How to Streamline the Activities in a Refinery and Enhance Productivity?

Refinery owners have to take care of several aspects to run a refinery business in a successful way. Many things need to be combined properly to streamline the activities of a refinery. It is not an easy task. If something goes wrong, the productivity of the business suffers. When it comes to blending, refineries make use of different procedures including gasoline blending, bunker blending and diesel blending as well.  Blending economic performance assessment is another process that deserves attention. How to take care of all these aspects and keep the productivity of a refinery at a higher level?

Get best advice and guidance from trusted blending advisory services

Best blending advisory services offer timely guidance advice on blending including ON and RVP giveaway, purchasing suitable components, RIN headaches, planning and scheduling giveaway as well. The blending process needs to be automated in an efficient way and it can only be done under the supervision of a reliable advisory service. When you make efforts to identify a blending company, you have to make sure that it has a good reputation and track record. Wrong advice and solutions can make things chaotic and this situation leads to irreparable losses.   

Making use of the amazing benefits of in-line blenders

Blending process needs to be performed in a productive way and it should be done using the most effective technology. You can find several oil terminals and refineriesblending components in a traditional way even today. They sequentially pump to a tank with the help of batch blending. This method of approach creates high quantities of property giveaway and it creates a crippling effect on the inventory and storage tank. The final outcome offers great disappointment with an off-spec non sellable product. This process takes a lot of time and the blending process may get extended to more than one day along with many other side effects.A renowned Gasoline  blending consultant always recommends in-line blending solutions to address all complexities involved with conventional blending. Blending time can be shortened by half with it and property giveaway comes down to really smaller levels. Other benefits of in-line blending are reduced testing of blend samples, low demurrage charges and high operational efficiency.

Assessment study on the economic performance

Correct study on economic performance is a very vital aspect because it throws light on all shortcomings that go beyond the surface level. When you hire a reliable blending company to perform this study, you can find potential problematic areas that are left unexplored. Best advisory services come up with the recommendations after the study and they also guide you properly while implementing the recommendations.

R/A Refinery Automation Institute is an established and reliable refinery advisory service that offers quality advice and guidance on all issues including sulfur scrubber to reduce SO2 emissions, implementing in-line blending and addressing RVP giveaway. You can hire this service for streamlining the operation of a refinery and enhance its productivity in the best possible way. R/A Refinery institute has been offering top quality solutions for a wide range of refineries for the past 25 years with immense success.   

For more info : - bunker fuel trading

What are the Benefits that Eminent Blending Design Services Guarantee?

Refineries have to seek the help of trusted blending design companies to streamline their operations and stay productive in all areas. Best gasoline blending companies offer the best advice and right solutions to prevent all pitfalls and make the business profitable. Many refineries are making use of in-line blending instead of traditional methods because of high effectiveness. Experienced blending consultants are capable enough to offer effective solutions that deliver results. Refinery owners can expect the best recipe for their enterprises when they hire eminent advisory services. There are several things that people should know about refinery operation. Effective solutions must be put in place to squeeze giveaway on viscosity and vapor pressure.

Make efforts to put into practice the best solutions recommended by eminent advisors

Experienced consultants offer guidance on all important aspects including installing sulfur scrubber to lower the SO2 omission. If refinery people don’t know how to address the RVP and ON-giveaway; issues may come up one after another in the long run. Professional expertise needs to be sought to address these types of issues. It is always advisable to hire a trusted blending consulting service. Component purchase causes several confusions in the minds of people. Best blending companies help you arrive at the best decision and the entire process of selecting the suitable components becomes easy.

Top advisory services make refineries highly productive

Apart from offering the right advice, eminent experts also help refineries implement their recommendations in an effective manner. They even perform the installation of in-line blenders and many other processes in an effective way. All bunker fuel related issues can be solved with these professionals. There are many people worried about blending automation and according to them, it is a complex task. Best professionals solve all these issues in a systematic and scientific manner and their solutions come with performance guarantee. Reputed companies assess blending economic performance in a detailed manner. There is no need to worry about activities getting interrupted while conducting this assessment.

Top advisory services offer blending courses

Many people are searching for the blending courses? Top gasoline and bunker blending companies provide various types of blending design courses. Most suitable one can be selected based on your needs and preferences. Customized courses are available and you can also find in-house as well as public courses. Best services make sure that the course materials are up-to-date and the learning process becomes highly effective.  

When you choose a blending design service, you have to consider a good number of aspects. First of all, you need to check the reputation and credibility of different companies. If a company has a good track record, you can easily come to the conclusion that it offers quality services to their customers. The expenses involved with hiring the blending company need to be analyzed as well. Refinery Automation Institute is a very popular blending design company in New Jersey and it offers highly relevant and beneficial advisory services for a wide range of refineries all around the world.

For more info : - Gasoline Blending Companies

Important Things to Know to Make a Refinery Business Profitable

Refineries should make genuine efforts to streamline their activities so that overall efficiency stays at optimal levels. Top refineries conduct RVP giveaway survey to have clear cut idea about the giveaway status. Every refinery should compare this status with top refineries to find out where they actually stand. The survey needs to be conducted using a reputed bunker, diesel and gasoline blending consultant because trusted consultants also offer an in depth report about the giveaway condition and steps to improve.

Best solutions for all RIN issues

Many refineries keep on paying RIN fines every day. This situation makes things really frustrating. You can definitely consider selecting bio-fuels like renewable diesel to reduce the fines and prevent RIN giveaway. Gasoline export is another good option for refineries for bypassing the RIN fine completely. Top diesel, gasoline and bunker blending consultants analyze the existing condition comprehensively and they suggest the best method to stop the RIN giveaway and fines. You can find the best solutions for all RIN issues with the help of a reputable consultant.

Systematic approach to deliver most suitable solutions

Various studies show that around 70% of refineries have to deal with physical octane and RVP giveaway. It is a very serious economic issue that should be addressed immediately. You have to find about whether your methods for property measurement is correct. It must also be noted that whether you are using the most accurate instruments to lower the error. The reliability of the data must be checked. Another important aspect that needs your attention is performance of blend control systems. You should explore the possibility of using an in-line blender as well. If you hire best blending advisory services, you can find out all issues with 100% precision.  Root cause analysis is done in a responsible way and all critical points are analyzed to lower the giveaway.   

Proper analysis, troubleshooting and remedial steps

Another common issue that many refineries have to deal with is blendrecipe giveaway. The gap between the actual and planned creates serious headache. Whenever a refinery has problems that prevent meeting the specifications, it has to seek the help of a diesel, bunker and gasoline blending design consultant. After having analyzed all steps, top consultants troubleshoot the problems and come up with the best solutions. They perform the installation of in-line blender with utmost accuracy and their help can be sought for buying the right components. You can even approach them for attending blending courses. The fact of the matter is that reliable consultants teach you how to make every batch profitable and make large amounts of money continuously with a refinery.

R/A Refinery Automation Institute LLC is a well-known and dependable blending advisory service provider with a big reputation. This company analyzes the underlying issues by conduction an in depth study and put forward the most feasible solutions for each client. You can also attend highly useful blending courses to become a master technician. If you hire this company, you can implement the best processes and practices using advanced components.  

For more info : - Bunker Blending

What is Blending?

Lee E. Curcio

Refinery Automation Institute, LLC

Morristown, NJ USA

No day passes without publications, the blogosphere, and pundits wringing their hands over the concept of fuel Blending.

In the current low priced crude oil market, the fuel blending business gives the blenders a very competitive edge that grows day by day, attracting new customers and potential new producers intrigued by the possibility of making “easy” money.

USA has more than 330 Oil terminals spread across the country, moving more than 2 billion gallons of oil products and “smart” blending adding potentially another $300 to $400 millions in profits. This cash flow tempts people to think it’s a great “get rich quick” scheme for easy cash, encouraging them to ask banks for money to open a new oil terminal. The expectation is that in a few years they can leave the “slaving for a salary” for suntanning in a tropical paradise with plenty of money.

The real question for prospective facility owners pondering to themselves when undertaking this venture should be WHAT IS BLENDING? This question is pondered obviously after the bank already approved the mortgage for a new oil terminal, maybe with a blending facility, so we have the “blind leading the blind” and subsequent disappointment. The motto seems to be “learning after building”, and as we know, we get the Tower of Pisa .

Blending Vs. Cooking

Let’s focus on the answer of the previous question: WHAT IS BLENDING? Blending is like baking a cake or cooking a delicious dish. What you need are the ingredients, and a recipe to decide the amount to pour in a mixing bowl. After mixing you are ready to taste it and decide whether to adjust the taste by putting more of an ingredient or not.

Since the US is a huge daily “drinker” of gasoline (9 million BPD) with over 300 million cars on the roads, the gasoline blending business is huge, worth over $12 trillions/year.

Keeping the analogy with cooking or baking, the gasoline “cooking” (blending) “ingredients” are called Blend Components or Blendstocks.

In the same way as cooking, we need a recipe to determine the right amount of each ingredient to put in a blend. We can’t afford to make any mistake in our “cooking”, such as pouring more salt or less butter or adding too many eggs, since the result might be inedible. A master chef with the delicate palate could be upset or happy and you could win a cooking contest or not. In contrast, a master blender’s product has to run a car without damaging it or causing undue pollution.

With blending, we are more or less in the same situation, if we add more alkylate or less reformate the quality of the final product may not meet the final specs. This because in the US in order to make sellable gasoline we are obliged to respect regulations, i.e. the octane number has to be more than 87 or the vapor pressure can’t be more than 7 psi (summer), and we have over 28 gasoline specs to meet. This pushes the producers to be very careful on how the blend needs to be made, otherwise isn’t possible to sell the final product and make money of course.

Generally in order to make gasoline which has upward of 28 specifications that need to be met simultaneously, we can have a simple blend recipe with 3 components , or conventional gasolines or complex recipes with about 10 to 20 components for reformulated gasolines..

Keeping the analogy with cooking, if for example the final recipe needs to have 20 grams of fat and 45 grams of carbs, we have to estimate which blend components to blend, i.e. butter (butter-1, butter-2, butter-3) and the number of eggs, and the quantity to meet the final specs.

For example if we choose the butter-1 and 1 egg, we can meet the 20 grams of fat specs of the recipe but we may not meet the amount of carbs (45 grams). On the other way if we choose the butter-1 and 3 eggs we can meet the carbs spec (45) but we may exceed the fat spec (20 grams).

You can understand how beautiful and complicated the blending world is, especially if you have 28+ specs and 4 components.

Arithmetic of Blending

So far we just took into account the final recipe constraints (specs) and the number of blend components (ingredients). But Blending is the arithmetic of properties and prices.

We need to use in blends the cheapest components that allow us to meet specs, because the final goal here is to make money. If the butter-1 is good in terms of properties, may not be good in terms of prices because it’s too expensive.

The basic arithmetic of blending is:

If we use the previous equation, we can go over an “easy” example to calculate the final gasoline blend Octane number and its price:

The goal in the example is to make a 95 RON and to calculate the final blend price.

The example shows how we need to “play” with the recipe, i.e. changing the blend component quantities to meet the final spec on the research octane number (95).

With the same blend equation we can calculate also the prices and understand if there is a profit or not.

The example is applied to one property (Research Octane Number) and uses a linear approximation [1].  The calculation becomes quite complex when we do the same “iteration” for the remaining other 28+ properties.

With Blending we must consider:

· Ingredients (blend components and their properties)

· Recipe (what quantity of each component to blend)

· Inventory (what happens if I need 3 eggs but I have one? Can I still make a blend?)

· Prices (try to make the cheapest blend to have the highest profit)

· Blend sample and analysis (does it meet the final specs? Yes, no? )

· Correcting the blend (If doesn’t meet the final spec, we need to adjust it, maybe adding more butter).

Generally all these factors are taken into account using a special piece of blending calculation software called  a “blend optimizer” [2] that does the calculation for us and selects the most profitable blend recipe.

The previous figure shows the final results of a gasoline blend optimization. In the example we have 4 components (ingredients), we can see the recipe, the final blend specs (final cake or dish), and the profit. The chef makes the cake to sell it, same is for an owner of an oil terminal. Profit is the answer.

Conclusion

Why there is so much interest In Blending?

Because of the enormous economic potential of blending.

With the current oil glut and component availability, buying cheap components around the world and blending them together can potentially give a great profit, even with the transportation costs and contango premiums.

Oil terminals owners, new or old, and with or without experience are in this business to increase profits with minimum effort, and this is where blending comes in.

You need:

· a small facility with 3-4 components; many of them using “anchor” components, i.e. light naphtha, cat gas, and butane because they are cheap, widely available, and have great blending properties to make the final blend.

· blending software that helps you achieve the goal with low effort

· A few million dollars to invest, with a break even in a couple of months

References

[1] Barsamian, A., Curcio, L.E., Gasoline Blend Optimization via Linear & Non-Linear Programming Optimizers”, April,2016 (http://refautom.com/NewsDB/Gasoline%20Blend%20Optimization.pdf)

[2] Barsamian, A., Curcio, L.E,.” Use of SmartBlend Gasoliner Blend Optimizer to obtain profitable Gasoline”, August 2017 (http://refautom.com/NewsDB/SMART%20BLEND%20OPTIMIZER.pdf) 

Advantages of Choosing Most Efficient Blending Design Companies

Many refineries are searching for the right advice on diesel, bunker and gasoline blending. Innovative methods like in-line blending offer several advantages over conventional methods. In order to employ the most effective techniques and solutions, you must hire a reliable blending solution consultant. Experienced services have the skills and expertise to come up with the best solutions. They design an effective and dependable recipe for making the blending result oriented. When you hire trusted blending companies, you can learn about the best way of squeezinggiveaway on vapor pressure and viscosity.

Leading consultants offer a broad range of highly reliable solutions

No matter whether you want to use sulfur scrubber for reducing SO2 omissions or you need to understand how to rectify the RVP and ON giveaway, you can depend on the professional expertise a reputable blending design and consulting company. Several refineries are facing many difficulties while buying components. This issue can also be solved with the help of experienced professionals. Best services help you choose the right components in a fast manner. They can also guide you properly on addressing all RIN headaches and planning & scheduling giveaway can also be made systematic.

Prominent benefits of hiring best blending design services and consultant companies

In addition to providing best advice for solving blending giveaway, top blending design companies focus on installing in line blenders with optimal efficiency. Blending automation is a complex task and it should always be left to qualified professionals. They teach you how to follow a step by step process and you can expect performance guarantee with their services. Assessing the blending economic performance becomes hassle free and leading blending design companies perform this task in an uninterrupted way. In other words, renowned consultants do not disturb the daily schedule while performing the economic performance evaluation.

Best courses and most effective methods for making money with blending

Do you want to study blending course? Established advisory services conduct diesel, bunker and gasoline blending design courses and you can choose from different options like public, in-house and customized courses. You can also buy up-to-date course materials and highly useful exercises are provided to make the learning extremely effective.  In order to make the most suitable batch, you will be taught how to select the right components. Eventually, blending becomes a highly profitable activity.

Several aspects must be considered properly while selecting a blending design and advisory service provider. The quality of services should always be the topmost priority for you. The price a blending company charges is also a very important aspect. If you want to buy the best blending design and consultancy solutions, you can rely on Refinery Automation Institute, New Jersey. You can hire their valuable services at the most competitive prices available. This company has been offering their services for more than 25 years and it delivers the most reliable blending advice. Blending automation feasibilitystudies are performed to deliver optimal results and you can design in-line blenders in a comfortable way under their guidance.

Benefits of In-Line Blenders Compared to Conventional Sequential Blending

The conventional practice of gasoline blending causes great inconvenience these days. You can find several refineries and oil terminals blending components with the help of a batch blending. It is being done by sequential pumping to a tank. What does it mean? It means that a specific number of components from blend component tanks are pumped in a sequential manner to a final product tank. This type of blending has several disadvantages.    

Major disadvantages of conventional sequential blending

This method of approach leads to increased amount of blending giveaway. In addition to creating high quantities of property giveaway, inventory storage tank get immobilized. This is a very serious disadvantage. Another difficulty is the generation of off-spec non sellable product. The conventional blending can also be described as a lengthy process and it consumes a lot of time. In fact, the blending process may get extended to more than one day. All these disadvantages create a combined negative effect to make sequential blending problematic and inconvenient.    

What is the best alternative?

The best way to address the issues of conventional blending is in-line blending. Several studies show that numerous benefits can be linked with in-line blending methods. The method of sequentially pumping components to a blend tank falls short in ways compared to inline blending. In-line gasoline blending design is capable to lowering the time consumed for blending by 50% which in turn results in the freeing of tanks for other important tasks. You need only reduced amount of inventory when you depend on in-line blending. You don’t have to bother about high octane and vapor pressure property giveaway as well. Another prominent advantage of in-line blending is that it minimizes the costs associated with demurrage and there are no re-blends or off-specifications.  Last but not the least; this type of blending keeps the testing of blend samples at minimal levels.

What do best blending design companies offer?

Top blending services offer a blender that is pre-wired, turnkey blender with a modular drop-In place. They make everything uncomplicated and a concrete pad for the skid needs to be prepared by the user. Installation of top quality components such as spectroscopic multi-properties analyzer, flowmeters and RVP analyzers make the entire process smooth, accurate and fast. Once they are installed, you can start using them for a very long period of time. You can seek the guidance of renowned blending companies to install a sulfur scrubber for reducing SO2 emission. Performance guarantee is ensured by following all the necessary steps and leading companies provide startup assistance after installation. Other services offered by well established refinery automation and blending design companies are training for operator and planner, Full technology transfer to the client, and deigning service and assistance for getting EPA waiver.  

Refinery Automation Institute is a well established and credible blending designer and consultant service provider.  This company has been serving various clients for the past 25 years with their unique and innovative in-line blender design solutions for bunker, diesel and gasoline all around the world.

For more info:- Gasoline Blending Consultant

Learn about Best Blending Solution Concepts

What makes hiring a highly reputed diesel, gasoline and bunker blending company inevitable? Many reasons are there to make the process of identifying an established blending consultant really important. If you want the best blendstock brokering guidance, you have to identify the most reliable companies and advisory services. Offering blending advice involves a lot of technical expertise. Best service providers also offer blending economic assessment and performance study to make the operation result oriented and optimized.

Most beneficial blendstock brokering services

Top gasoline blending companies always believe that blending is the arithmetic of properties and prices. They offer the best assistance and guidance at every stage to purchase the most suitable components so that most profitable batches can be made. This approach makes their truly valuable and beneficial as well. Renowned blending companies have networks worldwide and they utilize these connections to deliver maximum benefits for their clients. Best companies help you identify the best deals while fulfilling all the specifications irrespective of the geographical location of the client.

Blendstock components price is weakness of several people  

For estimating a blendstock price, it is necessary to have subscription to services such as Argus, Platts or Opis. It is an extremely daunting task to identify the blend component price with the properties. What is the most effective step you need to take when you are confronted with such a situation? Leading gasoline design blending and advisory companies put forward best method for predicting blendstock component prices. Since these companies have collaborations and partnerships with most reputed trading companies all around the world, you can expect the best deals under their guidance.

High quality diesel and gasoline blending courses that cover highly relevant topics         

In addition to offering best blending advice and solutions including design in line blenders and sulfur scrubber installations, trustworthy service providers provide diesel and gasoline blending courses for gasoline traders/blenders, sales representatives, blending engineers, middle and senior managers, blend schedulers, planning and economic engineers, inspectors and other similar professionals. The courses offered teach people how to calculate blend profitability with great accuracy and effectiveness. Participants can also get better idea about how to select the best components. High quality courses make people familiarize with the complicated RIN world and they come to know how to use smart blend optimizer in the best possible way. If you visit the website of a reliable blending course provider, you can learn about the topics in a detailed manner. High quality materials and exercises make everything clear to every participant.

If you are looking for the best blending advice, you can rely on Refinery Automation Institute. This company also offers highly beneficial assessment and performance study, design in line blenders, blending brokerage and blending training courses for clients and professionals all around the world. Accomplished professionals of this company are fully dedicated to offering the best solutions and streamline the operations in a perfect way. Their assistance and guidance are offered at every stage and performance guarantee becomes a reality with this service provider.