Dynamic Simulation and Control: Application to Atmospheric Distillation Unit of Crude Oil Refinery

Nowadays dynamic simulation has become a key tool in the study of the behaviour of almost every process. The benefits that proper modelling can bring to any industry have a very high value, especially one that cannot be directly measured, which is the increase of knowledge about the process. The simulation allows the study of transient states of complex processes without the need of leading the real processes into those operating states. In this work, dynamic simulation is applied to the Atmospheric Distillation Unit of a crude oil refinery. This unit represents the core of almost all such refineries and it is also one of the most complex processes, characterised by multiple interactions and high level of non-linearities. The model conjugated with a control system is analysed for several process operating conditions, showing in particular how the behaviour of the unit, under severe circumstances, can be studied.