Closed Loop Cooling Water System Design
Closed Loop Cooling Water System Design
PTS 16.39.10
November 2017
FOREWORD
PETRONAS Technical Standards (PTS) has been developed based on the accumulated knowledge,
experience and best practices of the PETRONAS group supplementing National and International
standards where appropriate. The key objective of PTS is to ensure standard technical practice across
the PETRONAS group.
Compliance to PTS is compulsory for PETRONAS-operated facilities and Joint Ventures (JVs) where
PETRONAS has more than fifty percent (50%) shareholding and/or operational control, and includes
all phases of work activities.
Contractors/manufacturers/suppliers who use PTS are solely responsible in ensuring the quality of
work, goods and services meet the required design and engineering standards. In the case where
specific requirements are not covered in the PTS, it is the responsibility of the
Contractors/manufacturers/suppliers to propose other proven or internationally established
standards or practices of the same level of quality and integrity as reflected in the PTS.
In issuing and making the PTS available, PETRONAS is not making any warranty on the accuracy or
completeness of the information contained in PTS. The Contractors/manufacturers/suppliers shall
ensure accuracy and completeness of the PTS used for the intended design and engineering
requirement and shall inform the Owner for any conflicting requirement with other international
codes and technical standards before start of any work.
PETRONAS is the sole copyright holder of PTS. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, recording or
otherwise) or be disclosed by users to any company or person whomsoever, without the prior written
consent of PETRONAS.
The PTS shall be used exclusively for the authorised purpose. The users shall arrange for PTS to be
kept in safe custody and shall ensure its secrecy is maintained and provide satisfactory information to
PETRONAS that this requirement is met.
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Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This PTS provides the technical requirements for the design of closed loop cooling water
system for upstream and downstream facilities based on PETRONAS lesson learnt and best
practices. Cooling water system is an important utility and its reliability is critical to successful
facilities operation.
1.1 SCOPE
1.1.1 This PTS covers the design requirements of the closed loop cooling water systems for heat
rejection from process, utilities and equipment for upstream and downstream application. It
also includes the water quality requirement that is required for an effective and reliable utility.
Refer to PTS 00.01.03 for PTS Requirements, General Definition of Terms, Abbreviations &
Reading Guide.
No Definition Description
For upstream, typically once-through seawater is used as the cold
1 Heat Sink
stream to absorb the heat collected by the circulating cooling water
from the end users
For downstream, final heat sink can be either once through
seawater, open evaporative cooling or air fin cooler end user heat
exchangers (process coolers).
Table 1.1: Definition of Terms
No Abbreviation Description
No Abbreviation Description
2.1.1 A closed loop water system provides a stable supply of cooling water at the required
temperature and flow rate to process, utility and equipment heat exchangers. The cooling
water is drawn by circulation pumps from an expansion vessel or cooling water tank and
distributed to the end-user’s heat exchangers (process coolers). The hot cooling water is then
passed through the final heat sink (e.g. once through seawater cooling, cooling tower, and fin-
fan cooler) where heat is removed. The cooling water then returns to the expansion vessel for
recirculation.
2.1.2 The main components in a closed loop cooling water system are:
i. The expansion vessel; used as a buffer tank to incorporate the expansion of water
when it is heated up to prevent increase in pressure and surge in volume. To
ensure that the water quality is good, the fresh water should be treated and
stored in a tank before entering the closed loop cooling water system.
ii. Circulation pumps;
iii. Heat sink
iv. pipework and control systems for distribution of the cooling water to individual
end users;
v. slipstream filter;
vi. chemical injection system
2.2.1 Closed loop cooling water systems are designed for high temperature cooling systems
(temperature more than 20⁰C above ambient) and chiller applications (temperature below
ambient).
2.2.2 The closed loop cooling water system for hazardous end-users should be located in hazardous
area. In case of the closed loop cooling water system for hazardous end-users are located in
non-hazardous area, flammable and toxic gas detection shall be provided to detect the
migration of flammable and toxic substances to non-hazardous area.
2.2.3 The closed loop cooling water system is designed to ensure uninterrupted supply of cooling
during maintenance of the system components and to achieve the specified degree of
reliability and availability.
The reliability required to achieve continuous operation can be provided in several ways:
i. Spare makeup and water circulating pump(s) are provided to assure continuous
operation.
ii. Different types of drivers are specified for the supply or water circulating pumps.
Motor-driven pumps are supplied from two different buses on a secondary
selective electrical distribution system.
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iii. Holdup volume is provided in the expansion vessel to permit an orderly shutdown
of process units if the makeup water supply is lost or a failure occurs in any part
of the recirculated cooling water system.
iv. Valves, blinds and bypasses are provided to permit individual components to be
removed from the system for maintenance while the system is operating.
v. Construction materials provided for cooling water facilities are designed for long-
term corrosion resistance, since maintenance work is often difficult (if not
impossible) to schedule without a shutdown
2.2.4 For upstream, seawater is typically used to cool down the closed loop cooling water. Other
type of medium such as air and refrigerant can also be added to reduce the seawater
circulation rate while maintaining the maximum disposal temperature limit.
2.2.5 For downstream application, once through cooling using seawater, open evaporative cooling
and air fin cooler are typically considered as final heat sink for the closed loop cooling water.
Selection of the heat sink cooler is based on the techno-economics justification.
2.3.1 The following water quality shall be used for these types of closed loop system:
i. For closed loop cooling water system with outlet temperature of more than 20⁰C
than inlet, the system shall be operated with twin bed demineralised water as
minimum requirement as feedwater.
ii. For chiller systems operating at less than ambient temperature, potable water
may be used as the cooling medium.
2.3.2 The minimum requirement for feed water quality shall be output quality of twin bed
demineralized water system.
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2.3.3 The recirculating water quality shall be maintained as Table 2.2 to achieve the target KPIs as
per Table 2.3.
2.3.4 A proper monitoring programme shall be in place to ensure all monitoring parameters are
within the control limit to achieve all the KPIs in Table 2.3.
2.3.5 Seawater for heat sink cooler shall be treated for macro fouling and strainer size should be
maximum 250 microns.
2.3.6 To avoid freezing in a liquid filled cooling medium system, the following two options are
possible:
i. The cooling medium shall have a freezing point of at least 5oC below the minimum
ambient temperature.
ii. Cooling medium with freezing point above minimum ambient conditions may only
be selected subject to approval by Owner. An evaluation of consequences
(operating and maintenance of a large number of heat trace circuits, filling and
drainage requirements, use of corrosion inhibitor and other chemicals in the
cooling circuit) shall be performed.
2.3.7 In cold climates and freezing process conditions, an antifreeze such as ethylene glycol or tri-
ethylene glycol (typically 30 % concentration by weight) should be considered. Methanol can
also be considered due to its lower temperature properties.
2.3.8 Glycol and methanol are hazardous chemicals. Appropriate precautions shall be incorporated
into designs to ensure the safety of personnel involved in handling and operations. Refer PTS
16.52.03.
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2.4.1 The closed loop cooling water system shall be designed to remove the maximum combined
heat load from the end-users at specified maximum heat sink temperature requirement prior
to disposal.
2.4.2 The closed loop cooling water system design should allow connecting future end-users
without shut-down of the main loop.
2.4.3 The system design shall allow the system to be drained and filled/ topped-up with fresh feed
water make-up without shut-down for the full range from maximum to minimum ambient
temperatures defined for the location.
2.4.4 Adequate number of vent valves, drain valves and block valves shall be provided for safe
operation and maintenance of some part of the system without shut-down of the main loop.
2.4.5 Solar radiation or sub-zero temperatures shall not result in loss of containment or damage of
system equipment and components, therefore, adequate winterizing measures shall be
provided. Refer PTS 16.53.01.
2.4.6 Material selection and corrosion protection study shall be conducted to maintain the required
cooling water quality such that the design life of the closed loop cooling water system can be
achieved. Special fit-for-purpose material selection for piping and heat exchanger shall be
considered when using sea water as the heat sink medium. For material selection, refer to PTS
15.04.01.
2.4.7 The system shall be designed in such a way that water hammer is avoided at pump start up
and shut down such that the system, including pressure relief device e.g. rupture discs (if any),
can withstand the maximum water hammer pressure.
2.4.8 For upstream application, closed loop cooling water systems shall be connected to a flare
system to cater for tube leak/ rupture from high pressure end-users. Hydrocarbon detector
shall be provided on the expansion vessel to detect potential process gas leak.
2.4.9 Flow, pressure and temperature measurements shall be provided for performance
monitoring.
2.4.10 Operating pressure of the closed loop cooling water shall be maintained high enough to
prevent the onset of boiling. The cooling water outlet pressure i.e. cooling water outlet of end
user heat exchanger shall be taken as the measure which must equal or exceed the pressure
required to suppress boiling and higher than:
i. the cooling water vapour pressure/ saturation pressure at the maximum
exchanger process/ hot side inlet temperature, to ensure that the cooling water
does not boil during low flow or turndown conditions; and
ii. the seawater pressure, to prevent potential seawater contamination of the
closed cooling water due to leak at the cooling water heat sink.
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Selection of Heat Exchangers type used for end-user is excluded in this PTS.
iv. The following instruments shall be in place for a closed loop cooling water system:
Location Instrument Action
2.10 MISCELLANEOUS
2.10.1 Filtration
Design requirements of filtration as below:
i. Suitable inlet strainers shall be provided to equipment that requires protection
from large particles.
ii. If PCHE is used as the end-user heat exchanger, inlet strainers shall be connected
to short pipe spools adjoining the heat exchangers as close to the exchanger inlet
as possible. Pressure drop monitors across each strainer shall form part of the
instrumentation set-up to confirm the integrity of the strainer (mesh) and
indicative of the level of fouling/particulate build up. This shall be independent
from additional pressure drop monitors across each heat exchanger. The heat
exchanger vendor shall be consulted regarding filtration grade.
iii. Slip stream filtration shall be provided from the circulation pump discharge.
Location of the SSF vessel should be as close as possible to enable return of the
SSF outlet to the expansion tank. The recommended SSF type would be of the
cartridge type.
iv. Filtration flow shall be maintained between 3 to 5% of the main loop flow.
Typically for upstream, the filtration flow should be 10% of main loop flow. Higher
flows clean up more quickly and the flow can be turned down for continuing
operational polishing.
v. A spare filter with filter elements which can be replaced while the closed loop
cooling water system is in operation should be provided.
vi. The filtering efficiency of the elements should be around 95 – 98% at 1 – 10 micron
particle size – the better the filtration, the cleaner the system will be and the
lower the ‘wear and tear’.
vii. The filter isolation valves shall allow service without disturbing operation of the
rest of the closed loop cooling water system.
viii. A pressure-differential indicator shall be provided to indicate fouling.
ix. Temporary strainer shall be used for all pre-start up activities. Connections on the
main supply or return line shall be provided for the connection of temporary
filters that can pass a large part or all the circulating cooling water during pre-
commissioning and commissioning phase.
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iii. Cooling water chemical must be suitable for the full temperature range between
ambient and maximum exchanger process / hot side inlet temperature. Chemicals
that are prone to thermal breakdown or can form scale below the heat exchanger
design temperature shall be avoided.
iv. The chemical treatment programme sourced from a Supplier shall have evidence
of proven track record. Deploying such a programme shall require approval from
the TA.
v. A chemical dosing skid with chemical tank, dosing pumps and chemical injection
facilities shall be provided
vi. The dosing skid shall be designed for safe dosing of chemicals, minimizing
operator exposure to these chemicals.
vii. If permanently installed dosing pumps are required, these shall be selected
according PTS 12.11.01.
viii. One spare dosing pump should be installed.
ix. Higher concentration of corrosion inhibitor by 50% to 60% more than normal
dosage shall be applied for passivation during initial commissioning and re-
passivation after Turnaround.
2.10.6 Piping
i. Piping shall meet the requirements of PTS 12.30.02.
ii. The piping routing and lay-out shall avoid sections of piping where flow can be
stagnant (dead zones) to minimise areas were biological activity can proliferate
and biocide is ineffective due to the no-flow condition.
iii. Isolation valves shall be provided at the process equipment and filter to allow
isolation and maintenance without shutdown of the whole cooling water system.
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3.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY