Process Integration and Energy Conversion in a Natural Gas Refinery

The aim of this project was to reduce the fuel gas consumption of an existing gas refinery. Using pinch technology, it was found that energy savings up to 20% were possible on the process side. The entire plant was modeled in an energy integration tool in order to estimate the savings by a better integration of the utility system. It was found that the overall fuel gas consumption can be reduced up to 42%, by maximising the heat recovery on the process side and by improving the performance of the utility system.