April 2017
Process Engineering
Calculate gasoline RVP seasonal change giveaway economics
Despite high demand and depressed refining margins, the US is in the midst of a glut of gasoline. This predicament is causing a rush to convert summer gasoline into cheaper winter gasoline, in the hope that using cheap butane and higher Reid vapor pressure (RVP) specs will increase refining profits.
The Authors
Ara Barsamian is the President of Refinery Automation Institute (RAI) LLC. He has more than 45 years of experience in gasoline, diesel and biofuels blending operations and technology. Earlier in his career, he was a group head with Exxon Research and Engineering Co., President of 3X Corp., and Vice-President of ABB Simcon, all in the area of fuels blending. Mr. Barsamian holds BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from City University of New York in New York.
Lee Eliseo Curcio is a Chemical Engineer, Vice President and CFO at Refinery Automation Institute (RAI). As a blending and optimization specialist, he has worked with RAI for the past 6 yr in the areas of gasoline, diesel and bunker blending, ethanol nonlinear property correlations and octane boost, and naphtha and butane blending. He also teaches the gasoline, diesel and bunker blending optimization section of RAI’s blending public course. As a manager, he is responsible for growing the business, acquiring new customers and managing company cashflow. He worked previously at Catholic University of Louvain in advanced modeling and optimization. He holds BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering with high honors from the University of Calabria in Italy.
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