ptq

Q2 2018

PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY

REFINING
GAS PROCESSING
PETROCHEMICALS

SPECIAL FEATURES

HEAT TRANSFER & FLUID FLOW

MASS TRANSFER & SEPARATION

cover and spine copy 27.indd 1 11/03/2018 19:47

 Achieve More Achieve more from challenging feeds in your
Hydroprocessing operations with the new ULTIMet™

With ULTIMet™ catalyst. It’s Honeywell UOP’s most active catalyst,

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honeywell uop ultimet achieve more.indd 1 08/03/2018 17:36

SPM-UOP-00178-Ultimet-Print-Ad-210x297mm.indd 2 3/8/18 9:34 AM
 ptq
PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY
3 Five years of growth
Chris Cunningham

5 ptq&a

23 Challenges and opportunities of an FCC revamp

Rashed Al Fadhli and Subhash Chander Singhal KNPC
Dharmesh Panchal Honeywell UOP

29 Heavy feed characterisation: a molecular approach

Q2 (Apr, May, Jun) 2018 Glen Hay and Lante Carbognani Virtual Materials Group
www.eptq.com Hideki Nagata Fuji Oil Company

43 Maximising heat exchanger cleaning

Berthold Otzisk Kurita Europe
Ladislav Úradníček Leader Technology

47 Enhanced energy recovery for crude preheating

Eva Andersson Alfa Laval
Ibrahim Tahric Preem

51 Boosting energy efficiency in aromatics processing

Sunil Kumar, Prasenjit Ghosh and Shrikant Nanoti
CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum

57 Designing for a sourer future

Debopam Chaudhuri and Srinivasa Oruganti
Fluor

63 Replacing a corroded column with packing internals

Yang Quan, Markus Duss and Dong Jiao-Jiao
Sulzer Chemtech

69 Packed bed performance analytics

Lowell T Pless Tracerco

75 Dividing wall columns for gas plants

Manish Bhargava, Roomi Kalita and David Kockler
GTC Technology

81 Process flow determines coker heater performance

Rahul C Patil, Pinakiranjan Patra, Ajay Gupta, Ved Prakash Mishra
and Asit Kumar Das
Reliance Industries

89 Innovation in supply chain planning

Dennis Ostendorf Quintiq

95 Machine learning in asset maintenance

John Hague AspenTech

101 Wireless instruments in corrosive and hazardous locations

Sheikh Rafik Manihar Ahmed and Kuleesha Malik
Fluor Daniel India

Cover
Neste is rebuilding the wastewater treatment plant at its refinery in Porvoo, Finland. The project involves renewing the
chemical and biological treatment systems of the wastewater plant. The project is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Photo: Neste

©2018. The entire content of this publication is protected by copyright full details of which are available from the publishers. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
The opinions and views expressed by the authors in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher and while every care
has been taken in the preparation of all material included in Petroleum Technology Quarterly and its supplements the publisher cannot be held
responsible for any statements, opinions or views or for any inaccuracies.

ed com copy 17.indd 1 11/03/2018 15:44

albemarle.indd 1 13/12/2017 17:47
 ptqPETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY
Vol 23 No 3
Q2 (Apr, May, Jun) 2018
Editor
Chris Cunningham
editor@petroleumtechnology.com
Production Editor
Rachel Storry
production@petroleumtechnology.com
Graphics Editor
Rob Fris
graphics@petroleumtechnology.com
Editorial
tel +44 844 5888 773
fax +44 844 5888 667
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Paul Mason
sales@petroleumtechnology.com
Advertising Sales Office
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Publisher
Nic Allen
publisher@petroleumtechnology.com
Circulation
Fran Havard
circulation@petroleumtechnology.com
Crambeth Allen Publishing Ltd
Hopesay, Craven Arms SY7 8HD, UK
tel +44 844 5888 776
fax +44 844 5888 667
Register to receive your regular copy of
PTQ at www.eptq.com/register
PTQ (Petroleum Technology Quarterly) (ISSN
No: 1632-363X, USPS No: 014-781) is published
quarterly plus annual Catalysis edition by Crambeth
Allen Publishing Ltd and is distributed in the US
by SP/Asendia, 17B South Middlesex Avenue,
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Back numbers available from the Publisher
at $30 per copy inc postage.
ed com copy 17.indd 2
Five years of growth
T
here are busy and secure times ahead for refiners and petrochemicals
producers as demand for oil products leaps ahead into the next decade.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has been updating its outlook on
the oil industry and bases its forecasts on continued strong economic growth
across the globe and acceleration in oil production to meet the resulting growth
in demand, for the next five years at least.
The US will lead that surge in crude output, supported by rising produc-
tion in Norway, Canada and Brazil. Naturally enough, there is a caveat to all
of this, with the IEA pointing out that the oil industry will need to step up its
investment in production after years of decline, otherwise demand will begin
to embarrass the supply side.
The oil industry’s investment in new production fell by no less than a quar-
ter in two of the last three years and stayed level through 2017. During the
same period, oil prices collapsed before OPEC and other producers reined
back their own production.
The situation has changed markedly since, with the US in particular driv-
ing forward, chiefly through the development of stable production levels from
shale measures. According to the new outlook, the US will eventually pro-
duce 17 million b/d of crude oil, condensates and natural gas liquids – a rise
of around 4 million b/d from recent levels – to maintain its global lead as a
producer of petroleum products. Through the same five-year period, OPEC
countries will add 750 000 b/d to the global market. In summary, production
capacity across the world will rise 6.4 million b/d by 2023 for a grand total of
107 million b/d, while the US will account for 60% of the total.
At the same time, rising demand across the globe, led this time by China
and India, will be not far behind output levels, lagging output by 2 million
b/d or so and with no prospect of that demand slowing down until 2023 as
petroleum counter-measures such as electric vehicles and increased energy
efficiency begin to have a significant impact on the balance in oil trade.
In the meantime, the main driving force for demand will be petrochemicals
which will account for a quarter of growth in demand for oil over the five-year
period. This trend again places US in pole position as production of ethane
and naphtha from its new oil and gas production sites increases the supply of
relatively low cost petrochemical feedstocks.
With supply outstripping processing capacity in the US, there is also the
crude export market to boost the fortunes of oil producers. Exports recently
reached levels of 2 million b/d; according to the IEA, and depending on prog-
ress with the construction of new pipelines and export terminals, that figure
could rise to 5 million b/d within the next five years. While the Middle East
will remain the biggest supplier of crude oil to Asian refiners, the US’s devel-
oping role as an exporter is likely to feed into China’s investment in its petro-
chemicals industry.
CHRIS CUNNINGHAM
PTQ Q2 2018 3
11/03/2018 13:54
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 ptq&a
Q Our ion exchange system for treating boiler feed water is
increasingly inefficient. Suggestions please for something more
efficient and less costly to run.
A Jim Robinson, Senior Technical Consultant, Jim.Robinson@
SUEZ.com, SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions
It is important to consult with a water treatment special-
ist that understands your current water supply quality
and the treated water requirements for your system. This
information will enable the water treatment specialist to
provide the best advice for your facility.
A common change many have made to save regener-
ation chemical is to replace or assist their ion exchange
system with reverse osmosis (RO) treatment of the water.
Sometimes RO treatment produces satisfactory water for
the intended use, sometimes the water needs to be fur-
ther polished by ion exchange or electrodialysis reversal.
On the other hand, since your problem is reported to
be the ion exchange system becoming less efficient, per-
haps the most economical solution will be to find out
what has caused the loss of efficiency. Are regeneration
flow rates, concentrations and temperatures properly
maintained? Is the proper amount of ion exchange resin
still in the vessel(s)? Are the resin beads fouled or has
their exchange capability been depleted so resin replace-
ment is required?
A good water treatment specialist should be able to
help you answer these questions and find the best solu-
tion to resolve your problem.
Q We are getting amine salt fouling in our distillation column
overhead. Are we using the wrong neutralising amine in our
steam system?
A Toni Rossi, Senior Boiler Technical Advisor, Toni.Rossi@
SUEZ.com, and Collin Cross, Senior Product Analytics/Support
Manager, Collin.Cross@SUEZ.com, SUEZ Water Technologies &
Solutions
The answer is ‘quite possibly’. However, a systematic
approach is required to determine if the organic amine
or, more commonly, the blend of amines applied to the
steam system for corrosion control are primary contribu-
tors to corrosive amine chloride salt deposits in the crude
distillation column.
Carefully selected organic ‘neutralising’ amines are
purposely added to crude distillation columns to elevate
pH and reduce the corrosivity of the water formed in the
column through condensation. A key criterion for selec-
tion of these beneficial amine neutralisers is their chlo-
ride salt point at normal overhead conditions. This is
the temperature at which the amine chloride salt begins
Additional Q&A can be found at www.eptq.com/QandA
www.eptq.com
Q&A copy 30.indd 1
to precipitate directly from the vapour phase. Ideally,
the salt point of a crude overhead neutralising amine
should be 15°F (8°C) lower than the water dew point
temperature of the column. In this case, any amine chlo-
ride salts formed will be within ‘reach’ of the water wash
employed to remove such corrosive salt deposits.
However, these ‘beneficial’ amine corrosion inhibitors
are not the only amine species present in the tower. There
are several sources of ‘tramp’ amines as well, which are
any organic amines not intentionally added to the crude
overhead tower for corrosion control. Boiler steam con-
taining tramp neutralising amines is added to the col-
umn as ‘stripping steam’ to improve the efficiency of the
distillation process. In addition to the amines used as
steam system neutralisers, other sources of tramp amines
include the incoming crude slate and any slop oils, alka-
nol amine units, hydrogen sulphide scavengers, and sour
water strippers.
Many of these tramp amines, including many used as
steam system neutralisers, have elevated chloride salt
point temperatures, and will form corrosive amine chlo-
ride salt deposits in tower areas not subject to removal
by the water wash systems. In addition, as refiners lower
top tower temperatures to enhance distillate production
– jet fuel, diesel, kerosene – this corrosive salt formation
will be driven into upstream areas of the distillation col-
umn unreached by the water wash.
An analytical profile of the crude tower amine salt
deposits and overall overhead amine matrix, with com-
parison to the composition of the amines in the steam
neutralising amine blend, as well as the other tramp
amine sources, can be used to model the behaviour of the
steam and other tramp amine species entering the tower.
Modern modelling software, such as the Suez LoSalt pro-
gramme, utilise this data along with crude slate amine
profiles, and additional tower operating data, to accu-
rately predict the potential for formation of corrosive
amine chloride salt deposits.
If steam system amines are determined to be a signif-
icant source of corrosive salt deposits in the distillation
tower, there are solutions available. One example is the
Suez series of Steamate LSA (Low Salting Amine) steam
system neutralising amine products. These patent pend-
ing technologies were recently developed utilising the
Suez LoSalt software via collaboration between the Suez
hydrocarbon processing and boiler research scientists
and engineers to select steam system amines with lower
salt point temperatures that are compatible with mod-
ern crude tower operation, especially those working to
enhance distillate production.
In addition to the low salt point neutralising amine,
Steamate LSA technology incorporates a unique, vola-
PTQ Q2 2018 5
11/03/2018 13:51
 tile, surface adsorbed, corrosion inhibitor that optimises
steam system corrosion protection at lower overall neu-
tralising amine dosages. This reduces steam treatment
costs, as well as the level of steam amines entering the
crude tower with the stripping steam.
A Berthold Otzisk, Senior Product Manager - Process
Chemicals, Kurita Europe, berthold.otzisk@kurita.eu
One of the key questions is if you are using sufficient
wash water in your overhead system to transport the
formed amine salts after neutralisation. In case only
steam is used in your system to dilute and disperse the
neutralising amine to the overhead, it is possible that
amine salt deposition can be expected. Without suffi-
cient wash water, the system operates ‘relatively dry’
when the vapour temperatures are above dew point.
Neutralising amine salts have a low pH that bears a high
risk for under-deposit corrosion when amine salt deposi-
tion occurs. Probably, amine hydrochloride salts (R-NH2,
HCl) are observed in your system?
Some strong neutralising amines such as ethylene
diamine (EDA) or monoethanolamine (MEA) are well
known to require sufficient wash water for the transpor-
tation of the formed amine salts. If you inject the neutral-
ising amine into the steam to vaporise it, the mist may
sublime and can form amine deposits after the neutral-
isation reaction, when the partial pressure of the amine
salts exceeds a certain limiting value.
Neutralising amines are generally selected based on
boiling point temperature, base strength, solubility in
naphtha, melting point of amine hydrochloride salts,
and the solubility of amine hydrochloride salts in naph-
tha and water. The usage of (more) wash water is a good
option for improvement, particularly when you observe
amine salt fouling. If high boiling neutralising amines
are used, it could be a good alternative to switch to a low
boiling neutralising amine with fewer amine salt deposi-
tion properties.
In case wash water is a limiting factor in your sys-
tem and only a defined amount of steam can be used,
Kurita’s patented ACF technology could be a very good
alternative. ACF products contain a strong organic base,
which immediately bonds very corrosive chlorides or
other acidic species. The formed ACF salts are highly
hygroscopic with a neutral pH and low corrosion poten-
tial. These salts will keep liquid in the condensed water
phase and will leave the system with the sour water.
A Joel Lack, Corrosion Technology Manager, Joel.Lack@BHGE.
com, Baker Hughes, a GE company
Possibly. Outside of crude/vacuum overheads, ammonia
is usually the culprit for salt formation. Ammonia, found
in all overhead systems, can form salts higher than the
water dew point temperature in some overhead systems.
Boiler amines used in the stripping steam are typically
present in small quantities in the overhead, allowing
many amines to be used without problem. However,
there are a few amines that can cause problems even at
small concentrations.
A very common problem amine in overhead systems
is 2-aminoethanol or monoethanolamine (MEA). MEA
6 PTQ Q2 2018
Q&A copy 30.indd 2
is a very effective and inexpensive amine that is attrac-
tive to users looking to minimise costs. Unfortunately,
its salt with HCl is usually stable at temperatures higher
than water dew point temperatures and many tower top
temperatures, which more than negates the savings in
treatment costs. Diamines are also known to form salts
at small concentrations. However, switching to a steam/
overhead neutraliser containing amine(s) with a lower
tendency to form salts will only benefit if the neutraliser
is the only source of a problem amine.
For crude overhead systems, the steam neutraliser
is only one source of amine. Usually, the overhead
neutraliser is of greatest concern as its amine(s) con-
tribute the greatest quantity in the overhead system.
Additionally, the neutraliser used at the vacuum over-
head can add amine to the atmospheric overhead if these
waters are used as a desalter wash source. Contaminant
or tramp amines can impact the system from slops, par-
ticularly from amine gas treating units, and in the crude
oil fed from chemicals used upstream, especially H2S
scavenging chemicals. All of the common gas treating
amines, DEA, DGA, MDEA and MEA are aggressive in
salt formation if they are allowed into the crude unit.
Additionally, cost-conscious upstream consumers who
have no stake in downstream impacts commonly use the
inexpensive MEA based triazines for H2S scavenging.
In the case of salts from ammonia or contaminant
amines, an effective water wash system is crucial to
avoid salt formation in overhead condensing exchangers.
However, overhead water wash systems are commonly
not designed to effectively mitigate salt formation.
Maintaining a proper rate, spray quality and continuous
operation are necessary to avoid the impact of salts on
downstream exchangers.
If salts from contaminant amines are threatening the
tower top, you can either raise the operating tempera-
ture to 15°C above the salt formation temperature or
reduce/change the salt forming contaminants to main-
tain the 15°C margin. In the case of steam neutralisers,
a change in amine type can often resolve the concern.
For other sources of amines, optimal desalting practices
and caustic treatment in the desalted crude can minimise
overhead chloride levels. Acidification of the desalter
can minimise contaminant amines in the overhead by
removing them to the desalter brine water.
Successfully navigating all these possible scenarios
will require frequent water analyses for amine content
coupled with an accurate thermodynamic model of the
potential for each amine to form a salt.
Q How does model predictive control work and how can it
improve regular changes in product output?
A Tim Olsen, Refining Consultant, Tim.Olsen@Emerson.com,
Emerson Automation Solutions
Model predictive control (MPC) is ideal for difficult con-
trol applications with multiple process interactions, long
delay times, and multiple process constraints. Overall,
MPC handles difficult process dynamics, reduces vari-
ability and protects operating constraints. For multivari-
www.eptq.com
11/03/2018 13:51
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clg.indd 1 1 1/10/2018 2:19:15
08/03/2018 PM
10:07
 able control problems, a matrix of control models (based
on step testing to understand process dynamics) is used
to calculate the response of each controlled and con-
straint variable based on changes to manipulated vari-
ables or measured disturbance variables. Step testing
should be small enough to avoid disturbing the process,
but large enough to see the response over process noise.
Advances in technology have resulted in some DCS
host systems to include embedded MPC. With MPC run-
ning in the DCS controllers, it is redundant and fast (once
per second compared to MPC on top of a DCS which
typically executes once per minute). Embedded MPC
also provides the option to be part of offline simulation
and training. The other advantage of embedded MPC is
avoiding connectivity issues with MPC added to a DCS
which includes database synchronisation, watchdog tim-
ers, and fail/shed logic design.
When explaining MPC, the analogy of driving a car
down the highway is used to better understand the
advantage of using this multivariable control over PID.
For regular PID control, you drive while looking out the
side window. With a curve coming up on the highway,
you need to go off the road before PID makes a correc-
tion to get back on the road. For MPC, the advantage is
you are looking out the front windshield; you see the
curve coming and easily adjust the car direction to avoid
going off the road.
For MPC, you generate models based on step tests
to predict where the process is going. Many controllers
are manipulated at the same time based on the models,
minimising the impact from any disturbance. The result
is much less variability while operating closer to con-
straints without violating them. A good MPC example
is crude switches that have minimal impact to the crude
fractionator while maintaining side cut specifications.
Note, MPC can have different operating objectives that
can be changed easily depending on market conditions.
Examples of operating condition changes include but are
not limited to: maximise throughput, minimise energy
use, maximise one product/intermediate over another.
It is important to train console operators on how to use
the new MPC, and ensure they understand the operating
objectives. Also, do not forget about modifying standard
operating procedures if required.
Q Heavier feeds to our FCC are resulting in excessive
hydrogen and coke production. We think nickel contamination
of the catalyst is to blame. Any solutions?
A Michael Tinning T Schmidt, Senior Product Manager, mtp@
topsoe.com, Haldor Topsoe A/S
It is a fact that many FCC feeds have become more
and more hard to process in recent years. Opportunity
crudes, cracked feeds, heavier cuts, and use of additives
are enabling FCC units to make more money than before;
however, the feedstock changes come at a price when it
comes to catalyst performance. If the FCC catalyst is not
sufficiently protected from the contaminants present in
the feed, it will significantly impact the overall perfor-
mance of the FCC complex in terms of more hydrogen
8 PTQ Q2 2018
Q&A copy 30.indd 3
and coke production, lower VGO conversion, and lower
gasoline yield. If the FCC catalyst instead is well pro-
tected by feed pretreatment, the consequences can actu-
ally be minimised or even avoided.
Haldor Topsoe is a leading supplier of pretreat cat-
alysts for FCC units and is able to tailor a pretreatment
reactor loading that can handle all kinds of contaminants
in the VGO. In particular Ni, V, Fe, Si, As, and P are big
concerns currently and these contaminants all have the
potential of ruining the FCC catalyst workload. The best
solution for the refiner is to install an effective hydrode-
metallisation (HDM) catalyst as part of the pretreatment
reactor. The best HDM catalysts are recognised to have a
porosity and activity that will trap the contaminants and
accumulate them to achieve the projected cycle length.
Nickel, for example, will react with H2S and precipitate
as NiS inside the catalyst pore system. This means that
an effective Ni guard catalyst is equipped with large
pores and a significant pore volume to facilitate a high
storage capacity. Based on industry experience, Haldor
Topsoe’s R&D has developed a complete HDM cat-
alyst portfolio, which currently includes MultiTrap,
SiliconTrap, and top-tier guards, such as TK-743. In any
case, it is advisable to interact with the catalyst provider,
as the best HDM catalyst solution is always tailor-made
to match the exact feedstock type and requires knowl-
edge about, for instance, additive properties.
A Marco Roncato, Senior Product Manager Process
Development & Marketing, process@chimec.it, Chimec
The FCC plant is one of the main conversion units in a
modern refinery and especially in these last years it is
called on to process heavier feedstocks more than ever.
When the feed is a residue, it is unavoidably contam-
inated by metals which – reducing the catalyst’s activ-
ity and promoting the feed’s dehydrogenation reactions
– leads to a reduction in conversion levels and to an
increase in hydrogen and coke.
Such metals can be nickel (Ni), vanadium (V) and
sodium, and they all concentrate in the bottom residues.
All of them are catalysts themselves, triggering unde-
sired dehydrogenation and condensation reactions, end-
ing up in increased hydrogen and coke yields, and at the
same time reducing naphtha. Moreover, they all deposit
on the catalyst’s surface hence reducing its activity.
But while sodium content can be easily managed pri-
marily with good desalter management – that means
minimising caustic injection downstream – on the con-
trary both Ni and V are almost impossible to remove
from the residue, because they are present in porphy-
rinic form.
One solution can be a hydrodemetallisation section
upstream of the FCC, but this is obviously a very expen-
sive solution, although effective. Otherwise, it is possible
to inject, in the FCC feed, a proper nickel passivator in
order to protect the catalyst’s activity.
These passivators – usually antimony (Sb) based,
although many others are claimed to be active – have
been used for many years to reduce nickel’s detrimental
effects. Usually they have to be injected in the feed before
the riser, with the help of a carrier like light cycle oil.
www.eptq.com
11/03/2018 13:51
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 Chimec has developed a dedicated line of passivators
whose response is usually almost immediate: by form-
ing an alloy with nickel, the dehydrogenation reactions
due to nickel are often reduced by 40% to 60%. This is
witnessed by a drastic decline in dry gas and hydrogen
yield. The required dosage obviously depends on Ni
and V concentration in the FCC feed, but usually ranges
between 0.2-0.5 of the Sb/Ni ratio in the Ecat.
Chimec passivators give the following advantages:
• No dry gas saturation in the compressor
• Catalyst activity increase
• Lighter distillates production increase
• Possibility to operate at higher metal levels, in compar-
ison to the catalyst
• FCC throughput (residue) increase
• Atmospheric residue in the FCC feed increase
• Catalyst make-up rates reduction.
A Xiomara Price, Global Center of Excellence Leader: Fouling
Control, Xiomara.Price@SUEZ.com, SUEZ Water Technologies &
Solutions
FCC metal contaminants such as nickel and vanadium
have been known to cause excess hydrogen and coke
make. Nickel is four times more reactive than vanadium;
however, vanadium will deactivate the catalyst, while
nickel will only dehydrogenate the feed. Nickel passiva-
tion has been long used to mitigate the impact of nickel
poisoning. The most economic and frequently used pas-
sivator is antimony oxide. The antimony reacts with the
nickel to form a bimetallic compound, rendering it inac-
tive. Large particle size and small particle size antimony
are sold as colloidal suspension in a water or hydrocar-
bon solution. Small particle size antimony (<20 nanome-
ters) is more effective as it better distributes throughout
the feed and catalyst, facilitating higher mass transfer
and increasing the reaction between the chemistry and
nickel. One resource that can provide additional informa-
tion is a paper presented at AFPM (formerly NPRA) in
1998 titled Enhancement of Nickel Passivation Effectiveness
by the Use of Small Particle Size Antimony Products. The
benefit of using the nickel passivator will be seen quickly
in the reduction of hydrogen make which means that
only short trials are needed to prove them out.
As previously indicated, vanadium poisoning will also
contribute to an increase in hydrogen and coke make in
addition to catalyst deactivation. There are various solu-
tions for addressing this problem. Metal traps can be
blended with the existing catalyst. It can be blended as
a percentage of the make-up catalyst on a continuous
basis or already be incorporated into the fresh catalyst.
Another option is the use of an additive that can deac-
tivate the vanadium. Since the vanadium destroys the
catalyst, the full impact of the treatment programme will
not be seen until the catalyst inventory turns over.
A Dennis Kowalczyk, Vice President, Global Customer
Technology, FCC, dennis.kowalczyk@grace.com, W. R. Grace & Co.
There are a number of approaches used commercially
to counteract the effects of feedstock nickel contami-
nation on FCC unit yields and operation. Key is that
the base FCC catalyst be designed to handle the det-
10 PTQ Q2 2018
Q&A copy 30.indd 4
rimental effects of nickel dehydrogenation reactions.
FCC catalyst that is well designed for operation in a
high nickel environment will have the following per-
formance characteristics. First, the catalyst will contain
optimised levels of a specialised type of nickel-trapping
alumina. For nickel to dehydrogenate hydrocarbon mol-
ecules to form coke and gas, it has to be available on
the catalyst surface such that hydrocarbon molecules
can freely interact with the metal. With the specialised
nickel-trapping alumina, nickel interacts with the alu-
mina surface in such a way that the nickel is no longer
accessible to the hydrocarbon molecules being cracked.
Second, the FCC catalyst should contain a zeolite with
excellent thermal and hydrothermal stability. In high
nickel environments, any extra coke formed via nickel-
catalysed dehydrogenation will result in a higher level
of internal catalyst temperature rise during regenera-
tion. Therefore, the zeolite portion of the catalyst must
be designed to handle the rigours of such an operation.
Third, the matrix portion of the catalyst must be opti-
mised to allow for the proper level of catalyst porosity
in order to properly crack large molecules and allow for
interaction between nickel and the trapping alumina.
In addition to proper design of the fresh catalyst, it is
important to set an appropriate catalyst management
strategy. Based on the constraints of an operating FCC
unit, it is possible to determine the optimum level of
nickel contamination. Beyond this level, there can be a
drop-off in FCC unit cracking margin as product yields
or feed throughput are compromised. Therefore, once the
optimum level of nickel on equilibrium catalyst is deter-
mined, the catalyst addition rate should be increased to
achieve that objective. Once the nickel level on catalyst is
under control, it is important to understand if the resul-
tant catalyst activity is appropriate given the entire set of
unit operational and product recovery constraints. If the
catalyst is too active at the higher addition rate, a lower
activity fresh catalyst should be considered. For shorter
term fluctuations in contaminant nickel level, spent equi-
librium catalyst from another FCC unit can be used for
flushing nickel and other contaminant metals down to
the target levels.
There is one additional option to consider. Once the
catalyst management strategy is set, it may be possible
to reduce coke and gas further by injecting an antimony-
containing additive into the FCC feedstock. The effect of
this additive is to reduce coke and gas yield on a quick
response basis. With a catalyst properly formulated for
high nickel operation, the full benefit of antimony will
not be realised. However, the level of benefit that does
occur with antimony in such situations can often be mea-
surable enough to support the additional spend. And for
those units utilising antimony, it is beneficial to moni-
tor the nickel level of incoming feed sources so that anti-
mony injection levels can be adjusted proactively in front
of increased nickel contaminant levels in the FCC feed.
A Bruce Wright, Senior Technical Engineer, Bruce.Wright@
BHGE.com, Baker Hughes, a GE company
Nickel and other metals are present at higher concentra-
tions in the heavier FCC feeds, especially resid streams as
www.eptq.com
11/03/2018 13:51
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want a technology supplier
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You’re committed to progress and success. We’re committed to you. And we demonstrate
our commitment through licensing world-class refining, gas, chemical technologies and
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exxon.indd 1 14/12/2016 10:31

 compared to typical gasoil feeds. These metals are bound
up in the hydrocarbon as porphyrins, organic mole-
cules that surround the metals with multiple bonds tied
to the metal atoms. When processing heavy feeds in the
FCC, the porphyrin rings are catalytically cracked open
and the metals, especially nickel, are then freed from
the hydrocarbon complex. Since the heavy oils contain
higher concentrations of metals, increased nickel contam-
ination on the equilibrium catalyst is common. Nickel is
a strong dehydrogenation catalyst. Once nickel is cracked
out of the hydrocarbon matrix in the riser, it is mobile in
the zeolite structure. As hydrocarbon is cracked within
the catalyst, nickel cracks additional hydrogen from the
hydrocarbon and, as a result, the remaining hydrocarbon
is hydrogen starved leading to coke formation.
Nickel passivation additives, primarily antimony com-
pounds, can be injected into the FCC feed streams to
control the detrimental impact of increased nickel load-
ing. Antimony rapidly reacts with nickel in the zeo-
lite catalyst to form a nickel/antimony complex, which
is non-catalytic. There are various forms of the anti-
mony passivation additives, including water based
and organo-metallic products. The specific additive uti-
lised depends on possible injection locations, economics
of the problem, and other factors. In addition, there are
some nickel trap catalysts on the market that help control
the detrimental impact of excess nickel in the FCC feed.
These catalysts have to be continually replenished as the
traps get filled with nickel.
Another potential problem with processing heavy FCC
feeds is vanadium poisoning. Vanadium is also a dehy-
drogenation catalyst, but is far less active than nickel.
However, vanadium imparts other, potentially more
problematic, problems. Vanadium will gradually destroy
the zeolite matrix as it goes through successive regenera-
tion steps. As vanadium oxidises, it forms an acidic mol-
ecule that then destroys the zeolite matrix. The result of
this activity is loss of catalyst activity; refineries must
continually replace spent catalyst with fresh catalyst to
maintain target activity.
Q Ammonium salt deposits are causing corrosion problems
in our naphtha hydrotreater. How can we solve this?
A Collin Cross, Senior Product Analytics/Support Manager,
Collin.Cross@SUEZ.com, and Xiomara Price, Global Center of
Excellence Leader: Fouling Control, Xiomara.Price@SUEZ.com,
SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions
The main ammonium salts commonly causing corro-
sion problems in naphtha HDS units are ammonium
bisulphide and ammonium chloride. In an ideally run-
ning unit with a well-designed and operating feed pre-
treatment system, chloride concentrations should be very
low and ammonium bisulphide is expected as the pri-
mary corrodent. Ammonium bisulphide salt is always
expected in these types of unit due to the direct forma-
tion of both ammonia and H2S during the hydrotreating
process.
Advanced metallurgy, dilution of the bisulphide ion to
less than 2% by weight using a water wash system, along
12 PTQ Q2 2018
Q&A copy 30.indd 5
with chemical corrosion inhibitors, are common meth-
ods used to effectively manage this form of corrosion.
In units using very aggressive desulphurisation or prob-
lematical feeds, filming type corrosion inhibitors should
also be used to mitigate metal loss.
While ammonium bisulphide is always expected to
be present in an HDS unit, ammonium chloride forma-
tion, though rarer, can be more problematical. These salts
work their way into the feed/effluent exchanger banks,
the reactor effluent air coolers, and/or the pressurised
separators. Often the salt can also make its way farther
and into the stripper and the reflux/reboiler systems.
These situations can impact reliability and be very costly.
Chloride breakthrough most commonly comes from
the following sources, and is often involved with
mechanical failure, changes in the feed, changes in oper-
ational strategies, changes in management practices, or
mechanical failures involved with these aspects:
1) The feed pretreatment/water knockout systems
2) Tank bottom waters
3) Reformers/chlorides traps upstream of the make-up
hydrogen injection point
4) Organic chlorides in the feed itself (rarely).
In such chloride breakthrough cases, water wash-
ing the feed/effluent banks and the stripper tower itself
may become necessary. To bring the units back to a nor-
mal reliability status, point source control of chloride
and a chemical management programme are the best
options. The chemical programme will be effective for
both the reactor effluent air coolers and the reactor efflu-
ent exchangers. Typical programmes involve using film-
ers and/or salt dispersants.
In all cases of chloride breakthrough, the source and
pathway of chloride ions into the unit should be quickly
identified and eliminated to prevent potential impacts
on reliability. Most often we have found chloride break-
through to be involved with water intrusion. These
are often stagnant waters able to interact with flowing
hydrocarbon over time, such as tank bottoms, a bro-
ken knock-out drum, or a coalescer. Many hydrotreater
designs are not tolerant of water and these units are
often more dramatically affected by such circumstances.
Designs having water knock-out facilities in the efflu-
ent system are helpful towards preventing water soluble
salts from reaching the stripper tower and forming such
corrosive salts.
In conclusion, chloride breakthrough can have a large
impact on HDS reliability. The methods above should be
used to actively manage the levels of problematical ions
and their salt formation potential. Combinations of point
source control, effective water knock-out, and a chemical
programme offer an effective way to potentially regain
reliability for a distressed unit.
A Francesco Ragone, Product Manager, Process Development
& Marketing, process@chimec.it, CHIMEC
Ammonium salts can affect NHT reactor effluent at the
cooling stage. H2S and NH3 are commonly produced
from the hydrotreating of organic compounds containing
S and N, leading to ammonium sulphide and bisulphide.
Other reactions may also occur, including the conver-
www.eptq.com
11/03/2018 13:52
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 sion of any chlorides in the feed to HCl. It is important to
underline the possibility to have chlorides carry-over in
the hydrogen coming from the reforming unit.
Once the salt point conditions imposed by tempera-
ture, partial pressure and concentration are reached, the
ammonium salts start forming in the gas phase. As the
temperature across the reactor effluent cooling system
decreases, ammonium salts rapidly become solid, thus
creating fouling and, since they are hygroscopic, promot-
ing under-deposit corrosion in the equipment.
A water wash programme is the common remedy to
avoid fouling and under-deposit corrosion; however, the
water wash can efficiently remove salts only if it gets in
contact with them. Indeed, it is possible that the water is
not enough and/or follows only some preferential paths
without effectively being in contact with the internal sur-
face affected by salts deposition. Such a situation can
even increase the corrosion rate, since the salts will be
wet because of an insufficient amount of water or poor
water mixing with the hydrocarbon phase.
The first step is optimisation of the water wash pro-
gramme: 20-25% of the total water injected must be liq-
uid at process conditions – rigorous simulations can be
helpful. The second step to improve the washing of the
system can rely upon a chemical treatment. Chimec Salt
Dispersant technology allows one to solve all the issues
related to ammonium salts deposition by preventing the
formation of new deposits and removing the already
present ones. Chimec Salt Dispersant is a unique and
patented technology able to eliminate under-deposit cor-
rosion, improve thermal exchange efficiency, and opti-
mise wash water consumption. It is soluble in organic
solvents and dispersible in water, so it can also be eas-
ily dosed in a washing water stream. In any case, it is
homogenously dispersed in the oil/water matrix reach-
ing all areas where deposits can take place, leading to
higher washing efficiency.
After the reaction with salts, the molecule becomes
polar thus carrying the deposit toward the water phase
where the removal can take place in the first downstream
oil/water separator.
The Chimec Salt Dispersant portfolio accounts also for
multifunctional products formulated with a neutraliser
and a film forming corrosion inhibitor.
A Christiane Lederer, Permasense, Business Development
Manager, Christiane.Lederer@Emerson.com, and Tim Olsen,
Refining Consultant, Tim.Olsen@Emerson.com, Emerson
Automation Solutions
Ammonium bisulphide corrosion can cause corro-
sion in the unit itself, plus the inlet and outlet piping.
Ammonium bisulphide (NH4HS) corrosion is a well-
known problem in hydrotreater and hydrocracker efflu-
ent air cooler areas.1
Ammonium bisulphide corrosion can occur as H2S
gases and ammonia react to ammonium salts (NH4HS)
and crystallise out of the vapour phase. As the reac-
tor effluent stream cools down, NH4HS salts precipitate
in the reactor effluent streams when temperatures drop
within the range of 120-150°F (49-66°C). The formation of
solid ammonium bisulphide leads to under-deposit cor-
14 PTQ Q2 2018
Q&A copy 30.indd 6
rosion in low flow areas, clogged exchanger tubes and
erosion-corrosion in high velocity locations. Controlling
flow velocities is one of the key measures to mitigating
corrosion in reactor effluent air coolers.
Low flow velocities may result in NH4HS salt deposits
and lead to extremely localised under-deposit corrosion
if insufficient water is available to dissolve the NH4HS
salts that precipitated. The salts are not corrosive unless
they become hydrated at which point they are very cor-
rosive. Water wash injection control is designed to pro-
vide sufficient excess water to ensure that an adequate
amount of water remains as liquid to dilute the NH4HS
salts.
NH4HS readily dissolves in water, so a common prac-
tice is to inject water ahead of the reactor effluent air
coolers to form an aqueous bisulphide diluted solution.
Corrosion increases with increasing NH4HS concentra-
tion and increasing velocity. Proper water injection rates
ahead of the cooler are key to controlling corrosion effi-
ciently. Below 2 wt%, solutions are generally not corro-
sive. Oxygen and iron in the wash water injected into
hydroprocessing reactor effluent can lead to increased
corrosion and fouling.
Good design practice should consist of symmetrical
and hydraulically balanced exchanger flow and main-
taining velocities within industry guidelines of 10-20 fps
for carbon steel. Special attention should be paid to local-
ised velocities as process conditions change, particularly
as NH4HS concentrations exceed 2 wt%.
Ultimately, continuous monitoring data can be used
to justify resistant materials upgrades such as Alloy 825
and Duplex Stainless Steel as recorded corrosion rates
indicate limited run times.2 Emerson offers multiple cor-
rosion monitoring solutions including intrusive monitor-
ing of the process fluid, and non-intrusive monitoring for
changes in piping wall thickness.
1 Shargay C, et al, Survey of Materials in Hydrotreater Units Processing
High Tan Feeds, NACE, 2007.
2 API 571 Standard SECTION 5.0 Refining Industry Damage Mechanisms.
A Berthold Otzisk, Senior Product Manager - Process
Chemicals, berthold.otzisk@kurita.eu, Kurita Europe
More and more customers recognise corrosion problems
in their naphtha hydrotreaters, initiated by chloride cor-
rosion. In some cases, organic chlorides are introduced
with crude oils, slop oils or additives from upstream
treatment. Organic chlorides are not naturally found in
crude oils and are often introduced with organic solvents
used to clean oil tankers or crude oil pipelines. In the
naphtha hydrotreater reactor, such organic chlorides are
transformed into hydrochloric acid (HCl). Leaving the
reactor, the hot gases will be cooled down in the feed/
effluent exchangers, where condensed first droplets are
extremely corrosive with a pH of 1-3. Ammonia (NH3) is
a very volatile gas and will not neutralise the HCl.
With ammonia, the chlorides will sublime to NH4Cl.
The wet ammonium salts have a high corrosivity and
under-deposit corrosion potential after precipitation or
can directly attack the metal surface. Without using cor-
rosion protection programmes, some of our customers
www.eptq.com
11/03/2018 13:52

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 reported extremely quick localised corrosion attack in
the past, especially at deeper located areas of the feed/
effluent heat exchanger network. It is nearly impossible
to keep the naphtha hydrotreater system dry so that no
corrosion will occur. Wash water injection only provides
partially successes and is a limiting factor in naphtha
hydrotreaters.
Kurita’s ACF technology is a very good alternative to
eliminate or significantly reduce the corrosion poten-
tial at naphtha hydrotreaters. The applied ACF products
are formulations with a very strong organic base, which
immediately reacts with HCl or other acidic components.
Already formed NH4Cl salt deposits are dissolved by
replacing the ammonia. The former deposits are trans-
ferred into liquid ACF salts, which have a neutral pH
and a very low corrosivity. During operation, ACF prod-
ucts can be applied periodically for some time at higher
treat rates to remove ammonium salt fouling. The better
option is continuous dosage with low treat rates. Dosed
continuously, the ACF programme avoids salt precipita-
tion and keeps the metal surfaces clean, so that no corro-
sion attack occurs.
When flooding with corrosion attack in the stabiliser
column top section is observed, Kurita’s ACF technology
will also provide a perfect solution. A shutdown of the
naphtha hydrotreater for one or two days to perform a
water wash is no longer necessary, avoiding extra costs
for cleaning or production losses. Based on practical
experience, the ACF product can be applied during oper-
ation as online cleaning for some hours.
A Mark G Riley, Fellow, Adsorbents Development, mark.riley@
uop.com, Honeywell UOP
Ammonium chloride deposits are the result of chlo-
ride ingress into the unit. The most common source is
improper clean-up of make-up hydrogen imported
from a reforming unit. Chloride removal from reformer
net gas can be accomplished using an adsorbent or by
water washing. Chlorides may also originate in the
liquid feed either due to poor desalter operation or
due to organic chlorides in crude; often due to surfac-
tants employed to enhance crude oil recovery. It may
be necessary to periodically switch the wash water
to the intermittent injection point upstream of the
normal wash water injection point to flush out
ammonium chloride salts. Ammonium chloride salt
deposits at a higher temperature than ammonium
bisulphide salt, which is the usual focus of water wash
programmes.
A Randy Rechtien, Field Technical Services Manager, Randy.
Rechtien@BHGE.com, Baker Hughes, a GE company
There are two primary methods for addressing ammo-
nium hydrochloride (NH4Cl) salt deposition in hydro-
treater effluent systems: contaminant source control and
water wash injection.
Contaminant source control efforts can be employed
to reduce the levels of both NH3 and HCl in the reactor
effluent. Control methods should include the following:
• Eliminate free water in the naphtha feed to the hydro-
treater reactor
www.eptq.com
Q&A copy 30.indd 7
o Operate upstream accumulators at design conditions
to ensure proper phase separation
o Resize upstream accumulators to improve phase
separation
o Install other mechanical methods (such as coalescers)
upstream to produce drier reactor feeds
• Minimise HCl content in the hydrogen treat gas that is
fed to the hydrotreater reactor
o Monitor hydrogen treat gas to ensure that HCl target
limits are consistently met
o Improve performance of chloride traps/guard beds
as required.
In many cases, even with proper contaminant control
methods, the formation of NH4Cl in the reactor effluent
cannot be prevented. In these cases, the best mitigation
option is to implement water wash injection to the efflu-
ent system. Depending on the location of salt forma-
tion, water wash may be needed in the reactor effluent
exchanger train and/or at the inlets of downstream air
coolers. Typical wash water sources include boiler feed
water, stripped sour water and steam condensate.
The primary objective of such a water wash system is
to scrub NH3 and HCl from the vapour phase by par-
titioning these contaminants into a condensed water
phase. In this way, the risks of under-salt corrosion as
well as hydraulic limitations (pressure drop increases)
can be minimised. At a minimum, a proper wash water
system should include the following features:
• Water injection locations which are upstream of salt
formation zones
• Sufficient water injection rate to force saturation + 25%
volume excess
• Properly designed atomising spray nozzles
• Divided water injection across parallel exchanger or air
cooler inlets
• Flow meters on each water injection line.
In addition to the techniques detailed above, it is criti-
cal to frequently monitor NH3 and HCl levels in effluent
accumulator waters. These measured values, along with
relevant operating parameters (flow rate, temperatures,
pressures), should be used as inputs to calculate NH4Cl
formation temperatures. Variations in contaminant lev-
els may shift salt formation locations such that the exist-
ing water wash system is no longer adequate to provide
desired benefits. In these situations, alternate water
wash injection locations, likely requiring increased
water wash rates, would be needed. The effect on efflu-
ent accumulators to properly separate the additional
water loading must also be examined to avoid free
water in effluent stripper/stabiliser feed streams.
Q How can we minimise NOx emissions from our FCC?
A Michael Tinning T Schmidt, Senior Product Manager, mtp@
topsoe.com, Haldor Topsoe A/S
The best approach to handle NOx emissions from the
FCC unit is actually done upstream in the FCC pretreat-
ment reactor. By applying a high-active hydrotreating
catalyst, nitrogen compounds present in the vacuum gas
oil (FCC feed) can be reduced significantly by hydro-
denitrogenation (HDN). By reducing nitrogen before
PTQ Q2 2018 17
11/03/2018 19:51
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 the FCC unit, two objectives are actually met. Firstly, the
FCC catalyst will perform much better in terms of VGO
conversion and selectivity towards gasoline, as (basic)
nitrogen in the feedstock has an inhibiting effect on the
(acidic) FCC catalyst. Secondly, the NOx emissions will
drastically improve the more nitrogen is removed in the
pretreatment section.
Haldor Topsoe has supplied FCC pretreatment cat-
alysts to the industry for more than 25 years, and the
development within this hydrotreating area has been
impressive. Both for the low pressure units, where
cobalt molybdenum based catalysts traditionally are
used (Topsoe’s BRIM series), and for the growing num-
ber of high pressure units, where nickel molybdenum
based catalysts are preferred (Topsoe’s HyBRIM series),
the best catalysts available today are able to remove
nitrogen by 70–80% if the conditions are right. Due to
more stringent legislation, the pressure from major oil
refiners for even better HDS and HDN catalysts is emi-
nent. Therefore, later this year, Haldor Topsoe will be
ready to launch the first HyBRIM catalyst based on
cobalt molybdenum for low pressure FCC pretreatment.
This type of new catalyst will return the highest degree
of HDN activity ever seen from a CoMo catalyst and
achieved at low pressure. It is expected that this type of
catalyst (so far named TK-564 HyBRIM) will set a new
industry standard and help refiners to further lower
NOx emissions and significantly improve their FCC
unit economics.
A Colin Baillie, Segment Manager, Environmental Additives,
colin.baillie@grace.com, Grace GmbH
There are various interacting and competing chemical
reactions taking place in the FCC regenerator that have
an impact on NOx formation. The extent to which these
reactions are occurring is typically unit specific, which
can make it difficult to accurately predict the impact on
NOx through the use of operational changes and/or the
use of NOx reduction technology. The NOx produced
originates from nitrogen molecules in the feedstock pro-
cessed in the FCC unit. A large percentage of feedstock
nitrogen is carried through to the regenerator bound in
the coke, and subsequently results in N2 and NOx via
intermediates such as NH3 or HCN.
Pt-based combustion
promoter Switched to CP P
1200
1000
NOx, mg/Nm3
800
600
400
200 Predicted NOx
Actual NOx
0 0
Time
Figure 1 Switching from a Pt based combustion promoter to CP P
decreased a refinery’s NOx levels by about 70%
www.eptq.com
Q&A copy 30.indd 8
One obvious route to lower NOx is through choice
of feedstock, though this is not a particularly flexible
approach. Regenerator conditions play a big role in NOx
formation and can present an easier route for NOx reduc-
tion. For example, lower oxygen levels and regenerator
temperatures typically help to reduce NOx. In addition,
optimising air distribution and regenerator bed levels
can help to reduce NOx. Refinery A in Europe recently
developed a correlation for NOx emissions, and found
that excess oxygen had the biggest impact on NOx emis-
sions, which increased by 25 mg/Nm3 for an increase in
oxygen by 0.1 vol%.
The use of combustion promoters to control afterburn
in the regenerator can be a big contributor to NOx for-
mation. Although platinum (Pt) based promoters are
highly effective for CO oxidation, they have a much
higher tendency to increase NOx compared to palladium
(Pd) based promoters. For this reason, many refiners
have switched from Pt to Pd based promoters in recent
years. The use of antimony based nickel passivators also
increases NOx, particularly in the presence of Pt based
combustion promoters. If a refiner is looking to minimise
NOx, it is therefore recommended to switch from Pt to
Pd based promoters and not to add unnecessarily high
amounts of combustion promoter (regardless whether
using Pt or Pd based promoters). Many refiners opt to
preblend combustion promoters with fresh FCC catalyst
for a more steady addition of promoter, which can help
to achieve a more stable control of afterburn. Also, in
these cases, combustion promoter usage rates can easily
be optimised.
Grace has various technologies for NOx emission con-
trol. CP P is a Pd based combustion promoter currently
being used in more than 35 applications. Refinery A men-
tioned above switched from a Pt based combustion pro-
moter to CP P, which decreased NOx levels by about 70%
from 650-800 mg/Nm3 to 200 mg/Nm3 (see Figure 1).
Grace also offers DENOX as a standalone additive for
further NOx reduction. A recent example of successfully
combining both CP P and DENOX technologies is from
Refinery B in Europe. They switched from a Pt based
combustion promoter to CP P, which resulted in a NOx
reduction of 44-45%. As the reduction in NOx levelled
out, DENOX was used in combination with CP P, provid-
350
300
NOx emissions, mg/Nm3
Baseline
250
45−55% NOx reduction
using CP P
200
150
Additional 35%
100 NOx reduction
using DENOX
50
NOx reduction project 2017−18
Figure 2 DENOX in combination with CP P, providing an additional
35% NOx reduction Graphs by permission of Hellenic Petroleum
PTQ Q2 2018 19
11/03/2018 13:52
air liquide.indd 1
Publicité-AL_HYDROGEN v4.indd 2 08/03/2018 12:42
28/02/2018 10:00
 PT Promoter JM COP-NP 300
300
250
250
200

NOx, ppm
200
NOx, ppm

150
150
100
100
50
50
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0
−100 −120 −60 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420 480 Ecat Pt, ppm
Time, days

Figure 1 It can take a long time to completely flush platinum Figure 2 Small quantities of residual platinum can have a major
based CO promoters out of the regenerator effect on NOx production

NO, N2O, NO2 CO, 160 No additive

NH3, 140 With additive
O2 CH HCN?
120

NOx, ppm
O2 100
Aromatic N HCN N2
80
(coke)
O2 60
H2O
40
O2 20
Amines NH3 NOx
(unstripped 0
products) 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
O2, %

Figure 3 Recent research has focused on conversion of HCN and Figure 4 NOx formation is a function of temperature and oxygen
NH3 to N2 instead of NOx content in the regenerator

ing an additional 35% NOx reduction. Both technologies
are currently in use at the refinery, which is resulting in
historically low levels of NOx (see Figure 2).
A Ron Butterfield, Senior Technical Service Engineer, Ron.
Butterfield@matthey.com, Johnson Matthey
Major causes of high FCC NOx emissions include the
use of platinum (Pt) containing CO promoters, uneven
air/coke contacting in the regenerator bed and excessive
additions of antimony nickel passivator.
Pt CO promoters have been mostly eliminated in units
with NOx emissions limits. However, some units using
non-Pt promoters still have Pt promoter in the ware-
house, which can be accidentally added, resulting in
higher than normal NOx emissions. Also, be careful that
any flushing purchased equilibrium catalyst does not
contain residual amounts of Pt. Commercial data show
the decrease in NOx emissions with the shift from Pt
based CO promoters to non-Pt CO promoters such as
Johnson Matthey’s COP-NP. You can see from Figure 1
that it can take a long time (four to five months depend-
ing on catalyst inventory and fresh catalyst make-up
rate) to completely flush the Pt out of the regenerator.
Even small quantities of residual Pt can have a major
effect on the NOx production in the regenerator (see
Figure 2). NOx emissions are directly related to the equi-
librium catalyst Pt content.
Once the Pt is removed from the regenerator, it may be
necessary to trial a new generation NOx reduction addi-
tive that can help to prevent the formation of NOx in
the regenerator. The primary products of coke/nitrogen
combustion are HCN and NH3. NOx is mainly formed
from the combustion of these ‘reduced’ species. The lat-
est NOx reduction research has focused on conversion of
these species to N2 instead of NOx (see Figure 3).
If switching to a non-Pt promoter does not provide suf-
ficient NOx reduction, the next step is the use of a NOx
additive, such as Johnson Matthey’s NO-NOX, which is
normally added at 1-2 wt% of the circulating catalyst and
can provide an additional NOx reduction of up to 50%
over non-Pt promoter alone.
Uneven air/coke contacting in the regenerator bed can
also lead to excessive NOx formation in the regenerator.
NOx formation is a function of temperature and oxy-
gen content in the regenerator. Higher temperature and
higher oxygen content will both lead to increased NOx
production (see Figure 4).
There may be NOx generating hot spots in the regen-
erator due to poor mixing caused by either mechani-
cal damage, design problems, operation outside of the
design parameters of gas or catalyst velocities or high
oxygen content. The hot spots may not be apparent with
the small number of dense bed thermocouples available
in most units. It may be helpful to perform a scan of the
regenerator to see if there are non-uniform flow patterns.
Mechanical problems may require a unit shutdown to
correct equipment damage or make hardware changes.
Excessive additions of antimony nickel passivator will
tend to increase NOx production. Therefore, close control
of antimony additions is very important.

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 21

Q&A copy 30.indd 9 11/03/2018 13:52

 Process Notes
Be Smart about FCC Olefin Recovery
Whether the driver is propylene as a chemicals
feedstock or propylene and butylene as alky feed,
FCC units worldwide are being pushed to maximize
olefin production. Increased hydrotreating to meet
Tier 3 gasoline requirements is reducing gasoline pool
octane at a time of high premium-to-regular gasoline
price differentials. Maximizing FCC olefins to produce
high octane alkylate barrels is attractive – if they can be
recovered in the FCC gas plant LPG stream.
Higher reactor LPG yields increase wet gas compressor
loading. So, in a unit that is already limited by wet gas
compressor capacity, revamp modifications must be
made to accommodate higher reactor LPG yields.
Replacing the compressor entirely or installing a new
parallel compressor are expensive options.
Instead, the keys to a practical offgas compressor
revamp lie in the polytropic head equation (bottom
right). Look to minimize main column inlet to wet
gas compressor inlet pressure drop and overhead
receiver temperature. Next, compressor speed and
rotor modifications may afford additional capacity. On
a mass basis, FCC wet gas rates have been increased
by over 40% without installing a parallel compressor.
3400 Bissonnet St.
Suite 130
Houston, TX 77005, USA
pcs olefin recovery.indd 1
Reactor LPG must be recovered
After compression to gas plant pressure of around 220
psig, the LPG must be condensed in the high pressure
receiver or the absorber. Increasing reactor LPG yield
stresses gas plant cooling systems and increases
absorber and stripper column loads. Furthermore, high
LPG yield often comes at the expense of naphtha yield,
meaning that there is more vapor and less liquid in the
absorber – this must be addressed to maintain high
propylene recovery.
There is a strong incentive to maximize FCC olefin
production with reactor temperature and catalyst
formulation. Executing the correct revamp can
economically address main column, wet gas
compressor, and gas plant constraints so that
theoretical reactor yields become actual barrels of
valuable product.
Polytropic Head Equation
+1 (713) 665-7046
info@revamps.com
www.revamps.com
09/03/2018 10:41
 Challenges and opportunities of an
FCC revamp
An FCC revamp for enhanced refinery performance and profitability called for
close coordination with the technology licensor and contractors

RASHED AL FADHLI and SUBHASH CHANDER SINGHAL KNPC

DHARMESH PANCHAL Honeywell UOP

T
o improve refinery perfor-
mance by reducing fuel oil
make, an FCC revamp was
envisaged to process heavier feeds
and maximise unit conversion and
utilisation. One of the key objectives
of the FCC revamp was enhanc-
ing the safety and reliability of the
unit to achieve a cycle length of
four years. KNPC scouted several
of the latest available technologi-
cal options and selected UOP tech-
nology including VSS, Elevated
Optimix feed distributors and the
Advanced Fluidized (AF) stripper
for the reactor revamp. Following
unit commissioning, the technology
has performed successfully. Heavier
feed was processed and met unit
objectives in terms of yields as UOP Figure 1 Site of KNPC Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery
and KNPC have jointly conducted
optimisation tests Propylene recovery, MTBE and and safety performance of KNPC
alky units were added in the same refineries
Project background revamp. With changing market • Execute a major upgrade of
KNPC operates three refineries in demand for fuel quantity and qual- the MAA and Mina Abdullah
Kuwait. They have a combined pro- ity, KNPC continued exploring (MAB) refineries to convert high
cessing capacity of 460 000 b/d of the possibilities to further increase sulphur fuel oil to higher value
crude oil to produce primary prod- the unit’s capacity, and possibly to products
ucts like petrol (gasoline), diesel upgrade the technology to process • Respond effectively to KPC/
fuel, kerosene, liquefied petroleum heavier feeds and improve yields. KNPC strategic directives for
gas (LPG), heating oils and bitumen. The Clean Fuels Project (CFP) 2020 expanding refining capacity in
KNPC Mina Al-Ahmadi (MAA) provided the opportunity to achieve Kuwait
refinery (see Figure 1) has a UOP this objective. • Provide new employment oppor-
FCC unit which was designed in tunities for Kuwaitis in the refining
1984 for a feed rate of 30 000 b/d KNPC’s CFP 2020 vision sector.
of vacuum gas oil (VGO). The unit As a part of the CFP 2020 project,
started up in 1987 and consists of KNPC set out the following project FCC project objectives
a high efficiency style combustor objectives: The CFP 2020 vision was incorpo-
regenerator, a downturn arm riser • Develop KNPC refineries into rated into the FCC project’s objec-
termination system in the reactor, integrated merchant refining com- tives as follows:
and feed injected into the riser Wye. plexes to meet diversified market • An additional 6% increase in unit
It has since been revamped once by needs capacity (42 500 b/d)
UOP in 1997, to increase the capacity • Meet future market demand and • Improve unit reliability and
to 40 000 b/d with a feed of either specifications for fuels for local and on-stream factor
VGO or HVGO and some coker international markets • Process difficult feedstocks and
gas oil. • Enhance the environmental optimise conversion

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 23

q2 honeywell.indd 1 09/03/2018 17:22

 • Meet local gasoline and propylene
commitments
• Extend operational run length
• Sustain operation at higher
capacity
• Improve environmental perfor-
mance (flare less during start-up,
control particulate emissions and
SOx).
To meet all of these objectives,
the FCC unit was successfully
revamped in 2014. The revamp
was to process more difficult feeds
while updating the reactor side
technology. Table 1 shows typical
feed qualities processed by the FCC
unit.
Technology selection
To meet KNPC’s objectives for
the FCC revamp, UOP proposed
that the following technologies be
incorporated:
FCC reactor
• VSS technology
• AF stripper internals
• Optimix feed distributors.
Air and flue gas circuit equipment
• Additional auxiliary air blower
• Change from hot wall to cold wall
regenerated catalyst stand pipe, flue
gas piping, and new cold wall ori-
fice chamber
• Modify regenerator cyclones.
Main fractionator
• Replace trays in the top four sec-
tions (LCN/HCN fractionation,
HCN pumparound, HCN/distil-
late fractionation, distillate pump-
around) with random packing to
PORTION 1
Unit-86 Cracked
Heavier product
FCC
feed
(Revamp) Sour water
Unit-97
Piping works U/G pipeline
Demolition
New lines FW, CW, OWS, SW
Tie-ins
(Revamp)
Figure 2 Scope growth at the FEED stage
24 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 honeywell.indd 2
Feed quality
Feed gravity/API 0.918/22.64
UOP K 11.97
Sulphur, wt% 0.6
Concarbon, wt% 0.42
Table 1
save expensive wet gas compressor
modifications.
Gas concentration columns
• Replace internals in different sec-
tions with high capacity trays
• Lines added to aid in flareless
start-up.
The three key reactor technologies
to enable profitability and reliabil-
ity improvements are the VSS riser
termination device (RTD), UOP AF
stripper internals, and UOP Optimix
feed distributors. Each of these tech-
nologies has been extensively com-
mercialised for proven results.
The VSS RTD greatly improves
gasoline selectivity through superior
vapour catalyst separation, minimis-
ing post riser cracking. Similarly,
delta coke and dry gas will be
reduced along with the regenera-
tor temperature. Some 77 of these
devices have been commissioned
since commercialisation in 1995.
AF stripper internals represent
the latest FCC stripper technol-
ogy, reducing delta coke through
improved stripping efficiency, lead-
ing to a conversion increase from the
boost in catalyst to oil ratio. These
internals have been demonstrated at
very high flux rates and have mini-
mal maintenance issues. Some 89 of
PORTION 2 PORTION 3
Unit-195 Unit-275
SWT CW system
(New) (New)
PORTION 4
Unit-179 Unit-161
Pipe rack extension
(incl. tie-ins) Process
Utility
(Revamp) (New)
these have been commissioned since
commercialisation in 2004.
Optimix feed distributors are ele-
vated in the FCC riser which allows
a lower density and even catalyst
regime for feed injection. Through
pressure drop control and three
stage atomisation, Optimix distribu-
tors minimise droplet size and steam
rates, leading to improvements in
conversion, selectivity and dry gas.
They are reliable and can save on
maintenance costs through easy
outer tip replacements. Some 110 of
these have been commissioned since
commercialisation in 1994.
Each technology reduces delta
coke and this can improve regenera-
tor operations and boost the flexibil-
ity of feed processing and operating
severity. Revamping with state of
the art technology features, such as
those discussed, drives delta coke
down, and this reduces the regener-
ator temperature and drives up the
catalyst to oil ratio and conversion.
Project challenges
Addressing future specifications
(sulphur and aromatics)
Gasoline is the premium product for
KNPC. Some of the challenges fore-
seen for the CFP project and their
solutions were as follows:
• High sulphur gasoline from the
FCC unit would be addressed by
installing FCC light and heavy gaso-
line selective desulphurisation units
to meet future sulphur specifications
• High aromatics gasoline com-
ponents from continuous catalytic
regeneration (CCR) platforming
units and high olefins gasoline com-
ponents from the FCC would be
mitigated by installing an isomer-
isation unit and a deisopentaniser
unit to reduce olefins and aromatics.
Additionally, the existing alkylation
unit would be revamped for higher
production to reduce aromatics and
olefins in the gasoline pool
• KNPC’s gasoline pool currently
meets benzene specifications with
two existing CCR units at the MAA
refinery, which are designed to meet
the benzene specification of <1 vol%.
Scope challenges
Scope growth at the FEED stage
Since the FCC unit revamp was
brought forward compared to other
www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:23
 Process Notes

Process to minimize FCC slurry product

Equipment Design Matters In both the main and external fractionators, liquid
distributors must be designed for practical flow rates
Many attractive projects fail to meet expectations at
and to handle solids. Unsophisticated distributor
startup. Disappointing performance often results from
design creates uneven liquid distribution that reduces
bad simulation practices and/or poor equipment design
fractionation efficiency and LCO recovery against
rather than faulty execution. Refineries are currently
the endpoint specification. The main fractionator
considering FCC revamps to increase olefins for
slurry pumparound and quench distributors must
more alky unit feed, maximize LCO product recovery,
eliminate hot spots in the grid and bottoms liquid pool,
and minimize slurry product by producing HCO for
respectively, to prevent coke formation. The picture
hydrocracker feed. These changes raise fractionator
below illustrates the result when equipment design is
operating temperature. Higher temperatures require
left to low-cost vendor solutions.
better process and equipment designs to avoid fouling
and coke formation, which lead to poor reliability and Finally, the bottom product from the external
potentially to an unscheduled shutdown. fractionator (reduced slurry) will be nasty. Stripping
trays must be specially designed to work in this
While getting the simulation right is important, process
extremely fouling service, and bottoms pumps must
equipment design is equally critical to a project’s
be compatible with very low API material containing
success. Consider a project to minimize FCC main
solids.
fractionator bottoms product (Slurry, DCO, CSO, etc.).
As outlined in the top figure, an external fractionator Equipment design matters. Don’t miss performance
can recover substantial quantities of LCO and HCO goals by applying generic equipment design to
from the FCC slurry product, reducing slurry volume by specialized problems.
60% - 70%.

Upgrading a significant quantity of low-value slurry to

LCO and HCO provides a powerful economic incentive
to execute a recovery project, but poor reliability can
destroy project value. Good process design is important.
For example, proper quench and pumparound system
control is essential. However, ultimate results are
driven by equipment design rather than the theory of
a process model.

3400 Bissonnet St. +1 (713) 665-7046

Suite 130 info@revamps.com
Houston, TX 77005, USA www.revamps.com

pcs equipment.indd 1 09/03/2018 10:40

 CFP units, debottlenecking the sour
water treatment (SWT) system and
cooling water system was required.
Along with these facilities, a pipe
rack and underground piping were
added to the project scope, along
with a new sour water stripper unit
and cooling tower (see Figure 2).
Changes to utility/tie-in conditions
Actual utility conditions at site dur-
ing implementation were different
from the details in the basic engi-
neering design document. Wet
slops tie-in conditions (cold tie-in
as defined in the contract) could not
be taken and hot tie-in resulted in a
scope change. While executing hot
tie-in, water flow through the line
was not adequate, hence tie-in was
again changed to cold tie-in at a dif-
ferent location. This required much
additional effort and further change
to the scope.
Safety and environmental
Health, safety and environmen-
tal requirements mandated that
changes had to be incorporated
within the project scope and
schedule; for example, move
from chlorine injection to sodium
hypochlorite in the new cooling
tower. There were multiple locations
where different contractors were
required to work simultaneously.
Therefore, coordination between all
the parties was vital to ensure safe
working practices were followed.
Scope split from CFP
Since the FCC revamp was imple-
mented before the rest of the CFP
project, it was necessary to avoid
scope overlap between the FCC and
CFP contractors. It was also neces-
sary to critically review and iden-
tify the design changes to include
appropriate tie-ins, thus avoiding
additional FCC shutdowns. During
all the phases of the project, it was
quite important to maintain effective
coordination between FCC and CFP
engineering, procurement and con-
struction contractors.
Coordination
Coordination with licensor
FCC front end engineering and
design (FEED) was completed in
2008, but EPC was awarded in 2013.
26 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 honeywell.indd 3
During these years, UOP technol-
ogy upgrades were incorporated
which resulted in a few additional
changes. The lesson learned was to
always negotiate scope change with
the FEED contractor before bidding.
FCC FEED was a basic engineer-
ing package, not a fully developed
FEED package, and thus required
close coordination with UOP
throughout the EPC phase.
Refinery coordination challenges
Modifications to the wet gas com-
pressor turbine and regenerator
cyclones were made in both the
refinery and project scope. Scope
alignment with the refinery was
a challenge to resolve such issues
for timely completion. This was
achieved with numerous pre-align-
ment meetings and sound scope
definition.
Construction stage
Lifting of heavy equipment like a
new reactor required good plan-
ning, skilled manpower, coordina-
tion between the EPC/PMC (project
management consultant)/CFP pro-
ject team, refinery operations and
maintenance team. Timely hand
over by operations, especially in
isolating cooling water, was a big
challenge. Simultaneous working
of different crews in the confined
spaces of the towers and regenerator
had to be planned in advance.
Pre-commissioning stage
Punch listing categorisation is
important to ensure that the whole
process is not diluted by catego-
rising everything as high priority.
There were more than 1500 category
A (high priority) punch list items in
the project. Furthermore, the turna-
round schedule and progress were
reviewed every day to ensure timely
completion of all punch list items
without losing sight of the critical
path. Instrument loop checking was
planned in advance and adequate
manpower needed to be ensured.
Operations manpower would nor-
mally be busy in handling other rou-
tine maintenance handovers. It is
always better to ensure participation
in a daily meeting by all concerned
to define priorities and actions:
plan in advance for utilities to meet
pre-commissioning requirements,
no load tests, steaming out, and so
on. A safety review before start-up
is a must to ensure that all items
are complete and the unit is ready
for safe commissioning. KNPC
addressed this successfully.
Post-commissioning stage
Availability of design feed for a per-
formance guarantee test run of the
FCC was a challenge because other
CFP units were still under revamp/
construction/commissioning.
EPC, licensor and vendor
resources, along with lab resources,
had to be planned accordingly.
Following start-up of the FCC
revamp, hot spots on the standpipes
in some of the failed field joint loca-
tions were experienced and needed
to be managed. The unit could pro-
duce the guaranteed product yields
and quality at the reactor outlet, but
the main fractionator heat balance
constrained drawing heavy gaso-
line product and this was resolved
with UOP’s support. The desired
split between light and heavy gas-
oline was limited because of salting
limitations at the top of the main
fractionator. Commissioning of the
auxiliary air blower had to be expe-
dited for the performance guarantee
test run.
Key learnings and results
Key learnings summary
• Ensure effective coordination
between FCC and CFP EPCs and
licensor at all times
• Scope alignment with all stake-
holders is a big challenge for timely
completion and could be achieved
with numerous pre-alignment meet-
ings and sound scope definition
• Always engage skilled and expe-
rienced subcontractors for specialty
jobs
• Ensure participation in the daily
meeting by all concerned to define
priorities and actions
• Plan in advance for utilities to
meet pre-commissioning require-
ments, no load tests, steaming out,
and so on
• A safety review before start-up is
a must to ensure that all items are
complete and the unit is ready for
safe commissioning
• EPC, licensor, vendor and lab
www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:23
 resources have to be planned in
advance for the performance test
run.
Results summary
The reactor regenerator section
had a flawless start-up with excel-
lent catalyst containment by the
VSS riser termination device.
Regenerator temperatures are
on the low side and this reflects
improved stripper efficiency.
Conversion and gasoline yield have
been achieved as per design while
processing heavier feeds to the FCC.
Selectivity to propylene and gaso-
line is better than predicted. Overall
the reactor technology upgrade (ele-
vated Optimix feed distributors,
VSS riser termination device and
the AF stripper internals) has per-
formed very well and met unit pro-
cessing objectives.
The main column and gas concen-
tration unit have also been a success.
but with some challenges:
• Performance issues with the main
fractionator related to salting con-
cerns at the top of the main fraction-
ator. This resulted in higher light
www.eptq.com
q2 honeywell.indd 4
KNPC FCC revamp results
Pre-revamp Post-revamp
Feed density, API Base Base -3
Propylene, wt% Base Base +8%
Gasoline,vol% Base Base + 1.5%
Table 2
gasoline yield and lower heavy gas-
oline yield due to inefficient sep-
aration between the components.
Its impact downstream the FCC
NHT unit is being assessed with the
licensor
• The gas concentration unit has met
all performance objectives.
Conclusion
Close collaboration between
KNPC’s technical and project teams
and UOP enabled improved refinery
profitability through an improved
product slate, especially gasoline
and propylene yields (see Table 2).
The FCC revamp met all unit pro-
cessing objectives while maximising
use of existing assets.
The challenges of improved run
length from the current three to
four years and operational availa-
bility is under assessment and can
be addressed after completion of
the current operating cycle, some-
thing that has not been previously
possible in KNPC’s history, thereby
further improving overall refinery
profitability.
Rashed Al Fadhli is Team Leader Process
Engineering with KNPC Mina Al-Ahmadi
refinery and has key responsibility for
optimised operation of the refinery complex.
He has more than 25 years of experience in
process engineering at the refinery.
Subhash Chander Singhal is a Technical
Specialist with 30 years of experience in
refining and petrochemicals. He joined KNPC
in 1994 and has worked in different process
functions, and on the CFP Project from FEED
to detailed engineering stage. He has also
been involved in establishing the Research
and Technology Department at KNPC.
Dharmesh Panchal is a member of Honeywell
UOP’s FCC/Alkylation/Treating Technology
Services group based in the UK. He has 23
years of experience in the refining industry,
focusing on the commissioning, start-
up, operation, optimisation, revamp and
troubleshooting of FCC units.
PTQ Q2 2018 27
09/03/2018 17:49
 Better Adapt Reduce unplanned downtime and improve
underperforming assets with Honeywell Connected

To Changing Plant. It leverages proprietary UOP process models

with cyber-secure cloud-based services like the

Conditions Process Reliability Advisor and Process Optimization

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© 2018 Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.

honeywell better adapt.indd 1 08/03/2018 10:12

SPM-UOP-187 Honeywell Connected Plant Ad_297x210mm.indd 1 3/7/18 1:49 PM
 Heavy feed characterisation:
a molecular approach
Characterising heavy feeds on a molecular basis, together with kinetic studies,
accurately predicts the reactivity of a wide range of vacuum residues
GLEN HAY and LANTE CARBOGNANI Virtual Materials Group
HIDEKI NAGATA Fuji Oil Company
T
he characterisation and
reactivity of heavy oil frac-
tions (vacuum residue) were
studied using a PIONA (paraf-
fins, iso-paraffins, olefins, naph-
thenes, aromatics) molecular
approach. Eleven crude oil assays
along with vacuum residue pilot-
scale thermal cracking informa-
tion were provided. These feeds
were characterised and their sus-
ceptibility to thermal cracking
was evaluated all using a PIONA
rigorous approach. A reactivity
index related to the naphthenes-
aromatics-dehydrogenated aromat-
ics ratio was found for each feed in
order to match experimental results.
This reactivity index was then cor-
related to the vacuum residue feed
properties. The analysis of these
results points to C7 asphaltenes (or
equivalent), carbon residue and
density of vacuum residue as key
properties to be measured in order
to capture the chemical nature of
this fraction, and thus proper reac-
tivity in a thermal cracking process.
Identifying and quantifying each
component contained in oil fluids
has proven to be both impractical
and unfeasible. Characterisation of
crude oils and their different cuts is
commonly performed by measuring
different properties. Traditionally,
techniques such as gas chromatogra-
phy (GC) for lighter fractions (light
ends and C1-C5) and the use of distil-
lation curves are commonly used for
the liquid fractions. In this regard,
the properties (densities, molecu-
lar weight, chemical family, and
so on) of the light ends and lighter
component ranges are usually well
known, however the physical prop-
erties of the remainder fractions
www.eptq.com
q2 vmg.indd 1
need to be determined separately
and this comes at a price (both time
and money). Organisations such as
the American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM) have developed
routine tests for determining boil-
ing ranges and properties of crude
feedstock, distillation fractions and
products, however the bulk of these
techniques were originally intended
to capture the properties and com-
position of conventional oils. Heavy
oils pose a challenge since they con-
tain a large, non-distillable fraction.1-3
Commonly measured properties
in these non-distillable fractions,
such as density and viscosity, can
prove to be helpful when deter-
mining the physical and transport
properties of these fractions. Other
properties, for example carbon res-
idue, SARA (saturates, aromatics,
resins, asphaltenes) analysis and
pour point also prove to be help-
ful when determining not only the
quality of an oil product, but also its
chemical nature and reactivity.2-3
Carbon residue is a particularly
important characteristic of crude oil
residues, since it not only can indi-
cate the quality of the fraction, but
also can be correlated to a number
of properties such as hydrogen to
carbon ratio (H/C), heteroatomic (S,
N) content, asphaltenes content, or
viscosity.2
The pour point of an oil fraction
indicates the minimum temperature
at which this material will flow. This
property is affected by the presence
of heavy molecules (which increase
pour point), thus it can be correlated
to molecular weight and density.2
SARA analysis proves to be useful
for residue fractions, which usually
contain large amounts of aromatics,
resins, and asphaltenes. In particu-
lar, measurements of asphaltenes
are important for heavy oils and
residues to determine solid deposi-
tion probability, usually an issue in
not only the production industry,
but also in transportation and refin-
ing. Alternatively, the fractions of
saturates and aromatics are of less
importance due to their redundancy
with other lighter range properties
typically measured.2-3
Introduction to heavy oil kinetics
When dealing with reaction kinetics
for thermal cracking of heavy oils,
a considerable amount of material
has been published on the subject
in the last few decades. This mate-
rial focuses more on the molecular
structure approach to solving the
problem.4 This approach is a more
rigorous alternative to the lumped
kinetic schemes that are being
replaced due to lack of predictive
accuracy across differing feedstocks.
Moreover, this surge in molecu-
lar structure modelling comes at
a time when personal computers
have reached a point at which pro-
cessors can keep up with the enor-
mous computational demands of
approaching the problem. It should
be noted that molecular structure
based kinetics, as well as physical
property calculations, have been
around since the 1960s and many
influential and detailed papers on
the topic were published as early as
the 1980s.5-6
When looking at the thermal
cracking of heavy oils, or even
approaches to catalytic cracking
and processing, there is an empha-
sis on aromatic groups with or with-
out significant saturated branching.7
PTQ Q2 2018 29
09/03/2018 17:25
 This distinction is of great interest
due to the relationship of the sat-
urated nature of these heavy aro-
matics to their ability to crack into
highly desired liquid product, or
alternatively propagating into larger
molecules that can lead to solid
precipitation or coking. Examples
of such molecules can be seen in
Figure 1. If these heavier cut mole-
cules are characterised accurately,
the approach to applying kinetics to
these molecules would then depend
upon the ability to break C-C bonds
or the more challenging C-H scis-
sion at specific operating conditions
where cracking occurs. Cracking
reactions are usually proposed in
three general steps: chain start,
growth, and termination.8 At the
same time, the propagation of such
molecules will also occur at a calcu-
lated reaction rate and the balance of
these reactive cracking and propaga-
tion pathways will ultimately lead to
resulting product yields.
PIONA modelling approach
Different methods to describe a mix-
ture of hydrocarbons and its chemi-
cal or physical properties have been
attempted over time. The approach
described within this work takes a
middle ground within most sim-
ulation environments. The first
simulation approach, a simplistic
single property lumped approach,
has dominated the software public
domain since the 1900s. In this case,
the crude oil feedstocks are divided
into pseudo-components based on
a range of a single focal property,
which is usually the average boiling
point or molecular weight. Although
little information needs to be known
about the feedstock to complete
this approach, the drawback is the
lack of predictive results due to
over-generalisation of the molecular
structure groups within the mixture.
The properties predicted for mix-
tures also become direct correlations
based on very general reference
properties. An example of such a
correlation was proposed for calcu-
lation of the aniline point of a mix-
ture based on API gravity and mid
boiling point alone (see Equation 1):2
Aniline point = -183.3 + 0.27(API)Tb1/3
+ 0.317Tb
30 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 vmg.indd 2
Figure 1 C20 oil molecules with higher and
lower susceptibility to thermal cracking
processes
For maximum consideration of
molecular structures in hydrocar-
bon mixtures, the components in a
simulation environment can be cre-
ated with contributions groups.5-6 In
these situations, any molecular type
can be created with a combination
of cumulative groups. The draw-
back of this approach is the amount
of information required about the
feedstock, which is usually only
available through very expensive
laboratory analysis. For these situ-
ations, an actual component list no
longer becomes reasonable due to
the unlimited number of combina-
tions. Furthermore, visual interpre-
tation of a mixture of components
must be shown in a different way
to the convention of a list of compo-
nents and their mixed fractions.
The PIONA based approach was
created in order to reach a compro-
mise between these two extremes.
In this approach, a limited number
of major molecular structure groups
consisting of paraffin, iso-paraf-
fin, olefin, naphthene, aromatic,
dehydrogenated aromatics, and
heteroatomic species (organic mol-
ecules including sulphur, nitrogen,
iron, nickel, and vanadium atoms)
(1) are created. In turn, each of these
groups has multiple components
relating to different carbon number
ranges. In order to bridge the gap
between these hard to define struc-
ture groups, a fraction of each type
of group can be mixed to create
the appropriate properties. A rep-
resentation of this type of approach
is shown in Figure 2 with a selection
of C40 carbon molecules with differ-
ing naphthene and aromatic ring
counts as an example.
One main advantage of this
PIONA grouped approach is the
easier handling of non-ideal inter-
actions between species for the ther-
modynamics behind the model.
Limited property data containing
details of all necessary contribu-
tion groups in the more detailed
molecular approach makes tuning
of the increased number of interac-
tion parameters almost impossible
when considering potential extrap-
olation. Poor tuning of these inter-
actions allows for a larger chance
of highly irregular results in non-
validated ranges which could pro-
duce a poorly behaved model.
Another advantage of the PIONA
approach is that the literature tends
to generalise structure groups in a
similar resolution and many corre-
lations, such the aniline point corre-
lation in Equation 2, can be applied
directly.2 It should be noted that
this equation, now considering the
aromatic fraction of a hydrocarbon
mixture and specific gravity, would
replace Equation 1 which makes an
assumed relationship between den-
sity at a given average boiling point
to define the fraction of aromatics:
Aniline point = (Aromatic% - 692.4 +
794(SG)) / (12.15(SG) – 10.4) (2)
PIONA kinetic approach
The kinetic pathways created from
a PIONA component structure
would transverse across the carbon
number range through cracking
or propagation and across the dif-
ferent structure types with hydro-
genation or dehydrogenation. The
heat of reaction is easily calculated
from the overall balance given the
underlying enthalpy of formation
of these components as they shift.
For each type of structure and car-
bon number, the kinetic rates for
www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:25
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dupont.indd 1 10/03/2017 10:54
 each potential reactive pathway
need to be calculated. For thermal 60
C40
cracking systems where hydrogen 4 aromatic rings
50
donors are not readily available, the 2 naphthene rings
main available cracking pathway

Contribution, %
40
for the larger aromatic components
consists of scissor-type reactions
30
of the saturated chain branches.
Once these branches have been 20
removed, the aromatic rich core
structure left usually will no longer 10
crack and will ultimately become
pitch or coke. These compounds 0
are then being tracked as dehydro- Naphthene Aromatic Dehydrogenated
aromatic
genated aromatics in this method’s
application. 60
With the characterisation of crude C40
feeds, the importance of matching 50 4 aromatic rings
the amount of heavy aromatic core Contribution, % 1 naphthene ring
components then becomes essen- 40
tial in order to get the kinetic rates
that would match what is occurring 30
within thermal cracking reactions in
the process. If too many saturated 20
components were estimated in the
feed characterisation, the calculated 10
cracking rates would over-predict
0
lighter material yields. On the other Naphthene Aromatic Dehydrogenated
hand, if too many ‘aromatic core’ aromatic
type components were estimated,
which would be balanced by very 60
C40
saturated components, this would
3 aromatic rings
lead to over-prediction of both 50
3 naphthene rings
lighter and very heavy range yields
Contribution, %

with a lack of middle range liquid
product.
Luckily, with many laboratory
analysis methods the carbon residue
is something commonly measured
for heavier boiling range mixtures
and is shown to relate to H/C.6
From this measurement, the amount
of dehydrogenated aromatic com-
ponents can also be estimated and
the kinetic rates and yields from
thermal cracking are properly pre-
dicted. In many cases, the yield dif-
ferences from two crude feeds that
have similar distillation curves and
densities come from these heavier
component structure distributions.
Methodology of characterisation
Oil characterisation information
was provided by Fuji Oil Co. Ltd.
(FOC) for 11 crude oil feeds. This
information, contained in stand-
ard assays, is going to be used in a
PIONA backed simulation environ-
ment to determine the relationship
between several physical properties
40
30
20
10
0
Naphthene
Figure 2 Representation of different C40 naphthene and aromatic ringed species in a
PIONA slate
measured (such as density, carbon
residue, and so on) and the reactiv-
ity of the vacuum residue to ther-
mal cracking.
The first step consists of the char-
acterisation of these feeds. The
physical properties of the crude
oil (and its vacuum residue cuts)
cover a wide range as can be seen in
Figure 3. This plot shows the relative
densities of the crude oil feed and
vacuum residue fraction relative to
the lightest sample (see Equation 3):
Aromatic Dehydrogenated
aromatic
Relative density = Sample-density/[Lightest
Sample density] (3)
This widespread range proved to
be important in order to capture the
effect of the different physical prop-
erties on the reactivity of each vac-
uum residue.
The oil assays for these crude oil
feeds contain yield information for
14 cuts, and physical properties
such as density, sulphur and nitro-
gen content, viscosities, and so on

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 33

q2 vmg.indd 3 09/03/2018 17:28

 predicted directly by internal corre-
1.16 lations developed using available

Crude feed density relative to

literature.2 Similarly, for cut ranges
1.14
from 200-550°C, the percentage of
lightest sample 1.12 aromatics is controlled to match
these cuts’ density.
1.10
For heavier fractions, such as vac-
1.08 uum residue, carbon residue was
1.06 used in order to predict the H/C.2
The next step was to set the amount
1.04
of naphthene molecules in this frac-
1.02 tion in order to minimise the exper-
imental error for both H/C and
1.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 density.
Sample number
Feedstock case studies and results
1.16 The Eureka process is a thermal
cracking technology which aims to
VR feed density relative to

1.14
produce higher liquid/lower gas
1.12
yields from vacuum residue feeds.
lightest sample

1.10 One differentiator from conven-

1.08
tional coking processes is that it is
designed to prevent coke deposition
1.06 (due to over-cracking). The residual
1.04 stream of this technology is a pitch,
which is intended to flow easily at
1.02
the reactor’s outlet conditions.9-11
1.00 The reactivity and kinetics of the
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Eureka process have been studied
Sample number in the past on a laboratory scale by
several authors. Results for different
Figure 3 Crude feed and vacuum residues, relative densities vacuum residue feeds and descrip-
tions of the set-ups used can be
for each cut. Additionally, for all the instance) is transferred directly to found in the literature.9-10,12
vacuum cuts (370°C+), information a simulation model. For this work, In order to predict properly the
regarding C7 asphaltenes %, carbon VMGSim software was used due reactivity of the vacuum residue
residue, and metal content (V, Ni) is to the already available reactive fraction, experimental data for ther-
also available. PIONA environment. For lighter mal cracking experiments for the 11
The PIONA molecular structure cut ranges (<200°C), the amount of vacuum residues (corresponding
approach was used to character- paraffins/iso-paraffins is calculated to the 11 crude oil feeds mentioned
ise the different oil feeds. For each automatically in order to match earlier) was provided by FOC. In
cut range, the different information their density. The naphthenes/aro- order to compare these experimen-
available (S, N, H/C, densities, for matics content of these cut ranges is tal results, a PIONA simulation

Plant
Simulation
Level

CG AG CLO CHO Pitch CLO CHO Pitch CLO CHO Pitch

Product yields Density Sulphur content

Figure 4 Eureka plant model, example results

34 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 vmg.indd 4 09/03/2018 17:29

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 FOC feed data Laboratory Simulation
Samples 1 to 11

Feed reactivity Predicted

Pitch yield
found yields

Common
feed

VR

Sa le 7

Sa le 8

9
1
Sa e 2

Sa le 3

Sa le 4

Sa le 5

Sa le 6

0
11
Sa le 1
Sa ple
e

e
pl

pl
ce

pl
p
Laboratory Eureka Plant

m
m
n

m
Sa

Sa
re
scale model model

fe
Re
Pitch pour point
Plant data
Operational
Points 1, 2...

Thermal cracking

VR

0
11
Delayed coker

Sa le 1
e

e
pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

e
ce
kinetics

pl
p
m

m
n

m
Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa
re

Sa
fe
Re

Figure 5 Steps followed to obtain the

reactivity of heavy oils
Pitch sulphur

model was developed representing

a laboratory scale set-up.9-10,12 This
model was then used to run the dif-
ferent feedstock experiments.
Additionally, a detailed simula-
VR

0
11
Sa le 1
e

e
pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

e
tion model corresponding to FOC’s
ce

pl
p
m

m
n

m
Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa
re

Eureka industrial site was devel-

Sa
fe
Re

oped. This model included all the

extra complexities typically present
Pitch nitrogen

in a full plant scale (recycles, dis-

tillation towers, cracking heaters,
steam stripping, and so on). The
vacuum residue feeds were charac-
terised using the PIONA molecular
approach, and product yields for
Sa VR

Sa le 1

Sa le 2

Sa le 3

Sa le 4

Sa le 5

Sa le 6

Sa le 7

Sa le 8

0
11
Sa le 1
Sa ple

different operating conditions were

ce

pl
p
m

m
n

m
re

used to fine-tune the kinetics of the

fe
Re

thermal cracking unit. An example

of the results obtained with tuned
kinetics can be seen in Figure 4.
This set of kinetics was then trans-
ferred directly to the laboratory
scale model. With the proper kinetic
parameters, all of the different vac-
uum residue feeds characterised
were evaluated using this model.
The steps followed to go from bench
to plant scale can be seen in Figure 5.
From the results obtained, the
reactivity index of the different vac-
uum residues was adjusted until the
error between the results predicted
(pitch yield, pour point, density,
for instance) and the experimen-
tal data was minimised. A compar-
ison between the experimental data
Figure 6 Laboratory data vs simulation results for thermal cracking experiments
and results predicted can be seen in A-dehydrated, D-1160 50% T, are
Figure 6. directly available for any stream
A ‘soft sensor’ approach was (or mixture of streams). These val-
used in order to attempt the pre- ues were then used to correlate the
diction of properties that were seen pitch properties of interest. Results
as key indicators such as heptane- for these predicted properties can be
toluene-quinoline insolubles and seen in Figure 7.
volatile matter. Soft sensor is a com- The reactivity index is related
mon name for software where sev- to the distribution between aro-
eral property measurements are matic and dehydrogenated aromatic
processed together. The interaction PIONA groups. However, since the
of these measurements can then vacuum residue distillation curve
be used for calculating new prop- estimated by the simulator (usu-
erties. Due to the PIONA molec- ally not available due to the higher
ular structure approach taken, boiling ranges) has a direct impact
properties such as H/C, aromatics/ on the yields predicted, a correla-

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 37

q2 vmg.indd 5 09/03/2018 17:30

 ated using the Eureka plant model
(see Figure 5). Since both models use
Laboratory Simulation
the same PIONA rigorous molecular
nC7 insolubles approach, the transition was seam-
less and allowed for extrapolation
and comparison of results for the
different samples provided. Some of
these results can be seen in Figure 9.
VR

Sa le 7

Sa le 8

9
1

m 2
Sa le 3

Sa le 4

Sa le 5

Sa le 6

0
11
Conclusions

Sa le 1
Sa ple
e

e
pl

pl
ce

p
The PIONA approach offers not

pl
p
m

m
n

m
Sa

Sa

Sa
re

only complete mass balance on feed,

fe
Re

products and utilities, but also the

Toluene insolubles

opportunity to run optimisation

studies on the type of feed/process
conditions and utilities.
In order to model properly a vac-
uum residue feed, and to be able to
capture its thermal cracking reactiv-
ity, certain properties proved to be
VR

9
1

0
11
Sa le 1
e

e
pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

e
e

more significant. To obtain the most

pl
nc

p
m

m
m

m
Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa
Quinolene insolubles fere

Sa

accurate result, consistent measures

R e

of density, carbon residue, and C7

asphaltenes (or equivalent) should
be provided for a vacuum residue.
The density property seemed to
provide a good starting point when
determining the chemical nature
of a vacuum residue. However, by
itself it could potentially fall short;
VR

0
11
Sa le 1
e

e
pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

for example, we could character-

ce

pl
p
m

m
n

m
Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa
re

ise a stream with the same density

Sa
fe
Re

in many ways using the PIONA

approach (non-unique solutions).
Volatile matter

In this regard, the carbon residue

property used to determine the
H/C proved to be key. The PIONA
composition of a given stream is
then shifted in order to minimise
the error, not only in the density but
Sa VR

Sa le 1

Sa le 2

Sa le 3

Sa le 4

Sa le 5

Sa le 6

Sa le 7

Sa le 8

0
11
Sa le 1
Sa ple

in the H/C as well.

e
e

pl
nc

p
m

m
m

m
re

The C7 asphaltenes measurement

fe
Re

(or equivalent) seemed to be the

Figure 7 Soft sensor predicted properties most advantageous property taken
from the SARA analysis provided
tion to estimate the shape and tilt of first attempt involved the vacuum for the vacuum residue. The sam-
the curve was developed. This cor- residue density, and the results ples with higher asphaltenes content
relation was found to depend on can be seen in Figure 8a. In this fig- would deviate from the reactivity
the vacuum residue’s initial boiling ure, it can be seen that more dense predicted if only the density was
point, C7 asphaltenes content and vacuum residues (represented in used in the correlation. This would
carbon residue. The correlation’s orange) did not seem to follow the point out that this property can shed
parameters were regressed to min- trend. However, this deviation some light on the chemical family
imise the error with the experimen- can be explained by the increasing composition of the group, and thus
tal data for all the different vacuum asphaltenes content in these heavier the reactivity of this fraction to ther-
residue cuts studied. vacuum residues, which allows for mal cracking. This also means that
Once the reactivity index was a correction factor to be applied (see when considering a SARA analysis
determined for each of the vacuum Figure 8b). for this fraction, the effort should
residue feeds, a relationship for this Once a correlation was success- be focused on getting a consistent
value was regressed using the dif- fully found for the reactivity index measurement of the asphaltene frac-
ferent properties (density, H/C, of vacuum residue, the different tions, both simplifying the method-
CCR) available for these feeds. The feeds provided by FOC were evalu- ology and potentially reducing costs.

38 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 vmg.indd 6 09/03/2018 17:30

 The PIONA characterisation and
kinetic approach used in this work A
allow for the ability to predict the 2.5
reactivity of a wide range
stream equipment such as the FCC of vac- the formation of insoluble
uum and residues. hydrotreater
This would mean not To value by increasing the sulphide
destruc-
unit
4800 b/dthe slurry oil product and * ini-365 ble energy sources. 2.0 Millions of CDU dol- 4salts
tion of
Minyard of W magnesium
organic
F, WoodsonsulphurT and
S, calcium,
compounds
Upgrade FCC
only the
tiate thatcorrosion
optimisation studies can MDEA reference solvent
b/d = cycle. They also which oil results in:

Reactivity index
days * $2.0/
be carried
$ 3.5 million/y lars in revenue to India’s oil and (COS and CS2) at lower operating
slurry with chemical settling aids, World
the out (blend of feeds, results
differ- Formulated MDEA reference Analyser solvent
affect catalyst, which
Simulated gas sector are •
lost daily with- Refining,
1.5beingDesalter Reduced
temperatures heat
Nov/Dec1999. transferItin
(<220°C). also heaters,
has a
ent operating
in more conditions,
frequent upset
need for scaling
ends up,
catalyst
Jefftreat Desalter
Ultra
The only meaningful process cost out considering 1 the impact2 of envi- causing
5 Motaghi
low more
M,
pressure
Shreefuel
drop, consumption
K, Krishnamurthy
which is and
S, Anode
impor-
and so on), but also implies poten-
change-out.
for the electrostatic separator is for ronmental waste and the cost of higher cost
grade coke from traditional crudes, PTQ, Q2
tial monetary tant as the SCOT process operates at
flow.saving byscale,
reducing the lost revenue1.0 2010.
Preventative actions that are taken
recycle For this the recy- from the bottom of the 6• Hot spots in heating
near tubes,and which
need tothe
run cracking Elliott atmospheric pressure andan
would experiments.
H2S in treated gas

J D, Impact of feed properties

inside
cle flow distillation
rate betower
2 vol% and in barrel.
of the Crude
Analyser
In the effort Analyser
to become self- reduces
excessive
operating their operational
pressure
parameters life
drop coker
on delayed can petcoke
require
Simulated
the overhead system do not replace
effluent, air or demand
100 b/d. At $1.0/ b/d, sufficient, oil 0.5
increased • Reduced
refinery mar- quality,
more presented
air blower flow rates
at theduty
ERTC in which
2008the over-
sulphur
Coking and
References upset starts
the
thisneed to remove the maximum gins
cost is: Wash alone will not sustain the ris- loads pumping units,
recovery unit (SRU) to maintain
Gasification Conference. making them
1 Liang X, Yan W, Thomsen K, Kontogeorgis G
amount of salt content from the ing watercost of crude 0 refining. Including 7less efficient
flow.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, India
M, On petroleum fluid characterization with
crude
100 b/doil before
recycle it* 365 enters the
* $1.0/
the PC-SAFT equation of state, Fluid Phase
crude
b/d = the installation of the GES to exist-VR Ministry • Blockages
density of Petroleum in tubes
& Naturalwhich
Gas, Oillowers
& Gas
distillation unit.
$ 36 500 ing refineries
B Desalter
and control
those with room
failing their capacities and efficiencies.
Journal, FGE.
Equilibria, 2014, 375, 254-268. Green- and brownfield benefitsfrom
2 The salt content of crude oils var- Optimised
mechanical 2.5 filtration could effec- 8 Paraskos J, Scalco desalting
V, Optimize valueprocesses
Riazi M, Characterization and properties of Compared with a currently applied
ies with fractions,
Ignoring origin,
theASTMthe water
labour andcontent
mate- tively increase India’s energy sup- FCC are
bottoms, Hydrocarbon Processing,
inevitable to guarantee
Apr
mini-
petroleum international, 2005, combination of catalyst and amine
2013.
in
Vol the
50. emulsion and the amount of Figure 1 Arrangement of salt-in-crude oil
rial costs of tank cleaning, consider ply, reduce environmental waste mum
solventshutdowns
in TGT line-ups, and maintenance existing
2.0
3 the cost
emulsion-forming
Nji G, of5 landfill
0Svrcek for
10 particles
W, Yarranton 15 H, the sludge
in
Satyro the and35 create
analysers
M, 30 in40a more 45 efficiency
desalter in crude of those refinery units that can be
20 25 50 refineries and gas plants can ben-
Reactivity index

removed.
crude oils,Assuming
Characterization like
of heavypolarlandfill
oils andresins is $1.0/
bitumens. and 1. oil production. affected.
Victor M Scalco III is Global Commercial
Time, minutes efit from reduced operating costs,
Lb, the cost is:
asphaltenes. To prevent corrosion, it content and1.5emulsion properties Strategic lowerthe
As cost ofDevelopment
desalting depends
Vapor pressure and critical constant prediction Business Manager,
emissions, improved oper-
is essential
method
Figure 2
for
Upset to
heavy pre-process
hydrocarbons,
resilience of the
Jefftreat crude
Energy
Ultra
& will frequently fluctuate
Source: according
Shell analysis primarily on crude oil quality, refin-
Gulftronic
ability
Electrostatic
and increased
Separators with
capacity.
1600
Fuels, tons/year
2007, *
22, 1, 455-462. $ 2000/ton =
oil in the desalter which breaks the to the crude $ 3.2 Further reading
1.0feed in the desalter. eries
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems
must make a compromise
4 million/year
Kumar H, Froment G F, Mechanistic kinetic 1 Guercio V J, US producing, exporting more Group. Additionally,
He has worked for new for facilities,
more than cap- 20
oil/water
levels and emulsion, separating the Some crudes are difficult to desalt, between the maximum to allowable
modeling of treated gas specifications.
the hydrocracking of complex (Criterion)
slurry oil, Oil &C-834 high
Gas Journal, activity,
4 Oct 2010. low yearsital costs
in theare designexpected be lower
and implementation
water
Critical from
to the
achievingcrude oil, and thus such
2 Platts,as Venezuelan extra heavy salt content
to theand lowest costseparation
of desalt-
feedstocks, such
The annual
removing the salt. savingsagasare
as vacuum step change
oils,$3.5
Industrial temperature
mil- crude, Doba
SCOT
0.5
Methodology andcatalyst.
crude
Specifications
and Canadian
owing
Guide, of
ing
hydrocarbon
when
smaller
choosing
filtration equipment
and
their crude
size
oilfor
or
&inlion
the– $0.04
performance
Engineering Chemistry
million of
Research,the estab-
2007,
+ $3.2 million 46, The
Petroleum Jefftreat
Product & Ultra
Gas solvent
Liquids: US has
Caribbean
= crudes, and form HCl in the pre- blend. and
systems, reduced
involved equipment
in technical count
development
18, To
lished increase
5881-5897. the refining margin,
process has been the devel- superior H2S 0 selectivity over car- the enhanced process.
and Latin America, Jan 2012. and training with EPC and FCC/RFCC licensors
$6.7 million/year
refineries purchase crude oils and of heater of the desalter.
3 Silverman L D, Winkler S, Tiethof J A, worldwide. With experience in programme
bon dioxide (CO2) at high VR temper-
5opment,
Quann R jointly
J, Modeling with Huntsman
the chemistry
density and C7 asphaltenes
crude blends
Corporation,
complex petroleum at the lowest
of the highly selec- atures
mixtures, cost,
Environmental High and
Witoshkin salt iscontent
A, Matrix in heavy
effects
therefore capableand
in catalytic development
Significance
of scoping
Smaller
forofcommercial
plants on-line crude applications,
oil
The road ahead
often as heavy
Health Perspectives, and
1998, sour
106, Supplopportu-
6, 1441. opportunity
cracking,
achieving ultracrudes
presented at also
the NPRAplays an
annual
SO2vsemissions.
lowWestin analysis studies
for and commissioning,
optimised desaltinghe holds
tive
IndiaJefftreat
is looking Ultra solvent
to further and Figure
develop aSmaller
MA degree(B)plants
from costindex
the Universitylessof to
asSan build.
Diego.
nity crudes which are blended with
6 Quann R J, Jaffe S B, Structure-oriented important
Criterion Catalysts & Technologies’
meeting,
The
8 (A)
23-25
C-834
Reactivity
role in index
Mar 1986,
catalyst scaleadds
vacuum residue
accumula-
Bonaventure
further The desalting
density
However, if process
Reactivity
there comprises
is
a function
substantial the
and harness its various renewa- of density and C7 asphaltenes
Hotel Los Angeles, California. California.
other
lumping:crude
describingoils.
theTherefore
chemistry ofthe salt tion in heat exchanger
complex tubes due to following operations:

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www.eptq.com PTQ Q3 2017 69

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38 PTQ Q4 2017 www.eptq.com
q2 vmg.indd 7 13/03/2018 14:35
rezel.indd 1 08/03/2018 10:20
 hydrocarbon mixtures, Industrial & Engineering
Chemistry Research, 1992, 31, 11, 2483-2497.
7 Wiehe I A, Process Chemistry of Petroleum CG
Macromolecules, CRC Press, 2008. AG
8 Simanzhenkov V, Idem R, Crude Oil CLO
Chemistry, CRC Press, 2003. CHO

Product yield
9 AlHumaidan F, Hauser A, Al-Rabiah H, Pitch
Lababidi H, Bouresli R, Studies on thermal
cracking behavior of vacuum residues in Eureka
process, Fuel, 2013, 109, 635-646.
10 AlHumaidan F, Lababidi H M, Al-Rabiah H,
Thermal cracking kinetics of Kuwaiti vacuum
residues in Eureka process, Fuel, 2013, 103,
923-931.
11 Aiba T, Kaji H, Suzuki T, Wakamatsu T,
Residue Thermal-Cracking by the Eureka

11
Sa e 1
e

e
pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

pl

e
Process, Chemical Engineering Progress, 1981,

pl

pl
m

m
Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa

Sa
77, 2, 37-44.

Sa
12 Takatsuka T, Kajiyama R, Hashimoto H,
Matsuo I, Miwa S, A practical model of thermal
Figure 9 Scale-up results obtained
cracking of residual oil, Journal of Chemical
Engineering of Japan, 1989, 22, 3, 304-310.

Glen Hay is Vice President of Business
Development with Virtual Materials Group
Inc., Alberta, Calgary, Canada. His experience
is focused on reactors, heat transfer units,
and overall plant modelling and optimisation.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical
engineering from the University of Calgary and
a master’s in advanced process control.
Lante Carbognani is a Key Research and
Developer in the PIONA Reactors department
of Virtual Materials Group Inc. He has
experience in process modelling, engineering
design and R&D in refining processes. He
holds a BSc in chemical engineering from the
University Simon Bolivar, and a MSc in chemical
engineering from University of Calgary.
Hideki Nagata is General Manager of the
operations management department at Fuji
Oil Company Ltd. Chiba, Japan. His experience
and interests are focused on petroleum refining
technology and optimisation. He holds a
bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from
the University of Kagoshima and a master’s in
reaction engineering.

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 Maximising heat exchanger cleaning
Powerful chemical cleaning programmes reduce downtime and increase the
efficiency of heat exchangers
BERTHOLD OTZISK Kurita Europe
LADISLAV ÚRADNÍČEK Leader Technology
O
il refineries and petrochem-
ical plants operate with
quite a large number of heat
exchangers. Fouling is an omni-
present problem, causing signifi-
cant losses in energy recovery or
generating an increase in pressure
drop. Periodical cleaning is manda-
tory even if distillation equipment is
well designed. If fouling is observed,
it can initiate a series of down-
stream problems. In many cases,
heat exchangers are taken out of ser-
vice because of severe pressure drop
increase, not reduced heat transfer.
Heat recovery is essential in pro-
cess units which are operated with
reactors. Typical process units with
feed/effluent exchangers installed
are hydrotreaters, hydrocrackers,
catalytic reformers, paraffin dehy-
drogenation plants, paraxylene
plants, and methanol synthesis
plants. Feedstock is heated to a high
temperature to be vaporised and
reacted with a gas, which in most
cases is hydrogen. The desired reac-
tion products and unreacted gases
are de-superheated and condensed
for separation. Some process units
still operate with heat exchanger net-
works of at least six to 12 exchangers
installed horizontally. More common
are Packinox plate heat exchang-
ers or Texas Tower tubular heat
exchangers, which are installed verti-
cally (see Figure 1).
Heat exchanger performance can
be restored by traditional mechan-
ical cleaning methods, tailor-made
chemical cleaning programmes, or
a combination of both. Mechanical
cleaning of complex heat exchanger
networks using high pressure clean-
ing technologies can take several
days. Classical alkaline cleaning
www.eptq.com
q2 kurita.indd 1
Reactor Furnace
Feed/effluent
heat exchanger
system
1 Packinox heat exchanger
2 Texas Tower heat exchanger or
set of several heat exchangers
Figure 1 Feed/effluent heat exchanger
network
procedures are sometimes still used
in oil refineries and petrochemical
plants to remove the organic portion
of deposits such as oil and grease,
followed by acid cleaning to dissolve
scale and soften deposits. But the
results with such classical cleaning
programmes are often only moder-
ate, and further mechanical cleaning
is required with additional costs.
Hot condensate,
water, steam
Kurita CD
Series
Mixing and
circulation tank
Figure 2 Chemical cleaning of heat
exchanger network
The combination of alkaline and
acid cleaning is not the method
of choice when viscous, tenacious
materials such as heavy fuels or
additives from upstream processes
need removing. High-performing
aqueous cleaning programmes from
the Kurita CD series can significantly
reduce downtime with excellent
results. Metal surfaces heavily fouled
with oils, grease, tars, waxes, fatty
oils or other substances are cleaned
without the need for costly organic
solvents such as light cycle oil
(LCO), diesel or white spirit. Water
is sufficient for the preparation of the
chemical cleaning solution, which
is circulated with suitable equip-
ment. Heat exchanger networks are
cleaned in a few hours, with deposits
and sticky layers dissolved into the
aqueous cleaning solution.
Chemical cleaning programmes
such as Kurita CD-9931 offer a num-
ber of advantages when it comes to
cleaning complex heat exchanger
networks (see Figure 2):
• Significantly reduced downtime
for cleaning
• Less labour intensive work com-
pared to mechanical cleaning
• Cleaning solution reaches inacces-
sible areas
• Metal surfaces are not mechani-
cally damaged
• Cleaning can be done in situ.
Texas Tower and Packinox heat
exchangers
Texas Tower tubular feed/efflu-
ent heat exchangers are installed
in an upright position, with two
exchangers usually connected in
series to provide good heat recovery.
Generally, such heat exchangers do
not show significant pressure drop
PTQ Q2 2018 43
09/03/2018 17:32
 increase, which is why they are often
not cleaned during every shutdown.
But when performance drops, seri-
ous consequences may occur.
Packinox is the brand name of
Alfa Laval with the largest type of
welded plate heat exchanger design
currently available anywhere in the
world. Just one combined feed/efflu-
ent plate heat exchanger after the
reactor is usually sufficient to cool
down the hot gases. All heat transfer
takes place inside the large welded
bundle block inside a pressure ves-
sel, so no process fluids circulate in
the shell itself. Such heat exchang-
ers have a very compact structure,
and can operate as high as 550°C.
Common materials for construction
are stainless steel (SS316 or SS321),
titanium or highly corrosion resist-
ant austenitic steel in a carbon steel
shell (see Figure 3).
Feed/effluent exchangers are fre-
quently cleaned during planned
shutdowns when the pressure drop
or hot approach temperature (HAT)
reach a certain level. The thermo-
dynamics of heat recovery can
be determined by superimposing
curves showing the heat demand of
the reactor feed and the heat release
of the reactor effluent. Texas Tower
and Packinox feed/effluent heat
exchangers require more cleaning
effort than classical heat exchang-
ers as the large welded heat transfer
bundle cannot be perfectly cleaned
mechanically. Tailor-made chemi-
cal cleaning programmes from the
Kurita CD series are used when
very efficient cleaning results are
required.
When the HAT goes up, the
Packinox plates or Texas Tower
tubes are dirty and need to be
cleaned. If the reason for cleaning
is a high differential pressure and
the Packinox or Texas Tower tubes
are coked up (carbon deposits), a
chemical programme will not be
very effective. By using a controlled
combustion procedure, coke depos-
its can be removed from the plates
or tubes. But more often, the fouling
material consists of sticky hydrocar-
bon deposits such as polynuclear
aromatics (PNA), ammonium salts
and, in many cases, iron oxides.
Here, a powerful chemical cleaning
programme is the method of choice.
44 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 kurita.indd 2
Packinox Texas Towers
Figure 3 Packinox feed/effluent heat
exchanger and Texas Towers
Case study 1
In a European refinery, the Packinox
plate heat exchanger of a cata-
lytic reforming unit was chemically
cleaned for a technical check and
maintenance work (see Figure 4). In
general, the manufacturer Alfa Laval
recommends two possible clean-
ing methods: ‘fill and drain’ or ‘cir-
culation’. A number of technical
requirements and instructions have
to be complied with for safe clean-
ing. Steps must therefore be taken to
ensure that shell and combined feed
side pressures are always higher
than the effluent side pressure.
Under the supervision of Leader
Technology, which specialises in
chemical cleaning, blind flanges
were installed. These were equipped
with fittings for liquid level tubes,
fill and drain nozzles, and nitrogen
injection. Via flexible hoses, the fit-
tings on the blind flanges were con-
nected to the mixing and circulation
tank to provide a circulation loop
system. Following manufacturer
guidelines, the shell and combined
feed side was always filled first,
before the effluent side was treated.
At a later time, the effluent side was
Figure 4 Packinox plate heat exchanger
drained first, before the shell and
combined feed side was treated.
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC)
of the high quality alloys might be
possible when they come into con-
tact with oxygen (air), water and sul-
phur species such as H2S or metal
sulphides. Based on the NACE
Standard RP0170-97 to provide pro-
tection of austenitic stainless steels
and other austenitic alloys from pol-
ythionic acid stress corrosion crack-
ing, a 1.5 wt% soda ash solution was
prepared with condensate at a tem-
perature range of 40-45°C. Following
all instructions and guidelines, the
Packinox plate heat exchanger was
filled in the correct order and the
aqueous solution circulated via a
mobile mixing and circulation tank
as a ‘pre-flushing step’ to neutral-
ise the acidic components. After
one hour, this solution was drained
to the sewer system and a fresh 1.5
wt% soda ash solution was prepared
with condensate. After ensuring ade-
quate circulation, Leader Technology
applied the cleaning agent Kurita
CD-9931 to the soda ash solution for
circulation and removal of the vis-
cous, tenacious fouling materials.
The target pH range of the chemical
cleaning solution is 8-9.5 and a pH
of about 9 was maintained by add-
ing soda ash. Every hour, a sample
was taken to check the appearance,
pH, conductivity, chloride and iron
concentration.
After around 10 hours, the dirty
cleaning solution was drained and
the Packinox rinsed with clean water
plus the addition of 1.5 wt% soda
ash for about 60 minutes. In this part
of the cleaning procedure, the soda
ash solution was used as a passi-
vation step to provide a protection
layer on the metal surface. After 5
bar steam was added for about one
hour to remove remaining volatile
gases, nitrogen was blown from the
top to the bottom for about 10 hours
as a drying step to avoid any catalyst
poisoning with water after restart of
the process unit. After cleaning, a hot
approach temperature of 37°C to the
customer´s satisfaction was achieved
at full capacity.
Case study 2
The Packinox plate heat exchanger
of a catalytic reforming unit was
www.eptq.com
11/03/2018 19:52
 chemically cleaned by Leader Technology, following
all operating instructions and guidelines for safe and
complete cleaning. The aim of the cleaning was again
the preparation of a clean heat exchanger for a tech-
nical inspection with maximised energy recovery and
increased heat transfer efficiency to reduce energy
consumption and emissions. Following all guidelines Proudly supplied and supported 30+
and instructions, the Packinox shell and combined
feed side and the effluent side were filled and drained FCC units globally with uncompromising
in the correct order. quality, we're expanding our international
During the circulation step with the Kurita footprint as we speak.
CD-9931 cleaning solution, Leader Technology
stopped the pump for about 30 minutes. The valves
of the combined feed side and effluent side were
opened to perform nitrogen bubbling in order to
obtain a mechanical cleaning effect. Then the two
valves were closed again and the circulation pump
restarted for some hours. After drying, the Packinox
heat exchanger was handed over to the customer
for inspection in a very clean condition. All require-
ments were fulfilled with results to the customer´s
satisfaction.
The rinsing operation after drainage of the clean-
ing solution was performed with 1.5 wt% soda ash,
diluted in demineralised water. Final drying was
once again done with nitrogen, which was blown
HCpect
from the top to the bottom for 10 hours. FCC Catalyst
Conclusion
Heat recovery in heat exchanger networks is essen-
& Additives
tial during shutdowns. Hydro-blasting technologies
might take three to five days for cleaning, and tra-
ditional alkaline/acid cleaning methods often show
only moderate results. Tailor-made modern cleaning
concepts are the method of choice when inaccessible
areas must be cleaned.
Texas Tower and Packinox heat exchangers require
more cleaning effort, with chemical cleaning pro-
grammes showing significant benefits. Downtime is
reduced with less labour intensive work, and clean-
ing can be done in situ without damaging the metal
surfaces. Up to 70% cost reduction is possible when
expensive solvents are not needed and water can be
used to circulate the cleaning solution.

Further reading
1 Speight J G, The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum, Fourth
Edition, 2006, CRC Press, ISBN 0-8493-9067-2.
2 Jafari M, Iranshahi D, Rahimpour M R, Progress in catalytic naphtha
reforming process: a review, Applied Energy, 2013.
3 Aitani A, Catalytic naphtha reforming, Encyclopedia of Chemical
Processing, 2006.

Berthold Otzisk is Senior Product Manager for refinery and

petrochemical applications with Kurita Europe, Germany.
Email: berthold.otzisk@kurita.eu
Ladislav Úradníček is the Chairman and Managing Director of Leader
Technology spol. s r.o., Slovakia, a company specialising in chemical
cleaning of complex heat exchanger networks, decontamination of
refinery devices and ultrasonic cleaning of various types of industrial
filters with nominal apertures of 0.5 to 25 microns.
Email: LT@LTECH.sk

www.eptq.com

q2 kurita.indd 3 09/03/2018 17:32

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nalco.indd 1 09/06/2017 12:24

 Enhanced energy recovery for
crude preheating
Replacing shell and tube heat exchangers with a compact welded exchanger
increased heat transfer efficiency and reduced fouling issues in a crude unit
EVA ANDERSSON Alfa Laval
IBRAHIM TAHRIC Preem
T
he Preem refinery in Lysekil
is a modern refinery of high
complexity, located on the
west coast of Sweden. In 2010, the
company conducted a refinery-
wide energy analysis study, cov-
ering among other process units a
11 milllion t/y integrated atmos-
pheric and vacuum distillation unit,
with two parallel trains for crude
preheating. This study concluded
that by increasing the recovery of
energy from the column bottom
reflux into crude, Preem would not
only improve the energy efficiency
by preheating the crude to a higher
temperature before the furnace, but
would also offload the top section of
the distillation column and thereby
reduce the overhead pressure drop.
This latter parameter means that
the refiner could reduce the flash
zone pressure in the column and
thereby increase the yield of heavy
gasoil over light vacuum gasoil, a
more valuable product that would
increase the refinery’s profitability.
The original shell and tube
heat exchanger was designed to
HVGO
3A2
Desalter
1A 2A 3A1
CDU Naphtha Naphtha
OVHD PA
Desalter
1B 2B 3B
CDU Naphtha Kero
OVHD PA
Figure 1 Modifications to crude preheat trains A&B post desalters
www.eptq.com
q2 alfalaval.indd 1
preheat crude from 189°C to 208°C,
recovering 8.5 MW from the bot-
tom reflux. The heat transfer area
was 308 m2, the diameter was
950 mm, and the tube length was
7315 mm.
The new heat recovery service
would instead recover 21.2 MW
from the bottom reflux, preheating
the crude from 192°C to 234°C.
As in all other refineries, the
Preem crude preheat train does not
have a lot of plot space available
for adding/increasing heat trans-
fer area for more energy recov-
ery. Instead, the refiner decided
to go for an unconventional heat
transfer solution, using a high effi-
ciency compact welded plate heat
exchanger called Compabloc.
In Preem Lysekil refinery,
Compabloc exchangers had already
been in service as lean/rich amine
interchangers in the amine regener-
ator system and sulphur recovery
unit since 2006 and 2008 respec-
tively. Because the exchangers were
performing well, Preem had no
doubts other than to use the same
4A 5A 6A 7A
LGO Kero HGO AR
PA PA
4B 5B Compabloc
Kero Kero
PA
6B 7B
HGO HVGO
technology for this revamp of the
crude preheat train.
As the Compabloc exchanger
would recover so much more
energy from the bottom reflux into
the crude, one downstream shell
and tube heat exchanger could be
removed from the preheat train,
and the new Compabloc with a plot
space of 2.0m x 2.0m was installed
in its place (see Figures 1 to 3).
In addition, another of the down-
stream services, recovering energy
from heavy vacuum gasoil into
crude in two shell and tube exchang-
ers in series, could be moved to the
preheat train A, providing additional
preheating in this line.
Finally, in order to maximise the
reliability of the new preheat train
design, the original shell and tube
heat exchanger recovering energy
from the bottom reflux for crude
preheating was kept on standby for
the new Compabloc exchanger.
The Compabloc exchanger was
installed at the end of 2013 and,
since the beginning of 2014, it has
been operating at full capacity. In
8A 9A 10A
LVGO VR LGO
quench
8B 9B 10B
VR HVGO
quench PA
PTQ Q2 2018 47
13/03/2018 10:40
 HVGO
3A2
Desalter

1A 2A 3A1 4A 5A 6A 7A 8A 9A 10A
CDU Naphtha Naphtha LGO Kero HGO AR LVGO VR LGO
OVHD PA PA PA quench
Desalter 7B
133ºC 165ºC
1B 2B 3B 5B 4B Compabloc HVGO
CDU Naphtha Kero Kero Kero
OVHD PA PA 372ºC
220ºC 249ºC 270ºC
6B 9B 8B
HGO HVGO VR
PA quench

Figure 2 Layout of crude preheat trains A&B post desalters after revamp

February 2017, it was taken out of
service for a first internal inspection,
as per Preem’s safety regulations.
Looking at the average operat-
ing data for these first 34 months
of operation, it can be seen that the
performance is very stable without
any tendency to fouling.
Table 1 shows that the average
operating performance in terms of
heat duty and logarithmic mean
temperature difference (LMTD) is
very similar to expected design val-
ues. The crude outlet temperature
is 10°C lower than design values,
Figure 3 Compabloc installed in Preem’s CDU preheat train B, and outer dimensions as
per the drawing
Design data vs average operating data
Bottom reflux flow, kg/h
Crude flow, kg/h
TG in/out temp, °C
Crude in/out temp, °C
Heat duty,** MW
LMTD, °C
* Mass flow rates are calculated based on measured volumetric flows (m3/h, in brackets) and fluid density at 15°C.
** Heat duty is calculated based on operating data and fluid specific heat at average operating temperature.
Table 1
which can be explained by the lower easily be taken out of operation for
crude inlet temperature, the lower cleaning or inspection, without hav-
bottom reflux to crude flow ratio ing to interrupt the operation of the
and the overall lower flow rates, plant.
reducing the heat transfer efficiency Figure 4 shows the fouling ten-
of the exchanger slightly. dency of the shell and tube
During the period when the exchanger in comparison to the
Compabloc was taken out of ser- fouling tendency of the Compabloc
vice for inspection, the original shell exchanger, when in operation.
and tube heat exchanger was put Fouling in crude heat exchangers
back into service. This was another is very much related to crude tem-
improvement made to the pre- perature and crude shear stress in
heat train during the revamp. By the heat transfer channel. The higher
installing the new exchanger with the crude temperature, the higher
block valves on both sides, it can the fouling tendency, and the higher
the shear stress in the heat trans-
fer channels, the lower the fouling
tendency.
As Figure 4 shows, the Compabloc
exchanger suffers less from fouling
than the original shell and tube heat
exchanger, even though the crude
outlet temperature from the lat-
ter was more than 20°C lower than
from the Compabloc exchanger and
the shell and tube exchanger oper-
ated with a slightly higher (5%)
crude flow rate.
The lower fouling tendency of the
Compabloc exchanger was also con-
firmed during internal inspection
of the heat transfer channels, when
Preem was expecting to find more
fouling material.
Design Operating (Apr 2014 – Feb 2017) In summary, the main advantages
484 645 401 016* (455.7) of the new exchanger in the Preem
696 763 604 620* (671.8) crude preheat train are:
265/207 264.6/191.8
192/234 170.8/224.3 • High heat transfer efficiency: one
21.2 22.5 Compabloc replaced four shell and
21.4 29.6 tube exchangers and provided in
total 7 MW more than the original
exchangers.
• Compact design: one Compabloc
recovering 21.2 MW into crude pre-

48 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 alfalaval.indd 2 12/03/2018 16:30

 Welded plate heat exchangers 0.0014 Ff CP 14−17

Fouling factor, m2K/W

0.0012 Ff S&T
The design of Alfa Laval’s Compabloc 0.0010
heat exchanger makes it capable of
operating at high temperatures with 0.0008
a wide range of aggressive media and 0.0006
under high pressure (up to 400°C and 0.0004
42 bar).
The exchanger delivers three to five 0.0002
times higher heat transfer efficiency 0
(per surface area) than a shell and tube 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
exchanger and can handle temperature Time
approaches (the temperature difference
between hot and cold fluid) as low Figure 4 Fouling trend in Compabloc vs original shell and tube exchanger during inspection
as 3-5°C, which allows for maximum
energy recovery. The high shear stress in
the heat transfer channels also results 80ºC
in significantly less fouling, which QW
VDU CW 95ºC 65ºC 95ºC
means the Compabloc can typically T8401
QW
operate three times as long between 42ºC 68ºC
109ºC
maintenance/cleaning operations. E8407
The compactness of the plate E8406 E8405 65ºC
180ºC
exchanger means that it can normally
BFW
be installed even where plot space is 182ºC
limited. A maximum 15m2 plot space, 284ºC
including service space, is required 08
261ºC 235ºC 213ºC 194ºC
for 850m2 of heat transfer surface,
equivalent to 4000m2 of shell and tube E8402 A-B E8401 A-B E8409 121ºC
95ºC
heat transfer area. 90ºC
Today there are more than 1000 341ºC
Compabloc exchangers installed in 260ºC 10 188ºC
atmospheric and vacuum distillation
units and more than 25 preheat trains E8403 A-B E8411 A-B 65ºC
QW
where every single heat exchanger is of
this type. Figure 5 Layout of Preem’s new VDU

cost of maintenance and cleaning is ing a total of 12 new units in total.

heating could fit into a plot space
of only 2m x 2m. In addition, no
service space was needed to pull
out the tube bundle. Only a service
area of 1m around the exchanger is
required to remove the panels with
a normal crane.
• Reduced cost: increased energy
recovery of 7 MW means reduced
fuel consumption in the fired heater
for an annual cost saving of $2.2 mil-
lion and CO2 emissions reduced by
14 600 t/y.
• Reduced fouling tendency: mean-
ing that the energy efficiency is
more constant over time, and the
reduced. For all the preheat train services,
Based on its experience with there is 100% spare capacity, while
Compabloc welded plate heat for all other services single exchang-
exchanger technology in this crude ers will be used (see Figure 5).
preheating service, Preem has also
Eva Andersson is Global Marketing Manager
decided to use the technology in for Refinery Business with Alfa Laval, Lund,
greenfield projects. Sweden. With 20 years’ experience as a heat
In the second half of 2018, Preem exchanger expert, she holds MSc in chemical
will start up a new grassroots vac- engineering from McGill University, Canada
uum distillation unit with a capacity and Lund University, Sweden.
of 1.75 million t/y. In this process, Ibrahim Tahric is Senior Mechanical Engineer,
Mechanical Technical Department, for Preem
all heat exchangers in the preheat
Refinery, Lysekil, Sweden. With 10 years’
train plus one boiler feed water experience as a heat exchanger expert, he
(BFW) preheater and four cooling holds MSc in mechanical engineering from fd
water (QW/CW) exchangers will be Yugoslavia and BSc in product development
Compabloc heat exchangers, mean- from University West, Trollhättan, Sweden.

Visit DigitalRefin
ing.com to see
what content is
relevant to you

DigitalRefining.com is the most extensive providing a constantly growing database

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 49
source of freely available information on of technical articles, company literature,
all aspects of the refining, gas and product brochures, videos, industry news,
petrochemical processing industries, industry events and company information.
q2 alfalaval.indd 3 12/03/2018 12:33
 ProMax ®

BR&E Process Simulation Software

Advances in Reactor Modeling

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Beginning in 2017, TIER 3 regulations
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a time when the US gasoline market is increasing
its reliance on low-octane feedstocks from shale
and experiencing a turnaround in domestic
demand. Uncertainty on future refining margins
requires refiners to place a significant emphasis on
flexible planning and process debottlenecking to
meet target quality and product slate.
Planning models make extensive use of
linear programming to maximize margins through
stream allocation and blending optimization.
Accurate prediction of future plant performance
in the form of process vector yields is critical.
Likewise, the successful estimation of process
vector yields must include: (1) rigorous modeling of
process equipment, (2) comprehensive simulation
of the process layout, and (3) fast evaluation
of multiple scenarios for optimization. Under
conventional approaches, these models occur at
different levels. The rigorous process equipment
models are utilized to provide generalized
performance criteria to the process simulator.
The process simulator links together performance
criteria from multiple equipment models in a
process layout. Optimization routines then evaluate
multiple scenarios within the process layout. The
complexity of the conventional layered approach
reduces the efficiency of scenario testing and,
ultimately, reduces the likelihood of identifying
bottlenecks and locating the optimum configuration.
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bre.indd 1 08/03/2018 10:03

 Boosting energy efficiency in
aromatics processing
Simulation of a revamped process scheme with improved heat integration
indicates big gains through energy savings and emissions abatement

SUNIL KUMAR, PRASENJIT GHOSH and SHRIKANT NANOTI

CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum

A
new energy efficient method
for processing the aro-
matics mixture to pro- Cooling
water (CW)
duce pure benzene, toluene, and Clay Air cooler
Condenser
treating
xylene (BTX) in an aromatics pro- tower Vessel Vessel
duction plant was conceptual-
ised for a significant increase in
Steam /
process energy efficiency and hot oil Reflux Reflux
financial savings. A techno- Feed Pump Pump
economic study was carried out to heater
Benzene
estimate the value of energy sav- Toluene
Distillation
ings, capital investment and addi- EX-1 column I
(DCI) Cooling
tional capital requirement for water (WC)
Toluene Distillation
revamping the existing design of + Xylene column II (DCII)
an aromatics production plant.
The results of the study show large MP MP
steam steam
scale savings in hot utility, cold
Reboiler Reboiler
utility, electricity and overall oper- Extract
ating costs as a result of implement- hydrocarbons Cooler
ing the new method. The payback from SRC Xylene
overhead Toluene + Xylene Pump
period for additional expenditure Feed Cooling
required to install heat exchange pump water (WC)
area piping modifications would
be less than a year, while pro-
cess emissions of CO2 would fall
significantly. Figure 1 Schematic of a conventional process for BTX processing
BTX is produced on a large
scale by processing the reformate grassroots unit for BTX production Conventional process
and pyrolysis gasoline streams in seems very promising. However, A schematic of the conventional
an aromatics production plant. there is a need for 110 trays for BTX process used for processing the
The aromatics rich stream is first fractionation. Therefore, the appli- aromatics mixture (BTX mixture)
processed in the extraction sec- cation of DWC for revamping an obtained from a solvent recov-
tion to remove non-aromatics. existing two column distillation ery column is shown in Figure 1. A
Subsequently, the aromatics stream process does not seem feasible. hydrocarbon stream is heated in the
is further treated in a clay tower A new method for BTX process- heat exchanger with the clay treat-
to remove olefinic impurities, fol- ing was conceptualised by opti- ing tower bottoms, and then with
lowed by two distillation columns mising the operating conditions steam to the desired temperature,
to produce pure benzene and tolu- and adopting new heat integration before entering the clay tower for
ene. Nowadays, divided wall col- for the revamp of a conventional removal of olefinic impurities.
umn (DWC) technology, which two column process to deliver sub- The clay treated BTX mixture
claims 30% energy and capital sav- stantial energy savings and reduce is processed in a benzene separa-
ings over the conventional two col- the process’s carbon footprint. A tion column (DCI) and toluene-xy-
umn arrangement, seems to be the techno-economic analysis was car- lene separation column (DCII) to
upcoming approach for fractiona- ried out to estimate the quantita- obtain pure BTX (see Figure 1). The
tion of a BTX mixture in the aromat- tive benefits of the proposed scheme xylene stream, which is generally
ics plant.1,2 A DWC application in a over a conventional scheme. processed downstream, is either

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 51

q2 IIP.indd 1 11/03/2018 19:53


Cooling
water (CW)
Clay
treating
tower
Steam
Feed
heater
PEX-1
NE-1
Feed from
SRC
overhead
Feed
pump
Figure 2 Integrated flow scheme for an energy efficient process
routed hot or water-cooled for
storage.
Energy requirement in a
conventional process
Simulation of a conventional pro-
cess as per the schematic shown
in Figure 1 was carried out using
Aspen Hysys. A rigorous distil-
lation column model and Peng
Robinson thermodynamic model
were used in the simulation. The
proportions of benzene, toluene,
o-xylene, p-xylene and m-xylene
in the hydrocarbon stream were
taken as 12.55 wt%, 39.30 wt%,
16.05 wt%, 16.05 wt%, and 16.05
wt%, respectively. A flow rate of
20 000 kg/h and a temperature of
40°C were used as conditions to
define the feed. A pressure drop of
0.5 bar was used across the process
heat exchangers. A benzene purity
of ≥99.95 wt%, a toluene purity of
≥99.5 wt%, along with a recovery
level of ≥99.5%, were targeted in
the study. The storage temperature
of BTX was taken as 45°C. The clay
treating column was not simulated
as its operation is beyond the scope
of an energy optimisation study.
The columns DCI and DCII were
simulated using 36 and 32 theoret-
ical trays, respectively. Both distil-
52 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 IIP.indd 2
Cooling
water (WC)
Condenser
Vessel
Reflux
Pump Pump
Benzene
Distillation Distillation
column I column II
(DCI) (DCII)
Reboiler Reboiler
MP MP
steam steam
Steam
NE-3 (optional
NE-2 cooler)
Cooler
Toluene + Xylene
Pump
Cooling
water (CW)
lation column condenser pressures
were kept close to normal atmos-
pheric pressure (1.1 bar). A reasona-
ble pressure drop across the various
equipment, such as 0.2 bar across
the condenser of DCI, 0.4 bar across
the air cooler of DCII, and 0.2 bar
across the column, were used in the
simulation. The reboiler pressures
of the columns DCI and DCII used
in the simulation were 1.5 bar and
1.7 bar, respectively.
Enhancing process energy efficiency
A new, energy efficient distillation
configuration based on DWC tech-
nology reduces the reboiling and
condensing duty to minimise the
net process energy requirement.
The reboiler and condenser duty of
a given distillation column depends
on operating conditions such as
feed temperature, column pressure,
reflux ratio to meet product purity,
number of trays used, and so on.
However, it is essential to note that
the net process energy requirement
is governed not only by the distil-
lation column configuration but
also by the process-to-process heat
recovery potential. The extent of
process-to-process heat recovery is
governed by the operating condi-
tions in the different types of pro-
cess and process heat integration
equipment in the scheme adopted.
Physical insight and pinch anal-
ysis of the conventional process
Vessel
reveal that a significant amount
of energy is wasted in air or cool-
ing water used for condensing the
Reflux huge amount of toluene vapour
produced in DCII. It would be a
Toluene great achievement if this energy
could be integrated into the process
to reduce the net process energy
requirement.
The boiling points of BTX are sig-
nificantly different. Thus, it seems
quite realistic to suggest that the
condensation energy of toluene
vapour can be used for preheat-
ing the feed to the clay treating
tower and replacing part of DCI’s
Xylene reboiler duty, provided there is
sufficient temperature gradient
for heat transfer. This tempera-
ture gradient will depend upon the
condensation temperature of tolu-
ene vapour which increases along
with a rise in pressure in DCII.
However, a rise in DCII’s pres-
sure will also increase the reboiler
and condenser duty for specified
toluene purity and recovery val-
ues due to reduced relative vola-
tility. On the other hand, higher
pressure will lead to a lower volu-
metric flow rate of vapour in DCII.
Considering this, a sensitivity anal-
ysis of the effect of DCII’s pressure
on these parameters was carried
out to understand their interaction
quantitatively.
The results of this sensitivity anal-
ysis indicated that reboiler and con-
denser duty increases with a rise
in pressure, whereas maximum
actual vapour flow decreased, as
expected. Thus, an increase in pres-
sure does not seem to be beneficial
with regard to energy savings until
and unless the introduction of more
energy does not facilitate the utili-
sation of toluene vapour energy in
the process itself for a significant
reduction in the net process energy
requirement. To find out the opti-
mum value of DCII’s pressure, the
net process energy requirement was
estimated using the pinch analy-
sis tool in Aspen Hysys for various
pressure values of DCII. The results
are shown in Table 1.
The results clearly indicate that
www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:34
 a DCII pressure of ~3.0 bar is the
optimum value to minimise the
net process energy requirement.
Subsequently, a new processing
scheme with modified heat inte-
gration was conceptualised (see
Figure 2).
Comparative analysis
Conventional and proposed pro-
cesses with an optimum pres-
sure for column DCII as shown in
Figures 1 and 2 were simulated in a
closed loop for evaluation of their
actual energy requirement. In the
present study, the annual operating
cost was estimated for an operat-
ing rate of 8000 h/y and for utility
prices of steam at Rs. 1500 per ton,
cooling water at Rs. 1.8/ton and
electricity at Rs. 4.2/kWH ($ =
Rs60).3 The capital cost of the heat
exchanger network, reboiler and
condenser were estimated using
correlations reported in estab-
lished and reliable literature.4,5,6,7
The payback period for additional
expenditure required for new heat
exchangers and pipeline rerouting
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q2 IIP.indd 3
Effect of DCII pressure on the hot and 32.3%, 84.8% in medium pressure
cold utility requirement of the process steam, cooling water and electricity,
respectively. The design pressure
Pressure, Hot utility, Cold utility, of DCII is 4.5 bar. Thus there is an
bar kW kW opportunity to reduce the operat-
1.7 4898 4252 ing cost by 37.7% by revamping the
2 5040 4354 existing process with the proposed
2.5 5276 4531
3 3407 2610 scheme. The payback period for the
3.5 3630 2787 additional expenditure required for
revamping the existing aromatic
Table 1 plant was found to be 10.3 months.
Moreover, these energy savings
was estimated using the ratio of will also result in a significant
capital cost to annual profit through reduction in CO2 emissions from
energy savings. The cost of pip- the plant.
ing modification was assumed to
be 30% of the installed cost of new Conclusion
heat exchangers. BTX is produced on a large scale
The actual vapour flow (AVF) in the refining and petrochemi-
profile of DCII indicates that there cal industries. A small increment
is a 34% reduction in the maxi- in energy efficiency would result
mum value of AVF on increasing in significant financial savings.
the DCII reboiler pressure from Conventional and proposed pro-
1.7 bar to 3.0 bar. This provides cesses were simulated in a closed
the scope to increase the column loop to estimate the real value
throughput in case of an increase of energy savings and the area
in the toluene fraction of the feed. requirement for heat exchangers.
Energy saving analysis reveals The results of the study reveal that
scope for savings of around 40.1%, 40.1%, 32.3%, and 84.8% savings in
PTQ Q2 2018 53
12/03/2018 10:24

Together facing a
brighter tomorrow
At Yokogawa, we believe the sky’s the limit.
And to reach beyond today’s horizons,
we work step-by-step with you to make
the unimagined a reality. That’s how we
move forward, through the synergy of
co-innovation partnership. Join hands with
us, and together we can sustain a brighter
future. Yokogawa: Building a better
tomorrow with you today.
Please visit www.yokogawa.com/eu
Facing-a-brighter86x270-EU.indd 1
q2 IIP.indd 4
hot utility, cold utility and electricity can be achieved
by implementing the proposed scheme in an existing
BTX processing plant. These savings would result in
overall savings of 37.7% in operating costs. The pay-
back period for additional expenditure required for
installing new heat exchangers and piping modification
would be around 10.3 months. Implementation of the
proposed scheme would also reduce process CO2 emis-
sions significantly.
It can be observed from the configuration of the con-
ventional process and the proposed scheme that the
proposed method is easy to retrofit to an existing plant
and can be implemented to revamp the existing process
configuration for large scale energy and emissions sav-
ings and increased profit margin.
References
1 Halvorsen I J, Skogestad S, Shortcut analysis of the optimal operation
of Petlyuk distillation, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2004, 43:3994-3999.
2 Yildirim O, Kiss A A, Kenig E Y, Dividing wall columns in chemical
process industry: A review on current activities, Sep. Purif. Technol., 2011,
80:403–417.
3 Dejanović I, Matijašević L, Jansen H, Olujic´ Ž, Designing a packed
dividing wall column for an aromatics processing plant, Ind. Eng. Chem.
Res., 2011, 50:5680-5692.
4 Kumar S, Gupta S, Nanoti S M, Techno-economic evaluation of
top, middle and bottom divided wall column configurations for
Benzene, Toluene and Xylene processing in aromatic production
plant, Separation Science and Technology, 2017, 52 (1), 122-131: DOI:
10.1080/01496395.2016.1250775.
5 Douglas J M, Conceptual Design of Chemical Processes (by),
International edition, New York McGraw-Hill - McGraw-Hill chemical
engineering series, 1988.
6 Couper J R, Penney W R, Fair J R, Walas S M, Chemical Process Equipment
(Selection and Design), 2nd ed. UK, Gulf professional publisher, 2005.
7 Sinnott R, Towler G, Chemical Engineering Design, 5th ed. Butterworth-
Heinemann, 2010.
Sunil Kumar is a Senior Scientist with CSIR-Indian Institute of
Petroleum (IIP)Dehradun’s separation process division. His research
areas include solvent extraction for aromatics production and recovery,
extractive desulphurisation of gas oil and fuel oil, process design and
integration, production of methanol and DME and life cycle analysis of
fuels. Technologies and processes to which he contributed have been
commercialised, including at Reliance Jamnagar refinery. His awards
include Certificate of Merit for Academic Excellence from IIT Kanpur,
and Institution of Engineers India Young Engineers Award in Chemical
Engineering. He holds three US patents.
Prasenjit Ghosh is a Scientist with CSIR-IIP Dehradun working on
aromatic extraction and process simulation and modelling. His areas
of interest are process modelling and simulation, separation processes,
reaction engineering and process optimisation. He holds a BE in chemical
engineering from Jadavpur University Kolkata and an MTech in chemical
engineering from IIT Kanpur.
Shrikant Nanoti retired as Head of the refining technology division of
CSIR-IIP Dehradun in 2016 and is now a Consultant with the company.
With over 30 years of experience in the development and scale-up of
separation based technologies, process design, process integration and
pinch analysis for the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries,
the technologies he has developed have been commercialised in various
refineries. He has published more than 40 research papers, holds eight
patents, and received the CSIR Technology Award and Technology
Shield for development and commercialisation of aromatics extraction
technologies. He holds a doctorate in chemical engineering from Indian
Institute of Technology.
www.eptq.com
04/12/17 13:23
09/03/2018 17:34
 Speed and Quality in
Separation by Design
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 Designing for a sourer future
Achieving the right sulphur plant capacity and configuration is crucial to the
proper operation of a refinery
DEBOPAM CHAUDHURI and SRINIVASA ORUGANTI
Fluor
R
efiners around the world are
processing a wider crude slate.
They are also faced with the
challenge of meeting a tighter sul-
phur specification for the products,
hence the role of the sulphur plant
and its design are gaining more
importance.
A proper sulphur plant configura-
tion needs to cater to the operational
flexibility of the refinery. This needs
to be decided based not only on the
refinery turndown operation but
also on the various crude assays that
are being handled.
The best sulphur plant configura-
tion avoids bottlenecks in refinery
operation with minimum economic
investment. This article will pres-
ent several case studies on achieving
the optimum sulphur plant config-
uration with varying crude com-
positions, refinery configurations
and capacities, and provide generic
guidelines for making decisions
related to sulphur plant design dur-
ing the refinery configuration phase.
The feasibility of a petroleum
refinery depends on the inherent
interaction between the choice of
crude oil used and the desired type
and quality of finished products to
be generated. Using a more expen-
sive light, sweet crude oil requires
a simpler refinery configuration
and hence a lower capital invest-
ment. But supplies of light, sweet
crude oil are decreasing, and at the
same time the gap between heavier
and sourer crude prices is increas-
ing. Refinery configurations are also
inherently defined by the type of
products expected and the quality
to be achieved. Meeting the quality
specifications of the final products
is of utmost importance as environ-
www.eptq.com
q2 fluor.indd 1
34.0
API
Sulphur
33.5
33.0
API
32.5
32.0
31.5
31.0
2008 2010 2015
Figure 1 Global crude oil quality trends
mental requirements are gradually
becoming more stringent.
The average API gravity and sul-
phur content of refinery crude slate
varies by region, and over time the
average quality of global crude slate
has been declining gradually. Figure
1 shows how crude slate is chang-
ing and is expected to change over
the next few years. This confirms
that total world crude oil reserves
(crude oil of the future) are of lower
API gravity and higher sulphur
content than current world pro-
duction (crude oil being processed
presently). The harsh impact of the
changing nature of crude oil has
been moderated due to the effect of
an increased usage of natural gas
liquids and other unconventional
crude oil sources, but the graph still
shows that the change in sulphur
content in crude is more prominent
than crude complexity.
Simultaneously, product spec-
ifications with respect to sulphur
content are becoming increasingly
more stringent. The most recent
is the decision adopted by the
1.3
1.2
Sulphur, wt%
1.1
1.0
0.9
2020 2025 2030
International Maritime Organisation
(IMO) to limit the sulphur content
in marine fuel to 0.5% by the start
of 2020, whereas the same limit for
the Sulphur Emission Control Areas
(SECA) is already 0.1% from the
start of 2015 (see Figure 2). This sul-
phur containment will have a huge
impact on the global refining sector,
requiring major changes in refinery
configuration and operation. New
process units will be required to
upgrade and/or desulphurise the
residue streams.
The impact on overall sulphur
management in the refinery will
also become vital, based on the
modifications made on the over-
all refinery configuration and
operation. The sulphur plant con-
figuration needs to be optimised
to limit any unnecessary impact
on the total investment cost of the
project without sacrificing flexi-
bility in the overall refinery oper-
ation. The sulphur recovery unit
(SRU) design should avoid bottle-
necks with respect to the crude slate
to be processed, the product spec-
PTQ Q2 2018 57
09/03/2018 17:36
 studies reported, and will high-
5 light not only the means and meth-
Global cap ods to arrive at the required sulphur
SECA zone cap plant capacity of the refinery, but
4
also provide guidelines to select the
most favourable train configuration
Sulphur, wt%

3 of the sulphur plant.

2 Case study 1: single crude train

– moderately sour crude
The first example presented here
1
is a 9 million t/y refinery process-
ing a mix of high sulphur crude
0 and low sulphur crude and gener-
2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 ating a mixture of fuels and hydro-
carbons for downstream processes.
Figure 2 MARPOL Annex VI sulphur limits Source: IMO Although the refinery is expected
to operate with a variety of mix-
tures of low sulphur and high sul-
Sulphur balance for case study 1 phur crudes, a ratio of 80-20 is the
worst feed with respect to the sul-
TPD Sulphur, TPD of phur content and is considered for
ppmw sulphur
Feed
the sulphur balance shown in Table
High sulphur crude 21 600 28 300 611.28 1. Based on the actual mathemati-
Low sulphur crude 5400 1500 8.1 cal sulphur recovery capacity, the
Total feed 27 000 619.38 real capacity of the SRU is generally
Products
Naphtha 350 200 0.07
selected by adding a margin. The
Jet fuel/kero cut 1300 2000 2.60 margin is typically 10% or 15% over
Motor spirit/gasoline 3900 8 0.03 the calculated plant capacity. So
Diesel 16 200 8 0.13 for this example, the real capacity
Light diesel oil 55 3000 0.17
Bitumen/coke/etc 980 33 000 34.30
will typically be 660 t/d rather than
Internal fuel oil 480 3000 2.40 600 t/d.
Total product 23 265 39.7 A single train SRU with the
Balance - for sulphur plant capacity 580 required capacity will have no oper-
ational flexibility; designing it for a
Table 1 2 x 660 t/d configuration will attract
a lot of unnecessary installation
cost. Thus the prudent option for
Sulphur balance for case study 2a
this scenario would to select a 2 x
400 t/d sulphur plant configuration
TPD Sulphur, TPD of
ppmw sulphur which will allow for refinery opera-
Feed tion at 70% capacity even with one
High sulphur crude 30 570 25 200 770.4 SRU train operating with optimum
Very high sulphur crude 50 430 39 700 2002.1 additional installation cost.
Total feed 81 000 2772.4
Products
C3-C4 5500 10 0.055 Case study 2: multiple crude trains
Naphtha 5500 50 0.28 – high sulphur crude
DPK/ULS kerosene 9200 8 0.07 The second case study is for a refin-
ULS diesel 18 000 8 0.14
IFO 1500 5000 7.5
ery predominantly handling high
LSFO 36 000 10 000 360.0 sulphur crudes and consists of three
Total product 75 700 368.0 crude trains, each capable of han-
Balance - for sulphur plant capacity 2404 dling 9 million t/y of crude oil.
The refinery is designed for specific
Table 2a cases: present case for high sulphur
crude oil; and future case for a very
ifications to be met and any other ples are from four different refin- high sulphur crude oil. The sulphur
possible refinery operating sce- eries with different complexities balances for these two cases are
narios. The following sections will and crude handling capabilities. shown in Tables 2a and 2b, respec-
illustrate and highlight with actual The following discussions will also tively. For Case 2a, the required sul-
examples the defining parameters assist in achieving the most opti- phur plant capacity is around 2700
of SRU configurations. These exam- mised solution based on the case t/d, while for Case 2b the capac-

58 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 fluor.indd 2 09/03/2018 17:36

 ity is calculated as almost 3200
Sulphur balance for case study 2b
t/d after considering the required
design margin. TPD Sulphur, TPD of
Selection of the sulphur plant con- ppmw sulphur
figuration also needs to take into Feed
Very high sulphur crude 50 570 39 700 1213.6
account a refinery configuration of Very high sulphur crude 50 430 39 700 2002.1
three crude trains, hence the sulphur Total feed 81 000 3215.7
plant needs to have at least three Products
trains so that the shutdown and C3-C4 5500 10 0.055
Naphtha 5500 50 0.28
maintenance plan of any of the SRU DPK/ULS kerosene 9200 8 0.07
trains may be grouped with any one ULS diesel 18 000 8 0.14
of the crude trains. IFO 1500 5000 7.5
LSFO 36 000 10 000 360.0
The selected SRU configuration Total product 75 700 368.0
is 3 x 1000 t/d for the present case, Balance - for sulphur plant capacity 2848
keeping the provision for a fourth
train to cater for future needs. This Table 2b
configuration provides the opti-
mised installation cost for the pres- operational flexibility will be further and procurement cycle when the
ent scenario, yet it has the capability increased, and the refinery will be fourth train is installed.
to give the refinery flexibility with able to operate at full capacity even
respect to its shutdown and mainte- with one SRU train out of operation Case study 3: multiple crude trains
nance plans. Each of the three SRU as the three operating SRU trains – major refinery revamp
trains can easily be linked to the (3 x 1000 t/d = 3000 t/d) will meet The third case study is for a brown-
shutdown and maintenance of any sulphur demand for the worst crude field project which involves the
of the three crude trains. This oper- case (Case 2b) of the refinery, even capacity enhancement of a 9 million
ational flexibility allows the refinery with some design margin. Keeping t/y refinery to 18 million t/y along
to operate at about 85% even when the capacity of the future train the with a change in crude assay. Table
one of the SRU trains becomes same as the installed SRU train 3 shows the sulphur balance for the
unavailable. capacity also offers the benefit of refinery with the revamped capacity
When the future train is added, drastically reducing the engineering and crude assay.

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 59

q2 fluor.indd 3 09/03/2018 17:36

 Sulphur balance for case study 3

TPD Sulphur, TPD of

ppmw sulphur
Feed
High sulphur crude 54 000 25 200 1360.8
Total feed 54 000 1360.8
Products
Tower packings, C3-C4 1600 10 0.016
Naphtha 12 000 50 0.6
catalyst support DPK/ULS kerosene
Jet fuel/kero cut
6500
14 500
10
200
0.065
2.9
material and ULS diesel
CGO/UCO/etc
13 800
1800
10
15 000
0.1
27.0
column equipment. Coke/etc
Total product
2050
52 250
20 000 41.0
71.7
Balance - for sulphur plant capacity 1289

Table 3

3 The required sulphur handling hence additional processing facili-

capacity of the refinery now becomes
4 5 6 1450 t/d, considering the necessary
Please visit us design margins. The existing refin-
Hall: 4.0 ery already had a sulphur handling
10 Stand: D66 capability of 500 t/d, hence the new
7 8 9 sulphur plant would need an addi-
tional 1000 t/d, for which 3 x 350
4 t/d SRU trains are the best solution
with respect to operational flexibil-
ity since, in the scenario of one SRU
6 1
train becoming unavailable, there
4 2 would hardly be any impact on
overall refinery operation.
10 Case study 4: refinery revamp with
7 8 9 minor capacity increase
(IMO impact)
This case highlights the scenario
1 of a refinery undergoing a revamp
4 2 mainly to upgrade product specifi-
cations with a very minor increase
in overall capacity. The refinery
revamp is specifically undertaken to
meet the IMO 2020 global cap limit
1 DURANIT® inert ceramic balls of 0.5% sulphur in marine fuel oil,
2 special reformed packings
3 droplet separators / demisters
Sulphur balance for case study 4
4 support plates / grids
5 feed devices: gas / liquids
TPD
6 liquid distributors / collectors
7 random packings made of plastic Feed
8 random packings made of metal
High sulphur crude 27 000
Total feed 27 000
9 random packings made of ceramic Products
10 software and consulting C3-C4 850
Naphtha cut 6800
Jet fuel/kero cut 8500
For further information
Diesel cut 6800
please visit:
Fuel oil/etc 1150
www.vff.com
Bitumen/coke/etc 1050
Total product 25 150
Balance - for sulphur plant capacity
P. O. Box 552, D - 56225 Ransbach-Baumbach
Phone +49 26 23 / 895 - 0, info@vff.com
Table 4
ties for the heavy gasoil section are
included in the revamp. These mod-
ifications induced an increase in the
required sulphur handling capa-
bility of the refinery. Table 4 shows
the sulphur balance of the refinery
post-revamp. The total sulphur han-
dling capacity of this refinery pre-
revamp was 575 t/d, while the
revised sulphur plant capacity in the
post-revamp scenario is now about
740 t/d. The refinery already had
two separate trains of SRUs; an addi-
tional train of SRU is not the obvious
solution here. Since the increase in
sulphur load was only 30%, oxygen
enrichment was found to be the best
solution for this refinery. Some mod-
ifications in tail gas treatment also
became necessary for the revised sul-
phur handling capacity for the SRU,
mainly to meet environment norms
with respect to sulphur emissions
into the atmosphere.
The base configuration of the SRU
Sulphur, TPD of
ppmw sulphur
25 200 680.4
680.4
10 0.0085
10 0.068
10 0.085
10 0.1
5000 5.8
20 000 21.0
27.0
653

60 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 fluor.indd 4 09/03/2018 17:36

 included two separate trains and each train had a sim-
ilar (but not exactly the same) sulphur handling capac-
ity, hence the refinery’s operational flexibility was on
track. Both SRUs underwent revamps to include oxygen
enrichment technology along with a few other inevitable
modifications on the tail gas treatment sections and sul-
phur storage and handling facilities to meet the revised
sulphur load. The extent of oxygen enrichment imple-
mented on each of the trains was selected based on the
existing train capacity and to minimise the impact on
existing equipment of that train post-revamp.
This SRU revamp allowed the refinery to meet the
new sulphur load with almost no impact to plot space
and very little additional investment when compared
to adding a new SRU train to meet the revised sulphur
load of the refinery.
(Irrespective of the actual capacity of the crude trains,
and for simplicity of comparison, all the crude trains
under discussions have been prorated to have a capac-
ity of 9 million t/y. The product slates have also been
prorated accordingly, hence the sulphur plant capacities
reported are also adjusted accordingly.)

Conclusions
Refiners around the world are feeling the crunch of
meeting tighter sulphur specifications for products
and at the same time facing the challenge of gradually
depleting reserves of sweet crude. While modifications
are being made to process units, in particular develop-
ments in hydrotreating processes and catalysts, the sul-
phur load in the refinery is continually increasing. This
calls for an update of the sulphur balance of the refin- More than just
ery and an upgrade of the sulphur plant configurations
in most refineries around the world. vacuum
Arriving at the proper sulphur plant capacity and
configuration is of utmost importance for the proper Process-integrated solutions
operation of a refinery. The plant capacity and config- for many types of vacuum
uration should take into account the ‘most sour’ crude
system
assay/blend to be processed in the refinery. It should
also consider adding margins to meet the required
operating flexibility in design with respect to overall GEA supplies steam jet vacuum systems
operation. This should not induce unnecessary capital and hybrid vacuum pumps, optimizing
investment, and hence these margins need to be opti- production processes to reduce costs and
mised. For revamp scenarios, it is in many cases advis- environmental pollution. You can rely on
able to look for opportunities in upscaling the sulphur 90 years of experience and thousands of
plant capacity by modifying the sulphur recovery pro- references in numerous industrial sectors
cess to improve overall sulphur recovery and increase all over the world. And thousands of
sulphur handling capabilities. satisfied customers can‘t be wrong.
Proper balance of refinery sulphur followed by a judi- We‘d like to prove it to you also.

cious selection of sulphur plant capacity and train con- Contact us and we will show

figuration provides a smoother path for overall design, you that we are the right

engineering and operation of the refinery. partner for you:

gea.com/contact
Debopam Chaudhuri is a Process Engineer with Fluor New Delhi. With
17 years’ experience in petroleum refining, petrochemical complex
and upstream projects, he holds bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and
chemical engineering from the University of Calcutta.
Srinivasa Oruganti is a Department Manager for Process Technology &
HSE with Fluor New Delhi. He holds a bachelor of technology degree
in chemical engineering from Andhra University and is a master of
technology in industrial engineering and management from Indian
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

www.eptq.com

q2 fluor.indd 5 09/03/2018 17:37


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1 12/14/17 12:21
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16:38
 Replacing a corroded column with
packing internals
A corroded column was replaced with a new column equipped with high capacity
packing. The cross sectional area is less than half that of the original
YANG QUAN, MARKUS DUSS and DONG JIAO-JIAO
Sulzer Chemtech
A
direct contact after cooler
(DCAC) column equipped
with sieve trays in an air sep-
aration unit (ASU) was severely
corroded and had to be replaced.
Rather than go for a one to one
replacement, a modern packing
solution was selected based on a
lower pressure drop and much
higher capacity. During the process
design stage, the packing height
specified was confirmed to be ade-
quate to meet the heat transfer
requirement. During the detailed
engineering phase, computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations
were utilised to assess the accepta-
bility of the existing inlet arrange-
ment. Trial runs were conducted
shortly after the new column was
erected. The measured temperature
of the air from the top of the new
DCAC column matched the design
value very well.
Background
In an ASU, compressed air is
brought into contact with chilled
and cooling water in the DCAC.
The primary function of the DCAC
column is to cool the hot air and
reduce moisture.1 As the water
vapour content in compressed air
is linked directly to temperature,
the compressed air must be cooled
to 8°C~15°C. Otherwise, the down-
stream molecular sieve adsorbers
may be laden with water in prefer-
ence to CO2. If CO2 is not removed
from compressed air, it can prefer-
entially freeze and cause plugging
of downstream equipment. A sim-
ple sketch of a DCAC column is
shown in Figure 1.
An operator in the Asia Pacific
region approached Sulzer to replace
www.eptq.com
q2 sulzer.indd 1
Main specifications of the new
Cooled air
DCAC column
New column Old column
Height (T/T), m 14 14
Chilled water
Inner diameter, m 2.7 4.0
Packing type MellapakPlus Sieve tray
252.Y
Table 1
The proposed operating condi-
tions and process flows for the new
Cooling water column were unchanged. Based on
the stream data and packing type,
the capacity and the pressure drop
were evaluated, with the results
listed in Table 2. It can be seen from
Hot air the packing hydraulics that the new
column was not highly loaded.
The key function of the DCAC
Water column is to achieve the required
temperature specification of the
cooled air stream. A temperature
Figure 1 Sketch of a DCAC column outside this range will negatively
impact the vital downstream molec-
a severely corroded DCAC col- ular sieve adsorbers’ ability to con-
umn. The existing column was dition the incoming air stream.
4 m in diameter and 14 m T/T, and Table 3 summarises the top pressure
was equipped with 10 sieve trays. of the DCAC column and the tem-
The dimensions of the new column peratures of various feeds. Based
were specified as in Table 1. on past operation of the old col-
Besides, a detailed design of the umn, the best ever achieved temper-
air inlet was provided in the specifi- ature of cooled air from the top of
cation sheet: an open pipe type with the DCAC was 15.5°C. Sulzer was
a disk beneath the downward open- asked to evaluate the specifications
ing to direct the incoming vapour and guarantee an approach tem-
upwards. perature (the temperature differ-
Packing hydraulics
Upper section Lower section
Top Bottom Top Bottom
Capacity, % 51.0 51.9 65.3 71.5
∆P, mbar/m 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.7
Table 2
PTQ Q2 2018 63
09/03/2018 17:38

Operating conditions of the tray
column (the critical case)
Column top pressure, bar_a
Hot air temperature,°C
Chilled water temperature, °C
Cooling water temperature, °C
Table 3
ence between the cooled air and the
chilled water) of less than 1.5 °C.
To guarantee the temperature of
the cooled air, heat transfer calcula-
tions must be carried out to evalu-
ate the process risks.
Heat transfer calculations
In the DCAC column, as the tem-
perature of the compressed air is
higher than that of the water, sensi-
ble heat is transferred from the hot
air to the water. Meanwhile, due
to condensation of water vapour,
the latent heat of the hot air is also
transferred. It should be highlighted
that condensation is essentially a
mass transfer matter. Figure 2 illus-
trates the concentration and tem-
perature profiles of water in the
air and water phases for a DCAC
Interface
column. From this figure, it can be Air film Liquid
7.03
easily understood that resistance to H2O film
95 sensible heat transfer exists dom-
H2O concentration
14 inantly in the gas phase while for
HG humidity
28 latent heat transfer or mass transfer
there is no resistance in the liquid TG
phase due to a nearly zero concen- Hi
tration difference of water between
the water phase and a water lam- Latent heat
Ti TL
in gas
inar film. Therefore, for sensible Sensible heat
heat transfer and latent heat transfer Sensible heat in water
in gas
in the DCAC column, only the gas
phase needs to be looked at closely.
Process simulations provide use-
ful insights, such as the driving Figure 2 Concentration and temperature
force for respective heat transfers profiles of water in air and water phases
as well as the thermal properties of
the two phases. However, they can Subsequently, the required packing
not predict how fast heat will be area2 can be calculated as follows:
transferred over a specific type of 𝑄𝑄!
packing. 𝐴𝐴! = (1)
𝑈𝑈×(𝑇𝑇! − 𝑇𝑇! )
Specifically, for sensible heat
transfer, the heat transfer coefficient where QS (W) is sensible heat, U (W
in the gas phase should be known. · m-2 · K-1) is gas heat transfer coeffi-
This, apart from the thermal prop- cient, and TG and Ti (K) are tempera-
erties of the gas, is also related to ture of bulk gas and temperature of
gas turbulence inside the packing. the interface respectively.

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64 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 sulzer.indd 2 09/03/2018 17:38

 As for latent heat, the required
packing area3 can be determined by:
𝑄𝑄!
𝐴𝐴! = (2)
𝑘𝑘! ×(ℎ! − ℎ! )×𝑀𝑀!"# ×∆𝐻𝐻!"

where QL (W) is latent heat, kG

(kmol· m-2 · s-1) is mass transfer coef-
ficient, hG and hi (mol · mol-1) are
humidity in gas bulk and the inter-
face respectively, Mair (g· mol-1) is
molecular weight of air and ∆HLV
(J/kg) is latent heat of water.
Similarly, the mass transfer coef-
ficient is also related to gas turbu-
lence inside the packing.
Depending on the application and
specific customer requirements, the
packing surface area can be adapted
to fit the purposes best. It should
be noted that the packing area
described above refers to the effec-
tive area available for heat transfer,
which may or may not be the same
as the geometrical surface area of
the packing.4 Nevertheless, Sulzer’s
proprietary packing correlations
predict packing effective area as
well as mass transfer and heat trans-
fer coefficients at specific operating
conditions.
Based on the specified packing
type and height, and the flow rates
and conditions of feeds, we calcu-
lated the cooled air outlet tempera-
ture to be 14.5°C with an approach
temperature of 0.5°C. The impact
of possible variations in water flow
rate (±10%) was also investigated.
Eventually, Sulzer guaranteed that
1.5°C of approach temperature
could be achieved.
Figure 3 CFD model of the DCAC column and its external inlet pipes
igated by the high pressure drop of
the tray. However, given the much
lower pressure drop for the selected
To guarantee the
temperature of the
cooled air, heat
transfer calculations
must be carried
out to evaluate the
process risks
packing, maldistribution became a
potential issue in the stable opera-
tion of the column. While the oper-
ator planned to revamp the external
inlet piping, Sulzer suggested using
an advanced inlet device, Shell
Schoepentoeter, instead of the speci-
fied simple pipe inlet device. A CFD
study was subsequently carried out
to understand vapour distribution
inside the new column. Figure 3
shows the CFD model built for the
DCAC column and its front inlet
pipes. The simulated vapour flow
trajectories are illustrated in Figure
4. It was evident from Figure 4 that
vapour distribution was perfectly
fine if Schoepentoeter was used as
the air inlet device. The operator
agreed to leave the external inlet
piping untouched.
Results
Shortly after the new DCAC column
was erected on site, commissioning

Inlet piping
For this ASU plant, one of the two
feeds was supplied by a compres-
sor; the other feed came from a
nearby plant. The feeds were com-
bined in front of the DCAC col-
umn, and the distance between the
joint of the two inlet pipes and the
DCAC column was about four times
that of the diameter of the air inlet
to the column. Common practice in
industry is that, in order to avoid
maldistribution of vapour inside a
column, any unavoidable upstream
piping disturbance should be at
least 10 times that of the inlet size
in distance from the column. In the
existing tray design, maldistribu-
tion of vapour would likely be mit- Figure 4 Vapour flow trajectories in the DCAC column and its external inlet pipes

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 65

q2 sulzer.indd 3 09/03/2018 17:38

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rentech.indd 1 08/03/2018 10:19

 for post combustion carbon capture projects.
Column pressure drop and approach temperature He graduated from the Polytechnical School
Winterthur, and has been working with Sulzer
Old column New column (guaranteed) New column Chemtech for more than 30 years.
(commissioning data) Dong Jiao-Jiao is a Sulzer Senior Application
∆P (mbar) 80 14.1 12 Engineer from the Separation Technology
∆T (°C) 1.5 (Best) 1.5 0.5 business unit of Sulzer Chemtech China. In her
10 years with Sulzer, her main responsibilities
Table 4 have included monitoring the changing needs
of the air separation market, and driving for
started. The operating data during Markus Duss is a Sulzer Senior Technical the best design and optimisation of column
commissioning were collected and Consultant, responsible for the development internals in tune with times. She holds a
they are listed in Table 4. of in-house tools for designing heat and mass master’s degree in chemical engineering
As expected, the pressure drop of transfer applications for rings and structured from East China University of Science and
packing. He is also the technical focal point Technology.
the new packed column was 85%
lower than that of the old tray col-
umn, and more importantly it was
below the guaranteed value. The
approach temperature was con-
sistently at 0.5°C, a degree below
the guaranteed value and match-
ing very well the calculated figure
of 0.5°C. The commissioning data
demonstrate that Sulzer proprietary
packing correlations are very accu-
rate in heat transfer calculations.

Conclusions
A corroded DCAC column was
replaced with a new packed col-
umn. Due to the high capacity of
packing, the cross sectional area
of the new column was reduced
by more than 50%. Revamp of the
external inlet piping was eliminated
after using an advanced gas inlet
device. The operating temperature ACCURATE • FAST • CUSTOMIZABLE
of the cooled air matches prediction.
TM

References Evaluate the impact of

1 Gorak A, Schoenmakers H, Distillation: your engineering decisions
Operation and Applications, Ch. 6, Elsevier
B.V., 2014.
2 Spiegel L, Bomio P, Hunkeler R, Direct heat
and mass transfer in structured packings, Join other process industry leaders
Chemical Engineering & Processing, Vol. 35,
now benefitting from Exchanger Optimizer.
1996.
3 Geankoplis C J, Transport Process and • Design heat exchanger systems to minimize the total
Separation Process Principles, 4th Ed., Ch. 9 &
installed cost of the plant
10, Prentice Hall, 2003.
4 Duss M, Meierhofer H, Nutter D, Effective • Evaluate revamp scenarios including bundle replacements,
interfacial area and liquid hold-up of Nutter metallurgy upgrades, or enhanced tubing
rings at high liquid loads, Chemical Engineering
and Technology, Vol. 24, 2001. • Generate customizable and region-specific estimates

Yang Quan is a Sulzer Senior Technical Expert, • Share data with HTRI Xchanger Suite®
specialising in mass transfer components,
such as trays, packing, column internals
and separators. He is also responsible for CONTACT HTRI FOR
air separation knowledge management
MORE INFORMATION.
within Sulzer Chemtech. He holds a PhD in
environmental engineering from the National
www.htri.net
University of Singapore.

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 67

q2 sulzer.indd 4 13/03/2018 10:42

 Making a difference to With years of expertise in the oil and gas markets,
Johnson Matthey continues to invest in technologies that
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Our INTERCAT Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) additives

offer the refiner the ability to tailor the selectivity of the
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Contact us to find out how our technology

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25196 JM 2017 Rebrand - Making a difference.indd 1 16/10/2017 09:48
 Packed bed performance analytics
Advanced analytics introduce a numerical and easily understood approach to
tower gamma scanning
LOWELL T PLESS
Tracerco
R
efinery and chemical plant
operations depend heavily
on distillation and separation
towers. Tower gamma scanning
is well established in the process
industries as a qualitative tool to
help troubleshoot towers. Advances
in data analysis have led to a quan-
titative approach in expressing
gamma scan data in numerical
terms easily understood by process
and operations engineers.
For packed towers, a grid scan of
three or four equidistant scans cross-
ing through the beds of packing
would typically be used to investi-
gate the quality of liquid distribu-
tion. The conventional approach to
‘analysing’ a gamma scan has been
to visualise how well the scan data
from the individual scans matched
each other or how well they ‘over-
laid’ with each other. This is a totally
subjective analysis lacking consist-
ency, open to varying interpretation
and does not translate well from
tower to tower. Therefore, the result-
ing conclusions from this approach
can be very ambiguous regarding
the magnitude of any detected liq-
uid maldistribution.
An alternative analytical approach,
termed PackView, has been devel-
oped whereby a relative density
scale is calculated from data that the
grid scan provides. The density scale
begins at the density of the dry or
non-operating packing. The density
scale displays the calculated density
of liquid retained in the bed of pack-
ing based on the scan data results.
Another calculation by which to
put the liquid distribution into per-
spective and to get a measure on the
useful capacity of the packing is to
calculate the liquid hold-up frac-
www.eptq.com
q2 tracerco.indd 1
A B C
Figure 1 Typical gamma scanline
orientations: A for diameters 1.5 m and
larger; B for diameters 0.5-1.5 m; C for
diameters less than 0.5 m
tion or liquid volume fraction. If
the measured liquid retention den-
sity is divided by the process liquid
density at bed conditions (the liq-
uid density at the actual operating
temperature and pressure), liquid
hold-up or liquid volume fraction
can be established. A comparison
of the liquid hold-up fraction to the
packing operating capacity curves
provides an objective appraisal of
current operating capacity.
It is always easier to understand
and discuss technical issues when
quantitative information can be
used to compare operational param-
eters with engineering design. This
advanced analysis provides a new
method for extracting quantitative
information from gamma scan data
to diagnose and characterise the
operation of distillation and sep-
aration towers. It is our goal that
the use of the advanced analyt-
ics presented improves the value
of gamma scan data and facilitates
improvements in the operation of
mass transfer equipment.
Figure 1 shows the most typ-
ical orientations for conduct-
ing a gamma scan on a packed
tower. These scans are conven-
tionally called grid scans. Some of
the process information that can
be obtained for a gamma scan of a
packed tower includes:
• Condition of packed beds –
elevation of packing, depth of pack-
ing elements, uniformity of packing
elements, and so on
• Collector and distributor liquid
levels: Damaged? Overflowing?
• Base or bottoms liquid level
• Flooding present?
• Foaming present?
• Excess liquid retained in packing?
• Liquid maldistribution?
The purpose of doing multiple
scans of a packed tower, as shown
in Figure 1, is to determine the state
of the liquid distribution. The foun-
dation for this analysis is the Beer-
Lambert law:
I=Io e-ρµχ
where
Io is the initial gamma ray intensity
measured at a given distance with
no material interfering with the
radiation transmission
I is the radiation intensity (counts)
measurement after passing through
the tower
µ is the absorption coefficient of the
material the radiation is passing
through (material physical property)
ρ is the density of the material the
radiation is passing through
χ is the thickness of the material the
radiation is passing through.
Beyond questions concerning
damage to internals and flooding
within a packed tower, the next
biggest concern is the state of liq-
uid distribution through the beds.
Historically, gamma scan analy-
sis has relied upon performing two
sets of parallel scanlines (given the
tower diameter is sufficiently large)
through the packing (see Figure 1a),
PTQ Q2 2018 69
09/03/2018 17:39
omparison of pre- and post-revamp results

Pre-revamp Post-revamp Results/comments

r, t/h 147 182 Feed rate increased by 124%
0.26 0.25
125 116 Reduction in stripper bottom temperature reduced
reboiler duty
niser feed, % 0.132 0.05
164 170 Fouled reboiler tubes limited temperature
9.2 13.6 Reboiler duty debottlenecked

ter at high tem- Reference

shell side). The 1 Kister H Z, Component trapping in distillation towers: causes,
ited due to this symptoms and cures, CEP, Aug 2004.
of the debutan- J Rajesh is Vice-President Process with Essar Oil Limited India. He has
cleaned in the over 20 years of experience in refinery operations and process and holds
a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Annamalai University,
India.
Pawan Gupta is Deputy General Manager with Essar Oil Limited India.
in the HP sep- He has over 12 years of experience in process design and simulation and
holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from MJP Rohilkhand
ed significantly
University, India.
As a result, the
R Madhavan is General Manager Process with Koch Chemical Technology
ad receiver boot Group India Private Limited in the Koch-Glitsch division. He has over 20
and intermit- years
Figureof2experience
(A) Gamma in mass transfershowing
scan results technology
goodandliquid
holdsdistribution
an M. Tech. due to uniform response (B) Gamma scan results showing liquid mal-
he correspond- degree in chemical
distribution since engineering
there was nofrom Indian response
uniform Institute ofamong
Technology.
the scanlines
approximately Sandeep Yadav is a Senior Manager Process Engineering with Koch
ure of the strip- commonly
Chemical referred
Technology GrouptoIndia
as Private
a gridLimited
scan.inWhen gamma radiation through the tower must be kept equal so χ
the Koch-Glitsch
g reduction in division. He has over 10 years of experience in mass transfer technology
scanning a tower, Io remains fixed and µ is essen- remains a constant. With I being measured, the equa-
and holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Shivaji
tially a constant. For a grid scan, the multiple paths of tion is solved for ρ, the material density.
capacity of the University, India.
On the basis that χ was indeed kept equal, then the
d. The results of multiple sets of scan data from a packed column grid
tion are shown scan could be simply visually compared to each other.
Since all scan parameters were constant, particularly
the length or path of radiation through the column (χ),
uniform liquid distribution would be confirmed by all
y-over of water four scans detecting identical radiation. Figure 2a is a
not easily pre- typical example of a grid scan showing all four scan-
ns and hydrau- lines matching, implying good liquid distribution.
ked closely with However, when there was some variance in the radi-
to troubleshoot ation measurement and the sets of scan data did not
n the unit, espe- seem to match very well, then liquid maldistribution
ations, to iden- would be diagnosed as the cause. Comparing the sets of
symptoms and scan data, lower radiation counts (higher density) indi-
nd debutaniser cated more liquid and higher counts (less density) indi-
cted that water cated less liquid, therefore liquid maldistribution. An
cause. example of this type of conclusion is demonstrated in
onvenient way Figure 2b.
columns, lead- This is a totally subjective analysis lacking consistency,
the HP separa- open to varying interpretation, and does not translate
oblem was fully from tower to tower. Additionally, this quantitative anal-
n the HP sep- ysis does not give any insight into the severity or quan-
neering group tity of liquid maldistribution. Therefore, the resulting
of the existing conclusions from this purely qualitative approach can be
to remedy the very ambiguous regarding the presence and magnitude
and proprietary of any liquid maldistribution.
ovided a solu-
goal. By under- Advanced analytics: PackView
he problem, the An advanced analytical analysis for gamma scan
eparator vessel data from packed columns was developed to con-
he performance sistently analyse gamma scan data and reach a
conclusive result. Densities are calculated based

PTQ Q4 2017 49
70 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

12/09/2017 16:51
q2 tracerco.indd 2 13/03/2018 10:46
 Figure 3 (A) Initial gamma scan results from small diameter column (B) Gamma scan results, enhanced with liquid retention scale,
showing missing packing at top of bed
on tower dimensions, scan path
length (variable χ) and gamma
scan response through the pack-
ing. The results are used to super-
impose a density scale onto the
scan data. The baseline of the
density scale is the dry bulk or
non-operating packing den-
sity. Calculated densities greater
than the dry packing density
represent liquid and/or solids
retained in the bed of packing.
Figures 3b, 4b and 5b show exam-
ples of this liquid retention density
scale.
As with the qualitative gamma
scan analysis, if the multiple scan-
lines have matching liquid reten-
tion densities then the implication
is the liquid distribution is good.
However, if there is a difference
between the scanlines, the reten-
tion density gives a numerical com-
parison from which to gauge the
extent or severity of any liquid
maldistribution in terms of liquid
density.
PackView Example 1
Figure 3a shows the gamma scan
results from a small-diameter
packed tower (only two scanlines
performed due to the small diam-
eter). The tower diagram on the
right side of Figure 3a shows where
www.eptq.com
q2 tracerco.indd 3
the bed of packing was supposed
to be as per the reference tower
drawing. There was a reduction
in radiation counts from the clear
vapour region at the expected ele-
vation for the top of the bed. After
a short distance into the bed the
radiation counts decreased. So the
question was, what was the operat-
ing condition of the bed? Were the
lower counts (higher density) liq-
uid hold-up (flooding) at the bottom
of the bed? Or was the radiation
count at the bottom of the bed ‘nor-
mal’ and something had happened
to the packing in the top of the
bed? A visual or qualitative evalu-
ation of the radiation counts could
not answer these questions with
confidence.
Figure 3b shows the gamma scan
results from Figure 3a with the liq-
uid retention scale added. Note that
the density of the dry packing is 160
kg/m3 and the top of the bed has
a density essentially equal to this.
However, the tower was operat-
ing and there was liquid travelling
down through the packing. Where
is the additional density from the
retained liquid? The overall density
at the top of the packing should be
the combination of retained liquid
and packing density. Since the scan
results show the overall density to
be nearly equal to the dry packing,
either there was no liquid (obvi-
ously not the case) or packing was
missing. This was a bed of random
packing. The PackView analysis
provided conclusive evidence that
portions of the packing were miss-
ing. The high density in the bot-
tom of the bed was likely crushed
packing retaining an excess of liq-
uid. Eventually, entry into the tower
confirmed these results.
PackView Example 2
Figure 4a shows the gamma scan
results from a crude vacuum tower
(the fourth scanline was not per-
formed due to limited access). One
of the biggest problems with crude
vacuum tower operation is manag-
ing the coking (fouling) of the wash
bed. In this example, plant staff sus-
pected the wash bed had coked up
so the gamma scan was carried out
to assess the situation. As shown in
the tower diagram on the right side
of Figure 4a, this wash bed consisted
of two different types of packing.
The top section was typical struc-
tured packing while the bottom sec-
tion was grid packing. The scan
results showed the bottom section
to be very dense, as the radiation
intensity was less than five counts,
essentially background (no radiation
PTQ Q2 2018 71
13/03/2018 10:46
 Figure 4 (A) Initial gamma scan results of crude vacuum column showing bed placements and high density (very low radiation
intensity) through the wash bed grid (B) Gamma scan results, enhanced with liquid retention scale, showing wash bed grid either
completely coked or flooding with retained liquid. Excess liquid backing up into wash bed packing

passing through the tower). Based results from Figure 4a with the liq- the grid was coked and/or flooding.
on this result, the diagnosis was that uid retention scale added. The dry Therefore, the scan radiation source
the grid section was coked and/or density of the grid packing was 255 used on this tower was more than
flooding with liquid, but plant man- kg/m3. The density of the process adequate. The advanced analysis
agement was not convinced. Grid material inside the grid packing, proved that if this wash bed had not
packing is dense so a question was based on the scan results, was cal- been fouled with coke and flooding
asked concerning whether the radi- culated to be approximately 300 kg/ there should have been 30-50 counts
ation source was too small. In other m3. Grid packing is very open pack- passing through the tower, rather
words, some radiation would pass ing and the typical liquid rate on a than less than five.
through the packing from using a vacuum wash bed is very low. A An additional computation con-
larger radiation source and then per- typical liquid retention density for firmed this diagnosis. The liquid
haps the tower would not appear to grid packing in this service is 80-100 volume fraction was calculated by
be flooding. kg/m3. The density calculated from dividing the liquid retention den-
Figure 4b shows the gamma scan the scan data was far above this, so sity of 300 kg/m3 by the process
liquid density (800 kg/m3). The
resulting liquid volume fraction was
0.20
0.38. Figure 5 shows typical capac-
0.18 ity curves from studies of packing
0.16 capacities. Note that packings usu-
Liquid fraction hold-up

0.14 ally reach the flood stage with liq-

0.12 uid volume fractions greater than
0.12. Therefore, the grid packing
0.10
far exceeded its maximum useful
0.08
capacity.
0.06
0.04 PackView Example 3
Structured
0.02 Figure 6a shows the gamma scan
Random
0 results of a packed bed in a CO2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 scrubber where the resulting product
Maximum useful capacity, % gas was out of specification on CO2.
The gamma scan showed no major
Figure 5 Typical curves showing maximum capacity for general types of packing as a problems with the scrubber internals
function of liquid hold-up other than the possibility of liquid

72 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 tracerco.indd 4 13/03/2018 10:46

 Figure 6 (A) Initial gamma scan results showing what appears to be liquid maldistribution through non-uniformity of the scanlines through
the bed (B) Gamma scan results, enhanced with liquid retention scale, showing large density differences among the scanlines. One side of
the tower (blue scanline) shows almost dry packing as the liquid retention density is almost the same as the dry packing density
maldistribution. The typical quali-
tative evaluation appeared to show
there was a problem in the bed of
packing. The four scanlines did not
match each other very well, indicat-
ing that the overall density between
the four sets of data were different
from each other. The radiation inten-
sity counts varied from 1800-3600
as read from the horizontal scale of
Figure 6a. But what was the severity
of the liquid maldistribution? The
radiation intensity or counts gave
no perspective or evaluation of the
actual liquid distribution quality.
Figure 6b shows the same gamma
scan results from Figure 6a with
the liquid retention density scale
added. The dry packing density is
115 kg/m3. The PackView analysis
showed the liquid retention ranged
from 10-130 kg/m3. In terms of liq-
uid density across a bed of packing,
this was a large density differ-
ence. Reinforcing the liquid mald-
istribution diagnosis was the fact
that one scanline (the blue data
curve in Figure 6b) had almost the
same overall density as dry pack-
ing alone. Thus, this scanline was
nearly dry or there was very lit-
tle liquid on that side of the scrub-
ber. Furthermore, the liquid volume
www.eptq.com
q2 tracerco.indd 5
fraction calculated, based on a pro-
cess liquid density of 800 kg/m3,
ranged from 0.01 (very low liquid
fraction) to 0.16 (bordering on flood-
ing). Thus the advanced analysis
conclusively proved that the bed
of packing was suffering from very
poor liquid distribution.
Figure 7 shows general guidelines
for the magnitude of liquid reten-
tion density differences seen across
packed beds from gamma scans and
the relative quality of liquid distri-
bution. Please note that these are
30 kg/m3 (2 lb/ft3)
Good liquid distribution
∆ = 0−30 kg/m3 (0−2 lb/ft3)
Fair liquid distribution
∆ = 30−80 kg/m3 (2−5 lb/ft3)
Poor liquid distribution
∆ => 80 kg/m3 (>5 lb/ft3)
(worrisome)
80 kg/m3 (5 lb/ft3)
Figure 7 General guidelines for evaluating
liquid distribution quality based on gamma
scan results using the advanced analytics
of the liquid retention scale
only general guidelines and may
differ based on the specific service
the tower performs and the overall
liquid operating rate.
Conclusions
• Using PackView advanced anal-
ysis, gamma scan data is able to
measure (quantify) liquid maldis-
tribution through a packed bed in
terms of liquid density.
• The liquid retention in packing
can be measured from gamma scans,
indicating excess liquid hold-up
caused by fouling or flooding.
• If the actual liquid density is
known, a simple calculation can
determine the % liquid fraction, a
measure of the maximum useful
capacity of the packing.
PackView™ is a trademark of Tracerco.
Lowell Pless is Business Development
Manager - Distillation Applications with
Tracerco, located in Pasadena (Houston),
Texas. He has been applying radioisotope
techniques in process troubleshooting for
30 years, originally with Tru-Tec Services
(acquired by Tracerco in 2006). 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,
and participates on the Design and Practices
committee for Fractionation Research (FRI).
PTQ Q2 2018 73
13/03/2018 10:46
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jonell.indd 1 09/03/2017 12:22

 Dividing wall columns for gas plants
Uniting two unit offerings into one column shell can lead refiners to improve the
profitability of their gas plants
MANISH BHARGAVA, ROOMI KALITA and DAVID KOCKLER
GTC Technology
D
ividing wall column (DWC)
technology provides refiners
with a unique way of improv-
ing the efficiency and profitability
of traditional refining techniques.
This technology, which has been in
use since the 1940s, can be modi-
fied for various applications ranging
from naphtha/reformate splitters
to gas plants, and can even be used
to transform established technolo-
gies like isomerisation and naphtha
hydrotreating.
In this article, we discuss the dis-
tinct advantages that DWCs can
offer to improve and modify tradi-
tional gas plant process schemes,
with emphasis on top DWCs. DWCs
are often characterised by the pres-
ence of a vertical wall in a regular
distillation column. When the dis-
tinctive wall is present at the top
of the column, the column can be
referred to as a top DWC.
Top DWCs offer a host of advan-
tages, especially in gas plants
which are generally operated at
high pressures. Unlike a conven-
tional distillation column, the top
of these columns is segregated
into two separation zones within
the same shell with no intermixing
between the two zones. As a result,
they can be operated in separate
modes and basically behave as two
independent columns. Absorption
and distillation can be carried out
in a single column. This principle
forms the basis of uniting two unit
operations into a single column
shell known as the GTC Uniting
Wall Column (GT-UWC).
The concept of top DWCs can also
be implemented in a reformer unit
gas plant and an FCC unit gas plant,
wherein two or more columns oper-
www.eptq.com
q2 gtc.indd 1
Off gas
(C1−C4, heavies)
Fuel gas (C1, C2)
LPG
(C3)
C4,
heavies
Deethaniser Depropaniser
Figure 1 Conventional LPG recovery unit
ate in a sequence and under similar
operating pressures and temper-
atures. The DWC will potentially
combine the operation of two or
more columns, thereby minimising
both capital and energy consump-
tion of the whole sequence.
Uniting wall columns in LPG
recovery from off-gas
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
recovery units are an integral part
of any refinery. In general, in an
LPG unit two or more columns
remove the C1-C2 components along
with other non-condensable gases,
while concentrating the C3-C4 com-
ponents to generate LPG. Figure 1
shows a standard design consist-
ing of a deethaniser column fol-
lowed by a depropaniser column.
The deethaniser column operates at
a high pressure, wherein the C1-C2
components are removed as the
top product. The C3 rich (or C3-C4)
stream is removed in the next col-
umn. The recovery of LPG in this
design is generally poor due to the
high operating pressures and pro-
pane losses in the off-gas. In some
processes, these losses are mitigated
by using refrigeration in the over-
head system. This increases the cap-
ital cost of the process.
These problems can be recti-
fied by using a top DWC. Doing so
allows the top section of the column
to be operated under two differ-
ent unit operations: absorption and
distillation. The section of the col-
umn where the feed enters operates
under reboiler absorption. The other
section of the column separates a
light liquid product and a heavy
bottom product using regular distil-
lation. This arrangement offers the
following advantages.
First, use of absorption allows the
column to be operated at a lower
pressure. The absorbing solvent
captures the valuable C3-C4 com-
ponents in the off-gas and moves
them towards the bottom of the col-
umn. These components are then
concentrated on the other side of
the DWC using distillation. For
feeds which contain a good amount
of C5 and heavier components, a
portion of the heavy bottom prod-
uct can be used as the absorption
medium (see Figure 2a). Using the
bottoms is highly beneficial when
the feed contains at least 10 wt% of
C5s. Table 1 shows a sample GT-LPG
Max feed.1 If the C5 concentration in
the feed is low, the bottoms solvent
can be supplemented by an addi-
tional heavy oil solvent from nearby
processes.
A water-cooled partial condensa-
tion is used in the off-gas side of the
column. This is highly economical
compared to using refrigeration to
mitigate C3-C4 losses.
PTQ Q2 2018 75
09/03/2018 17:42
 a Sample feed composition for GT-UWC
Off-gas

Product class Feed composition Product specifications

Components wt%
Fuel gas Hydrogen 0.0 Minimise propane
Top liquid Methane 0.3
product Ethylene 0.0
Feed Ethane 3.0
H2S 0.5
CO2 0.0
LPG product Propene 0.1 Propane >90.0 wt%
Propane 11.7 Ethane <1.0 wt%
i-C4 product I-Butane 8.3 Propane <3.0 wt%
n-C4 <4.0 wt%
Bottoms
Bottoms product is product n-C4 product n-Butane 19.6 i-C5 <3.0 wt%
the absorbing medium
i-C4 <5.3 wt%
Debutaniser bottoms C5 and heavier 56.6
b
Table 1

Projected economics of GT-UWC

Variables Conventional design GT-LPG Max design

Deethaniser Depropaniser
Operating pressure, MPaG 3.1 2.1 2.1
Reboiler duty, MMKcal/hr 2.0 3.5 5.0
Propane recovery, % 55.0 97.0

Table 2

Uniting wall columns in reformer
unit gas plants
A typical reformer unit gas plant
Figure 2(a) GT-UWC process scheme usually has a depentaniser column,
scheme; (b) Inside view of a uniting wall followed by a debutaniser and a
column deethaniser. In Figure 3, the depen-
taniser column removes the C5- cut
Additionally, this DWC design from the reformer bottoms as the
sees a reduction in energy consump- top product. C6 and heavier cuts are
tion by about 10-30% compared removed as the bottom product. In
to traditional columns with better the next column, the C5s are con-
product recoveries (see Table 2). centrated in the bottom of the col-
Fuel gas
Feed from
reformer
Debutaniser Deethaniser
Depentaniser
C5 cut LPG
C6+ to
reformate splitter
b
Figure 3 Conventional reformer unit gas plant configuration
umn. The C4 and lighter cut is then
processed in a deethaniser column,
which removes an LPG cut at the
bottom.
The three columns in this
sequence operate at high pres-
sures. Additionally, the debutan-
iser and deethaniser columns see
partial overhead condensation.
Due to these, a major portion of the
LPG components (C3-C4) end up
in the off-gas. These components
can be recovered by use of a DWC
configuration.
As Figure 4 shows, the operation
of the deethaniser can be squeezed
into the bigger depentaniser col-
umn by means of a dividing wall.
The column has two distinct zones
within: a pre-fractionation zone
and a main fractionation zone. The
pre-fractionation zone sees a com-
bination of absorption and distil-
lation. The lights are separated on
this side as the off-gas, with the
absorption medium reducing the
liquid losses. On the main fraction-
ation side, the C5 and lighter com-
ponents are removed as the other
top product. Similar to a GT-UWC
design, a portion of the heavy

76 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 gtc.indd 2 09/03/2018 17:42

 CRIRN-0087_2018_Hydrocarbon_Engineering_Ad.pdf 1 2/22/18 4:39 PM

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cri.indd 1 25/02/2018 15:09

 bottoms (mainly C6-C7) is used as an
absorption medium. The GT-UWC
Fuel gas
depentaniser column is operated at
a lower pressure compared to the
conventional column.
Since the majority of the lighter
LPG components is removed in the first
Feed from column, the subsequent debutan-
reformer iser column operates with a total
overhead condenser. This column
Debutaniser removes the LPG cut and the C4 cut.
GT-DWG Table 3 compares the performance
Depentaniser
of the two configurations. For the
same heating duties, the DWC con-
C5 cut figuration generates better prod-
uct recovery while minimising the
C6+ to reformate splitter amount of equipment needed. The
DWC configuration has a lower
b total installed cost over the conven-
Figure 4 Reformer gas plant configuration with GT-UWC technology tional configuration.

Performance of GT-DWC vs conventional design Uniting wall columns in FCC unit

gas plants
Parameters Conventional design GT-DWC design
Figure 5 shows a traditional FCC unit
Columns Depentaniser Debutaniser Deethaniser Depentaniser Debutaniser gas plant. The process scheme pri-
No. of trays 40 33 27 40 40 marily consists of absorber/strip-
Operating pressure, MPaG 0.9 1.1 3.1 0.5 1.1 per columns, where the gases and
Total heating duty, MMkcal/hr 37.1 2.2 0.5 29.0 2.7
Total installed cost, MMUSD 10.7 8.5
the liquid in the feed are separated.
Feed, tonnes/hr 386.8 386.8 Unstabilised naphtha (supplemented
C6+ cut, tonnes/hr 365.5 365.5 with a portion of stabilised naphtha
C5- cut, tonnes/hr 8.1 8.2 bottoms) prevents C3-C4 losses from
Off-gas, tonnes/hr 5.8 1.7
LPG, tonnes/hr 7.4 11.4
the absorber column. The remain-
ing C3-C4 is stripped using lean oil
in the sponge absorber column. Sour
Table 3 fuel gas and rich oil are removed at
the top and bottom respectively. The
liquid product from the stripper col-
Stabilised naphtha umn is processed in a debutaniser
recirculaion Sour fuel gas column. Sour LPG is extracted as the
Lean top product, while stabilised naph-
Unstabilised oil Sponge tha is recovered at the bottom.
naphtha absorber The conventional design consists
of three stages for the separation:
Absorber the absorbing and stripping sec-
Rich oil
tion followed by distillation in the
Sour LPG main debutaniser column. Using
Compressed GT-UWC technology, the three
feed gas
stages can be integrated into a sin-
gle column (see Figure 6).
Due to the segregation of the top
Absorber/stripper halves, the two sides of the column
feed drum behave as individual columns with
Stripper Debutaniser independent overhead systems and
controls. The parallel zones pro-
vide similar stages for separation
in a single column. A portion of the
Stabilised bottoms product is circulated as the
naphtha product absorption medium in the section
where the feed enters. This opera-
tion is similar to that of the absorber
Figure
b 5 Typical FCC unit gas plant configuration in the conventional design. The liq-

78 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

q2 gtc.indd 3 09/03/2018 17:42

 uid portion of the feed enters below
the absorption section. The C3-C4 Sour fuel gas
components move down the wall
Lean oil
aided by absorption. Once across Sponge
absorber
the wall, these components are con-
centrated as the top product by rec-
tification and stripping. Stabilised Rich oil
naphtha is removed as the bottom Sour LPG
product. Table 4 shows a compari-
son between the two designs.
Unstabilised
naphtha
Conclusion Compressed Absorber
Gas plants are a vital component of feed gas
any refinery. These columns have
Stripper
always been operated using well-es-
Debutaniser
tablished distillation techniques. Absorber/stripper
feed drum
However, using the UWC concept
can generate a leaner and more
Stabilised
efficient system. DWCs not only naphtha product
lower the equipment count (col-
umns, pumps, and reboilers); they
also lower the energy consumption Figure 6 FCC unit gas plant configuration with GT-UWC design
of any configuration. Occasionally,
they can even provide better or new Comparison between conventional design and GT-DWC design
products compared to conventional
columns. Integrating DWCs into Parameters Conventional design GT-UWC design
gas plants could change the way the No. of columns 4 2
refining industry improves the prof- Total heating duty, MMKcal/hr 9.9 7.9
itability of gas plants in the coming Utility savings, % - 20.0
No of columns 4 2
years. Feed rate, tonnes/hr 55.3 55.3
LPG recovery, vol% 85.1 85.1
Reference C4 recovery, vol% 98.8 99.6
1 Bhargava M, Nelson C, Gentry J C,
Siddamshetti V, Improved distillation efficiency,
Hydrocarbon Processing, Jan 2015. Table 4

Roomi Kalita is a Process Engineer/Advanced David Kockler is a Senior Process Manager/

Manish Bhargava is Technical Director/
Advanced Distillation Systems with GTC
Technology US in Houston, Texas. He holds a
master’s in chemical engineering from Illinois
Institute of Technology.
Distillation Systems with GTC Technology US.
She holds a master’s in chemical engineering
from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in
chemical engineering from National Institute
of Technology, Trichy, India.
Advanced Distillation Systems with GTC
Technology US. He holds an MS in chemical
engineering from the University of Virginia
and a BS in chemical engineering from
Northwestern University.

T +49 2961 7405-0

T +44 1234 783366
T +65 6702 3707

ACHEMA
Made
Hall 9.1
Your Specialist for in
Germany
Stand C4
PROCESS SAFETY in the
OIL & GAS INDUSTRY
© REMBE | All rights reserved

worldwide

Consulting. Engineering. Products. Service.

Ltd. Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.

www.rembe.de www.rembe.co.uk www.rembe.sg

q2 gtc.indd 4 09/03/2018 17:42

york.indd 1 08/03/2018 09:58
 Process flow determines coker
heater performance
Uniform tube metal temperature resulting from a change in process flow
enhances the run length of a delayed coker heater
RAHUL C PATIL, PINAKIRANJAN PATRA, AJAY GUPTA, VED PRAKASH MISHRA and ASIT KUMAR DAS
Reliance Industries
A
delayed coker in a petroleum
refinery processes vacuum
residue from the vacuum
distillation unit as feed and ther-
mally cracks it into useful products
including liquid petroleum gas,
naphtha, gasoline, diesel, heavy gas
oil, and petcoke. While it is desir-
able to have the majority of the
cracking and coking taking place
in the coker drum, a small amount
of these reactions occurring inside
the heater tubes is inevitable. The
coke so produced inside the heater
tubes provides additional resist-
ance to heat transfer between the
flue gas and the process fluid. Since
the coil outlet temperature (COT)
is to be kept constant, one may end
up by firing more fuel to achieve
the desired COT, thereby increas-
ing the tube skin temperature or
tube metal temperature (TMT) due
to the additional resistance offered
by coke. Coke depositing on heater
tubes thus usually limits the run
length by limiting the TMT which a
heater tube can be allowed to expe-
rience in view of its metallurgy. For
example, if the TMT at start of run
(SOR) conditions is 550°C and the
maximum allowable TMT is 650°C
(generally governed by its metal-
lurgy), for a rate of 2°C/day rise in
TMT, the heater would run for 50
days. Therefore, it is desirable to
restrict the rate of the TMT increase
to a low value, which as such is a
function of the rate of increase in
the thickness of coke deposits. Once
the limiting value of the TMT is
reached, coke needs to be removed
from the inner surface of the tubes,
which normally would require
downtime and consequent produc-
tion loss. Coke is removed from the
www.eptq.com
Q2 RELIANCE.indd 1
Flue gases
VR inlet
Convection
section
Radiant
section
VR outlet
Burners
Air and fuel
Figure 1 Schematic of delayed coker heater
tubes by two processes: by utilising
the difference in thermal expansion
coefficient between coke and tube
by applying sudden temperature
variations (spalling); or by physi-
cal scraping of coke from the tube
with the help of a moving pig (pig-
ging). The typical time required for
spalling and pigging is 1-1.5 days
and 3-5 days, respectively. During
this period, the throughput of the
coker unit is reduced, which results
in a loss in production. Further, the
tubes are subjected to a harsh envi-
ronment in both removal methods,
and the frequency of coke cleaning
eventually determines the life of the
heater tubes. Thus it is desirable to
increase the run length of the coker
heater so as to increase the produc-
tivity of the delayed coker unit as
well as the life of the coker heater
tubes.
A coker heater (see Figure 1) con-
sists of horizontal tubes where feed
conventionally enters from the con-
vection section to the radiant section
of the heater (a down-flow config-
uration). The outlet temperature of
the heater, the COT, is measured at
the radiant section outlet. The burn-
ers are normally floor mounted at
the bottom of the radiant section of
the heater where they fire fuel with
air. The radiative heat from the
combustion of fuel gas in the radi-
ant section is transferred to vac-
uum residue from the convection
section. The remaining heat from
the combustion gases is transferred
to preheat vacuum residue in the
convection section. In the process,
vacuum residue cracks into lighter
components. As pressure reduces
in the heater tubes, the lighter com-
ponents, typically from C1 to light
naphtha, evaporate to form two
phase flow in the heater. Along with
cracking, asphaltenes in the vac-
uum residue contribute to the cok-
ing phenomena, and part of this
coke deposits on the heater tubes
to increase the TMT as time pro-
gresses. Besides feed characteristics
such as asphaltenes, saturates, and
residence time, coking inside the
coker heater is a very strong func-
tion of the temperature it reaches
in the tubes throughout the radi-
ant section of the heater. Various
measures are taken when designing
the heat exchanger to eliminate or
reduce the possibilities of localised
peak temperatures.
PTQ Q2 2018 81
09/03/2018 17:43

Single-fired tube
Peak heat flux 1.8× average heat flux
Refractory
Tube
Double-fired tube
Peak heat flux 1.15–1.20× average heat flux
Refractory
Tube
Burner
Figure 2 Single fired and dual fired coker heater
Design considerations for a
coker heater
Owing to the very strong depend-
ence of coking reactions on temper-
ature, it is particularly important
to provide a uniform temperature
profile along the length of the tube.
Non-uniform coking is caused by an
irregular temperature profile expe-
rienced by the process fluid. Proper
burner placement along the tube
ensures a uniform temperature pro-
file along the length of the tube.
The other important factor which
is considered in the latest designs
of coker heater is uniform tempera-
ture distribution across the diame-
ter of the tube. In earlier designs of
coker heater, the burners are placed
at the centre of the heater, with tubes
placed horizontally along the wall.
This arrangement of burner and
tubes, termed a single fired coker
heater, causes the half of the tube
facing a burner flame to experience
higher temperatures compared to
the other half which faces refractory
at a lower temperature. This results
in a non-uniform temperature pro-
file across the circumference of the
tubes. Newer designs provide tubes
at the centre of the heater facing
flames from burners placed symmet-
rically on two sides of the tube. This
82 PTQ Q2 2018
Q2 RELIANCE.indd 2
from Golden & Barletta) of a single
fired and dual fired coker heater are
shown in Figure 2. While for a con-
ventional single fired coker heater
with an uneven temperature pro-
file around the tube circumference,
the peak heat flux is 1.8 times that of
Tube the average heat flux, for a dual fired
coker heater this peak flux is only
1.15-1.2 times that of the average
heat flux, thus offering a more even
temperature profile around the cir-
Burner
cumference of the tube. These design
changes have not only resulted in
uniform circumferential TMTs but
have enabled an increase in average
Refractory heat flux value by as much as 50%
for the same peak heat flux.
Strategies to improve the run
length of a coker heater
Once the above provisions are made,
a simple approach to increase the
Burner
run length of the coker heater is
to offload the radiant section by
shifting its heat load to the con-
vection section or redistributing
arrangement of burners and tubes, its heat load locally to reduce non-
termed a dual fired coker heater, uniformity in the temperature expe-
causes both sides of the tube to expe- rienced by vacuum reside inside the
rience the same temperature, unlike radiant zone tubes. In a conventional
the single fired coker heater arrange- delayed coker heater, the process
ment. The schematics (adopted fluid flows from top to bottom. Here,
high fluid temperature inside the
tubes meets high temperature flue
gas from outside. This causes higher
Radiant film formation as well as TMTs at
inlet
which cracking and coking takes
Radiant place. Ultimately, these tubes in the
outlet bottom section of the heater limit
the run length of the coker heater.
The temperature at which coking
takes place can be reduced either by
changing the process side temper-
atures (by varying the direction of
the process fluid) or by changing the
flue gas temperature in the fire box
(using more excess air) or by varying
the emissivity of the tubes (by var-
ying the emissivity coating) so as to
make it more uniform.
Radiant One way to evenly distribute the
outlet
heat load across the radiant zone is
Radiant to apply emissivity coatings to the
A inlet outer surfaces of the tubes. The coat-
Downflow
ings are applied in such a way that
B the tubes with high fluid temper-
Upflow ature in the bottom (the high tem-
perature region) are covered with
Figure 3 Coker heater configurations: a low emissivity coating so as to
(A) downflow (B) upflow absorb less heat, and the tubes with
www.eptq.com
13/03/2018 10:46
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 low fluid temperature in the top
low-temperature region are smeared
with a high emissivity coating so as
to absorb more heat. Because of these
different emissivity coatings, the
heating rate experienced by hot fluid
reduces and that experienced by
cold fluid increases, which causes a
more uniform cracking temperature.
Such coatings have also been used to
make the heating rate uniform across
the circumference of the tube in a
single fired heater.
In a new configuration of coker
heater with respect to the flow of
process fluid, termed upflow con-
figuration (see Figure 3b), vacuum
residue enters the radiant section
from the bottom and exits at the top
of the radiant section. This means
that fluid at a lower temperature
has a higher heating rate and fluid
at a higher temperature has a lower
heating rate compared to conven-
tional heaters, leading to a more
uniform cracking temperature. This
design claims to give improved
coker heater performance by migra-
tion of the hottest part of the pro-
cess fluid to the upper portion with
a lower heating rate, resulting in
lower TMTs, reduced coking rates
and higher run length.
This article attempts to study the
effects of change in process flow
direction on heat transfer distribu-
tion in the radiant and convection
sections of a delayed coker heater.
This was determined by applying a
heater model employing commercial
as well as newly developed tools.
Coker heater modelling and
simulation
A heater model which takes into
account both process side heat
transfer and combustion side heat
transfer is not available for predict-
ing the performance of a delayed
coker heater. Thus, this study was
carried out by dividing the model
into three parts: a heater model, a
cracking model and a coking model.
A heater model for evaluating
the performance of box heaters
with dual side firing was utilised.
It accounts for both convective as
well as radiative heat transfer in
the heater. The model is used to
mimic the flue gas side heat trans-
fer in actual plant operation. Lobo
and Evans have presented a general
and simple theoretical treatment
of the radiant section in a heater
to correlate various variables and
their effect on its performance. The
calculations to determine the radi-
ative and convective heat transfer
in a heater is carried out by using
commercial software which uti-
lises more rigorous heater models to
determine localised heat fluxes.
On the process side, vaporisation
and molar expansion due to crack-
ing were computed using a com-
mercial simulator which employs
a kinetic model having five feed
and product lumps to predict the
yield pattern and properties of liq-
uid and gas products at the outlet
of the heater. Here, the feed is char-
acterised by its distillation curve,
asphaltenes, density, and so on. The
model breaks the feed into stand-
ard feed cuts, and applies calculated
values for conversion and severity
to determine product yields. The

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84 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

Q2 RELIANCE.indd 3 09/03/2018 17:44

 tuning parameters of the cracking
model have been calibrated for the 1.0
base case to match the outlet stream Plant

Rate of temperature rise

Model
bulk properties like liquid API and
mass vaporisation. 0.5
The cracking model furnished the
information on tube velocity pro-
0
files in the heater. Having obtained
the required inputs, coke deposi-
tion on the tubes was computed
−0.5
using a model developed in-house
and validated with plant data.
Simplified coke formation kinet- −1.0
ics were used wherein the rate of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
coke formation was considered Day
to be a first order reaction (see
1.0
Equation 1): R2 = 0.8286

!"
= kC! (1) 0.5
!"

where CA is asphaltene
Model

concentration.
The reactions were considered to
occur inside the fluid film at an aver-
age temperature of the fluid film
and the bulk fluid. The oil film tem-
perature and TMT were estimated
based on API 530 calculations. Heat
flux required for determination of
the fluid film temperature (FFT)
and TMT were taken from the com-
bustion side simulations. The heat
transfer coefficient (HTC) required
for the calculation of the oil film
temperature can either be calculated
from API 530 or estimated from the
thermal cracking simulations.
Each heater tube was further
divided into ‘n’ number of parts
and solved for mass conservation in
each of these parts by the finite dif-
ference method. Properties like liq-
uid viscosity, liquid density, vapour
viscosity, vapour density and bulk
velocity, required for the calcula-
tion of the film velocity and film
thickness, were estimated from the
thermal cracking simulations. A
calibration factor was also intro-
duced in the model to quantify the
0
−0.5
−1.0
−1.0
Figure 4 Coking model: plant values vs model predictions for TMTs
one of the delayed coker units in
the refineries. TMT profiles pre-
dicted from the model matched the
plant data very well. The coefficient
of determination (R2) observed
between the model and the plant
data was around 83%. The rise and
fall seen in Figure 4 is because of the
actual variations occurring in the
plant with respect to feed flow, radi-
ant heat flux, and so on. As is evi-
1.70
1.60
Bottom
1.50
1.40
Heat flux ratio
−0.5 0 0.5 1.0
Plant
dent from the figure, the model was
able to accurately take into account
all these changes and predict the
TMT rise rate.
From the above analysis of dif-
ferent models, it is apparent that
the coking model with a commer-
cial heater and cracking model
can be used effectively to predict
the run length of a delayed coker
heater. The different configurations
0.78, 1.61
Upflow
Downflow
IN

1.00, 1.30
1.30
amount of coke depositing inside Bottom
1.20 OUT
the heater tubes from the total 1.10
amount of coke formed. The reac- 1.00
tion kinetic parameters were tuned 0.90 0.77, 0.84
to match the actual operating data. Top
0.80 Top OUT
If the maximum design limit of the 0.70 IN
1.00, 1.72
heater tube metallurgy is known, 0.60
run length can be predicted for var- 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00
ious scenarios from a coking model. Bulk temperature, non-dimensional
The model was tuned to match
actual plant operations data from Figure 5 Heat flux ratio vs bulk temperature ratio in down- and upflow configurations

www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 85

Q2 RELIANCE.indd 4 09/03/2018 17:44

 film temperature will eventually
Bottom
lead to lower TMTs. It should be
Upflow
OUT noted that the heat flux range in an
1.00 Downflow
1.00 upflow configuration has increased
Top compared to that in a downflow
OUT
0.95 configuration. But this increased
0.95
0.91 range results in more uniformity
TMT/Tmax SOR

0.90 of temperatures along the height

Bottom
IN
0.85
0.80
0.75
Furnace height
Figure 6 TMT profile in down- and upflow configuration at SOR
of flow in a coker heater explained
in the previous section were stud-
ied utilising the model. It should be
noted that the run length determi-
nation for different configurations
is carried out for fixed operating
conditions: fixed feed flow, inlet
temperature, outlet temperature,
and asphaltene content of the feed.
Downflow vs upflow configuration
Figure 5 shows the variation in heat
flux across the tubes for both down-
flow and upflow configurations in
the radiant section. The ratio of the
heat flux of an individual tube to
the average heat flux in a down-
flow configuration versus the non-
dimensional bulk temperature (ratio
of bulk temperature in tube to the
COT of the heater) is depicted in the
figure.
In a downflow configuration,
1.00
0.95
TMT/TMTEOR
1.80
Top
IN
the flux is highest at the exit of
the heater and lowest at the inlet,
whereas when the process fluid
flow is reversed, as in an upflow
configuration, the opposite occurs,
with the tubes at the exit experienc-
ing the lowest heat flux. The maxi-
mum heat flux ratio experienced
by tubes having vacuum residue at
a higher temperature is reduced by
~85% in an upflow configuration.
On the other hand, the heat flux
ratio experienced by tubes con-
taining vacuum residue at a lower
temperature is increased by almost
100% in the upflow configuration,
compared to the downflow config-
uration. The process fluid with the
highest temperature realising the
lowest heat flux in an upflow con-
figuration will have a lower film
temperature compared to a down-
flow configuration. The lower
1.00 1.00
of the radiant section. The same is
explained subsequently in terms of
resultant TMT profiles arising from
the heat flux profiles.
Figure 6 compares TMT for both
configurations at SOR. TMT is rep-
resented in this figure, relative to
the highest TMT in a downflow con-
figuration to present the compari-
son more clearly with respect to a
downflow configuration. The TMT
at SOR for an upflow configuration
at the bottom tube is lower and at
the top tube it increases compared
to a downflow configuration. This
makes the TMT profile flat in an
upflow configuration compared to
a downflow configuration. It should
be noted that, in the upflow con-
figuration, TMTs are higher in the
majority of tubes compared to the
downflow configuration.
The flat film and TMT profile as
well as lower TMT at SOR in an
upflow configuration results in a
slower rise in TMT. The rise rate
of maximum TMT along the run
length of the heater is shown in
Figure 7. The TMT is presented with
respect to end of run (EOR) TMT
which is the limiting TMT of metal-
lurgy. The lower film temperature
results in a lower coking rate and
subsequently lower coke thickness.
This results in more run length for
the upflow configuration compared
to the down-flow configuration. The
same is reflected in the TMT profile,
where the rise in TMT is slower in
an upflow configuration compared
to a downflow configuration. Table
1 shows the prediction of an inte-

0.90
grated model for upflow configura-
tion in terms of percentage change
0.85 from a downflow configuration for
various parameters.
0.82
0.80 The estimated average radiant
Upflow heat flux for an upflow configura-
0.78 Downflow tion is greater than for a downflow
0.75 configuration by 4.79%. Better distri-
Run length
bution of heat in the radiant section
improves the heat input to the feed.
Figure 7 Rate of temperature rise to maximum TMT in down- and upflow configurations This results in a higher average heat

86 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

Q2 RELIANCE.indd 5 09/03/2018 17:44

 flux and is reflected in 30% more vaporisation and lower
Model prediction for upflow configuration
residence time in the heater for an upflow configuration.
As is evident in increased vaporisation and cracking,
an upflow configuration gives a higher exit tube veloc- Parameters (% change w.r.t. downflow configuration) Upflow
Average radiant flux +4.8
ity than the conventional downflow scheme. Since HTC Residence time (Rad) -6.8
is directly proportional to velocity, the higher the veloc- Mass vaporisation +30.2
ity, the higher the HTC. This enhanced HTC and lower Av. velocity (last tube) +19.1
heating rate lowers the oil film temperature by 2.6% in Film temperature (last tube) -2.6
Run length +61.6
an upflow configuration.
Overall, a reduction in film temperature and lower
residence time in the tube have resulted in an increase Table 1
in the run length of the coker heater by 61.6% due to
a reversal in the direction of flow of feed. It should be and Technology centre, Mumbai. His areas of expertise include
noted that the increase or decrease is with respect to computational fluid dynamics, reactor design and scale-up, and mixing
the base case in the heater considered in this study. The systems. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from REC,
numbers would vary on a case by case basis. Tiruchirapalli and master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering
from ICT, Mumbai.
Asit K Das is Vice President and heads Refining R&D with Reliance
Conclusion
Industries Ltd., Jamnagar. He has vast experience in developing petroleum
An upflow configuration will help to improve delayed refining processes including modelling and simulation, pilot plant studies
coker heater performance by introducing feedstock to and scale-up. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from
the lower section of the heater, through the process coil, Jadhavpur University, West Bengal, India, a master’s degree in chemical
to the outlet located in the upper portion of the radiant engineering from IIT, Kanpur, India and a doctoral degree in chemical
zone. The benefits of such a configuration will include engineering from Ghent University, Belgium.
enhanced vaporisation, as well as migration of the hot-
test part of the process fluid to the upper portion with
lower heat flux, resulting in lower TMTs, reduced coking
rates and achieving a higher run length.

Further reading
1 Adam J, Hughes G C, Coker furnace online on-line spalling – safe, clean,
proven & profitable, AFPM AM, San Diego, California, 11-13 Mar 2012.
2 Gupta A, Patil R C, Mishra V P, Das A K, Hydrocarbon Processing, 2013,
92, 101.
3 Catala K A, Karrs M S, Seili G, Faegh A A, Hydrocarbon Processing, 2009,
87, 45.
4 Melton M S, US 5078857, 1992.
5 Golden S W, Barletta T, PTQ, 2006, 11, 105.
6 Zhu N, US 6626663, 2003, Fosbal Intellectual AG.
7 Gibson W C, Gibson R L, Eischen J T, US 6241855 B1, 2001, Petro-
Chem Development Co. Inc.
8 Lobo W E, Evans J E, Trans. Am. Inst. Chem. Engrs., 1939, 35, 748.
9 Bhirud V L, US 9359555B2, 2016, SBT Technology Inc.

Rahul C Patil is Lead Research Scientist in the Refining R&D division of

Reliance Industries Limited, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He has 10
years of experience in debottlenecking, applications of computational
fluid dynamics, process modelling and optimisation in refinery and  PRESSURE VESSELS,
petrochemical units. He hold a MTech in chemical engineering from IIT HEAT EXCHANGERS
Kanpur and BChem Eng. in chemical engineering from ICT Mumbai.
• Waste Heat Recovery Systems
Pinakiranjan Patra is a Senior Technologist (Gasification) in the Centre • Transfer Line Exchangers
Of Excellence (CoE) department of Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai. • Scraped Surface Exchangers
He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and has more
than 11 years of experience in process engineering, plant operations,
modelling and simulations.  MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY
Ajay Gupta is Assistant Vice President and currently heads the fixed bed
• Emission Control Units
process development group of Refining R&D with Reliance Industries • Product Recovery Units
Ltd., Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. His experience includes modelling and • Gas Separation
simulation of chemical processes, implementation of advanced process • Liquid Separation
control strategies and development of reactor models for various
chemical processes. He holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees
in chemical engineering from IIT, Delhi, India.
www.borsig.de
V P Mishra is Assistant Vice President and currently heads the
Reaction Engineering and CFD Modelling group with Reliance Research
BORSIG GmbH
Phone: +49 (0)30 4301-01
E-mail: info@borsig.de
www.eptq.com

Q2 RELIANCE.indd 6 09/03/2018 17:44

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 Innovation in supply chain planning
Software that can be configured to solve any problem in the supply chain is
critical to planning in the oil and gas industry
DENNIS OSTENDORF
Quintiq
T
he oil and gas industry expe-
rienced the most severe
downturn in recent his-
tory with the price of oil declin-
ing by 75% from mid-2014 to early
2016, throwing oil and gas compa-
nies into a state of survival. Many
resorted to cost cutting measures
such as drastic reductions in their
workforce, cancellation or post-
ponement of new projects, and
reduced investments in large scale
capital projects.
Today, companies are cautiously
optimistic as the industry contin-
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still far below the pre-downturn
peak of $115/bbl (March 2011),
they are slowly but surely stabilis-
ing. An unprecedented agreement
between OPEC and non-OPEC
nations to reduce production and
tighten imbalances in supply and
demand have contributed to this
positive outlook. Additionally,
global energy demand is expected
to rise by a third over the next two
decades, while the shale revolu-
tion and advances in oil recovery
technology are expected to provide
an abundant supply to meet that
demand.
While the downturn was dev-
astating, it has led to an increased
focus on exercising capital and
operational cost discipline.
Efficiency improvement was
emphasised, resulting in projects
with break-even prices as low as
$25/bbl, as claimed by Statoil for
its flagship oil project in the North
Sea. This is a level that would
have been unthinkable prior to the
downturn and signals the possibil-
ity of even lower break-even prices
as planning processes continue to
www.eptq.com
q2 qnitiq.indd 1
improve. A move towards sustain-
able profitability is the new norm,
with many companies looking to
achieve optimal profits while reduc-
ing expenditure.
Why innovate?
While the worst has passed for
now, the crisis is far from over. It
will take years for the industry to
recover, and companies that invest
in innovation to reduce costs and
increase their profit margins will
be the ones to come out of the cri-
sis stronger than before. Shell’s
takeover of BG Group is a prime
In the current oil
and gas climate,
innovating can
mean the difference
between surviving
the crisis and falling
even further behind
example of a post-downturn invest-
ment in innovation. This mega-
merger grants Shell extensive
access to LNG assets and acceler-
ates its global LNG and deep water
strategies, enabling the company
to adapt and thrive in a changing
energy landscape.
Oil and gas companies can also
look beyond the industry for inspi-
ration to innovate. Even before the
downturn, innovations in other sec-
tors have benefitted the oil and gas
industry – both directly and indi-
rectly. Advances in manufacturing
and transportation have increased
demand for innovative solutions
in refinery processes to produce
more and better fuels, while break-
throughs in exploration and extrac-
tion have increased the options for
supply. Efficiency improvements
in planning have proven especially
beneficial, particularly for primary
distribution. In 2015, BP reported
record profits on the back of major
efficiency improvements in its
downstream sector, which in turn
partially offset the negative effects
of a weakened environment in its
upstream division. The company
plans to continue streamlining its
downstream operations to deliver
annual cost savings of $1.6 billion
by 2018. With optimised logistics
planning in the downstream sector,
products can be delivered to stor-
age facilities in the right amounts
and the right time, with an empha-
sis on cost effectiveness.
Ideally, innovations to increase
efficiency would be applied before
a crisis happens, enabling com-
panies to be more robust in chal-
lenging conditions. However,
innovation during a crisis can also
help to mitigate its adverse effects.
It is never too late to innovate; in
the current oil and gas climate,
innovating can mean the difference
between surviving the crisis and
falling even further behind.
Three core capabilities of
innovation in planning
The oil and gas industry is
extremely complex – while there
are key concerns that affect all play-
ers, no two companies will have
the exact same planning issues. Oil
and gas companies have historically
PTQ Q2 2018 89
09/03/2018 17:45
 Applications of optimised planning
Planning horizon
Strategic
Long-term decisions that steer a
company’s direction
Tactical
Mid-term decisions that affect the
coming months
Operational
Short-term decisions that affect the
immediate future
Table 1
focused on maximising production,
with many innovations developed
to strive towards that goal. A long
history of economic dominance and
high margins resulted in many com-
panies paying far less attention to
the need to maximise efficiency. In
the current reality, increased effi-
ciency throughout the supply chain
is crucial, and many companies are
now working to find solutions to
weather the recent downturn and
prepare for a challenging future.
There are three core capabilities that
every company needs in an innova-
tive planning solution:
Visibility
What if you could see the oper-
ational efficiency of your fleet a
month in advance? Could you still
make the improvements?
Oil and gas companies operate on
a very large scale, often with oper-
ations spanning different regions
across the globe. Adding complex-
ity to the planning effort is the scale
and scope of their operational envi-
ronments, with diversified business
interests being pursued in separate
regions.
Visibility over these operations
is crucial, but for it to be truly val-
uable it has to result in something
actionable. A key factor in enabling
An oil shipping operation
Total number of vessels 100
Voyages per year 4000
Average vessel size 120 000 barrels/voyage
Average price $52/bbl
Average shipping costs $21 000/vessel /day
Table 2
90 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 qnitiq.indd 2
Examples
Future investments, such as replacing ageing assets vs
upgrading/maintenance, investments into alternate
methods of distribution
Production and distribution, with the aim to avoid
under/overstock and maintain the company’s momentum
(How much to produce of all products and where,
what stock levels to aim for)
Pipeline, logistics and inventory decisions to ensure
activities align with the tactical plan
actionable visibility is the effective
use of existing data to plan for the
future. This includes taking into
account relevant business KPIs that
can still be improved upon, rather
than belatedly trying to rectify past
errors.
The benefit of
innovative planning is
that it incrementally
improves a
company’s existing
strategies and profit
potential
Integration
What if your upstream and down-
stream planning processes are fully
aligned? Could you increase your
margins?
Integration is the next step in
enabling an innovative plan-
ning solution. Once visibility has
been achieved, oil and gas compa-
nies can proceed to planning opti-
mal connections throughout their
organisations from production to
distribution.
Additional profits with reduced shipping costs
Scenario 1
Reduced shipping cost, % -1.0%
Reduced shipping cost, $ $7.67 M per year
Table 3
Previously, planning opera-
tions in isolation was the norm
for departments in the oil and gas
industry. Post-downturn, there
is an increased emphasis on the
importance of integrating the sup-
ply chain – both internally and
with external parties – in order to
improve visibility and efficiency.
Full visibility over operations gives
companies a single source of truth
that all departments can draw
information from. This in turn ena-
bles these departments to cohe-
sively and effectively integrate to
achieve high level goals.
Optimisation
What if you could enhance your
planners’ knowledge and experi-
ence by giving them the support
they need to create not just feasi-
ble plans, but optimised ones? How
much value do you leave on the
table due to suboptimal planning?
The final and most elusive capa-
bility of innovative planning is
optimisation. True optimisation is
the result of visibility and integra-
tion – it cannot be attained with-
out first achieving success in these
capabilities.
True optimisation goes far
beyond forecasting outcomes and
providing decision support based
on existing knowledge. It examines
possible scenarios based on ana-
lysed historical data and uses the
best option as a basis for planning.
It can be applied across all aspects
of planning (see Table 1).
Applying innovation to primary
distribution
Innovation in the oil and gas
industry is not an option but a
necessity. With competition at a
constant high, companies that fail
to take advantage of technologi-
cal advances in planning risk an
extended recovery period and a
Scenario 2 Scenario 3
-2.5% -5.0%
$19.16 M per year $38.33 M per year
www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:45
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 loss of economic dominance. These
companies are also at a higher risk
of being affected by negative mar-
ket conditions.
While the thought of innovation
can seem daunting, the application
of it in planning processes does not
have to mean a huge shift in the
status quo. The benefit of innova-
tive planning is that it incremen-
tally improves a company’s existing
strategies and profit potential. Each
incremental improvement then con-
tributes to a larger, accumulated
positive value.
The reality of planning in the digi-
tal age is that there are so many var-
iables to consider that a company
could be losing money without even
realising it. An example of this is
in vessel utilisation in primary dis-
tribution. Variables include capac-
ity and load of each vessel, sailing
speed in relation to fuel use and age
of chartered vessels. Compromises
are inevitable, but the decision on
which compromises to make and
when can often make the difference
between breaking even and making
a profit.
Here is a simplified example of
the real value that can be obtained
from incremental improvements as
a result of better vessel planning.
An oil shipping operation is out-
lined in Table 2.
Even with small reductions in
shipping costs, the potential addi-
tional profits are significant (see
Table 3).
From these calculations, it can be
seen that a reduction of shipping
costs as a result of better logistics
planning has led to a significant
increase in revenue. Better logistics
planning also enables oil and gas
companies to have better insight
into where to ship and sell their
products to gain the most economic
benefit. However, this capability
requires close integration between
all relevant departments in the
company, which can be challenging
without the right planning solution.
The right planning solution
can also help oil and gas compa-
nies to adapt quickly in an envi-
ronment that is evolving at an
unprecedented pace. The effect of
constant changes – such as new
laws designed to reduce the neg-
92 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 qnitiq.indd 3
ative impact the oil industry has
on the environment and shifting
demand on fossil fuels as sustaina-
ble options become more common
– can be predicted and managed
in a way that enables companies to
remain robust, no matter the chal-
lenges they face. The use of tech-
nology in their operations can also
have a positive impact on their
brand, signifying better produc-
tivity, efficiency and customer
satisfaction.
Adopting innovation
No matter the industry, planning
puzzles can be largely addressed
by applying the three capabilities
of visibility, integration and opti-
misation. The following cases are
examples of how applying each
innovative planning capability has
brought real value to the company.
No matter the
industry, planning
puzzles can be
largely addressed
by applying the
three capabilities of
visibility, integration
and optimisation
Visibility: optimising sourcing,
opportunities and utilisation
While not strictly within the oil and
gas industry, this energy provider
deals in an alternative to fossil
fuels, giving a possible future direc-
tion for companies in oil and gas. A
large producer of renewable power,
it provides energy via a power sta-
tion fuelled by biomass and coal.
As the company grew, it came
face to face with a major challenge:
the need for end to end visibility of
its supply chain. This included vis-
ibility over transport movements,
inventory levels, buying and sell-
ing opportunities and possible
disruptions.
For this organisation, the solution
was a planning system that gives
planners a clear view of all relevant
data and KPIs and is also capable of
generating and performing what-if
analyses on alternative scenarios in
real time. The results for this com-
pany are that planners can now
schedule the movements of marine
and inland logistics, monitor fuel
and stock demand, handle spot
trades and monitor for potential
outages. With end to end visibil-
ity, planners are equipped to create
plans that are sustainable, feasible
and cost effective.
Integration: mastering complex
multi-modal logistics
This company initially made its
name as a worldwide transporter of
grain by-products before establish-
ing itself as a key player in crude oil
logistics. Today, it transports crude
from its source location by train to
a terminal, and from there by barge
to refineries.
A 1000% increase in operations
in the span of six months resulted
in an incredible number of bottle-
necks. The difference in capacity
between its barges, trains and ter-
minal also created challenges in
matching the barge cycling rate,
optimising tank levels and antic-
ipating the supply received. The
company sought a logistics solution
that could integrate both rail and
barge operations. It needed a solu-
tion that could process information
from different sources on a day-to-
day basis and propagate it through
the entire system.
With such a system in place, the
company’s planners now have a
granular view on the cycling of all
trains and barges. Having a unified
solution also means that planners
were able to improve overall plan-
ning efforts to significantly cut costs
and utilise the company’s tank cars
and barges more efficiently.
Optimisation: cutting down
planning time, increasing overall
efficiency
As a new energy provider in a
growing market, this company
utilises over 200 trucks to deliver
billions of litres of petroleum prod-
ucts from dozens of terminals and
depots to nearly 700 service stations
throughout a continent.
One of the key challenges for this
www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:46
 company is that the distribution
of flammable goods requires strict
compliance with complex rules and
regulations. To manage this pro-
cess and to maintain prompt, reli-
able supply to its customers, the
company needed to generate opti-
mal plans for its tanker fleet while
taking into account numerous
constraints.
The solution for this company is
a unified planning system that pro-
vides end to end visibility of the
supply chain and takes into account
all safety requirements, complex
operational and loading constraints
and business rules across multiple
regions. The system also optimises
day of operation schedules for both
company owned and subcontractor
vehicles and compartment tankers
to deliver multiple fuel products to
different sites.
As a result, planners can now
create higher quality, lower cost
schedules with approximately 70%
reduction in the time taken to create
an executable plan. Delivery per-
formance is enhanced – with fewer
Level Measurement
■ Visual Level Indicators VLI
■ Tank Level Instruments TLI
■ Meets the design standards of the oil & gas,
petrochemical, hydrocarbon and LPG/LNG industries
■ Pressures from vacuum to 500 bar
■ Densities down to 0,27 g/cm³
■ No maintenance (fit and forget)
■ More than 50 years of experience
■ Certified according CE, EAC, Pattern Approval,
ABS, BV, DNV-GL, LR, RINA, RMRS ...
Oil & Gas Industry
Petrochemical Industry
Chemical & Pharmaceutical Industry
Power Industry
Shipbuilding & Marine Industry
Water Management
ARCA Flow Group worldwide:
Competence in valves, pumps & cryogenics
www.eptq.com
q2 qnitiq.indd 4
outages and urgent trips – and
speed of response to disruptions is
improved, resulting in a significant
reduction in gross distance trav-
elled and operational costs.
The right supply chain solution
A single, powerful software that
can be configured to solve any puz-
zle is a critical feature for a plan-
ning solution in the diverse oil
and gas industry. The right solu-
tion should be able to empower top
oil and gas companies to improve
their operational efficiency, navi-
gate complex constraints, decrease
transportation costs and increase
production without increasing cap-
ital expenditure.
A fully integrated solution with
optimisation and advanced ana-
lytics technology gives businesses
the flexibility and power to han-
dle all stages of the supply chain.
The right solution must also prove
that it can provide its users with
the support they need even as they
continue to evolve. In an industry
as economically volatile as oil and
gas, it is all about getting the bal-
ance just right – offering reliable
stability while pushing for constant
innovation.
Innovations fuel the future. Oil
and gas companies need to master
the complexity of their operations
with end to end visibility, cohesive
integration and true optimisation to
enable improved decision-making,
robust growth and higher revenue.
References
1 Statoil makes flagship project profitable at
$25 a barrel, Financial Times, 2016.
2 A springboard for transformation, Ben van
Beurden, Shell Global, 2017.
3 BP Strategic Report, 2015.
Dennis Ostendorf is Solutions Director
with Quintiq’s oil and gas division. He joined
Quintiq in 2008 as a consultant and has
had a lead role in implementing projects in
various industries including oil and gas. He is
a graduate in econometrics and operations
research from the University of Groningen,
The Netherlands.
sit us
Please vi te:
si
at our web .ch
www.wek
a-ag
WEKA AG · Schürlistrasse 8
CH-8344 Bäretswil · Switzerland
Phone +41 43 833 43 43
Fax +41 43 833 43 49
info@weka-ag.ch · www.weka-ag.ch
PTQ Q2 2018 93
09/03/2018 17:46
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 Machine learning in asset maintenance
Application of machine learning to asset performance management marks a transition
from estimated and statistical models towards measured patterns of behaviour
John Hague
AspenTech
N
ew methods and cutting edge
technologies are driving asset
performance management
(APM) well beyond historical capa-
bilities, rapidly increasing its bot-
tom line value. Technologies like
cloud computing, data science and
machine learning are now being
integrated with automated method-
ologies directly into APM solutions.
This wave of integration places
advanced analytical techniques into
the hands of operators and engi-
neers with previously unimagined
scale and ease of use. The incremen-
tal progress in APM over the last 20
years pales in comparison to what
is now possible through digital
transformation.
Low-touch machine learning is
the key catalyst to scale APM’s
potential beyond existing first prin-
ciples based solutions and ‘armies’
of consultant engineers and data
scientists. A widespread integra-
tion of machine learning in APM
marks a transition from estimated
engineering and statistical models
towards measuring patterns of asset
behaviour.
Operators of refineries can now
readily extract value from decades
of existing design and operations
data to better manage and opti-
mise asset performance. This low-
touch machine learning method
continuously embraces changes in
asset behaviour, empowering real-
time APM value creation. Vetted
and tested across diverse indus-
tries, scalable across multiple assets,
and powered by cloud and parallel
computing, low-touch machine
learning ushers in a new era of
performance and optimisation for
every industry.
www.eptq.com
q2 aspentech.indd 1
How we got here
The foundation for realising a new
APM vision has existed for some
time, with engineers having applied
performance models for decades.
Such pioneering APM adopters
faced the challenges and constraints
of the technologies surrounding
their models. Disparate systems
evolved to manage and optimise
maintenance functions, to develop
risk assessment and criticality, and
to perform continuous condition
monitoring.
Low-touch machine
learning ushers
in a new era of
performance and
optimisation for
every industry
These systems were isolated,
resulting in limited connectivity
and integration, as well as workflow
impairments. Due to limited inte-
gration, early computers processed
small volumes of available related
data in batch mode instead of in real
time, when insights are most valua-
ble. Outputs came too late, typically
in days or weeks. Computational
power limited the advancement of
new algorithms. And assured static
models were fixed, low frequency
and not adaptable to new failure
behaviours and incremental opera-
tional changes.
As the 2000s arrived, leading
industries started to better organ-
ise assets for condition based mon-
itoring, and computational power
continued to increase. Systems
were still isolated, but in separate
systems, engineers started to see
something resembling real-time
asset-level data.
By the late 2000s, this situation
had changed significantly and we
started to see multiple parallel tech-
nology innovations coalesce into the
modern state of the art APM meth-
odology. Best in class systems could
now incorporate detection of pre-
cise patterns of normal and failure
behaviours, and perform the com-
putational isolation of key indi-
cators of degradation. Especially
important was the 2006 debut of
Amazon Web Services for scala-
ble cloud computing. Advances in
structured and unstructured data-
bases and operational data pools
were tested and improved at the
enterprise level during this period.
Around the same time, smart
sensors saw a dramatic shift in
performance, size, reliability and
price. Added to this was a dra-
matic improvement in the compu-
tational and analytical capability of
machine learning called ‘deep belief
networks’ or ‘deep learning’. This
breakthrough was pioneered by
Geoffrey Hinton at the University
of Toronto, who is now tightly cou-
pled with Google.
The result was a quantum leap
in capability, and this has enabled
machine learning to surpass the
performance of previous analytical
techniques, which limited modelling
and statistical methods. Machine
learning is now the dominant ana-
lytical method in all IT fields around
the world. It is used for credit card
fraud detection, facial recognition
PTQ Q2 2018 95
09/03/2018 17:52
 by Facebook, voice recognition by
Amazon, Apple, and Google, for
driving automated cars, medical
diagnoses and more.
The smartphone rose in promi-
nence during this period, led by the
iPhone debut in 2007, which greatly
advanced computer literacy and
afforded complex application (app)
capabilities for the masses.
Between 2007 and 2010, culminat-
ing with the iPad debut, the process
industry workforce moved from
experimentation with the indus-
trial internet of things (IIoT) to
demands for smart devices and con-
sumer style applications at work.
Industrial software and technology
began to update offerings with user
interfaces incorporating low-touch,
readily navigable applications and
displays. Vendors started deliver-
ing intuitive software that did not
require intense skills and experience
to be productive.
At the same time, cross-indus-
try initiatives, sponsored by many
owner-operator companies, led to
the development of open standards
Constantly changing market conditions demand new approaches.
That’s why we offer tailored services to tackle your evolving challenges.
The goal: to make your plant even more profitable. The name says it all:
PerformanceXperience®
325048_Hoerbiger_AZ_PX_178x125+3_RZ01.indd 1
96 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 aspentech.indd 2
for connecting disparate systems
and work process inter-operation,
particularly between operations and
maintenance systems.
Such initiatives assured compre-
hensive use of data combinations
to address problems and afford
solutions that were previously
unattainable. Blending such meth-
odologies and automation of tech-
nology approaches set the stage for
a major leap in APM performance
and value.
During this period, emergent
techniques for maintenance oper-
ations on assets, particularly for
mechanical assets, came under
scrutiny. The movement from fail-
fix – through calendar, usage and
condition based planned mainte-
nance events – all the way to relia-
bility centred maintenance (RCM)
techniques provided incremen-
tal improvements. However, the
cost, complexity, time and staffing
skill set requirements constrained
deployments.
Today, there is a growing realisa-
tion that maintenance alone cannot
solve the problems of unexpected
asset breakdowns. According to
the ARC Advisory Group,1 82% of
mechanical breakdowns display
a random failure pattern and are
caused by process induced condi-
tions that current maintenance prac-
tices do not monitor.
Market-leading companies realise
that they have gone as far as they
can go with traditional preventative
maintenance techniques. Predictive
maintenance represents the next
frontier.
Low-touch machine learning
Data intensive and complex envi-
ronments in manufacturing indus-
tries are prime candidates to deploy
the new advances in reliability man-
agement. Deployed coherently, with
appropriate automation, machine
learning enables greater agility
and flexibility to incorporate cur-
rent, historical and projected condi-
tions from process sensors, as well
as from mechanical and process
events. Systems become automatic,
moving past traditional, consultant
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www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:52
 heavy approaches. Instead there are
agile, flexible models that learn and
adapt to real data conditions, and
which incorporate all the nuances of
real asset behaviour.
Data capacities and computational
capabilities are so great that inter-
nal staff can now perform active and
accurate management of individ-
ual processes and mechanical assets.
This management capability can
now be applied to combinations of
assets: plant-wide, system-wide or
across multiple locations. The pivot
in APM’s capabilities arrives at an
important time for manufacturing in
process industries and many other
sectors.
Organisations are under tremen-
dous economic pressure, and recent
conversations, along with indus-
try-wide estimates, indicate that
operations is seeing less than 1%
in incremental savings year over
year due to historical gains already
realised. However, current razor-
thin operational margins are push-
ing process industry executives to
look to APM for additional return
on investment, especially in avoid-
ing unplanned downtime and pre-
venting damage to equipment due
to operational issues. Low-touch
machine learning APM is ready to
deliver that value.
Every process industry organisa-
tion deals with complex systems,
Agility, flexibility,
adaptability and
scale are essential
to truly deliver
reliability in the
process industries
fluctuating conditions and a myriad
of assets. A spectrum of pressure
points exists, in varying degrees,
due to diverse market needs, time
criticality, staffing levels and skill
sets.
Consider the following real-world
examples:
• An oil refiner struggles with
excessive asset breakdowns. Its
compressors are well instrumented
and receive RCM treatment, with
regular inspection and service, but
unanticipated failures persist.
• A petrochemicals producer with
multiple intermediate storage tanks
can suffer intermittent failures on
feed pumps. Failures mean extended
downtime and lost product.
• The ageing and complex electric
grid requires a sophisticated ana-
lytics approach. Knowing only the
average asset lifespan creates main-
tenance schedules based on guess-
work. There is no ability to model
future demands that might cause a
rolling blackout. This creates costly
over-spend on maintenance and
does not avoid grid performance
gaps.
Low-touch machine learning
APM can address all of these issues.
Best practices in low-touch machine
learning APM
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 reliability in the process industries.
Only low-touch machine learning
APM can deliver these capabilities.
These are five machine learning
best practices that drive state of
the art reliability management
that is applicable to any asset in
any industry at any level, from a
single location to a country-wide
system.
Data collection and preparation
Over the last two decades, every
attempt at massive data analysis
from diverse sources of plant data
collected from sensors has run into
serious issues around collection,
timeliness, validation, cleansing,
normalisation, synchronisation and
structure issues – ‘garbage in, gar-
bage out’.
Often, such data preparation can
consume 50-80% of the time to exe-
cute and repeat data mining and
analysis. However, that process
is essential to ensure appropriate
and accurate data that allow end
users to trust in the ensuing analyt-
ical results. New advances in APM
have automated the bulk of the data
REFCOMM
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98 PTQ Q2 2018
q2 aspentech.indd 4
preparation process to assure trust
and to reveal previously undiscov-
ered opportunities with minimal
user preparation.
Condition based monitoring
Once data are trustworthy, condi-
tion based monitoring (CBM) can be
applied. The plant conditions vary
constantly, according to mechani-
cal performance of assets, feedstock
variations in quality, weather con-
ditions and production timeline
and demand changes. Static models
cannot work under such duress. In
addition, focusing CBM on mechan-
ical equipment behaviour can reveal
only a small fraction of the true
issues causing degradation and
failure.1
Leading organisations recognise
that legacy CBM is now inadequate,
since it typically ignores the salient
process induced conditions causing
the bulk of the breakdowns. New
advances in APM deliver compre-
hensive monitoring of the mechan-
ical and upstream and downstream
process conditions that can lead to
failure.
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Work management history
The history of work provides the
trail of past solutions to failure
prevention and/or remediation.
Problem identification, coding and
a standard approach of problem res-
olution provide an important base-
line for the precise failure point in
the lifecycle of an asset. OEM data
that may live in a big data solu-
tion can provide insight into pro-
cess issues and outliers specific to
the configuration and engineering
within the plant process.
Forward thinking organisations
understand the importance of these
data and how they contribute to
hyper-accurate predictions of pro-
duction degradation that ultimately
lead to asset failure.
Predictive and prescriptive analytics
Clean data and CBM enable in-place
predictive analytics: a process to
interpret past behaviour and, based
upon that analysis, predict future
outcomes. In contrast, using engi-
neering and statistical models to
estimate the future readings of sen-
sors, and interpret variances from
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www.eptq.com
12/03/2018 12:53
 actual readings, is a technique
prone to errors and false positives.
Top performers use inline, real-time
analysis of the patterns of normal
and failure behaviours of process
equipment and machines.
When performed correctly, pre-
dictive analytics can accurately
portray asset lifecycle and asset reli-
ability, and focus on the early root
cause of degradation, rather than
later stage detection of damage. The
insights available from intense mul-
tivariate and temporal pattern anal-
ysis provide accurate, critical lead
times. This allows time for deci-
sions that can eliminate damage and
maintenance or, at the very least,
provide a window of opportunity to
reduce downtime and mitigate the
consequences.
Best in class APM provides pre-
scriptive advice based on estab-
lished root cause analysis (RCA)
and presents information on the
approach that will proactively avoid
process conditions that cause dam-
age, and/or advise on the precise
maintenance required to service the
asset. As a result, predictive and
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prescriptive capabilities enable asset
lifecycle reliability, and they facil-
itate decisions on when and how
to maximise production while pro-
actively avoiding asset and out-
put risks. Such real-time analytics
guides maintenance scheduling
and asset optimisation, eliminating
guesswork on future production or
asset issues. This complete picture
of plant or site performance ena-
bles more confident risk analysis
and performance projections for the
board level.
Pool and fleet analytics
The next level of analytics allows
patterns discovered on one asset
in a pool or fleet to be shared, ena-
bling the same safety and shut-
down protection for all equipment.
Once deployed, refiners can rap-
idly scale solutions from a unit
to a site to multiple sites, or even
throughout a whole corporation.
From all local systems, information
roll-up from disparate sites into
one larger model provides asset
performance comparisons across
sites and plants, creating common
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Looking to the future
The manufacturing world has
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recognise all issues affecting asset
degradation. Operational integrity
improves when organisations put in
place strategies to detect root causes
as early as possible, providing
extended lead times for good deci-
sions to avoid unplanned downtime.
For every process industry organ-
isation, regardless of needs or
sophistication, low-touch machine
learning APM is ready to eliminate
catastrophic failures on assets, to
improve overall reliability and to
lift net product output and increase
profitability.
Reference
1 Webinar Improve Reliability of Process Assets
with Prescriptive Analytics: Get Results Today
featuring ARC Advisory Group, 14 Jun 2017.
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 Wireless instruments in corrosive and
hazardous locations
Wireless instruments introduce a range of benefits in corrosive and
hazardous process areas
SHEIKH RAFIK MANIHAR AHMED and KULEESHA MALIK
Fluor Daniel India
T
his article explains the dif-
ficulty, time and expense
involved in installing and
maintaining a traditional instru-
ment wiring system or single
wiring method and shows how
multiple wiring methods/proto-
cols along with wireless instru-
ments can avoid those problems.
In general, an instrument wiring
system (including cables, junc-
tion boxes, conduits, termina-
tion racks, cabinets, enclosures,
cable tray, tray support system,
multi-cable transits [MCT] and
marshalling panels) contributes
significantly to the plant’s total
instrumentation costs. The article
focuses on different impacts dur-
ing the implementation of multiple
wiring methods/protocols along
with wireless instruments on the
same project in order to prevent,
minimise or control the risk of cor-
rosion and chemical attack on an
instrument wiring system or cable
infrastructure to meet the plant’s
requirements..
The availability of multiple wir-
ing methods/protocols provides
numerous benefits over single
type of wiring methods/protocols
including reduced wiring expenses
and marshalling panels, fewer
power supplies and safety barriers,
smaller equipment room, less docu-
mentation and design effort, fewer
input/output (I/O) channels in the
distributed control system (DCS)
and programmable logic control-
ler (PLC) cabinets, improved self-
diagnostics and remote diagnos-
tics, increased functionality and
transparency, more information
from the field level, easier exten-
sion during operation, feasibility of
www.eptq.com
Q2 f daniel.indd 1
maintenance, and minimal impact
of late changes, workmanship and
materials.
In a multiple wiring methods/
protocols system, it is not a mat-
ter of counting the number of I/O
signals and figuring out if they are
4-20 mA analogue or 0-24 Vdc, or if
they are input or output; it is about
selecting the right I\O type and
wiring protocol to achieve process
functionality by reducing effort and
cost. The article details different
designs, engineering, deliverables
and cost impacts during the imple-
mentation of multiple wiring meth-
ods/protocols along with wireless
instruments on the same project.
Oil and gas, petrochemicals,
chemicals and other process indus-
tries often face problems of elec-
trical downtime, electrical service
disruption, erratic instrumentation
system behaviour, and loss of I/O
cards in DCS and PLC. Increased
resistance across the connection
and contactor results in false data
transmission through the instru-
ment data cable to the system due
to an open or intermittent connec-
tion of the power or instrument
data cables. Wet, salt-mist, dirty,
dust contaminated or corrosive
vapours increase the risk of corro-
sion and chemical vapour attack
on the metals used in wire termi-
nal connections, switches and con-
tactors. Wiring connections can also
be affected by creep corrosion and
metallic dendrites due to the reac-
tion of corrosive vapours with the
metal of a connector at high or var-
iable humid conditions. Intermittent
terminations of wire connections
in instrument wiring are expen-
sive and time consuming problems
that are not permissible in today’s
automated plant. Temperature and
humidity control is the single most
important factor affecting corrosive
rates when corrosive vapours are
present in the environment.
There are many available plans of
action designed for safety in process
installations. The simplest method
to prevent, minimise or control
the risk of corrosion and chemical
vapour attack is to keep instrumen-
tation out of the area altogether,
or to make the area less hazard-
ous or less reactive with controlled
humidity and temperature through
process improvements. However,
when instruments must be installed
in corrosion prone areas (such as
waste gas treatment and sulphur
handling areas), all the instrument
wiring system (including cables,
junction boxes, conduits, termi-
nation racks, cabinets, enclosures,
cable tray, tray support system and
MCTs) must be installed and main-
tained to appropriate standards to
prevent deterioration of the metals
used.
Generally, metals used in wiring
terminals have platings or coatings
for protection against corrosion and
chemical attack. These sacrificial
or barrier layer coatings over wir-
ing terminals metals are intended
to be consumed during a corro-
sion reaction or to provide a protec-
tive seal. They are effective as long
as the metal in wire terminals is
undamaged and impermeable. The
expense of protecting wired 4-20
mA conventional, HART, Fieldbus,
Modbus, Profibus or Profinet instru-
ments in a corrosion prone envi-
ronment or hazardous area is
significant. Wiring for field instru-
PTQ Q2 2018 101
09/03/2018 17:54
 Figure 1 Corroded wiring terminals and damaged cable caused by long term corrosion effects
ments (such as transmitters with or
without display, switches and con-
trol valves) requires cables, junction
boxes, conduits, termination racks,
cabinets, enclosures, cable tray, tray
support system, MCTs and mar-
shalling panels. If the instrument is
source input or four-wire, it must
have separate power wiring. All
of the wiring system must meet
the requirements of protection that
the circuit is certified for. Installing
an instrument wiring system can
be quite expensive and additional
operational maintenance expenses
are required on preventing, mini-
mising or controlling the rate of cor-
rosion to ensure the protection level
is being maintained.
Typical corrosion related issues
found in a wiring system dur-
ing inspection in a corrosion prone
environment are shown in Figure 1
and include:
• Incorrect or damaged cable gland
• Damaged cables
• Corroded terminals, switches and
contactors
• Corrosion across the connec-
tion and contactors, resulting in
increased resistance
• Corrosion fatigue failure of
terminals.
A wireless infrastructure could
possibly avoid these instrument
wiring system problems, corrosion
related inspections, and planned/
unplanned maintenance.
Effects of corrosion on wiring
systems
All instrument wiring systems or
cable infrastructures have a ten-
102 PTQ Q2 2018
Q2 f daniel.indd 2
dency to undergo a corrosive reac-
tion with a variety of industrial
gases/vapours such as sulphur,
chlorine and their compounds.
A harsh environment requires
detailed engineering design of
appropriate corrosion control meas-
ures to avoid unnecessary electri-
cal downtime, planned/unplanned
maintenance and inspection costs.
An instrument wiring system or
cable infrastructure affected by
short/long term exposure to cor-
rosion displays a variety of typical
behaviour patterns:
1. Electrical shutdown or total dis-
ruption of electrical services due to
short/open circuits
2. Unexplained loss of I/O section
of a circuit
3. I/O cards lost in DCS and PLC,
data reading and transmission prob-
lems, and erratic behaviour
4. Terminals, leads, switches and
electrical contractors become cor-
roded which reduces the conductiv-
ity of the metals
5. Connection of the data/power
cables inside junction boxes located
in the field, and marshalling of sys-
tem cabinets located in local equip-
ment/control rooms are affected, so
resistance increases across the con-
nection and contactors, resulting in
false data transmission
6. A combination of a corrosive
environment and vibration assists
in the formation of corrosion fatigue
cracks in terminals leads, leading to
wiring system failures.
In addition, non-corrosion related
stress in a wiring infrastructure may
impact measurement quality, such
as crushed cables, excessive length,
mechanical fatigue, poor cladding,
cable routing complexity, routing
between moving components, and
weight carrying.
Implementing wireless instrument
technology
Introducing wireless instruments to
oil and gas, petrochemicals, chem-
icals and other process industries
provides such benefits as robust-
ness, fast real-time response,
reduced installation time, less wir-
ing infrastructure, and lower power
consumption. Significant gains are
possible with the implementation of
wireless instruments in unclassified
areas of process plant, hazardous
locations or corrosive environments.
These can be viewed in terms
of engineering impacts, design
impacts and construction/fabrica-
tion deliverable impacts.
Engineering/design impacts
The introduction of wireless instru-
ments in process plant has many
positive effects on project engi-
neering, such as lower installa-
tion costs, quicker installation time,
faster commissioning, more efficient
change order management, removal
of the requirement for a power sup-
ply and protection barriers with
replaceable battery packs, increased
system/vendor compatibility, and
device and system compatibility.
The comparative ease of moving
or adding I/O points during con-
struction enhances the cost effec-
tive management of on-site changes.
Implementation of wireless instru-
www.eptq.com
09/03/2018 17:54
 ments in hazardous
DMDS is the locations
spikingor agent • Documents
of choice in most related cases to since
corro- it
decomposes
harsh, corrosive to form H2S insion
environments the proper
control. temperature range and
reduces thecontains
requirement 68% sulphur. for pro-
During
ject engineering/design sulphiding, a sufficient level of H2S must be main-
build it to a effort higher level, Conclusion
creating a ‘scalable solution’.
through: tained within the reactor to ensure complete sulphiding of
Most importantly, theThe implementation
refinery can realise substantial of a wire-
1. Reductionthe catalyst
in
savings
andat
to prevent
every levelless
materials premature
of the
reduction
instrumentation
solution from crude
of the
system oxidic
pre- in
metal sites.train Operations personnel are typically required to
weight (wiring heat system ormonitoring cable a (using hazardous simple heat exchanger
location or a cor-
sample the sour recycle gastostream withCDU Draeger tubes from
infrastructure) models) right throughrosive integrated
environment monitoring.
is a useful
open ports at least once per hour to ensure that an adequate
2. Less system
leveldesign
of H2S time is being maintained. and costThis effective
requires means
operators of pro- to
Conclusion
3. Lower cost of change
equip Refineries
themselves requests
withhave
today
tection
freshthe breathing against
technology air (SCBA) corrosion
availableintoorder
and
run to 11 – 15 June 2018
and changeavoid
order themanagement
their hazardous
assets at maximum chemical
atmosphere capacity attack
escaping while aroundencountered
reducing the
oper-sam- by
4. No civil,ple
piping
port.
ationaland electrical
To prevent
risk, H2S from
although conventional
not all dropping
have leveragedinstrument
to levelsits where wiring
value. cat-
Frankfurt am Main
work for cable
alystrouting
Improvements
damage can occur, in CDU the systems
operations
start-up orteam cable infrastructures.
cantypically
bring a consid-
injects an
5. Less timeexcessanderable
amount boost
effort to for
of spiking the bottomThe line
agent of
availability
that refineries
keeps and wireless
of
the concentration many
installing cable have already started
than necessary (>2 instruments
higherinfrastructure significantly
wt%). This practice profiting
provides from these
wastesmultiple chemi-
solutions, gaining considerable competitive advantage.
6. Junctioncalboxes,
and generatescable dangerously
tray, benefits highover levels of H2type
single S thatofcircu- wir-
latecable The scalability
throughout the unit. of the In CDUaddition,simulation solution ena-
over-injection builds
local panels, tray support ing methods/protocols
bles refineries to start at a scale that is managea-
includ-
excessively
(strut), conduits, sleeves highare gasnot density that can result in compressor
ble, allowing them toing reduced
gradually buildwiring the solution expensesto
needed. trips. To reduce the gas density,
andMore sour
marshalling gas must
panels, be purged fewer
higher, rigorous levels. importantly, a refinery
to the flare system and fresh make-up hydrogen brought in,
can derive significantpower value supplies
from everyand level safety
of thebar-
triggering potential
solution, giving themriers, environmental
a truly issues. The sulphiding
Deliverables/documents lesssustainable
space for solution
equipment, for
process canCDU
their also operations.
be somewhat unpredictable
Refineries no longer duehave to equip-to
impacts ment problems, less documentation and design
leave money such on as thecompressor
table by running trips and their heatCDU exchanger
con-
Implementation thatofextend
leaks, servatively wireless effort,
DMDSfewer I/O channels in
to the
avoid timeoperational needs
disruption, to be unplanned
injected into
instruments in a
the reactor. harsh, corro-
downtime and lost profits.
DCS/PLC cabinets, better self-
sive environment
Reactor also has anSmartSkid
Resources’ diagnostics DMDS and Injection
remote diagnos- System
effect on the production
addressesReferencesthe of engi-associated
issues tics, among withothers. catalyst sulphiding
neering/design 1documents
Carey K E, Profitand
and over-injection, making
margins areWireless
theforsulphiding
slim instrumentation
refineries, processCounty
The Delaware much in
construction/fabrication
safer and more deliv-
Daily Times, 21 Jan 2012.
accurate. unfavourable
Each SmartSkid
2 Emerson, Energy Efficient and Always On-Spec, Round Rock, Emerson
isprocess
equipped plant
with
erables. The effort
cloud-connected
Process required for
wireless
Management, environments
Texas,telemetry,
2012. allowing also has positive
Operations and
Engineering
engineering/design 3 Gorak to Schoenmakers
continuously
documenta-
A, monitoron
impacts
H, Distillation: the project
injection
Operation rate,
engineer-
and Applications, total
tion can be quantity
reduced injected,
Elsevier, by follow-
Oxford, injectioning
2014. pressure,
and design fluid temperature,
and documen- and
ing means: valve position
4 Gadalla M, via a
New secure
energy web link.
tation/deliverables,
efficient redesign of an existing crude oil
including
Another
• Cable schedule, benefit
distillation
cable of the system
unit, Chemical
sche-
Engineering
lower is Dept,
an online
The British
installation S analyser
HUniversity,
2 costs, quicker
that
Egypt,
2012.
constantly
matic diagram,5 cable measures the H S levels of the reactor gas effluent.
Jokuty P,philoso-
Properties of 2installation
crude oils and oil time, products, faster
Environment com-
Data from the 1999. H2S missioning,
online analyser is also viewable via the
phy diagram and logic
Canada, diagram
Ottawa, and more efficient
cloud 6in Giles
real-time, enabling more precise & S Jcontrol
Rand, The of the injec-
not required H N, Crude
change
Oils, In A. C.-2. Products,
order management.
Significance
tion rate andofavoiding
of Tests the hazards
Petroleum Products: A Report,and ASTMissues associated
International, Bridgeport,with
• No junction
over-injectionbox ofloading
NJ, 2003. the spiking Implementation
agent. of a wire-
(internal deliverable)
7 Yeaprequired
In certain cases, Reactor
B L, Designing Heatless
Resources infrastructure
Exchanger also provides
Networks reduces
to Mitigate an the
online
Fouling,
• No loop/segment PhD Thesis,diagrams
Department of Chemical expense
hydrogen purity analyser, another valuable tool for monitor- of
Engineering, installing
Cambridge University, instru- BE INFORMED.
required ing theUK,recycle2003.
ments and project engineering/
8 Yeap B L, gas stream. During sulphiding, the of hydrogen
• No wiring connection
content of the
Wilson
sched-
recycle
D I, Polley
gas should
G T, Pugh
be
S J, Mitigation
refinery heat exchanger fouling through retrofits based on effort
design documentation
kept above 60%
crude oil
in order
thermo- by BE INSPIRED.
ule, wiringtoreports
minimise (intermediate
coke models, In aTrans
foulingformation significant
and Partamount.
to ensure the proper phase
BE THERE.
hydraulic IChemE, A, Chemical Engineering
and mainofjunction
metalResearch box,
sulphide
and Design,mar-
is quickly
Institution and completely
of Chemical Engineers,formedCambridge,on UK,the
catalyst surface. Sheikh Rafik Manihar
With H2 analysis in real-time, the hydrogen Ahmed is a Control
shalling and shield
53-71,
bar reports)
2004.

required concentration can be easilySystems

9 Joshi H M, Brons G, Chemical
maintained Engineer
Cleaning
above
of Oilwiththe Fluor
minimum
Refinery Daniel,
Heat
› World Forum and Leading Show
Exchangers - The Need for aNew Joint Effort,
Delhi, InIndia.
Heat Exchanger
He has Fouling
experience and in
target Cleaning:
Other items level. These
that Fundamentals
are not analyser systems provide meaningful
safety advantages since
Applications, ECI Digital
and instrumentation
operations personnel FEED, Archives,
detail Santa
will nodesign Fe, and
longer for the Process Industries
needed include: New Mexico, 2003. engineering, procurement, inspection and
• Design be exposed
index toF,hazardous
(database
10 Coletti
for levels
Macchietto S, Refinery of H2S train
pre-heat
field engineering
during networkthesimulation
sampling
in onshore and offshore › 3,800 Exhibitors from 50 Countries
procedure.
undergoing fouling: Assessment of energy efficiency and carbon
wiring system detail) and speci- Conferencegas plant,onoilHeat andExchanger
gas, petrochemical, and
The emissions,
SmartSkid DMDS Injection
International System has Fouling
now and been › 170,000 Attendees
fication sheet for cable/junction chemical projects.
used to successfully sulphide over 270 hydrotreaters across
Cleaning, 2009.
box requirement 10 Kister H, How to troubleshoot Email:towersheikh.r.manihar.ahmed@fluor.com
floods, The Chemical Engineer, from 100 Countries
the USA. This 2016.system will be available for use in Europe in
• Cable electrical
Q1 2018.
42-49, Mardetail and Kuleesha Mahajan is an Area Lead for
junction box standardSandeep Ram installa-
Mohan is a productcontrolexpert systems engineering
with Aspen Technology, with Fluor
with
tion detail drawing requirement
a focus on engineering Daniel,
software New
solutions Delhi,
for the India.
refiningShe has
industry. nine
Prior to joining AspenTech, years of experience in instrumentation
• Enclosure Reactor and
Resourcesequip-
he worked as a thermal/process engineer
in the engineering, procurement FEED,anddetail designindustry.
construction and He engineering,
holds
ment room For morelayout drawing
information:
an undergraduate degree in procurement,
mechanical engineering and an MBA
inspection andfromfield
requirement randy.alexander@reactor-resources.com
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York. in onshore and offshore
engineering
• Cable tray routing plan and gas plant, oil and gas, petrochemical,
cable tray support detail draw- and chemical projects and in SPI
ing requirement
www.eptq.com
www.eptq.com administration.
www.achema.de
• MCT layout and drawing Email: Kuleesha.malik@fluor.com

q1 aspentech.indd 4 14/12/2017 12:29

tia.indd 6 13/09/2017 12:26
www.eptq.com PTQ Q2 2018 103

Q2 f daniel.indd 3 09/03/2018 17:55

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Air Liquide Global Engineering & Johnson Matthey 68
Construction Solutions 20 Johnson Screens 42
Albemarle Catalysts Company 2 Jonell Filtration Group 74
Ariel Corporation 56 Koch-Glitsch 36
Axens OBC MetsoFlow Control 88
Borsig 87 Nalco Champion 46
Bryan Research & Engineering 50 Neste Jacobs 53
BUCHEN-ICS 97 Northeast US Petrochemical
Burckhardt Compression 15 Construction 94
Chevron Lummus Global 7
OHL Gutermuth Industrial Valves 39
Combustion Solutions 59
Process Consulting Services 22 & 25
CRI International 77
RefComm 98
Criterion Catalyst & Technologies 4
Rembe 79
Crystaphase Products 13
Rentech Boiler Systems 66
DigitalRefining.com 49
Rezel Catalytic Technologies 40
Downstream Conference & Exhibition 91
Sabin Metal Corporation 35
Dunn Heat Exchangers 27
Shell Global Solutions 16
Dupont Clean Technologies 32
Silobau Thorwesten 41
ExxonMobil 11
Gastech 2018 99 Sulzer Chemtech 55
GEA Group 61 Tubacex 64
Grabner Instruments 84 Vereinigte Füllkörper-Fabriken 60
Haldor Topsøe 9 W. R. Grace & Co 18
HarbisonWalker International 31 WEKA 93
HCpect 45 World Refining Association IBC
Heat Transfer Research Inc 67 Yokogawa Europe 54
Hoerbiger Kompressortechnik Holding 96 York Process Systems 80
Honeywell UOP IFC Zwick Armaturen 83

Register to receive your regular copy of PTQ at www.eptq.com/register

104 PTQ Q2 2018 www.eptq.com

ad index copy 12.indd 1 12/03/2018 13:39

20873 ERTC Advert.qxp_Layout 1 09/03/2018 16:35 Page 1

pa da
Ca rs th
Fr

pe y 4
ll clo Ma
i

fo se y
r s
27 – 30 November 2018 // Grand Hyatt Cannes, France

THE SINGLE LARGEST GATHERING OF REFINING AND

PETROCHEMICAL LEADERSHIP WITHIN EUROPE
Co-located with

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN TO SUBMIT YOUR

ABSTRACT FOR ERTC, GPS AND ERTC 4.0!
We are calling for papers in these topics identified by our advisors;

Refining-Petchem Integration Catalyst Advances

and New Routes to Olefins
Refinery Configuration and
Digitalisation Technologies Conversion Technologies

Energy Efficiency & Advances in Biofuels,

Environmental Co-Processing & Alternative
Fuel Production
Operational Excellence &
Margin Improvement Process Optimisation & Design

CONFIRMED ADVISORS INCLUDE:

David Pullan, Dr. Mateusz Wolfram Krenn, Lars Rosenløv

Group Downstream Aleksander Bonca, SVP Site Manager Senior Vice President,
Technology & Development Chief Strategy & Schwechat Refinery, Downstream
Vice President, Development Officer, OMV Operations,
MOL Group Grupa LOTOS S.A. Statoil

NEW FOR 2018!

The launch of an event app to help
you connect with your fellow
attendees and plan your time better
We will be launching new client
entertainment packages to help
with greater networking
We’re restructuring and refreshing the
technical streams to continually drive
the quality and innovation of the
content you’ll hear
The agenda will feature more
petrochemicals and digitalisation
content than ever before
Our speakers will be getting
pre-event speaker training to
ensure effective delivery on the
expert content
We will be working with all our
exhibitors to help make the
exhibition floor as interactive
as possible

Download the abstract template at ertc.wraconferences.com

ertc.indd 1 09/03/2018 17:22

 Axens is a leading global
provider of technologies, OIL REFINING
catalysts, adsorbents,
services and equipment.
Axens solutions are used
at major industrial plants
PETROCHEMICALS
around the world.

GASES

RENEWABLES
& ALTERNATIVES
TOGETHER
SUCCEED

WATER

axens.net/blog

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