Production Division

The Production Division consists of two units/departments; the Crude Distillation Unit (Hydro skimming plant) and the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit. In addition to the processing units, there are Utilities and Waste Water Treatment (WWTU) plants that support the aforementioned.

Crude Distillation Unit (CDU)

The crude distillation unit processes mainly two different types of crude oil, namely Bonny Light and Brass River. It was originally designed to process 28,000 barrels per stream day, but revamping the unit allows it to process 45,000 barrels per stream day.

The products churned from this unit are liquefied petroleum gas, light and heavy naphtha, illuminating kerosene, aviation turbine kerosene, diesel, and residual fuel oil. The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), kerosene, and diesel do not require further processing to meet market specifications and are therefore said to be straight-run products. The light naphtha however is sent to the Merox unit to reduce the traces of Sulphur compounds in the light naphtha.

The heavy naphtha is sent through the Catalytic Reforming unit for further processing to meet market specifications. The residual fuel is the feedstock for the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit.

Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCC)

The Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit catalytically converts atmospheric residue (AR) into lighter and more valuable hydrocarbon products at high temperatures and moderate pressure. A finely divided silica / alumina-based catalyst known as zeolite is used for the cracking process.

During the cracking process, coke, a mixture of carbon and hydrogen, is deposited on the catalyst a condition which deactivates the catalytic cracking activity of the catalyst by blocking access to the active catalytic sites. The coke deposited on the catalyst is burned off with air in the combustor of the Regenerator vessel Ito regenerate the catalytic activity of the spent catalyst.

The ability to continuously circulate the catalyst between the reactor (11-R-101/102) and the regenerator (11-R-103/104) when fluidized with an appropriate vapor phase allows the RFCC to operate efficiently as a continuous process.

The RFCC complex at TOR consists of eight (8) main Units: They are: Reactor/Regenerator Unit (Unit 11), Main Column Unit (Unit 12) Gas Concentration Unit (Unit 13), LPG Extraction Unit (Unit14) Gasoline Sweetening Unit (Unit 15), Amine Recovery Unit (Unit 16) Sour Water Treatment Unit (Unit 18) Sulphur Recovery Unit (Unit 12)

Products from RFCC are

Fuel gas
LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)
Gasoline
LCO (light cycle oil)
HCO (heavy cycle oil)
CLO (clarified oil)

The Utilities Department

The Utilities Department is the energy center of the refinery. It plays the role of providing the needed Utilities to support primarily the processing Units (RFCC, CDU, MOP, and others). The following services are provided for the sustainability of the refinery.

Fresh water – for demineralized water production and utility use
Demineralized water – for steam production
Steam – for process heating, power generation, equipment drive, etc.
Electricity – equipment drive, lighting, etc
Instrument & service air – instrumentation,
Fuel oil – combustion in fired heaters and boilers
Cooling water – cooling of heat exchangers.
Antifire – fire fighting
Sprinkler – firefighting and cooling.

These services are delivered by a combination of several equipment and experienced personnel working together to achieve a common goal.

Waste Water Treatment Unit (WWTU)

The Waste Water Treatment Unit is where all the effluents of the RFCC and Crude Distillation Units area are treated and discharged to the environment. Their activities are as follows:

Regulate the flow rate of wastewater at the inlet and effluent of the API separator and the stormwater holding basin.
Collect oil with regulating grove and the Roll drum oil skimmer from old and New API separators into skimmed oil Sumps.
Transfer slop oil from the API Separators slop sump into storage tanks i.e. Slop tanks.
Prepare chemicals (Acid, Base, Alum and polymer) for chemical injection.
Take samples for the Chemical Laboratory to conduct analysis for Quality Control.
Drain tanks, sumps of water, and oil transfer to storage tanks.
Prepare (Sieve) sawdust and inject it into sludge /scum to prepare the slurry for filter press operations for sludge dewatering.
Take levels of slop oil storage tanks G35, G36, G66.
Check the activity of microbes in the Bio-Combinator, using a microscope.
Prepare Nutrients (Mono Ammonium Phosphate) for the maintenance of the Microorganisms in the pure oxygen-activated sludge treatment system.
Monitor and control these parameters (dissolved oxygen, Food to Microbes Ratio, Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids, Mixed Liquor Volatile Suspended Solids, pH, Total Dissolved Solids, etc.) to remove suspended solids and biodegradable Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD’s) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD’s)
Operate the Sand filter to reduce the Total Suspended Solids in the wastewater before discharge.

It also manages maintenance activities by generating work orders and permits for maintenance work execution and receiving streams of products from CDU desalter effluent, RFCC, MOP Storage Tank drains, trucks, loading gantry, seized products, bilge water from oil jetty, etc. for processing in the API separator and other processing plants.