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How an oil refinery works

construction-physics.com

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Re: How an oil refinery works

#141

Post by jyounker »

cucumber3732842 wrote: post #90
vel0city wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They have surface reservoirs Sure sounds like potential issues for septic systems > protected watershed areas And they're protected by things like being choosy about approving septic systems I'd imagine > The "ground" is effectively the filter. And it requires so much "ground" to properly "filter", hence the mounds. > The problem is high water table So we both agree there's a high water table, and high water tables…

Gotta love that ivory tower smarmy attitude. >And it requires so much "ground" to properly "filter", hence the mounds. There is no point in building up if the ground is sufficient. MN has basically decided they're not gonna bother considering what that means and just make everyone do mounds at great expense. >So we both agree there's a high water table, and high water tables can give challenges for properly operating…

> Gotta love that ivory tower smarmy attitude.

When did, "I don't want people poisoning my water," become ivory tower smarmy attitude?

Re: How an oil refinery works

#142

Post by damnitbuilds »

mandeepj wrote: post #126
diginova wrote: post #44

My father actually works at the Jamnagar refinery. I was bought up in there seeing and visiting the refinery as families are allowed for some trips every now and then. I learnt a lot of this process of refining out of curiosity of what my father did and it was just so cool. The refinery in context is the world's largest since more than a decade and seeing it with your own eyes, it feels like a wonder of the world for…

It’s worth mentioning here - the founder (Dhiru bhai) of Reliance used to pump gas in Dubai and that’s where he got the dream to start his own refinery one day. Dream one side, but just going about setting up such a giant production facility at an enormous scale is nothing short of an extraordinary achievement. Pretty sure he had overflow of grit, commitment, and all around strength, and of course high dose of highes…

Nah, he did it the old-fashioned way - by corruption and dirty dealing, then his family suppressed the people reporting the truth:

https://archive.ph/i3FWt

Re: How an oil refinery works

#144

Post by jyounker »

lasermatts wrote: post #54

if you liked this and the history of the industry, "The Prize" is a fantastic read!

The prize is a great book, you just have to keep the author's point of view in mind. (He's got a few blind spots with respect to the downsides of oil.)

The book does an amazing job of explaining the strategic structure of WWII in a simple and clear and way.

If you want to understand modern history, you can't skip it. It's also a just a riveting read full of wild characters.

Re: How an oil refinery works

#146

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

jyounker wrote: post #135
tkgally wrote: post #107

About thirty years ago, I was given a personal tour of an oil refinery in Yokohama, Japan. I was doing freelance translation then for a Japanese oil company. I mentioned to one of my contacts there that I would be interested in actually seeing the sort of equipment I was translating documents about, and they arranged a visit for me. Two things stand out in my memory: Even though the refinery was in full operation, we…

Wow. I grew up in Houston, and I assumed that the smell from these plants was pretty-much unavoidable. It's shocking (and I guess not all that surprising) that this is a choice that manufacturers make. I guess it really does depend on the economic power of the surrounding communities.

Likewise, a lot of the complaints people have about data centers are engineering choices. If companies can get away with it, they'll do it the cheap way.

Re: How an oil refinery works

#148

Post by caminante »

alephnerd wrote: post #139
caminante wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really a big deal. The numbers are cumulative. The Reliance Brownsville Texas facility will only process 60 million barrels per year. That's 1% of annual US refining capacity. > It's interesting to both see Asian majors and EPCs increasingly dominating the petrochemical chain You really don't want downstream in your backyard, though. The environmental oversight in these countries is...less. Meanwhile, it's a hype…

[flagged]

Hey.

You're obviously having a bad couple days, which seems to have nothing to do with this discussion or HN. I hope you can recover and feel better.

My point remains that Reliance isn't investing 300B in a refinery as you so claim.

>India's Reliance is also investing $300B

That's a cumulative offtake figure used in hyperbolic, Trump-style headlines.

Re: How an oil refinery works

#149

Post by consumer451 »

pjc50 wrote: post #136
jyounker wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. I grew up in Houston, and I assumed that the smell from these plants was pretty-much unavoidable. It's shocking (and I guess not all that surprising) that this is a choice that manufacturers make. I guess it really does depend on the economic power of the surrounding communities.

Where I live there's been a long running saga around flaring: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c6wk2ml6gwzt When it's lit at night you can see it from up to twenty miles away. Closer in you can hear it. Things have gone back and forwards on mitigations, fines, industrial disputes, and in the end the plant is closing.

I have a basic understanding of the economics behind flaring, but from the outside it seems like such a waste of energy & hydrocarbons!

Re: How an oil refinery works

#150

Post by ufmace »

dylan604 wrote: post #64
ufmace wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that it's a physical plant thing. We have spent over a hundred years building hydrocarbon-based energy infrastructure. Much of that is still out there. Wind and solar have made a ton of progress in the last 15 years or so, but it's only really become substantially better financially in the last 5 or so years maybe. It's still going to take decades to actually replace most of that stuff, just as a matter of…

I would like to think that the switch to renewables is inevitable, but could a continuous series of administrations similar to the current US admin be enough to curtail it?

Seems unlikely to me. I always thought the only engine that could actually accomplish transition was capitalism. We will transition at a time and to an extent that renewables are actually cheaper and better, no sooner and no later. Government action can encourage technological development, but it can't force the transition when the technology is not ready yet, and it can't stop it either once it's actually better. Note that we are actively building out a lot of that stuff now, even though the current administration is at best indifferent towards it. It all fits with the bottom line that we transition when the technology is ready, and the opinion of activists and Government officials isn't relevant.
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