Capital efficient ethane cracking: Quantifying the tradeoffs between full recovery and streamlined configurations

Ibrahim Alabbas is a chemical engineer with > 7 yr of experience at Saudi Aramco, specializing in petroleum refining, with a focus on hydroprocessing units. Throughout his career, he has played a key role in major industrial initiatives and is currently contributing to one of the largest liquids-to-chemicals projects in the Middle East. Alabbas has also led multiple corporate-wide decarbonization initiatives, where he jointly developed an innovative in-house solution known as Emissions Management System (EMS). EMS is a tool designed to monitor and abate carbon emissions across operations with > 100 facilities.   

Khaled Alshehri is a seasoned technical expert with > 10 yr of experience in the oil and gas industry. He earned an MS degree in chemical engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and an MBA from Swiss Business School. With a strong background in central engineering, Alshehri has provided critical support to refinery operations and projects, leveraging his technical expertise to drive business growth and optimization. Notably, he has played a key role in the pre-commissioning, commissioning and startup of major refineries, including the Yasref and Jazan refineries. Alshehri serves as a Supervisor of Project Engineering in the Liquid-to-Chemical Program Technical Support Division, where he is applying his technical and business acumen to deliver project excellence with a unique blend of technical expertise and business savvy. 

Abdulhadi Asqool is a results-driven engineering and project management professional with > 12 yrs of experience at Saudi Aramco, specializing in large-scale petrochemical and energy developments. He earned a degree in electrical engineering, with double minors in computer engineering and mathematics. He currently serves as Supervisor Project Engineer within the liquid-to-chemical program, ethane cracker division, leading complex capital projects across the full lifecycle from technology selection to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) execution, commissioning and startup. Asqool has played key roles in major strategic developments, including the Jazan refinery and IGCC projects, and brings extensive experience collaborating with global licensors to deliver advanced process technologies.

Amod Pandey is a chemical engineer with > 20 yrs of experience in the petrochemicals industry, with a strong focus on technology licensing. He has been with Lummus for > 14 yrs and has been involved in various aspects of technology licensing from basic engineering design to plant performance tests across a wide range of technologies. Pandey serves as a Process Design Manager within the Process Engineering Group at Lummus Technology India. He is actively engaged in both grassroots and revamp petrochemical projects, where he leads process design efforts and drives engineering excellence.