Mitsubishi Power supporting efficient utilization of hydrogen in the petroleum refining process

Mitsubishi Power, a power solutions brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), has begun providing ENEOS Corporation with an energy balance optimization service to realize efficient utilization of hydrogen in the petroleum refining process.

As part of a demonstration experiment conducted at the ENEOS Corporation Sakai Refinery in Osaka, where the service was first implemented, MHI introduced the cloud platform of its TOMONI® suite of intelligent solutions incorporating ENERGY CLOUD®, an analysis engine that uses proprietary AI and IoT technologies for forecasting and optimization.

This experiment confirmed positive results for regulating the production and consumption volume of hydrogen used in the desulfurization stage of oil refining, as well as efficient utilization of the by-product hydrogen obtained in the subsequent refining process. Based on this result, MHI began providing this solution to ENEOS in February 2023.

During the process of refining kerosene, gasoline, and other petroleum products from crude oil, desulfurization using hydrogen is conducted to remove the sulfur present in crude oil. Due to the nature of crude oil, the amount of hydrogen needed for desulfurization varies according to the region where the oil was produced, affecting the performance of the treatment facilities.

Accordingly, refineries require sophisticated refining operations, including regulating the production volume of the hydrogen utilizing unused source gas (off-gas), an operation that typically requires the judgment of skilled staff. The application of TOMONI, which has been trained on service usage data, lowers costs, while at the same time ensuring the continuation of this advanced operational technology. In addition, this AI technology can also be applied for the utilization of by-product hydrogen obtained during this oil manufacturing process, with the AI system determining the volume recirculated to the hydrogen production equipment after desulfurization.

By combining the know-how acquired from chemical plants and power generation facilities of MHI Group with AI and IoT technologies, and applying it to the upstream fuel supply process in the value chain, this project aims to optimize operations for facilities overall and reduce the volume of CO2 emissions.