Refining Industry
At Sulzer, we help refiners improve the efficiency and sustainability of their operations through advanced separation and purification technologies. Our solutions are designed to maximize product recovery, lower operating costs, and reduce environmental impact, supporting long-term competitiveness in a sector facing growing regulatory and market pressures.
Advancing Refining Efficiency with Reliable, Sustainable Process Solutions
The refining industry remains a cornerstone of global energy supply, producing fuels and feedstocks essential to transportation, power generation, and chemical production. Yet it is also under increasing scrutiny: volatile energy markets, tightening environmental regulations, and ambitious CO₂ reduction targets are forcing refiners to operate more efficiently than ever before. Meeting these demands requires robust process technologies that combine reliability with flexibility to adapt to changing product specifications and sustainability goals.
Operating in today’s chemical sector means addressing multiple, interconnected challenges:
Energy Optimization for Refiners
Reduce utility consumption and manage volatile energy costs with advanced thermal integration and efficient separation technologies.
Environmental Compliance & Emissions Control
Meet strict environmental regulations with solutions that minimize emissions, effluents, and flaring while improving sustainability.
Advanced Separation for Complex Streams
Handle challenging separations in fuel upgrading, feedstock preparation, and by-product recovery with high-performance purification systems.
High Throughput, Low Downtime
Plants must run continuously and flexibly while minimizing downtime and maintenance costs.
Our solutions help refiners address their most pressing challenges by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and supporting sustainability goals. With advanced separation and purification technologies, we enable higher product purity and yield, ensuring that valuable components are recovered and used to their fullest potential. By optimizing energy use and process integration, we lower utility consumption and operating costs, while reducing emissions and waste streams. Our technologies are built with the reliability and flexibility required in refinery operations, allowing smooth integration into existing units and adaptability to changing feedstocks or product specifications. Whether the goal is to increase throughput, improve product quality, or minimize environmental impact, we provide refiners with proven tools and expertise to enhance performance today and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.
Main applications of refining industry
Aliphatic Hydrocarbons
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Methane • 1-Butene
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Ethane • Pentane
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Propane • Hexane
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Propylene • Heptane
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n-Butane • Octane
Aromatic Hydrocarbons & Derivatives
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BTX (Benzene, Toluene, Xylene)
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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
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Asphaltenes
Sulfur-Containing Compounds
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Elemental Sulfur and Sulfides
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Mercaptans (R-SH)
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H2S / Sour water
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Sulfonated Aromatic Compounds
Energy & other applications
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Energy efficiency
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Diesel/crude oil processing
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LPG processing
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Lube Oil purification
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Pyrolysis Gas quenching
Reliability
Uninterrupted production
Circularity
Advanced plastics recycling
Selectivity
Aromatic extraction and purification
Explore our solutions for refining industry
Explore some of our success stories for refining industry
Refining
Asia
Achieving 95% thermal efficiency for fired heaters
Challenge:
A refinery needed to boost the thermal efficiency of several fired heaters both natural-draft and forced-draft with APH to reduce fuel consumption and meet decarbonization targets. However, efficiency was limited to 92% due to sulfur dew point corrosion risks.
Solution:
Sulzer applied 95+ Heater technology as drop-in solution to those existing fired heaters, both natural-draft ones and forced-draft ones, to treat their fuel gas. After 95+ Heater technology applications, the sulfur dew point is eliminated and significantly more heat recovery can be recovered.
Technology:
Results:
All upgraded heaters achieved >95% thermal efficiency with no signs of corrosion or fouling. Flue gas temperatures dropped to 85 °C, fuel gas consumption was significantly reduced, and the refinery exceeded its decarbonization goals with a fast return on investment.
Refining
Asia
Converting FCC gasoline to petrochemicals
Challenge:
A refinery anticipated a long-term decline in gasoline demand and sought to convert part of its gasoline molecules into petrochemical products, focusing on its largest unit – FCC.
Solution:
Sulzer applied GT-BTX PluS unit to process the MCN (middle cracked naphtha) of the FCC gasoline that contains C6-C8 portion. The GT-BTX PluS utilized two-column extractive distillation system to extract the high-purity aromatics from the MCN, followed by HDS to remove sulfur to meet the petrochemical-spec benzene, toluene, and mixed xylenes.
Technology:
Results:
Roughly 20% of the FCC gasoline is converted into high-purity BTX. The remaining non-aromatic stream can be recycled for extra propylene (via FCC) or additional BTX (via GT-Aromatization).
Refining
Asia
Helping the FCC gasoline desulfurization to reduce its octane loss to near-zero
Challenge:
A refinery was in need to remove sulfur from its FCC gasoline to meet Euro-5 specification, but all available hydrodesulfurization method have notable octane loss due to partial olefin saturation.
Solution:
Sulzer applied GT-BTX PluS unit to treat the MCN (middle cracked naphtha) of the FCC gasoline before the HDS (hydrodesulfurization) unit. The GT-BTX PluS utilized two-column extractive distillation system to separate olefins from sulfur, allowing sulfur removal by HDS while all the olefins being skipped, preserved, and enter to gasoline pool directly.
Technology:
Results:
The octane loss across the FCC desulfurization unit is reduced from ~3 to much less than 1 (<1) after applying GT-BTX PluS unit. The HDS unit also has much less hydrogen consumption because olefins are being skipped instead of being saturated. Project payback time is less than 3 years.
Refining
Middle East
Existing aromatics extraction unit revamp to boost recovery and cut energy use
Challenge:
Several refineries and petrochemical plants suffered large amount of aromatics loss, especially benzene loss, in their NFM solvent extraction units. Most units had done multiple troubleshooting attempts with physical modifications while keeping the NFM solvent, but failed to achieve required improvement.
Solution:
Sulzer revamped the units using GT-BTX™ technology, replacing NFM with the high-efficiency proprietary Techtiv™ solvent. Existing columns and major equipment were reused to minimize revamp costs.
Technology:
Results:
Benzene loss dropped to below 1% immediately after the revamp. Energy consumption decreased, some units gained extra capacity, and project payback was less than one year.
150+ Years Experience
Proven track record in chemical process engineering and equipment manufacturing.
Global Presence
Worldwide support network with local expertise and rapid response capabilities.
Quality Assurance
ISO certified processes and rigorous quality control for reliable, safe operations.