o The Refinery as an Integrated System.
o Crude Oil Quality and Its Impact on Refinery Operations.
o Atmospheric Distillation.
o Crude Preheat Train and Furnace Operations.
o Exercises:
• Exercise 01: Trace crude from the CDU feed pump to the loading racks and identify the single operating variable that controls yield at every stage.

• Exercise 02: Determine which units take the hit when an opportunity crude arrives and specify every operational adjustment needed before the first parcel clears the gate.

• Exercise 03: Track down why kerosene keeps failing its flash point specification day after day and prescribe the fix that stops the recurrence.

• Exercise 04: Map how the opportunity crude reshapes yields and unit loading across the entire refinery and identifying the two units closest to their operational limits.
Refinery Omega Anchor Scenario: All case studies and exercises draw from a single medium complexity conversion refinery processing a mixed crude slate, used progressively across all five days

o Vacuum Distillation.
o Visbreaking and Delayed Coking.
o Fluid Catalytic Cracking.
o FCC Optimization, Troubleshooting and Refinery Wide Impact.
o Exercises:

• Exercise 05: Determine which residue management option keeps Refinery Omega running when the visbreaker hits capacity and vacuum residue volume climbs.
• Exercise 06: Track down why the FCC regenerator temperature spiked after the crude quality change and identify the root cause before the excursion becomes a trip.

o Hydrotreating: Sulfur, Nitrogen and Metals Removal.
o Hydrocracking: When Hydrotreatment Is Not Enough.
o Catalytic Reforming and Isomerization: Making Gasoline.
o Product Treatment, Sulfur Recovery and Blending.
o Exercises:

• Exercise 07: Recover diesel sulfur specification with a catalyst approaching end of run and determine which option costs least without compromising the next turnaround.

• Exercise 08: Close a 2.5 RON octane gap at the reformer and quantify exactly what that decision costs in hydrogen and catalyst life.

• Exercise 09: Build the emergency response that keeps H₂S under control when the Claus unit trips and flaring is not an option.

o The Hydrogen Economy of a Refinery: Supply, Demand and Balance.
o Refinery Energy Integration and Heat Recovery.
o Advanced Process Control and the Panel Operator's Role.
o Operational Troubleshooting: Reading the Refinery When Something Is Wrong.

o Exercises:

• Exercise 10: Sequence the hydrogen load shed correctly when the plant trips and 4 hours of header inventory stand between normal operations and a refinery-wide disruption.

• Exercise 11: Put a number on what a fouling preheat train is costing every week and make the argument that cleaning it now is cheaper than waiting for the turnaround.

• Exercise 12: Dig through process data from a multi-unit upset, identify the single root cause connecting all the symptoms, and reconstruct the response that should have happened.

n the Claus unit trips and flaring is not an option

o Morning Session: Participants map the cascade impact of a simultaneous crude quality change, partial hydrogen plant loss, and upcoming vacuum unit turnaround.

o Afternoon Session: Participants defend their operational plan to the Operations Manager under real time challenge, what happens if the hydrotreater produces off spec diesel, or the FCC cannot sustain the proposed throughput.

o Individual Quiz Assessment: 20 questions. Minimum passing score: 60%.