A refinery’s journey to energy efficiency
Identifying a series of areas for improvement transformed the energy
performance of a refinery with a 60-year history
ZAFER KARATAS and SENA TURKOGLU
Tüpraş Batman Refinery
T
he city of Batman is at the
centre of a region of
Turkey where 72% of
state crude production takes
place. Located in the south east
of Turkey, Batman refinery is
one of four refineries of
Turkish Petroleum Refineries
(Tüpraş). It was commissioned
in 1955 as the first refinery in
Turkey, with a crude oil
processing capacity of 330 000
t/y. Following growing
demand in Turkey for crude oil
and its refined products,
another crude processing unit
was commissioned in 1972,
taking Batman refinery to its
current processing capacity of
1.1 million t/y. Besides Batman
city itself, the refinery also has
the advantage of being located
near to other domestic sources
in the region, so it was
designed to process 15-22 API
local crude.
The refinery consists of the
following processing units: two
CDUs, a VDU, a naphtha split-
ter, a straight run naphtha
stripper and utilities, including
wastewater treatment, a power
plant and a tank farm with an
oil heating system. Since it
does not have any upgrading
www.digitalrefining.com/article/1001245
units, its configuration is
simple and its Nelson complex-
ity index is 1.83. The refinery
therefore runs as a bitumen
and cut-back production plant.
Intermediate products like
straight run naphtha, kerosene,
gasoil and heavy gasoil are
sent to another Tüpraş refinery,
Kirikkale, for further conver-
sion and processing. Kirikkale’s
final products of gasoil and
gasoline are then returned to
Batman to meet demand in the
city and its surrounding region.
Although the refinery was
originally situated far from any
centres of population, it is now
surrounded by urban develop-
ment. In addition, since the
refinery is 60 years old, energy
efficiency was not considered
an important target in its origi-
nal design. For both of these
reasons, the refinery needs be
sensitive and ready to take
precautions to support the envi-
ronment, with due regard for
emissions and human health.
Revamping of old and ineffi-
cient equipment and systems is
another important issue that
requires the refinery’s attention
with regard to economic perfor-
mance and reliability.
After the handover of Tüpraş
Batman refinery from the
government to Koç Holding in
2006, several projects to
improve energy efficiency and
environmental performance,
including many refinery
revamp projects, were
implemented.
Strategic planning and
implementation
Since the scale and complexity
of the refinery was known, it
was not difficult to figure out
the gap between actual energy
consumption and target
consumption based on a bench-
mark case. Additionally,
preliminary calculations were
made in order to see the poten-
tial for energy savings in the
refinery. These calculations
covered topics such as energy
savings in the heat exchanger
network by setting a delta T
approach; existing process
furnace efficiencies and their
potential savings; comparison
of steam production costs in
different boilers at different
grades; and a comparison of
cogeneration, back pressure
turbine and extractive condens-
ing turbine efficiencies. After
PTQ Q1 2016 1
 Boiler and turbogenerator specifications tor. Additionally, new steam
tracing lines and steam traps
Boilers H-­501 H-­502 H-­503 H-­504 H-­508
were installed for heating the
Design capacity, tons/h 10.5 10.5 10.5 22.62 64 bitumen production lines.
Maximum working capacity, tons/h 5 5 5 15 64 Some of the existing blowing
Steam pressure, psig 420 420 420 420 620
Steam temperature, C 404 404 404 404 404 traps were replaced and other
Efficiency 50 50 50 78 88 leaking traps were repaired. In
Turbogenerators J-­503 J-­504 J-­506
Type Condensing Condensing Back pressure
parallel with AFI-2, implemen-
Design prod. capacity, Mwh 2.5 2.5 5.25 tation of AFI-3 was carried out.
Steam inlet pressure, psig 420 420 620
Efficiency, % (elec. energy prod/steam energy cons) 17 17 96
AFI-3: Review power and steam
generating strategies
Table 1 Specifications for the steam
boilers and turbogenerators in
identification of areas for ment system, including precoat the power plant are shown in
improvement (AFI) and their filters and activated carbon Table 1. Since the boiler tubes
potential savings, a series of filters, in order to remove oil underwent widespread retub-
actions was taken and project and recover flash steam in the ing and plugging in the past,
implementations were set in surface condenser. Moreover, their efficiencies and reliability
motion. instead of raw water, deminer- were low. Boiler H-504 did not
alised water was used in the have the capacity for required
AFI-1: Increase condensate system as a cooling utility. In electricity production, therefore
recovery this way, the temperature was two of boilers H-501, H-502,
Steam leaks were observed increased from 20°C to 67°C H-503 were run together with
everywhere in the plant. Most before the existing dearator in H-504 in order to supply steam
of the traps were leaking and the power plant, and steam demand for the turbogenerator
at many points in the steam consumption in the dearator and so sustain operational reli-
network there were no traps. A decreased by 55% as a ability. The most efficient
condensate return system was consequence. boiler, H-508, was run for
not operated. Estimations With the increased conden- process heating purposes at 13
based on some of the leaks sate recovery ratio, the barg and 250°C.
gave a loss of >100 kg/h each. utilisation capacity of the The situation for the
In order to enhance the overall demineralisation plant was turbogenerators was similar:
efficiency of the refinery and reduced to 50% of its base their efficiencies were very low
increase steam and condensate capacity, resulting in 10 540 and their electricity unit
recovery, a project team was Gcal/y of energy saving. production costs (depending
established with the support of on the load) were very high, in
all refinery staff. AFI-2: Reduce steam leaks and the region of 4-8 times that of
Within the scope of the consumption the grid, except for back pres-
project, 300 traps were replaced As AFI-1 indicates, prevention sure production. However, the
and many condensate collec- of steam leaks caused by back pressure turbogenerator
tors, 2000 metres of carbon instrumentation tracing lines was designed by taking into
steel pipe, 5000 metres of insu- vents, direct open heating consideration a thermo-cata-
lation material, a condensate vents and steam traps blowing lytic cracking unit that was
flash drum and a condensate to atmosphere was carried out dismantled in 2007, hence its
pump were installed. The main continuously between the years design capacity was too big
condensate collecting lines 2006-2011 across the site. In and this resulted in a case of
were divided into two compo- other words, instrumentation unbalance in steam-electricity
nents for clean and oily tracing line vents were production.
condensate. Oily condensate collected in a separate flash Since there were boiler tubes
was routed to a newly installed drum and the produced flash failures every 3-4 months, the
condensate recovery and treat- steam was used in the deara- first action for improvement

2 PTQ Q1 2016 www.digitalrefining.com/article/1001245

 Process steam saving

Crude processing, Weight average Process steam, Process steam, Steam reduction, Ton steam/ Saving,
tons/year boiler efficiency, % tons/year tons/h % ton crude %
2006 756000 82 264000 30 0.35
2011 946000 86 182000 21 31 0.19 45

Saving (based on reduction) Gcal/year 75149 =((264*(2939-89)/4.184))/0.82-((182*(2939-89)/4.184))/0.86

Saving (based on crude) Gcal/year 130264 =((((264*(2939-89)/4.184))/0.82)/756-(((182*(2939-89)/4.184))/0.86)/946)*946

Table 2

made was to improve the qual-
ity of demineralised water in
order to reduce failures, and to
increase the reliability and effi-
ciencies of the boilers. As a
result, the number of online
boilers was decreased subse-
quently from four to one and
H-508 began to be employed
for both turbogeneration and
process heating by using the
existing let-down station. With
the combined effects of
AFI-1/2/3 in place, the result-
ing process steam and energy
consumption figures are shown
in Table 2.
As a result, between 2006
and 2011, process steam
consumption was reduced
from 264 000 t/y to 182 000
t/y. This means that over a
period of five years there was a
31% reduction in total process
steam consumption, or a 45%
saving in steam per tonne of
crude processed, resulting in
75 000 Gcal/y of energy saving
based on total annual process
steam consumption, and
130 000 Gcal/year of energy
saving based on tonnes of
crude processed.
When it came to electricity
production, import from the
grid was maximised with mini-
mal site production. Later,
electricity production was
stopped completely for reasons
of economy. Additionally, the
standby conditions of the exist-
ing diesel generator were
increased and, by taking the
peak electricity demand of the
refinery into account, one more
diesel generator was installed
in case of emergency and to
provide redundancy. The inef-
ficient J-503/504 condensing
turbogenerators, with just 17%
operating efficiency (based on
electricity produced per unit of
fuel consumed in the boiler),
were stood by as redundant
items but received weekly
maintenance, for instance lubri-
cation of rotors and bearings.
As a result, 53 000 Gcal/year of
energy saving was
accomplished.
AFI-4: Increase process boiler
efficiency
As Table 1 shows, even though
boiler H-508 had the highest
efficiency compared with the
other boilers, its reduced utilisa-
tion capacity (one-third of
design capacity) due to imple-
mentation of these AFIs and
utilisation of the other boilers
for any reason reduced overall
boiler house efficiency.
Furthermore, with the switch-
ing off of the turbogenerators,
the other boilers were switched
off too and this situation
increased corrosion problems
and the number of tubes that
had to be plugged in the boil-
ers. Therefore, by taking recent
refinery steam demand into
consideration, a new process
boiler operating at 30 t/h, 10
barg and 93% thermal efficiency
was installed in 2012. The old
boilers, including H-508, were
switched off and mothballed. In
this way, the refinery’s total
steam demand was supplied
only from the new boiler,
namely H-509. Since all of the
boilers were high pressure boil-
ers they were integrated with
let-down stations in order to
reduce the operating pressure
to 10 barg process steam.
However, boiler H-509 was
directly connected to a 10 barg
steam header without causing
any energy loss in a let-down
station. Comparing all of the
boilers with H-509, 56 000 Gcal/
year of ‘potential’ energy saving
in process steam production
was obtained with this
measure.
AFI-5: Apply variable speed
drive
Throughout the refinery, with
the exception of the boiler’s air
fan and feed water pump,
there were no applications of
variable speed drives on rotat-
ing equipment. Generally,
equipment was running at 50
Hz and process control was
performed by mechanical
equipment such as valves,
pressure control valves, level
control valves, air dampers,
and so on. A pilot application

www.digitalrefining.com/article/1001245 PTQ Q1 2016 3

 of variable speed drives was
carried out in the power plant
and track loading pump
station, and it was decided that
the energy savings were high
enough for further
development.
Therefore, the implementa-
tion of variable speed drives
was widened to include other
process rotating equipment.
This resulted not only in elec-
trical energy savings; it also
provided enhanced process
control. The result of introduc-
ing variable speed drives,
together with some of the posi-
tive gains from applying other
AFIs in the refinery, was a
reduction in electricity
consumption by 25% (based on
tonnes of crude processed) in
the period 2007-2011, equiva-
lent to 4300 Gcal/y of energy
savings.
AFI-6: Heat integration in
process units
In the 1960s, energy conserva-
tion was a relatively low-level
economic issue. Therefore,
decisions on development in
the refinery mostly depended
on investment cost rather than
energy efficiency. In a 60-year-
old refinery it was easy to see
that the preheat trains of the
crude units were extremely
poor with regard to heat recov-
ery and heat integration. In
other words, there were a lot of
run-down coolers utilising
cooling water. Although Plant
1100 CDU, installed in 1972,
was better than Plant 100,
installed in 1954, with respect
to heat integration, there was
still a lot to do to improve the
situation by means of heat
integration.
After a test run in the CDUs,
the energy gap and the best
4 PTQ Q1 2016
options for a heat integration
network were identified using
KBC SuperTarget software.
Then a TEMA data sheet was
generated and equipment
design was carried out. For the
base case, in Plant 100 CDU
there was no desalter/feed
water effluent exchanger, and
before the desalter there was
only one steam/crude
exchanger and one pumpa-
round exchanger. In Plant 1100
CDU, the arrangement was the
same except for two additional
bitumen/crude exchangers
before the desalter.
Nevertheless, SuperTarget’s
calculations showed substantial
savings potential in Plant 1100.
Within the scope of the
project, in Plant 100 two
exchangers (crude/kero,
crude/diesel) were installed
before the desalter, as well as
one desalter effluent water/
water exchanger. In plant 1100,
two exchangers (crude/kero,
crude/diesel) were installed
before the desalter, along with
two exchangers (crude/bitu-
men, crude/diesel) and one
desalter effluent water/water
exchanger after the desalter.
The outcome was 44 850
Gcal/y of energy savings.
Nevertheless, there is some
margin left for site-wide heat
integration. Therefore, the plan
is to apply heat integration in
the other process units as well
as in the CDUs.
AFI-7: Revamp of the process
furnaces
F-101 crude furnace was
designed in 1954 with a ther-
mal efficiency of 50-55%, while
F-1101 crude furnace was
designed in 1972 with a ther-
mal efficiency of 60-65%,
depending on process operat-
ing conditions. Finally, F-1201
naphtha splitter furnace,
designed in 1966, had a ther-
mal efficiency of 55%. In 2011,
F-101 furnace was renewed
completely with a thermal
efficiency of 88%. The saving is
23 000 Gcal/y.
With projects ongoing for the
F-1101 and F-1201 furnaces,
35 000 Gcal/year of additional
energy savings will be
achieved in 2017.
AFI-8: Recover overhead gas
from the condenser
Naphtha splitter and CDU
overhead gases were connected
directly to the flare line. In
other words, although there
was a fuel gas system for
consumption in the furnace,
the condenser top pressure
control valves were open to
flare in order to control pres-
sure in the distillation columns.
By applying pressure split
control systems in the condens-
ers, all condenser fuel gases
were routed to the fuel gas
system, although the flare
connection remained active in
case of emergency. With this
implementation, 35 000 Gcal/y
was saved.
Conclusion
Tüpraş Batman refinery was
designed between 1950 and
1970 when energy conservation
was a relatively simple issue.
However, the areas for
improvement described here
have been implemented
successfully between 2006 to
the present. The refinery now
has an energy intensity index
of 77. As well as these AFIs,
many quick-win enhancement
projects have been imple-
mented to raise the site’s
performance in technology,
www.digitalrefining.com/article/1001245
energy efficiency, environment,
health, reliability, recycling,
greenhouse gas emissions,
hydrocarbon losses and safety.
In parallel with the substantial
energy savings obtained from
implementation of these
projects, other gains to note
include reductions in CO2
emissions and raw water utili-
sation to 50 % and 70%
respectively per tonne of crude
processed.
In refining, some areas for
savings are volatile – for
instance steam consumption,
condensate recovery, heat insu-
lation and water consumption
– unless constant attention is
www.digitalrefining.com/article/1001245
paid to performance. Therefore, Sena Turkoglu is a Process Chief Engineer
it is vital to make periodic in the production department of Tüpraş
audits of the overall system Batman refinery, Turkey. Her refining
and to research opportunities experience includes R&D in refining,
energy management and hydrocarbon
for improvement, keep refinery
loss prevention. She holds a BS in
staff up to date about develop-
chemical engineering from Hacettepe
ments, and increase their University Ankara, Turkey.
awareness of the systems for Email: sena.turkoglu@tupras.com.tr
which they are responsible.
Zafer Karatas is a Process Superintendent
in the production department of Tüpraş
Batman refinery, Turkey. His refining LINKS
experience includes R&D in refining,
process engineering in CDUs,VDUs,
More articles from the following
utilities, and energy and environment
categories:
management. He holds a BS in chemical
Energy Efficiency and Energy
engineering from Middle East Technical
Management
University, Ankara, Turkey.
Thermal Technology
Email: zafer.karatas@tupras.com.tr
PTQ Q1 2016 5