74. Hydrogen Expands Opportunities for Power Generation in Refineries

Environmental and market pressures are requiring the products of oil refineries to be lighter, lower sulphur and richer in hydrogen. This is resulting in a greatly increased need for hydrogen, which in turn has important ramifications for in-refinery gasification and power generation. After the success stories of cogeneration in the food and paper related industries, where electricity is the byproduct, the hype is now focussing on poly-generation in large processing industries in general and in refineeries in particular. It is often forgotten that the most successful application of cogeneration has for decades been district heating in combination with power generation, where the primary product is electricity. Refineries could become a compromise between these two extremes, with power constituting one of the most valuable bulk products.