Oil & Gas / Middle East / 2024
Feasibility assessment for downstream refinery waste conversion
A regional refinery held a waste stream it treated as a disposal cost. We modelled the thermal and catalytic pathways for converting it into saleable by-products and assessed each against regulatory and commercial constraints.
Results
- 34%
- Reduction in hazardous output under the preferred pathway
- 24 months
- Projected payback at standard operating conditions
Disciplines
- Process modelling
- Techno-economic analysis
- Regulatory assessment
Context
The refinery’s downstream process waste was handled as a regulated disposal obligation. Management suspected there was recoverable value in the stream but had no basis on which to commit capital: the conversion routes were understood in principle and unquantified in practice, and the regulatory position differed by pathway.
Approach
We modelled thermal and catalytic conversion scenarios against the plant’s actual feed composition rather than a representative average, since the variance in the stream turned out to determine which routes were viable at all. Each scenario was carried through to a revenue position, with capital and operating costs estimated to a consistent basis so that the comparison between routes was meaningful.
In parallel we mapped the regulatory implications of each pathway. One otherwise attractive route was set aside on permitting grounds — a result that was more valuable early than a stronger financial case would have been late.
Outcome
The preferred pathway reduced hazardous output by 34% and projected payback within 24 months under standard operating conditions. The refinery took the assessment to its investment committee with the scenario model intact, so that the assumptions behind the recommendation could be examined and revised rather than taken on trust.