How to conduct a “sulfur balance” for an oil refinery?
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I would like to ask everyone how to perform a \"sulfur balance\" calculation for an oil refinery? Could the approach be as follows: starting with the crude oil that enters the plant, analyze its sulfur content and calculate the total sulfur content upon arrival? ； Then analyze the sulfur content in refined oil and other products leaving the factory ； Then balance it out. However, when doing such calculations frequently, the differences between the results can be quite large. Therefore, I would like to ask if there is a more standard method for performing sulfur balance calculations? Similarly, what about conducting a salt balance? What about nitrogen balance? I earnestly ask all experts for their guidance! !
It’s impossible to achieve balance; different materials require different analysis methods, which results in significant errors. The sulfur content in crude oil is not constant, and there is a time delay when the products from atmospheric and vacuum distillation units reach downstream facilities, which also leads to errors. Even within the same facility, sampling errors can occur due to such time delays. Sulfur balance can only be approximated; if balance cannot be achieved, it should be considered a loss
I’m aware of these principles as well; since sulfur exists in many forms within crude oil and various petroleum products, it’s not possible to conduct a balance calculation for sulfur alone, and analysis can only be done in the form of sulfides. I just want to know what principles should be used as a basis if conducting sulfur balance work The calculations and analyses are carried out entirely based on mass balance, that is, mass balance is established at the inlet and outlet of the refinery (which results in an error of almost over one-third) ； Are more precise methods still needed?
We are facing the same problem as well.
Achieving a proper sulfur balance is indeed not an easy task, but it is by no means impossible. First of all, when it was designed initially, the main design office should have established a sulfur balance, so the relevant calculations should be based on this. I would like to remind the original poster that the sulfur entering can be calculated based on the sulfur content in crude oil, but regarding the sulfur that exits, apart from the sulfur recovered by sulfur recovery units and various oils carried along as mentioned earlier, have you considered the sulfur in fuel oil and fuel gas, as well as the sulfur emitted in the catalytic flue gases?
It’s not easy to establish a sulfur balance, but it should be possible if you know exactly the sulfur content of various substances. When performing this balance, one must consider not only the sulfur in the main raw materials and products but also the sulfur contained in other materials such as coal, as well as in other products like flue gas, slag, and substances produced after desulfurization. By establishing a balance across the entire process flow diagram, it should be possible to achieve this goal. It’s also important to note that different materials may use different methods for expressing their sulfur content, so it’s necessary to standardize these values using a common benchmark during calculations
This is a sulfur balance sheet for an annual processing capacity of 10 million tons; I hope it will be helpful to you. Serial Number Oil Product Name Quantity (10,000 tons) Sulfur Content (ppm) Total Sulfur Content (10,000 tons) Inflow 1 Light Sand Oil 688 21,100 14.5168 2 Medium Sand Oil 150 26,500 3.975 3 Low-Sulfur Oil 162 1,000 0.162 Subtotal 1,000 18.6538 Outflow 1 Liquefied Gas 22.342 200 0.0045 2 Naphtha 79.406 565 0.0449 3 Gasoline 215.159 RON95: 85.925 36.236 0.0031; RON90: 129.234 131.6291 0.0170 4 Kerosene 174.136 30 0.0052 5 Diesel 362.150 Regular Diesel: 230.323 181.6294 0.0418; Grade 3 Diesel: 131.827 30 0.0040 6 Polypropylene 12.172 7 Fuel Oil 7.856 10,000 0.0786 8 Bituminous Coal 13.446 3,000 0.4034 9 Asphalt 30 60,000 1.80000 10 Sulfur 15.9040 11 Emission Losses 0.3473 Subtotal 18.6538 Last edited by Clauspolunit on 2009-4-10 16:53]