Development of integrated optimization of the units of an oil refinery

• Grant number: 96/02444-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Partnership for Technological Innovation - PITE
• Start date: July 01, 1997
• End date: March 31, 2001
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Claudio Augusto Oller do Nascimento
• Grantee: Claudio Augusto Oller do Nascimento
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Company: Petróleo Brasileiro S/A (PETROBRAS)
• City: São Paulo

Abstract

Petrobras has ten oil refineries which process the equivalent of several billions of dollars per year. Improvements in the strategies for the control and planning of the operation of these refineries could result in benefits of tens of millions of dollars. This project, therefore, was aimed at the optimization of the operation of the company’s refineries, focusing on the three main aspects of the control structure: the actions to maintain the process close to ideal conditions, restrictions over safety, quality, etc., and the level of optimization, at which are defined the optimum conditions for the operation of the equipment and processes which constitute an oil refinery - including the function of production planning. As a product of this work, it was intended to offer to Petrobras, for application in its refineries, a suite of software programs that would be able to interact in real time with all levels in the control of production, from planning up to predictive control. (AU)