Tecnologie

In today's environment, refiners recognize the need for delayed coking to keep pace with the growing demand for transportation fuels, more stringent legislation and the opportunity for significant improvement in refinery profit margins.

• Refiners can process heavier, cheaper crudes to increase refinery margins
• Converts low-value residues to high-value fuels with moderate capital investment
• Easy integration into existing refinery
• Safe, reliable and well-proven technology, meeting all regulatory requirements

Foster Wheeler has been designing and constructing solvent deasphalting (SDA) units since the late 1940s. We provide both propane SDA, usually for lube base oils production, and butane/pentane SDA for catalytic cracker and hydrocracker feed production, through our alliance with UOP.
SDA is a technology that can be used to develop a phased approach to investment.
Key benefits:

• Bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading at low cost
• SDA is a separation process, not a conversion process
• Yields and deasphalted oils product properties controllable
• Lower operating expenditure with supercritical solvent recovery
• Asphalt pitch can be used as a fuel component, or gasified to make power, steam and hydrog

Foster Wheeler and UOP offer the coil visbreaker design in which the desired conversion and viscosity reduction is achieved within a dedicated soaking coil in the furnace. In addition, we have engineered a number of soaker type visbreakers in which the majority of conversion reactions take place over a longer residence time in a soaker drum.
Since 1990, Foster Wheeler and UOP have designed and licensed more than 50 visbreakers.
Key benefits:

• High sulphur fuel oil reduction
• Reduces distillate cutter stock requirements, hence distillate available for more valuable transportation fuels
• Low cost upgrading

ASCOT SM, licensed jointly with UOP, is a combination of solvent deasphalting followed by delayed coking, in which the asphalt produced is used as feed to the delayed coker. The combination offers a unique use for asphalt and provides enhanced overall yields.
Key benefits:

• Solvent contained in asphalt and deasphalted oil is condensed in fractionator overhead condensers
• Solvent recovered may be used as lean oil for C3/C4 recovery in the absorber, eliminating requirement for lean oil recirculation from naphtha stabilizer
• Slow asphalt partial pressure results in low coke and high liquid yields

Petropower is the name of a processing scheme composed by a delayed coker unit jointly operating with a CFB (Circulating Fluid Bed Boiler). Refinery residues are processed in a delayed coker for production of ligther liquid products and solid petroleum coke that is burned in a CFB Boiler based power station to produce steam and electric power.
The CFB Boiler technology is belonging to Foster Wheeler Power Group which is worldwide leader in designing and erecting boilers based on combustion in a fluid bed.
The combustion in fluid bed allows the adoption of the in bed desulphurization by mean of calcium carbonate achieving environmental impact in line with the most stringent applicable laws.

Foster Wheeler is in an ideal position to address the hydrogen needs of its refinery clients. Since 1950, Foster Wheeler has designed, engineered and constructed over 100 hydrogen and synthesis gas plants for downstream processing. These plants employ processes based on reforming of both natural and refinery gases and light liquid feeds, as well as partial oxidation of both gaseous and liquid feedstocks.
Foster Wheeler offers the full range of hydrogen solutions to minimise refinery expenditure and optimise hydrogen use. Solutions include: 

• Hydrogen Management
  A detailed review, to optimise the use of hydrogen on existing refineries and/or minimise investment in new production facilities.
• Revamping and debottlenecking of existing plant
  A detailed assessment and costing of revamping existing plant and equipment
• Supply of Reformers
  For new hydrogen plants and replacement parts for maintenance and revamp projects
• New Hydrogen Plant
  Design and construction of hydrogen or synthesis gas plants, including gasification using low-value oil/coke residuals as feedstock

Oils (crudes) are processed in refineries to obtain valuable products by means of several processes. Distillation is used to obtain different cuts and either thermal or catalytic crackers to improve the ligther yields which are the more valuable products.
In spite of any treatment made a residual portion of oils (viscous and with high sulphur and metals content) remains whose quality should be accepted by the market.
Today, due to well recognized environmental restrictions that makes the fuel oil difficult to use, the fuel oil market is inexorably and continuously shrinking.
According the quality of the crude processed in a refinery,the amount of residual heavy oils range from 15 to 25 % which make the refinery operation unfeasible if not adequately disposed.
The so called Bottom of the Barrel (BOB) technology is the multitude of different technologies proposed to solve the problem.
Foster Wheeler owns some of the technologies adequate for the purpose and have a general Vision. The Vision is the sum of the alternatives adequate to dispose effectively heavy residues.

Residue hydroprocessing, or hydrotreating, technology was originally developed to reduce the sulfur content of atmospheric residues to produce low sulfur residual fuel oil to meet specification.
Changes in crude oil quality and product demand, however, have shifted the commercial importance of this technology to include pre-treating of downstream conversion unit feedstocks to minimize catalyst replacement costs. Pre-treatment of coker feedstocks improves the quality and reduces the yield of by product coke, and increases yield and quality of the more valuable light fuels which are used after treatment for blending into final products.
Although residue hydrotreaters are capable of processing feedstocks having a wide range of contaminants, the feedstock's organometallic and asphaltene components typically determine its processibility.
Seasonal changes to the gasoline/diesel ratio may be accommodated as residue hydrotreatment can be designed for maximum conversion to middle distillate.
The majority of refinery projects include some form of hydrotreatment within the overall processing scheme. As a result Foster Wheeler works continuously with hydrotreating process licensors and catalyst suppliers in specifying feedstocks, developing and engineering designs, and integrating hydrotreaters into processing schemes.

Hydrocracking is one of the leading technologies in the refinery industry today; it provides a valuable method to upgrade the quality of refinery products with a double action: hydritreating and hydrocracking of long chain hydrocarbon molecules.
The hydrocracking severity is the mean to control the quality of the products and the way to treat more and more difficult oil products.
Foster Wheeler experience ranges from feasibilities studies, trough basic design services and engineering up to plants erection.
Fosetre Wheeler cooperate strictly with UOP and Shell technologies being capable to provide their clients with the best technologies available on the market.

Ongoing involvement with many projects has put Foster Wheeler in a uniquely knowledgeable position in the areas of mechanical design, engineering and construction of catalytic cracking units (FCC), including residue catalytic cracking (RCC). We have experience in developing designs from all major licensors of this technology.
Our extensive experience includes engineering and construction of new FCCs and RCCs, and revamps of existing units, often involving significant design work associated with increasing throughput, changing operating severity, and efficiency and safety improvements. We have a strong team experienced in all aspects of FCCs, particularly with detailed mechanical and vessels technology, including material specification, essential to ensure a successful outcome in this key area.
With increasing interest in the refinery/petrochemical interface, emphasis has been placed in recent years on maximizing production of propylene from catalytic cracking units. Our considerable experience in this area includes propylene purification units, enabling product suitability for use as either a chemical or polymer grade propylene.

FW experience in the Aromatics is with leading technologies in this field, that is with UOP and GTC. FW recent experience include PMC services, FEED or studies relevant to new Aromatics complexes, revamp of existing Aromatics plants and Aromatics refinery integration for several Clients in Saudi Arabia, Thailand, India, Russia and others.

Foster Wheeler experience in the Aromatic Derivatives includes Cumene-Phenol, Cyclohexane, Ethylbenzene–Styrene, LAB, SM-PO, MDI, TDI. Foster Wheeler recent experience includes PMC services, FEED or studies for several Clients in Thailand, France, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and others.

Foster Wheeler experience in the Olefins is very wide and particularly strong in the field of the feasibility studies and subsequent PMC services of very large Olefins and Derivatives Complexes. This applies when Olefin Derivatives like polyolefins, ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, styrene, etc. are integrated in the same complex together with the Olefins production and very large worldscale investiments need to be managed, including also utilities and offsites.
FW recent experience includes PMC services, FEED or studies for several Clients in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, India, UAE, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, etc.
It is worthwhile to highlight Foster Wheeler experience in the technologies for the production of propylene other than Steam Crackers and FCC.
As far as the PDH (Propane Dehydrogenation) is concerned, Foster Wheeler has supervised the preparation of the BED (UOP technology) and is presently acting as PMC in the Al Waha project (Saudi Arabia) where the PDH plant is constructed in conjunction with a PP plant (Basell technology): the capacity of the PDH plant (460 kt/y) is the largest being built nowadays. In addition to the PDH technology, also the Olefins Convertion Technology (OCT, including the ethylene dimerization and its metathesys to propylene) is at company’s hand: Foster Wheeler has supervised the preparation of the BED and is presently acting as PMC in the expansion of the Borouge complex in the UAE, where the downstream polyolefins are built with Borealis technology. Foster Wheeler has also a long track record in the realization of propane / propylene splitters downstream FCCs.

Foster Wheeler experience in the Olefin Derivatives is particularly strong in the Ethylene Oxide and Ethilene Glycol. All the technologies are available to Foster Wheeler (Scientific Design, Shell and Dow) and Foster Wheeler is acting as PMC in several complexes where ethylene oxide and glycol plants are being built in Saudi Arabia. Past experience includes FEED preparation and PMC services for Clients in China.
It is worthwhile to underline the leading position of Foster Wheeler in the Ethylene Oxide - Ethylene Glycol with Dow technology (METEOR), where the company has been selected for the EPC services for the second MEG production line in the OL2K Kuwait Complex, that is now in the construction phase; the services for the second MEG line were awarded to Foster Wheeler after it completed successfully the first MEG line: this shows how high is Foster Wheeler’s attitude towards the complete satisfaction of first class Clients. FW experience in Olefin Derivatives includes also Acetic Acid and Vinyl Acetate Monomer.

Foster Wheeler experience in the Polymer technologies is very wide, rangeing from Polyethylene to Polypropylene, Polyesters and Polycarbonates. Several studies, FEED packages and PMC services have been executed and are ongoing for Clients in Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, India, UAE, Singapore, etc.
As for the Polyethylene is concerned, Foster Wheeler experience is with the LDPE, LLDPE / HDPE “swing” and HDPE technologies provided by the leading Licensors like Unipol, Basell, Ineos and Borealis. Particularly, Foster Wheeler is in the list of the Ineos approved contractor for the execution of EPC contracts.
As for the Polypropylene is concerned, Foster Wheeler experience is with the leading Licensors like Basell, Ineos and Borealis. It is worthwhile to mention the Foster Wheeler Chemopetrol PP plant erected in Check Republic (LSTK contract) with Ineos technology (formerly BP Amoco) and the ongoing projects with the newest PP technology generation by Basell (Spherizone) in Russia (Tatarstan, FEED execution) and Saudi Arabia (Al Waha, PMC). For the latter project the capacity of the PP plant (450 kt/y) is the largest presently being built.
As for the Polyesters, Foster Wheeler experience is in the preparation of studies, FEED execution, PMC services and EPC contracts for both PTA and PET; Clients’ plants are located in Thailand, China, Argentina, Russia. The Invista technology is available to Foster Wheeler.
As for the Polycarbonates are concerned, the Foster Wheeler experience is particularly worthwile to be mentioned; in fact Foster Wheeler has executed on EPC basis the first and second LEXAN lines, plus their expansion, for General Electric in Spain, using the most updated “phosgene free” technology. Moreover recently Foster Wheeeler has implemented polycarbonates lines and relevant expansion for a Client in Thailand.

Foster Wheeler has experience also with technologies for the production of MMA, SBR and ABS, BDO, Epichlorohydrin and other petrochemicals.

Alkylation is one of the refinery units necessary to improve the octane number of gasoline streams. Foster Wheeler experience is based essentially on Conoco Philips technology.

Gasification is one of the most promising technologies that can be conceived in a refinery processing scheme; it has the unique capability to fully reject the carbon with residual products practically zeroed.
Gasification can be applied to heavy oils and to petcoke which are the ultimate products in a refinery scheme; gasification process conducted with oxygen stream makes available to refinery a syngas stream that can be used to produce hydrogen according internal requests and electric power.
Foster Wheeler experience is unique having accumulated several activities in this fascinating area of refinery processing.
Gasification process produce syngas that can be fruitfully used to produce chemicals giving the opportunity to refineries to open their end products market to GTL, Ammonia/Urea, DME and Methanol.
Gasification process can be considered to produce syngas even from coal.
For further details see relevant section in power division experience.

Foster Wheeler has the capability to offer not only Methanol plants but even Mega Methanol plants with capacities up to 7000 t/d based on a single reactor train for the synthesis loop.
This capability is offered by the recent agreement signed with the company Methanol Casale.
The syngas production scheme (Banquy) and the capability to supply the steam reformer together with the possibility to use the isothermal reactor designed by Casale makes feasible the design of a methanol production plant with high efficiency and considerably low cost as a consequence of the plant simplicity.

Foster Wheeler can design, engineer and erect ammonia plant; for the synthesis loop FW refers to selected licensor with which have preferential agreements.
Also in this case the key item supplied by FW is the steam reformer adequate to produce syngas necessary for the synthesis loop. FW has also the capability to study and optimize the energy balance of the ammonia plants to make them competitive.

Foster Wheeler can design, engineer and erect urea production plants; the experience is related to Stamicarbon license. Today FW can supply plants with the Urea Casale technology.

Foster Wheeler trough their worldwide experience can bring to Clients their experience in designing LNG facilities. LNG facilities include Natural Gas liquefaction facilities (treatment for impurities, treatment for pollutants, elimination of heavy compounds, liquefaction process both base on APCI and SHELL technologies), storage facilities (FW has cooperation with all major refrigerated tanks suppliers), dedicated utilities systems and particular compression system driven by gas turbines.
LNG facilities include Natural Gas regassification terminals; LNG transported in bulk with special carriers is stored in dedicated storage tanks (refrigerated) and regassified as requested by the natural gas distribution system. Experience covers energetic integration in order to minimize the expenditure for natural gas delivered to the grid.

Foster Wheeler trough their worldwide experience can bring to Clients their experience in designing GTL plants. A strong cooperation exists with Sasol which is one of the most important technology suppliers for GTL facilities. Whenever syngas can be available at low cost, GTL is an impressive option to produce high quality fuels. Syngas can either be derived from Natural Gas, refinery heavy oils and coal; then is turned to liquid hydrocarbon products with a process that build the hydrocarbon chains with a catalityc enhanced reaction with the capability to select the preferred quality of the products that shall be obtained.
GTL is considered viable where large reserves of coal are available, where huge amounts of natural gas are extracted at very low cost and where heavy tars shall be disposed to maintain viable the refineries operation.

Crude distillation is the key unit and the first step in any refinery processing scheme. Crude is fractionated by means of distillation of crude into the base virgin oil products of the refinery. Foster Wheeler experience accounts for hundreds of units safely operating worldwide and processing almost all types of crudes available on the market.

Refiners today are increasingly interested in maximization of vacuum gas oil cuts to minimize fuel oil production.
Foster Wheeler has designed and constructed a total vacuum unit capacity in excess of 3.2 million barrels per day, in addition to numerous revamps of existing facilities, including units for production of FCC and hydrocracker feedstock, lube oil cuts and asphalt production.
Foster Wheeler has extensive expertise on the numerous features necessary to achieve reliable deep cut production of quality vacuum distillates without compromising vacuum unit operation and run length.
Recent Foster Wheeler designs in engineering and construction include vacuum units for SAMIR's Mohammedia refinery, for Saudi Aramco/Sumitomo at Rabigh and for Bangchak Petroleum.

Sour water strippers are units commonly used in refineries to eliminate pollutants like H2S and ammonia from sour waters resulting from refinery process units.
Foster Wheeler experience covers different type of units like reboiled, stripped and with double column configuration.

The elimination of H2S from gaseous streams is a key issue in all desulfurization processes in a refinery. The H2S is picked up with amine streams (additivated as necessary) in absorption towers that operate at pressure conditions of the hydrotreating loop of the process unit involved. Rich amine streams are then collected and regenerated in a stripping tower to free H2S.
Foster Wheeler experience capability in design this units is fully demonstrated by the accumulated experience.

Power and steam production stands for the utility unit that provides the energetic vectors to any industrial complex. The power production is normally the power that is derived from the optimized use of the basic energetic fuel source and from the steam that is raised from the various units to maximize the energy recovery in the units. The steam production is equivalent to the amount necessary to satisfy the steam demand after the use of the recovered steam. Foster Wheeler experience covers different types of power stations (boilers, gas turbines, waste heat boilers, steam turbines,…)
Generally speaking the most important capability of the power and steam production unit is the adequacy to guarantee a safe and adequate energetic vectors supply in all different operating configuration of the industrial complex served. Foster Wheeler capability includes the examination and simulation of different operating conditions both normal and emergency situation and provide the best fit.

Water is a vital fluid for any industrial complex; water derived from whichever source shall be adequately treated to meet the requisites to be used in the process.
Foster Wheeler experience includes all treatments from any source up to process water, demineralised water, boiler feed water, etc…

After use, water must be cleaned and sent back to the water body perfectly in line with the characteristics dictated by the current laws.
Foster Wheeler has a dedicated Division to handle these problems.

Refrigeration of process and utilities stream is an important service for any industrial complex. Cooling water systems are provided to distribute water and eliminate the heat collected.
The experience includes closed loop system and open loop systems and for the closed loop refrigeration either with cooling towers both dry, wet and semi dry or air coolers. The refrigerants considered can be conditioned demineralized water, sweet water and salty water.

The energetic balance of a refinery and of any other industrial complex is extensively satisfied by the combustion of fuel oil and fuel gas. Fuel oil is accumulated according the storage reserve philosophy and then distributed to the users trough a distribution system adequate to satisfy correct availability of the energetic source. Fuel gas on the contrary is not accumulated and the use is consequence of the amount of gases that are injected into the gases collection system; the fuel gas system is designed to collect and distribute gases to the users continuously. Foster Wheeler experience is well consolidated.

Foster Wheeler experience considers all necessary storage facilities necessary for the operation of the industrial complex with particular reference to refineries.
Storage facilities for feedstocks, for intermediate products and final stocks are part of the experience; floating roof, fixed roof, dome roof tanks and pressurized vessels are considered during the optimization process of the storage systems. Optimization calculations include the evaluation of the capacities necessary in order not to interrupt the industrial complex operation even in case the feedstocks supplies are interrupted.

Blending systems are necessary in a refinery to obtain the products with adequate quality by properly mixing the available refinery cuts from the processing units. The blending scheme with the adequate flexibility is engineered by Foster Wheeler trough several design stages starting from the refinery optimization configuration studies by Linear Programming. The goal is always to provide the maximum amount of valuable on spec. products using the less expensive cuts.
The blending system shall be designed to account for flexibility needed when a refinery is processing different types of crudes.

In an industrial complex like a refinery there is the need to collect all continuous discharges of non usable gases and to prevent the emission to environment of both liquid and gaseous discharges that are consequence of misoperations and accidents.
In this view a collection and blowdown system is provided to catch all this discharges and then routed to a safe points for any possible recovery and final controlled combustion.
Foster Wheeler experience can cover all the aspects of the design of these systems.
Evaluation of relief loads trough simple steady state analysis up to more sophisticated dynamic simulation modelling to appraise the relief loads versus timing is the starting point, then detailed hydraulic calculation are performed to size the collecting headers and finally the flare stack. Capabilities in the flare stack design include also the evaluation of flare radiation levels.

Fire fighting system is a critical system in any industrial complex, in fact to the adequacy of this system is demanded the protection from dangerous events.
The available protection systems are adapted to the type of protection to be performed; a fire fighting protection procedure foresees the accident detection with the risk evaluation and then the action from firemen. The alerting is normally made by adequate detection system which characteristics are defined as a function of the type of risk foreseen (flame detectors, heat detectors, smoke detectors, etc….).
The fire figthing action can be made through either fixed or mobile equipment, through different fighting agent like water, powder, chemicals and through either fighting action or protection. The fire fighting system design includes the analysis of the possible risks/accident and the establishment of the fire protection philosophy and consequent specification of the equipment required.

We offer a full refinery planning service from initial market analysis and feasibility studies to the provision of an overall refinery ‘Master Plan’
Since 1995 our experienced consultants have completed over 35 investment studies and 15 separate technology evaluations for refinery revamps, upgrades, grassroots plants and petrochemical integrations. We can provide access to leading technologies, either as licensor for our own technology or via our close links with other licensors.

Hydrogen is one of the most important chemicals that are used in a Refinery. Hydrogen is produced from certain units like reforming units and used in several different units with different scope; hydrotreaters and hydrocrackers are the most important consumers. Furthermore hydrogen is an energy vector and can be burned to generate energy (either thermic or electric).
Foster Wheeler is a leading company in designing hydrogen production units both from steam reforming and gasification. Foster Wheeler is in the best position to evaluate hydrogen refinery management; evaluation of sources and of the users including the requested quality are key issues in the definition of the refinery hydrogen system and Foster Wheeler have the experience to guide their Clients in the evaluation and optimization of their systems.

Dynamic simulation is a very sophisticated tool necessary to evaluate the behaviours of units when transient from one steady state to another is important for design purposes. Foster Wheeler has capabilities and tools to simulate process units, utilities and offsites.
A typical example is when a safety relief from a safety valves needs to be evaluated in order to determine the effective pressure increase in the protected systems and timing, and to calculate the adequacy of the relief system and downstream piping. More, the simultaneity of discharges is evaluated to verify if the relieving fluids should be added to calculate the downstream systems.
Another example is when a complex control system is studied and the reaction times are different from different parts of the controlled equipment; in this case dynamic simulation is a very profitable tools that, once the control system is defined and the plant erected, an indicate to the operators the instrumentation parameters to be used in order to simplify the commissioning and start up period.
Dynamic simulation is also the first conceptual brick for the construction of the software necessary to implement the operators training tools.

The petrochemical, oil and gas process industries always have searched for ways to operate safely and efficiently. Safety reviews and studies are carried out, in compliance with legislative requirements and internationally recognized safety standards, with the purpose to reduce risk, mitigate consequences and assist in preparing emergency response planning.
The HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) analysis is a systematic and documented procedure which assists in identifying any possible cause of deviation which may lead the process to unstable and unsafe conditions. SIL (Safety Integrity Level) assessment, also carried out in conjunction with HAZOP, through the ranking of the potential consequences and the frequency of the event, allows to define the reliability of the safety instrumented systems (SIS) needed to reduce the risk at the required level.
Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) studies, aiming to identify the representative failure cases, assess the possible consequences and predict the frequency of the events are developed based on the analysis of historical records and use of specialized modelling tools.