Land required for refinery

Land required for refinery

land required for refinery

The refinery is installed to process the crude oil into its various fractions and then refine and blend those components to form the desired finished products like diesel, petrol, LPG etc. A refinery consists of a number of modules or units, each with a specific purpose, integrated into a processing sequence. The actual refinery configuration and size will depend upon the characteristics of the crude oil and the desired final product. Product is dependent on the market demand. Theoretically, it is possible to produce any petroleum product from any crude oil. Thus, heavy crude oils may be used to produce lighter products such as gasoline. The economics play an important role in refining and it is more economical to use 1ighter crude oils for producing lighter products. Therefore, a refinery will be designed to make maximum use of the expected range of crude oil characteristics.

The land requirements for a refinery are variable and are heavily dependent upon such considerations as land availability, environmental restrictions, and proximity to residential areas available. It is dependent on the rail and water access, available utilities (power supply, natural water, etc.), suitability of land for construction and land costs.

The final selection of a site requires the land suitable for constructing process units, tank farms, loading facilities, maintenance areas. The design and layout of the refinery will depend upon the existing surrounding area and overall land availability. If land is available, The proposed  refinery will tend to purchase more acreage to allow for future expansions and greater separation of process units, tankage and other areas. This allows for greater flexibility of adding on process units as well as increased safety in the event of fire. The availability of land can also affect land utilization. For example, if sufficient land area can be obtained, a refinery may consider on-site land farming of wastewater sludges or evaporation ponds for disposing of final effluents as alternatives to-incineration, contract land filling or discharge of treated effluent to a waterway. It may also be possible to allow a larger buffer area between the process units and plant boundaries if a large plot can be obtained.

a)       When land is relatively inexpensive, Refineries would typically obtain 15 to 20 acres per 1000 barrels/day.

Or

250 acre per MMTPA of refinery capacity.

This will include some land for expansion, but additional, land would also be obtained as the early refinery increases capacity.

b)      When land is costly, Refineries would typically obtain 5 acres per 1000 barrels/day.

Or

100 acre per MMTPA of refinery capacity.

This will have less chance of expansion, water treatment plant or green belt development.

Note:

·         1 acre = 4046 sqm

·         1 metric ton (MT) of crude oil = 7.15 barrels (bbl) of crude oil

·         How it can be calculated:

·         1 MT (metric ton) = 1000 Kg

·         Assuming specific gravity of oil = 0.88, 1000 Kg of crude oil = 1000/0.88 litres of crude oil

·         Now, 1 bbl (barrel) of oil = 158.987 liters

·         So, 1 MT = (1000/0.88)/158.987 bbls

·         So, 1 MT = 7.1475 bbls of oil with specific gravity of 0.88

·         Rounding off, 1 MT = 7.15 bbls of oil