PROCESS INCIDENT & TROUBLESHOOTING REPORT

Unit. No. 109

Operating Unit GFEC-ARU

Date of Incident 01.08.2022 to 08.08.2022

Prepared by Shyamoli Hazarika (Asst. Manager)

Reviewed by Prashant Rajaram Dhuri (Sr. Manager)

Reviewed by Sumedh S. Shirsat (Dy General Manager)

INCIDENT SUBJECT:

GFEC ARU LOW RE-BOILING ISSUE & TROUBLESHOOTING

INCIDENT BACKGROUND:

On 01.08.2022, at 16:30 hrs due to heavy rain LP steam header pressure suddenly dropped to 3.06 kg/cm2 from
4.5 kg/cm2 and temperature to 145 deg.C from 156 deg.C. Due to this sudden drop of LP steam pressure and
temperature, re-boiling started dropping in GFEC-ARU. ARU tower bottom temperature dropped to 110 degC
from 123 degC and tower overhead temperature to 93 degC from 106 degC due to low vapor load. Steam
header pressure was normalized at 21:50 hrs on 01.08.2022, but since then GFEC-ARU column temperature
profile was upset and re-boiling was not getting improved.

Due to low stripping in ARU, heavy impact observed in PrimeG+ HCN S. HCN S was as high as 45-50 ppm
due to heavy H2S loading in recycle gas which was not getting removed in amine absorber.
ACTIONS TAKEN AND OBSERVATIONS:

On 01.08.2020:

1. To increase re-boiling, standby re-boiler 109E1003 (A) lined up at 22:24 hrs and both re-boilers kept in
line for 10 hours. Initially re-boiling increased when standby re-boiler was taken in line and tower temp
profile got improved. But after 15 minutes’ steam flow to re-boiler started dropping from 10 TPH to 6.7-
7 TPH.
2. Steam to re-boiler 109FC1501 gradually opened from 13.5% to 70% and 100% from 17:00 hrs to 08:00
hrs on 02.08.2022, but steam flow was not increasing beyond 6.7-7 TPH. Steam 109FC1501 position
checked in field, found field position matching with DCS %OP. 109FC1501 bypass 1-2 rounds opened
in field to increase steam flow. But no improvement in steam flow observed with 109FC1501 wide open
and bypass open condition. Which suggested that steam was getting back pressure somewhere
downstream which was restricting the flow even after opening the bypass. So, bypass closed after 4-5
hours. When steam FC opened >30%, re-boiler liquid outlet temperature increased to 145 degC from
132 degC and vapor outlet temperature increased from 124 to 135 degC, but it did not help increasing
tower bottom and overhead temperature.

Table 1: ARU tower conditions after LP steam header collapse incident

Parameter Conditions after the incident Normal operating conditions

 Steam flow (TPH) 6.7-7 10-11
Tower bottom T (degC) 109-113 127-129
Re-boiler outlet T (degC) 144-146 130-132
Chimney tray T/Re-boiler inlet T (degC) 99-103 124-126
Tower o/h T (degC) 82-86 102-110

On 02.08.2020:

1. Re-boiler condensate pot level checked in GG in field in night shift. GG level was matching with DCS
reading 109LI1501. So, condensate pot 109LC1501 opened gradually to 50%, 70%, 100%, and opened
bypass to remove condensate accumulation. Checked by opening lower drain point, initially condensate
was coming and then started coming steam. From this activity, verified condensate level in LT/GG.
Bypass closed and maintained a level of 20-25% by manually adjusting LC output. But still no
improvement observed in steam flow.
2. Steam FC (109FC1501) stroke/operation checking done with instrument to check any restriction, no
issue found in valve operation.
3. Condensate LC (109LC1501) stroke/ operation checked with instrument & found valve operation OK,
LT response and GG readings were matching.
4. It was suspected that, steam flow was getting back pressure due to condensate build up in the steam line
during the period when LP steam pressure and temperature was low. So, upstream and downstream
bleeders across steam FC (109FC1501) and dirt leg bleeder were wide opened in night shift to drain the
condensate, and continued for 2-3 hours till steam started coming from the bleeders.
5. At 11:00 hours one re-boiler (A) process side and steam side isolated and given blow-down to ABD to
remove any HC accumulation inside re-boiler shell side coming with rich amine from upstream units.
6. At 15:00 hrs ARU tower skimming done at 75%, 80% and 85% to remove any suspended HC layer.
7. In evening at 21:00 hrs; re-boiler (A) which was given blow-down, taken in line and isolated re-boiler
(B). No improvement observed in re-boiling even after re-boiler change-over.

On 03.08.2020:

1. Steam FC (109FC1501) stroke given 0%, 50%, 80% and 100%, and kept condensate LC (109LC1501)
wide open to push any condensate build up in steam line. But, no improvement in re-boiling observed.
2. So, condensate drum level maintained at 30-40% so that steam can get enough residence time for heat
transfer.
3. ARU tower pressure reduced as low as 0.75-0.85 kg/cm2 to remove acid-gases from rich amine system
as much as possible with minimum re-boiling which was being achieved with 6.7-7 TPH steam flow.
 4. Again re-boiler change-over done from (A) to (B) and re-boiler (A) blow-down given to ABD; still there
was no improvement observed in tower bottom temperature and steam flow.
5. Condensate draining from steam FC (109FC1501) upstream-downstream bleeder and dirt leg bleeder
started again and continued till steam started coming.

On 04.08.2020:

1. Asked all upstream units LTU, NFCCU FGDS, OFCCU FGDS, PrimeG+ to reduce lean amine
consumption to reduce ARU tower load.
2. Unit recirculation block valve gradually closed and brought down tower feed to turndown 165-170 TPH.
3. At 06:13 hrs, due to heavy rain LP steam header pressure dropped from 4.5 to 1.5 kg/cm2 and
temperature from 156 degC to 128 degC, resulting disturbance in ARU. Tower bottom/top temperature
dropped to 88/54 degC.
4. One Tower overhead AFC (109AFC1001 B) out of two stopped as overhead temperature was already
low. No improvement in tower profile.
 5. Again re-boiler change-over done from (B) to (A) and re-boiler (B) blow-down given to ABD; still there
was no improvement in tower bottom temperature and steam flow observed.

On 05.08.2020:

1. Re-boiler change-over done from (A) to (B).

2. From re-boiler (A) to ABD connection found plugged at downstream of block valve at ground level
(checked by steam shocks), hose connection provided from re-boiler (A) drain line to re-boiler (B) drain
line and draining done to ABD.

On 07.08.2020:

1. All activities above did not help in increasing re-boiling. From column temperature profile it was
observed that, with all the above activities re-boiler liquid outlet temperature increased to 144-146 degC
which is higher than normal (130-132 degC), and vapor outlet temperature increased to 132-135 degC
which is higher than normal (128-130 degC), still it was not helping heating tower bottom above 113-
114 degC.
2. This suggested that process inlet flow from chimney tray to re-boiler shell side was very less for
adequate heat transfer and reason for it could be partial leak in chimney tray or inlet line was partially
plugged. Due to low inlet flow to re-boiler, it was suspected that liquid hold up inside re-boiler shell-
side is low and all tubes might not be in submerged condition for proper heat transfer, resulting low
steam demand.
 3. So, re-boiler (B) liquid outlet block valve slowly pinched and then completely closed and kept closed for
4 hours so that re-boiler can be filled with liquid amine. After 4 hours again re-boiler liquid outlet block
valve lined up. But no improvement in re-boiling, tower bottom/top temperature observed.
4. For un-plugging of the re-boiler common inlet line from chimney tray (as suspected partially plugged),
steam hose connection provided in 2” drain point in both re-boiler common inlet line and steaming (with
LP steam) done for 5-6 hrs.
5. It was also suspected, Sulphur compound de-position on re-boiler tubes over the times which resulted
low re-boiling capacity. So, it was decided to give BFW wash to the re-boilers for cleaning of re-boiler
insides.
6. BFW connection provided to the shell side of the re-boiler and injection started in standby re-boiler (A),
filled with BFW and steaming done. Re-boiler kept for soaking for 4-5 hours and then drained to ABD.

On 08.08.2020:

1. Re-boiler (A) shell side BFW wash done for second time (to remove any sulphur de-position in re-boiler
tubes) and drained to ABD. After BFW wash re-boiler (A) filled with amine and then taken in line and
both re-boilers kept in line.
2. Tower chimney tray to re-boiler inlet line draining done to ABD for some time at a slow rate, ABD level
increased by 5-6%. During that period steam flow to re-boiler got reduced to almost 0 TPH and tower
pressure started dropping. Which implied that process flow coming from tower to re-boiler got cut off,
resulting low steam demand in re-boiler and hence steam flow to re-boiler got reduced to almost 0 TPH.
3. This confirmed that process inlet flow to re-boiler was very less than required quantity resulting low
vapor load. The low liquid flow coming to re-boiler was getting heated in re-boiler (low steam demand,
due to which steam consumption was not increasing) and increasing re-boiler outlet temperature to 145-
146 degC, but outlet flow was not sufficient for heating up tower bottom to required temperature.
4. It was suspected that chimney tray is partially leaking, due to which liquid hold up in chimney tray is
low and not establishing proper flow through inlet line from chimney tray to re-boiler.
5. To overcome the suspected leakage in chimney tray, it was decided to increase tower feed to maximum
by opening unit re-circulation valve, which in turn would increase process flow through re-boiler shell
side and re-boiler duty would increase which in turn would also increase the steam demand.
6. Re-circulation block valve opened 6-7 rounds and tower feed brought to 211 TPH from 167 TPH.
7. From 15:10 hrs, after increasing feed, it was observed that steam demand gradually started increasing
from 7.2 TPH.
8. Re-boiler outlet line temperature gradually started decreasing and inlet line/tower bottom temperature
started increasing implying positive heat transfer and increase in tower vapor load.
 9. At 18:15 achieved steam flow 15 TPH and achieved tower bottom/overhead temp 125/101 degC at
18:38 hrs.
10. By 18:40 hrs ARU tower temperature profile got normalized.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. In next shutdown, ARU chimney tray needs to be inspected for suspected leak to resolve the issue
completely.
2. To overcome the suspected partial leakage in chimney tray, ARU feed rate to be maintained above 200
TPH always.