Processing and Conversion of Oil and Gas: Modeling, Control, Simulation and Optimization

Dear Colleagues,

Processing and Conversion of Oil and Gas: Modeling, Control, Simulation, and Optimization constitute the core of the activity of petrochemical engineers, process controller engineers, industrial engineers, energy engineers, and researchers in the oil and gas field.

Petroleum is considered the black gold of the earth, but this treasure can’t be utilized without the usage of innovative and up-to-date technologies for its recovery and conversion. To the best of our knowledge, the crude oil extracted from wells is not in a pure form and is mainly composed of oil, gas, and water. Thus, the need for an oil processing plant to separate it from other fluids and impurities in an environmentally friendly manner is crucial. Therefore, these remaining contaminants can be highly problematic during oil transportation or usage, hence novel optimized methods are needed to improve oil processing.

Nevertheless, natural gas is nowadays considered the main bond between existing fossil fuels and future resources. Natural gas is primarily composed of methane but may include variable amounts of other higher alkanes. Besides, natural gas may contain low amounts of chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and helium. Natural gas processing is designed to refine the raw gas by eliminating impurities, thus producing a dry natural gas compliant to the pipeline gas quality specifications. Natural gas processing plants can remove several types of contaminants such as water, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, mercury, and other hydrocarbons. The application and improvement of different operations including sweetening and dehydration make the raw natural gas ready for usage or conversion.

The conversion of oil and gas is mainly conducted through refineries and chemical processing plants. Hence, oil and gas refining leads through the combination of several physicals, chemical, and thermodynamical processes to the formation of many valuable products including fuels, materials, chemicals, and/or heat and power. To note that even the polluting emissions of the refineries that can be formed at any stage of the oil or gas conversion process have a certain economic value and can be further processed or sold. Moreover, the impurities removed during the oil and gas processing step are not always considered as waste but instead, they are considered as potential by-products of this industry. A green process is usually what refineries aim for, thus by succedding in converting process waste an economic and environmental benefit will take place.

This Special Issue explores the modeling, control, simulation, and optimization of new and revamped petrochemical processes using proven software. Thus, it offers novel illustrative examples, prospective applications, and solutions to improve these processes. This issue aims to combine theoretical principles with examples modeled by commonly-used simulation software (Aspen Plus, Aspen Hysys, Pro/II, Prosim, CHEMCAD, Scilab, Matlab, Modelica, DWSIM, Python, COCO, and others) employing steady-state or dynamic process simulation. Furthermore, applying numerical methods and optimization at both the theoretical and practical levels is within the scope of this issue. Original research papers and reviews covering a wide range of topics in the processing and conversion of oil and gas are considered for publication in this Special Issue.

Topics include, but are not limited to applications in the following areas:

• Oil and gas process design and equipment sizing
• Petrochemical process control
• Numerical simulation, modeling, and optimization of petrochemical processes
• Oil and gas processing
• Oil and gas refining
• Fuel and biofuel processing and production
• Energy-saving, economic evaluation, and material integration in petrochemical processes
• Optimization of petrochemical process capacity and operating conditions
• Monitoring safety and operational issues in petrochemical plants
• Energy from combustion and power generation
• Hydrogen energy production and utilization
• Industrial waste recovery and utilization
• Handling of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions including carbon dioxide
• Waste derived fuels (WDF) from petrochemical industries
• Advanced separation techniques for petrochemical industries
• Performance comparison, evaluation, and optimization of petrochemical software tools

Dr. Jean-Claude Assaf
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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