Capturing: Hydrocracking Additives Meet
Capturing: Hydrocracking Additives Meet
Q3 2020
ptq Q3 2020
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Cover
Visbreaker at Galp Energia’s Sines refinery, Portugal
Photo: Galp Energia
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12:16
ptqPETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY
Spending your
way out
Vol 25 No 4
Q3 (Jul, Aug, Sep) 2020
A
ssuming that this pandemic has an end-point, businesses in general – and
refiners more than most – would prefer a restoration of near-normal to some
Editor realignment of reality. Will max-oil arrive much sooner? Perhaps. Will we
Chris Cunningham all drive electric by the end of the decade? Probably not. And what about young
editor@petroleumtechnology.com chemical engineers in search of a career path? What is their view of oil refining
for a reliable future? So far, there are plenty of statements on the breeze, but
Production Editor few certainties.
Rachel Storry
production@petroleumtechnology.com
At PTQ’s press time, Europe’s refiners through their trade body, the
European Petroleum Refiners Association, set out their view on a ‘climate
Graphics neutral’ industry by 2050. The association’s task is to coordinate with the
Peter Harper European Union executive; 2050 is a target set previously by the EU. The refin-
graphics@petroleumtechnology.com ers were detailing some practical requirements for climate neutrality in the
form of a ‘potential pathway’. They base their case on the development of low
Editorial carbon liquid fuels for road, marine, and air transport, meaning second and
tel +44 844 5888 773
fax +44 844 5888 667
third generation biofuels and green hydrogen. Next comes the financial hit:
“To deliver such a pathway an investment estimated between €400 to €650 bil-
Business Development Director lion will be needed.”
Paul Mason Provided the cash is to hand, the pathway indicates that a cut of 100 million
sales@petroleumtechnology.com t/y in carbon dioxide output from the transport sector could be possible by
2035. At the end of the road to 2050, the refiners say, automobiles would have
Advertising Sales Office largely shifted to electric drives, so that the market for liquid fuels in trans-
tel +44 844 5888 771
fax +44 844 5888 662
port would fall to as little as a third of current levels, or about 150 million t/y
of liquid fuel products. The balance of demand from air, sea, and heavy road
Managing Director transport would be met by liquid fuels.
Richard Watts Finding the finance to at least kick-start this pathway to mid-century may
richard.watts@emap.com prove troublesome for the foreseeable future. In mid-June oil prices were dip-
ping significantly for the first time since April while margins were already run-
Circulation ning at low levels, especially in Europe where diesel is in heavy over-supply.
Fran Havard
circulation@petroleumtechnology.com
The tipping point for some upstream operations, particularly shale oil produc-
tion, continues to loom. BP, meanwhile, has earmarked up to $17.5 billion of
EMAP, 10th Floor, Southern House, operating write-downs to counter continued low prices and declining demand.
Wellesley Grove, Croydon CR0 1XG The International Energy Agency has been tracking investment in energy
tel +44 208 253 8695 projects all the more closely in response to the pandemic. At the start of 2020
the IEA projected a rise in investment spending of perhaps 2% on the year.
Lower demand, reduced earnings, and restricted movement of people have
Register to receive your regular copy of
PTQ at www.eptq.com/register
hit the energy industry particularly hard and so wrecked a once-reasonable
estimate. The current year is likely to experience the biggest decline in energy
PTQ (Petroleum Technology Quarterly) (ISSN investment on record, by a fifth, or almost $400 billion, set against spending
in 2019.
No: 1632-363X, USPS No: 014-781) is published
quarterly plus annual Catalysis edition by EMAP and
is distributed in the US by SP/Asendia, 17B South By aggregating investment data and announcements the agency has revised
its estimates. Petroleum based operations are taking the biggest hit, largely
Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831. Periodicals
postage paid at New Brunswick, NJ. Postmaster:
send address changes to PTQ (Petroleum Technology because of cuts to movement by land and air which together account for
Quarterly), 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ
08831. Back numbers available from the Publisher nearly 60% of the world’s demand for oil. At the height of the crisis in April,
at $30 per copy inc postage. year-on-year demand for oil was down by around 25 million b/d. At best,
demand in 2020 could slip by an average 9 million b/d, which is where we
were in 2012.
CHRIS CUNNINGHAM
PTQ Q3 2020 3
LOW INITIAL COST No matter how low the initial cost of a crude unit is,
Small relative size makes initial capital cost more the investment will not pay off if the unit is plagued by
manageable. Modules can be constructed in the avoidable problems. Poor desalting (corrosion), pre-
shop with nearly 100% productive time, and turnkey flash tower foaming (off-spec naphtha), tray plugging
fabrication and construction services lower the like- (poor fractionation and product quality), etc. can all be
lihood of project delays or cost overruns. mitigated by thoughtful front-end design.
For a project to realize the benefits listed above, it has Through creative flowsheet and equipment design,
to start up and run reliably. Saving initial capital by cut- PCS is able to significantly reduce the number of mod-
ting corners is a doomed strategy. Cost savings should ules required to build a modern crude distillation unit
result from clever flow schemes that minimize equip- that maximizes valuable product yield, energy efficien-
ment and module count without sacrificing product cy, and reliability.
yields or unit reliability.
Photo Credit: Honeywell UOP
Q Our cheaper crude intake has relatively high chloride downstream systems. In the regenerator itself there are
levels at the cost of increased preheat exchanger fouling. What cases where combustion problems manifest as a result
measures can we take to minimise the problem? of high chlorides, leading to rapid and severe CO excur-
sions, with the associated environmental compliance
A Tom Ventham, Sales & Technical, Europe and Africa Unicat and afterburn implications.
BV/G. W. Aru, LLC, tom.ventham@gwaru.com; CJ Farley, Senior Good desalting is essential to remove as much chlo-
Technical Services Engineer, G. W. Aru, LLC, cj.farley@gwaru. ride as possible from the eventual FCC feed compo-
com; and Natalie Herring, Director of Technology and Business nents. If an exhaustive investigation of typical sources
Development, G. W. Aru, LLC, natalie.herring@gwaru.com of chloride has not explained an increase, FCC catalyst
A further problem caused by high levels of chloride in should also be considered. It is known that FCC fresh
crude can be witnessed in the FCC unit. Chlorides are catalyst can release chlorides when injected to the FCC1
often found in heavy portions of crude, meaning they due to incomplete calcination of the FCC catalyst before
end up in the FCC unit, either in residue or VGO cuts. leaving the supplier’s factory. These effects are typi-
In the FCC, chlorides can affect product yields and are cally observed on the regenerator/flue gas side where
highly deleterious in both of the process outlets. When catalyst is exposed to high temperatures. Retention
chlorides enter the FCC, it can be observed that hydro- of fresh catalyst samples for retrospective testing is
gen yield increases and coke selectivity deteriorates. advised when a history of chloride corrosion has been
Several documented cases point to the issue of chlo- experienced.
ride increasing the activity of contaminant nickel in the
FCC unit when such effects are observed without a sub- 1 Salt deposition in FCC gas concentration units, Michel Melin, Colin Baillie
and Gordon McElhiney, Grace Davison Refining Technologies Europe, PTQ
sequent increase in metals loading. Routine analysis is Q4 2009.
advised in the event this phenomenon is seen, but as
chlorides often enter the FCC in brief slugs, reactivating
the nickel present, it is rare to be able to capture these A Melissa Clough Mastry, Technology Manager EMEA, BASF,
effects within the normal sampling schedule. melissa.mastry@basf.com
Focusing on the hydrocarbon outlet, where chlorides Another point to consider is if the chlorides are making
leave with cracked products, serious problems can be their way past crude processing, there is a chance for
found in the upper sections of the main fractionator and chlorides to also enter the FCC if your refinery is con-
in the gas plant. In the main fractionator, chloride com- figured with one. Once chlorides enter an FCC, they
bines with ammonia, which is typically found in excess may cause problems downstream, including fouling of
due to the cracking of amines in feed, to form ammo- the main column overhead system (NH4Cl deposition)
nium chloride. Ammonium chloride salt deposition may or even within the FCC by reactivating old contami-
occur under certain conditions as a function of partial nant nickel (leading to higher hydrogen and coke). The
pressure of NH3 and HCl and the dewpoint of water. preferred option to minimise the problem is to avoid all
Where NH4Cl deposits form on trays, increased pressure sources of chlorides – so optimising the crude desalting
drop or tower flooding issues can occur. This situation processing or using an FCC catalyst that has zero chlo-
is typically seen towards the top of the tower, especially ride content. (It is known that if present in the fresh cata-
when a side cut naphtha stream is taken, such as heavy lyst, not all the chlorides will leave from the regenerator
cut naphtha (HCN), which results in a cooler tower top stack, but some will entrain to the riser side.)
temperature of <120°C. A water wash in the reflux can
help alleviate this situation as NH4Cl is highly soluble A Xiomara Price, Senior Product Analytics/Support Manager,
in water. However, if the material has already solidified, SUEZ – Water Technologies & Solutions, xiomara.price@suez.
this is unlikely to help. Further, amine filmers, which are com
supplied by water treatment companies, can be used to Salt and solids fouling can occur either in the cold pre-
add a protective layer on the trays, but this is more effec- heat exchangers before the desalter or the hot preheat
tive for clean trays as a preventative measure. Typically, exchangers after the desalter. This type of cold preheat
mechanical removal of the deposits is required follow- fouling can be typically addressed by adding a portion
ing a unit shutdown. of the desalter water wash to the front end of the preheat
Additionally, and at higher tower top temperatures, exchangers.
corrosion problems can be seen further downstream, The desalter is the primary defence against salt and
such as chloride stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in the solids fouling in the hot preheat exchangers. Desalter
wet gas compressor and interstage cooling system. A performance optimisation is essential to mitigate the
suitable water wash system is required to minimise cor- fouling. It can be achieved by adjusting any number of
rosion in this vulnerable area. variables depending on your specific system design,
On the regenerator side, chlorides also cause corrosion operation, and limitations. Some of those variables
problems through SCC in flue gas ducting and other include percent wash water, mix valve pressure drop,
Flexibility is profitable
Flexibility Matters tray vapor loads and internal liquid reflux rates.
Keeping the upper pumparounds loaded can
In uncertain times, refineries can maximize profit (or at
least minimize loss) through flexible operations. Crude also help avoid low pumparound return or tower
units are the first link in the refinery processing chain, overhead temperatures that condense water and
and making large changes in crude diet or throughput cause salting or corrosion problems. It may even
stresses even the most state-of-the-art unit. make sense to turn off a lower pumparound.
chloride levels. Have the chloride levels (salt levels) of plants – the FCC unit, hydrocracking unit, residue
the desalted crude increased? Refiners often respond to desulphurisation and so on
increased desalted crude chloride levels by increasing ■ Increased coking rate in the downstream unit fur-
the caustic dosage after the desalter and this may lead to naces; for instance, the vacuum and visbreaker units
increased fouling in the hot preheat exchangers. Caustic ■ Low quality produced fuel oil (fouling problems in
usage should be minimised by optimising desalter per- the burners, for instance in a power station or in the fuel
formance, for example by increasing washwater to the oil furnaces)
desalters and optimising washwater distribution over
the cold preheat and upstream the mix valve, and opti- Caustic Replacer
mising mix valve pressure drop. In order to manage these issues, Chimec has developed
If not controlled properly, the increased desalted Chimec 3034 – Caustic Replacer to substitute completely
crude chloride content may lead to higher levels or partially the injection of NaOH downstream the
of hydrochloric acid going to the overhead and an desalter; the overall effect is the reduction of the sodium
increased overhead salt formation potential; deposited content in the atmospheric residue.
salt decreases heat exchange in the overhead/cold crude This implies:
heat exchangers. If this happens, it would normally also • Lower catalyst poisoning (hence deactivation) in the
be noticed by an increased pressure drop over these downstream unit
exchangers on the overhead side and an increased tower • Lower coking rate catalysed by Na in the downstream
top pressure. furnaces
If the preheat exchanger fouling cannot be controlled • Higher fuel oil quality
by changes in pretreatment, blending, or desalter oper- • Lower Cl level in the overhead systems, thus lower
ation, an antifoulant programme may help reduce the corrosion rate
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expertise and know-how to provide innovative solutions for the cost-effective
production of low sulfur fuel oil. Our novel LC-LSFO technology combines our
well established LC-FINING and RDS platforms to increase conversion while still
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I
hydrogen produced. When uprating a hydrogen plant, Gasoline
a similar uprating of the PSA should be performed to LPG/LCN Distillates
.J,cuts Fuel oil
handle additional throughput and maintain or improve
the purity of the hydrogen processed. The first adjust-
ment for this new operating mode is typically focused PolyFuel
Oligomerisation
➔ LPG raffinate
on the capacity of the PSA system. Is the current design
of the PSA able to handle up to 20% more throughput? , Oligomers partially Oligomers used
PSAs are often overdesigned by 120% of nominal capac- or totally recycled as motor fuels
to FCC:
ity. Thus, most PSA units could potentially handle the Gasoline
FlexEne solution /Dist illates ) Gasoline
feed increase expected. However, there are a significant (
oligomers --)-- Distillates
number of critical points that must be considered. For
instance, is the tail gas drum capacity sufficient to han- Figure 1 Oligomerisation within FCC block
dle the increase in tail gas generation? Also close atten-
tion must be given if the throughput increase impacts coke (versus disc and donuts, baffles, or other technolo-
any operational parameters such as the feed pressure. In gies), the air demand and regenerator(s) temperature are
that case, modification of the programmable logic con- drastically reduced. Temperature drops of 10-15°C are
trol (PLC) can take place. Eventually, if there is a require- routinely achieved, and possibly more depending on the
ment to maintain high recovery and high purities, starting point. The ‘room’ thus freed in the regenerator
revamping must be considered. This implies an increase enables increasing the ROT in order to reach higher pro-
in the number of absorbing vessels, PLC replacement, as pylene yields.
well as a redesign of the absorbents loading scheme. Some other technical elements offered by the FCC
PSA units operating in hydrogen flow schemes con- Alliance and Axens have similar effects, albeit to a lesser
tain several layers of absorbent material, including alu- extent:
mina, activated carbon, and molecular sieves used to • Feed injectors: FIT G-Series or FIT R-Series (depend-
remove the contaminants found in the hydrogen rich ing on the unit feed diet) will reduce coke production
stream. However, the most crucial layer in achiev- through better, more intimate contacting of the feed. The
ing high performance tends to be the carbon layer. The liquid hydrocarbons are more efficiently and quickly
ability to load a higher density activated carbon layer vaporised to promote vapour phase cracking in order
increases the absorption capacity in a fixed volume to limit coke formation by deposition on the catalyst.
which is an ideal solution for these uprate cases. Unicat Following the same principle as above, reduced demand
can supply a wide range of PSA advanced absorbents on the regenerator side allows increased severity
and also offers the whole range of PSA solutions. As an • The RS2 riser termination device will ensure mini-
independent supplier, Unicat can offer absorbents and mum thermal degradation. The same load on the wet
solutions to all PSA designs and licences. A number of gas compressor can thus be achieved at the same unit
successful case studies and a long reference list of PSA throughput but operating at higher severity to promote
applications Unicat have been involved in are available propylene production
to discuss. • MTC Technology: a riser quench that will force an
increase in the catalyst circulation rate, bringing more
energy to the riser and thus improving feed vaporisation
Q We are aiming to boost our FCC propylene output. What and performances
recent developments would you recommend? In addition, if the LCN or external olefin-rich cuts can
be disposed of, coupling the FCC unit with an external
A Nicolas Lambert, Technology Team Manager – RDS, FCC oligomerisation unit will prove a very efficient substi-
& Sweetening Segment, Axens, Nicolas.LAMBERT@axens.net tute to a secondary riser.
and Thibault Reffet, Technology Team Manager – Clean Fuels, Indeed, the principal pathway for propylene from
Axens, Thibault.REFFET@axens.net LCN cracking is through the intermediate oligomer-
Beyond the obvious adjustments to the catalytic systems isation of olefins subsequently followed by cracking.
to include ZSM-5 and follow closely the latest catalytic Cracking of paraffins requires much more energy for
developments, some upgrades on the technology side limited results. Externalising the oligomerisation step
are possible. The principal hurdle will be the hydraulic through Polynaphtha or PolyFuel processes will ensure
limitations of the unit which could require reducing the a much higher extent of this reaction step, leaving only
unit throughput to achieve better performance. the cracking part to be performed by the cat cracker.
Not so recent, but efficient in generating some margin In such a case, only oligomers are recycled to the FCC
in an existing unit, which can in turn be used to increase unit, requiring far less space than the full LCN cut, for
unit severity, is the FCC Alliance Stripper Packing. This instance, for much better results.
largely proven equipment aims at thorough stripping Moreover in addition to the LCN, the oligomerisation
of spent catalyst under all circumstances in the unit. unit can convert the C4 olefins into oligomers that can
Through an important reduction of hydrogen content in be cracked to propylene. Hence, by using this type of
grace.com/value
units.
In-line The
Prescriptive
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determine
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and from
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This
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to avoid price it. Itdata,
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sour
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cracker)
• Firstfact, water
and thetoacatalytic
system
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and
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naphtha
success reachof interest
recycle.
factors sintering and
The excitement
company
temperatures around
hasinsuccessfully it
themethane gather-
order
methods
inside
addition,
data, simulates itof
the salts
enables pores
the removal
higher toin yield
scenarios, such
involve blending
conversion
and monoborylated
calculates systems
the capability,
injection the are:
of wash
which
value
(i) ing
utilised
The
water
means
of while
cleaning
pace
of 1000°C
quality
into allthe
this
preventing
the
feature
in
of time.
heat the
the to
theFCC, maximise
models
exchangers.
more heavy naphtha for petrochemical aromatics. depending
formation C/O
correlating
If
of these
the onratio the
methods
thermodynam-and
contaminant spectrallower are and notab
the partial
effective level
characteristics
ically
Increase in
more pressure
there to
removing
the efficient are
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favoured of the
many
actualwater
usethe hydrocarbon
other
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diborylated
of future
hydrogen risks of
salts,feed
to
the
methane. on in
equipmentthe
hydrocar-
the In riser,
otherthe
• Data
Scoping analytics
out the predicts
results andfor changesconversion the redesigne
and
bon
hand next
for better at
damage
stream the
washphase same
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of time
focus
our impliesto on
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tional thus
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same air
chemistry, ofIt
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First,
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of
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PCAs,
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software
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cclaesen@ecolab.com the for
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tion of
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easiest and(hydrogenation)
Na.
toheavy
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manage, These yield
will
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affectkeyfirst
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the
longer
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can need
be as to
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businesses for tank coils, pro
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idence– the
furthermore,
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particle to
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understand be KPIs the monitor-
requirement heaters.
and
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Process hydrogenation
melting
challenging fractionator
water point
advantaged used, of
eutectics
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thereby
crudes. that
withThe canfrequent
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ability nitro-aromatics
at regener-
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to upgrade to
costs
ing forthe performance
workers willreactor of
evolve. the analytics
Organisations and data
and to
people ensure will
the
and is
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ator
refinery
products issues. beyond the
temperatures
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oil manufacture
diet
the ability pressure
and
and/or damage aromatic
to
use reduce
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‘import’
of conventional catalysts amines
hydrocarbon a
of (ani-
cata-
new
the system
need to is operating
retrain themselves. correctly. Orifice design
lines),
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isThe goodimportant for unit to the
conversion agrochemical, and pig-
blending
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components)
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catalyst
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formulation,
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impact pharmaceutical
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gasoline
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into units. not
product Nitro-aromatic
practical
tanks and/solu-
difficult
out
Conclusion of ora higher
new margin,
trend which lower we quality
term feeds‘networks
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ortion compounds
ships
The
producing
KPIs
forIfisanthe
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proven consist
Chimec
desired
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unit of
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salt
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at
because
tometals
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dispersant one
ofinvariousnitro
confirmed
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gives
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in
group
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refineries.
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following (NO
refin- be2)
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to an aromatic The ring. opportunity
Typically, to their seamlessly
hydro- the storage tan
like
From
•advantages:
Increaseapressure
the root
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cause,
quality loadings
measures
point of can tocetane
view, the
be MF
taken
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no WGC,
either
prin-
ing and
connect
genation chemicals
elements has ofquality
industries.
required the value (diesel
Digitalisation
use chainof will give
catalysts
number
can address
competitive
containing
and tomers. As the
and
ciple
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smoke remove
difference
product point) them isbetween
andoil from
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yields. the
those andfeed
The wateror
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dispersible,and
hydrogenation a special
directthus
many of
precious the issues
to companies
metals that
such have
asItwhich compromised
platinum, recognise palladium, KPI
that and effec-
or for- can
rho- the furnaces in
For
blending
injected
characteristic an
metal inexisting
into passivation
the a unit
pipeline.
oil or operating
wateradditive is without
that
important,
stream it prevents
is constraints
however,
homogenously the toin
tiveness
take
dium. inOther
advantage theofpast. MACH
of the
researchers
catalyst
Weopportunity
seehave a future helps to build
reported
to convert
evolving that business where
changing
more alli- flowing throug
the gas
realise
dispersed
aromatics, mation
thatfractionation
inofthe
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thereby eutectics.
potential section,
oil/water
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propylene
matrix, consequences
reaching yield all
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areas
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routine
ances
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across
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from KPIs
Much asdue
nanoparticles Amazonto theto highly
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highly ally decreases.
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during
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volume feed
the
can hasof
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Na
process (in by
salt)
could using
in be the a CDU
consid- com-
autonomous
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clusters of or
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shippingInstead
single-atom and KPIssites
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supply
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••bination
erable.
After
Increasedesalters
Thus, ofthe
reaction the can
taking above
with
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of mentioned
optimised
decision the molecule
premium by
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selecting
implement
fuels becomes
through To further
thedirect most
polar,
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chains,
Pt catalyston identifying
process with manufacturers exceptions
iron up oxide will and
(FeOdo anomalies.
)wt% to react toresulted
support KPIs
market the required he
boost
blending
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increased propylene
suitable
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conversion athe yield,
demulsifier
pipeline
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ough
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MACH typically
grammes.
analysis can take
technology require
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understanding
place
therefore in the revamps
provides will
first also
of downstream
all
valuable anselectivity
forthereduce existing
product
oppor- or
oil/
ations Theoptimised
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ofacross modelling.
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nitro-aromatics toKPIs
will thebe will around
aromatic be 100mm. Then, o
unit.
quality
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tunities Shell
stop risks,
separator.
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the physical and
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TechnologiesV, of
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Houston, with
film and
USA. Na, C/O
transfer,
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Email:can ratio,
beand
corrosion utilising
reduced
proof
sal.torrisi@shell.com inhib- at a
of
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will ofbe action. of its
most isable low toacidity
achieve and digital weak interaction,
transformation SiOin a tion thickness o
high
the
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quality
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ofdispute,
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system whichrequires
Catalysts tomay
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the
and
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Duncan overall
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Micklem asolefin
in Amsterdam,
programme
challenges.
well. production.
is Executive such Netherlands.
Vice as NalcoStrategy
President, MVP. and Marketing
Email: johan.den-breejen@shell.com
with www.eptq.com
KBC (A Yokogawa Company).
www.eptq.com 88 PTQ Q2 2019 PTQ Q1 2019 13
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PTQ Q3
Q1Q4
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2020 13
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PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY
Refined Knowledge, Ecolab, Nalco Water and the logos are Trademarks of Ecolab USA Inc.
©2020 Ecolab USA Inc. All Rights Reserved
G
overnments around the
world are increasingly Utilities HMU
High pressure streams
Reflux
accumulator
Filter
Lean amine
cooler CO2 Reflux pumps
Wash water stripper
pumps
Intercooler
Lean amine
Steam
Lean amine CO2 MVR from
feed pumps tank
CO2 compressor Reboilers OSBL
absorber
Intercooler pumps Lean/rich
Flue gas from exchanger
pre-scrubber
Lean amine Lean amine
Rich amine pumps flash vessel Condensate
pumps Steam to OSBL
condensate
flash pot
steam methane reforming (SMR) it is established and proven. In the that can be sold, sequestered, or
technology, that creates CO2 from 1930s, carbon capture technolo- used in EOR.
both the chemical reactions and gies began commercial operation In refiners’ technical and eco-
from burning fuel to power the in the processing of natural gas. In nomic evaluations for capturing
process chemistry. Although many the 1970s, commercial-scale CO2 CO2 from flue gas, the Cansolv CO2
refinery units produce CO2 (see injection into reservoirs started. To Capture System may emerge as the
Figure 1), this article focuses on car- date, more than 260 million tonnes preferred option because of key fea-
bon capture from the HMU because of anthropogenic CO2 has been cap- tures such as:
it generates a large, relatively pure tured and stored, mostly through • CO2 purity: the pure CO2 product
stream of CO2 and provides oppor- EOR projects, and the current enables EOR, CCS, or carbon capture
tunities to capture CO2 from high CCUS capacity is about 40 million and use downstream of the plant
pressure, pre-combustion and low t/y.2 • Adaptability: the system is highly
pressure, post-combustions streams, Other energy-intensive sectors, adaptable to a wide variety of
thereby enabling a cost–benefit for example coal-fired power gen- industrial applications, CO2 con-
comparison between two mature eration, oil sands extraction, and centrations (from 3.5% to 25% and
capture technologies developed by cement manufacture, have already higher), and gas flow rates (licensed
Shell (see Figure 2). been charged with dramatically units treating gas at flow rates of
This article showcases two lead- reducing the carbon intensity of 11 000-685 000 Nm3/h are in opera
ing technologies with established their operations. Refiners can lever- tion or under construction)
records for cost-effective car- age the operational experience, tech- • Asset integrity: the system
bon capture in a wide range of nologies, and expertise from these has been designed for reliabil-
industries: sectors to do the same. ity through its flexible turndown
• Shell’s Cansolv CO2 Capture For example, the coal-fired power capacity and improved resistance to
System for capturing CO2 from low generation sector, after a first gen- oxidative and thermal degradation
pressure streams, including flue eration of carbon capture projects • Low waste: the process uses a
gas; and with a capture cost of about $100/t regenerable solvent, so there are no
• Shell’s ADIP Ultra technology for CO2, is now targeting costs of half direct waste by-products, which can
capturing CO2 from high pressure this, about $50/t CO2, for its future reduce project costs since the efflu-
process streams. projects.1 ents are minimal
Selection of a retrofitting option • Retrofit suitability: as a standalone
for a refinery (pre- or post-com- Low pressure streams system, it is ideal for retrofit scenar-
bustion) depends on, among other Shell’s Cansolv CO2 Capture System ios and greenfield projects
factors, the value assigned to the can capture up to 99% of the CO2 • Low operating costs: the system
captured CO2 (from avoided tax, from post-combustion low pressure offers cutting-edge performance.
tradable credits or income from its off-gases. As a tail-end, low pres- For example, its low parasitic
use in enhanced oil recovery [EOR] sure CO2 capture technology, it is energy consumption, fast kinetics,
or other industrial applications). well suited for retrofitting. It uses a and extremely low volatility help
regenerable solvent based on a pro- to reduce the costs of operation and
Leveraging experience prietary amine to capture the CO2, amine consumption
CO2 capture technology is not new; which is released as a pure stream • Track record: the largest appli-
Solvent
Reflux pump
filter system Regenerator
Feed gas
Reboilers
Feed gas Flash vessel LP steam
KO drum Rich/lean
Feed gas cooler
solvent cooler
Condensate return
Solvent circulation pump
cation is designed to capture Case study: SaskPower ingly important for many refiners
1 million t/y of CO2 and has been To extend the operating life to capture CO2 from high pressure
operating successfully for four years of the 150 MW Unit 3 of its process streams such as those from
(see case study below) Boundary Dam power station in HMUs. This is possible using amine
• Potential for integrated sulphur Saskatchewan, Canada, SaskPower based ADIP technology. ADIP tech-
dioxide (SO2) removal: it can be needed to reduce CO2 and SO2 emis- nology is deployed at more than 500
integrated with the Cansolv SO2 sions. This six-unit, lignite-fired Shell and non‑Shell sites worldwide
Scrubbing System for near-complete plant is SaskPower’s largest coal- and has a proven record in the nat-
SO2 removal fired power station and a significant ural gas sector for deep removal of
source of electricity for the region. CO2. It is increasingly finding appli-
Process description After carefully evaluating a range cations in refining.
The key steps of the Cansolv CO2 of technical options, SaskPower The latest generation of this tech-
Capture System (see Figure 3) are as chose to add a Cansolv SO2-CO2 nology is ADIP Ultra, which uses an
follows: Integrated Capture System for com- optimised solvent formulation and
1. The feed gas is quenched and bined carbon capture and flue gas an improved design based on years
saturated in a circulated water desulphurisation. This involved of operational lessons learning.
pre-scrubber adding a 55m tall CO2 absorber, a Used with the latest generation col-
2. The gas contacts the lean amine 25m tall CO2 stripper, a 31m tall SO2 umn internals (Shell Turbo Trays),
solution in a counter-current packed absorber, and a 17m tall SO2 stripper. this technology can easily achieve
absorption column The unit is designed to capture bulk removal, thereby maximising
3. CO2 is absorbed and the treated 1 million t/y of CO2, which is com- CO2 capture and meeting deep spec-
gas exits to atmosphere pressed, transported through pipe- ifications for the treated gas while
4. Midway along the column, par- lines, and used for EOR in nearby optimising both the capacity of the
tially loaded amine is removed oilfields. The CO2 is thus perma- solvent and the regeneration duty
from the tower, cooled, and reintro- nently stored in deep geological for- (see Figure 4).
duced over a layer of mass transfer mations where it cannot contribute Compared with using conven-
packing to climate change. tional accelerated methyl diethanol-
5. CO2-rich amine from the absorp- SO2 from the flue gas is converted amine, ADIP Ultra can help to:
tion column is pumped through a to up to 60 t/d of sulphuric acid – a • Reduce capital costs by up to 30%,
lean-rich amine heat exchanger and marketable by-product. Among its thereby increasing project net pres-
then to the regeneration column many other potential applications, ent value
6. Rising, low pressure, saturated the acid can be used as a feedstock • Lower regeneration energy
steam in the column regenerates the for the local fertiliser industry. requirements by up to 30%
lean amine solution. CO2 is recov- The SO2-CO2 capture plant and • Capture up to 25% more CO2,
ered as a pure, water-saturated its underlying chemistry enable thereby enabling monetisation of dif-
product SaskPower to continue to operate ficult gas without capital investment
7. Lean amine is pumped from under strict Canadian CO2 emis- • Provide operating stability,
the stripper reboiler to the absorp- sions regulations. which enables operators to push
tion column for reuse in capturing the limits
CO2 High pressure streams ADIP technology’s applications
8. The CO2 is directed to by-product In addition to capturing CO2 from include the removal of hydrogen
management systems low pressure flue gas, it is increas- sulphide and CO2 from refinery and
I
n the case of a heat exchanger, followed by a fired heater before ucts, leading to a bigger economic
fouling causes substantial energy the crude stream is allowed to enter loss as well as a loss of energy. The
losses, leading to less efficient the atmospheric and vacuum dis- aim of this article is to highlight the
heat exchange between the streams. tillation columns. If any of the heat effects of fouling on the performance
It also increases resistance to fluid exchangers are fouled, the result of heat exchangers, condensers, fur-
flow, resulting in higher pressure will be a lower furnace inlet tem- naces, and distillation.
drops across the exchanger. As a perature which would require Moreover, if the exchangers are
result of the combination of these additional duty in the furnace to not cleaned, not only is their perfor-
effects, the resultant temperature of achieve the desired column inlet mance reduced, but it can also lead
the process stream is lower than the temperature. to a failure of the equipment, result-
anticipated value. Furthermore, in a The impact of fouling is not lim- ing in a safety issue in some cases.
network of exchangers, the down- ited to furnace duty and energy
stream exchangers’ behaviour could consumption increase alone. At the Methodology
become counterintuitive. Usually as end of the preheat train and beyond A fouling analysis was conducted
an upstream exchanger fouls, the the furnace is a set of distillation to evaluate the effect of fouling on
driving forces on the downstream columns which separates the use- the performance of a typical preheat
exchangers increase, so they could ful products present in crude oil. train and distillation columns, as
appear to perform better. However, Considering that everything is inter- well as to determine the detrimen-
the net effect usually is additional connected as a network, the column tal effect of fouling on the economic
load on downstream furnaces and throughput, the condenser duty, and value of the products.
steam heaters. the product flows and compositions Aspen Hysys was used for the
In a traditional petroleum are affected by fouled exchangers. simulation of a model required
refinery, a number of these heat The column may no longer produce to perform the analysis in con-
exchangers are connected in series, the desired quantity of useful prod- junction with Aspen Simulation
Vapour
V-100
Crude 0 Crude 1 Crude 2 Crude 3 Crude 4
Crude in HX-1 HX-2 HX-3 HX-4
P-100
HX-8_HOT_T HX-7_HOT_T
HX-6_HOT_T
LGO_PA_OUT
VAC RES OUT HGVO_OUT
HGO_PA_OUT
Crude 8c Crude 8b Crude 5c Crude 5a
VLV-102 VLV-103
Table 2
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avoid a cleaning turnaround.
This will in turn avoid production losses and budget will be beaten...with no effort and stress...typical of
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Regular application of ITW Online Cleaning will target an increased run length under clean conditions with related value.
For turnaround applications, ITW Online Cleaning can eliminate/dramatically reduce the need for mechanical cleaning,
thereby reducing downtime and improving operational HS&E.
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Mass flow rate of various components after cleaning individual exchangers Heat exchanger with maximum
impact
An analysis was performed compar-
Flow, t/h HX-1 HX-2 HX-3 HX-4 HX-5 HX-6 HX-7 HX-8
Crude (-) 702.5 702.5 702.5 702.5 702.5 702.5 702.5 702.5 ing the different exchangers after
Condensate vapour 4.5 5.3 5.3 5.3 4.0 4.8 6.8 7.1 cleaning them one by one to under-
Naphtha 109.3 109.4 109.4 109.4 109.2 109.3 109.5 109.5 stand which exchanger has the
Kerosene 91.3 89.9 89.9 89.9 90.5 90.0 89.0 88.8 biggest impact on profits. Similar
LGO 115.9 116.1 116.1 116.1 118.7 116.0 116.7 116.8
HGO 96.6 95.2 95.2 95.2 99.7 98.0 98.8 99.4 conditions were applied for each
Vacuum overhead 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 scenario as discussed for Case 3;
LVGO 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9 17.9 that is, we obey the constraints on
HVGO 86.1 88.2 88.2 88.3 80.5 85.5 82.7 81.7 furnace duty and condenser duty
Vacuum residue 181.4 181.1 181.1 181.0 182.1 181.4 181.8 182.0
Table 4 shows the mass flow data
of various components for all eight
Table 4 heat exchangers next to each other.
Table 5 shows the data for all
are unable to condense all the over- ucts, it is a challenge to obtain such eight heat exchangers next to each
head gas and it stays in the gaseous prices, though we could get them other, along with the individual rev-
state. The economic value of over- based on shadow prices from a enue generated after cleaning them
head gas is generally lower than refinery linear programming model. one at a time.
that of liquid product naphtha. An energy cost value of $4/MMBtu After comparing the profits
Table 3 compares these three cases is assumed. Such a profit compar- across all exchangers, it is evident
on the basis of notional profits from ison is for indicative purposes to that cleaning of HX-5 will have the
this process using typical represent- assess quantitative impact. largest impact economically. The
ative prices ($/t) for components According to the calculations pro- profit value per unit flow of crude
(see Table 2). Since in refineries vided in Table 3, the most profitable is almost the same as Case 1 with
these are only intermediate prod- scenario is the one with the least no fouling. It is also clear that by
Price comparison to identify the heat exchanger with largest impact after cleaning
Table 5
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11/06/2020 12:13
Planning to counter economic turbulence
Synchronising engineering and planning models should be a key aim to support the
resilience and agility needed for economic recovery
RON BECK
AspenTech
G
lobal economic disruption has
upended the refining indus- Executive requests for scenario
try. Not only are the dynam- planning (daily or more)
ics of the situation difficult, but they
seemingly change on a weekly or
Planners test ability of model
even daily basis. Process engineers Collaborate on new operating
to handle scenarios
update and run objectives and limits
In this territory of future price and HYSYS unit cases >
(PIMS-AO)
Gas LPG
plant
Light dist.
LSR
Reformate
CCR1
Naphtha
NHT BTX BTX
CCR2
Kero C3/C3–
CDU 1 PP split
iC4
Gasoil C4 Olefins ALKY
processing Gasoline
LCN (ULSG)
blending
Atm. residue FCC MCN
GHT
VGO
LCO
Naphtha Merox
Slurry Jet fuel
Kero HDS 1
CDU 2 LGO
HDS 2 Diesel
HGO Naphtha (ULSD)
Kero blending
VGO HCU GO
VDU Naphtha
Atm. residue VCO
Coker
LCGO
HCGO
Figure 2 The CDU, VDU, HCU and cokers are all involved in rebalancing a refinery to produce more diesel
KERSTIN MÜLLER
Clariant
I
n one of the largest changes to given the mix of lower and higher causing these LSFOs to vary greatly
environmental regulations in the sulphur in oil production across in composition and quality.
shipping industry for decades, that continent. Before the new IMO 2020 regu-
new rules reducing the sulphur con- Six months in, questions still lations came into force, the main
tent of marine bunker fuels came remain as to how the balance blend component for high sulphur
into force, beginning 1 January 2020. between environmental improve- fuel oil (HSFO) was high sulphur
Before these rule changes, ship- ments and the potential impact on residue. The residue was blended
pers used low grade bunker fuel, the bunker fuel and shipping indus- with various cutter stocks to cre-
the world’s dirtiest diesel and a tries is going to be achieved and, ate the final HSFO composition.
byproduct of the refining process. furthermore, how this first move to With the new regulations, high
This bunker fuel had high sulphur LSFO will be implemented in the sulphur components will need to
content and was a major contributor longer term. be replaced. In principle, refin-
to air pollution, as the exhaust from Though it is still early, concerns ers have three options available to
sulphur that is burned can be harm- have already been raised. Since them to accomplish this: additional
ful to both humans and the environ- desulphurisation, blending with
ment. Now ships are required to use Questions still low sulphur distillates, or the use
fuels with sulphur content capped of low sulphur crude oils as feed-
at 0.5% compared to the previous remain as to how stock. Which option is preferred is
limit of 3.5%. As the biggest reduc- dependent on the set-up of the indi-
tion in the sulphur content of a the balance between vidual refinery and the availabil-
transportation fuel that has ever ity of blend components and crude
been undertaken at one time, this environmental grades.
move will drastically improve air Crudes and heavy fuel oils are
quality and human health, particu- improvements and the complex mixtures of various hydro-
larly for those living close to ports carbons ranging from paraffins,
and coastlines.
potential impact on aromatics, naphthenes, and resins
More broadly, the new regula- the bunker fuel and to asphaltenes. While aromatic type
tions are part of a more ambitious, LSFO bears a higher risk of insta-
and longer term, sustainability strat- shipping industries is bility, and incompatibility, when
egy by the International Maritime comingled with other fuel types,
Organization (IMO), the United going to be achieved paraffinic type LSFO might show
Nations shipping agency. For the cold flow challenges like increased
IMO, the year 2020 marks the begin- the new regulations have come pour points. Put simply, paraffins
ning of the Sustainable Shipping for into force, Standard Club, a spe- will precipitate when cooled down
a Sustainable Planet initiative. This cialist marine and energy insurer, whilst asphaltenes will precipitate
includes the goal of reducing green- says that it has been notified by when destabilised. Diluting high
house gas emissions from shipping some concerned members of the sulphur streams by using low sul-
by at least 50% by 2050 compared non-availability of compliant fuel phur distillate streams like marine
to 2008, whilst pursuing efforts at some ports, although it was not gasoil will also have an effect on the
towards phasing them out totally. specific as to which ones.1 Likewise, cold flow characteristics.
Leading up to the introduction ship owners have warned of com- So what are the key challenges
of the new regulations, industry plications around LSFO, particu- with fuels that contain paraffins?
experts and analysts tried to fore- larly in relation to sediment and Paraffins in the fuel tend to crys-
cast the impact on the shipping and wax formation.2 In addition, the tallise when cooled down, leading
bunker fuel industries – from cost ISO Standard 8217 that specifies to severe increases in viscosity and
implications and potential shortages the requirements for fuels for use solidification. They could be redis-
of low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) to oil in marine diesel engines does not solved through heating; however,
comingling challenges and regional provide specific guidance on the this requires a tremendous effort in
impacts, for example in Africa, composition of low sulphur fuels, terms of cost and time. Changing
0
Both the pour point depressant
-5 and marine fuel compatibility
-10 enhancer solutions have been the
focus of research and development
-15
at Clariant’s new Crude and Fuel
-20 Oil Center of Excellence in the UK.
-25
The new laboratory is equipped
0 50 65 75 85 100 125 150 with advanced technology, a wide
Dose rate, ppm selection of testing regimes, modern
methods of crude oil analysis and
Figure 2 Pour point response curve of marine distillate with Dodiflow 6087 performance testing, and the ability
to replicate field conditions within
the laboratory.
Characterisation of marine diesel (DMA 89 type)
Specifically, Clariant has adopted
the use of high throughput exper-
Properties Method Result
CP, °C EN 23015 +15.5 imentation (HTE) methods for sci-
CFPP, °C EN 116 +15 entific experimentation alongside
PP, °C ISO 3016 +12 advanced analytics. Originally
Density, g/cm³ ISO 12185 0,876
developed for use in pharmaceu-
Aromatics, wt% EN 12916 41.3
n-Paraffin content, wt% Gas chromatography 23.4 ticals, the HTE method rapidly
improves upon classical experi-
mentation methodology. Over the
Table 2 last three years, Clariant has uti-
lised its HTE laboratories to per-
Clariant’s LSFO compatibility blend containing Dispersogen 2020, form feasibility studies to prove
enhancer Dispersogen 2020, formu- measured according to ASTM D that this new research approach is
lated for the IMO 2020 regulations, 7061 using a Turbiscan MA 2000, useful in formulation development
is an additive designed to improve showed a consistent transmission for the oil and gas industry. Using
the stability of aromatic low sul- throughout the test tube, indicating HTE, Clariant can identify more
phur marine fuel. When aromatic homogenous distribution of parti- precise chemical formulations that
fuel compositions are comingled go through the application devel-
with more paraffinic blends, bot- In addition to pour opment far quicker than traditional
tom sludge can form, destabilising manual laboratory methodologies.
the fuel. This destabilisation has point challenges, HTE methods have been particu-
the potential to do serious damage larly important in developing new
to engines. As well, asphaltenes mixing paraffinic and pour point depressants. The first
can separate, also forming a sludge development step for a PPD is to
inside engine filters and separators, aromatic fuels can measure the interaction it has with
with the potential for loss of propul- the viscosity of crude oil. The classic
sion and auxiliary power. As there
lead to fuel instability way to measure viscosity in a labo-
is no universal refining method for and incompatibility ratory is with a technician operat-
LSFO, neither ship owners nor fuel ing a viscometer or rheometer. This
suppliers will know when, where or that can cause bottom method takes 30 to 40 minutes per
how different LSFO qualities have measurement.
been mixed. sludge formation and At the heart of HTE is a mix-
By dispersing asphaltenes and ture of robotics, data processing,
other fuel oil components to sup- increase the risk of control software, liquid handling
port the compatibility of fuel oil devices, and sensitivity detectors.
mixes, Dispersogen 2020 is used as engine failure Its development comes on the back
a preventative measure to ensure of advances in smart automation,
that global refiners can meet new cles and a low separability number. miniaturisation, parallelisation, and
standards with fuel oil blends that This test demonstrated the success statistical design. It decreases time
will remain stable and compatible. of Dispersogen 2020 in preventing to market, enabling faster discovery
Recent testing of the asphaltene sludge from forming and keeping of new technologies, and delivers
dispersion of an aromatic LSFO the LSFO blend stable. Using the greater understanding of existing
Level Measurement
■ Visual Level Indicators VLI
■ Tank Level Instruments TLI
TRI-BLOCK
DOUBLE BLOCK & BLEED
100 % Zero Leakage
C
ovid-19’s effects have forced
many petrochemical and
refinery units to run at
reduced rates or shut down tempo-
rarily. Abnormally low production
rates, extended shutdowns, and
reduced staff all create significant
challenges for continued control
valve reliability. This article will
focus on the problems that each
of these situations cause and offer
solutions to deal with the issues in a Figure 1 Valve cavitation often occurs at low production rates and can cause significant
cost-effective manner. damage to valve internals
Falling output and rising problems occurs below the minimum control- valve maintenance cycles, but this
Most petrochemical and refin- lable flow because the plug is not is rarely the case. Valves exposed
ery units are designed to run at fully seated. to corrosive conditions will con-
maximum rates, and many have tinue to corrode at the same or even
undergone numerous debottle- Cavitation accelerated rates. Flow phenomena,
neck projects to push capacity At low production rates, line pres- such as cavitation and flashing, can
even higher. However, decreased sure losses may be significantly also cause accelerated erosion. SIL-
demand now calls for many units reduced and a larger than normal rated safety valves will still require
to produce just enough to keep the pressure drop could appear across periodic testing regardless of the
plant operating. Such abnormal con- the valve. This condition tends to production rate, and high pressure
ditions can have unexpected effects create or exacerbate cavitation in the drop valves may sustain damage
on the control valves that are crucial valve, which can cause significant faster than normal. Therefore, crit-
for plant operation. The following damage to the plug, seat, and valve ical valves should continue to be
problems may arise. internals (see Figure 1). inspected, maintained, and tested
at the same frequency as they were
Poor control Anti-surge valves during normal production rates to
A control valve is normally sized to During normal plant operation, a avoid unexpected downtime.
operate around 40-60% open, with compressor anti-surge valve runs
a minimum opening of 10-15% and closed since the flow through the Extended shutdown Issues
a maximum opening of up to 90%. compressor is well above surge con- When a plant shuts down temporar-
Under these conditions the valve ditions. Low production rates often ily, the operational condition of the
will provide consistent, stable flow reduce the compressor load and control valves must be maintained
control. However, low production force the anti-surge valve open to and preserved so the unit can come
rates can drop the minimum open- maintain flow through the compres- back online quickly when product
ing to 10% or less, forcing the valve sor stages. These continuous high demand recovers. If specific precau-
to control with the plug very close flow, high noise, and high pressure tions are not followed, many of the
to the seat. Under this condition, drop conditions can damage the critical valves may not operate as
the flow will be erratic and difficult anti-surge valve over time and force expected when recalled to duty. Any
to control since a minor stem move- an unexpected outage should the or all of the following situations can
ment can generate a very signifi- valve fail. occur during an extended outage.
cant and non-linear flow response.
Additionally, extremely low travel Low flow rates rarely extend critical Damaged valves will not fix
operation under a clearance flow valve maintenance themselves
condition may cause additional It is easy to assume that reduced When a unit is shut down, there
damage to the seat. Clearance flow production rates will extend critical is often little incentive to focus
Figure 3 Actuator diaphragms and associated O-rings (above), as well as O-rings and packing in the valve body, can become brittle over an
extended outage. Plant personnel should plan for thorough testing and possible replacement before bringing the equipment back online
Many of these tests can be con- possibility of the valve plug and Conclusion
ducted without impacting oper- seat corroding and becoming stuck The current economic environment
ations, and the data generated to each other. has forced many manufacturers
can be analysed to prevent signif- to operate in unfamiliar territory.
icant financial impact. By focus- Test for leaks Rather than pushing for maximum
ing maintenance efforts on pulling Well in advance of any start-up, plant capacity, many units are run-
and repairing the valves in need plant personnel should pressure ning at very low production rates,
of service, instead of simply pull- test as many valves as possible and or even taking extended shutdowns.
ing every valve, the turnaround ensure any required replacement In these times, the unit has to run
budget can be significantly reduced. packing is available. Personnel as efficiently as possible, or restart
Diagnostic tests also provide an should check to make sure parts are from suspended operations with
‘as-left’ valve signature that can on-hand or can be readily acquired limited issues. An initial identifica-
be used to identify deteriorating from valve vendors. tion of needs within the plant, a crit-
valve performance in the future. ical asset review, a comprehensive
Outsourcing the diagnostic and Deal with diaphragms plan for valve preservation, and
valve leak detection effort may be Similar to packing, diaphragm an understanding of key start-up
a wise option as it requires special failures in the actuators should be actions are essential for efficient
equipment and expertise to inter- anticipated after an extended out- operation and maintenance.
pret the test results. age (see Figure 3). Plant person- Control valves are critical for
nel should stroke valves well in plant operation and product qual-
Address instrument air issues advance of a restart to confirm there ity. Taking the time to address
If at all possible, plant personnel are no problems, and make sure valve problems or anticipate issues
should leave the air system pres- spare parts are readily available if brought on by running at reduced
surised during an extended outage an actuator leak has developed. rates or temporarily shutting down
to keep moisture and other partic- Many of these solutions can be will pay huge dividends upon
ulates out of the system. If this is resource-intensive at a time when return to full production.
not possible, then the entire system plants are light on staff. However, Zane Bodensteiner is an Applications
should be drained and blown down advanced diagnostic tests and leak- Engineer in the refining industry for Emerson
before opening the air supply to the age tests can reduce shutdown Automation Solutions’ flow control products.
control valves. Failure to do so will valve repair costs significantly and He began his career as an applications engineer
likely damage the valve positioners, help plant personnel focus on the in the power industry and has been in the
refining industry in recent years. In his current
adding costs and time delays upon most critical items. Most of these role, he specialises as the Control Valve SME for
restart. recommended actions can be out- the refining industry.
sourced if plant personnel are una- Matthew Gulleen is the Refining Industry
Set correct valve position vailable. The cost of an unexpected Manager for Emerson Automation Solutions’
As many control valves as possi- production outage upon return to flow control products. He began his career as
a Fisher control valve design engineer before
ble should be left slightly open and full production or a restart from
transitioning to application engineering for the
off their seat during an extended shutdown will quickly eclipse the oil and gas industry. He is now responsible for
outage. This avoids long term seat cost of implementing many of these providing industry focus and expertise in the
damage, and it helps reduce the solutions. refining segment.
ART Hydroprocessing combines world-class R&D with deep, practical refinery operating
expertise from Chevron and Grace to improve run lengths, product quality, and yields. And,
we partner with the industry’s leading licensor, CLG, to provide a spectrum of solutions that
deliver results.
Most importantly, we listen and collaborate with you to optimize your hydroprocessing unit
as feeds and conditions change. And that translates into more profitable operations.
If you’re looking for top technical support and a better perspective, let’s talk. Soon.
T
o maximise profits and remain
competitive, refineries regu-
larly reoptimise their crude Crude oil tanks
Cold
slate with changing market condi- preheat train
exchangers Mix valve
tions. As a result, crudes change Crude oil
frequently, and the plant is driven
towards processing cheaper, heav-
ier, and lower quality crudes. Many Wash water Wash water
Desalter
• Solid separation
% of chloride hydrolysed
70
• Recovery of phenols from
60
wastewater
50
Salt occurs naturally in crude
oil, so a certain amount of brine is 40
produced with crude which is sep- 30
arated in the field and relatively 20
dry crude oil is sent to the refin- 10
ery. Chlorides introduced into an 0
oil well during a workover or well 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
stimulation will also appear in the Temperature, ˚F
produced crude. Salt can also enter
crude oil from seawater during Figure 2 Hydrolysis of magnesium chloride and calcium chloride with temperature
80
of 20 ppm are known to cause seri-
70 ous corrosion issues due to the
liberation of chloride ions which
60
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 travel to the top of the crude tower
V+Na, ppm (see Figure 5) and condense with
the first drop of water at the water
dewpoint, with a very low pH (1-3).
Figure 3 FCC catalyst activity, Ecat wt% vs Ecat V+Na Source: BASF This highly localised point of cor-
rosion can move around within the
effective desalting is usually nearly heat exchanger train and oil con- overhead system, depending on
complete. In most cases, magnesium tent of the desalter effluent water. the water content, top temperature,
and calcium chloride levels in crude However, many refineries have functioning of the condensers, and
are low. increased processing capacity over vapour flow rate. Refiners inject
As crude is processed through time and are running a progres- ammonia or amines into the over-
the crude tower and then the vac- sively heavier crude slate, without head system to neutralise the acid,
uum unit and downstream residue making the corresponding mod- as well as filming amines which
upgrading units such as delayed ifications to their desalters, with cover the internal surfaces of the
cokers, residual magnesium or cal- the result that desalting and dehy- exchanger tubes to prevent the acid
cium chlorides will hydrolyse in the dration efficiencies have declined, from reaching the metal surface.
presence of trace water, releasing thereby driving up the risk of Frequent crude changes and vari-
hydrogen chloride. The hydrolysis downstream reliability issues. ations in desalter performance can
to temperature relationship is illus- In addition, normal build-up result in under-dosing of neutralis-
trated in Figure 2. of sediments in the bottom of the ing amine. Filming amines can also
Sodium chloride will not decom- desalter during the run (see Figure be stripped by high vapour veloc-
pose to any significant extent, but 4 for typical desalter internals) can ities or may fail to coat all surfaces
passes into the atmospheric residue also serve to reduce residence time, evenly. As a result, dewpoint cor-
where it can accelerate coking in the so desalting efficiency can reduce rosion remains an ongoing issue
vacuum unit and downstream res- across the cycle. Within these tight within many crude towers.
idue conversion units (visbreaker, net margin environments, it is sur- This difficult situation is further
delayed coker, and so on), shorten- prising that the operation of many exacerbated by two other factors:
ing the run length between heater crude oil desalters is not rigorously • The declining demand for gaso-
decokes. In addition, sodium in the adjusted following changes in the line, particularly in European and
FCC feed serves to exaggerate the crude slate, and there has been lim- Asian economies where refiners
conversion impact of any vanadium ited investment in tracking desalter typically aim to maximise middle
in the FCC feed, with implications operating performance in real- distillate (jet fuel and diesel) pro-
for fresh catalyst use and yield per- time to provide advance warning duction. This drives down the opti-
formance (see Figure 3). of sub-optimal performance and mum temperature for the crude
Hydrogen chloride generated potential downstream issues. tower overhead, further raising the
from the magnesium and calcium Clear understanding of the chlo- risk of dew point corrosion, as well
salts will move upwards as the exposure of larger
in the distillation columns areas of the crude overhead
until it finds ammonia or system to the potential of
amines to combine with, or dewpoint corrosion, such
until a liquid water phase as the tower dome itself.
forms, or until the hydro- • Presence of organic
gen chloride is drawn into chlorides in the crude oil,
a product. The corrosive from upstream oil produc-
impact of the chlorides tion chemicals, particu-
will then be observed in larly with ageing oil fields.
the crude tower and the Organic chlorides are not
overhead heat exchang- removed in the desalter,
ers. Therefore good con- preferring to remain in the
trol of the desalter can oil phase, but can release
substantially reduce cor- chloride ions in the crude
rosion within the crude distillation tower just
tower overheads, as well the same. These chloride
as fouling in the pre- Figure 4 Desalter schematic ions usually appear in the
tralising amines and filmer) by Oil-in-water S, Cl, Ni, V, Fe, As, Si, Pb
Process Industry
solutions expertise
www.man-es.com
1909_14786_MAN_ES_Anzeige_SC_Power_ProcessIndustry_Master_reSe_ENG_210x297_US_WebCoated.indd
man.indd 1 1 09.08.19 12:15
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COMPRESSION
YOU CAN COUNT ON
For our customers, compression is critical – always. So when they need us, we spring into
action. Ariel works to build and maintain a trusting relationship that grows stronger with
time. We look at everything from our customers’ perspective, so we can truly understand
the best ways to make their operations more successful.
www.arielcorp.com
T
he conventional perception of
the cost of mechanical cleaning 300
290
is that it amounts simply to the 280
Limit for unit shutdown Average recovery
from ITW
cost of cleaning or hydroblasting. 270
In reality, the cost of mechanical 260
Mechanical Scheduled
250 Unscheduled
cleaning is more than 30 times the 240
cleaning
turnaround turnaround
of 2 shells
cost paid to the mechanical cleaning
˚C
230
company. 220
210
Consider a preheat train to be 200
cleaned in a major turnaround 190
when it is usual to replace gaskets 180 ITW cleaning
170
and bolts after bundles are extracted 160
online
and cleaned. In a 40-exchanger pre- 150
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
heat train, this alone can amount to
Days on stream
more than $200 000. This amount
could be saved simply by not open-
ing the bundles during cleaning. Figure 1 Avoiding an unscheduled shutdown and increasing the run length of a visbreaker
However, not opening the bun-
dles will mean a saving in down- The washing fluids arising from the run by using conventional
time. A 100 000 b/d refinery can ITW Online Cleaning are fully reus- mechanical cleaning.
make a profit of around $2 mil- able/reprocessable, which means For instance, if a 1°C furnace inlet
lion/d, so a saving of seven days in no waste will be generated by the temperature (FIT) loss in a 100 000
downtime equals a preserved $14 cleaning operations. By operating b/d crude distillation unit costs,
million of profit. on a closed loop basis, the process say, $1 million/y, the recovery of
We believe that a reduction in generates no airborne emissions 10°C FIT will have a value of $10
overall costs and an increase in during cleaning. million/y. If fouling is impact-
margin can be achieved by a shift ing the capacity of the unit (by
in refiners’ approach to operations. A reduction in overall increased delta P, for instance) then
Recovery of losses will allow oper- the gain in value is given by the
ators to meet and even reduce their costs and an increase recovery in production. And if the
budgets. crude unit has reduced capacity by
in margin can be 5% and is making $8/bbl, the daily
The online cleaning approach recovery in margin (over losses) will
ITW Online Cleaning is a pat- achieved by a shift in be $40 000.
ented technology for cleaning heat This does not take into account
exchangers and process equipment
refiners’ approach to the savings achieved through many
in a closed loop, in the hydro- operations other factors, including reduced
carbon phase. The technology pumping costs, reduced energy con-
includes a cleaning method and sumption, and avoiding the many
process steps, chemicals, and a The gains in value which can be costs of preparing and implement-
monitoring system, all covered by achieved with online cleaning can ing a mechanical cleaning operation.
patent. The technology cleans an be identified by measuring key per-
entire production unit in as little formance indicators before and after Online cleaning of refining plant
as 24 hours on a feed-out/feed-in the cleaning operation and loading In the refining industry, most foul-
basis, thus reducing downtime into a spreadsheet all of the cost ing is related to the precipitation of
during a turnaround. items which would have impacted asphaltenes. This occurs because of
destabilisation of the asphaltenic The problem was related to an Case history: eliminating mechanical
micelles, which can be driven by increase in vacuum section bot- cleaning during a turnaround (1)
chemical or thermal factors. tom train outlet temperature (tag The atmospheric and vacuum dis-
Among the causes of chemical TI1826). The refinery’s proce- tillation units of a refinery had
destabilisation, the most common dure was to clean the exchangers scheduled a turnaround and the
is the incompatibility of different when the outlet temperature was refiner wanted to validate ITW
feedstocks. It is well known that approaching 280°C. During a run, Online Cleaning and ITW Improved
when a paraffinic feed is blended the refinery normally mechanically Degassing/Decontamination on
with an asphaltenic feed, cleaned two exchangers in order to the vacuum section. The units were
asphaltenes will precipitate out of reach the targeted run length. under end-of-run conditions.
the blend and will deposit in the Before the application of ITW Cleaning took place during shut-
equipment. Technology, mechanical cleaning down operations. Cleaning all of
The current trend in the refining did not help in recovering the tem- the vacuum section required about
industry of processing opportunity 16 hours, excluding filling and emp-
crudes (which are normally heavy Among the causes tying operations. The wash fluids
crudes) makes this problem even were sent to a slop oil storage tank
more evident in that refineries can- of chemical and reprocessed with no issues at
not have enough storage capacity unit start-up.
to segregate the many crudes which destabilisation, the On completion of ITW Online
are processed on a daily basis. Cleaning, the unit was deinvento-
Another type of fouling occurs most common is the ried. After removal of the hydrocar-
when processing tight oils, which bons, ITW Improved Degassing/
are basically very light oils, mostly
incompatibility of Decontamination took just seven
of a paraffinic nature. In this case, different feedstocks hours and safe entry conditions
heavy paraffins may separate out were achieved (for instance, LEL=
and precipitate, together with 0%, H2S = 0 ppm, benzene = 0 ppm).
the relatively small amount of perature, so there was a steady Upon inspection, the vacuum
asphaltenes which are present in the increase of outlet temperature val- tower bottom, wash bed grid,
oil. ues, reaching the shutdown limit bottom packing, bottom packing
Online cleaning technology can six months before the scheduled pre-distributor, VEP distributor and
effectively address both types of turnaround. vacuum residue exchangers were in
fouling. The following case histo- The visbreaker unit therefore a clean condition (see Figures 2-4).
ries will better illustrate the results required an unscheduled shutdown The refinery checked the most crit-
achievable by ITW Online Cleaning. to clean all of the vacuum section ical vacuum residue heat exchanger
bottom. To solve the problem, ITW and decided to eliminate mechan-
Case history: avoiding unscheduled Online Cleaning was applied in the ical cleaning of the vacuum tower
shutdown of a visbreaker vacuum section, and the visbreaker and the vacuum residue loop from
ITW Technology has been applied resumed production immediately the turnaround scope, even if it was
on the vacuum section of a vis- afterwards. already scheduled. This helped the
breaker unit. The refinery layout Outlet temperature recovery was refinery to reduce downtime.
features a CDU, VDU, VBU, the an average 45°C, which remained
vacuum section of the VBU, storage stable (see Figure 1). The unit could Case history: eliminating mechanical
for visbreaker residue, and an inte- run easily for five more months cleaning during a turnaround (2)
grated gasification combined cycle without any issues up to the sched- A refinery wanted to validate ITW
unit. uled turnaround. Online Cleaning to use it strategi-
˚C
230
period of about 24 hours.
Based on ITW’s proprietary 225
model, about 20 000 kg of foul- 220
ing was removed from the unit. 215
Washing fluids were routed to 210
slop, then fully reprocessed at unit Time
start-up. There were no quality or
operational issues during reprocess- Figure 5 Furnace inlet temperature increased following online cleaning (end-of-run
ing. The CDU started up with no conditions)
mechanical cleaning of the exchang-
ers which were cleaned online by
ITW, with the following results: 6000
• Average FIT increased by 21°C
(see Figure 5) 5500
• Normalised FIT increased by 37°C
• Specific fuel consumption decre-
5000
ased by 0.011 Gcal/d/t of feed
kg/h
3500
Case history: eliminating mechanical 1
10
19
28
37
46
55
64
73
82
91
100
109
118
127
136
145 163
154 172
181
190
199 217
208 228
235
244
253
262
cleaning during a turnaround (3) Hours
A refinery needed to perform a
quick shutdown of its amine (MEA) Figure 6 Steam consumption at regenerator reboiler
unit to make repairs to parts of the
system. The refiner chose ITW’s
cleaning and decontamination solu-
80
tion because it does not require tube
bundles to be removed for clean- 70
ing. The lean/rich heat exchangers
60
are in a tight space so removing the
bundles for cleaning is difficult and 50
dangerous for maintenance and 40
˚C
contractor personnel.
30
Management decided to clean Before
After ITW
the regenerator as well as the lean/ 20 Lineare (before)
rich exchanger to improve unit effi- 10 Lineare (after ITW)
ciency upon restart. Online/in-situ
cleaning and decontamination were 0
1 19 37 55 73 91 109 127 145 163 181 199 217 235 253
successfully completed in less than 10 28 46 64 82 100 118 136 154 172 190 208 228 244 262
Hours
24 hours, significantly faster than
the usual mechanical cleaning.
Upon resuming production, the Figure 7 Lean/rich exchangers delta T
following immediate benefits were
observed: Case history: recovery of vacuum opportunity crudes and other crudes
• Reduced steam consumption at unit performance with a high fouling propensity. In
the regenerator reboiler by about A refinery was experiencing severe addition, the vacuum unit processes
500 kg/h (see Figure 6) fouling problems in the preheat unconverted paraffinic oil from the
• Increased delta T (about 10°C, see train of its vacuum unit. The unit hydrocracker. This particular pro-
Figure 7) in the lean/rich exchangers processes atmospheric residue from cessing is performed in dedicated
gulftronic.info@ga.com
www.ga.com/gulftronic
Maximize volume
swell and produce
more barrels
Nitrogen in the feed limits aromatic saturation, density reduction and volume swell.
Removal of nitrogen is essential for the yield improvement both in your
hydrocracker and ultra-low sulfur diesel hydrotreating unit.
www.topsoe.com
T
he future comprises a world
of fuels refineries, refinery-
integrated petrochemical com- 50
plexes and crude oil to chemicals. Ethylene Butadiene
Once-through cracking yield, wt%
Propylene BTX
Through the energy transition, the 40
latter two will no doubt be more
resilient toward future demand-
and/or supply-side dynamics. 30
The potential for incremental
improvement with increased con- 20
version capabilities of a fuels refin-
ery with added petrochemical
integration is $1.5-2/bbl of crude 10
processed. The value gained from
effective molecular management is 0
significant. Key objectives of molec- Ethane n-butane
Propane i-butane
C5-C6P
C5-C6N
C7-C8P
C7-C8N
C9P
C9N
C10P
C10N
ular management for the overall Cracker feed components
complex are:
• Improvement in gross product Figure 1 Once-through steam cracking yield for feed components
worth by maximising high value
products as well as ongoing sustainment of yields from both the specific units as
• Reduced cost of feedstock by benefits through real-time monitor- well as reducing operating expenses
replacing expensive imports with ing and re-optimisation. such as energy consumption, other
low value streams utilities, catalyst, and chemicals.
However, with the increase in Why manage molecules? The yields from a steam cracker
complexity of refinery-integrated To recognise the need for molecular can vary extensively depending on
petrochemical complexes, a gap has management and carbon number the feedstock carbon number and
developed in the tools needed to level simulation, it is important to different isomers (see Figure 1).
effectively drill down to the stream understand the difference in nature Yield of ethylene and propylene
carbon number level on a contin- of refining and petrochemical pro- is expected to reduce while yield
uous basis. Traditional tools used cesses. The purpose of refinery of heavier products is expected to
for refinery optimisation rely on naphtha processing units is to max- increase with an increase in the feed
bulk properties such as cut point for imise octane barrels which can be carbon number. Even for feeds with
stream optimisation. Such methods blended into gasoline. Isomerisation the same carbon number, crack-
have been found to have limitations and dehydrocyclisation reactions ing yields change with changes in
in fully achieving the objectives of improve octane, with thermal crack- C/H ratio, for instance paraffinic
molecular management. The latest ing a side reaction that is minimised feeds have higher ethylene yield.
process simulation tools address to prevent yield loss. However, for Different feeds can be cracked sep-
this by enabling detailed carbon steam cracking in petrochemicals, arately or co-cracked, all having an
number breakdown from crude thermal cracking of naphtha is opti- impact on the cracking yields and
assays through to blending and pet- mised to produce olefins. furnace run length. Aromatics com-
rochemical units, for the whole inte- Due to differences in the units’ ponents in the feed rarely crack to
grated complex. These enhanced reactions, selection of molecules to produce ethylene and propylene,
capabilities enable identification of be processed is extremely impor- but these may be too costly to sepa-
site-wide optimisation opportuni- tant. Replacing molecules from one rate prior to processing.
ties across the integrated complex, process unit to another can improve The profitability of the aromatics
C5 SC ISOM MS MS – Gasoline
erroneous results, for instance feed lation model is understanding the KBC has deep experience of using
quality parameters in the form of interaction between different pro- integrated models for refinery-
bulk PNA, which do not capture cess units and product yield. This petrochemical complexes for iden-
the effect of carbon numbers in the can be quickly and easily done, as tifying and implementing oppor-
steam cracking operating param- the equilibrium and kinetic based tunities for profit improvement for
eters. Also, a significant fraction models for all the refinery, steam the parties involved: re-routing of
of components are continuously cracker, and aromatics units are in streams, changing unit severities,
recycled in aromatics units, which a single Petro-SIM simulation flow- and modifying the degree of frac-
has an impact on unit opex and sheet (see Figure 3). tionation. In joint venture projects,
the maximum feed that can be pro- This combination holistically and a single integrated model is valua-
cessed. Very few refiners simulate seamlessly captures the effect of ble for transfer pricing of interme-
these recycles in an LP based model. feed molecules. The integrated pro- diate streams between respective
cess model carries detailed com- parties, based on stream quality.
Proven basis of the digital twin position and non-linear kinetics After all, it is the streams’ molecular
KBC has developed and improved and can be used to augment the LP nature which ultimately determines
Petro-SIM models for refinery- model to boost profitability through its value in use. The use of the inte-
petrochemical integration over effective molecular management. LP grated model extends to the cost
many years, working on design models are still required for bigger side too, with integrated modelling
configuration and optimisation optimisation problems, however an of utilities.
engagement with clients. Petro-SIM integrated process model is needed The integrated model can be used
has a seamless transition from bulk to routinely validate the opti- to estimate transfer pricing, as well
properties to component based sim- mised solution estimated by an LP. as optimise the overall complex
ulation and vice versa. Information The optimised solution analysed for the mutual benefit of all parties
for components available in crude through the integrated process involved.
assays, as well as generated from model should be used to validate
the refinery reactor models, is car- various constraints and to estimate Case study
ried through to petrochemical mod- operating targets. A KBC client was planning to build
els using Petro-SIM’s infrastructure. Various process streams are a grassroots refinery-petrochemical
Reactor models are calibrated based exchanged between refinery and complex. According to the design
on the performance of the oper- petrochemical units in the com- of the integrated complex, C5 from
ating unit, which allows process plex-wide model. Apart from feeds a cracked gasoline hydrotreater was
engineers to track information at a to cracker and aromatics, many to be routed as a feed to the steam
molecular level that is rarely availa- other streams are also mapped, for cracker. The C5 material was highly
ble at the operating unit. instance off-gases and propylene olefinic and therefore would give
The main function and value of from a refinery, integration of the poor cracking yields unless it was
the complex-wide process simu- hydrogen network, and so on. hydrogenated to saturate the ole-
ipco.com/sulphur
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Remote management of hydrogen production
Remote monitoring and control can improve safety, detect problems early, and promote
efficient operations through modelling and analysis of hydrogen production
T
he use of hydrogen in petro-
leum refining is essential to Greenhouse gases reduction
the production of clean burn-
ing, low sulphur fuels, the hydro-
treating of heavy feedstocks to yield Direct emission sources Fuel consumption in Fuel consumption in
the production process power generation
more desirable products, and also
for the production of second gen-
Leak monitoring Optimise Change to
eration renewable (green) fuels, an consumption renewables
area which has received considerable
Flare emission/
recent attention in the marketplace. relief control Design modifications
Improve fuel
quality (low C/H)
Hydrogen production has increased
significantly in recent decades as Flare gases recovery Energy monitoring CO2 capture
the demand for transportation fuels (e.g. mini GTL plants systems technologies
increases and environmental regu-
lations and product quality consid- Figure 1 Roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions2
erations have become more critical
for lower allowable sulphur content Since the 1990s, many petroleum The role of remote process control
in gasoline, diesel, marine fuel oil refiners have shifted the responsibil- and monitoring
(IMO 2020), and maintenance of high ity of hydrogen supply to industrial Matheson’s SMR based hydro-
cetane in diesel. gas companies (IGC) through over- gen plants worldwide are data-
Hydrogen can be produced in sev- the-fence supply. Refiners under- linked to the HyCO (hydrogen,
eral ways including steam reform- stand that suppliers like Matheson carbon monoxide and syngas)
ing, partial oxidation, autothermal own and operate multiple hydrogen Remote Operations Center (ROC)
reforming, gasification, and elec- plants worldwide and can benefit in La Porte, Texas. The fundamen-
trolysis. Of all these routes, steam from their expertise and the associ- tal role of the centre is to support
reforming of natural gas, commonly ated advantages including a commit- local operations and promote plant
known as steam methane reform- ment to safety, guaranteed efficiency, safety, reliability, and efficiency (see
ing (SMR), is the most widely used improved reliability, infrastructure Figure 2). It also serves as a training
process, primarily due to the effi- maintenance, and predictable and platform for current, incoming, and
ciency, reliability, and lower cost lower overall hydrogen cost. One of future operators. From the ROC,
and evolved experience base with the many beneficial practices imple- hydrogen facilities can either be
the technology. Even though natu- mented by some suppliers is the use controlled or monitored remotely,
ral gas has the lowest carbon content of remote monitoring and operations thus providing expert advice and
of conventional hydrocarbons, it is centres. troubleshooting to operators sitting
important to maximise the efficiency at any of the local plant‘s control
of its use and minimise emissions panels. The remote monitoring sys-
from a sustainability perspective.1 tem enables continual observation,
The importance of doing this is illus- Safety analysis, evaluation, and control of
trated in Figure 1, which presents a what is happening, while in-house
simplified scheme with some actions developed simulation tools visual-
that can be taken to minimise green- HyCO ise what should be happening.
house gas emissions.2 Focusing on ROC Matheson has developed propri-
the central column of Figure 1, the etary models that predict in real
efficient operation of hydrogen Reliability Efficiency time how a plant should be running
plants – via optimised consumption and compare those results to how
and energy monitoring systems – Figure 2 A remote operations centre it is actually running. An example
can significantly contribute to reduc- promotes plant safety, reliability, and interface screen associated with one
ing costs and emissions. efficiency by monitoring plant operations of Matheson’s models is shown in
and maintaining multiple sites over can be trained on a generic plant (1)
time. Operators and supporting simulator, before moving on to an (*) exclude the periods of scheduled
maintenance, force majeure, and any
engineering staff have monitored actual operating plant. In-house feedstock/utilities supply shortfalls.
and operated multiple SMRs with calculation simulations have been
various configurations for years, developed to give realistic feedback A reliable supply of hydrogen is
gathering experience and data from to the operators so they can learn the essential for refinery operation. Fuel
real and simulated scenarios. They effects of their actions. Our simula- processing, utilisation, and quality
are able to intervene before minor tor is dynamic, allowing operators depend on hydroprocessing units
issues escalate to become major to train for scenarios involving start- to remove sulphur and other impu-
problems. This adds up to better ups, shutdowns, process upsets, and rities and hydrocrack heavy feed-
safety, improved reliability, and mechanical failures. stock. Days, or even hours, without
enhanced energy efficiency. With proper automation measures hydrogen can represent significant
installed at the local plant (instru- monetary losses and operational and
Safety, training & operational modes mentation and controls), remote logistical challenges for a refinery.
Safety is the first and most important operation centres can maintain a As such, IGCs typically guarantee
objective of plant process design and high degree of operational safety, high annual reliability of hydrogen
operations. The primary commer- while complementing the headcount supply to the end user.
cial goal of a business can be short at the local site. The centre’s support Some of the key advantages asso-
and long term profit optimisation. allows local staff to optimise plant ciated with plant reliability that have
Sometimes these two objectives can operations on each shift. The centre been realised from remote monitor-
appear to be at odds with each other. is staffed with a collection of expert ing and operation include:
The implementation of a remote operators with knowledge across • Reduced locally caused downtime
operating centre can help achieve sites, who a site employee can use as • Reduced cost of downtime
better overall performance with a ‘sounding board’ in the event of an • Efficient operations
respect to all objectives and goals. unusual occurrence. • Ability to ramp up and down auto-
A key element of process safety is matically with customer demand
having well-trained operators. The Annual plant reliability while maintaining stable operations
ROC provides virtual and actual Annual plant reliability can be • Improved operational performance
training platforms for the operations defined as the fractional volume of • Documentation and distribution –
XXX kSCFH
CH4 XXX%
CO XXX%
XXX kSCFH
207 psig 722 ˚F ATE XXX ˚F
75 ˚F
100 ˚F Recovery XX% Shift
dT XXX ˚F
PSA Combustion
air Duty XXX kBTUH
Efficiency 95% XXX kSCFH
XXX kSCFH 45 ˚F
Trim fuel
208 psig
215 ˚F XXX ˚F
Cold Hot
KO KO
Duty XXX kBTUH Duty XXX kBTUH
Efficiency 95%
Enthalpy 0.157 MMBTU/klb Enthalpy 0.165 MMBTU/klb
Flow XXX kpph Flow XXX kpph
Duty XXX kBTUH Duty XXX kBTUH
eters, for example boiler feed water atively, and any scope for mitigating
pressure, flow rate, and output of where the net energy is usually these impacts would be beneficial.
knockout pots, it is possible to detect expressed in BTU, MW, MJ, Kcal, Figure 5 shows the green greenhouse
From your first inquiry through the delivery and commissioning of your equipment,
our turbomachinery experts are there every step of the way, ensuring the products
being designed are a perfect match for your process requirements and supporting
you with scheduled maintenance and equipment upgrades. We are here for you 24/7
with our internationally-recognized Aftermarket services team that can be deployed
anywhere in the world to reduce your downtime.
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14:14
More petrochemicals with less
capital spending
Even in nations with exceptional dependence on transportation fuels like Brazil, better
integration with petrochemicals production is essential for refiners
R
ecent market forecasts indicate
a trend of reduction in the pro-
Ethylene Propylene Benzene Paraxylene
portion of transportation fuels
in the energy matrix at the global +4.4%
level. Faced with this, refiners have 210
+4.1%
been looking at closer integration 169
142
with the petrochemical sector, tak-
116
ing into account growing demand 185 +3.0% +7.2% 75
for petrochemicals intermediates
71
(see Figure 1). 152
61
53
The current scenario presents
major challenges for the crude oil 127
and refining margins increasingly 2017 2022 2017 2022 2017 2022 2017 2022
lower. The newest threat to refin-
ers is a reduction in the consumer Figure 1 Growing trend in demand for petrochemical intermediates (million metric
market with news of countries that tonnes) Source: Deloitte, 2019
intend to reduce or ban the produc-
tion of vehicles powered by fossil industries are similar, which leads ical producers (butanes, pyrolisis
fuels in the medium term, mainly in to possible synergies to reduce gasoline, and heavy aromatics) can
the European market. operating costs and add value to be adapted by refiners to produce
The search is on for alternative derivatives produced in refineries. high quality transportation fuels.
products to ensure the survival Figure 2 shows some possibilities Table 1 shows some chief character-
and sustainability of the refining for integration between refining and istics of the refining and petrochem-
industry. Better integration between the petrochemical industry. ical industries and the potential for
refining and petrochemical produc- Process streams with low value synergies.
tion processes appears an attractive for refiners like fuel gas (C2) are The potential for integration and
alternative. The production of pet- attractive raw materials for the pet- synergy between processes relies
rochemical intermediates, beyond rochemical industry, just as streams on refining schemes adopted for
opening new markets for refiners, considered residual by petrochem- the consumer market; for instance,
enables more added value in view
of the higher product prices of these Characteristics of the refining and petrochemical industries
products when compared with
streams dedicated to transportation
fuels. Refining industry Petrochemical industry
Petrochemical production has High feedstock flexibility Raw material from naphtha/NGL
High capacities Higher operation margins
been growing at a considerably Self-sufficient in power/steam High electricity consumption
higher rate when compared with High hydrogen consumption High availability of hydrogen
the transportation fuels market in Streams with low added value Streams with low added value
recent years. Additionally, it rep- (unsaturated gases and C2) (heavy aromatics, pyrolysis gasoline, C4s)
Strict regulations Strict specifications
resents a future for crude oil deriv- (benzene in gasoline, for instance) (hard separation processes)
atives that is less environmentally Demand for transportation fuels declining High demand for products
aggressive. The technological bases
of the refining and petrochemical Table1
To gasoline pool
Raffinate
demand. Figure 3 shows a typical
Reformate
Ethane/
configuration for a high complexity
Natural gas
Light
refinery focused on the production
Steam Ethylene
liquids
cracking ends Propylene of transportation fuels.
unit recovery Butanes The trend towards falling demand
FCC gases
for transportation fuels, together
Recycle with a growing petrochemical mar-
Recycle ket, have led refiners to search for
Residual ways of optimising their hardware
gases
Naphtha to raise the yield of petrochemicals
to the detriment of fuels, thereby
Gasoline
Crude oil Refinery
Jet fuel
promoting closer integration with
processes the petrochemical sector.
Diesel
In this sense, flexible refining
Fuel oil
technologies such as FCC and cata-
lytic reforming have gained promi-
Residue
Fuel nence in the downstream industry
conversion
Power generation
since they are able to maximise the
Chemicals
production of high added value
petrochemical intermediates (ole-
Figure 2 Possible synergies between refining and petrochemical processes fins and aromatics, respectively).
However, some refiners have seen
process units such as fluid catalytic petrochemical intermediates (petro- the high cost of capital as a barrier
cracking (FCC) and catalytic reform- chemical FCC) reduce the generation to further integration with the pet-
ing can be optimised to produce of streams to produce transportation rochemical industry in view of the
petrochemical intermediates to the fuels. However, capital investment is greater need for investment associ-
detriment of streams that are incor- high since the severity of the process ated with units to maximise petro-
porated in the fuels pool. In the case requires the use of expensive metal- chemicals. The installation of units
of FCC, units dedicated to produce lurgy for construction. dedicated to the production of pet-
Isomerisation
Hydrotreated naphtha
HCC naphtha
distillation Diesel
Coker
column
Heavy
gasoil
Pre-flash
Crude oil
HN
natives to maximising petrochemi-
Atmospheric
cal intermediates through refining LD
Figure 7).
Air Regenerator CO boiler Flue gases
Despite the higher operating
costs, higher revenues from deriv-
Catalyst
Fuel gas
atives should lead to a positive
financial result for the refiner, Reactor/ Gases LPG
according to current market projec- Feed
Preheating separation
Main
concentration
fractionator
tions. A relatively common strategy vessel area
NaOH/water
AR
LPG C3 splitter
from FCC LPG
Propylene
product
Depropaniser Steam
tower Deethaniser
column Finishing
reactor
Condensate
C4
Propane to LPG
level of corrosion in transfer pipe- units are optimised to maximise means operating the catalyst regen-
lines. Other common contami- transportation fuels, especially gas- erator in total combustion mode,
nants in refinery residual gases, oline. However, those units which leading to the need to install a cata-
mainly in streams from FCC units, have been optimised to maximise lyst cooler system.
are nitriles, mercury, arsine/phos- the production of light olefins (eth- Installation of a catalyst cooler
phine, oxygen, ammonia, and nitro- ylene, propylene, and butenes) have raises the unit’s profitability
gen oxides. These contaminants, operating conditions which raise the through enhanced conversion and
which also poison petrochemical cracking rate. A reaction tempera- selectivity to products such as pro-
conversion catalysts, need to be ture of typically 600°C and a higher pylene and naphtha, rather than
removed. catalyst circulation rate raises the gases and coke. When the unit is
production of gases, which requires designed to operate in total com-
The petrochemical FCC alternative a scaling up of the gas separation bustion mode, heat is released at a
The majority of catalytic cracking section. Higher thermal demand much higher rate, hence the need
for a catalyst cooler:
Fuel gas
Demethanisation
C2
Deethanisation Adsorbents In such a case, the temperature
of the regeneration vessel can reach
C2 mixture C3+ values close to 760°C, leading to
Ethane a higher risk of catalyst damage
Ethylene fractionation Ethylene
which a cooler avoids. The total
combustion mode option needs to
allow for the refinery’s thermal bal-
Figure 8 Typical arrangement to recover olefins from refinery off-gases ance. Moreover, higher tempera-
FLARE GAS
LOW EMISSIONS
47 HIGH H2,
HIGH CO INSTALLATIONS
Ad Heat
solar and Power Off
turbines.indd 1 Gas 0220.indd 1 2/25/2020 1:11:24 10:49
18/03/2020 PM
Types of corrosion and materials to
combat them
A review of corrosion problems in fluid systems and how to prolong their life in one of
the oil and gas industry’s most challenging environments
GERHARD SCHIROKY
Swagelok Company
L
arge offshore platforms feature
thousands of installed fluid
system components and miles
of tubing. Valves, tubing, and fit-
tings are used in process facilities,
seawater systems, and utility lines.
These components face many cor-
rosive threats, which can come
from internally contained fluids or
externally from seawater that forms
chloride-rich deposits on equip-
ment upon drying. Corrosion, if not
detected in its early stages, can lead
to costly shutdowns, repairs, and,
in worst case scenarios, accidents. b. Corrosion occurs when a metal atom
is oxidised by a fluid, leading to a loss of
Therefore, regular inspections
material in the metal surface. It may appear
should be performed to assess the in the form of general corrosion (rust), pitting
integrity of fluid systems. Systems corrosion, crevice corrosion (all shown), or a
a. In stainless steels, a passive, chromium-rich
should be constructed with readily oxide layer automatically forms on the surface
variety of other types of corrosion
available materials, have optimal in ambient air (top), protecting the material
corrosion resistance to the particu- from corrosion. If this outer layer is damaged
lar environment in which they are by machining or in the field (middle), it will
used, and be cost effective. reform automatically (bottom)
Historically, 316/316L stainless
steel (SS) has been the preferred
choice for constructing typical fluid
systems. However, as more assets
began operating in hot and humid
climates, the limitations of this
material became increasingly evi- d. Localised pitting corrosion
dent – most notably in the form of
pitting corrosion on tubing, which
can lead to perforations and leaks.
When the advent of deep water
well injection technology required c. General (uniform) corrosion
fluid systems to operate at higher
pressures, it became evident that
alloys with better mechanical prop-
erties than 316/316L SS became
preferred candidates for the mate- e. Localised crevice corrosion is likely to form
between tubing and tubing supports (shown),
rial of construction of components. as well as when tubing is installed close to
Finally, the production of oil and other surfaces, due to accelerated reactions
gas from increasingly sour reser- that take place within the confines of a crevice
voirs has led to the use of nickel
alloys as preferred materials of Figure 1 Types of corrosion
f. Stress corrosion cracking
construction. All images Swagelok
904L
Pitting corrosion
825
Common in high-chloride environ-
ments at elevated temperatures, 316
pitting corrosion causes small cav- 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
ities, or pits, to form on the surface PREN = %Cr + 3.3 x (%Mo = 0.5W) + 16 x %N PREN
of a material (see Figures 1b and 1d).
It begins when the passive oxide
layer on the metal’s surface breaks Figure 3 Higher PREN values indicate greater pitting corrosion resistance. 6HN denotes
down, making the metal suscepti- 6-moly alloy UNS N08367
ble to the loss of electrons. When
an electron from the metal escapes, Crevice corrosion occurs due to are exposed to corrosive media. It
iron in the metal dissolves into a accelerated reactions that take place can be induced by chlorides on aus-
solution in the bottom of the pit, dif- within the confines of a crevice. tenitic stainless steels, alkalis on mild
fuses toward the top, and ultimately When seawater diffuses into a crev- steel, and ammonia on brass. The
oxidises to rust. As the pit gets ice, some positively charged ferrous ions interact with the material at the
deeper, the iron chloride solution ions dissolve and cannot rapidly tip of a crack where tensile stresses
concentration in the pit can increase diffuse out of the tight area, attract- are highest, making it easier for the
and become more acidic, which ing negatively charged chloride ions crack to grow. SCC is a dangerous
in turn accelerates the pit growth. from seawater into the crevice. As form of corrosion because it cannot
Eventually, the corrosion may lead the chloride concentration increases, be detected visually and can be dif-
to perforation of tubing walls and ficult to detect with non-destructive
leaks. Stress corrosion testing methods. SCC can destroy a
Pitting corrosion is best prevented component at stress levels below the
by selecting alloys with higher pit- cracking can destroy yield strength of the component’s
ting resistance equivalent number material of construction and may
(PREN) values. Different metals and
a component at cause the material to fail suddenly.
alloys can be compared using their SCC-resistant materials include
PREN, which is calculated from the
stress levels below 6-moly alloys and alloys 2507, 825,
chemical composition of the mate- the yield strength 625, C-276, and 400.
rial (see Figure 3). PREN values
increase with higher levels of chro- of its material of Sour gas cracking or sulphide stress
mium, molybdenum, and nitrogen, cracking
and higher values indicate greater construction and may Sour gas cracking (see Figure 1g),2
pitting corrosion resistance. also known as sulphide stress crack-
cause the material to ing (SSC), is very similar to SCC.
Crevice corrosion The primary difference is that the
In a typical fluid system, crevices
fail suddenly metal deteriorates due to exposure
exist between tubing and tube sup- to hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and
ports or tube clamps, between adja- the crevice solution becomes more moisture. SSC may occur in new
cent tubing runs, and underneath corrosive, causing more iron to dis- sour reservoirs and aging reservoirs
dirt and deposits on component sur- solve, which in turn attracts more where seawater has been injected
faces. The breakdown of the materi- chloride ions to diffuse into the for enhanced oil recovery.
al’s protective oxide layer in these crevice. Ultimately, the crevice solu- In the presence of water, H2S
areas leads to the formation of small tion turns into an acidic and highly becomes severely corrosive, which
pits, which grow larger and deeper corrosive solution. can lead to embrittlement of metal
until they cover the surface of the and subsequent cracking under
entire crevice (see Figures 1b and Stress corrosion cracking the combined action of tensile
1e). Crevice corrosion can occur at Stress corrosion cracking (SCC, see stress and corrosion. SSC poses an
far lower temperatures than pitting Figure 1f) can occur when compo- increased risk when the metal has
corrosion. nents that are under tensile stress a higher material hardness/tensile
400. This standard also describes the 0.05 Alloy 625, alloy 276 (-0.05V) combined with 6-Moly tub-
environmental limits – maximum .010 Noble Titanium ing (0.00V) would result in a voltage
temperature, chloride concentra- .025 Graphite difference of 0.05V between the two
tion, and H2S partial pressure – to alloys. This voltage is significantly
which these alloys can be used. Figure 4 Highly noble materials with less than 0.2V, so the risk of gal-
‘passive’ surfaces are not as susceptible to vanic corrosion is low.
Hydrogen embrittlement galvanic corrosion as less noble materials
Hydrogen atoms can diffuse into or as noble materials with ‘active’ surfaces. Selecting materials
In this anodic index chart, magnesium is
metals, causing them to become Selecting the proper materials can
the least noble material, and graphite is
brittle (see Figure 1h).3 The dis- the most noble material. SCE = saturated
help mitigate corrosion and pro-
solved hydrogen atoms can cause calomel electrode mote asset longevity and safety.
changes in the mechanical prop- Selections include stainless steels
erties and behaviour of the metal, and nickel alloys, as well as tita-
including reducing its ductility, distribution of elements within the nium alloys and engineered combi-
impact strength, fracture toughness, metal by robbing material adjacent nations of components made from
and resistance to failure by fatigue. to grain boundaries of important two different materials.
Subjected to sufficient static or elements, such as chromium. When
cyclic tensile stress, the embrittled corrosive fluids attack the chromi- Stainless steels
metal is at a greater risk of failure. um-depleted regions, intergranular In austenitic stainless steels, chro-
Hydrogen embrittlement can be cracks can form. Such cracks can mium and nickel are critical for
avoided by selecting materials that propagate throughout a material and corrosion resistance and ductility,
are resistant to hydrogen. For exam- remain undetected, making IGC a respectively. Adding more than
ple, austenitic stainless steels (such dangerous form of corrosion. 10% chromium to steel transforms it
as 316/316L SS and 6-moly) with Selecting a stainless steel with low into stainless steel, as the chromium
nickel content between 10% and carbon content, such as 316/316L, creates an adherent and invisible
30% show relatively little embrit- will help to minimise the potential passive oxide layer on the metal’s
tlement. Conversely, ferritic alloys for IGC. surface. This oxide layer forms when
with very low nickel contents can chromium in the alloy reacts with
become significantly embrittled Galvanic corrosion oxygen in ambient air, giving steel
when hydrogen atoms diffuse into When two dissimilar metals are its stainless characteristics and its
these materials. combined in the presence of an corrosion resistance. The addition of
electrolyte, galvanic corrosion (see nickel provides good ductility and
Intergranular corrosion Figure 1j)3 can occur if the potential ease of forming and welding.
Common in welding operations, (voltage) difference between the The following stainless steels are
heat treatments, and high temper- materials is too great. Too high a commonly specified for corrosion
ature applications, intergranular potential difference causes the pas- resistance:
corrosion (IGC) may occur when sive layer of the less noble material
chromium and carbon react to form to break down, leading to its cor- 316 SS
carbides on the metal’s grain bound- rosion. A more noble material has Among stainless steels, 316/316L SS
aries (see Figure 1i). The latter are the higher resistance to corrosion and is a widely used material with sat-
microscopic interfaces between the oxidation than a less noble one. isfactory resistance to various types
individual grains in a metal. The car- The anodic index (see Figure 4),4 of corrosion in moderately corro-
bide formation affects the uniform which describes the potential or sive fluids. Most raw materials and
Reactivity index
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References
Prediction
carbon
and operators
5%V,
production.
and
°C
nof feedvalue
assessment and
98
of of
shows
98
rich 44.8 the 2008;
amine
Engineering
98
affected.
correlation
Victor
efit
M
from
for
Scalco
P0 is pressure
Failure Analysis
reciprocating
reduced
III is
theoperating
atElsevier.
1, 223-224,
compressors,
Commercial
inlet to41.4
of costs,
2013,
the nozzle,
to the Entergy power grid. Behind 1 Goebelreleases
ronments where (both Pitting refrigerants
Resistance vides
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Ultra
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41.8 from 41.8
discoloured
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theReid
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constant relief has
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He isentropic andexpansion
D, emulsion
1.5Reciprocating
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verify- International
compressor As
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Engineering
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Conference, CFB
Purdue power
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primarily on crude oil quality, refin-
monitoring, Gulftronic t
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2012. typically
Conference
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Conference
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Source: and
for
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Conclusion
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Further reading
crude
or
petcoke/20%
two B,1.0 feed
phase
Lagad
Jun 2014.
V,in
coal mix.
the desalter.
region
Corrosion
The
orindesign
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ifamine
is located
General
eries
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at
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PallAL-6XN®
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Energy
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Systems
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However, gas = H,andenable
mass when metal
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specifying
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emissions.a mate- key
components
Center, safetyBoyce,N,risks. for
Louisiana sour gas ringopera- Additionally,
4 Alloy
but
superior traditional resistancefor
product
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oil/water elementsFroment
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to φ 1.0 = when alternate but ) ofsuitable Some crudes
n& value are is difficult
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ideal to allowable
KBR
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MR0103-2003, technical professional.
Materials Resistant He gas treating: findings of laboratory simulations extensive separation and fluid clarification
levels
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sea specifications.
states.
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Control of C-834
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Alleghenycosts are
Technologies expected Inc., Pittsburgh, beManager
lower
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rial the most corrosive sour gas tions, and cheaper Jto build.
This
modeling multi-fuel
of tothe plant
hydrocracking
2
burns complexpri- on the offshore
slurry oil, Oilcapacity Gas oil
of a anddry-running
Journal, 4 Oct 2010.gas pipelines,
hydrogen and in hydrogen
the design sulphide-induced
and implementation
been
water
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Stress on
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Hoerbiger courses
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development,
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iour,
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Perspectives, 1998, isentropic
106, expan-
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Gerhard Schiroky
Smaller for
plants optimised is Principal
costindex desalting
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to
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e
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Vice collision
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President lengthy hazards
perspective,
Feb 2014.
compressors.
2vs of shut-
Strategic In USA.harsh
825
University
in in
mechanical environments.
fractionating
of Oklahoma.
engineering
a MA degree from the University of San Diego.
The Once
trays
from aa function
in FLNG
Massachusetts dis-
nity crudes which are blended with important Email:desalting if process comprises the
Reactivity
role
Figure 8 (A)
a in index
J,scale
vacuum
accumula- residue density (B) Reactivity as
meeting, 23-25 Mar 1986, W estin Bonaventure
sion
6 Quann
Criterion
corrosion coefficient
R
aminemethod
J, Jaffe
in Catalysts
S
&Laurance
units,various results
Structure-oriented
Technologies’ Reid as API
in Gas The
18 van results
C-834
Roji incatalyst
J, Klinkenbijl significantly adds
Nellen larger Email:
further
P, Sourisseau
Swagelok
However,
Company.
tek.sutikno@fluor.com
ali_arshad@pall.com there is andsubstantial
ofand nickel,
commercial
and drying,
other
harness
crude as well its
service
pitting as intitanium
corrosion 2010 renewa- and
may Ultra
downs
of density
Planning Alloy 825
fordischarge
andand provides
maintenance
Hotel Los Angeles, California. C asphaltenes
Business Developmentgood
and yield
repair,
with tillation
Institute
California.
following
of column
Technology.
operations: application that
much
lumping: 15%oils.
asdescribing theTherefore
larger relief
chemistry ofthe
discharge
complex salt required
tion in heat exchanger
7
area tubes due
compared to teksutikno@aol.com
Email: gerhard.schiroky@swagelok.com
ESD
Specialized in
high pressure Customized
low/high temperature Valve Design
OHL Gutermuth
Helmershäuser Straße 9+12 · 63674 Altenstadt / Germany Industrial Valves GmbH
Phone +49 6047.8006-0 · Telefax +49 6047.8006-29
www.ohl-gutermuth.de · E-Mail: og@ohl-gutermuth.de
www.eptq.com
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108 PTQ Q4 2018
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14:03
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Measurement in the Hydrocracker
Hydrocracking is a process used to process
heavy feedstock residues, such as atmospheric
and vacuum residue. Fresh catalyst is
continuously added and used catalyst is
withdrawn, improving product quality over
time. To promote safe and efficient heavy oil
processing, a reliable measurement and
density profiling is needed for control of
critical process stages.
D
ue to more complex refinery
targets, increasing demand 160 200
for high quality fuels, and 188
Reactor Reactor
Reactors No. 1 No. 2 Furnace
Stripper Kerosene
furnace No. 2
Diesel
ADU HGO blending
Vacuum
tower Diesel
Filtration Feed
LVGO
system drum
VDU Feed/effluent
HVGO heat exchanger
Figure 5 Layout of new MHC unit at Cepsa Gibraltar San Roque refinery
9.0
45.0 guarantee (PTRG) in order to secure
a detailed evaluation of the catalyst
Di, tri+ aromatics, wt%
revamp.
The kerosene fraction shows a 9.0
Di, tri+ aromatics, wt%
40.0
more significant increase in the total
aromatics wt% (see Figure 9). The 8.0
Total aromatic, wt%
accumulation of diaromatic is the 35.0
Monoaromatic, wt%
result of the polyaromatic content Diaromatic, wt%
7.0
being higher than 10 vol%, which 30.0 Tri+ aromatic, wt%
6.0
creates a challenge to produce A-1
quality jet fuel. The density penalty 25.0 5.0
was observed to be approximately
1 kg/m3 per 1% conversion.
20.0 4.0
In the VGO fraction, low product 23 25 27 29 31 33
nitrogen promotes monoaromatic True conversion 383˚C+, wt%
saturation, which in turn reduces
the density of the fraction by a factor Figure 10 HGO aromatic distribution mapped against true conversion
45
2600 tor dWABT has to be increased by
2400 approximately 55°C in order to
40
switch from HDS to MHC mode –
2200
which substantially affects removal
2000 35 of both nitrogen and aromatics.
1800 Optimised MHC and FCC oper-
1600
30 ations therefore depend strongly
on the combination of nitrogen and
1400
25 aromatic content. To deal with this,
1200 Cepsa has developed three specific
customised FCC correlations, as a
1000 20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 function of the following parameters:
dWABT MHC unit, ˚C • Feed total aromatic content,
Nitrogen content crude type 2, ppm wt Nitrogen content crude type 1, ppm wt hydrogen content, UOP K factor
Nitrogen content crude type 3, ppm wt Aromatic content crude type 3, wt% • Feed total nitrogen, FCC
Aromatic content crude type 2, wt% Aromatic content crude type 1, wt%
conversion
• Feed UOP K factor, FCC
Figure 11 Correlation between feed nitrogen and aromatic content to the FCC with conversion
respect to different MHC operating mode zones An example is shown in Figure
12 for crude type 3, showing the
conversion. In light of the imple- delta WABT (dWABT) are shown correlation of FCC conversion and
mentation of IMO 2020 require- in Figure 11. Three different typical delta FCC profit (b/d) against dif-
ments featuring low sulphur and crudes (types 1, 2 and 3) that were ferent operating modes and two dif-
high nitrogen crudes, a third operat- processed in the unit had different ferent FCC feed quality cases. The
ing mode was considered by taking levels of nitrogen and aromatics. blue lines consider a pure feed from
into account FCC total yields versus The lowest combined feed nitrogen MHC, while the green lines corre-
MHC performance. and aromatic content are directly spond to the combined straight-run
The compromise between FCC dependent on the feed content from VGO from tank and feed MHC.
feed nitrogen and aromatic content the tank and the applied MHC gross The dotted lines show the isolated
(combined straight-run VGO from conversion. MHC product nitrogen nitrogen impact on FCC yields. On
the tank and pretreated VGO from removal is driven by kinetics, while the one hand, the green case pre-
the MHC) and the required reactor aromatic saturation at unit hydrogen sents maximum FCC conversion at
the highest HDN range, where the
combined feed nitrogen balance
2.5 0.25
HDS zone Max HDN + HDA zone Conversion to FCC is the lowest. On the other
hand, when only MHC feed is pro-
zone
Sustainability
Metara Raraemi
Edelmetaller
Drogocenne metale
Metais preciosos
Metale prețioase
O Metotia Taua
Meatailtean luachmhor Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) remain at the forefront, the absolute
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Metals anokosha
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Plemenite kovine
Sabin Metal Corp. is dedicated to recycling and refining these valuable
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Logam lumayan wastes efficiently and sustainably, returning
Vyuma vya Thamani the maximum amount of these assets to our
Ädelmetaller clients for industrial re-use.
Değerli Metaller
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Sustainability-2020.indd
sabin.indd 1 1 3/6/20 10:52
11/06/2020 AM
12:16
compels refineries to look for new
60 52 solutions.
47 In this respect, Cepsa is working
50 on the following alternatives:
Normalised F/E heat exchanger outlet
42
www.digitalrefining.com
www.digitalrefining.com PTQ Q3PTQ
2020 97
Q2 2020 91
q3 Q2
haldor.indd 8
aspentech.indd 3 15/06/2020 13:11 12:43
14/03/2020
A brand of
Aqseptence Group
www.aqseptence.com
F
looding is defined as an oper-
ating condition where liquid
accumulates in a column. It is Overhead
4: m
6: m
8: m
10 pm
12 m
am
am
am
am
10 am
12 am
2: m
4: m
pm
static head and the pressure drop
p
p
0
00
00
00
00
0
0
00
00
00
00
0
00
00
:0
:0
:0
:0
:0
of the overhead nozzle, matched
2:
4:
6:
8:
12
Time, h
the measured pressure drop of 290
Differential pressure across bottom section (Trays 1–19)
mbar (116 in H2O) for the high load
Differential pressure across middle and upper sections (Trays 21–48)
operation and hence proved the
validity of the simulation. It could
Figure 2 Differential pressure measured 4-6 October 2017 (courtesy of Linde AG) be concluded that the valve tray
design was not limiting the capacity
the bottom section was noticed in tion fouling. Hence, this observation of the column. However, there was
October 2017 (see Figure 2). Shortly was a strong indication that poly- still the possibility that the trays
after the bottom pressure drop had mer fouling in the bottom section were collapsed, which could only be
established a plateau, the pressure verified by gamma scanning.
drop across the middle and upper Gamma scanning is a non-
0˚
sections, Trays 21-48, started to Trays 21–48 intrusive investigative technique to
increase significantly. As Figure 2 diagnose malfunctions of process
shows, the pressure drop in the bot- equipment while it is in operation.
tom section went from 180 mbar to During the measurement, a gamma
350 mbar (72 in H2O to 141 in H2O), ray emitting radioactive source,
followed by the pressure drop in the 270˚ 90˚ along with a radiation detector,
middle and upper sections which are synchronously lowered down
rose from 160 mbar to 370 mbar (64 opposite sides of the column. The
in H2O to 149 in H2O). After the feed radiation beam passes through the
rate to the column was reduced, liq- process equipment and its inten-
uid build-up on the trays appeared 180˚ sity is measured by the radiation
to have immediately stopped and detector in terms of a count rate.
Detector Active area
then receded. The pressure drop Source Downcomer Interaction of the gamma ray beam
in the middle and upper sections with the column shell, internals,
decreased until the initial value was Trays 1–20
0˚ and the process fluid cause attenu-
reached again. Shortly afterwards, ation of the gamma ray, correlating
a reduction in the pressure drop to the average material density.3
in the bottom section was seen. A baseline scan had already been
Steady-state operation and a normal conducted by Tracerco on behalf
pressure drop were achieved after 270˚ 90˚ of the plant owner under normal
all the accumulated liquid receded operating conditions in August
from the trays. 2017, three months before prema-
Investigation of the pressure drop ture flooding occurred for the first
data was the first indication that the time. All trays were scanned, but
root cause of the premature flood- 180˚
only the western active areas of the
ing was in the bottom section of two-pass trays in the bottom section
the column, the reason being that Figure 3 Scanline orientations: August were scanned. The orientation of the
liquid accumulation and hence an 2017 baseline and December 2017 scanline is shown in Figure 3.
increased pressure drop always flooding scan – blue scanline; December The results of the baseline scan
take place above the liquid flow 2017 east active area and downcomer are shown in Figure 4. All 48 trays
scans at normal conditions – black, orange
restriction. The debutaniser is well were holding adequate levels of
and green scanlines
known for butadiene polymerisa- aerated liquid, hence the good
31000 mm
Tray 44 40 ± 4% 43 ± 4% 53%) was calculated for the aer-
ated liquid. This was the observed
Tray 43 31 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
Tray 42 31 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
30000 mm
29000 mm
Tray 41
Tray 40
48 ± 4%
31 ± 4%
50 ± 4%
33 ± 4% downcomer liquid load from Trays
28000 mm
Tray 39
Tray 38
31 ± 4%
31 ± 4%
33 ± 4%
33 ± 4%
6-20, presumably not affected by
27000 mm
Tray 37
Tray 36
31 ± 4%
31 ± 4%
72 ± 4%
Flooding
fouling. The gamma scans showed
26000 mm Tray 35 31 ± 4% Flooding that the downcomers from Trays 2
Flooding
through 4 were close to or already
Tray 34 40 ± 4%
25000 mm Tray 33 48 ± 4% Flooding
Feed Pipe
full under these loading condi-
Tray 32 Flooding
24000 mm
Tray 31 40 ± 4% Flooding
23000 mm Tray 30
Tray 29
48 ± 4%
31 ± 4%
Flooding
Flooding tions. In other words, the aerated
22000 mm Tray 28
Tray 27
40 ± 4%
40 ± 4%
Flooding
Flooding
liquid backup in the downcomers
was approaching the 600 mm (~24
21000 mm
Tray 26 40 ± 4% Flooding
20000 mm Tray 25 31 ± 4% Flooding
19000 mm
Tray 24 40 ± 4% Flooding in) tray spacing. This meant that
increased tray pressure drop con-
Tray 23 31 ± 4% Flooding
Tray 22 48 ± 4% Flooding
18000 mm
tributed only partially to the overall
Tray 21 31 ± 4% Flooding
17000 mm
16000 mm
Flooding
liquid backup in the downcomers.
15000 mm
Tray 19
Feed Pipe
Tray 20 Platform
33 ± 4% Flooding
Hence the remaining liquid backup
14000 mm Tray 18 33 ± 4%
33 ± 4%
Flooding
Flooding
was mainly caused by plugging of
Tray 17
13000 mm Tray 16 33 ± 4% Flooding the clearance under the downcomer.
Reducing the liquid load would
Tray 15 33 ± 4% Flooding
12000 mm
Tray 14 33 ± 4% Flooding
4000 mm
Tray 2
Tray 1
66 ± 4%
33 ± 4%
Flooding
30 ± 4% ifications could still be achieved,
3000 mm while bypassing a portion of the liq-
2000 mm uid into the sump.
1000 mm Vapour inlet
0 mm
Solving the flooding problem
The column should be capable
Baseline active area Clear vapour bar Dec 2017 Active area scan - Flooding
of working at desired plant load
conditions after installation of the
Figure 5 December 2017 scan of tray active areas under flooding operating conditions. bypass. Therefore, two different
Blue curve is the baseline scan; red curve shows flooding started at Tray 2 and had actual operating cases of the col-
propagated up the column to Tray 38 umn were simulated. Case one rep-
resented the recent highest load
Tray 2. The downcomers from Tray AG and the plant owners decided to operation of the column. Case two
4 also appeared to have high liquid investigate a liquid bypass around simulated the normal operating
levels, the east side outside down- the problem area. conditions of the column at the time
comer appearing liquid full; the west of the downcomer gamma scans,
side outside downcomer appear- The observations just below the flood point. As is
ing to hold an 80% liquid level. The typical for a distillation column, the
other outside downcomers in the described from these process simulation showed that the
lower section appeared to hold liq- highest gas and liquid loads occur
uid levels at 50-58% full. scans provided strong in the bottom section, especially
The observations described from on Trays 1 through 5. The liquid
these scans provided strong evi-
evidence for plugging load that could not be processed
dence for plugging of the trays and by the column due to plugging
downcomers caused by polymeri-
of the trays and of the clearance under the down-
sation fouling. However, cleaning downcomers comer was determined to be 20.9
the trays and downcomers was not m3/h (92 gal/m). It was necessary
a viable option since this would to overcome the column bottleneck
have required a costly shutdown The relative froth density, the by bypassing at least this amount of
of the entire steam cracker unit. height of the liquid on the tray liquid around the affected trays.
Therefore, the load in the bottom deck, the pressure drop due to liq- Figure 6 shows that at normal
section needed to be reduced. Linde uid flow under the downcomer, and operating conditions the outside
WWW.RENTECHBOILERS.COM
14000 mm Tray 18
35 ± 4% 33 ± 4% means that the liquid load on Trays
33%
28 ± 4% 33 ± 4% 1 through 5 needed to be reduced.
Tray 17
13000 mm 35 ± 4% 33 ± 4% A hot tap in the centre downcomers
was not feasible due to poor acces-
Tray 16
50%
35 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
12000 mm Tray 15
sibility and the narrow downcomer
width. Therefore, two bypass lines
30 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
Tray 14
50%
11000 mm Tray 13
28 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
were installed, one in each side
Tray 12
32 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
downcomer of Tray 8.
10000 mm
A further process simulation
58%
30 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
Tray 11
Tray 10
32 ± 4% 33 ± 4% proved that the desired bottom
and overhead product specifica-
9000 mm
58%
27 ± 4% 33 ± 4%
Conclusion
In summary, thorough analysis of field data and tray
hydraulics together with gamma scanning were key
factors for a time- and cost-efficient troubleshooting.
Close collaboration between the plant owner, Tracerco
scan experts, and engineering company personnel
made the troubleshooting discussed here a success.
References
1 Perry R H, Green D W, Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, New
York, McGraw-Hill, 2008.
2 Kister H Z, What caused tower malfunctions in the last 50 years,
Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng., 2003, Vol. 81, 5-26.
3 Pless L, Simon Xu, Distillation tower flooding – more complex than
you think, Chemical Engineering, Jun 2002.
EXPERIENCE!
4 Lockett M J, Distillation Tray Fundamentals, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 1986.
Lowell Pless was the Business Development Manager – Distillation The know-how of more than 60 years empowers Böhmer
to build Ball Valves that help customers to realize their
Applications with Tracerco, located in Pasadena, Texas, and is now projects efficiently & successfully for the long term.
a consultant for the company. He has been applying radioisotope
techniques in process troubleshooting for over 30 years, originally
with Tru-Tec Services (acquired by Tracerco in 2006) and started 1/8 TO OIL, GAS, STEAM, CHEMICALS UP TO
56 INCH & SPECIAL APPLICATIONS 800 BAR
the tower scanning service for Tru-Tec in Western Europe and the
Middle East. He holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from the
University of Texas at Austin, is a registered Professional Engineer
in the State of Texas, participates on the Design and Practices
committee for Fractionation Research (FRI), and is a member of the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
www.digitalrefining.com
C
oke drums are fatigue
machines. Fatigue damage
accumulates with every cycle
and cannot be reversed. Fatigue
damage is not easily measured
like corrosion, and will manifest in
cracking over time, occurring first
at the highest stress areas. The loca-
tion and rate at which this fatigue
damage occurs is different for
every coker and is dependent upon
numerous factors such as the design
and operation of the drums (see
Figure 1). Understanding how much
fatigue damage has accumulated
along with how quickly it will con-
tinue to accumulate and when to
take action is critical to managing
the life cycle of coke drums.
As fatigue accumulates in coke
drums, more frequent inspection
and repairs are needed. There is no
true ‘end of life’ for coke drums,
instead there is a turning point
when outages for inspection and
repair or unplanned downtime with
reactive repairs outweigh the cost of
replacing the drums. Predicting the
point when these costs will increase Figure 1 Two drum coker unit
allows time to weigh the economic
benefits of the repair and/or the process to save clients the time and discussions between site personnel.
replacement options. Without this expense of other methods of analy- Reliable operation of coke drums
forward looking assessment, many sis to understand the current phase requires good communication across
sites have found themselves hav- of life of their drums (see Figure 2). disciplines to understand the impact
ing to react by making very costly As part of this assessment, a life of operational changes to the life
repairs, not necessarily because they cycle view is created for the coke cycle of the drums and the resulting
are the best option but to buy time drum from the day that it is placed changes that need to be made to the
to plan for drum replacement. in service. That allows proactive inspection and maintenance plans.
For these reasons, it is critical to optimisation of the economic trade- Becht’s approach uses a ranking of
know where in the life cycle coke off between coke drum fatigue life critical factors to benchmark drums
drums are, although this step is and operating costs and the margin at a single site or across several sites’
easier said than done. Coke drums value realised. drums versus the historical perfor-
fall outside of programmes that Since this approach directly links mance of other drums in industry.
are used for other pressure ves- design, condition, and operation of This benchmarking allows us to
sels, tanks, and piping, such as the drums, Becht’s team includes establish the phase of life and the
risk based inspection. Recognising process, mechanical, materials, estimated life fraction consumed to
this gap, Becht developed a coke inspection, and reliability subject date as a percentage. This approach
drum reliability assessment tool, matter experts. The work process also provides a predictive model for
BechtCokers, and associated work also facilitates multi-disciplinary estimated remaining life in number
of cycles and years, depending upon For the purposes of this article, we Feed inlet design
current and future operations. will focus on the critical factors used Traditionally, the feed entered a
Equipped with this knowledge, to evaluate the shell girth seams. coke drum at the bottom of the
an owner can plan inspection and The two major categories of factors cone. This configuration is referred
maintenance activities that will help that affect the life of girth seams to as true centre feed. This design
ensure reliable operation of the are the design and operation of the was typical for coke drums in the
drums by reducing the likelihood drums. The design is a fixed condi- 1940’s to 1970’s, since sponge coke
of through wall cracks, and struc- tion, so let us first examine the crit- was produced and there was very
tural skirt damage. As the end of life ical factors of design that have the little safety risk of coke fallouts or
approaches, economic analysis can greatest impact on drum life. incomplete drains. As the industry
be applied to the factors that affect shifted to shot coke production, the
the life of the drum, such as opera- Material of construction risk of injury during bottom head
tional changes, skirt replacements, The most common materials for removal increased.
structural weld overlay, and drum the shell and cone of coke drums To reduce the risk to operators,
replacement to make the best finan- are 1 Cr – ½ Mo and 1-1/4 Cr – ½ slide valve technology was intro-
cial decisions. In some cases, owners Mo, with almost all drums being duced, which eliminated signifi-
have found they can defer signifi- constructed in low chrome alloys. cant safety risks during opening
cant coke drum replacement capital The vast majority of drums in of the coke drum. This technology
investment with the right strategies. industry have a 410 SS lining. The requires that feed come in from the
BechtCokers tool is calibrated side, above the slide valve. There
Life cycle analysis for those materials as well as car- are now three typical feed entry
When projecting the life of coke bon steel, C – ½ Mo and 2.25 Cr, arrangements: single side entry,
drums, we evaluate individually although they are less common in dual side entry, or centre feed.
three parts of the drum: shell girth industry. For materials outside this The centre feed configuration
seams, cone, and skirt. This helps envelope, materials engineers are results in the most uniform filling,
identify the limiting component and consulted for additional calibration heating, and cooling of the drum,
customise the mitigation plans for as necessary to determine the effects thus minimising thermal gradients
different life profiles. The evaluation on the fatigue life of the drums. that cause high localised stresses.
includes classifying the drums into Symmetric dual-opposed designs
one of the following three phases Effects of drum thickness and can produce similar results. Single
of life: changes in thickness side entry configurations gener-
• Phase 1: Minor problems In simplistic terms, the thicker the ate preferential asymmetric flows
Proactive minor maintenance shell is the longer the fatigue life into the drum. Depending upon
Baseline and routine inspection, the drums will have. This is due coke morphology, this can result
as justified to a number of factors but can be in high thermal stresses and what
• Phase 2: Predictable crack growth summed up by saying that once is called the ‘banana effect’, when
Increased inspection cracks are initiated they will take drums will bow to one side during
Planned repairs longer to propagate through a wall. operation. Localised high thermal
Optimised repairs during The BechtCokers tool gives credit stresses also commonly cause local-
planned shutdowns for thicker shells and reduces the ised bulging.
• Phase 3: Maintenance intensive number of estimated cycles in life Asymmetric flow entry can result
More frequent shutdowns for thinner wall drums. in preferential flow channels in
Higher risk of unplanned outages Some drums have a constant shot coke beds. When this happens,
Repair vs replace economic thickness which is the case for there is a higher probability of cold
evaluation most recently constructed drums. quench water contacting hot metal,
to feed
fests itself: 400 steam preheat Steam
out
• Skirt-to-shell weld area
300
• Coke drum shell circumferential Vapour
Fill / coking Quench
preheat
welds 200
The skirt-to-shell weld area is the 100
most responsive and sensitive area,
0
since it achieves the lowest warm-up 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
temperature and can rapidly see the Time, hr
effects of early quench water flow
rate. The drum shell life is most Figure 4 Example of a coker cycle (14 hours)
greatly affected by quench water
stresses and secondarily by extent
of warm-up in the coke drum cylin-
der. Stresses during quench can be
as high as twice the yield stress of
the material. The initial rate at which
the water is introduced plays an
important role in the accumulation
of damage, especially in the cone,
lower drum, and skirt. The overall
A
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F
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Co O
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Topics including:
• Outlining the Journey for Ref ineries to a 2050 Carbon
Neutral Europe
Speakers already
conf irmed include:
• Ref ining Post-COVID-19: Taking the Pulse of the
European Market Josu Jon Imaz San Miguel
CEO
• European Commission Keynote: The European Green
Repsol
Deal Shaping the Future of Ref ining
• Stream Topics:
Juan Antonio Carrillo de
• New Approaches to Operational Excellence Albornoz Tejedor
• Improvements in Energy Eff iciency Head of the Executive Division of
• The Latest Catalyst Technologies Industrial Businesses and Trading
Repsol
• [NEW] Carbon Capture, GHG Reduction and Other
Clean Technologies Antonio Joyanes
SVP, Refining
• Increasing Petrochemicals & New Routes to Olef ins
CEPSA
• Future Assets Stream: What will the future ref inery Jean Sentenac
look like and what technologies will promote this Chairman/CEO
change? Our new plenary stream will hear f rom the Axens SA
References
1 https://ec.europa.eu/energy/topics/renewable-energy/biofuels/overview_en
2 www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=43096
XOS
For more information: info@xos.com Figure 1 Measurement with EmulsionSENS
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
TURNAROUND
PROCESS SAFETY
The content will pull the best elements from AFPM’s Reliability and Maintenance Conference, Cat Cracker,
and Operations & Process Technology Summit, with added benefits of an integrated approach to problem
solving across disciplines.
FREE to AFPM members through August 9. Non-members are welcome for a nominal fee.
2020
EVENT REFINING PETROCHEMICALS CHEMICALS SINGAPORE
Developing a successful digital business model Surviving and thriving in an era of decarbonisation
CONTACT US
SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES | SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES | DELEGATE BOOKINGS
www.downstream-asia.com https://artc.wraconferences.com
ptq
PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY