What is steam used for in a refinery?

What is steam used for in a refinery?

Steam is also used for process heating, for pumping, and, in some refineries, for generating electric power. The condensate from the condensers and traps of these systems is usually reused as boiler- feed water or as makeup for other water needs.

How does refinery produce steam?

Steam leaves the boilers at the highest pressure required by the process units or electrical generation. The steam pressure is then reduced in turbines that drive process pumps and compressors. Most steam used in the refinery is condensed to water in various types of heat exchangers.

What water is used in oil refinery?

For example, Water for Energy [1] reported that in 2010 about 15% of the world’s total water withdrawals, or 583 billion cubic meters (bcm), was used for energy production. Of that, about 11.3%, or 66 bcm of water, was consumed (the net of volume withdrawn and that returned to its source).

What is MP steam?

Steam flows. Moreover, the IP steam is also produced in the process units. 10.5 bar (medium pressure-MP): Produced in 24 ” 10.5 bar turbines and “letdown” valves, is used in utility stations around de refinery and some specific applications for which low-pressure steam does not have enough temperature.

What is a boiler in a manufacturing plant for?

Industrial Boilers are water-containing vessels that generate heat with the help of a fuel source. It is then transferred to various tubes connecting to the various industrial equipment. The steam energy is used for running the machinery, giving industries a cost-effective way of powering their production.

What is a boiler in oil and gas?

A Boiler is a piece of equipment which acts as a closed vessel to convert the water inside into steam. In order for this to happen chemical energy from a fuel source such as oil or gas is converted into heat by combustion. Boilers are one of the most fundamental systems of a refinery or chemical processing plant.

What do refineries produce?

Refineries can produce high-value products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel from light crude oil with simple distillation. When refineries use simple distillation on denser (heavier) crude oils (with lower API gravity), they produce low-value products.

Where does the steam for a refinery come from?

Steam for refinery use can be generated from one or more of these following sources: fired steam or unfired steam generators, turbine exhaust or extraction. Figure 10-7 shows the general design principles for establishing refinery steam systems.

How are steam headers used in a refinery?

Typically four types of headers are used for steam distribution in a refinery. In refineries with in-house power generation (Figure 10-8), steam is generated at a higher pressure of approximately 1450psig instead of 900psig, which increases the efficiency of power generation and thus lowers per unit cost of power produced.

Why do you use boiler in oil refinery?

Why you use boiler in oil refinery – Answers.com Use of water in a refinery is makeup for boiler feed. The chief uses of steam are for stripping, steam distillation, and vacuum distillation. The steam comes in contact with the products in these …

What kind of gas is used in steam cracking?

Steam cracking plants (Figures 1 and 2) use a variety of feedstocks, for example. ethane, propane and butane from natural gas. naphtha, a mixture of C5 to C10 hydrocarbons, from the distillation of crude oil. gas oil and residues, also from the primary distillation of oil.