Petrovietnam Journal

Research on production of special fuel Jet A-1K at Dung Quat Refinery for national defense and security purposes

Le Xuan Huyen — 2024-10-31

Amid the complex global security and political situation, and in line with the Government's policy to increase the use of domestic goods to replace the imported, the Department of Petroleum - General Department of Logistics, Ministry of National Defense in collaboration with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) and Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company (BSR) have conducted research and commercially produce the special fuel Jet A-1K at Dung Quat Refinery to ensure self-sufficiency in domestic supply and national defense security. The paper presents the results of the research on: factors affecting the production process and quality of Jet A-1K, technological adjustments for producing special Jet A-1K fuel to ensure reliability when used in military technical equipment, and plans to utilize the existing systems of Dung Quat Refinery for transporting, storing, and distributing Jet A-1K fuel in the absence of a dedicated system.

The possibility of integrating petrochemical production into Dung Quat Refinery from natural gas, condensate and LPG produced in central Vietnam

Le Duong Hai — 2024-10-31

The most potential sources of raw materials for petrochemical projects in central Vietnam are LPG, condensate from Ken Bau gas field, condensate from Ca Voi Xanh gas field, and LPG, propylene and light naphtha from Dung Quat Refinery. PE, PP, PS, ABS and SBR are proposed products for petrochemical projects based on their current large shortage and potential development in the future market in Vietnam. The total investment cost of these projects are relatively high, 5 - 7 billion USD. Using all condensate and LPG sources produced from Ken Bau - Dan Day and Ca Voi Xanh gas fields, Dung Quat Refinery is the case showing the highest economic efficiency with an IRR of 11.4%.

Maintenance models in the gas and petrochemical refining industry: International best practices and solutions for Petrovietnam

Hoang Thi Dao — 2024-10-31

The paper analyzes the current situation of maintenance management at the gas, refining and petrochemical plants within Petrovietnam, referencing best practices from major oil and gas corporations. The research indicates that Petrovietnam's current decentralized maintenance management model, wherein individual plants carry out mostly its own maintenance activities, leads to inefficiencies in resource allocation, technology adoption, and specialization.
Therefore, the Vietnam Petroleum Institute (VPI) recommends that Petrovietnam implement a semi-centralized maintenance management model, combining in-house and outsourced services. This model includes establishing a dedicated entity to manage overall maintenance activities and provide technical consultation for routine maintenance. Such a model would optimize resource utilization, improve maintenance efficiency and quality, and ensure the safe, stable, and high-performance operation of facilities within Petrovietnam’s portfolio.

Evaluation of CO2 capture technology application for exhaust gases from Petrovietnam’s coal-fired power plants

Nguyen Huu Luong — 2024-10-31

Vietnam has excellent CO2 storage potential, concentrated in the Song Hong, Cuu Long, and Nam Con Son basins, with their total potential storage capacity reaching ~41 - 110 billion tons of CO2, and has been oriented for its development in the National Energy Master Plan. Petrovietnam has an advantage in integrating CCUS into its current petroleum value chain. CO2 capture from power plant exhaust gases can be implemented through methods such as pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture, or oxy-fuel combustion, with post-combustion capture being the most widely applied due to its ease of integration with existing power plants. Petrovietnam's coal-fired power plants can reduce emissions through post-combustion carbon capture, using amine solution absorption technology with a capture efficiency of 90%. The total investment for a CO2 recovery plant is approximately 1.8 billion USD/plant. Carbon capture results in a 62 - 94% increase in LCOE with a carbon capture cost (LCOC) of ~ 50 - 60 USD/ton CO2 (included power plant energy usage costs of ~ 30%). Increasing coal-fired power plant operating hours and CO2 capture unit depreciation time can help reduce CO2 capture costs by 15 - 20%. To deploy carbon capture solutions from coal-fired power plant exhaust, on one hand, legal, policy, and scientific-technological improvements are needed at the government level; on the other hand, coal-fired power plants and Petrovietnam in general need to develop a comprehensive roadmap for the full development of the CCUS value chain.

Developing an energy consumption monitoring tool based on the Power BI platform for refineries

Le Hong Nguyen — 2024-10-31

Monitoring energy consumption and efficiency in oil refineries is crucial for operational performance. While traditional tools such as Excel-based calculations can still serve basic monitoring purposes, the rapid advancement of digital transformation has led to the emergence of new tools with significantly enhanced capabilities.
The energy consumption monitoring tool is developed as a versatile template model to track energy consumption, energy intensity index (EII) and related parameters. Input data is collected and presented on an Excel platform, stored in the cloud, automatically updated and visualized using Power BI.
The model integrates data processing, digital transformation, and calculation of necessary factors and parameters based on Solomon standard procedure, similar to the methods used in refineries. Consequently, the model's computational results closely match the data calculated by the refineries when applied to specific cases.
By utilizing this energy consumption monitoring model, refineries can track and monitor the energy structure and efficiency of individual units/areas and the entire plant over different time periods, identifying priority areas for implementing energy-saving measures implementation and energy efficiency improvement. In addition, the model also calculates CO2 emissions from energy consumption in the refinery, which is the basis for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions when legal regulations on management CO2 emissions and carbon credits are issued and applied.

A solution to repair riser pipe of waste heat boiler in Ca Mau Fertilizer Plant

Le Hoang Viet — 2024-10-31

Equipment in oil and gas processing plants frequently encounters problems like corrosion and cracking after prolonged use. Although manufacturers provide stringent maintenance and repair protocols, these are typically designed for new equipment and often fall short of meeting the practical needs of older, long-running machinery. This study examines the failure of a riser pipe in the waste heat boiler system at Ca Mau Fertilizer Plant, pinpointing the failure location and assessing the cause, and then proposing a repair solution tailored to the plant's actual operational conditions.

Vietnam’s feedstock supply potential for sustainable aviation fuel HVO/SAF

Van Dinh Son Tho — 2024-10-31

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is advancing the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to mitigate CO2 emissions through the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), targeting a start to emissions reductions by 2027. Among SAF production technologies, hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), which refines vegetable oils, waste oils, and fats via hydrodeoxygenation, has been commercialized worldwide. This approach uses by-products as feedstock, achieving up to an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions without altering land use for feedstock cultivation.
Vietnam has potential to sustainably supply feedstock for SAF production, primarily from fish fat - a by-product of pangasius export, and used cooking oil (UCO) - a by-product of food processing. This potential can be further enhanced with improvements in collection efficiency. In 2023, Vietnam exported approximately 120,000 tons of fish fat and 50,000 tons of used cooking oil to SAF producers such as Neste and Diamond Green Diesel.
This paper introduces SAF production technologies and analyzes the factors indicating Vietnam’s feedstock supply potential for the international market in sustainable aviation fuel production using HVO technology.

Study the application of robotics and non-destructive testing methods to inspect corrosion of fuel tanks

Nguyen Thi Lan — 2024-10-31

Corrosion and cracking in fuel tanks or oil and gas pipelines can cause severe consequences for both humans and the environment. This study introduces and analyzes various types of wall-climbing robots integrated with non-destructive testing (NDT) methods for inspecting and assessing corrosions of fuel tanks. By analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each method, the authors propose integrated solutions that combine wall-climbing robots and suitable NDTs to inspect corrosion of fuel tanks at the member units of Petrovietnam.

Research on the fabrication and application of selective membranes in gasoline vapor recovery

Duong Chi Trung — 2024-10-31

This paper presents the results of a study devoted to developing a selective membrane for separating hydrocarbons from mixtures with air. The approach involves applying a selective coating onto a substrate and packaging it in a spiral wound configuration for use in a gasoline vapor recovery system at fuel stations.
The membrane is fabricated using a 0.45 µm PTFE substrate with an RTV 828 coating, offering high selectivity and permeability, a straightforward process, low cost, and scalability. Testing in a gasoline vapor recovery system demonstrated a recovery efficiency of over 90%, highlighting its potential for industrial applications and environmental protection.

Modifying high-pressure hightemperature stirred autoclave for corrosion inhibitor evaluation

Le Thi Hong Giang — 2024-10-31

A high-pressure high-temperature stirred autoclave (HPHTSA) is modified based on the rotary cage autoclave (RCA) and stirred autoclave (SA) to evaluate corrosion inhibitors in the laboratory. This autoclave can simulate operational conditions in oil and gas pipelines, enduring high-temperature high-pressure conditions, and withstanding corrosive agents such as CO2, H2O, and H2S. It is equipped with a stirring shaft and blades to ensure uniformity of the solution in the reaction vessel. Importantly, it features a sample mounting system with a rotating cage structure consisting of two tiers. A water-dispersible and oil-soluble corrosion inhibitor was evaluated using the high-pressure high-temperature stirred autoclave under both static and dynamic (rotating) conditions. At dynamic conditions, the testing system simulates gas and liquid environments, similar to the conditions at the top and bottom of oil and gas transportation pipelines.