13 October 2005
YANBU' - Yanbu' Gas and Terminal completed the Iso-Pentane Recovery for Gasoline Blending project this month, which will help meet the Kingdom's increasing demand for gasoline. By adding 5,500 barrels per day of iso-pentane to the gasoline pool at Yanbu' Refinery, the project goes a long way toward optimizing the use of oil and gas and increasing the company's revenues by approximately $8.1 million per year. Natural gas liquids (NGL) are piped from Shedgum and 'Uthmaniyah through the East-West Pipeline to the NGL Plant in Yanbu'. The NGL feedstock goes through several rounds of fractionation, or separation, into individual components, namely ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline. Most of these products are used locally, and the rest are exported. The gasoline is fractionated in the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) column to extract mixed pentane and to meet a grade specification. Before the completion of the Iso-Pentane Recovery project, this rich pentane stream from the RVP column had little value other than to be mixed into the crude oil. Now, it can be processed into an excellent gasoline ingredient known as iso-pentane. The gasoline that is now used in Saudi Arabia contains light straight run naphtha and butane, among other ingredients. The iso-pentane is a superior additive that will improve fuel efficiency and performance and reduce emissions, making it more environmentally friendly. The unique facility was designed to process about 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of mixed pentane to produce 5,500 bpd of iso-pentane. Once extracted, the iso-pentane is pumped to Yanbu' Refinery for gasoline blending. All the major vessels such as the reboilers, drums and the 73.5-meter De-Iso-Pentanizer (DIP) distillation column itself were all manufactured in the Kingdom. Project engineers Marai Al-Abas and Fayiz Al-Sobhi said one of the major challenges was transporting the DIP column in one piece for 8 kilometers -- from the manufacturer's shop at the Yanbu' Light Industrial Area through Yanbu' Gas Plant to its final destination alongside the existing fractionation columns -- and finally erecting it in place.
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YANBU' - Yanbu' Gas and Terminal completed the Iso-Pentane Recovery for Gasoline Blending project this month, which will help meet the Kingdom's increasing demand for gasoline. By adding 5,500 barrels per day of iso-pentane to the gasoline pool at Yanbu' Refinery, the project goes a long way toward optimizing the use of oil and gas and increasing the company's revenues by approximately $8.1 million per year. Natural gas liquids (NGL) are piped from Shedgum and 'Uthmaniyah through the East-West Pipeline to the NGL Plant in Yanbu'. The NGL feedstock goes through several rounds of fractionation, or separation, into individual components, namely ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline. Most of these products are used locally, and the rest are exported. The gasoline is fractionated in the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) column to extract mixed pentane and to meet a grade specification. Before the completion of the Iso-Pentane Recovery project, this rich pentane stream from the RVP column had little value other than to be mixed into the crude oil. Now, it can be processed into an excellent gasoline ingredient known as iso-pentane. The gasoline that is now used in Saudi Arabia contains light straight run naphtha and butane, among other ingredients. The iso-pentane is a superior additive that will improve fuel efficiency and performance and reduce emissions, making it more environmentally friendly. The unique facility was designed to process about 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of mixed pentane to produce 5,500 bpd of iso-pentane. Once extracted, the iso-pentane is pumped to Yanbu' Refinery for gasoline blending. All the major vessels such as the reboilers, drums and the 73.5-meter De-Iso-Pentanizer (DIP) distillation column itself were all manufactured in the Kingdom. Project engineers Marai Al-Abas and Fayiz Al-Sobhi said one of the major challenges was transporting the DIP column in one piece for 8 kilometers -- from the manufacturer's shop at the Yanbu' Light Industrial Area through Yanbu' Gas Plant to its final destination alongside the existing fractionation columns -- and finally erecting it in place.
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By Ahmad A. Dialdin
© Press Release 2006
