Case Study: A Refinery Improves Product Quality through Automated Controls Systems

The processing of crude oil into usable energy sources is a heavy industry, to be sure. Not only is safety a major concern, but so too is efficiency. The better the processing system is set up, the less energy is lost and the fewer harmful substances are released, which is good for the environment and cost-effective as well.

Process Automation Solutions optimized the digital operation of a well-known refinery in the Rotterdam region. The refinery processes crude oil into naphtha, kerosene, diesel and residues through heating. The main concern in this process is that the furnace, which heats the oil, must continuously maintain the correct temperature.

When the Rotterdam refinery team approached PA, they already had control strategies in place, but they were not well designed. As a result, the operator could not rely on the automatic air and fuel supply and had to continuously add or remove air or fuel manually based on the oxygen reading in the furnace.