Engineered Solutions for

Catofin® Applications

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SIBN ZAHR; 1 Jubail, Saudi Arabia

IBN SINA; Jubail Saudi Arabia

Texas Petrochemicals; Houston, Texas, USA

Pemex; Coatzacoalcos, Mexico

Brunei, Borneo; Royal Dutch Shell/Japan Gasoline Co.

Dugas; Abu Dhabi

Global Octanes; Deer Park, Texas, USA

Tasnee; Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Advanced Petrochemicals; Jubail, Saudi Arabia

Petrologistics; Houston, Texas, USA

IBN Zahr 2; Jubail, Saudi Arabia

Tianjin Bohua Petrochemical Tianjin, PR China

Super Octanos; Barcelona Venezuela

Significant Projects

Significant Projects

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Houston, Texas USA

The project is currently the largest propane dehydrogenation plant in the

world with 137 expansion joints supplied by Senior Flexonics Pathway in an

expedited time frame.

Randy Miller, P.E., Vice president of Engineering had this to say about the project:

“Due to market conditions, there was strong motivation to construct the facility

in the shortest time frame... SFP was chosen because of their engineering expertise, experience with Catofin® applications, good quality and last but not least, their capacity to manage such a project and deliver on a tight schedule...

Petrologistics is more than pleased with Senior Flexonics Pathway. They are a

good supplier with a depth of engineering talent that is necessary for the design

of extreme service expansion joints and a demonstrated capacity for large project

execution.”

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Back bevel, plug welding & special insulation geometry

The Catofin® process has a number

of expansion joints which are are

purged. This is typically accomplished by

injecting purge gas through the 8 purge

ports at a pressure above the system

operating pressure. This floods all of

the internal spaces with purge gas and prevents formation of hard coke which can

permanently damage the expansion joint

bellows and other internal components.

Liners must be designed for high flow velocities,

mechanical loading and thermal stresses. Structurally

sound liner design is utilized to accommodate vibration and

buffeting from high velocity media flow. The traditional

liner attachment method has proven to be inadequate for

high temperature Catofin service. For Catofin service a

very robust liner attachment method is used to insure

long term success.

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More than 150 expansion in each unit

2-Ply testable bellows

321H Bellows (annealed after forming)

321H Pipe and liners

T309 Liner seals

Internal insulation to keep the bellows temperature below the creep range

External insulation to optimize the bellows temperature and protect against weather effects

Slotted hinges for weight support

Movement indicators

Shipping bars to secure the length during shipping

The two most common types of expansion joints in

Catofin® service are in the inlet and outlet headers.

Shown here is an Inlet Header expansion joint in the Regen Air

System. This type of expansion joint operates at approximately

at 700 o C (media temp) with 140 m/sec flow velocity.

Design features incorporated in this unit are:

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Dubai

After 15 years of successful service, several

expansion joints at the Dugas plant needed

repairs. In 2010, SFP worked with Dugas to de-

velop a repair plan for these expansion joints. SFP

supplied bellows, monitoring equipment, insulation

and other hardware to upgrade the existing expan-

sion joints. SFP, along with our local partner Yusuf

Bin Ahmed Kanoo, provided a field service team

consisting of supervisors and welders to perform

the in-situ refurbishment of the expansion joints.

As with any large field operation, unexpected

challenges were encountered. With SFP’s elite

field service personnel and local partners, these

challenges were overcome and the expansion

joints were successfully repaired.

Today, SFP is the world leader in the design and fabrication of expansion joints for the Catofin®

processes and will continue to provide solutions to

meet our customer’s needs.

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Jubail, Saudi Arabia

SEPC has a unit for production of ethylene and propylene and

they unite for the production of polyethylene, and propylene.

The Company’s annual production capacity is one million tons of

ethylene, 285.000 tons of propylene and 400.000 tons of high

density polyethylene (HDPE), and 400.000 tons of low density

polyethylene (LDPE).

Production of ethylene/propylene goes back to August 2008, and

production of HDPE started in November 2008, and that of LPDE

in March 2009. The polyethylene plants are the largest of their

kind worldwide.

All expansion joints were supplied by Senior Flexonics Pathway.

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FEA Shown here is what we call the double expanded pipe, a special transition

shape that is essential for Catofin applications. Thermal stress is the main

consideration because there is a very large temperature gradient between the

first expansion and the bellows attachment from 650 o C to 288 o C. FEA

studies are used to fully evaluate transitions that are used for Catofin service.

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Thermal stress

The stress analysis model considers the effect of

both differential thermal expansion and internal

pressure. The maximum stress in the model is below the

CBI Lummus thermal stress limit. The low stress was achieved by using double expanded pipe. The same model with single expanded pipe will have a stress that exceeds the CBI Lummus stress limit. There are very few

alternatives and the double expanded pipe is the best

solution to satisfy the thermal stress limits.

The model shown here was created

to match the actual geometry of an

operating Catofin® expansion joint. Material

properties are based on empirical data

and are temperature dependent. A heat

transfer analysis was performed to find the

temperature at each node in the model. The

HT analysis considers radiation, conduction,

and convection. The temperature plot

shows a much lower temperature at the

bellows attachment. The large temperature

difference produces thermal stress in the

pipe. The nodal temperatures are transferred

to the stress analysis model.

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GCreep range

SFP has performed extensive high temperature cycle testing

which has resulted in the development of proprietary design and manufacturing processes. Above is a test fixture which was

developed for a major Engineering firm to perform analysis on

bellows operating in the creep range, the range of temperatures

that exist in Catofin service.Catofin® is a registered trademark of CBI Lummus

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E Emergency response team

For over 40 years Senior Flexonics Pathway’s reputation has been built on the ability to exceed client expectation

on “Emergency requirements”. Our best performance is

same day shipment. Emergencies happen… when they do,

we are ready to respond to your needs. Senior Flexonics

Pathway’s culture is molded around our ability to deliver

expedited shipments. Manufacturing redundancies, 24 hour

staffing and a client response team of customer service,

engineering and production personnel on-call 24 hours a

day 365 days a year will continue to be a Senior Flexonics

Pathway exclusive.

Over the years, Senior Flexonics Pathway

has provided our customers with on-

site services comparable to none. Our field

service group consists of highly-qualified

technicians and engineers specialized in

solving expansion joint installation problems.

As a leader in our industry, we are confident you will find the most efficient work force to meet your field expansion joint

requirements.

Senior Flexonics Pathway2400 Longhorn Industrial DriveNew Braunfels, Texas 78130P: 830.629.8080 F: 830.629.6899

sfpathway.com

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