Example: Display crudes that satisfy certain criteria

Worked example: At the refinery for which you make purchasing decisions, the operations manager has determined that, owing to product constraints, you can only run crudes with a kerosene API between 39.2 and 40.3, and with a whole crude sulphur in the range 0.8-2.0 wt%. How can you limit the crudes which you can consider for purchase according to these specifications?

You need to configure a filter to display only those crudes with a sulphur content of 0.8-2%wt and a kerosene API of 39.1-40.3.

1. Create a new filter

   Ensure the Database is open by clicking Database in the Navigator pane.

   

   Select Configure Filters from the Filter menu in the View group of the Home ribbon tab. The Filter Configuration dialog box opens.

   

   Click the Add Filter button to create a new filter.

   

   In the Enter name for Filter dialog box, enter the name of the filter as Kerosene/Sulphur Filter. Click OK to create the filter.

   

2. Configure the filter properties

   You will need to combine two property constraint conditions to form the filter. To configure the first filter condition, click the Property Constraint Filter option button. The Property Constraint Filter pane becomes active and shows a default property constraint condition.

   

   The first constraint is whole crude sulphur 0.8-2%wt. Select Sulphur (Total) from the When Property box in the Property Constraints Filter pane.

   

   The With Cut box holds the start and end cut points of the cut to which the constraint applies. The box may be set to Crude (IBP-FBP) by default, meaning that the constraint applies over the entire crude. If not, set the cut points to IBP (Initial Boiling Point) and FBP (Final Boiling Point) to apply the constraint to the whole crude.

   

   The actual range of the constraint is set via the Has Value between boxes in the Property Constraints Filter pane. By default, the lower limit of the value range is set to no minimum and the upper limit to no maximum. Edit the no minimum entry and change it to 0.8 to set the lower limit on the constraint range. Edit the no maximum entry to 2.0 to set the upper limit on the constraint range. Set the unit type for the constraint range to % in the rightmost drop-down box.

   

   The setup of the first of your property constraints is now complete. To add another constraint to the filter, click the Insert Item button at the bottom of the list of filter conditions on the left-hand side of the Filter Configuration dialog. A second property constraint, identical to the constraint you have just added, appears in the filter condition list. The new constraint is highlighted to show it is the constraint currently available for editing.

   

   Now repeat the process by which you configured the first property constraint to configure the second property constraint. You will need to set the following:

   • The When Property list to API.

   • The With Cut fields to the start and end cut points of the kerosene cut to which the API constraint applies, namely 200-260°C.

   • The Has Value between fields to the permissible values of the kerosene API, namely 39.2-40.3.

     The active filter constraint in the list on the left-hand side of the Filter Configuration dialog automatically updates to reflect your changes. Once you have configured the second condition, press the button to combine (logical AND) the two filter conditions together.

     The completed Filter Configuration dialog should now look like this:

     

     Click OK to apply your filter and close the Filter Configuration dialog box.

3. View the newly filtered list of crudes

   The database view now shows only those crudes that fall within the property constraints you have entered. Therefore, this is a list of crudes you may be interested in.

   

   When you no longer need your custom filtered view of crudes in the database, you can remove the filter by selecting All crudes from the Filter box.