RE:RE:RE:Managment Needs to Explan This SCO PricingAs I understand the Syncrude process from the COS site, the Cokers or the LC Finer are similar to fractionating towers whereby the bitumen is cracked/heated and separated into various fractions of overlapping temperature components, Naphtha, kerosene, Light gas oil and Heavy gas oil. These four components, cooled to their liquid state, are then combined to provide SCO with the following spec.
There is no pure diesel component. The SCO is then shipped to a refinery where it put into a distillation tower and then blended to make a base stock for gasoline or diesel. Depending on the time of year, the refiner biases the refinery to produce more or less gasoline/diesel. In Suncor's case they have their own refinery.
Originally Syncrude used to sell SSB, Syncrude Sweet Blend. Once Coker 9-3 came on, they modified their process so that the output was biased more towards having a higher LGO fraction so that the refiner could get more diesel from a barrel of SCO, the name for the new product that was closer to WTI. Note that SCO has no bottoms vs 8% for a lot of crudes.
STEP 3.0: UPGRADING
The bitumen is fed into either a coker or the LC finer where it is thermally cracked or hydroprocessed to produce hydrocarbon gases, naphtha and gas oil. The liquid products are conveyed to the hydrotreating units for final clean-up.
STEP 3.1: SECONDARY UPGRADING
Hydrotreating is the final step in converting bitumen to synthetic crude oil. In the hydrotreating units, hydrogen is used to remove sulphur and nitrogen compounds.
STEP 4.0: BLENDING/STORAGE
The hydrotreated components are blended together, resulting in a sweet synthetic crude oil. The oil is then transported via pipeline to refineries throughout
Product Specification
Naphtha C5-350°F (C5-177°C)
Naphtha Fraction (%LV) 14.9
API Gravity (°API) 58.8
Total Sulphur (wppm) 3
Total Nitrogen (wppm) <1.5
Aromatics (wt%) 14
Kero 288-500°F (143-260°C)
Kero Fraction (%LV) 24.8
API Gravity (°API) 44.5
Total Sulphur (wppm) 14
Total Nitrogen (wppm) 4
Aromatics (wt%) 18
Smoke Point (mm) 19
LGO 350-650°F (177-343°C)
LGO Fraction (%LV) 42.1
API Gravity (°API) 36.2
Total Sulphur (wppm) 65
Total Nitrogen (wppm) 25
Aromatics (wt%) 20
Cetane Number 40
HGO 650+°F (343+°C)
HGO Fraction (%LV) 40.4
API Gravity (°API) 22.5
Total Sulphur (wppm) 2330
Total Nitrogen (wppm) 1330
Aromatics (wt%) 52