Introduction

Crude oil distillation accounts for a large fraction of the energy used in oil refining. Crude oil contains a variety of substances, which tend to deposit as fouling layers in the heat exchangers and this results in decreased energy recovery and requires increased energy input. 

Thus, attempts are conventionally made to recover the energy used by a sequence of heat exchangers, often called the “pre-heat train”. A typical crude pre-heat train is illustrated in Figure. 

Pre-heat train fouling is estimated to cost around $1.2 billion per annum in the US alone (IHS ESDU, 2000). In addition, savings in the use of non-reusable fuel will result in the reduction of CO₂ emissions. 

The CRude Oil Fouling (CROF) project is an EPSRC funded research effort that aims at providing a platform to:

• investigate fundamental parameters leading to deposition
• provide a framework for predicting deposition and avoiding it by design
• formulate methods for mitigation

Several Sub-Projects  will be coordinated, addressing the chemical characterisation of deposits, the characterisation of the fouling process under controlled conditions and modelling across all scales from the molecular to the process unit. The project brings together researchers from Imperial College, University of Bath, University of Cambridge and IHS ESDU with the wide range of skills and backgrounds needed to attack the problem in new ways. An important feature of the project is to develop close links with the oil refining industry and their suppliers, building on an existing set of links developed by IHS ESDU through their Fouling Working Party.