What is the outlook for lubricant-type refineries?

In my opinion, refineries that produce lubricating oils have a promising future. At least, these are environmental-friendly projects that align with societal trends and can thus receive policy support. Most importantly, there aren’t many such refineries across the country at present; but once people see the good prospects, more of them will likely get involved in this field!

There are currently few large-scale lubricant-type refineries (such as Lanxi Petrochemical and Dalian Petrochemical), and their technology is relatively backward with a mix of old and new facilities； High-grade lubricants do not use base oils of the same quality as those produced by that factory; they are usually formulated from high-quality imported base oils along with the factory’s own base oils. The lubricant industry was quite prosperous in the late 1990s to around 2005, but it has been in a downturn in recent years. In my opinion, the prospects for refineries that produce lubricants are very good in the coming years, for the following reasons: 1. Currently, the traditional production methods for lubricants are still widely used in China ； Relatively backward technology (advanced large-scale hydrogenation processes seem to exist only in a few units with relatively low processing capacities); a mix of old and new facilities ； There is no long-term guarantee for the stability of the quality of lubricant base oils ； 2. High-grade lubricant base oils can be produced, but they are quite different from those used abroad for high-grade lubricants ； 3. Few manufacturers are capable of producing special military lubricants ； 4. The oil extracted in lubricant production (previously considered waste oil and now referred to as filler oil) has a very high value for reuse in recent years, yielding substantial profits ； (Lubricant base oil is also known as refined oil.) 5. The lubricant production process is mature, the safety factor of the facilities is high, the overall energy consumption is low, and the product utilization rate is high ；

Does anyone have instructions for a lubricant refinery?

In China, the production of base oils relies primarily on physical separation processes, utilizing units such as distillation, solvent refining, solvent dewaxing, and post-refining treatments to produce base oils. This traditional production method is more suitable for producing heavy, single-stage lubricants. Base oils are characterized by high viscosity and a not-so-high viscosity index; high-quality paraffin-based crude oils can be used to produce HVI products, while intermediate-base crude oils can only be used to produce MVI products. However, more than two decades ago, the international community had already developed and improved catalytic hydrogenation processes for producing base oils. These processes are not restricted by the type of raw materials used; they can process lower-quality raw materials more effectively and produce products with higher performance. There is still a limited amount of base oil produced in China through hydrogenation processes; at present, the capacity for producing lubricant base oils is only around 300,000 tons per year. 　　In the structure of base oils, those with a HVI value above a certain threshold account for only about 63%, while MVI-based products make up over 25%. Such a product structure does not meet the requirements for the upgrading of oil products. 　　In terms of the demand for base oils, China continues to see a growth rate of around 4% per year. Currently, lubricant manufacturers mainly require base oils of heavy grades, with little demand for lighter grades of lubricants; this reflects a market dominated by high-viscosity single-grade lubricant products. However, as the market expands and quality improves, especially with the increasing demand for multi-grade engine oils, the demand for base oils will shift from heavier grades to lighter grades. 　　From the perspective of production and supply, some factories are improving the quality of base oils through certain hydrogenation processes. The ability to produce base oils of various grades and performance characteristics is key to considering and determining the processing route. It is particularly important to ensure that refineries have the flexibility to shift from producing heavy-grade products in the short term to producing light-grade products as planned.

What combustion equipment is available in lubricant refineries, and are there systems for waste heat recovery and exhaust gas treatment?