Replies to post #74261 on MMEX Resources Corp (MMEX)

[jmjjw]

No article is necessary. The evidence is clear from MMEX's own materials.

This is excerpted from page 17 of MMEX's application to TCEQ for its administrative PBR Type O permit.



I'm not really here to provide a petroleum engineering, or "Refining 101" course to anyone for free.

I will provide interpretation of MMEX's proposed topping unit in narrative form.

H-400 is the crude heating furnace. It receives crude feedstock input after heat-exchange has occurred in units on the output side, capturing what would otherwise be waste heat in the process.

The furnace tube-side output feeds the atmospheric column, D-100. The column top strips the lightest fraction, raw naphtha, propane, butane, and light hydrocarbons, and feeds an accumulator/stripper to separate un-stabilized naphtha from oily water.

The unit is not set up to strip kerosene. Instead, all of the LGO/AGO fraction is reboiled to raw diesel. There is absolutely zero desulfurization capability on any of the streams. The "diesel stripper" is actually a re-boiler (D-130) that recirculates the AGO/LGO fraction in the main column.

The rest of the stream is atmospheric tower bottoms (ATB), also known as residual. This comes out the bottom of D-100, and is pumped off to local battery storage - it is the heaviest, lowest-value raw fraction from a unit like this.

I made no claim the unit could not produce diesel - I did claim, which is factual, that the unit cannot produce transportation-grade diesel. The "diesel" that comes from a unit like this must be converted for use as transportation fuel - desulphurized, cetane boosted, and blended for a regional/local market. It is not directly useful.

From this topping unit, MMEX can only produce raw, un-stabilized naphtha, raw, intermediate diesel, and ATB/resid. That's it. Not useful to the market in Mexico, even if it could be transported there. Not useful to anyone, other than another regional refiner, if it were needed. These intermediates can't be transported economically to anyone who either needs, or can use them.

OK. I would have thought that you would be able to come up with at least one article that confirms that the mmex topping unit is unable to produce diesel. If you can let me know. Thnx.