Simulation and Optimization of Hydrotreating Section of Catalytic Reforming Unit of Abadan Oil Refinery

In this study, the hydrogen purification section of the catalytic reforming unit of Abadan Oil Refining was simulated by Aspen Hysys v9.0. The check of the simulation results of the unit compared to the actual data represent the mean total error of 0.9 %, which indicates the high accuracy of the simulation by choosing the SRK thermodynamic model. The unit reactor was optimized by the use of Case Study and the effect of various parameters such as temperature, the pressure of feed and also the hydrogen discharge ratio on the quality of the product was investigated. The results showed that the increase in temperature and pressure of feed have a positive and neutral effect on desulfurization reactions, respectively. The increase in discharge ratio of hydrogen also has a negative effect on the quality of the product due to the decrease in residence time and incomplete reactions in the reactor. Also, the unit energy was optimized by Aspen Energy Analyzer v9.0. In this modified method, two heat exchangers with areas of 18.6 and 9.9 square meters were added prior to stripper column as feed preheat and naphtha inlet to the separator in the unifing unit. That decreased the heat load of stripper column reboiler and the unit furnace by 3.38 and 3.82 MMBtu/hr, respectively. As a result, this plan needs 30,529.35$ worth of investment. Therefore, the return of capital of this plan was estimated to be 35 months which will result in a 10,447.87$ saving.