New Concepts in Hardware and Processes to Conserve Oil and Gas in Industrial Processes

Abstract

A broad program to identify and evaluate new types of hardware and processes to conserve oil and gas in chemical plants and petroleum refineries has been completed. During the course of this program, which was sponsored by the Office of Industrial Programs of the U.S. Department of Energy, Argonne interacted with 130 industrial companies to help define and evaluate appropriate areas of technology.

The initial step was to assemble a master list of technologies that promised to conserve oil and gas. These technologies were then screened on the basis of quantity of energy saved, capital and operating costs, industry attitude, market potential, and special barriers to implementation such as environmental issues and other special types of problems.

One approach used to determine industry attitudes on technologies was to poll several key energy-conservation groups. These included the Gulf Coast Energy Society, Golden Triangle Energy Society, CMA Energy Committee, and the Energy Conservation Committee of the American Petroleum Institute.

This paper will summarize some of the results of this program in terms of the following areas of technology: Energy-efficient methods of separation ; Alternative fuels and feed stocks ; Recovery of low-level heat; Advanced Concepts

Although the above technologies were identified and evaluated in terms of their application specifically to chemical plants and petroleum refineries, they have the potential of conserving oil and gas across a broad spectrum of industrial processes.