How does a manufacturer increase processing complexity, reduce energy intensity and emissions, and remain competitive in global markets?
Canada’s refiners face a big challenge: using less energy to produce more fuel. They must perform a balancing act between being an energy intensive sector that works to meet fuel demands in a global market, while meeting—and exceeding—ever-increasing regulatory stringency. Refining is an industrial sector that is known as Energy Intensive and Trade Exposed (EITE).
[Caption: Canadian Energy & Emissions Data Centre’s chart visualizes the slight improvement of Energy Intensity since 1995 by three different metrics.]
In 1995, Canadian Fuel members made voluntary commitments with the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation (CIPEC) to improve the efficiency at their refineries. “Most refineries put in place energy conservation programs to reduce energy consumption inside refineries,” Gilles Morel, Director of Fuels at the Canadian Fuels Association explains. “Examples included installing heat exchangers to capture otherwise lost heat, adding more insulation, and air preheaters on refinery stacks to recover hot flue gas heat.”
Despite the challenge of being large, complex manufacturing facilities, Canadian Fuels Association members realized efficiencies. Refiners reduced energy consumption by 18 per cent since 1990—while refining 7 per cent more product, the Canadian Energy & Emissions Data Centre shows. This improvement creates a corresponding 1 per cent year-over-year reduction of CO2 emissions, and a 14 per cent CO2 reduction since 1990.
[Caption: CAPP data show a reduction in the number of refineries, compared with the rise of capacity since the ‘40s.]
While these improvement numbers might not seem big given the timespan, consider some of the factors impacting refiners and the sector. Notably, refining capacity continued to climb while the number of refineries decreased. The shuttering of Petro-Canada’s Oakville refinery in 2005, Shell’s Montreal facility in 2010, and Imperial Oil’s Dartmouth operation in 2013 left remaining facilities to fill the gap. The result is the graph you see above, which contrasts average capacity with the number of facilities in operation. This is a case of doing more with less.
Adding to refinery efficiency complexity are ever-increasing and stringent facility and fuels regulations. The cause and effect of meeting certain specifications can sometimes result in more energy use overall. The significant reduction of benzene and sulphur from fuel is a good example. Refiners added sulphur treatment and benzene extraction units, energy intensive processes. Similarly, expect future regulations to require still more energy to achieve operating and fuel specifications.
What we see is no small accomplishment.
