Indian oil corporation limited

An overview

Indian oil corporation limited is an Indian state owned oil and gas company headquartered at Mumbai ,india. It is indias largest commercial enterprise , ranking 125 global 500 list in 2010. Indian oil and its subsidiaries account for a 47% share in the petroleum products market, 34.8% share in refining capacity and 67% downstream sector piuplines capacity of 65.7 milion metric tons per year. Indian oil is the largest and widest network of fuel stations in the country ,numbering about 17606. It has also started auto LPG dispensing stations (ALDS). It supplies indane cooking gas to over 47.5 milion households through a network of 4,990 indian distributors. In addition Indian oil on the fortune

Barauni refinery
Barauni Refinery was built in collaboration with Russia and Romania.Situated 125 kilometres from Patna, it was built with an initial cost of Rs 49.40 crore. Barauni Refinery was commissioned in 1964 with a refining capacity of 1 Million Metric Tonnes per Annum (MMTPA) and it was dedicated to the Nation by the then Union Minister for Petroleum, Prof. Humayun Kabir in January 1965. After de-bottlenecking, revamping and expansion project, it's capacity today is 6 MMTPA. Matching secondary processing facilities such Resid Fluidised Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), Diesel Hydrotreating (DHDT), Sulphur Recovery Unit (SRU) have been added. Theses state of the art eco-friendly technologies have enabled the refinery to produce environment- friendly green fuels complying with international standards. IndianOil is the highest ranked Indiancompany in the prestigious Fortune 'Global 500' listing, having moved up 19 places to the 116th position in 2008. It is also the 18thlargest petroleum company in the world. Awards/Accolades Barauni Refinery achieved safety award in gold category of Green Tech Foundation Safety Award on 04.05.09. BR bagged 2nd prize in Golden Jubilee Indian Oil Album in Aug 09. Barauni Refinery accredited in Oct 09 with prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Awards (3rd prize) for Energy Performance in Refinery for the year 2008-09 by MoPNG. Suggestion Fortnight declared and inaugurated by ED, BR on 09.12.09. Barauni Refinery has been accredited first prize in the refinery sector for National Energy Conservation Awards-2009 by Ministry of Power. Award received by ED, BR on 14.12.09. Barauni Refinery was initially designed to process low sulphur crude oil (sweet crude) of Assam. After establishment of other refineries in the Northeast, Assam crude is unavailable for Barauni . Hence, sweet crude is being sourced from African, South East Asian and Middle East countries like Nigeria, Iraq & Malaysia. The refinery receives crude oil by pipeline from Paradip on the east coast via Haldia. With various revamps and expansion projects at Barauni Refinery, capability for processing high-sulphur crude has been added high-sulphur crude oil (sour crude) is cheaper than low-sulphur crudes thereby increasing not only the

capacity but also the profitability of the refinery. Crude oil is separated into fractions byfractional distillation. The fractions at the top of the fractionating columnhave lower boiling points than the fractions at the bottom. The heavy bottom fractions are often cracked into lighter, more useful products. All of the fractions are processed further in other refining units. Different boiling points allow the hydrocarbons to be separated by distillation. Since the lighter liquid products are in great demand for use in internal combustion engines, a modern refinery will convert heavy hydrocarbons and lighter gaseous elements into these higher value products. Oil can be used in a variety of ways because it contains hydrocarbons of varying molecular masses, forms and lengths such as paraffins, aromatics, naphthenes (or cycloalkanes), alkenes, dienes, and alkynes. While the molecules in crude oil include different atoms such as sulfur and nitrogen, the hydrocarbons are the most common form of molecules, which are molecules of varying lengths and complexity made of hydrogen and carbon atoms, and a small number of oxygen atoms. The differences in the structure of these molecules account for their varying physical and chemical properties, and it is this variety that makes crude oil useful in a broad range of applications. Once separated and purified of any contaminants and impurities, the fuel or lubricant can be sold without further processing. Smaller molecules such as isobutane and propylene or butylenes can be recombined to meet specific octane requirements by processes such as alkylation, or less commonly, dimerization. Octane grade of gasolinecan also be improved by catalytic reforming, which involves removing hydrogen from hydrocarbons producing compounds with higher octane ratings such as aromatics. Intermediate products such as gasoils can even bereprocessed to break a heavy, long-chained oil into a lighter short-chained one, by various forms of cracking such as fluid catalytic cracking, thermal cracking, and hydrocracking. The final step in gasoline production is the blending of fuels with different octane ratings, vapor pressures, and other properties to meet product specifications. HIGHLIGHTS Barauni Refinery achieved highest ever crude processing of 6.2 MMT (outlook) during the year. Previous best was 5.94 MMT during the year 2008-09. Achieved highest ever Low Sulphur crude processing of 5.55 MMT (outlook) during the year surpassing the previous best of 5.16 MMT during the year 2008-09 Achieved highest ever CRU throughputof 288.3 TMT (outlook). Previous best was 277 TMT during the year 1999-00.

 Achieved highest ever RFCCU throughput of 1.497 MMT (outlook) during the year surpassing previous best of 1.454 MMT during the year 2008-09. Annual Production (Outlook for the year 2009-10) Product Qty (TMT) Lpg 291.8 Ms (Total) 763.3 Sko 954.6 Hsd (Total) 3119.7 RPC 207.8 Fo 26.9 Previous best(TMT) 284.5(2008-09) 703.2(2008-09) 894.3(2005-06) 3087.7(2008-09) 176.9(2007-08)

MEASUREMENT OF PROCESS VARIABLE FLOW MEASURMENT

Orifice meter Depending on the type of obstruction, we can have different types of flow meters. Most common among them is the orifice type flowmeter, where an orifice plate is placed in the pipe line, as shown in fig.2. If d (p1 p2).
1

and d 2are the diameters of the pipe line and the orifice

opening, then the flow rate can be obtained using eq. by measuring the pressure difference

The major advantages of orifice plate are that it is low cost device, simple in construction and easy to install in the pipeline as shown in fig.3. The orifice plate is a circular plate with a hole in the center. Pressure tappings are normally taken distances D and 0.5D upstream and downstream the orifice respectively (D is the internal diameter of the pipe). But there are many more types of pressure tappings those are in use.

The major disadvantage of using orifice plate is the permanent pressure drop that is normally experienced in the orifice plate as shown in fig.3. The pressure drops significantly after the orifice and can be recovered only partially. The magnitude of the permanent pressure drop is around 40%, which is sometimes objectionable. It requires more pressure to pump the liquid. This problem can be overcome by improving the design of the restrictions. Venturimeters and flow nozzles are two such devices. Rotameter

The orificemeter, Venturimeter and flow nozzle work on the principle of constant area variable pressure drop. Here the area of obstruction is constant, and the pressure drop changes with flow rate. On the other hand Rotameter works as a constant pressure drop variable area meter. It can be only be used in a vertical pipeline. Its accuracy is also less (2%) compared to other types of flow meters. But the major advantages of rotameter are, it is simple in construction, ready to install and the flow rate can be directly seen on a calibrated scale, without the help of any other device, e.g. differential pressure sensor etc. Moreover, it is useful for a wide range of variation of flow rates (10:1). The construction of rotameterThere is cylindrical type inside the tube. The fluid flows upward through the gap between the tube and the float. As the float moves up or down there is a change in the gap, as a result changing the area of the orifice. In fact, the float settles down at a position, where the pressure drop across the orifice will create an upward thrust that will balance the downward force due to the gravity. The position of the float is calibrated with the flow rate.

Fig. 3Basic construction of a rotameter. Construction of the float The construction of the float decides heavily, the performance of the rotameter. In general, a float should be designed such that: (a) it must be held vertical (b) it should create uniform turbulence so as to make it insensitive to viscosity (c) it should make the rotameter least sensitive to the variation of the fluid density.
.

Temperature measurement
Thermocouple When two conductors made from dissimilar metals are connected forming two common junctions and the two junctions are exposed to two different temperature. The thermoelectric emf generated, in fact is due to the combination of two effects: Peltier effect and Thomson effect. A typical thermocouple junction is shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 5 A typical thermocouple

Thermocouples are extensively used for measurement of temperature in industrial situations. The major reasons behind their popularity are: (i) they are rugged and readings are consistent, (ii) they can measure over a wide range of temperature, and (iii) their characteristics are almost linear with an accuracy of about 0.05%. However, the major shortcoming of thermocouples is low sensitivity compared to other temperature measuring devices (e.g. RTD, Thermistor). Thermocouple Materials
Theoretically, any pair of dissimilar materials can be used as a thermocouple. But in practice, only few materials have found applications for temperature measurement. The choice of materials is influenced by several factors, namely, sensitivity, stability in calibration, inertness in the operating atmosphere and

reproducibility (i.e. the thermocouple can be replaced by a similar one without any recalibration). Table-I shows the common types of thermocouples, their types, composition, range, sensitivity etc. Table-1 Thermocouple materials and Characteristics

(87% Pt, 13% Rh)

n

1500 C 13.6-14.1
o

v/ C
Platinu
o

mRhodiu m P (90% 10% Rh) Chrome t,

Platinum

0-1500 C

5.4-12.2

1100-1500
o

C 13.6-14.1
o

v/ C
o

l (90%Ni, 10% Cr) Chrome

Alumel (Ni94Al2 Mn3Si)

-200o

15.2-42.6

0-1000 C
38-42.9
o

1300 C

v/ C -2001000oC -200-350oC -150-750oC 25.1-80.8 15.8-61.8 21.8-64.6 300-800 oC 77.9-80.8 v/oC nonlinear 100-500 oC 54.4-55.9

E T J

Copper

Constantan (57%Cu, 43%Ni) Constantan

Iron

Constantan

Reference Junction Compensation

From above

discussions, it is imminent that the thermocouple output voltage will vary if the reference junction temperature changes. So, for measurement of temperature, it is desirable that the cold junction of the thermocouple should be maintained at a constant temperature. Ice bath can be used for this purpose, but it is not practical solution for industrial situation. An alternative is to use a thermostatically controlled constant temperature oven. In this case, a fixed voltage must be added to the voltage generated by the thermocouple, to obtain the actual temperature. But the most common case is where the reference junction is placed at ambient temperature.

Resistance temperature detector Copper, Nickel and Platinum are mostly used as RTD materials. The range of temperature measurement is decided by the region, where the resistance-temperature characteristics are approximately linear. The resistance versus temperature characteristics of these materials is shown in fig.1, with t as 00 C. Platinum has a linear range of operation upto 650 0 C, while the useful range for Copper and Nickel are 1200 C and 300 0C respectively.

Construction For industrial use, bare metal wires cannot be used for temperature measurement. They must be protected from mechanical hazards such as material decomposition, tearing and other physical damages. The salient features of construction of an industrial RTD are as follows: The resistance wire is often put in a stainless steel well for protection against mechanical hazards. This is also useful from the point of view of maintenance, since a defective sensor can be replaced by a good one while the plant is in operation. Heat conducting but electrical insulating materials like mica is placed in between the well and the resistance material.

The resistance wire should be carefully wound over mica sheet so that no strain is developed due to length expansion of the wireFig. 2 shows the cut away view of an industrial RTD.

LEVEL MEASUREMENT
Hydrostatic Differential Pressure type The hydrostatic pressure developed at the bottom of a tank is given by: p= hg where h is the height of the liquid level and is the density of the liquid. So by putting two pressure tapings, one at the bottom and the other at the top of the tank, we can measure the differential pressure, which can be calibrated in terms of the liquid level. Such a schematic arrangement is shown in Fig. 1 . The drum level of a boiler is normally measured using this basic principle. However proper care should be taken in the measurement compensate for variation of density of water

with temperature and pressure.

Floats & Displacers

Introduction Floats and Displacers are simple level measurement devices. They are somewhat identical in their look but they work on different operating principles. Float level switches work upon the buoyancy Principle according to which as liquid level changes a (predominately) sealed container will, providing its density is lower than that of the liquid, move correspondingly. In other words, the buoyancy principle states that "the buoyancy force action on an object is equal to the mass of liquid displaced by the object.

Displacers operation is based upon the Archimedes Principle which says that when a body is immersed in a fluid it loses weight equal to that of the fluid displaced. By detection of the apparent weight of the immersed displacer, a level measurement can be inferred. Displacers and floats are strictly applied for level detection in case of moderately nonviscous and clean process liquids. They present their best operation in switching applications and over for small periods. One can achieve spans of up to 12m also, but in that case their use happens to be extremely costly. Float Level Switches

Float level switches are mainly employed for level measurement in narrow level differential fields, for example high level alarm or low level alarm applications. One of the significant types of float is a magnetrol float level switch which consists of a plain float and operates via Traval in or out of magnetic resulting in its activation. A non-magnetic tube is also provided in the design which acts as a barrier and helps in separating the switching arrangement from the controlled fluid. These float based level switches include: a magnetic piston, a reed switch and a mercury switch. Among different float switch designs, the oldest and most precise one employed for continuous level detection is the tape level gage. Float level sensors are usually prepared from materials like stainless steel, PFA, Hastelloy, Monel, and several other plastic components. It is always required of floats to have their weights less than the minimum likely specific gravity of the liquid being measured. There are basically three kinds of Float level controls which are listed below: 1. Top mounting 2. Side mounting 3. External cage An extensive choice of float level switches is accessible in the market which may include mercury, dry contact, hermetically sealed and pneumatic switching devices. The upper temperature and pressure limits of float level switches are +1000 F and 5000 psig respectively. They usually work with low specific gravities which can be around 0.32. They exist in variety of models such as single, dual and three switch models. Besides, for level detection of interfaces created between two fluids, customary float rides are available. Float operated control valves are also available which basically perform combined functions of level detection as well as level control via a single level controller. However, their use is limited to areas involving small flows with negligible pressure drops only.

DISPLACER SWITCHES
In a typical displacer switch design, a spring is provided which is burdened with weighted

displacers. The displacers having weights greater than the process fluid gets submerged in the liquid resulting in a buoyancy force change. This will cause a variation in the net force operating on the spring. In general, the spring will compress with the raise in buoyancy force. Just like the float level switches, a magnetic sleeve and a non-magnetic barrier tube is also incorporated in displacer switches. The magnetic sleeve is attached to the spring and it moves according to the spring movement resulting in activation of switching mechanism. An in-built limit switch is provided in the design which proves useful in level surge conditions since it keeps a check on the over stroking of the spring. The operating principle of a typical Displacer switch is illustrated in the figure below. Displacer switches are most commonly employed in oil and petrochemical fields as level transmitters and local level controllers. These switches offer extremely correct and consistent measurement results in applications where clean liquids having stable densities are concerned. They are particularly not appropriate for slurry or sludge type applications since coating of the displacer causes a change in its volume and a resulting change in its buoyancy force. Temperature adjustments should also be done for these switches, specifically in areas where changes in process temperature can significantly affect the density of the process liquid. The performance of displacers can be influenced by non-stability in process density in view of the fact that the displacement i.e. the weight loss of the material is equivalent to the weight of the liquid dislocated. As soon as the specific gravity of the process varies, the weight of the displaced material also varies accordingly, resulting in a change in the calibration. Due to this, one can specifically face problems in cases of interface level detection between two liquids having different densities, where the relative signal depends upon the difference between two densities. An important requirement while working with displacers is that even after commissioning, the liquid being detected must retain its density for getting good repeatability. Advantage They perform extremely well with clean fluids. Use of these level sensors proves to be very accurate.

Floats v/s Displacers

Following are the major points of distinction between floats and displacers: Float Switches are available with a glandless design and are capable of fail safe operation in extreme process conditions, unlike displacers, which if the torque tube fails can provide a leak path. A float generally rides above the surface of liquid whereas a displacer remains either partly or totally immersed in process liquid. Displacer switches are considered to be additionally stable and dependable as compared to standard float level switches in case of turbulent, surging, frothy and foamy services. However in case of refineries, the use of displacers is decreasing owing to their high installation cost and inaccurate performance due to process density changes. In these applications, float level switches have been found to be reliable and useful. Settings of displacers can be changed very easily since they can be shifted at any place along the length of the suspension cable. Moreover, these level devices have the provision of interchangeability between tanks. This is due to the fact that the differences in process density can be endured by varying the tension of the spring attached to the displacers. Testing the appropriate working of a displacer switch is much easier than a customary float level switch since the former requires just lifting of a suspension whereas the latter necessitates filling of liquid in the tank upto the actuation mark.

PRESSURE MEASUREMENT
Bourdon gauge The Bourdon gauge (see Fig. 2a) consists of a bent tube with an elliptic cross section closed at one end and connected at the other open end to the chamber in which the pressure is to be measured. Pressure differences between the environment of the gauge and the interior cause forces to act on the two walls of the tube (Fig. 2b) so that it is bent by an amount that depends on the pressure difference between the environment and the interior. The bending is transformed by a lever to a pointer whose position can be calibrated. The importance of this type of gauge is that it is very robust and that it covers a range of pressure measurement from pressures higher than atmospheric pressure down to rough vacuum (about 10 mbar). The accuracy and reproducibility are relatively poor, so that it is not suitable for precision measurements, and its usefulness for vacuum measurements is limited.

Diaphragm gauges If a diaphragm or a bellows separates two regions with different pressures ( p1, p2,) the difference p (p = p1 p2) of these two pressures causes a force that deforms the diaphragm or bellows. There are many possibilities for measuring this deformation, e.g. mechanically by a lever and a pointer, optically by a mirror and a light pointer, or electrically by changes of the capacity of a capacitor formed by the diaphragm and an additional electrode which is usually placed in a region of very low pressure (see Figs. 3a ... 3c). For precision measurements one side of the diaphragm is evacuated to very low pressure. This is called a reference vacuum. The other side is exposed to the pressure to be measured. The deformation of the diaphragm depends on, but is not proportional to, the pressure difference . These days linearization of the pressure vs. deformation reading is mostly performed by electronic circuits. Thus it is possible to make pressure measurements in a range between some hundred mbar and 10-4 mbar with

such a precision that this type of gauge can be used as a secondary standard gauge. The lower pressure limit is caused by the thermal dilatation that has the same order of magnitude as the deformation

Fig. 2 Bourdon gauge, a) principle, b) distribution of forces

at very low pressures. Some special alloys like stainless steel or special ceramics such as Al2O3 with high density, are used as materials for the diaphragms. Generally the low pressure in the region of the reference vacuum is maintained by the use of getters. Frequently the electrodes and the circuits for the pressure reading are placed in the region of the reference vacuum. Figure 4 shows a diaphragm gauge with electrical reading. The pressure reading is independent of the gas composition.

CONTROL VALVE Introduction The control action in any control loop system, is executed by the final control element. The most common type of final control element used in chemical and other process control is the control valve. A control valve is normally driven by a diaphragm type pneumatic actuator that throttles the flow of the manipulating variable for obtaining the desired control action. A control valve essentially consists of a plug and a stem. The stem can be raised or lowered by air pressure and the plug changes the effective area of an orifice in the flow path. A typical control valve action can be explained using Fig. 1. When the air pressure increases, the downward force of the diaphragm moves the stem downward against the spring. Classifications Control valves are available in different types and shapes. They can be classified in different ways; based on: (a) action, (b) number of plugs, and (c) flow characteristics.

(a) Action: Control valves operated through pneumatic actuators can be either (i) air to open, or (ii) air to close. They are designed such that if the air supply fails, the control valve will be either fully open, or fully closed, depending upon the safety requirement of the process. For example, if the valve is used to control steam or fuel flow, the valve should be shut off completely in case of air failure. On the other hand, if the valve is handling cooling water to a reactor, the flow should be maximum in case of emergency. The schematic arrangements of these two actions are shown in Fig. 2. Valve A are air to close type, indicating, if the air fails, the valve will be fully open. Opposite is the case for valve B.

(b) Number of plugs: Control valves can also be characterized in terms of the number of plugs present, as single-seated valve and double-seated valve. The difference in construction between a single seated and double-seated valve are illustrated in Fig. 3.

Referring Fig.1 (and also Fig. 3(a)), only one plug is present in the control valve, so it is single seated valve. The advantage of this type of valve is that, it can be fully closed and flow variation from 0 to 100% can be achieved. But looking at its construction, due to the pressure drop across the orifice a large upward force is present in the orifice area, and as a result, the force required to move the valve against this upward thrust is also large. Thus this type of valves is more suitable for small flow rates. On the other hand, there are two plugs in a double-seated valve; flow moves upward in one orifice area, and downward in the other orifice. The resultant upward or downward thrust is almost zero. As a result, the force required to move a double-seated valve is comparatively much less. But the double-seated valve suffers from one disadvantage. The flow cannot be shut off completely, because of the differential temperature expansion of the stem and the valve seat. If one plug is tightly closed, there is usually a small gap between the other plug and its seat. Thus, single-seated valves are recommended for when the valves are required to be shut off completely. But there are many processes, where the valve used is not expected to operate near shut off position. For this condition, double-seated valves are recommended.

(c) Flow Characteristics: It describes how the flow rate changes with the movement or lift of the stem. The shape of the plug primarily decides the flow characteristics. However, the design of the shape of a control valve and its shape requires further discussions. The flow characteristic of a valve is normally defined in terms of (a) inherent characteristics and (b) effective characteristics. Ideal Characteristics The control valve acts like an orifice and the position of the plug decides the area of opening of the orifice. the control valves can be classified in terms of their m vs. x characteristics, and three types of control valves are normally in use. They are: (a) Quick opening (b) Linear (c) Equal Percentage. The characteristics of these control valves are shown in Fig. 4. It has to be kept in mind that all the characteristics are to be determined after maintaining constant pressure difference across the valve as shown in Fig.4.