Upgrading and Processing of Opportunity Crudes

"Opportunity" crudes are generally characterized by a variety of properties undesirable to a refiner, such as high total acid number (TAN), high sulfur, nitrogen and aromatics content, high viscosity, etc. Although these crudes can cause corrosion and fouling problems in a downstream facility, they offer attractive discounts in crude prices. Effective methods and technologies to upgrade and process opportunity crudes can resolve these problems and provide attractive margins to the refiner. This session is geared towards exploring the current R&D and technology status on upgrading and processing of opportunity crudes. Papers are solicited on this topic in the areas of research studies to understand the fundamental science, current industrial strategies and technologies, and the development of new processes and technologies.