Meeting Archives

 

Bill Lywood of Crude Quality Inc. then presented “H₂S in Crude Methods Survey Proposal Introduction.”  The current knowledge base on H₂S content of crude oils is inadequate or inaccurate for marketing and engineering purposes.  The objectives of this proposal are twofold:  1) Compare existing test methods (ASTM D5705 and UOP 163), and evaluate a newly published method (IP 570) for determining H₂S content of crude oils, and 2) Produce a framework for testing that provides the most accurate H₂S content while minimizing error and technician variability.  The Alberta Research Council (ARC) is willing to conduct much of the work to be jointly managed by CCQTA and COQA.  Currently, ARC is preparing samples for testing using IP 570.  During 3Q2009, financial support and resources needed for this project will be identified with the objective to define project scope at the joint COQA/CCQTA meeting in February 2010.  Bill stressed that, in advance of the next meeting, corporate interest in reliable H₂S measurement and prediction be evaluated, financial and in-kind support identified, and sample points and crudes of interest be defined.  Conceivably, sampling could be coincident with cargo surveys.

 

“Canadian Crude Quality Technical Association Update”,Dennis Sutton, Marathon Petroleum, representing the CCQTA.  Dennis provided an update that included background on the CCQTA, the Scope and Current Activity of the six active projects within the association, and discussed three project proposals that are under consideration.  The currently active projects are:

• Condensate Quality
• Iron Fouling
• NGL Contamination
• Oilsands Bitumen Processability
• Phosphorus in Crude Oil
• Fluorocarbons in Crude

The three project proposals that are under consideration are:

• On-line Contaminant Monitoring
• TAN Project – Phase IV
• Measurement of H₂S in Crude

The latter proposal was discussed in the previous presentation by Mr. Lywood.

The on-line contaminant monitoring project proposes to employ existing instrumentation for monitoring crude oil contaminants.  Under Phase IV of the TAN project, more detailed corrosion work with bitumen gas oils, and the impact of blending on projected corrosion rates are being considered.

 

Domestic Trading Center Subcommittee (DTC)

“Domestic Sweet / WTI Specifications”, Dennis Sutton, Marathon Petroleum.  In his presentation, Dennis provided a brief history of COQG’s earlier work that actively supported development of the LLS specifications, and the extensive work related to quality of crude oil transported on the Basin system.  Dennis noted that the work coordinated by John Maurer of Valero was critical to the Subcommittee’s efforts and was the subject on a front page article in Oil Daily on July 17, 2008.  On August 30, 2009, Platt’s Oilgram News published an article that again highlighted COQG’s efforts directed at developing more comprehensive specifications on the stream.

Dennis then presented data on the sample of Domestic Sweet from Cushing included in the March 2009 ASTM Crude Oil Interlaboratory Crosscheck Program.  Results reported by the numerous participating laboratories form an excellent basis for defining quality of the stream.  Further sampling and analyses of Cushing samples is in progress and should be completed by yearend 2009.  Following review and statistical analysis of these data by Clifford Mills, representative specifications will be developed.  Questions remain to be answered, however, on issues such as how best to implement and enforce the specifications.  

 

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General Meeting

In opening the General Session, Harry Giles, COQA Director, gave a brief summary of some of the business conducted at the two business meetings the previous evening.  The first of these was of the Board of Directors of the Crude Oil Quality Association (COQA).  Some of the issues related to transition from COQG to COQA were discussed including:

• Effective date – January 1, 2010
• Anti-trust compliance language
• New Web site www.coqa-inc.org
• Application to the Internal Revenue Service recognition as a tax exempt organization under Section 501 (c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code.

In the second meeting, the former COQG steering committee continues in an advisory capacity to the Board.  Speakers and topics for next year’s meetings were considered.  The following dates and venues for the 2010 meetings were agreed to:

• February 11th in New Orleans – joint with CCQTA
• June 10th in Denver
• October 28th in Houston

In closing, Harry recognized Gene Cox, formerly of Navajo Refining and now retired, and presented him with a memento of the Association.  Gene was a founding member of the Refiners Crude Oil Quality Group, predecessor to COQA, and organized its first meeting in West Texas in 1994.  Gene expects this to be his final meeting.

Technical Presentations 

“Holly Corporation, Fall 2009 Update”, Cory Cooper, Holly Corporation and Gene Cox, Navajo Refining, retired.    Cory and Gene provided  highlights of some of Holly’s recent investments, and the corporation’s assets and business footprint.  They provided a detailed overview of the three refineries Holly currently operates namely Navajo, Woods Cross, and Tulsa.  Several refinery and pipeline projects are either in progress or are being planned that will enable these to process heavy crude oils and produce ULSD, and enhance crude supply options, respectively.  Refinery enhancements recently completed or that are nearing completing, as well as new pipeline construction were described.

 

“Changing US Crude Oil Imports are Driving Refinery Upgrades, Creating Opportunities”, Drs. Christopher Buehler, Exponent and Praveen Gunaseelan, formerly Exponent, now Vantage Point Energy.  Dr. Buehler opened his presentation by discussing trends in import volumes, country of origin, area of entry, and quality over the past 25 years.  Decline in domestic production, long-term product demand growth, discounts for heavy crude, and infrastructure developments have all contributed to the increasing reliance of the US on foreign crude oil.  A significant lowering in the average quality of crude oil feedstocks and increasingly stringent sulfur and other specifications for refined products is resulting in more energy and hydrogen being consumed in processing these heavier, higher sulfur crude oils.  Canada has made a number of investments in oil sands production and pipeline infrastructure, contributing to its position as the leading exporter of crude oil to the US.  A number of projects are underway or planned to allow US refiners to effectively and efficiently process the bitumen-based streams originating in Canada.  Among these are increased crude distillation, hydrotreating, and bitumen upgrading capacity.  This is creating an opportunity for integrated gasification of residuals.

 

“Novel Applications of HTSD Beyond Crude Oil”, Dr. Dan Villalanti, Triton Analytics Corporation.  High temperature simulated distillation (HTSD) is a versatile tool that has applications beyond crude oil.  It has been successfully applied to heavy crude oils, bitumens derived from tar sands and oil shale, and various biofuels including biocrudes, biodiesel, and algal fuels.  In his presentation, Dan showed a number of chromatograms illustrating these applications.  These included Boscan crude oil and Peace River bitumen analyzed using standard conditions and with a modified injector profile that enabled extension to a higher endpoint before cracking occurred.  For application to biofuels, chromatograms were shown for palm oil, biocrude derived from palm oil, biodiesel, and an algal vegetable oil.  These applications are reproducible and compare well with conventional crude oil HTSD.

 

“Diesel Hydrotreater Catalyst Fouling Investigation”, Ryan Couzens, Chevron. Earlier this year routine analyses indicated high levels of silicon in diesel hydrotreater feed, followed several months later by rapid catalyst deactivation.  Analysis of spent catalyst samples indicated silicon as the primary contaminant.  A multi-disciplinary team was assembled to investigate the problem and determine the source.  Their findings eliminated coker antifoam injection as the source but implicated, with a high degree of confidence, a single specific crude oil.  The working hypothesis is that a silicon based anti-foam agent is being added during production and is breaking down in the coker resulting in high levels of silicon in the coker products.  Investigation continues on defining silicon levels in crude oils recently processed.  The company is working to determine if any silicon-based additives are being used in the oil fields that supply the refinery.

Ryan posed several questions for the group’s consideration related to organic silicon in crude oil feedstocks:

• What is their source?  Are they defoam agents or something else?
•  What test methods are available for determining organic silicon? What is their accuracy?
•  What is the experience of others with rapid deactivation of hydrotreater catalysts?
•  Are their alternatives to silicone-based defoam agents? 

 

“Petroterminal de Panamá”, Mark Georgen, Tesoro Corporation.  Tesoro’s corporate history began in 1968, when they were founded and initially focused on exploration & production.  In the late 1990’s, they exited E&P and began focusing on refining and marketing in the Western US.  Today, their system includes seven refineries with a total crude capacity of 663 mbpd.  In 2007, Tesoro signed a transportation and storage agreement with Petroterminal de Panamá (PTP).  The PTP system links marine terminals on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Panama with a 81-mile pipeline.  Originally, this pipeline transported crude oil from the Pacific to the Atlantic terminals, but flow has now been reversed.  The agreement allows Tesoro to control at least 107,000 bpd throughput and provides dedicated storage capacity at both terminals.  The flow reversal and construction of additional tankage offers Tesoro a number of strategic opportunities, among them:  

·   Crude oils from the Caribbean, Brazil, Europe, and Africa offer competitive alternatives to diminishing supplies of Pacific basin streams

·     Provide options for storage, transportation, and blending, which offer benefits of timing, parceling and tailoring for refiners and trade partners on both sides of the isthmus.

 “Taking Some of the Challenge out of Challenge Crudes”, S. A. Lordo, Nalco Company.  A “challenge” or opportunity crude is one that is traded at a discount for one of several possible reasons.  It may be new to market and have little or no processing history.  It may have known processing problems.  It may be a distressed cargo. Or, it may be any crude that a particular refiner has not previously processed.  An early assessment of several key aspects not included in an assay can reduce the risk inherent in processing these:

• How will it affect desalter operation?  What are its emulsion characteristics?  Conductivity?
• Will it cause fouling in exchangers and furnaces? Is it compatible with other crudes?
• Will it cause corrosion?

Sam discussed each of these aspects in some detail as well as tests that can be done before the crude arrives to identify potential risks in desalting, fouling, and corrosion. Communication between buyers, refiners, and crude process consultants is key to successful introduction of a challenge crude.  Forward planning can allow the refiner to reduce unknown risks and can significantly improve refinery profitability when running challenge crudes.

 

“Renewable, Scalable, Algal-Derived Liquid Transportation Fuels”, Dr. Brian Goodall, Sapphire Energy.  In opening his presentation, Dr. Goodall discussed the positive attributes of “green crude.”  They are completely fungible with existing oil and fuel movement infrastructure, fleets of land and air vehicles, and refining infrastructure.  They do not compete with agricultural products or land, or fresh water resources.  They have a significantly favorable life cycle with respect to CO₂, compared to conventional petroleum.  And, they can be scaled to over 1,000,000 barrels per day to meaningfully impact the widening gap between fuel production and consumption.  In terms of MT/acre/year, algae growth rate is 4 times that of switch grass and 8 times that of corn, making it considerably more efficient.  Moreover, to produce comparable amounts of fuel, the acreage required to grow algae is a fraction of that for other crops. 

Algal derived biomass has been used to produce on-specification summer and winter grade diesel fuel.  Algal-derived green jet fuel was used in a two hour test flight by Continental Airlines earlier this year.

 

“Portable Sulfur Analyzer for Crude Oils and Petroleum Fuels”, Ranzy Morgan, Choice Analytical, Inc.  Ranzy recently founded Choice Analytical to focus on sale of laboratory and on-line instrumentation.  He will provide exclusive sales and product support in the Southern US for XOS, Stanhope Seta, Wilks IR, and Rheotek.  In his presentation, Ranzy focused on the XOS Sindie On The GO (OTG) sulfur analyzer.  This portable analyzer has a wide dynamic range and is insensitive to changes in matrix.  The same calibration curve is applicable to gasoline, diesel fuel, and crude oil.  Disposable Accu-Cells make for ease of use. Data presented by Ranzy showed very good agreement between ASTM D2892 and the OTG for three crude oil samples.

 

This concluded the October 22, 2009 meeting of the COQG.  The next meeting will be joint with CCQTA on February 11, 2010 in New Orleans, LA. 

Harry N. Giles
Director, COQA