This is fascinating to me, because if the primary use of fossil energy at these plants is in process heating... why use electricity here at all? Seems to me like there are a variety of renewable options that could generate process heat at scale without involving the electrical grid at all.
Small-scale nuclear comes to mind first - after all, for every MW of electric a typical plant generates 2-3x that in thermal power, and removing the turbines+generators seems like a good way to lower complexity of an installation.
Solar-thermal might also be a viable option to explore in low latitudes with abundant sunshine colocated with existing oil reserves and processing plants. Even wind-powered heatpumps exist, though I doubt there is sufficient energy density for the levels of process heat needed for many refinery operations.
[+] [-] muthas|6 years ago|reply
Small-scale nuclear comes to mind first - after all, for every MW of electric a typical plant generates 2-3x that in thermal power, and removing the turbines+generators seems like a good way to lower complexity of an installation.
Solar-thermal might also be a viable option to explore in low latitudes with abundant sunshine colocated with existing oil reserves and processing plants. Even wind-powered heatpumps exist, though I doubt there is sufficient energy density for the levels of process heat needed for many refinery operations.