Article Highlights

Caltex’s annual energy bill runs into hundreds of millions of dollars. And that means even incremental savings can make a worthwhile difference to the bottom line.

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The total potential savings identified at the two refineries are worth more than $7 million and represent over 1.1 million gigajoules of energy per year. While these figures seem impressive, the savings are only two to three per cent of Caltex’s total fuel costs and energy consumption.

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The broader picture

In broader terms, the study confirms that while there are some cost savings to be made by introducing efficiency measures overall there is minimal scope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through improved efficiency. This is why the CPRS will have little impact as an incentive to reduce emissions.

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Refinery energy study evaluates potential savings

Refinery energy study evaluates potential savings

Kurnell’s Louise Sinclair with a crude exchanger train, a potential target for energy saving

A Caltex refinery never sleeps. It works day and night to produce the transport fuels on which Australia depends to keep its economy moving.

This process devours huge amounts of energy in the form of electricity, natural gas and other hydrocarbons to produce the heat and steam needed to turn crude oil into petroleum products. Caltex’s annual energy bill runs into hundreds of millions of dollars. And that means even incremental savings can make a worthwhile difference to the bottom line.

With potential savings in mind and as part of the federal government’s Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) program, during much of 2008 Caltex’s refineries ran exhaustive studies to seek and identify energy saving opportunities and assess which ones could be implemented.

The work involved people across both refineries, many meetings and much expert help from an international consultancy, KBC Advanced Technologies, says Caltex’s Energy Specialist Refining Joe Rollo, who coordinated the studies, reviewed data and evaluated benefits.

Joe was well supported by energy engineers David Miller (Lytton) and Louise Sinclair (Kurnell) and the Chevron Business Improvement Network team.

The outcome was a recent report to the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism from Caltex Managing Director and CEO Des King detailing the opportunities to save. These included capital projects as well as non-capital schemes that may be implemented with little or no capital expenditure.

$7 million identified

"We’re now doing much more rigorous examination of our energy use and greenhouse emissions," explains Joe.

The total potential savings identified at the two refineries are worth more than $7 million and represent over 1.1 million gigajoules of energy per year. While these figures seem impressive, the savings are only two to three per cent of Caltex’s total fuel costs and energy consumption.

A wide range of opportunities were identified, from operational changes like reducing the amount of air vented at a catalytic cracking unit to investment in revamping heat exchange trains on large crude units, which would enable significant reduction in “furnace duty” (furnace fuel use) on the units.

While the non-investment initiatives will be pursued vigorously in the near term, the large capital modification prospects are generally not economically viable at present, says Joe.

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