A petroleum refinery model, Petroleum Refinery Life-cycle Inventory Model (PRELIM), which quantifies energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with the detail and transparency sufficient to inform policy analysis is developed. PRELIM improves on prior models by representing a more comprehensive range of crude oil quality and refinery configuration, using publicly available information, and supported by refinery operating data and experts' input. The potential use of PRELIM is demonstrated through a scenario analysis to explore the implications of processing crudes of different qualities, with a focus on oil sands products, in different refinery configurations. The variability in GHG emissions estimates resulting from all cases considered in the model application shows differences of up to 14 g CO₂eq/MJ of crude, or up to 11 g CO₂eq/MJ of gasoline and 19 g CO₂eq/MJ of diesel (the margin of deviation in the emissions estimates is roughly 10%). This variability is comparable to the magnitude of upstream emissions and therefore has implications for both policy and mitigation of GHG emissions.

A petroleum refinery model, Petroleum Refinery Life-cycle Inventory Model (PRELIM), that estimates energy use and CO emissions was modified to evaluate the environmental and economic performance of a set of technologies to reduce CO emissions at refineries. Cogeneration of heat and power (CHP), carbon capture at fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) and steam methane reformer (SMR) units, and alternative hydrogen production technologies were considered in the analysis. The results indicate that a 3-44% reduction in total annual refinery CO emissions (2-24% reductions in the CO emissions on a per barrel of crude oil processed) can be achieved in a medium conversion refinery that processes a typical U.S. crude slate obtained by using the technologies considered. A sensitivity analysis of the quality of input crude to a refinery, refinery configuration, and prices of natural gas and electricity revealed how the magnitude of possible CO emissions reductions and the economic performance of the mitigation technologies can vary under different conditions. The analysis can help inform decision making related to investment decisions and CO emissions policy in the refining sector.

No abstract