Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

During past 20 years, the US Petroleum Refining Industry has reduced over twenty-five percent of the energy consumed per barrel of the crude processed. The energy conservation efforts were initiated by conducting energy audits for the
determination of the magnitude of various energy losses. Numerous new concepts in
process operation and equipment design were developed and applied in industry.
Most of the energy conservation projects consisted of:
• the heat transfer equipment modifications;
• improvements in equipment insulation;
• upgrading of instrumentation and process control and
• the optimization of the process operations.

Data related to the energy conservation efforts at various refineries in Saudi Arabia
were collected to determine the details of the energy conservation activities. These
activities include:
• energy audits;
• energy related project evaluations;
• implementation of economically viable energy conservation projects; and
• the magnitude of the energy conservation achieved to date.

This paper reviews major areas of energy conservation and energy conservation
techniques used worldwide. The data collected from the petroleum industry in Saudi Arabia is summarized. The projects with a high potential of implementation in other Arab countries are highlighted.