About Axens

Axens is a group providing a complete range of solutions for the conversion of oil and biomass to cleaner fuels, the production and purification of major petrochemical intermediates as well as all of natural gas' treatment and conversion options. The offer includes technologies, equipment, furnaces, modular units, catalysts, adsorbents and related services. Axens is ideally positioned to cover the entire value chain, from feasibility study to unit start-up and follow-up throughout ...

Avoid fired heater coking

For many refiners, heater coking in Crude and Vacuum Distillation Units (CDU/VDUs) is a common occurrence. Many units around the world are shut down every two years, every year, or even every six months to deal with chronic heater coking. However, with the right design features driven by a solid understanding of heater coking mechanisms, fired heater run length can be extended beyond five years, even with relatively challenging crudes. The two primary drivers of heater tube ...

Axens Connect’In™

High speed data networks, cloud-based systems and advanced data techniques are leading a distinct change in the way industries monitor and optimize operating assets. Refineries that will adopt realtime unit monitoring tools incorporating on-demand, advanced modelling of process performance will see an immediate marketplace advantage. Axens’ Connect’In™ addresses these challenges and is leading the breakthrough to substantially improve the efficiency of refineries. ...

Axens engineering services revamping

For a successful revamping project, no matter the degree of its complexity, and in accordance with your tight schedules, Axens is your unique contact during the phase preceding detailed engineering. Axens’ offer is based on our well founded expertise and several decades of experience. Our team of equipment specialists and our extensive network of detailed engineering contractors and equipment manufacturers complete this offer.   Our approach consists of successive ...

Axens hydrocracking

Axens is an established name in hydrocracking licensing with more than 40 years’ experience in all types of hydrocracking processes. We have a large portfolio of hydroconversion processes, including fixed and ebullated-bed technologies. Our commercial units operate at low, medium and high conversion, and in once through, single-stage recycle and two-stage modes. Our commercial hydrocracker designs can cover a large variety of feedstocks varying from light HGO and LVGO ...

Axens overview

Axens is a group providing a complete range of solutions for the conversion of oil and biomass to cleaner fuels, the production and purification of major petrochemical intermediates as well as all of natural gas' treatment and conversion options. The offer includes technologies, equipment, furnaces, modular units, catalysts, adsorbents and related services. Axens is ideally positioned to cover the entire value chain, from feasibility study to unit start-up and follow-up ...

Axens tech services

Operating personnel are uncomfortable with changes affecting operations such as: process upsets, catalyst regeneration and replacement, changes in feedstock, modified product specifications, evolution of production goals and new operating staff. In coping with these changes, your resources - manpower, know-how and experience, are often strained. Axens’ Tech Service Agreements (TSAs) are attractive as they allow you to expand your qualified resources at regular intervals ...

Condensate is crude

Ultra-light crudes and condensates are here to stay. These streams have flooded the market in recent years, and many of them are deeply discounted against reference crudes. Refiners have been processing increasing percentages of this light material through their Crude Distillation Units (CDUs) up against unit naphtha handling limits. On the surface, processing condensate and other ultra-light crudes with high API gravity and low sulfur should be easy. In reality, many refiners ...

Equipment design matters

Many attractive projects fail to meet expectations at startup. Disappointing performance often results from bad simulation practices and/or poor equipment design rather than faulty execution. Refineries are currently considering FCC revamps to increase olefins for more alky unit feed, maximize LCO product recovery, and minimize slurry product by producing HCO for hydrocracker feed. These changes raise fractionator operating temperature. Higher temperatures require better process ...

Green design practices: focus on efficiency

Green design is more than recycling scrap materials or calculating carbon footprints. It minimizes negative environmental impact through skillful design and operating practices to produce efficient, better-functioning processes. Because green practices reduce resource requirements, in many cases, they can also improve the profitability of the entire process. One of the most effective ways to make a process greener is to focus on column efficiency. Distillation is an energy ...

Maximize reliability in grassroots crude units

Crude unit operators are far too familiar with a long list of crude unit reliability problems including fouling in heat exchangers and fired heaters, poor desalting, corrosion of piping and equipment, and coking in the vacuum column wash zone. Many millions of dollars have been spent fighting these problems, yet they continue to force unplanned shutdowns with depressing regularity. Revamps must address reliability issues, but project scope is hindered by the limitations of existing ...

Modern crude distillation, modularized

Global interest in modular refinery construction is surging. Small modular refineries are attractive to investors for several important reasons: SPEED: Project time from contract execution to start-up can be as short as 18-24 months. LOGISTICAL ADVANTAGES:Modular refineries can be built in remote locations to realize efficiencies in supply and transportation of raw crude and refined products. LOW INITIAL COST: Small relative size makes initial capital cost more manageable. Modules ...

Oil sands crude — profits and problems?

Canadian bitumen production currently runs about 1 MMbpd, with some being sold as Synbit and Dilbit. Over the next 10-12 years output is expected to increase to 3.5 MMbpd and more refiners will begin investing to process it and come to depend on the Synbit and Dilbit for a significant part of their supply. Few today, however, have ever processed these feeds at high blend ratios, and are unaware that conventional process and equipment designs are not up to the job. Canadian oil ...