustion chamber. The burner is
designed to provide complete mixing of air and feed gas for oxidation of all
hydrocarbons. Residual sulphur compounds (like mercaptans if any), ammonia
and a nominal one third of hydrogen sulphide
 in feed gas is converted to SO2 without use of the combustion of ammonia. In the
reaction furnace, standard Claus reaction proceeds to produce gaseous
sulphur.

The main reactions in the furnace are:

(1)
The major percentage of residual H2S combines with the produced SO2 to form
Sulphur according to the following reaction:
(2)

Storage Handling and Storage

The discharge channel of WHB and each sulphur condenser will be connected
into its own buried seal leg. As the sulphur fills the seal leg, it overflows into a
header that connects to the sulphur pit

Thermal Incinerator
In the thermal incinerator, combustible components in from the Tail Gas
Coalescer and sweep gas from sulphur pit are thermally oxidized at 750 0C
temperature using excess of air. Main air blower is used to supply oxidation air
to incinerator burner. The thermal incinerator converts practically all the H2S
and other sulphur species in the tail gas to sulphur dioxide so that the H2S
concentration in the stack gas is less than 10 ppm.

Waste Heat Recovery System

LP Steam is generated in Waste Heat Boiler (WHB) by cooling hot process
gases from Main Combustion Chamber and fed to the LP steam header. Sulphur
Condensers - I, II & III generate LP steam which is fed to another LP steam
header which is used for jacketing, tracing and for heating coils in Sulphur Pit.
For additional requirement, steam is taken from LP steam header under
pressure control.

Fuel Gas System

Fuel Gas is required for continuous consumption in Thermal Incinerator
Burner. The Main Burner requires fuel gas during start up. Fuel Gas to the unit
is received in a fuel gas KOD from where it is distributed to Main burner
and Thermal Incinerator Burner.
WAX SECTOR
There are four units of Wax Treatment which produces fine white wax slabs and
pellets as the finishing products. Molten impurity wax is brought through pipelines
from the Fractional Distillation unit. The four units are as follows:

• Solvent Dewaxing Unit (SDU)

• Wax Hydrofinishing Unit (WHFU)

• Wax Rundown Shed (WRDS)

• Wax Palletization Unit (WPU)

SOLVENT DEWAXING UNIT

Solvent De-waxing/De-oiling Unit (SDU) has been installed in Digboi refinery to

replace the age old wax extraction unit and wax sweating stove unit to improve
wax production in terms of quality as well as quantity. MIBK Wax De-oiling is a
Solvent de-oiling process where wax feed temperature is reduced in a slow &
control rate with addition of MIBK solvent to allow formation of wax crystals
that contain minimum amount of oil and solvent. in the De-oiling process, most
of the oil and low melting soft wax are removed. Hot feed from Wax Feed
Tank is pumped under flow control through the Pre-cooler and Double pipe Feed
Scraper Chillers, where feed is cooled and solid crystals of wax begin to form.
Wax crystals are separated in the Primary & Secondary Rotary Drum Filters
operated in series.
Secondary wax slurry is pumped to Wax circuit and after recovery of solvent,
finished DOW is pumped to wax storage tank. Primary Filtrate containing
solvent mixed with Foots Oil is sent to the solvent recovery section. The
stripped Foots Oil is transferred to the storage. Recovered MIBK is recycled to
the process and make-up is added to the system as required.
Flow process of SDU
WAX HYDROFINISHING UNIT
The Wax Hydrofinishing Unit (WHFU) was installed and commissioned in
2001 to carry out refining of de-oiled wax received from SDU to improve
colour stability and sulfur content by hydrogenation process in presence of
catalyst. The catalyst and the operating conditions selected allow
hydrogenation of aromatics compounds as well as removal of sulphur and
nitrogen by desulfurization and denitrification of the wax.
The main sections are:
• Reaction section
• Separation section
• Distillation section
• Tempered water system

Reaction section
De-oiled wax from Solvent De-oiling Unit (SDU) is taken in the storage tanks at
WHFU. Liquid wax Feedstock is pumped from storage tanks by the Booster
pump at a temperature of about 750 C to the filters after preheating in the heat
exchanger by the bottom product of the vacuum dryer and then it is injected
into the reaction section by the feed booster pump. The Hydrogen make up is
introduced into the unit through a KOD and through Make up Gas Compressor.
It is then mixed with gas from Recycle Gas and the total gas is added to the
liquid feedstock.

Separation Section
The Vapour phase of the HP Hot Separator is cooled down in Vapour Effluent
Cooler and is flashed in the HP Cold Separator. A part of the vapour phase is
sent to fuel gas network under pressure control through 06
-EE-005 and the other part is recycled through the Recycle Gas Compressor. The
vapour phase is added to the HP purge, cooler and sent to fuel gas through
the Purge Gas Drum

Distillation Section
The liquid phase of the LP Separator Drum constitute the Stripper feed and is sent
to the Stripper Column after pre-heating in Stripper Feed Heater. The lighter
compounds are taken out by MP steam. The bottom product of the Striper feeds
the Dryer by gravity. The bottom product of the Dryer is the finished wax and is
withdrawn by the pump through the filter after cooling in the Feed-Product
Exchanger and the Product Cooler.

Tempered Water System

In order to prevent the solidification of waxes in cooling equipment on wax
containing streams, tempered water is used as cooling medium.

WAX RUNDOWN SHED & WAX PALLETIZATION UNIT:

These are the final steps of the Wax Sector where the Paraffin Wax obtained in
the WHFU is sent for solidification. In these units, the Paraffin Wax turns out in
the form of Wax Slabs and Wax Pallets which are then dispatched for
marketing.

In the WRDS section, the molten wax is allowed to cool and solidify in long
shallow containers with slab-sized holes in a series of E-plates.

In the WPU section, a small spherical shape wax are produced which are then
packed and then discharged from the refinery.
MOTORGARAGE AND WORKSHOP
MACHINE SHOP

A machine shop is the space allocated for various machining processes. In

machine shop, there are different types of machines for different
machining processes. They include Lathe machine, Drilling machine, Boring
machine, Slotting machine, Shaper, Milling machine, Grinding machine, etc.

Lathemachine
Workingprinciple:
The function of lathe is to remove metal from a piece of work to give it a
desired shape and size. In a lathe machine, the work piece is rotated against
the tool. The tool is used to remove material from the work piece. The direction
of motion of tool is called feed. The lathe is a machine tool which holds the
workpiece between two rigid and strong supports called centres or in a chuck or
face plate which rotates. The cutting tool is rigidly held and supported in a tool
post which is fed against the revolving work. The normal cutting operations are
performed with the cutting tool fed either parallel or at right angles to the axis of
the work. The cutting tool may also be fed at an angle relative to the axis of
work for machining tapers and angles.

Construction:
The main parts of the lathe are:
• Bed: The bed is a heavy, rugged casting in which are mounted the
working parts of the lathe. It carries the headstock and tail stock for
supporting the workpiece and provides a base for the movement of
carriage assembly which carries the tool.
• Legs: The legs carry the entire load of machine and are firmly secured to
floor by foundation bolts.
• Headstock: The headstock is clamped on the left hand side of the bed
and it serves as housing for the driving pulleys, back gears, headstock
spindle, live centre and the feed reverse gear. The headstock spindle
is a hollow cylindrical shaft that provides a drive from the motor to work
holding devices.

• Gear Box: The quick-change gear-box is placed below the headstock and
contains a number of different sized gears.
• Carriage: The carriage is located between the headstock and tailstock and
serves the purpose of supporting, guiding and feeding the tool against
the job during operation. The main parts of carriage are:
o The saddle is an H-shaped casting mounted on the top of lathe ways.
It provides support to cross-slide, compound rest and tool post.
o The cross slide is mounted on the top of saddle, and it
provides a mounted or automatic cross movement for the cutting
tool.
o The compound rest is fitted on the top of cross slide and is used to
support the tool post and the cutting tool.
o The tool post is mounted on the compound rest, and it rigidly
clamps the cutting tool or tool holder at the proper height relative
to the work centre line.
o The apron is fastened to the saddle and it houses the gears,
clutches and levers required to move the carriage or cross slide. The
engagement of split nut lever and the automatic feed lever at the
same time prevents the movement of carriage along the lathe bed.
• Tailstock: The tailstock is a movable casting located opposite the
headstock on the ways of the bed. The tailstock can slide along the bed to
accommodate different lengths of workpiece between the centers. A
tailstock clamp is provided to lock the tailstock at any desired position.
The tailstock spindle has an internal taper to hold the dead centre and the
tapered shank tools such as reamers and drills.
 A Lathe Machine

Lathe operations:

A lathe machine can perform the following operations:

Plain Turning and Step Turning, Facing, Parting, Drilling, Reaming, Boring,
Knurling, Grooving, Threading, Forming, Chamfering, Filling and Polishing and
Taper Turning.

MECHANICAL PARTS AND EQUIPMENTS

BEARING
Bearings transmit load from a rotating member to a stationary member known
as frame or housing. They permit relative motion of two members in one or two
directions with minimum friction, and also prevent the motion in the direction of
the applied load. The bearings are classified broadly into two categories based
on the type of contact they have between the rotating and the stationary member
• Sliding contact
• Rolling conta
A ball bearing uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial
and axial loads. It achieves this by using at least three races to contain the balls
and transmit the loads through the balls. In most applications, one race is
stationary and the other is attached to the rotating assembly (e.g., a hub or shaft).
As one of the bearing races rotates it causes the balls to rotate as well. Because
the balls are rolling they have a much lower coefficient of friction than if two
flat surfaces were sliding against each other. Ball bearings tend to have lower
load capacity for their size than other kinds of rolling element bearings due to the
smaller contact area between the balls and races. However, they can
tolerate some misalignment of the inner and outer races.
Roller Bearing

Common roller bearings use cylinders of slightly greater length than diameter.
Roller bearings typically have higher radial load capacity than ball bearings, but a
lower capacity and higher friction under axial loads. If the inner and outer races
are misaligned, the bearing capacity often drops quickly compared to either a
ball bearing or a spherical roller bearing. As in all radial bearings, the outer load is
continuously re-distributed among the rollers. Often, only less than half of the
total number of rollers carries a significant portion of the load at all time.

COMPRESSOR
A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by
reducing its volume. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the
pressure on a fluid and both transport the fluid through a pipe. As gases are
compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a gas.
CENTRIFUAL COMPRESSOR
Centrifugal compressors use a rotating disk or impeller in a shaped housing to
force the gas to the rim of the impeller, increasing the velocity of the gas. A
diffuser (divergent duct) section converts the velocity energy to pressure
energy. They are primarily used for continuous, stationary service in
industries such as oil refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants and natural
gas processing plants. Their application can be from
100 horsepower (75 kW) to thousands of horsepower. With multiple staging,
they can achieve high output pressures greater than 10,000 psi (69 MPa).

Axial-flow compressors

Axial-flow compressors are dynamic rotating compressors that use arrays of

fan-like air foils to progressively compress a fluid. They are used where high
flow rates or a compact design are required. The arrays of air foils are
set in rows, usually as pairs: one rotating and one stationary. The rotating air
foils, also known as blades or rotors, accelerate the fluid. The stationary air foils,
also known as stators or vanes, decelerate and redirect the flow direction of the
fluid, preparing it for the rotor blades of the next stage. Axial compressors are
almost always multi-staged, with the cross-sectional area of the gas passage
diminishing along the compressor to maintain an optimum axial Mach number.
Beyond about 5 stages or a 4:1 design pressure ratio a compressor will not
function unless fitted with features such as stationary vanes with variable angles
(known as variable inlet guide vanes and variable stators), the ability to allow
some air to escape part-way along the compressor (known as inter stage bleed)
and being split into more than one rotating assembly (known as twin spools, for
example).

Reciprocating compressors

Reciprocating compressors use pistons driven by a crankshaft. They can be

either stationary or portable, can be single or multi-staged. Small reciprocating
compressors from 5 to 30 horsepower (hp) are commonly seen in automotive
applications and are typically for intermittent duty. Larger reciprocating
compressors well over 1,000 hp (750 kW) are commonly found in large
industrial and petroleum applications.
Rotary vane compressors

Rotary vane compressors consist of a rotor with a number of blades inserted in

radial slots in the rotor. The rotor is mounted offset in a larger housing. As the
rotor turns, blades slide in and out of the slots keeping contact with the outer
wall of the housing. Thus, a series of increasing and decreasing volumes is
created by the rotating blades.

HEAT EXCHANGER
A heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat between two or more fluids.
In other words, heat exchangers are used in both cooling and heating
processes. The fluids may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or
they may be in direct contact. They are widely used in space heating,
refrigeration, air conditioning, power stations, chemical plants, petrochemical
plants, petroleum refineries, natural-gas processing, and sewage treatment.

Flow arrangement
There are three primary classifications of heat exchangers according to their
flow arrangement. In parallel-flow heat exchangers, the two fluids enter the
exchanger at the same end, and travel in parallel to one another to the other side. In
counter-flow heat exchangers the fluids enter the exchanger from opposite
ends. The counter current design is the most
efficient, in that it can transfer the most heat from the heat (transfer) medium
per unit mass due to the fact that the average temperature difference along any
unit length is higher. In a cross-flow heat exchanger, the fluids travel roughly
perpendicular to one another through the exchanger. For efficiency, heat
exchangers are designed to maximize the surface area of the wall between
the two fluids, while minimizing resistance to fluid flow through the
exchanger. The exchanger's performance can also be affected by the addition of
fins or corrugations in one or both directions, which increase surface area and
may channel fluid flow or induce turbulence. The driving temperature across the
heat transfer surface varies with position, but an appropriate mean temperature
can be defined. In most simple systems this is the "log mean temperature
difference" (LMTD).

Shell and tube heat exchanger

Shell and tube heat exchangers consist of series of tubes. One set of these tubes
contains the fluid that must be either heated or cooled. The second fluid runs
over the tubes that are being heated or cooled so that it can either provide the
heat or absorb the heat required. A set of tubes is called the tube bundle and can
be made up of several types of tubes: plain, longitudinally finned, etc. The tubes
may be straight or bent in the shape of a U, called U-tubes.

PUMPS
A pump is device used to move fluid, such as liquids or slurries, or gases.
Pumps may be broadly classified into two types viz. kinetic and positive
displacement. In kinetic pump there is continuous energy addition. The added
energy is used to increase in kinetic energy (increase in velocity). This in turn is
used to increase pressure. In positive displacement pump there is periodic
energy addition. The added energy forces displacement of fluid in an enclosed
volume, which results in direct increase in pressure.

Classification of pump
Centrifugal pumps
This category of pump constitutes most of 80-99% of all the installed pumps in
the refinery. Qualities such as design simplicity, high efficiency and smooth-rate
facilitate their easy operation and maintenance resulting in their large
scale use.
Working mechanism of a centrifugal pump
A centrifugal pump converts rotational energy, often from a motor, to energy
in a moving fluid. A portion of the energy goes into kinetic energy of the fluid.
Fluid enters axially through eye of the casing, is caught up in the impeller blades,
and is whirled tangentially and radially outward until it leaves through all
circumferential parts of the impeller into the diffuser part of the casing. The fluid
gains both velocity and pressure while passing through the impeller. The
doughnut-shaped diffuser, or scroll, section of the casing decelerates the flow and
further increases the pressure.

Main Parts of a Centrifugal Pump

A centrifugal pump has two main component:
• A rotating components comprise of an impeller and a shaft
• A stationary component comprise of a casing, casing over and
bearings.

Components can be subdivided into the wet end and the mechanical end. The
wet end of the pump includes those parts that determine the hydraulic
performance of pump. The two primary wet ends are the impeller and casing.
The mechanical end includes those parts that support the impeller within the
casing. The mechanical end of the pump includes the pump shaft, sealing,
bearings and shaft sleeve.
 • Impeller: Impeller is a rotor used to increase the kinetic energy of the flow.
• Casing (Volute): The volute is a curved funnel that increases in area as it
approaches the discharge port. The volute of a centrifugal pump is the
casing that receives the fluid being pumped by the impeller, slowing
down the fluid’s rate of flow. Therefore, according to Bernoulli’s
principle, the volute converts kinetic energy into pressure by reducing
speed while increasing pressure. Some centrifugal pumps contain
diffusers. A diffuser is a set of stationary vanes that surround the
impeller. The diffuser directs the flow, allows a more gradual expansion
and therefore increases the efficiency.
• Shaft (Rotor): The impeller is mounted on a shaft. Shaft is a mechanical
component for transmitting torque from the motor to the impeller.
• Shaft sealing: Centrifugal pumps are provided with packing rings or
mechanical seal which helps prevent the leakage of the pumped liquid.
• Bearing: Bearings constrained relative motion of the shaft (rotor) and
reduce friction between the rotating shaft and the stator.
• Shaft coupling: The shaft coupling is the connecting element between the
electric motor and the pump hydraulic system. The slightest
misalignment results in considerable extra stress on shaft couplings and
adjoining shaft ends.

Reciprocating type pump:

A reciprocating pump is a class of positive-displacement pumps which includes
the piston pump, plunger pump and diaphragm pump. It is often used where a
relatively small quantity of liquid is to be handled and where delivery pressure is
quite large. In reciprocating pumps, the chamber in which the liquid is trapped,
is a stationary cylinder that contains the piston or plunger.

Single-acting reciprocating pump: Consists of a piston of which only one side

engages the fluid being displaced.

Double-acting reciprocating pump: Both sides of the piston engage the fluid
being displaced, with each stroke of the piston carries out both suction and
expulsion at the same time.
 CONCLUSION

In the end, it has been a very good learning & enlightening experience
to do this summer Training in the Digboi Refinery. Coming here, I understood a
lot about the processes taking place in an Oil Refinery. The practical exposure
has been unbelievable, & this visit will stay with me as a good memory for
years to come