Linear programming-based approach to scheduling of crude oil operations in refinery for energy efficiency optimization

• Main Authors: Li, Zhiwu, Wu, Naiqi
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2018
• Subjects: BLASTING; CALCULATING; COMPUTING; CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; CONTROLLING; COUNTING; DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FORADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORYOR FORECASTING PURPOSES; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; HEATING; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS ORELEMENTS; PHYSICS; POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS; REGULATING; SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE,COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTINGPURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; WEAPONS

For sustainable development, a refinery is required to save energy as much as possible so as to reduce the emission of greenhouse gas. In crude oil operations, oil transportation from storage tanks to charging tanks via a pipeline consumes a large portion of energy. It is vitally important to minimize energy consumption for this process. Since the oil flow resistance is proportional to the square of oil flow rate, the relation between energy efficiency and flow rate is nonlinear, which makes the problem complicated. The present invention addresses this important issue by formulating a linear programming model for the considered problem such that it can be efficiently solved. A real-world industrial case study is used to demonstrate the applications and significance of the proposed method.