Refinery Engineering Integrated Process Modeling and Optimization

The book provides a very solid introduction to integrated refinery process modeling and optimization, using many of the tools and techniques currently employed in modern refineries. In this very competitive global industry, it is critical to minimize overall operating costs while achieving the maximum possible upgrade for each hydrocarbon molecule. This is commonly referred to as "molecule management". All of these decisions and options require complex computer modeling to aid in the selection of feedstocks and product slates, and in troubleshooting and optimizing the performance of individual refinery processes such as distillation units, fluidized catalytic cracking units, continuous catalyst regeneration reforming units, and hydrocracking and hydrotreating units. And eventually, all of these individual parts have to be pulled together in order to feed a linear program (LP) model capable of optimizing the overall refinery. This complex modeling is the subject of the present book by Ai-Fu Chang, Kiran Pashikanti and Y. A. Liu. This text guides senior-level undergraduates, graduate students, and industrial practitioners how to quantitatively model key refinery reaction and fractionation processes.

Ai-Fu Chang received his Ph.D. in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in September, 2011. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from National Taiwan University in 2001. He completed his doctoral dissertation on integrated process modeling and product design of biodiesel manufacturing, and refinery reaction and fractionation systems. The latter was the basis of this textbook. He has worked on several industrial modeling projects, including poly(acrylonitrile-vinyl acetate), hydrocracking, and biodiesel. These projects were collaborative efforts between Virginia Tech, Aspen Technology, and industrial manufacturers. He is currently employed by Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

Kiran Pashikanti was a PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2005, and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech in September, 2011. He has worked on several industrial modeling projects on integrated modeling of reaction and fractionation systems, and of carbon-dioxide capture processes. This textbook grows out of his doctoral dissertation on the predictive modeling of fluid catalytic cracking and catalytic reforming processes. He is currently employed by Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

Prof. Y.A. Liu is the Frank C. Vilbrandt Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He received his B.S. (1967), M.S. (1970), and Ph.D. (1974) degrees from National Taiwan University, Tufts University and Princeton University, respectively. He has published numerous papers and eight books, including four pioneering chemical engineering textbooks on artificial intelligence in chemical engineering (with Thomas E. Quantrille) and on neural networks in bioprocessing and chemical engineering (with D. Richard Baughman). Professor Liu's contributions to chemical engineering teaching and research have been recognized by university, national and international awards and he is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. For his contributions to teaching, research and industrial outreach, he received the Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award from Governor Jim Gilmore in 2000. He also received the National Friendship Award from China's Premier Zhu Ronjie in 2000.