Abstract: Following the commissioning of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) in Canada, the first cargo of Access Western Blend (AWB) crude oil was delivered in August 2024 to a coastal refinery of a petrochemical company in China. Based on the industrial practice of processing AWB crude oil in the atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, this study investigates its adaptability to the downstream secondary processing units and analyzes the economic benefits. The results show that the atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit can stably process AWB crude oil at a blending ratio of 30%（w）, with light oil yield decreasing by 2.84 percentage points and total distillate yield decreasing by 3.92 percentage points. Sulfur and nitrogen are concentrated in the vacuum residue, while acid value is concentrated in the wax distillate, requiring targeted anti-corrosion measures. The nitrogen load increases in the fixed-bed residue hydrotreating unit, leading to a rise in catalyst operating temperature. The coking rate increases in the delayed coking unit, necessitating product slate adjustments. In the slurry-bed residue hydrocracking unit, feedstock sulfur, nitrogen, metals, asphaltenes, and viscosity increase significantly, with the reactor axial temperature rise reaching 6.4 ℃ and the chemical hydrogen consumption increasing to 3.87%. AWB crude oil delivers significant economic benefits, with a per-ton margin 317 Yuan higher than that of the baseline crude. This practice validates the processability of AWB crude oil in domestic refining units and provides data support for crude slate optimization amid the trend toward heavier, poorer-quality feedstocks.

Key words: AWB crude oil, atmospheric and vacuum distillation, fixed-bed residue hydrotreating, delayed coking, slurry-bed residue hydrogenation