Energy conservation - the key for refineries
Energy can account for as much as 50 per cent of a refinery’s total operating costs so this industry has a large focus on optimized use and recovery of energy in order to decrease both costs and environmental impact.
By converting traditional shell-and-tube heat exchanger technology to more efficient compact plate heat exchangers, energy savings of up to at least 25 percent can be achieved, with supplementary benefits in terms of extended operating intervals, savings in maintenance costs, reduced downtime, fast payback times and environmental gains.
Alfa Laval offers a variety of compact heat exchangers specifically designed for refinery applications. The solutions include all-welded plate-type heat exchangers, which can exploit energy inputs much more effectively than traditional solutions. They provide better reaction efficiency, improved yield and increased hydrogen production in catalytic reforming as well as superior thermal efficiency in heating, cooling, condensing and reboiling.
Alfa Laval also supplies centrifugal equipment that separates varied emulsions of oil, water and solids in oil refining processes.