Reliable and Safe Hydro processing

Operation
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Topics of Discussion:
- Ammonium Bisulfide Corrosion
- Water Injection Design
- Monitoring
- More on Chlorides (or Other Halides)
- Intermittent Wash Guidelines
- Water Quality for Continuous Injection
- Inspection Methods and Guidelines
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Ammonium Bisulfide Corrosion
NH3 + H 2S NH4HS
- Generally will precipitate at around 65°C; tube metal
sets deposition temperature
- Add water to prevent plugging from the NH4HS salts
- Resulting water solution is corrosive
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Ammonium Bisulfide Corrosion (Cont’d)
- Will have a concentration gradient across the tube due
to temperature dependence of dissolved NH3
- Oxygen, cyanides, and chlorides promote NH4HS
corrosion
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Basic Design
- Velocities
· < 20 fps for CS tubes and piping
· < 30 fps for Inco tubes and piping
· Minimum velocity ~10 fps- annular flow

- Maintain adequate quantity of injection water

· Ensure 25% unvaporized at inlet
· Maintain ammonium bisulfide below target
· Injection nozzles above minimum
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Basic Design (Cont’d)
- Use long radius elbows
- Inlet ferrules, ~6 inch, tapered - 304 or 316 SS
- Injection nozzles
- Above 3% ammonium bisulfide prefer individual injection,
although single point OK if inlet piping is symmetrical
- Require individual flow meters and controls
- Have had success with V-cone meters
- Recommend full cone spray patterns (120 degrees)
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Monitoring

- Calculate NH4HS from feed and product samples-

weekly
- Calculate velocity - continuous
- Calculate water vaporization at the inlet - continuous
- Sample sour water to confirm NH4HS calculations -
maybe a couple times a year
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Monitoring (Cont’d)
- IR scan inlet to each bank to help ensure sufficient water is
injected at each location. Temperatures should be within 3°C of
each other.
- Monitor chlorides in feed and hydrogen make-up. Sour water
would be nice but a tough sample to get. High chlorides may
cause corrosion at the inlet before ammonia is dissolved in the
water. Objective is to keep Cl- in vapor phase below 3 ppm.
- Watch pressure drop buildup
 Reactor Air Cooler
· More on Chlorides (or Other Halides)
- NH4Cl salts can drop out at ~200°C (even higher),
upstream of water injection
- Most watch delta P from reactor outlet to separator. If
DP builds ~50% of normal intermittent wash is
necessary.
- Also, should watch for loss of heat transfer (i.e., drop in
steam product or increase in outlet temperatures)
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Intermittent Wash Guidelines
- Divert the full main continuous water injection to the
upstream exchanger location
· A good idea is to size the pump to insure that the 25%
unvaporized rule is maintained - although not always
possible
- If the 25% unvaporized rule cannot be kept, switch to
condensate and remove polysulfides
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Intermittent Wash Guidelines (Cont’d)
- Bring water in slowly to prevent thermal shock
- Injection nozzles recommended
- Positive shutoff of the water is critical when
intermittent wash is not in use
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Intermittent Wash Guidelines (Cont’d)
- Wash only when needed based on monitoring
observations
- Wash long enough to insure all residual salt has been
removed
· Experience suggest in the 6 to 8 hour range
- Inspection and flushing of any deadlegs downstream of
the wash is necessary to remove any accumulated,
highly corrosive wet salts
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Wash Water Quality for Continuous Injection
O2 <15 ppb, If No Polysulfide <50 ppb
pH 8 – 10
Fe < 1 ppm, 0.2 ppm Preferred
H2S <1000 ppm, <100 ppm Preferred, 50 ppm Minimum
NH3 <1000 ppm, Soft Limit
Cl <50 ppm, < 10 ppm Preferred
Ca <1 ppm
Phenol None Detectable
TDS < 250 ppm
Maximum Temperature 50°C
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Inspection Frequency Guidelines
NH4HS 3–8 Wt % 8+ Wt %
Material CS Incoloy 825, 300 Series or
2205 S.S.
Tubes Longer of Every C/O or Yearly 10% of the Tubes Every
5 – 10 Years
Inlet/Outlet Every Year 5 Years for Alloy
Piping 1 Year for CS
Sour Water RT Flashing & Turbulent Area RT Flashing & Turbulent Areas
2 Years 2 Years
Injection Piping Around Injection Points 3 Years Around Injection Points 3 Years
Piping 5 Years; RT and/or UT Piping 5 Years; RT and/or UT
 Reactor Air Cooler
· Tube Inspection
- Hydroblast and modified eddy current
- Use a qualified contractor
- Tubes with greater than 30% wall loss consider plugging
- Retube after 25% are plugged