Journal of Electrical Engineering
The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh
Operation and Control of Crude Oil Refining Process
using Atmospheric Distillation Column with PLC
P.K. Bhowmik1, J. A. Shamim2, and S. k. Dhar3
1
Department of Instrumentation and Communication, Eastern Refinery Limited, North Potenga, Chittagong, Bangladesh
1
Department of Inspection, Eastern Refinery Limited, North Potenga, Chittagong, Bangladesh
1
Member IEEE, Chittagong, Bangladesh
E-mail: pkbcuet@yahoo.com1 jubair.buet.bd@gmail.com2, sagor378@gmail.com3
Abstract— The operation & control of crude oil distillation
process, which is a very sophisticated system involving modern
technologies, is of utmost importance in any crude oil refinery.
In this paper, prominent features of a PLC based automatic
operation and control of crude oil refining process in an
atmospheric distillation column has been outlined. The complete
crude oil distillation process has been ramified into four
consecutive phases’ viz. initial start-up & cold circulation,
furnace firing & selection of appropriate fuel, hot circulation &
commissioning of reflux system & finally storage of the refined
products. In first phase, if all the physical systems are in good
condition, then all respective valves will be opened so that the
crude may be circulated through the associated circuit from
crude oil storage tank by the action of gravity. After that the
main feed pump will be started to continue the flow of crude
until 50% bottom level of the distillation column if filled up &
this circulation of crude is termed as cold circulation. In the
second phase, the furnace will be fired after completion of
furnace pre-purging, steam commissioning in the super-heated
circuit & appropriate fuel (NG/RG/FO) selection. In this stage,
the temperature of crude oil is also gradually increased at
furnace outlet and maintained by throttling the fuel supply
valves. In the third phase, a temperature gradient is maintained
in the distillation column by commissioning the reflux (top, mid
& bottom) systems and thus the fractional distillation is
facilitated. Finally, the purified products are stored in the
respective storage tanks from the distillation column. If any
aberrant situation arises, owing to which the operation may be
unstable & unsafe, the feed pump, furnace fuel supply valves
and respective safety shutoff valves will be tripped and thus the
entire cycle is accomplished.
Index Terms—PLC, Crude oil refining process, Distillation
column, Sucosoft V5.02 Moeller PLC software
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE demand for higher quality, greater efficiency &
automated control in the arena of process plant, chemical
industry and energy sector has been aggrandized to a
great extent [4]. To cope with this advancement & also to
construe the advantages of using PLC based automation in
crude oil distillation process, an attempt has been taken in this
paper. Every crude oil refinery requires continuous
monitoring & spasmodic inspection of its various process
parameters in order to ensure safe and smooth operation.
There are possibilities of errors in human operation. In order
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Vol. EE xx, No. xx, June/December xxxx
to automate the operation & control of crude oil distillation
process and subsiding human intervention, there is a need for
developing PLC based control system. Typical applications of
PLC based control systems are in the industries e.g. power
plants, oil refineries, ship building industries etc. The process
system of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), Chittagong,
Bangladesh is taken as a reference for this study.
II.PLC MODULE SETUP
PLC is a 'digital operating system' designed especially for
use in an industrial environment, which uses a programmable
memory for its internal operation of user-orientated
instructions and for implementing specific function such as
logic, sequencing, timing, counting and arithmetic [2-3]. The
Sucosoft V5.02 PLC software is used in this study [2-3].
III. PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The feed (crude oil) is pumped directly from the crude oil
storage tank by the feed pump P1101A/B. The flow rate of
the feed is controlled by FRCV. Feed (crude) in furnace is
heated to 360˚ C and so the crude is partially vaporized. This
partially vaporized feed is then sent to the atmospheric
distillation column C1101, which is equipped with 33 trays.
In this column the crude is fractionated to give the following
products: TG, KI, KII, LGO, HGO, and Residue.
TG is condensed in the aero condenser EM-1123, then in
the water cooler E1110AB. The pressure of the reflux drum
B1102 is controlled by departure of gas to the flare through
PICV 1101. In this reflux drum, gasoline and water are
separated by decantation; part of the gasoline is taken out by
pump P1109A/B to be refluxed under temperature control
valve TRCV1102 at the top of the column. The other part is
taken out by pump P1110A/B and sent as feed for the
stabilization column under the level control valve LCV1103
of B1102. Water is evacuated by gravity to the sewer under
the level control valve LCV1104.
KI, KII, LGO and HGO are withdrawn separately from
their respective trays which are flow by gravity into the
stripper column under the respective LCV. After that thus
products are taken out by pump cooled by exchanging heat
through exchanger and cooler and stored in the storage tank.
The bottom product (residue) is stripped by superheated
steam and is taken out by pump P1107 then cooled by heat
 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009
exchanger and cooler and stored in the storage tank. Its flow
rate is controlled by LCV. The column temperature gradient
is maintained to get the required products by commissioning
the reflux (top, mid and bottom) system [1].
IV. PROCESS SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM
The process schematic diagram of crude oil distillation
process is as follows-.
Fig. 1 Simplified schematic diagram of the crude oil refining process [1]
V. PROCESS OPERATION DESCRIPTION
Successful operation of a process system depends upon
careful installation & initial start up. Before start up there
should be a thorough check of the system, like valves, control
trip, safety device, and all the mechanical and electrical
system. The crude oil distillation process is categorized in the
subsequent phases: [1].
A. Initial Start up and Cold Circulation
At the initial start up the respective valves to ensure the
flow of crude by gravity from the crude tank to the crude
circuit. Start Feed pump that will force crude to circulate
though the full crude circuit. The flow of crude is controlled
by FRCV and circulation continues to the circuit up to 50%
bottom level build up in C1101.
B. Furnace Firing and Fuel Selection
In ERL NG, RG and FO are used as fuel of the furnaces
through their consequent fuel system network.
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Start up of furnace firing is performed by the following
steps-
• Commissioning the furnace by snuffing steam to remove
gases to avoid explosion during furnace firing.
• Superheated steam vent and low points open to allow the
flow of steam in superheated coils at 3.0~3.5 bar.
Check and maintain the negative draft pr. of the furnace
10~12 mm of H2O.
• Select the required fuel system. Pilot valve open and pilot
burner fired by spark plug. Then main gas valve open
to fired main burner. For FO (Furnace Oil) both FO
valve and atomizing steam valve have open
simultaneously with maintaining 1.6 bar higher
pressure at steam than FO pressure. After main burner
fired the pilot valve closed to off the pilot burner.
C. Hot circulation & commissioning of Reflux and product
storage system
• Furnace outlet crude temperature increased gradually and
maintained near 360°C by TRCV1101A/B, or
TRCV1101 and PDCV1101.
• In the C1101 the crude is fractionated to TG, KI, KII,
LGO, HGO, and Residue. The refluxed drum B1102 is
commission to get the TG by maintaining pressure and
level of the balloon. A part of TG is taken out by pump
P1109A/B to be refluxed under temperature control
valve TRCV1102 at the top of the column.
• The stripping column, C1102 is commission to get the
fractionated products KI, KII, LGO and HGO under the
respective LCV and FRCV to store in the tank. The
circulating reflux is commission to maintain C1101
mid zone temperature gradient.
• The bottom product of C1102 is taken out by pump
P1107 and flow is controlled under the LCV1102 and
finally stored to the tank.
D. Process Flow Diagram
Start
Furnace purging & steam commissioning completed
Start Feed pump fill the C1101 bottom 50% by crude
Required fuel system NG/ RG/NG+RG/FO selected
Furnace purging & steam commissioning completed
Yes Pilot valve
Main burner closed & pilot
fired burner off
No
Pilot valve opened and header pressure maintained
Pilot burner fired by spark plug ignition
A
 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009

E. Program Development
A Moeller PLC is programmed and simulate in Sucosoft
V5.02 programming software. The Ladder Diagram (LD)
NG/RG/NG+RG FO
Fuel PLC programming language used easy to understand. LD is
selection based on graphical representations with contacts, coils and
Main gas valve open Start FO Steam boxes, as per the circuit diagrams [2-3].
pump to valve open
maintain to maintain
Main burner fired FO header header pr.

Maintain
Pilot pr. Diff.
burner off

Low High
Furnace outlet
temp
TRCV Opening TRCV Closing

B1102 commissioning & start respective pumps

High Low
B1102 pr.
(than set)
PICV1101 Opening PICV1101 Closing

High
Low
B1102 level
(than require)
LCV1103 Opening LCV1103 Closing

High Low
B1102 water
level
LCV1104 Opening LCV1104 Closing

Low High
C1101 top
temp
TRCV1102 Closing

C1102 commissioning & start respective pumps

High Low
C1101
distillate level
LCV1105~8 Opening LCV1105~8 Closing

Circulating reflux commissioning

Low High
C1101 Mid
zone temp
TICV1101 & TICV1101 & Fig. 4 Process variable declaration for PLC system
FRCV1108 Opening FRCV1108 Closing

Bottom Residue pump start

High Low

C1101 bottom
level
LCV1102 Opening LCV1102 Closing
Return
Fig. 3 Crude oil refining process flow diagram

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Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009

Fig. 5 LD program for crude refining process

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 Author Instructions: J. Elec. Engg., Instn. Engrs., Bangladesh, 36(II), December 2009
F. Program Execution
The ladder logic program execution by Sucosoft V5.02
software requires the following steps [2-3]:
• Program development in pou editor,
• Topology configuration,
• Program code generation,
• Program transfer from computer to PLC,
• Test and commissioning,
• Program run.
Then the PLC executes the program successfully after
pressing the start switch. As the number of input & output
address is restricted in the software used in this study, so few
false address is used in the program. PLC always scan its
input address and give an output signal according the
instruction of the program.
VI. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The modification of many single loop control loops by a
single PLC will provide more flexibility of the system in case
of operation, control, troubleshooting, commissioning, testing
and modification. The proposed system will also be
beneficiary to the economical aspect. Though the practical
process control system have used several PID (proportional
derivative and integral) control, due to the limitation of PLC
software used in this study all the control loops are simplified
for analysis that can be easily improved by using higher
version of the software. It has also ensured the option of
further advancement in system modification by advance PLC
that is SCADA system.
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VII. CONCLUSION
To cope with the technological advancement, to ensure
higher efficiency and effectiveness and reliability in a more
economical way this proposed system will be a great scope. It
will also provide better flexibility in customization of
operation and control with minimum effort. The paper has
furnished itself to study the integral parts of the entire process
involved, their implementation and the problems that may
show up have also been given their due importance.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Mr. Sharafat Ali, Assistant
General Manager, Department of Instrumentation &
Communication, Eastern Refinery Limited, Bangladesh for
his valuable guidelines and supervision to complete the task.
Cordial thanks also to Md. Ali Zulquarnain, Member,
Planning, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC)
for his valuable review and comments.
REFERENCES
[1] Crude Oil Refining Process Operation Guideline, Eastern Refinery
Limited, Chittagong
[2] GUNTE, Equipment for Engineering Education,(04/02/2012)
http://www.usdidactic.com/html/p3562.htm
[3] Sucosoft S40 V5.02, Moeller PLC Software
[4] P. K. Bhowmik and M. Dey, “Protection and Control of Steam
Turbine Generator using PLC” First International Conference on
Mechanical Engineering and Renewable Energy 2011
(ICMERE2011), Chittagong, Bangladesh, December 22-24, 2011.
[5] S. K.Dhar, P.K. Bhowmik and S. Chakraborty, “Operation and Control
of Nuclear Reactor with PLC” International Conference on
Information and Communication Technology, volume 3, 11C-25,
Yantai, CHINA August 27-28, 2011.