Hydrocarbon Engineering Mayo 2014 Vol 19 05

7/21/2019 Hydrocarbon Engineering Mayo 2014 Vol 19 05

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ROC RBON

NGIN RING

http hiq.linde g s .com



-

,....

~

•

,

•

ontents

(03) Comment

(05)

WorLd News

Contract awards. project updates. industry latest, news digest,

diary

dates. mergers and acquisitions

(12) Hydrocarbons in Sub-Saharan Africa

Elizabeth Ste

ph ens,

Jardine Lloyd Thompson, UK,

discusses

risk

and

the protection of

investments in Sub-Saharan Afr ica

(20)

I<eep

up

the

pace

Mark Schott and NeH Eckersley, UOP

LLC.

A Honeywelt

Company, explain

why

rapid project deployment is needed

to ensure

the

oil and gas industry keeps up with shale

product ion levels

(25) (EMS compliance

Eric

WHey and

Hung-Ming

Sung. Trinity Consultants,

USA.

and

Arun Kanchan, Trinity Consultants, Qatar, discuss best practice

in emissions monitoring

(30) Driving refining change: Part two

Stephen Harrison, linde,

USA,

takes a look at how

automotive

emissions legislation and

the

drive

for

energy sustainability

are impacting the refining industry

(37)

Slime control

Taeko Nakamura, Kurita

Water

Industries Ltd., Japan, and Bjorn

Hansen, Kurita Europe GmbH. Germany. discuss slime control

as a biofouling preventative measure

(44) Middle East flaring solution

Clayton

A.

Francis. Zeeco, USA, discusses how high pressure

air assist system flaring technology can resolve the challenges

posed by a

Middle

Eastern environment

(51) A catalyst solution

Patrick Gripka, Opinder Bhan, Wes Whitecotton and James

Esteban. Criterion Catalysts and Technologies, USA, take a

look

at

Tier 3 capital avoidance

with

the help

of

ca

taly

st

solutions

Join

the

. W

conversation. follow

I_._

conned

fm.

like join

--

..,..

(57) Formulation flexibility

Charles Radcliffe. Tom Ventham and

Ra

y Fletcher, Johnson

Matthey

Process Technologies In

c.,

Europe, discuss

continuous catalyst replacement as a means to increased

profitability

(63) Accelerated catalyst evaluation

Florian Huber.

Sven

K. Weber. Jochen Berg. Tilman Sauer and

Alfred Haas, hte GmbH, Germany. and Karl Hutter, Anton

Purgstaller,

OMV

Refining Marketing GmbH, Austria. discuss

how

hydroprocessing full size

commercial

catalyst evaluation

can

be accelerated

for

improved

efficiency

(69) It's electric

Roly Juliano, Watlow, Germany, di

sc

usses the use

of

electric

heaters in refineries and petrochemical plants

(74) Upwards spiral

Stefan Gavelin and Volker Beermann, Tranter GmbH, discuss

how spiral heat exchangers can help to maximise throughput

of

profitable products, and minimise operating expenditures

(81) Beyond basic efficiency

Bart van den Berg. HeatMatrix Group. The Netherlands,

discusses how polymer air preheaters can contribute to

improved energy efficiency

(85) Right temperature

Anton Gurman,

BARTEC

Rus GmbH, Russia , discusses

temperature management in crude

oil

terminals

(87)

Simplicity is key

Chris

Jame

s

SKF

Condition

Monitoring

, Asia Pacific, discusses

advances and challenges

to

wirele

ss condition

monitoring

for

balance of plant equipment

(91) Maintenance review 1

Hydrocarbon ngineering

provides an overvi ew of

maintenance projects undertaken around the wo rld over the

past

12

months

(120) 15 facts on ..

This

month

we give you 15 facts on Sub-Saharan Africa

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omment

I

can't

be

denied that the oil and

gas

industry is male dominated and

casting your eye around any trade

show,

conference or

works

pace

will

confirm

this. Occupations w ithin our industry, and engineering

as a whole, have

always

been considered as male career paths,

however

, is the industry losing out by not tapping

into

a large

portion

of

the talent pool and does more need to

be

done

to

draw

women

to

the sector? Ive

asked

myself these questions frequently

over the last month or so as there

has

been

an influx

of comments and

reports on the oil and

gas

gender gap. female employment and the

gene

ral position

of

women

in

the oil and

gas

industry.

A recent report from

NES

Global Talent

was

initially encouraging

as

it

reported that 75% of women felt welcome working

in

the oil and

gas

industry' and

it

also found that '82 of the respondents planned to

stay

in

the

oil

and

gas

industry

for

the next 2 - 5 years.' The

IHS

report

Minority and

Female

mployment in the Oil Gas an Petrochemical

Industries

stated that 'women will share

in

the growth of more skilled

wh ite collar jobs and more opportunities are likely

to

become

av

ailable

for

female petroleum engineers. managers

et

e. and is expected

to

increase

by

almost 70 000

up

to 2030' a

nd

this wa s

also

heartening

new

s

As

the discussion of the

skills

gap continues,

it

is

great

to

see that

there is enthusiasm and growth potential

for

women to enter and bu i

ld

a career within such a male dominated sector that is in need of support

and

fresh

recruits.

However, there

is still work

to

be

done

if

the oil and

gas

industry

is to att

ra

ct and retain women. The NES report found that almost

half of the female respoodents didn 't believe that they got the same

contact info

Claira LLoyd Editor

recognition

as

male colleagues, also. the

lack

of female mentors

was flagged as

something that the industry needs

to

rectify if it is to guarantee female employee

retention. career development

an

d

confidence.

The IHS

report also pointed

out that there are roles within the industry

that are

known

as

'traditional' female jobs

and t

hey

usually fall in to the O

ffi

ce and Administration Support (OAS)

departments. This can deter women

fr

om explori

ng

other careers

in

the

sector and clearly needs to

be

rectified. Ave r

il

Macdonald.

Professor

of Science

Engagement

, Unive rsity of Reading, UK . said, 'oil

and

gas

sector companies should focus on engaging with young women both

at school and at university,

providing

role models and

an

opportunity

to see

for

themselves what the sector

has to

offer through visits

and

paid internships.'

The female portion of the oil and

gas

industry is

eVidently

strong,

but

sma ll

,

as discuss

ed above and Ido agree with report

findings

that

more needs to

be

done

to

allow t

he

industry

to

bene

fit fr

om the

seas

of

female talent that are

availab

le.

The

next steps to take,

in

my

opinion, reqUire the

issue

of worker equality to be addressed

and

a

stronger leadership and support network needs to be developed within

companies. However, the foundations

to

att

ra

ct female students to

STEM subjects at school and university need to be laid first, so that

these talents are brought into and made available to our

industry

in the

first

place.

MANAGING EDITOR

lames Little

james.little@hydrocarbonengineerin g.com

WEB

MANAGER Tom fullerton

tom.fullerton@hyd rocarbonengineering .

com

EDITOR

Clairil Lloyd

cla ir

a.lloyd

@hydrocarbonengineerin g.com

WEB

EDITOR

Callum O'Reilly

callum.oreilly@

hydroca rb

onengineering.com

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Emm Mc

Aleilv.y

emma.mcaleavey@hydrocarbonengineering

.com

CIRCULATION MANAGER Victoria McConne ll

victor

ia.mccon

n

[email protected]

Palladian Publications .

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rldnews

Pak istan GROWING G SOLINE DEM ND

U

P l l a Honeywell company has

announced that Pakistan Refinery

limited

(PRL)

will use process

technology and modular equipment

from

Honeywell

's UOP to

help

PRL meet

growing

domestic demand

for

gasoline.

The

technology will

help

PRL

convert

naphtha which

it

currently exports to

high octane gasoline. PRL will

use

Honeywelt

's UOP Penex ' process

technology to produce isomerate a high

value gasoline blending component. The

use of isomerate wi ll also help PRL's

efforts to

produce environmentally

friendlier fuels

that

enable reduced

passenger car emissions.

Refinery process units are usually

built

in

the field

by

third party

engineering, procurements and

construction companies. UOP modular

units are built at an offsite fabrication

shop where adverse weather and wind

conditions do not

cause

delays. The

modular units are fully inspected prior

to

del ivery

to

the customer

to

help

ensure quality and compliance to

specifications.

Redu

ced onsite

installation time can potentially result in

earlier start up, further optimising

customer pro ject economies.

UOP

offers modularised

eqU

ipment

for

refining, petrochemical and gas

processing units. The offer ing provides

single point responsibility for

dependable project execution in a

variety

of

applications.

In addition to licenSing the modular

equipment, UOP will provide catalyst,

adsorbent. engineering, technical

support and a drier regeneration control

system

for

extended catalyst life

for

PRL's

Penex unit, which will process

S bpd

of

light naphtha. The unit

is

expected to start by mid 2015.

Metso

DOUBLE NNOUNCEMENT

C

ntral valve specialist Severn

Glocon is using Metso's

intelligent

positioners

to help meet

demanding anti

surge valve

requirements

for a natural

gas

liqUids (NGL) project. The

two firms

wo rked collaboratively

to overcome

technical

challenges, such as ensuring

the valves opened in less than one

second following

receipt of

signal.

Customisat ion of Metso 's Neles

N D

positioners

enhanced

reliability

and repeatability

of

performance.

enabling valves to

meet

rigorous in factory

testing

and

calibration requirements.

Escalating

operational

demands

in

the

NGL sector are

driving more

sophisticated approaches

to

valve

calibration. Accessories such as smart

positioners

need to be fine

tun

ed

for

optimum

performance. This requires

dedicated expertise and intelligent

engineering.

The anti surge application is crUCial

for

successful and safe compressor

operation. A surge can occur when

process

flow

momentari ly reverses due

to

pressure instability. This can damage

eqUipment,

potentially

creating a

hazardo

us

situation and resulting in

costly plan t downtime. To avoid this, a

highly engineered anti surge control

valve

is

installed between the discharge

of

the compressor and the inlet.

Metso

has also announced that its

biomass moisture analyser has received

the

esteemed iF design award

in

one

of

the world's

top product

design

competitions. The jury recognised the

product for

its design quality, degree

of

innovation, env

iro

nmental impact,

functionality. safety and branding,

among others.

CB&I CONTR CTS

W RDED

C

&I has been awarded a contract

valued in excess

of USS

100 million

by Enterprise Products Partners L.P. The

project

scope

will

include pipe

fabrication for new propane

dehydrogenation

unit

in Mont Belvieu.

Texas.

The company has experience

of

successfully prov iding pipe fabr ication

projects along

the

Gulf Coast. and this

award builds

on that

experience.

C8&1

has also been awarded a

contract by Bechtel valued in excess

of

USS

625

million

to

provide

structural,

mechanical and piping construction

work for

all

outside

battery limits

modules and associated units

for

the

Chevron

operated

Wheatstone

project

in Ashburton North, Western Australia.

CB&I has

a 75 year history in Australia

and has an

excellent

safety

performance and LNG record.

Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum

Industries Company

(ORPIC)

has also

awarded a contract to CB&I. The

contract is valued

in

excess of

USS

40 million

and

is for

the provision

of ethylene technology

and

front

end

engineering and design services fo r the

Liwa Plastics project in the Sultanate

of Oman.

CB l's project scope includes

FEED

services

for

a grassroots

800

000 tpy

ethylene plant

, pygas unit, MTBE and

butene 1 unit,

two polymer

plants. a

gas plant

and pipeline as well as the

related off sites and utilities. The

ethylene plant wi

ll

employ

CB I's

latest, proven ethylene technology,

including highly selective SRTo

cracking heaters and its innovative

recovery section deSign, featuring

low

pressure separation and mixed

refrigeration to minimise investment

costs.

HYDROCARBON



INBRIEF

WORLDWIDE

The llnde Group has entered into

an en

terprise framewo rk agreement

EF

A)

with Shell Global

Solutions

International B.V.

to

build ethane cracking

untts

on

a global basis. The EFA is for

10 years ,

with

an option to be

extended.

The EFA covers

th

e licensing, engineering,

procurement and construction ser

vic

es,

as

well as the supply

of

proprietary

equipment of ethane cracking units.

BELGIUM

Marie

Tecnimont.s [ l

.A

has

announced

that its subsidiary KinetiCS echnology

S.p.A. has been awarded

by

Total

Olefins Antwerpen

two

contracts for

the implementat ion

of

the refinery off

gas (ROG) project

at

Total

s

Antwerp

refinery. The overall value of the

two cont

ra

cts will be approximately

€

190

million .

CANADA

ENN Canada has ach

ieved

an

important

miles ton as the company fueled up

the lOOO,h customer at ENN s new LNG

stat ion In Ch dl iwack .

The

fuelling sta t ion

S located on one

of

the busiest trucking

corndors In British Co lombia., Highway 1

GERMANY

Curtlss-Wright Corporation

has

announced that Its industr ial div is ion

has opened a new office near Munich

to

provide

sales

and technical support

and customer servles to its OEM

customers and distributors

In

Europe.

The move follows Curtiss-Wright s recent

acquisitions

of

Arens Controls, PG Driv

es

Technology and Wllliams Contorls: and

the merging

of

its existing

Penny +

Giles

busi ness i

nt

o a newly formed Industrial

group.

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

.

rldnews

Malaysia

I SEVEN

YE R

GLOB L GREEMENT

G

ha

s Signed a

new

seven year

global frame

agreement w

ith

Petronas, The agreement,

which

in

cludes

an

opt

i

on

to

renew

for

a

further three years, calls for GE to

supply

gas turbine packages for

Petronas

onshore

and

offshore

projects in Malaysia and elsewhere.

The signing follows the

successful

completion o f the

firs t

frame agreement between GE

and

Petronas Signed in 2009, under

which GE

provided advanced

turbo

compression and tu rbo generation

technology for Petronils LNG train 9

project

in

Bintu

lu,

Sa

rawak.

Another

major

milestone was the award

of

Petronas

floating

LNG

project,

which

is

targeted

to be the

world s

first offshore

LNG

plant.

Designed

to produce 1 mi1tion tpy

of

LNG, the

sta

rtup

o f

the facility

is

scheduled

for

2016.

To optimise

project deadlines

and

reduce

costs, all

te r

ms and

conditions

under

the

agreement have

been

negotiated for the duration o f

the relationship

, avoiding t he need

to negotiate on

a

project

by

project

basis. The

equipment

supplied

is

also

standardised whenever

applicable

so

that specifications, techn ical

solu ti ons and

documentation

are

shared ,

resulting

in lower

engineering costs

and

quality

improvement

s.

Ch ina

I MEETING

GROWING DEM ND

H

neywell has announced

that

PetroChina Company Limited will

expand the use

of

Honeywell advanced

information

management and process

modelling software

tools

to

17

additional refining and petrochemical

sites across China, to help meet the

country s growing demand

for

chemicals and transportation fuels.

PetroChina currently uses Honeywell s

information solutions at

13

locations.

Honeywell s Refining and

Petrochemical

Modeling

Sys tem

(RPMS

) and its Intuition-

Executive advanced

information

management software

will

give

PetroChina plant operators

the

ability

to

monitor

opera tions across its entire

organisation to help provide the real

t

ime information they

need

to better

improve the

profitability

and effiCiency

of thei r plants,

Schneider Elect ric I CYBERSECURITY

C P BILITY

S

chneider Electric and McAfee are

partnering to provide cybersecuri ty

solutions for the

utility

and critical

infras tructure market. This

collaboration will enable Schneider

Electric customers

to

add tested and

centr ified application white listing

capabilities in the management of core

offerings in water, oil and

gas

, electric

networks and transportation

infrastructures. This wi l l strengthen

cu

tomers

operations technology (OT)

securi ty and l

owe

r ownership costs

without sig nificantly impacting the

performance of cri t ical solutions. The

supported

portfolio

of products

includes leading SCADA and energy

management solutions.

The partnership will allow Schneider

Electric customers to combine dynamic

whitelisting capabilities

and

change

cont

ro l technology to

ensu

re that only

trusted applications run on critical

infrastructure systems.



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INBRIEF

UJ(

Lontra has secured

the

first global license

for Its

Blade Compressor- technology.

The deal signed with Sulzer. will see

aeration equipment incorporating the

British technology sold across

150 countries. The Blade Compressor s

nov

el

des ign means the compact double

acting rotary compressor is simple to

manufacture.

GERMANY

Clanant and Ashland Inc , have announced

that they

ha

ve entered into a definitive

agreement to sell their joint venture, ASK

Chemicals head quartered

In

Hilden. The

venture is bemg sold

to In

ves

tment

funds

affiliated with Rhone, a pnvate equity

Investment fi

rm

.

EL SALVADOR

Intertek has acquired a petroleum

test i

ng

laboratory

in

El Salvador. The lab

acquisition provides a

test

ing solution

to local and regional businesses

In

and around l Salvador. tntertek has

purchased the laboratory, which is

strategICally located i

ns

ide

the

AcaJutla

RASA terminal.

SCOTLAND

Petrofac Training Services ha s celebrated

the offici

al

reopening of its Montrose fire

and emergency response training facil ity

m Scotland followi

ng

a

£ 1.5

million

upgrade. Tramees will benefit from

the

most realistic and credible fire tra ining

at

one of

the world s most advanced

oil and gas training centres . The 16

acre site includes nine

state of

the art

training modules, three hell decks and

vast practical fire grounds

to

ensure

trainees are prepared for a wide range of

emergency response scenarios.

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

~ .

rldnews

Nigeria I EXP NDING THE PRESENCE

P

entair Valves Control

has

announced its

continued

expansion

into

emerging markets with the

completion

of

a new distribution

agreement with Plant Engineering

Nigeria

PEN).

This

new

partnership

will

provide

customers

with

local service

for

Pentair's s

afety relief

valve

technology

in the Nigerian

oil

and

gas

market.

Nigeria was identified by Penta ir for

its rapid growth potential and this

partnership brings together Pentair s

global installed base with PEN s

expertise

in

the oil and gas industry

through its facilities

in

Port Harcourt,

Lagos

and

its

Houston

office,

US

.

PEN will begin

se

rvicing Pentair s

safety relief valve installed base in

the

coming months. The

two

are also

working together on a specification

sales initiative

in

the region to identify

and take advantage of the additional

opportunities

in

the local market,

supported

by Penta i

r s

experienced

product speCialists.

Lewa GmbH I

INTERN TION L COOPER TION

L

ewa

GmbH has

been awarded

a five

year globa l framework agreement by

BP to

supply Chemical Injection

Packages for BP s Global Projects

Organisation. This agreement

establishes

BP s

global project teams

(including the EPMS/EPC contractors

to

access Lewa international resources

to supply chemical injection packages.

lewa have demonstrated technica l

and commercial capabilities that

increase product quality, reliability and

drive standardisa tion within the process

packaged equipment category.

Taiwan I W TER TRE TMENT SOLUTIONS

V

olia, through its specialised oil and

gas solutions and technologies unit,

has been awarded a contract with

Formosa Petrochemical

Corporation

(FPCC).

The contract, worth

over

€ 15

million, is yet another

demonstration

of

Veolia s leading edge

in

technologies for water recycllng in the oil

and

gas

industry.

As per FP e request to e xpand the

production capacity

of its

Mai Liao

petrochemical complex, south west coast

of Taiwan, and also, further reducing its

surface water consumption, Veo

li

a will

proceed to an upgrade of

the water treatment plant of

the

complex.

This solution and the technologies

implemented

by

Veolia

on

this site

will

provide for an important decrease in raw

water consumption of the plant

(from 60 000 rn / d down to

25

000 rn / d ,

of which 5000 m

3

d of water reused),

yet

higher treatment

of

effluents and

protection of the environment in this

region ,

in

particular of a rare and unique

species

of

pink dolphins.

In

the framework of this contract,

the

result

of

a cooperation between

the

companies to

layout

the most

appropriate

te

chnology, Veolia

wil

l

design the water

treatment

plant

upgrade, supply the

technology

and

equipment and guarantee performance

on

the upgraded plant. Solutions used

at FPCC Mai Uoa site include in house

technologies such as AnoxKaldnes

MBBR (mOVing

bed bio reactor), which

maximise water reuse.

The complex

is

the

largest

in

Taiwan with a refin

in

g capaCity of

54 bpd

and

ethylene

capacity

of

2.9 mill ion tpy.



www fmctechnologies com

FMCTechnologies

We put you first

And keep you ahead



I DIARYDATES

14

-

16

May

HACE

European Corrosion Conference

San

Lorenzo

de

E

Escorial

Tel: +1

281

2286223

Email: [email protected]

18-21May

Middle East Petrotech 2014

Bahra in International Exhibition

Convention Centre

Tel:

+44

0)20 7840

2137

Email:

[email protected]

20 - 23 May

AFPM ReliabiUty Maintenance

Convention

Centre

San Antonio.

Texas. USA

Tel: 1 202

457

0480


2 - 4June

ILTA

34

t

l>

Annual Inter national Conference

Trade Show

Hilton Americas

Houston Texas, USA

Tel:

+1

703 875 2011


18 - 20 June

China International Sulphur Sulphuric

Acid 2014

The

Longemont

Hotel

Shanghai, China

Tel:

+

44 (0}20 7903 2444

Email: conferences@cr

ugroupcom

22 - 25 September

Turbomachinery Pumps Symposia

George

R

Brown Convention

Centre

Ho

u

ston

Texas. USA

Tel:

+1979 845

7417

Email:

[email protected]

.

edu

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

r

rl news

......

UK

I

2030 EMISSIONS TARGETS

C

ommenting on talks at the

European Council meeting in

Brussels,

Nicola

Walker,

CBI Director

for

Business Environment

sa

id, 'progress

towards setting an ambitious but

credible emissions reduction target of

40 for 2030

is

crucial for British

businesses

at the

European CounciL

Alongside long term reform of the

Emissions Trading System, this target

will help to deliver a more robust

carbon price at

EU

level and drive vital

investment.

'Industrial competitiveness

is

at

the

heart of the 2030 package but EU

support for energy intensive industries

must be improved to ensure low

carbon ambition translates into real

market opportunites for all sectors of

the economy.'

API IMETHANE

EMISSIONS

I

ndustry is substantially reducing

methane emissions

from

oil and

natural gas production through its own

leadership and investments, and new

regulations

would

place unnecessary

burdens on the development of

America's natural

gas,

API Director of

Regulatory and Scientific Affairs,

Howard Feldman, said in reaction to

the climate action plan released by the

White House.

'The industry has led efforts

to

reduce emissions of methane by

developing new technologies and

equipment, and recent studies show

emissions are fa r lower than EPA

projected just a few years ago.

Additional regulations are

not

necessary and could have a chilling

effect on the American energy

renaissance, our

economy

, and our

national security,' Feldman said.

'While we continue

to

make

substantial progress

to

reduce

emissions voluntarily and in

compliance with EPA emissions

standards, we're also focused on

creating jobs and growing our

economy. Thanks in large part

to

innovations like hydraulic fracturing

and horizontal drilling, America is

leading the world in producing natural

gas and

reducing greenhouse gas

emissions.

'Methane

is

natural gas

that

operators can bring

to

the market.

There

is

a

built

in incentive

to

capture

these emissions.'

APGA I

WATERS

DEFINITION

T

he Environmental Protection

Agency EPA) has

released a

proposed rulemaking redefining the

definition of the 'waters of the US

'.

T

he

new proposed definition would greatly

expand federal

as

well

as

any state's

environmental

age

ncy with delegation

from the

EPA,

jurisdiction over

previously unregulated

US

waters. The

EPA

's proposed definition of the waters

of the US is vague and the text of

definition confuses already defined

terms. This is critical because it is these

terms that determine if and what type

of reviews and permits are required

under the Clean Water Act. As

proposed, the new defin ition will add

more uncertainty and will only further

delay permitting processes while

increasing site specific determinat ions

and project costs. This proposal affects

a wide range of industries and will

definately impact any construction

activity near water features.



U Tel

+44 0)1642 553601

wwwjmprotech com

Fax +44 0)1642522542

J M

~ ]

ohnson Matthey

rocess Technologies







Kenya may prove t he exception

to

this negative

outlook

with President Uhuru Kenyatta prioritising the development of

infrastr ucture to support natural resources projects and the

cultivation of positive relationships wi

th

neighbouring states

necessary to develop the economies of scale

for

new

pipelines and refineries. Pipeline routes to export oil from

Turkana in northeastern Kenya are the subject of debate. The

consor

ti

um

has

studied

th

ree

different

pipeline routes

to

t

he

coast.

two

through Kenya and one through Tanzania's

port

in

Dar

es

Salaam. The Kenya routes, one via the existing

oil

terminal in Mombasa, the

othe

r through a yet to

be

developed

Lamu terminal, are favoured over Tanzania

as both

paths are

shor

ter

and

would

be more convenient

for

exploiting Tullow's

interests in northwestern

Kenya. The economics of

the

two

Kenyan routes depend in large part on

political

wi ll in Nairobi

to

deal either with

the

congestion in Mombasa or a

commitment to

the

necessary in frastructure build out in Lamu.

The Lamu development was a major component of Kenyatta's

2 13 presidential

election

campaign.

Legislative hurdles

Lack of government capacity and lagging regulatory reforms

wil l undermine the development of natural

gas

deposits in

Tanza

nia

and in Mozambique ahead of October's general

election. The interests of competing politica l factions are less

pronounced within Mozambique's Liberation Fr

ont

(Frelimo)

and 1

Cs

are aligned to swifter development than in

neighbouring Tanzania, but legislation

has

been delayed by a

lack

of

government capacity and uncertainty within Frelimo

about President Armando G l I e b U succession. As a

consequence, the new petroleum code

has

been blocked

along

wi t

h t he accompanying fiscal framework. The bill's

passage will remain hostage

to

a decision on Guebuza's

successor, which coul d delay the fifth offshore bid round until

after the election.

In Ta n

za

n

ia

, the country's natural

gas

policy

has

been

released and a

bid

round is underway.

While

these are

significant posit

ives,

draft natural gas legislation is unlikely

to

be passed unti the second quarter at the earliest. Bureaucratic

and po l itical inertia has caused BG and Statoil to postpone

final investment decisions. Terms of

the

production sharing

agreement (PSA) on taxation (70 - 90 ) and government profit

shares is more negative than in neighbouring Mozambique

whe re the state shares petroleum profits at a rate of 10 - 60 .

Capital gains disputes should be anticipated later in

2014

as

the respective governments try to enforce the new rules.

Local content requirements

Regula

tory wrangling, po lit ical infighting and corruption have

thwarted product ion in Uganda's

Lake

Albert and

se

r

ves

as a

warning of the challenges of developing hydrocarbons industries

in territories that lack the requisite legal and regulatory

infrastructure and independent judiciaries. The government

awarded China National Offshore Oil Corporation the

fi

rst

production licence in September 2 13 yet Total and Tullow, its

consortium partners, remain immersed in negotiations over value

addition and the state's

profit

sha

r

es.

The drafting of local content laws in Kenya will encounter

delays in

the

first

ha

lf of

2 14

as the Kenyatta International

Criminal Court

(ICC)

trial and the inaugural Eurobond launch

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

takes precedence. Great emphasis is being placed on local

content requirements as a means to deter terrorist incidents or

protests in Turkana region,

an

area of impoverishment and

home to the nation's oil wealth.

Ghana's oi l sector will continue

to be

impacted by local

content pressures and significant pushback should

be

expected,

limiting the implementation of quotas and forCing regulatory

mandates

to

be

imposed slowly over a number

of

years.

Security risks

Terrorism

Terror

ism risk is

rapidly spreading across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Terrorist groups

that

have

gained a foothold in states with weak

sovereign authority are expanding their cross border activities,

while the flow of cheap weaponry from Libya is proViding

armaments fo r crimi

nal

and terrorist groups.

Failed, war ravaged states prOVide a fertile breeding ground

for terrorist networks.

In

lawless Somalia, al-Shabaab,

an

Islamic

organisation, controls much

of

the

south

of

the

country,

excludi

ng

the capit

al.

Mogadishu, and has waged a war against

Somalia's transitional government. In 2 1 the organisation

carried out its first transnational attack in Uganda and in 2 11

al-Shabaab

was

accused of kidnapping a number of foreign

nation

als

in

Kenya

. The kidnappings became the catalyst for a

Ke

nyan milit ary intervent ion in Somalia, to push al-Shabaab back

from the border area

to

protect its tourist trade. The risk of

terrorist attacks will remain heightened during Kenya's military

involvement

in

Somalia, the activities of Islamic fundamentalists

present a persistent security threat to the region and will

continue while the

fa

iled state

of

Somalia acts as a safe haven.

In

Nigeri

a,

a potent mix of communal tensions, radical

Islamism, relative economic decline and anti Americanism

has

produced a fertile breeding ground

for

militancy. The

ac

t ivities

of

Movement for the Emancipation

of

the Niger Delta (MEND), a

loose web of armed groups in Nigeria's oi l produCing Niger Delta

region. have cut Nigeria's oil production by a third. These

gangs

have spent years kidnapping oil workers, attacking oilfields,

bloWing up pipelines and fighting Niger

ia's ar

my.

Boko Haram, a shadowy radical Islamist movement

that

advocates

the

imposition of Sharia law across Nigeria, has

attacked the police, rival clerics, politicians, and public

inst itutions with increasing violence since 2009. It claimed

responsibility for the August 2 11 bomb attack on the United

Nations headquarters in Abuja, killing

23

people and injuring

8

mor

e.

While the emergence of Boko Haram is a symptom of the

Muslim north's alienation from the Christian south, its suspected

links

to

regional and international terrorist organisations may

spark a stronger response.

In

West and Central Africa the terrorist threat comes

less

from religion and politics than from the lack of sovereign

control. Poverty, weak inst itutions and corruption creates a

hospitable environment for criminal networks to launder

cash

from illicit trade

in

diamonds, joining for

ces

with corrupt local

leaders to form lawless

bazaars

that are increasingly exploited by

al-Qaeda affi liates to shelter their assets.

Local protests and civil commotion

A

common

characteristic across Sub-Saharan Africa is the

potentia

l

for

local

populat

ions to create debilitating



DESIGN

SM RTER

CADWorx

2 14

Plant

Professional



Table 1. Kidnap hots pots

chatlengesto

Nigeria

hydrocarbons

projects. The launch

enya

2

of the Mtwara Dar

Sout h Africa

3

es Salaam pipeline

Mozambique

4

from

Mnazi Bay in

Sudan

5

the Mtw ara region

Democratic Republic of Congo

6

and Senga Songe in

the Ki[wa District, to

Camer

oon

7

Oar es Salaam has

Somalia

8

caused controversy

and protests have

erupted among local communities in the gas producing

region. Power

has

become the rallying cry of the opposition

and the expectations that shortages and outages will be

resolved

by

the

gas

discoveries have been overplayed. As a

consequence, vi

olence

has broken out among

poor

local

communit ies

who

oppose the pipeline and the shipment of

gas

to

the capital and beyond, causing millions of dollars of

damage

to

date.

In Turkana, protestors triggered a two week shutdown in

operations in response

to

a politically inspired dispute over

service contracts. The question

over project

influence and

the locus of control between the central government and

local leaders is exemplified by the protests. Investment by

Nai robi in the region is minimal and in response Turkana

claims it should control the new hydrocarbons finds. Until a

resolution is reached protests and political disagreements

have the potential to blight the project.

The Niger Delta epi tom ises

th

e d,mger > that arise when

local communities and the central government disagree over

the allocation of resource wealth. Although agreements

between MEND and the Jonathan administration have

reduced the terrorism threat, oil bunkering cont inues

to

impact Nigeria s crude oil production.

Cross

borde

r d

is

putes

Cross border disputes that

will

impact the development

of

hydrocarbons projects

on

the continent are plentiful.

Disputes between Tanzania and Zanzibar will continue

to

block natural

gas exploration in

the disputed northern blocks.

Relations between Sudan and South Sudan remain precarious.

Oil exports have resumed but the eventual referendum

ofthe

disputed territory of Abyei

could

proVide the catalyst for

new production delays. Security risks in Jonglei state, South

Sudan, will hamper exploration of Total s Block B, crucial for

the rejuvenation of )uba s declining reserves and the viabi l ity

of a new pipeline route. Further West, the dispute between

Ghana and Cote d lvoire over a shared maritime border

cont inues and may impact the development of hydrocarbons

resources.

Kidnap for ransom

Kidnappings. particularly of foreign nationals,

is

a risk in many

African territories. The

threat disproportionately

affects

workers

of

hydrocarbon companies

as

these types

of

businesses

ope

rate in

the most volatile

regions. Nigeria

retains the top

spot

as the African

country

most affected by

kidnappi n

g,

accounting for over half of incidents

on

the

continent. Between March and July 2013, there

was

a spate of

kidnappings of fore ign nationa ls in Lagos that abated with the

disruption of two kidnapping

gangs

in Lekki and Agbara. An

upturn

in incidents should be expected as 2014 progresses

given the upcoming elections, the limited capacity of security

forces and the financial incentives of kidnapping foreigners.

AI·Qaeda in the Is lamic Maghreb (QIM) and its affiliates

kidnap act ivities continue, wi th the groups claiming

re sponsibility

for

kidnappings in Mali and Niger.

Mozambique remains a kidnap hotspot. The profile of

kidnap targets has expanded from members of the South Asian

community to include foreign nationals and expatriates

working

in

the country.

Politica.1 risk

management

strateg es

For investors in

Sub

-Saharan Africa s hydrocarbons sector,

there is rarely such a thing

as

a good

or

bad

country.

In

reality

it is

more appropriate to think

in terms of a good

or

bad risk. While historically, management of political risk by

corporations

was considered

an

oxymoron

,

today

we

recognise that companies change and influence the

po l

itical risk environment they operate w ith in. As such,

there are several strategies compan ies can

adopt

to manage

and m itigate the impact of political risk on their

investments.

The first step is to understand that all risk is local and that

an integral part of the due diligence process is to review the

specific environment

in

the specific region

of

the

country

for

their specific project. A review of security on the ground,

legacy issues, reputat ional risk. social impact. environmental

impact and relations with the current and potentially future

political decision makers in the host country is essential.

The second step

to

reduce country

risk is to

identify the

range

of

stake holders and their respective interests.

Stakeholders are

not

l imited to those entities that finance the

project

and include the host government, local government,

commun ity groups

or

t ribes,

project

sponsors, lenders,

offtakers and NGOs.

The

third

step is

to

ensure equitable reward sharing

between

project

sponsors, the host government and

other

participants. A major driver

for

resource nationalism has been

perceived inequality

in

returns when

commodity

prices rise.

One way

to

address this is

to

link government royalties

to

profitability and commodity prices. Direct government equity

participation in projects can a

ls

o

be

a risk management

tool

and may be an alternative to the royalty structure.

The fourth step is to engage with non-governmental

stakeholders. Many operational NGOs are more appreciative

of the developmental benefits of investing in the resources

sector and are wil l ing to work with foreign investors. Their

local expertise may prevent the project company from

inadvertently creating new

risks

and, for example, in

developing local infrastructure

can

advise on balancing the

interests of competing tribes, employing from across ethnic

groups and sensitivities

to

such things

as

religious and

historical sites.

The

fifth

step

is to

consider the benefits engagement

with

multinationals may bring.

As

a preferred sovereign creditor, the

World Bank wields considerable influence

in

the event of

contractual disputes and defaults w i

th

emerging governments.



NE

LI K



This influence is reinforced by the

World

Banks s role

as

a

key source of liquidity when a country is in turmoil.

The sixth step is to consider recourse under bilateral

investment treaties BITs) which have long provided a

valuable source of risk mit igation and valuable safety net to

counter

the

worst

excesses of government behaviour.

The seventh step is to provide adequate

protection fo

r

personnel.

In

con j

unction with

ensuring operational

continuity,

companies

owe

a basic

duty

of care to

their

employees and must ensure that suitable secur ity plans are

implemented

and regularly reviewed to minimise the risks

of

an

incident

occurring.

Risk

cannot be

complete

ly

removed

from

a

pro

j

ect

and should an event happen

the

company needs

to

have

an

effective cr isis plan in place.

which

will

include access to specia

li

st

third party

service

providers

for

medical

or political

evacuation

or

kidnap

response .

The eighth step in

the

r isk management process is

to

insure these risks. Political risk insurance PRI) can insure

against loss

to

foreign lenders, investors, suppliers and

traders with mining companies. There are a range of perils

that these risk participants may be exposed to depending

on the specific

project

. the basis on which it t rades, the

location and associated

contractual

agreements.

A key issue that is

often

misunderstood when looking at

political

r

isk

in the hydrocarbons sector is the idea that the

key asset to be insured is the mineral reserves.

In

the

private

sector the asset is in

fact

the right to explore

for

HYDROC RBON

NGIN RING

and receive a share of the revenue derived from natural

resources, not an ownership right over

those

resources.

This means that the fundamental peril for investors in and

lenders to resources projects is

often

the repudiation of

the operating agreement by the

host

government and not

the con f iscation of the mineral assets. This is crucial in an

era where government action may take different forms

that

are

not

of

the character

of

expropriation

as

has

been

traditionally understood but

do

constitute

a repudiation of

existing operating agreements,

often through

a process of

creeping expropriation .

The private PRI market, comprising

of

nearly

S

syndicates and companies,

has theoretical

capacity

for

a

Sing le

project

in excess of

USS

1 bil lion. Securing this

capacity and agreeing

conditions

and a

competitive

price is

most

successfully achieved by demonstrating clear

identification of the underlying perils and

appropriate

risk

management. Political risk

underwriters

of resource

projects pay careful attention

to

due diligence and

do

distinguish between

the

qualities

of

similar projects in

the

same ter ritories.

onclusion

PRI

will

not fix a bad deal

or

contr

act

but when a project is

well structured and the correct PRI coverage purchased, it

effectively neutra l

ises

country risk and prOVides an

effective safe

.

net

for

Sub-Saharan Africa hydrocarbon

investments.

i '7I



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©

2014 Honeywell International, Inc. All rights reserved.



ay2 14





Figure 1.

U P

Russell

modul r

fractionation pl nt

in the Marcellus gas basin.

distribution

infrastructure. This can be part icularly

true

of

shale

gas, as the composition

can vary significantly

from

one

field to another. Additionally shale gas resources can exist

in remote regions challenged

by

limited water,

infrastructure

, and

other logistical

challenges requiring

innovative

processing solutions.

As

in

the

us

shale

gas

revolution, exploration and production (E P) companies

need to partner with

solution

prOViders

to

assure they can

monetise their resources in a timely, capital efficient

manner. Project success often hinges on executing gas

projects qUickly t reduced cost compared to traditional

methods, as well as ensuring

the

projects can maximise

the

recovery of high value NGL products

at low production

costs and downtime.

Shale gas in the US has rapidly increased as a source

of

natural

gas.

Led by new applications

of

hyd raul ic fracturing

technology and horizontal drilling, shale

gas

new source

development has offset

declines in production

from

conventional gas reservoirs and has led to major inc reases in

reserves of

US

natural

gas

. Largely due to shale gas

discoveries, US dry natural gas proved reserves have

more

than doubled

from 164 000 f t

in 1998 to

334

000 f t

in

2011,

with

more

than 70 of this increase due to additions

after

2006. The

economic

success of shale

gas

in

the

US

has

led

to

development

of shale

gas in

Canada. and more recent ly,

has spurred

interest in

shale

gas

possibilities in China,

Europe, Asia, and Australia. US shale

gas

continues

to

change

the

energy mix w

it h

in the

country

and

has

a substant ial

impact

on US energy se lf suffiCiency.

The rapid

growth in

shale

production,

especially

in

geographically diverse locations

from traditional

production, has

led

to the

need

for

a rapid expansion

of

midst

ream

asse

t

s.

This rapid expansion required a

strong

partnership between operators

and supplie

rs

to

focus a

large

portion

of

the us eqUipment production capacity on

designing, installing and operat ing these new plants in

parallel with field developments and

gas production

estimates.

The parallel processing of production assets and gas

processing facilities made it particularly challenging to

design new facilities based on

gas

quality

info

r

mation

from

a

few

initial wells. It was also challenging to be flexible



while

dealing

with potential

variations as

more

wells were

dril led in the

same

area.

n

addition, operators often wanted

to design gas processing plants before

they

had detailed gas

compositions from

pilot wells. This

uncertainty

in

future gas

quality adds

to the complexity of plant

design and can

increase the risks

assoc

iated with the profitabilit y of overall

field development.

Gas processing options

Unconventional gas is often contaminated with

l

and

removal is required when the produced gas contains higher

levels than

the

downstream pipeline

wilt

accept, which is

typically 2 - 3

%. In addition

, when NGL recovery

is

desirable,

cryogenic systems will require CO

concentrations to be

lowered to approximately 0.5 -1 , depending on the richness

of

the gas

and

the

level

of

NGL recovery desired. High levels

of

CO

can lead

to

freeze out

at the

normal operating

temperatures

below

-

125 O

Y-Grade NGL specifications

for

cryogenic l iquid

production

normally

limits CO

to

0.35

LV%

CO

or 1000

ppmw

. The ri

ght technology

for acid

gas

removal depends on

the

amount

of

acid

gas

in the feed and

the

desired contaminant level

in

the

product. The most

common processes for removing CO

are amine treating,

membranes and a molecular sieve.

Conventional and unconventional

gas will

be water

saturated at

the temperature pressure where

the well is

produced. This water vapour must be reduced to avoid

corrosion and freezing in downstream processing units and

pipeline distribution networks.

The

most prevalent solutions for

pipeline gas is contacting the gas with 99 /0 triethylene glycol

(TEG)

to

dry the gas to below 7 Ibs/OOO

ft'.

Cryogenic NGL recovery wilt

require deeper drying in a molecular sieve unit

to

dry the

gas to

below 100 ppmv

NGLs contained

in

shale

gas

provide an economic incentive

for

recovery beyond just treating

for

pipeline

sale.

These NGLs

are recovered fo r refinery, petrochemical or other distributed

fuel

uses

where their value exceeds what

is

recoverable on a

strictly British thermal units

(Btu)

basis than if the NGLs

are

left

in

the natural gas stream. Local market conditions can vary

Significantly

with

regard

to

ethane and liquid petroleum

gas (LPG)

values.

In

many new shale gasfields, there

can be

Significant local

price dislocations due to lack of takeaway capacity for specific

products. This requires a flexible cryogenic plant design if the

operator wants

to

react

to

local market conditions and maximise

profitabi li

ty

from shale production.

he

modular plant

solution

The 'fast gas' rapid NGL recovery

model

has enabled the

shale gas revolution by aligning supplier capabilities and

operators' needs for rapid and economical development

of

new shale production. The rapid increase in dry shale

gas

production

placed

downward

pricing pressure

on

natural

gas

to the point that dry natural gas was 'borderline' economical

for operators.

At

this point, attention shifted to wet

gas',

or

shale

gas

that contained Significant volumes

of

NGLs

that

command a market

pr

ice

tied to

crude

oil that is

higher than



natural gas prices. The traditional plant delivery model, which

takes two

or

more years

to

implement created a costly delay.

This formed a barrier

to

develop these vital resources.

Just as George Mitchell developed hydraulic fracturing, an

entrepreneur emerged with a solution. This entrepreneur was

Tom Russell. He developed a model

of

providing

preengineered factory built modular plants

that

enabled the

delivery and installation

of

NGL recovery plants at least six

months faster than

the

stick built alternatives. In addition the

Russe

ll approach did

not

require the operator

to

know exactly

how

rich his gas stream was upfront Pl

ant

fabrication

Quld

occur in parallel to drilling, fracturing and

well

testing. For

operators developing new resources, these new capabilities

to

parallel the field and plant development processes were

critical

to

bringing

on

new assets quickly. They also provided

a rap id return on the large capital outlays required

to

meet

growing shale development .

Speed

is of

the essence in the midstream business mode l,

and the typical stick built project timel ine can run 24 months

from plaCing the order to seeing plant startup.

In

part, this is

because a sequential process

is

required,

from

a

completed

gas analysis to

the

design

of

equipment starts in front end

engineering and design

(FEED).

After design

is

completed in

FEED,

procurement

can

order long lead equipment. FEED and

procurement are sequential steps in

the

stick built project.

However, modular plants provide a faster alternative by

integrating FEED and procurement activit

ies to

optimise

ove rall

project

schedule and profitability Some equipment is

preengineered to start procurement from day one, even

before gas analysis is necessarily available. Once gas ana lysis is

known, i

mportant

value added equipment is optimised for

the

project. Efficient value added optimisation allows FEED and

procurement

to

be integrated

in

a single, seamless process.

These modular plant project innovations enable starting a

plant s first gas' up to six

mont

hs sooner than with stick built

solutions.

The sk id mounted equipment can provide greater mobility

in challenging locations. Remote locati ons with

limited

resources. restricted access and

other difficulties

are more

eaSily overcome. Ideal candidates for modularisation are

packaged units sized

for

up to 300 000 ft

3

/ d of volume. with

even larger plants accommodated by mu l

tiple

trains. These

systems are integrated in a shop setting befo re being shipped

to

the plant

si

t

e.

This provides assurance that equipment will

assemble qUickly, fit up properly at the field site , and ensure a

smooth and rapid installation, commiss ioning and startup.

PlaCing

the plan t on stream faster and recover ing NGLs

sooner is quite valuable. A typical example of a 200 000 f t

3

d

plant

with a moderate NGL content (3 gal /m in) will generate

more

than US 10 million

of

additional value each month in

recovering the NGLs

at

current prices as opposed

to

leaving

them in

the gas

and receiving heating value. Earl ier delivery by

six months cou ld

potentially

be worth more than

US 60

million. which can be 50% of

the total

installed

cost

of

the full

plan t. Rap id NGL recovery is vital in

imp

roving the

overall process economics of the shale

gas

and liquid

hydrocarbon value stream.

Modularised plants

in

action

Some

of

the rea l life applications

seen

across the

US

shale

basins in the last few years showcase the unique challenges

HYDROC RBON

ENGINEERING

customers face. For example,

flat topography in

t he Eagle

Ford might be replaced by more mountainous terra in in the

Marcel lus. High altitude

areas

such as the San Juan

Basin can

be contrasted

wi t

h lower lying areas in Louisiana. Some

areas

produce lean gas

with

low

to

moderate levels

of

NGL. and

some

areas

have high levels

of

NGL that demand mo re

recovery with associated equipment.

Case study

one

In the Marcel l

us

Shale Basin, an

operator

acquired a

120000 ft

3

d

cryogenic unit with a refrigeration package

to

process natural gas containing 6 - 7 gal /min . After startup,

the

customer determined that they had higher

gas

rates than

anticipated. The equipment supplier worked with

the

customer

to

find a so lution. designi

ng

a Aexible system that

would meet

their gas specifications. The customer was then

able to push gas vo lume

throughput

to

115% of design and

process

138 000 ft

3

/d Th

is enabled the client

to

secure more

gas contracts.

Since

the

installation of the first plant,

the

site has

increased f rom 138

000

ft

3

d

capacity

to

660

000

ft

3

d

by

adding two 200 000 ft

3

d

cryogenic un its

with

refrigeration

and a 120 000 f t

3

d

cryogenic

unit with

refrigeration. Because

of

this. the customer was able

to

break ground in a green fie ld

site and then expand into a major gas process ing hub for the

Marcellus area. The customer has returned

to

modular

solutions for additional gas processing needs.

Case study two

In the

Eag

le Ford Shale. an operator was aware that he had to

process up to 600

000

ft

3

d of g<lS

within u two year

timeframe. The operator partnered with the equ ipment

supplier

to

make certain

that

they

cou ld achieve this w i

thout

cons uming the time it would take to construct a stick built

plant. Adopting a modular approach saved

time

in project

t imeline execution and made rapid NGL extraction a real ity.

The first 200 000 h

3

d cryogeniC plant installat ion was

finalised in the thi rd quarter of

2012

. The second

200000 ft

3

d

cryogeniC installation was finalised in the fi rst

quarter of 2013, and

the

final cryogeniC 200

000

ft3 d

instaHation will be finalised in

the

first quarter of

2014

. One

benefit of this schedule was

that

equ i

pment

was installed as

gas demand ramped up, which

only

a modular approach

can

do. Another benefit was

that

t he

operator

had th ree identical

plants with the same list of

common

spare parts. This signifies

a greater mai ntenance fam il iarity as more plants came on line.

The operator could then purchase common compression for

each trai n. leading to a more homogenous operation.

onclusion

Whe n delivered by an experienced sol ution provider,

solutions for CO

2

removal. dewpo inting and NGL recovery

can be delivered as prefabricated, skid mounted modules that

provide feed composit ion flexibi lity and rapid NGL recovery.

This lowers fabrication costs, speeds installat ion and provides

high onstream effiCiency. Modular, prefabr icated solutions

enable economic development of sha le

gas

resources that

would

otherwise pose

as

daunting processing challenges

given thei r inherent variabi li

ty in gas

compos ition. Operators

using this modular approach truly benefit

more

efficient operations and optimal monetisation.

iI



Eric Wiley and Hung-Ming Sung, Trinity Consultants,

USA, and Arun Kanchan, Trinity Consultants, Qatar,

discuss best practice

in

emissions monitoring.

I

ndustrial facilities subject to regulatory

emissions limits and air quali ty

permit

conditions must frequently

implement

sophisticated continuous emissions monito ring

systems EMS) to demons trate compliance with the

applicable limits. Data

from the monitoring

equipment

is

used

to demonstrate compliance

with

applicable

emissions limits and standards, either concentra tion

based limits/ standards e.g., ppm. ppb) or mass based

limits/standards e g

,£/hr, £/d

for pollutants such as

sulfur dioxide

(S02) oxides of

nitrogen (NO),

carbon

monoxide

(CO),

total hydrocarbons [THC)/vOC - 0

lead, carbon dioxide (CO

,),

and particulate marter (PM),

Including

PM Q

and

PM2.5.

CEMS

essenti ls

The EMS sampling system continuously extr cts a

representative sample of stack

gas

from a process

unit

to

the monitoring equipment th t includes

various analysers. Once the gas sample has been

analysed, the associated results are fed into a data

acquisition and handling system

(DAHS)

that

processes the voluminous data and outputs to the

facility's reporting system.

Regulatory agencies reqUire th t the (EMS data

demonstrate compliance with monitoring, record

keeping. and reporting requirements. Prior to

specifying, installing, and implementing a (EMS, the

operator should have a firm understanding of the

applicable regulatory requirements. Ongoing

operation of an effective (EMS program th t

consistently meets compliance requirements also

requires significant effort related to quality control,

maintenance. training. auditing, and reporting. The

level of effort associated with these tasks requires

speCialised expertise and an organised, well defined

approach.

Available CEMS technology

There are four major types of (EMS systems. each

with benefits and drawbacks depending on the

industrial scenario. Dry extractive systems are used in



a variety of industr ies including petrochemical, refining, power,

steel, and cement. Approximately 55 of (EMS which measure

NO

x

are dry extractive (EMS. Although this equipment

performs well at both high and low concentrations, is versatile,

and easily maintained,

it

is relatively expensive to purchase

and to maintain. Dilution extrac tive systems have been

historica lly used largely

for monitoring

502 on coal fired units

and

on

dusty emissions sources with high

PM

in the sample

such as cement plants. These systems are easily maintained

and someti

mes

less expensive however they are less effective

for lower concentrations, require more maintenance on the

stack, can be

difficult

to troubleshoot, and cannot measure

oxygen levels.

With wet

extractive

CEMS

, the sample

is

delivered to the

analyser above dew

point

useful for incinerators where acid

gases

are present (HCI,

HF).

These systems are relatively easy

to calibrate and require minimal sample conditioning.

However. performance of these units at low concentrations is

challenging. In situ CEMS are located at the source of the

exhaust (on the stack). These units analyse the exhaust in

or

across the stack

or

duct

without

extracting and treating a

sample for analysis.

Examples of in situ systems include fourier transform

infrared

FTIR)

systems,

flow

measurement systems using

ultrasonic technology, and thermal senSing. Fast response

time, lower cost and lower maintenance requirements

for

these units are offset by shorter life spans due to

environmental exposure, maintenance difficulty, poor

accuracy. and calibration difficulty.

A qualified CEMS supplier can a Ist with the selection of

the most suitable equipment

as

well

as

its installation and

certification,

however the development

of

an

adequate

quality assu rance and quality control

(QA/QC)

and

maintenance plan, ongOing training, reporting, and auditing

remain largely the responsibility of the facility.

EMS

d t

qu lity m n gement

Environmental permits

that

requi re

CEMS

to demonstrate

compliance include provisions for ensuring data quality. In

fact. QA/QC programs are the backbone

for CEMS

compliance

with

regulatory requi rements. While quality

assurance pertains to ensuring the accuracy and reliability

of

the

emissions data (via proper planning and f requent audits),

quality control includes the activities involved in maintaining

or

improving

the

accuracy and reliability of

the

emissions data

(via

routine

calibrations and preventative maintenance).

Developing appropriate QA/QC procedures, establishing

missing data substitution provisions, and specifying

DAHS

calculation procedures are just a few key elements of an

effective

QA/QC

program. Regulatory requirements for

CEMS QA/QC vary, but all include tasks such as daily

calibration, linearity tests

or

calibration

gas

audits (CGAs), and

relative accuracy test audits RATAs). Furthermore, data must

be accurate, representative, reliable, complete. and precise, as

defined by applicable regulations.

EMS

m inten nce

progr ms

An effective CEMS maintenance program that prevents

breakdowns

is

essential to provide accurate and reliable data

for

compliance

with

applicable air quality regulations. The

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

preventive

ma

intenance PM) program should be organised,

scheduled, and efficient. Tasks are scheduled by frequency

(daily, weekly, etc .) and should include logging of the status of

tasks

(completed/not

completed) and

the

responsible person.

In

the case of daily calibrations, the operator should ensure a

quick response to failed calibrations,

monitor

and record

calibration t ren

ds,

and

for

facilities

with

multiple

CEMS

,

stagger the schedu led daily calibration times. Other

maintenance tasks should be scheduled to avoid conflict

with

auto calibrations, to maximise data collection , and to minimise

downtime. Prior

to

initiating any preventative

or

maintenance

acti v

it y

,

it is

important to place the system

into

maintenance

mode. This

will

mark

the

associated data with a maintenance

flag, thus preventing the data from being used in hourly

averages. likewise

,

the

system must be taken out of

maintenance mode immediately following any maintenance

activity.

As

part of

the

PM

maintenance activit ies,

the

CEMS

operator

should visit each (EMS shelter daily and record the

following parameters in the log

book

, where applicable:

•

Outlet

pump pressure.

• Sample system vacuum.

• Sample

flow

to analysers.

• Temperature.

• Presence of alarms or faults.

• Cooler temperature.

• Peristaltic pump status (on or off).

The log book provides a perfo rmance history of

the

system, information on previous issues, and how those

is

sues

we re resolved. It also provides a record of trends in flow,

vacuum, pressure, and temperature. Some facilities maintain

CEMS

performance history through the

use of

digital

maintenance forms which are

often

more detailed and can

be enabled on mobile dev i

ces.

Weekly activities include recording analyser

test function

readings, such as slope and offset, recording calibration

gas

bottle

pressures, replacing

calibration

gas

bottles if pressure

is less than

150

- 200 psi, and monitoring for trends in daily

calibrations, adjusting zero and span

if

needed.

Monthly PM

includes all of

the

daily and weekly tasks

as well as

preparing

for any upcoming audits such as RAT

As,

(GAs,

or

linearity

tests. It is also a

good

interval

to

check the status of air

conditioning filters and plant air filters and

to

make sure

the

ai r conditioning unit is in good working order, especially in

warmer areas

or

times of the year.

Quarterly requirements

for

CEMS include the completion

of linearity tests, (GAs, and

N0

2

converter tests. The results

of these tests can be used to improve accuracy and

reliability, thus improving data availability. Annually, many

(EMS consumables have reached the end of

their

'service

life and must be replaced. Activities include probe

maintenance (replaCing o-rings and bushings) and replacing

per istaltic pump tubing as we ll as the pump diaphragm and

gaskets.

CEMs

maintenance programs should be reviewed on a

frequent

basis

to

ensure

that they

comprise

the

appropriate

tasks. An audit

of

the program can assist in improving

effectiveness and effiCiency

as

well

as

highlighting areas

of

positive achievement. Annual

or

bi annual auditing is useful



to identify

deficiencies in

compliance or provide

assurance

of

continuing compliance.

DetermininR <;;EMS

accuracy

and system-bIases

Primary performance testing for EMS is conducted via the

RATA

on

a

sc

hedule agreed

upon

with

the

regulatory

agency. The RATA is a compara tive evaluation of

the

EM

system performance

aga

inst

an independent

reference

method.

The US EPA reference

methods

typically used are as

fo l

lows :

• Method 2 (reference

method

fo r

determination

of stack

gas

velocity and volumetric flow).

• Method

6(

(instrumental r

efe

rence

method

for SOJ

• Method 7E (instrumental method for NOJ

In a RATA, a minimum

of

nine sets

of

paired

monitoring

system and reference method

test

data are obtained. Data

from the

RATA are used to

determine

both

the

relative

accuracy and bias, jf any,

of

a

EM

system.

Systematic and

random

errors can

occur

in a l

of the

subsyst ems and components of a EM system. The ski l and

experience

of

the EM system manufacturer, integrator, and

operato

r are requi red

to

minimise biases and

ob t

ain the best

possible accuracy and precision. It is then the responsibility

of the

EM system

owne

r and

ope

rator to maintain

the

system to specified levels

of

accuracy and precision.

Specifically, bias problems can be associated

with

the

following:

• Sampl i

ng locat

ion and stratification,

E M S ~

. . . .

_.,.-

' , ... 1140<. .

_ M ~ : . . , ~

I

,

,

,

j ' - -

SO. T.. I

1.0.:....

I

S v.od,,,"

I

,

,

,

,

,

,

C

EMS

I

....".'.,<01 • Y1

,

,

CEMSO .. P . . . u.

RTOS

' ,'

,

nou

..

.

.........

.'

"

.

0,,, ..... ...

''''9.,,..,.....

•

'-.

..

R"", S

06,,,

R

.

-r

...

O

..

"

S '''T .

M . . . . ••

.

u

.

L.> G V

....

000._,,_,

( '1 . . . . . .

R

. . . . .

a .. ...

l,,,G'''''V>kI.

•

,-

x ... '.

I

R.. ,a .. I ...

o .

Volut

Figure

1. CEMS

data validation, calculation

and

reporting with a fully integrated

RTDB.

•

Dilution extractive

system bi

ases.

• Source level extractive biases.

• In

si

tu

gas

and f

low mo

n itor biases.

• Pollutant and diluent analyser biases .

• Data acquisition and handling system problems

Compliance report

ing

In (EMS, the data acquisition and handling system (DAH

S) is

the brains

of

the ope ration. The DAH5 receives emissions

data from the programmable logic

controller

(PLC) or data

logger and arranges it according

to

programs demands. Some

compan ies. subject

to

acid rain

reporting

requirements ,

We

support the energy industry from every angle

to

ensure effective

air quality strategy and streamlined EH S data management



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y

Tel: +49 7

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Fax:

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install DAHS

for

reporting, However, many companies

introduce

the (EMS data

to

their existing plant real

time

database RTDB), such

as

the OSlsoft

P

system,

to

enable real

time

monitoring of the (EMS. These RTDB systems normally do

not perform data substitution, calculate emissions,

or

create

comp

l iance reports. This is the area of the

(EMS

in which most

non-compl iance issues are discovered.

Data acquisition and handling is not a

do

it yourself task;

rat her,

the

facil ity should purchase

and/or

implement a

system with proven reliab il ity and capabilities to generate

proper reports. The typical DAHS

is

designed to handle

missing data and calculations

within

the (EMS data. Using an

RTDB

with process data, (EMS data can be further validated

with the process operation conditions and can generate

emission calculations when

the

(EMS

is

down.

Figu

re 1 shows

a fu ll y integrated

RTDB

wit h real time data validation and

reconciliation process, The shaded boxes represent typ ical

RTDB

calculations

. The

validation

steps are added

to

generate accurate reconc iled data. These data

treatment

processes are critical for ensuring reported emissions are

accurate, assess ing data availability calculations, and

affirming

data substi

tu t

ion procedures.

Additionally, while reporting

to

the regulatory agency,

the results from the bias test conducted as part of

the

RATA

must

be considered. The bias test

determines

whether a

monitoring system

is

biased low with respect to the

reference method, based on the RATA results. This test is

required only for S0 2

NO

x

and flow monitor ing systems. If a

low bias

is

found, a bias adjustment

factor

BAF) must be

ca lculated and applied to the subsequent hourly emissions

data.

Essential training

A final e lement necessary

for

proper operation

of

(EMS

is

train ing. Both environmental managers and facility operators

should understand applicable air quality requirements inc luding

how to effectively and appropriately operate (EMS units.

Nearly all analyser manufacturers offer training

for

their

equipment. Although this training may be costly, it should be

considered

for

any technician who will be responsible

for

a

(EMS as the inS ight and knowledge gained will assist in

increasing (EMS data availabil ity. When a new (EMS is installed,

it

is important to ensure the (EMS manufacturer provides

training on proper operation of

the

(EMS to all personnel who

will have a ro le in the CEMS operation, maintenance and

reporting.

Conclusion

As regulatory requirements are increasing the use of (EMS

to

demonstrate compliance, creating and maintaining a successful

(EMS program can be a daunting task for

any

environmental

profeSSional.

Ensuring

the most appropriate type of (EMS is being

used, from among the various types that are available, is essential to

demonstrating compliance with applicable regulations. (reating a

structured and well defined (EMS QA/Q progr

am

is also

important for complying w ith applicable regu

la

t i

ons.

A well

organised

and

executed PM program will assist in maximising the

performance and reliability of the (EMS and the data availabi lity.

Understanding t

he resu

lts

of

RA

TA tests and the impl ications

of

using

bias adjustment factors while reporting

emiss

ions

to

reg

ulatory agencies is a must. Finally, having a welt trained

and

knowledgeable (EMS team is essential to the accuracy and

reliability of the (EMS data. i' 'I I



With laser scanning, we were able

to

minimize occurrences in

the

field to just a

handful. With safety an utmost importance,

the number of individuals entering the

plant

was also drastically reduced

We

were able

to

provide an enormous

amount

of data that

would not have been available through a conventional

survey effort. That same data provided benefit through

construction with the creation of isometrics and the

resolution of field issues and will provide a solid foundation

for lifecycle maintenance of the facility.

- David Stevens

Wood Group Mustang Piping Designer and Laser

Scan

Coordinator

eica

ScanStation P15

Mustang

laser Scanning/Special

Projects Group in reference to the the HessTIoga

natural gas

processing

plant TGP)

in northwestern

North

Dakota

HEX GON

;leiU

eosystems



IVN

CH NGE





Figure 1 Both global automotive emissions

legislation

and the

drive for energy sustain ability

are having an

impact

on refinery end products.

In

this industry, R D to improve the environmental

performance

of

vehicles

demands

substantial investment A

high level of technical complexity is involved, with great

reliance on first and second tier suppliers, who are among a

vast number of partners in the automotive value chain.

Therefore when

all

these technology partners work towards

a clear and common target, such as limiting the amount of

CO

2

or nitric oxide

emitted

from a car, the fragmented value

chain al igns all its resources to achieve this common

objective.

Another common benefit of legislation

is that it

creates

an enabl ing envi ronment

for

cost

effect

ive

transfer

of

technology, by broadly communicating best practice to

achieve the required changes,

for

example,

offering

gUidance on

the

latest analytical measurement

instrumentation.

An

excellent example of technology transfer is the

Euro IV, V and VI emission standards

developed for

European

markets

that

have been

adopted

elsewhere

in

the world,

for

example South Korea and China. Europe has successfully

prescribed targets and adopted relevant and useful

technology to

achieve targets, and this

effective

approach is

being replicated elsewhere.

Today there are three main global legislation groups

related

to

automotive emissions

coming

out of Europe, the

USA and Japan. European legislation is already progressing

towards Euro VII, while in the

USA,

the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) takes a leading ro le. The USA also

has federal environmental legislation, as well as certain

state specific regu lations and one of the most common

terms, ultra

low

emissions vehicle (ULEV) , in fact. derives

from Ca l iforn ia state legislation. There

is

also a formidable

legislative movement in Japan, since a large number of

automot

ive producers originate in

that

country. China,

however, which also has a substantial automotive industry

in terms of the number of

production

centres, tends to take

its cue from European legislation.

So,

what are

the common

goals of all this disparate

geographical legislation? Firstl

y,

legisl

ation

seeks

to

drive

fuel

economy

by

developing

more economical ways

to

move

people

and goods from A

to

B, in order

to

conserve

the world s dwind l ing fossil fuel resources

for

future

Ma

y 2014

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

generations. There are also ec onomic benefits associated

with th

e issue of fuel

economy

,

as

the

more economic

it is

to

move

people

and goods, the more competitive a market

will

be. The

other

key goal of legislation is

to

mitigate

the

effects

of damaging automotive emiss ions, such as carbon

dioxide,

on

climate change. This is also closely linked

to the

goal of fuel economy,

as

the less fuel we burn, the fewer

em issions are released into the atmosphere.

nvironmental impact

In terms of climate change the industry also looks at other

greenhouse gases with global warming potential (GWP). An

example is nitrous oxide, which has a much higher GWP than

CO

2

but

because it exists in relatively low quantities in the

atmosphere, it attracts less headline press.

Other

issues exist

around particu late matter and soot and there is a more

recent focus

on

minimising the emission

of

any substance

that

has

stratospheric ozone

dep

leting

potential

since

stratospheric ozone s role is

to

absorb potentially

harmfu

l

ul

traviolet

rays

from the

sun.

For the first time, greenhouse gases such

as CO

2

and

nitrous oxide are being included into

US EPA

protocol gases.

Not

that long ago, these greenhouse

gases

were introduced

in addition

to

what was previous ly referred

to as the

criteria

pollutants, the six most common air pollutants of concern:

ozone, carbon monox ide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxides,

particulate matter and lead. This is a significant step forward

that

could even be described as a fundamental

evolution

in

legislation, not on ly towards

cont

rolling toxic gases, but also

those which contribute to global warming.

Automotive emissions such

as

nitrogen dioxide and

sulfur d

ioxide must

also be

controlled

to

pro

t

ect our

physical envi ronment. These emissions can react with

rainwater and create acid rain that damages forests and

bU

ildings, since it reacts with limestone and concrete to

co rrode structures. Ground water contamination

is

another

concern, since the chemicals benzene and methyl tertiary

butyl ether (MTBE), added to improve engine combustion

are also damaging when they are washed

down

in rainfall.

Public health

Wi

th

a strong historic

US EPA

focus on so called

criteria

pollutants, much automotive legislation has been structured

around

public

health issues, resu lting in tightening emission

targets.

t

is

noticeable

that

th

ere has been a tangible

move

from

purely

monitoring automotive emissions,

to

monitoring the ambient environment, including detecting

the presence of chemicals in the air that the public is

breath ing. A Significant section of legislation is mov ing into

prescribing exactly what should be measured in the ambient

environment, how often it shou ld be measured and in which

locations. And there is more data transparency around these

findings than ever before, giving the public real time access

to this

important

information.

Improving public health by controlling air quality

is

a key

focus of automotive legislation. Air qual

ity

must be

maintained

at

a level th

at

ensures

it

does

not

cause disease.

With this in mind, there is a contemporary focus on

minimising ground level ozone

that

has the

potential

to

damage the human respi

ratory

tract and is produced



They turned to Elliott

for planning

and

execution

The customer

turned to Elliott

because

they

understood that planning is everything

and that few companies can match Elliott in turnaround planning and

execution

Who will you turn to?

COMPRESSORS . TURBINES .

GLOB L

SERVICE

l

EUIOIT

fJJ)1JJfJfJ

£ ARA CORPORATION

VNM eIIion

turbo com

he world turns to Elliott.



principally by a reaction between nitric oxide and volatile

organic compounds (VOCs),

Carbon monoxide is a prevalent

gas in

automotive exhaust

systems that, in enough quantity.

can

damage the nervous

system, while formaldehyde

gas

is

categorised as a probable

carcino

gen

and,

like ozone,

has

the potential to

cause

respiratory problems. Benzene is a vac that

not

only

contributes

to

the ground level ozone problem. but is a

to

xic

chemical

and

pollutant

in its own right. It

is

a known

carcinogen

that

can

be

inhaled from the atmosphere or

absorbed into the human body by eating contaminated fish

and crops. Nitrogen d ioxide, ammonia and sulfur dioxide are

other

examples of gases that can cause health problems by

weakening the respiratory

sys

tem and rendering humans more

susceptible to illness. Chemicals like this must be reduced or

completely eliminated from automotive emissions.

ohesion

of the issues

Any legislation framework must address these problems

effectively, but how

do

these issues all cohere in a matrix?

On

the

issue of fuel economy,

the USA has two

sets,

or

tiers , of emission standards

for

light

duty

vehicles,

defined

as a

res

ult of the Clean Air

Act

Amendments of 1990.

Wi thin

the

Tier

II

ranking, there is a subranking ranging

from

BIN 1 -

10, with

1 being

the

cleanest (zero emission

vehicle) and

10

being

the dirtiest.

These standards

specifically restrict emissions of carbon monoxide,

oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter. formaldehyde and

non-methane organic gases (non-methane hydrocarbons).

President Barack Obama

has

recenLly called

for

America s

fleet

of trucks,

lo

rr

ies

and cars to be elevated

into the next

category

of

environmental cleanliness and fuel economy,

BIN 4. This target cascades down

to

automotive producers

to incentivise them to make sure

that

the average vehicle

being sold is

mov

ing

to

a progreSSively more fuel effic ient

future,

The changing legislative environment relat ing

to

fuel

economy

is

enabling the introduction of new generation fuel

types in a safe and consumer friendly manner.

In

the

US

all

eyes are on E15, fuel with a 15 ethanol blend, which will

soon be commercially introduced to that

market

This could

herald in a new era, enabling the production and sale of a

new generation of environmentally friendly fuels.

Many years ago it was decided to transition to un leaded

fue ls a decision principally taken to protect the catalysers

installed in cars

for

the enablement of nitric ox ide, nitrogen

dioxide and carbon

monoxide

emissions reduction.

With

catalysers becoming prevalent, legislation was needed to

facilitate the

introduction

of unleaded. And, to

limit

the

sulfur dioxide emissions

that

react

with

rain to create acid

rain, ultra

low

sulfur diesel was introduced.

However, legislation always needs to look ahead

holistically

to

possible consequences. so that the totality

and end result of changes

is truly

beneficial, This

is

because,

inevitably, as one problem is solved, there are consequences

of changes and in some

cases

it might even become a case of

out

of

the frying pan and

into

the

fire . Legislation wou ld

not

be effective if it had this effect on

automotive

producers.

Therefore in seeking

to

create change in a particular area, it

is essential to look at any secondary impl ications the change

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

is

likely to create and to Simultaneously mitigate secondary

outcomes.

An example is the ambition to reduce nitrous oxide

emissions from car engines by converting oxides of nitrogen

simply

into

nitr

ogen itself. One way

to

achieve this is

to

harness a technolo

gy

called selective catalytiC reduction

(SCR)

that converts nitrogen oxides back

to

harmless nitrogen

gas,

us ing ammonia in the catalysers. However, in trying

to

resolve

the problem of ni trogen oxide emissions, urea is being added

to create ammonia in the cata lyser

and

this could potentially

lead

to

the secondary negati

ve

impact of ammonia as an

automotive emiSSion

gas.

Ammonia must now also be added

to the l

is

t of emissions that must be monitored.

Another secondary impact of emission legislation involves

carbon monoxide. The principle reduction of carbon

monoxide is achieved through catalytic converters to oxidise it

to CO

2

which is potentially a problem

in

its

own

right in terms

of global warming, but is considered preferable to emitting

carbon monoxide. These catalyt iC converters in turn reduce

the overall fuel economy

of

the engine, so there a

compensating increase

in

overall engine effiCiency is needed

to ensure that t

he

introduction of the catalytiC converter is

having an overall beneficial effect.

It is evident

that

this

is

a complex legislative area

that

highlights the delicate balance at play. Well intentioned

legislation may be able

to

solve one problem,

but

could also

introduce an unanticipated secondary

risk

that needs

to

be

compensated

for

. Legislators must find a way

to

arrive at a

careful balance by trading off one chemical consequence

against another.

Recent

or

imminent

legislative

changes

In addition to greenhouse gases now being included in the US

EPA

protoco l, fo r the fi rst time protocol standards for

formaldehyde and ammonia have now been introduced.

Ammonia is being included at an emissions level of 10 ppm in

the Euro VI legislation that will come into force in 2014 in

Europe, with the automotive industry already aligning itself to

those requirements, elevating the subject of ammonia

emissions from diesel engines. Another impact of Eura VI will

be the reduction of oxides of nitrogen emissions, bringing

diesel oxides of nitrogen em issions more closely in line

with

petrol eng ine emission standards.

An interesting change is the move from,

in UK

terminology,

miles / gaL', to grams of CO

2

emitted/km travelled as an

em issions standard. Miles per gallon refers

to

the amount of

fuel required to travel a certa in distance, regardless

of

fuel

type and the amount of CO

2

emi

tted

by that fuel.

With

the

move to grams of CO

2

em itted/km, there is a clear

Signal

that

CO

2

is becoming the ultimate goal of measurement. It also

recognises that hybrid vehicles running on electricity, and

therefore emitting no CO

2

can

also fit into these legislative

measures.

Another significant development with regard

to

Euro

VI

legislation refers to a trend called speciation that focuses on

the vario

us

chemical species present

in

the automotive

emissions. An example of th is s the split of

total

hydrocarbons {THC} i

nto

methane, which is a hydrocarbon,

and non-methane total hydrocarbons (NMTHC). Historically,



emissions were measured in terms

of total

hydrocarbons, but in

future we will

increasingly see a spl it between methane and

NMTHC and this recognises that methane has its own

issues

with

regard to GWP. However, it is the NMT

HC

that relates to public

health

issues

and this intensified focus will allow for better control

of such emissions.

Chinese legislation

is

moving forward very rapidly in this major

market for auto producers and consumers alike. Here the changes

include a nationwide move from Euro IV for diesel engines in

2011

a move to Euro IV

for

combust ion engines in 2013 Similar to the

USA,

legislation in China exists

both at

a national level and a more

specific, geographically targeted level, and in

Bei

jing the legislation

will move

to

Euro V in 2013.

nalytical techniques

Euro VI legislation specifies that ammonia must be measured at a

maximum level of

10

ppm in diesel and petrol engine emissions

and this effectively requires

the

measurement

of

a new molecule

in

our exhaust emissions. Legislation

is

only

as

good

as

its

enforcement and this enforcement relies on effectively applying

analytical techniques

to

measure automotive emissions. One

of

the hidden benefits

of

this legislation is

that

it points

the

industry

in the direction of the most suitable technology to accomplish

this task.

Legislative requirements

to

measure new emission molecules

must bring with them a requirement

for

reliable, repeatable

technology to

conduct

these measurements. Legislation also

explains

to

the industry how

to

perform this measurement in a

consistent and dependable way, for example. providing two types

of technology deemed

to

be suitable for ammonia measurement

in exhaust emissions.

Both these technologies are described in detail in Euro VI

legislatiOn. The first technology

uses

laser light tuned to a certain

light frequency designed

to

be absorbed by ammonia and other

exhaust chemicals. In other words, a laser light

is

shone through an

exhaust emission to measure

the

chemical levels present. The

other type

of

echnology for measuring ammonia in exhaust

emissions

is

Fourier transform infrared

FTIR)

spectroscopy,

based

on the principle

of

shining infrared light through the exhaust gas

mixture and

dete

rmining at wh ich frequencies light is being

absorbed in order

to assess

which chemicals are present and at

what concentration they occur. The principle is the same for both

technologies, absorption

of

ight by chemicals.

Legislation also prescribes the types, traceabil i

ty

and degree

of

accuracy of calibration

gas

mixtures needed

to

calibrate

instruments used fo r these measurements. This clarifies for

suppliers

of

calibration mixtures, such as Unde Gases Division,

which mixtures they should be developing for this particular

market. Detailed specifications for pure gases which are used for

gas chromatography or to zero instruments and

for

fuel and

oxidant

gases

which are used for flame based analytical detection

methods are also prescribed in the Euro VI legislation.

The other

area

of legislative change is the reduction in

nitrogen oxide levels. also prescribed in Euro VI. The technology

referred

to

in

this regard

is

chemiluminescence, an analytical

technique based on the emission

of

ight spectra by the chemical

molecules. The industry is now seeing the reduction of nitrogen

oxide levels in diesel

to

a similar level that exists for petrol

engines. It could therefore be argued

from

an analytical techniques

perspective, that this technology shift is

not

all that onerous, since

it

is simply bringing diesel engines in line with the measurements

currently required for petrol engines .

he

future

Against

th

is background of robust legislative change, it is

interest ing to speculate what

the

future

might

ho ld by

examining past trends and extrapolating them

to

dete

rmine

future legislative direction.

For

the

first time in the

USA, the

EPA protocol

has

issued

standards for zero air. This

is important

, because when setting

up an analyser, a calibration gas is needed to calibrate

at

the

high end

of

the scale, as well as a zero

gas

to determine the

zero

of that

instrument. Both these

gases

are equally critical in

setting up the instrument. For many years, the

EPA

protocol has

regulated on the calibration gas

mixture

required fo r the high

end

of

t he scale,

but

this is the first time that standards

for

zero

air have been set. At present,

the

requirement to use this zero

air standard

is

voluntary, but industry stakeholders can

speculate

that

it

will become mandatory

in

the

near future.

On

the issue

of

speciation, wi

th

the increasing concern

about nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide and nitric oxide emissions

it

is

very likely that

future

legislation

might

mandate

measurement and control for each one, instead of for

the

total

oxides

of

nitrogen that is in place

at

the moment. With more

speciation taking place within the

total

hydrocarbons , there

is

likely to be

further

speciation

within the

total hydrocarbons

element, looking speCifically for molecules such as ethanol and

formaldehyde, the new

potent

i

al

pollutants arising

from

the

move towards biofuels and LNG. The industry could therefore

also be moving towards a reqUirement to measure particular

chemical species

within automotive

emissions going in

the

direction

of

ethanol, formaldehyde and specific oxides

of

nitrogen.

Exhaust after treatment

is

perhaps one of the

most

dynamiC

parts

of the

auto industry right now. The companies

involved

in

prodUCing the catalysers and

the

overall after treatment

systems are facing an enormous technological challenge

to

keep up with

the

pace of change. Here, in

addition

to SCR ,

exhaust

gas

recycling

EGR)

is coming to

the

fore, representing

two very fundamental changes in exhaust gas treatment

technology

to

reduce harmful emissions from the engine.

The

other

area of considerable change is the sophistication

of

engine management systems

EMS)

or on

board diagnostic

systems (OBD). Emissions are now being controlled by these

micro computers which rely on multiple engine sensors

responsible for ensuring the engine

is

working at op t i

mum

fuel

effiCiency and releasing

min

imum emissions. In th is regard the

industry is seeing a whole new suite of regulations being

targeted

to

ensure these systems are stable and

that

they

function co

rrectly.

Finally, the increasing use within the industry

of gases that

comply

with

US EPA protocols, or relevant ISO standards

relating

to

the traceabilit y and accuracy of calibration

gas

mixtures, such as 15017025

will

be of great consequence to

companies like Linde. which support measurement

technology

with

accurate and consistent calibration

gas

mixtures across

the

EU

and other legislative groups. Applicable worldwide these

standards

will

make sure

that international

automotive

producers and environmental agencies working in this arena

are

working from

a

uniform

base.

i I

HYDROC RBON



OSEA2 14

The

2 th

International Oi

l

as Industry

Exhibition

Conference

SINCE

976

TH

PL

T

JJ\JUM

EDITION





Usually non-ox idising biocides such as

CI

-MtT or

DBNPA ,

as

we

ll

as oxidising biocides like sodium

hypochlorite or chloramines

are

ut ilised

to

control

biofouling problems. These biocides are qUite effective in

some cases but do

not

always provide the expected

results

.

Furthermore

when raw water

is treated with

sodium hypochlorite, sodium bisulfite

has

to be applied as

reducing agent upstream of the polyamide RO membranes

Table

1 Re

sul ts

of

pilot plant test

Run 1 Run 2

Concentra tion mg/ltr Blank 10

O S

ing t ime

hrs/d

24

Dosing amount rate 1.0

Sa

lt rejection

7.

;.

8

;

0 _

Run

3

Run

4

40

J

0.50

98.4

20

J

0.

25

Figure

1

Flat sheet membrane performance test

cell utilised for

measuring

peel off time.

,.

Figure

2

Flow diagram: pilot plant.

to

avoid

oxidative

deterioration

of the sensitive

membranes. In some cases

application

o f sodium

hypochlorite

will

even cause additiona l biofouling

potential for RO membranes by oxidative dest ruction of

high molecular

weight

organic substances in t he feed

water. The formed low molecula r weight substances can

serve much better

as

nutrients

for existing bacteria on the

membranes and

as

a consequence bacteria growth

as

well

as biofoul ing risk on

the

RO membranes will increase.

Even with application of above

mentioned

bi

ocides

. it

is

st ill

likely that

biofouling

is

gradually accumula ted on

the RO

membranes and

the

accumulated layer can only be

removed by an

RO

membrane cleaning

procedure

for

which

RO system operation needs

to

be

stopped.

If

removal of the accumulated

biofouling

becomes possible

without

shut down of

RO

operation, it wi

ll

be very

beneficial

for

the

prolon

gation

of RO operation

pe

r

iods

and RO membrane life.

As

a so

lu t

ion for all the described problems , Kurita has

de

v

eloped

a

new

slime

control

agent, having

the

capabili t y

to

peel

off

bio

fouling

material from the

membranes during operation o f the RO plant. The new

product Kuriverte r -llO. has the following outstanding

features:

• It will peel off o rgani c

fouling

gradually from the RO

membrane

surface during

operation.

• It does

not

damage polyamide membranes.

• It

inhibits

biofouling throughout the whole RO

plant.

The product

is

added

to

the

raw water tank in order

to

treat t he whole RO system. As a consequence the

who

le

RO system is protected against biofouling by only

one

product: the concept

of

water

t r

eatment

becomes simple

and

the

risk

of

membrane

dete

riorat ion is almost zero.

This new technology has been already

applied

to

many

RO systems and

as

a result, all prob lems described above

were

encountered

Significant ly.

Differential

pressure was

decreased,

the

loss

of

flux was

inhibited

, and salt

rejection

was improved and maintained. In addition the

i

nterval of

RO cleani ng was st retched. Furthermore. RO

membrane autop

sy

has been per

formed

and a sign

if i

cant

dec rease

of

biofouling

on the RO

membrane by

the

use

of

the new

slime cont r

ol

agent was

confirmed.

Recently, the number of RO plants

that

incorporate a

ultrafiltration UF)

membrane system to stabilise the

pretreatment

has increased. However. it

is

reported

from

time

to

time that the UF

membranes also start to

foul

with

organiC substances in spite of the automatic

Figure 3. From left to right: Blank continuous dosing. intermittent dosing.



backwashing sequence. The new technology

is

also

applicable

to UF

membrane systems and it effectively

reduces biofouling for both.

UF

and RO membranes.

at the

same time.

In the following case study the application

of

the new

technology

to

an actual seawater reverse osmosis 5WRO)

sys

tem is

described.

As

a first step,

the most

suitable

application

method

was

evaluated by

laboratory and pilot

plant tests. After that the developed

concept

was applied

to one

line

of

a

three

lines SWRO plant. enabling a direct

comparison and

confir

mation

of the treatment

effect.

Laboratory

test

A flat

sheet

membrane performance tes t system, as shown

in

Figure

1,

was used as a fir

st

step of the

development. A

RO flat

sheet

membrane with slime

deposits

from

the

actual plant on its surface was placed into

the

performance test cell. The applied pressure was

set

closely

to

0

MPa

so that the

processing

water stayed

mainly

on

the

concentrate

side. Ultra pure water was

processed

to the

cell for 24 hrs as init ial treatment

to get

rid

of

existing loosen fouling material. After that. water

contain ing 200 mgllt

r

of

Kuriverter IK 110 was processed

through

the

cell and

the

concentrate

water was filtrated

through a 20 membrane filter

to

collect

the

peeled off

substance . The filters were exchanged

in

certain intervals.

The

amount of the

peeled

off

substance on

the

individual

filters was measured versus elapsed

time

and

the

surface

of the

20

J.lm

memb rane filters was investigated by a

stereoscopic microscope.

v'

Fast automatic

3D

piping model creation and calculation

of

acoustic pressure, flow rate, 3D forces at piping

JOints

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bends

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Automatic verificatIon and representation of pressure

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API618

and API 674 standards

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is deeply tested and validated by comparison with

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-+- WiUlOut

120

Cl

o ;

100

.0 :

W i t h I K 1 1 0

: E

~ ~ ~ ~

c

80

C

60

1

i

•

40

•

20

0

0 20 40 Ell

9J

100

peration time (day)

Figure

4 . Comparison of

permeate flow.

( CIP = cleaning in place)

Result

of the

investigation

One to two

hours

afte

r

the

injection

of the product

had

been star

ted.

'peeled

off

substance'

appeared

significantly

on

the

surface of the 20 ~ membrane filter. After these

two

hours the accumulation reduced with time and

afte

r

four hours it became almost zero. This tendency was

repeatedly observed and from

that fact

it was consider

ed

that

intermittent dosing with a dosing period

of

three

hours

will

be

the

most effective and economical

treatment

program. The

do

si

ng

interval

in the

actual plant

will

depend

on

the

raw water quality and

the

co

rresponding speed

of

slime formation on

the

membranes. The necessary dosing interval was determined

DESIGN OF PULSATION SUPPRESSION DEVICES

Prior

to modification

After

modification

CUSYS

Pressure pUlsation levels prior and after remedial actions

1-

I

I

F'tIo< '

I

.--

-

I-

TT

, -

I I

I. I

I

•

lL IL

l

.....,

.

,

.....,., _ .

....., . 'WCl

.....,

.. o.wc> C1 IWO' .....,C>

.....,0

....., 01 _ 0

Discharge configurationS ( .B.e 0 pumps. with ls l. 2nd

3rd

gssifler)

Consulting

Simulat ion

services

Software

for process plan

ts

and machines



350

.€

300

'

-+ - Without

S

i:>

E

150

=

U

100

E

50

1

0

0

40 00

100

peration time da y

Figure 5. Comparison of permeate conductivity.

( CIP

=

cleaning in place

0.4

& 0.3

::<

0.2

0.1

0.0

o

10

m

00 40 ro 00 00

100

operation

time

(days)

Figure 6. Changes in module differential pressure.

to

be

once

per

day for

the

worst

raw

water

quality and

it

can be

prolonged

for raw

water with

less biofouling

potential.

Pilot

plant test

before

application

A

pilot plant test

using

contaminated wastewater

as feed

was carried

out

to

confirm

the

results

of the

laboratory

tests.

Figure 2 shows

the

flow diagram

of the pilot

plant.

A 2.5 in. diameter SWRO membrane was used to optimise

ope rating condi ti on and the following ope ra tional

conditions

have

been

compared

:

• Blank.

• Continuous dosing.

10

mg/ltr.

•

Intermittent

high dosing, 40 mg/ltr, 3 hrs/d .

• Intermittent medium dosing. 20

mg/ltr,

3 hrs/d.

Results were obtained

after

27 days operation and are

summarised in Table

1.

Figure 3 shows the appearance of RO membrane

surface after testing.

It

is obvious that the

intermittent

dosing at higher concentration resulted in a better

cleaning performance compared

to 10

mg/l tr continuous

dosing. Moreover, the chemical consumption for

intermittent dosing was only half or one quarter of the

one

for

contin

uous dosing.

From the fac t that the

intermittent

dosing had shown

better resu l ts the application to the commercial SWRO

plant

was determined to be intermittent dosing of

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

20

mg/ltr

for 3 hrs

/d.

This dosage of 20 mg/ltr complies

with the

dosing

lim

i t given by the

NSF

certification

for the

product.

Plant

conditions

before

the

trial

The plant performance had been already largely

deteriorated during 4 years of operation, which was

ma

inl y caused by high

pollution

of the seawater and an

insufficient

pretreatment

of t he polluted feed. Membrane

maint enance workload was very high with an average

cleaning frequency of once per month and additional

random membrane replacement.

Test

conditions

The app l ication was carr ied

out

in the following way by

an agreement with the

plant

owner.

•

Kuriverter

IK-110 is only

dosed to one

line with

20 mg/l tr during 3

hrs/d

while no dosing is applied

to

the other

2 lines

to

observe

the difference.

•

Other

chemicals such as PAC, NaClO,

sodium bisulfite

and

antiscalant

are

applied to

all

three

lines as

before.

• Observatory

period is

3 months.

As shown

in

the

following figures, the SWRO line

without

Kuri ta

treatment showed continuous

loss of

productivity . First pass permeate

flow

decreased from

87m

3

h r

down

to

30m

3

h r during

60 days since

the

sta rt

of the observation

with

the need of two

times chemical

cleaning during

that

period. On the other hand, the SWRO

Hne with Kuri

ta treatment

experienced a much

lower

decline

from 92m

3

h r to 60m /hr during 90

days

without

any

chemical cleaning

being necessary.

In

total, the cleaning frequency

was reduced

to

less

than one t hird. At the same time

sa

lt rejection and

permeate

water

quality

of the treated line were improving

while getting wo rse for the untreated line, which can be

clearly seen from the increasi ng permeate conductivity at

the later one . Obv iously, concentration polarisation due

to slime deposits was causing increasing permeate

conductivity on the non -treated line, while on the othe r

hand the new treatment could mitigate the slime

fo

r

mation

on the membranes and prevented the resu lting

pola r isa tion.

As shown in Figure 4 the blank line had to be cleaned

twice, on

the 35

th

and

58

th

day, caused by a drop in the

permeate flow. The line to which Kuriverter

IK

-110 was

added

could

be

operated continuously

w ithout cleaning

for

90

days

or more. As

an

evidence for

the above results,

the

app

l

icatio

n of

the

new sl ime

control

agent enabled a

permeate f low in the

treated

line that maintained

twice as

high as for

the

line without such treatment.

Within

t wo

months

after

t he start of operation, the

frequency

of

cleaning could be reduced to one third.

FolloWing

the

permeate

flow

trend, the re

cove

ry ratio

decreased from 40%

to

30%

within 3S

days

for

the

untreated line and was maintained at t he design value of

40%

for

the

One

wit

h

addition

of

the

new s

li

me

contro

l

agent . After the first cleaning in place (ClP) was

conducted

on the untreated line, the recovery rate was still

dec reas ing and finally dr

opped

to

18%

after 60 days of





operation. After the same period the treated line still

maintained a recovery rate of approximately 30 which was

further stabilised

over

another per iod of 30 days. In other

words, in spite of high load conditions the slime control agent

suppressed adhesion

of

slime and helped to maintain high

recovery and efficient operation of the

RO

system.

In case of biofouling material accumulating on the RO

membranes, the salt rejection is often decreased due to the

concentration polarisation effect on the membrane surface. This

is

resulting in lower permeate quality with higher conductivity. In

Figure 5 this effect can be dearly seen for the untreated

line

of

the SWRO plant. Although cleaning procedure to remove fouling

material had been applied

for

this line after

35

days of operation,

the conductiv ity of the permeate increased further from

150

- 200

mS/m

after 60 days of operation. On

the

other hand.

th

e permeate conductivity of the treated line decreased over the

same per iod and reached 40 mS/m after 60 days operation.

Figure 6 shows changes

in

differential pressure. Differential

pressure increased gradually

in

both lines and

no

remarkable

difference could

be observed in

differential

pressure during a 3S

day period. However. due

to

a decrease in permeate flow

clean i

ng

became necessary on

the

35

th

day

for the

untreated line.

Although

this cleaning obviously removed

fouling

material from

the

channels and caused recovery of

the differential

pressure to

the initial value, it

did

not recover

the

permeate

flow.

The

probable cause could be failure

to

remove materials adhering

closely to the membrane surface like microbes' metabolic

products, such as glycoproteins with several

ten

thousands

in

molecular

weight. In other wor

ds,

the cleaning proved

to

be

insufficient

•

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The

new

treatment can be

considered

as an effect ive way to

suppress adhesion

of

microbes to

the

surface

of RO

membranes and

to

break away any adhering microbes and

the ir metabo li c products . Even in case of contaminated

feedwater and insufficient pretreatment systems the problem

solving

ability of

the

new product is coming along without

additional capita l investment cost. NSF

certification has

enabled Kuriverter IK-110 to be applied to drinking water

producing RO plants. One of the keys to success

is

to know

th

e

fluctuation

range of bio substance concentration and to

determine

the

application l imits. The

method

to find the

applicable

lim

it for various kinds of raw water

has

already

been established.

The benefits prov ided by applying Kuriverter IK -110 can be

evaluated by easily measurable factors:

• Cost reduction related

to

reduced chemical cleanings.

•

Less

cleaning chemicals.

• Reduced cleaning workload.

• Reduced membrane

replacement

cost.

• Increased

membrane

lifetime

due to less deterioration

by chemical cleaning.

• Energy cost saving.

• Lower

power

consumption

for

high pressure pumps ete.

• Reduced water

consumption

and wastewater generation.

• Less chemical cleanings.

• Higher recovery ratio.

• Higher stability and reliability of plant operation.

Keeping high

flux

and recovery

ratio.

• Maintaining high permeate quality.

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Relatively

large

stack

diameter

Figure

1

Typical air flare configuration

technology specifically targeted

to

eliminate smoke in

an

efficient, economical manner in areas

without

access to steam

and without the need for a new flare stack. The new HPAAS

technology utilises super sonic air injection in a manner

that

can

be easily adapted to retrofit and upgrade outdated smoking

technologies. The appl ication

of HPAAS is

proven

to

bring

exceptional value to the user in both operational and monetary

terms

Drivers for change

Operational standards throughout

the

petroleum industry are

continuously evaluated and updated in favour

of

practices that

relieve environmental impacts. This

is true of

flaring and

is

especially

true

in

the

case

of

smoking flares. The impetus for

change

often

comes in

the

form

of

environmental regulations,

but

it can also stem

rom

monetary drivers

or public

perception.

Visible

for

kilometers and omnipresent, elevat ed flares are a

billboard

that

cannot be turned

off

Due to this high visibility,

the

fire and any smoke emitted from flares attract

the

acute

attention

and concern

of

all parties

who

wish

to

mitigate

inefficiencies and emissions in

the

industry. Whether

or not the

level of attention given to flares is justifiable.

the

flare is

becoming a lightning rod driving change in flaring technology.

HYDROC RBON

ENGINEERING

This change

is

coming qUickly and steadily to

the Middle

East.

While lim

itations

on

emissions and smoking flares

legislated around

the world

may

not

apply to all locations in

this region,

other

influencers may have a similar, nearer

term

effect. International and financial institutions have

formed

coalitions to incentivise

the

operational changes. Some

of the

most

influential companies in

the

industry have enacted internal

protocols

that

exceed

government or

international standards to

demonstrate their

commitment

to environmental concerns.

It is

conceivable

that

additional operators in

the

Middle East

will

necessarily revise flare design and operation protocols in

the

near term wh ether driven by regulat ion, incenti

ve,

or their

own

initiative.

PreViously, the second revision of The Royal Commission

for Environmental Regu

la

tions RCERP issued operational

protocols

and standards

for the

Jubail and Yanbu industrial

areas to specifically address emissions and air quality. The

initiative requires normal flare

operation

to be

completely

free

from

smoke emissions and Significantly

re

stricts

the allowed

frequency and length

of

permitted

process upsets. In these

industrial areas, dozens

upon

dozens

of

flare tips are in constant

service. When a regulation such

as RCER

is enacted,

the

conversion

of

existing non-smokeless flares becomes a

priority

for the

operators.

In the common

case where a flare

is

already

in existence, retrofitting a smokeless technology in a cost and

utility

efficient manner can be a challenging endeavor. Failure

to

do so, however.

ca

n result in

penalty

by fines. These range in

magnitude from minor charges

of

USS 1000 to one

time

penalties in excess

of

USS 100 000.

9

The

dr

ivers for change do not have to

come

from wi

thin

a

country s borders. An international initiative by

the World

Bank

seeks to minimise

the

loss

of

natural resources and reduce

the

environmental and

dimatological impact of

flaring and venting

associated with

the

production

of

crude oil.

2

The Global

Initiative

on

Natural

Gas

Flaring Reduction GGFR) was formed

with

the purpose of changing public policy via monetary

incentives within prodUCing countri es

with

active flaring

practices. The combination of monetary incentives and

aforementioned legislative penalties are targeted to bring about

the desired change in operational procedures and parameters.

8

Part of the initiati ve recognises

that

the formation of smoke

when flaring represents incompleteness in combustion. and as a

result the

environmental i

mpact of

a smoky flare

is

greater than

that of

a smokeless

one

.

While

varying

from

country to country.

the

result

of

the

GGFR initiatives

could

lead

to more st

ringent

sm

okeless requirements. These procedural changes become

complex and expensive to

retrofit

to existing equipment.

Either as a result

of the afo

r

ementioned

external influences

or

by their

own

internal prerogatives. company operational

procedures

often

require

improved

smokeless

perfo

rmance

for

flares. To be congruent w i

th the

RCER and

other

internal

initiatives, Saudi Aramco

has

publi shed stri ngent flare operation

protocols in

their

engineering standards specifications

SAES-A-102.

s

Accord ing to

th

is standard. all flares

with

a

throughput

of up to 1

million

ft2/d are requ ired to be smokeless

for

all normal operations. Flares exceeding

that

flow rate are

required

to

have a flare gas recovery system installed

to

mitigate flaring almost entirely. The enactment of this

specification

has

massive impl ications when applied to the

numerous flares already in existence

without the

necessary



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Figure 2. The HPAAS initial design was developed

using computational fluid dynamics CFO) analysis

nd

field testing.

utilities installed to achieve smokeless combustion. When an

in

ternat

ional company im

plements

a similar in itiative, the

impact is fe lt on operations in multiple countries.

All three drivers of change, regulatory, incentivised, and

internal apply

to most of the

Middle East including

the

countries of Egypt. Iraq, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Oman,

Pakistan, and Qatar. Even

if

such

operational

requirements are

not

affecting a particular

si

te yet. it

is

a reasonable assumption

th t they

will

be

in the

nea r future.

The initiatives to reduce smoking flares are greatly

impacting the Middle East; however, nowhere in the world is it

more challenging

to

accommodate inc reasing smokeless flaring

capacities. Steam injection is used worldwide for the smoke

suppression

of

heavy hydrocarbon flares.

In

these applications.

steam is injected as a transport media to inspirate and mix air

at

the insipient region of the

combustion

zone. However, since

water

is a premium commod ity in the

Middle Ea

st. a need exists

for

a suitable alternative to steam assisted flaring. The

mechanical injection

of

air by means

of

fan

or

pressure

blower

is well known and proven smokeless

technology

in

the

industry.

Though typical air assisted flares do not requi re water, a scarce

resource.

the

initial capital

cost of the equipment

is comparably

quite high since

the

configuration normally requires axial flow

of

the air and gas.

i.e.

a stack within a stack. Th is makes retrofit

applications nearly impossible; upgrading a smoking flare to air

assisted often requires an entirely new flare system

with

an

installed

weight nominally

three to

four

times greater than the

unassisted alternative.

M any valid

technolog

ical options for smokeless flaring exist

for capital projects, but what kind of financial commitment will

it take

to

upgrade the hundreds upon hundreds of flares in

existence? Until HPAAS was developed. the financial burden of

meeting

the revised operational standards was perceived

as too

steep to

enact wholly.

HPAAS technology

The basis of

the

HPAAS technology is

to transport

the injection

media in the

most

compact means and inspirate air as

efficiently

as possible. Following a

brief

discussion

of

the configuration and

requi rements

of

a typical low pressure air assisted smokeless

flare system, this art icle will examine the differences in a HPAAS

configuration. For low pressure systems typical in

the

industry.

vast amounts of air are utilised to

prevent

smoking in the flare.

Airflow

rates ranging fr

om

30 -

SO

of

the stoichiomet

ric air

are required for complete combustion and must be

mechanically induced. Due to the

la

rge air flow required in a

standard configuration, the diameter of the air delivery

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

structu re is larger than the gas riser itself. This is deSigned

to

reduce

the

velocity within the stack. minimise the pressure drop

within the system and ultimately conserve the capital cost of

the

blower by minimising its power requirements (Figure 1 .

By

utilising much higher pressure air than typical deSigns,

HPAAS flare tips ut i

l ise air in a manner comparable

to

steam

injection tips. Instead

of

injecting

most of the

air required

for

smokeless flaring. highly kinetic

jet

streams

of

air aspirate

ambient air

into the

combustion zone. This configuration is

highly

efficient

in

the

volume

of

air used;

less

than one tenth

of

the

airflow is required compared to

low

pressure technologies.

Additionally, since this minute air

volume

is injected at high

pressures. the delivery of air occurs in a much smaller pipe

often of only 2

or

3

in.

nominal diameter.

1

The smaller pipe

generates several cost savings

to

the user; the large diameter air

ducting stack is eliminated

completely

the

weight

and forces o

the stack are minimal and therefore structural considerations

such

as

civil wo rk or guy wires are minimised.

The

patented

design and l

ayout of the HPAAS

injection tips

are

the

crucial elements

for

delivering

the

benefits discussed.

For the first

time

in the industry.

proprietary

supersonic air

injec

tion

nozzles

were

developed

to

maximise

the efficiency

of

the

air injected

through

the system. The

jet of

air produced by

the nozzle creates a turbu

lent

wake, inducing ambient air

into

the combustion zone. In this manner. the effect of the relatively

tiny flow

of

compressed air is

multiplied

so that a significant

portion

of

the air required

for complete

combustion is available

at the flare tip exit prior to the formation smoke. In conjunc tion

with

using these advanced air noules the correct placement

and mixing set up by these t ips is paramount to

the

success

of

the

design.

When the combination of

induced and injected air

reach

the

flare

tip

exit,

the

veloCity, angle

of

approach. and

volume have been

optimised for

interaction with the gases and

shaping

of the

flame. The nozzle placement is refined to ensure

the

induced air is also fully mixed with the waste gas stream and

complete smokeless combustion occurs (Figure 3).

A specialised windshield is integral to the induction of

ambient

air. By enhancing the upward draft around the

perimeter of the flare tip. the momentum of the air wi

th

in the

windshield overcomes the tendency for flame pull down on the

downwind side of the flare. In effect. it shepherds the flame in

an u

pward

column and prevents the impingement on

the

flare

tip barrel common

to uti

l ity flares.

The initial design was conceived by Saudi Aramco

through

advanced computational

flu

id dynamics (CFD) analyses (Figure

2)

and

field

testing in select southern area

gas

oil separation

plant (GOSP) locations.

1

Finalisation of

the

nozzle and

windshield layout occurred through extensive

full

scale testing

at Zeeco s Research and

Development

Facility in Broken Arrow.

Oklahoma. under the

observation of Saudi Aramco personnel.

The

combination of

live testing validation and

CFD modelling

rendered a proprietary

layout

that optimises the overall

performance, reliabil ity, and longevity of the flare system.

The supply

of

air

for

these systems is most often generated

by an air compressor. This is typically welcomed by the user

since it is a familiar

technology with

competitive selection

opportunities

between

many vendors. In

tight

turnaround

situat ions, temporary air capacity is achievable through portable

natural gas

or

diesel driven compressors. Compressors are eaSily

run in pa rallel configurations for increased

online

performance,



and

if

the continuous air requirements

of

the flare are less

than the capacity

of

the compressor the difference can be

piped to the plant for other uses. In ideal circumstances,

the

loca

tion

has sufficient plant air to negate the need and cost

of

the compressor entirely.

Application

of

HPAAS

The greatest distinction between HPAAS and all other

smokeless technologies

is

the ability

to

easily

retrofit

the

technology

to

upgrade existing flares. Previously, integrating

an air assist technology was mostly achieved by replacing

the

flare entirely.

In

the

Middle

East or

other

installations where

sufficient steam

was

not available, new smokeless operation

was also unobtainable. Smoking flares subject to scrutiny,

sanction, and suspicion were either

left

in

service as

is

or

replaced

at

a crippling cost since no adequate solution existed

in the market.

With

the advent of a small bore air util

ity

line and a

HPAAS

flare

tip

of

equitable size

to

the

old

tip, existing flare

stacks can

be

reused

with

no structural modifications. The t i

ps

are configured

to

be

direct bolted

replacements

to

their

predecessors; the

only

welding required

is

simple

utility

bracketing along the flare stack. If

the

compressor is located

near the flare stack, horizontal piping and supports are

minimised. Power, piping and con tro ls

to

the compressor,

buffering tank and

control

valve are simplistic and inexpensive.

With all

of

the simplifications to the equipment, turnaround

installations have been achieved in as little as

two

days

pro

viding significant

down time

savings

to

the

user.

When compared

to the

alternative

co

nfiguration

of

non-assisted smoking flares, the

HPAAS

technology can bring

added robustness and longevity to the flare tip. Unassisted

utility tips

often

have a flame

profile that is

dominated by the

effects

of

crosswind.

As

the diameter

of

a flare

tip

increases, a

more severe low pressure zone is formed along the downwind

side

of

the tip. Th is pulls the flare gas down

into

the zone and

allows the flare flame

to

stagnate on the tip barrel and

ancillary equipment. Prolonged operation in this state

commonly damages pilot and thermocouples beyond use as

well as cracking or buckling

the

barrel.

As

mentioned

previously regarding the combined effects

of

the windshield

and injection nozzles,

the

aspirated air momentum overcomes

the crosswind effects. The flame shape

is

controlled

to

flow

up

and away from the flare tip exit, thus protecting the

equipment and adding operational life

to

the tip.

In

some

services, non-assisted

utility

flares

often

receive sufficient

damage to render the pilots and or tip inoperable with in two

to three years.

In

contrast, when HPAAS tips were used to

replace them.

the

same flares operated at the

same

installation for five years without damage to the pilots or a

reduction in service life. The additional expected l ifetime

brings further monetary savings to

the

user in yet another way

by

redUCing

replacement cycles and required turnarounds.

Unlike steam and axial airflow, the HPAAS can

run

momentarily

without

air

with

no

immediate mechanical

degradation.

1

However, in a steam assisted flare, the steam

injection equipment

is

located very near

to

the combustion

zone, so a continuous minimum flow rate is required to

remove the heat

of

the flare flame.

Other

low pressure air

assist technologies introduce the air and flare gas aXially at the

Figure 3. Left: Without

HPAAS.

Right: The same

flare, after retrofitting with HPAAS Smokeless Flare

Technology. HPAAS uses supersonic air injection

nozzles to inspirate combustion air

at

a

much

higher efficiency than any previous air assisted

smokeless flaring technology.

flare

tip

exit, and similarly require a minimum

flow

to

prevent

mechanical harm

to

the equipment.

In both

configurations,

running

without

the smokeless assist media even

for

momentary periods of time can thermally stress and crack the

equipment. Only the HPAAS technology injection nozzles are

located

below

the flame sufficiently far

to allow brief

upsets

to

the air supply

without

instantaneous harm.

Conclusion

To date, there are dozens

of

HPAAS tips in use

throughout

the

Kingdom of Saud i Arabia, allOWing operators to meet the

objectives of smokeless flaring. In addition to the ultimate

objective

of

improving the environmental impact

of

their

operations, this technology helps erase the visual stigma

of

a

smoking flare

from

the horizon. Operators now have a tool

to

address the immediate need to satisfy the latest

in

environmental protocols and standards

with

manageable

resource requirements. This

tool is

versatile enough

to

rectify

the primary problem

of

smoking while proViding advantages

over other technologies at the initial installation, operation,

and replacement costs. Fortunately, the HPAAS upgrade is

becoming widely available just as environmental practices and

regulations tighten across the

Middle

East.

I"

References

1. MASHOUR, M., SMITH, S., PALFREEMAN, N.,

SEEFELDT,

G., AFRC

2010, 'Success Stories: Saudi

Aramco

High Pressure Air Assist

System

HPAAS) for

Smokeless

Flaring.

2. World Bank, 2004, Regulation of associated gas flaring and venting:

a

global

overview and

lessons from international

experience. Global

gas flaring reduction - a public-private partnership: No. 3.

3. The Royal Commission For

Jubail

and

Yanbu

2004, Royal

Commission Environmental Regulations 2004, Section

I.

4. Presidency

o

Meteorology

and

Environment (PME) website: http:

www.pme.gov.sa/en/envJegul.asp

5.

Saudi Aramco Environmental

Standards

Committee.

31st

July

2012.

SAES-A·I02 Ambient

Air Quality and

Source Emissions

Standards.

6.

AL-Tl]ANI, A.H.,

Saudi Aramco, 2010, Flare

Minimization

Roadmap in Saudi Aramco, http://spatia1co.com/download

benchmarking2010/KuwaiCGasFlaring_

Reduction

_Abdulaziz_

Aramco.pdf

7.

Saudi Aramco Corporate

Flaring

Task Team,

Flaring Minimization

Roadmap,

http://www.saudiaramco.com/contenUdam/Publications/

EnvironewslEnvironews%20Winter%202008/SA]laring.pdf

8. FARINA, M.F .,

GE

Energy, 2010,

Flare

Gas Reduction:

Recent Global

Trends and

Policy Considerations.

9.

The

Royal

Commission

For

Jubail

and Yanbu 2010 Royal

Commission

Environmental

Regulations

2010 Penalty

System,

Section

Ill.

HYDROC RBON



ollow

_ @Energy_Global

onne t

Hydrocarbon

Engineering

HYDROC RBON

N IN RING

• •

JO n

fm

Hydrocarbon

Engineering

like

Energy Global



Patrick Gripka, Opinder Bhan, Wes Whitecotton

and James Esteban, Criterion Catalysts and

Technologies, USA, take a look

at

Tier 3

capital

avoidance wi

th

the help of catalyst solutions.

T

e

US

Environmental Protect ion Agency

EPA)

has fina lised new regulations designed

to

reduce air

pollution from

passenger cars and

trucks. The regulations commonly referred

to

as Tier 3 set new vehicle emisSion standards and lower

the

annual average sulfur

content of

gasoline from

30 to

10 ppm .

Additionally. the regulations maintain the

current 8 ppm refinery gate and 95 ppm downstream

caps. The

implementation

date

is

January pt, 2017 .

These Tier 3 gasoline sulfur specifications are simi lar

to

levels already being achieved in California, Europe,

Japan, South Korea and several

other

countr

ies

.

Implications

of

Tier 3

on

refinery processing

Th e gasoline pool

is composed of

gasoline bOiling

range

hydrocarbons

from several sou rces

in the

refinery. Typical gasoline pool blending components

include butanes.

ethano

l light stra

ight

run naphtha

iso

merate

r

eformate

alkylate fluid cata lytic

cracker

Fee)

gasoline

and

hydrocracker gasoline.

In

addition purchased blending components may also

HYDROC RBON



350

300

-so

10

3

• Max Content

Refinery Gate

Max

• Cor

porate

Aver

ag

e

• Annual Average

Figure 1. US gasoline sulfu r requirements.

'

.

. . . 0

no

•

''

.

,.

r' .... o . 'Mo r' '''' ... ' .

Mo

p ,,, .... ' '''''0 I'I' ·H'\

l ' ' ' ~

. RI/AIIOS . RVAtlDN ~ C o m O < > I

Figure 2. Criterion FCC PT continued catalyst

evolution.

.

be present. Most

of

t hese components are very low in

sulfur (typically <1 ppm) except for the Fee gasoline.

Not

only does the Fee gaso line have th e highest sulfur

content, but it is typically also the large

st

volume

compon

ent

o f t he gasoline pooL

As

a resu lt,

e

gasoline

sulfur will have to be reduced to 20 • 30 ppm in order

for

a typical refinery

to

meet the

proposed

Tier 3 regulations.

At present

few, if any , refineries are

able to blend

sign ificant

amounts

of

Fee

gasoline into the gasoline pool

without

employing hydrotreating t o reduce sui fur.

Options refiners are currently

utilising to

meet cu rrent

Tier 2 regulations includ e:

•

Pretreatment

of Fee feed:

Pretreatment

reduces the

sulfur of the

Fec

feed, which in

turn

lowers the sulfur

of the FCC products including FeC gasoline.

• Post

treat FCC

gasoline: Post treatment directly

reduces FCC gasoline sul fur.

• Combination of FCC feed

pretreatment

and Fee

gasoline

post treatment.

Current

unit

constraints and relative economics of the

available options will

determine

the

technology

selecti o n

for

meeting Tier 3 regulations.

Catalyst developments in FCC

pretreatment

To meet

the

demand for improved catalysts in

FCC

pretreatment se rvice

to meet

Tier 2 regulations, Criterion

Catalysts

&

Techno

lo

gies l.P. Criterion) developed and

commercialised the

ASCENT

' family of catalysts

with

DN-3551 NiMo

and OC -

2551

CoMo. Criterion

has

continued

to invest heavily in R&O and has developed and

commercialised the CENT

ERA

fam ily of catalysts

for

Fee

pretreatment:

ON-3651

NiMo and OC-2650 CoMo.

Figure 2 highlights the con tinuing evolution of FCe

pretreatment NiMo catalyst development by Criterio

n.

Refiners were able to take advantage of the increased

activity of DN-3551 to meet Tier 2 regulations and st ill

achieve long catalyst l ife; simil arly, the increased act iv ity of

the recent ly commercialised CENTERA DN-3651 will assist

refiners in meeting the proposed Tier 3 regulations.

Criterion's newest CoMo FCC pretreatment catalyst,

CENTERA

DC-2650, is

often

used in

conjunction with

CENTERA DN

-3651,

especially in

low

er pressure units

to

optimise

hydrodesulfurisation (H05) and

hydrodenitrification

(HDN) performance

These new

catalytic

developments

allow

cur

rent

Fec

pretreatment

units

to

produce lower product su lfur at the

same operating

conditions

and minimise the investments

required

to

meet Tier 3 requirements.

Capital avoidance

Many refiners have invested heavily in robust Fec

pretrcutmcnt units

to meet

Tier 2 regulations

as well

as

MACT standards for FCC emissions. Leveraging advanced

catalyst technologies

with

existing assets can, in many

cases, provide attractive so lutions

to

both minimise

capital investment

as

well

as

improve re f ine ry

profitability. The FCC pretreatment unit plays a

critical

role in optimis ing FCC performance. Removal of sulfur

from

FCC

feed improves

FCC

product quality while the

removal of nitrogen and contaminant metals improves

FCC ca ta l ys t performance and reduces catalyst usage.

Additionally,

hydrogenation of the Fec feed improves

conversion by reduc ing the

concentration

of

polynu

c lear

aromatic species. In many applicat ions, drop in

catalyt

ic

solut ions

for FCC

pretreatment units can achieve

higher

severity wi th l it t le to no capital investment and min imal

change in

cycle

life.

The re are several key

factors to consider when

evaluating

FCC pret reatme

nt

un i

ts for higher severity

operations:

• Hyd rogen availability including recycle gas capacity to

account for add i

tiona

l consumption.

• Heat balance fo r ope ra tion at higher rea

ct o

r

temperatures.

• Cycle life targets.

• Current and

future

capacity targets

as

it relates to

reactor space velocity.

• Operating constraints such as

fractionation

limitations.

For a medium pressure

unit

with average feed

properties and a

typical 36

month cycle life cu rrently



IIlndustrial and academic research

the best

of

both worlds.

Meet homas

Weber:

Kn owledge Seeker, ylng it

Fo

rword

You might say that Thomas

Weber

a lead scientist at CRITERION, is a know-it-all . Not because

he s

proud , but because he sincerely wants to

know

it all. Ta satisfy his insatiable drive to understand

the whys behind every reaction ,

Weber

immersed himself in

academia. While

eorning his post

doctorate, a professor

land

former Shell scientist) exposed Thomas to

the world of

catalyst

reseorch, leading him to a coreer with

CRITE

R

ION.

Today, when Thomas isn t

in

the

labo

ratory,

he s likely teaching chemistry at one

of

the top universities

in

catalysis

in the

Netherlands.

like

his

mentor before, Thomas

is

developing the next generation of catalysts - and next generation

of scientists

os well.

Leading minds Advanc t •

5

B r . ~ ~ L Q ~

www

.CRITERIONCatal

ys t

s.c

am



Fe

e Cr ack ing 0 H

Figure

3.

Impact

of untreated

aromatic molecule on

Fee

products.

removed. The

number

of

unsaturated

r ings

adjacent to each other

is

critical in

determining the boiling range of the final

Fee product. Molecules with one ring end

up in

the

Fee naphtha cu t, 2

and

some

3 ring

molecules go

to

the Leo

cut

whi

le most 3

ring and greater mo lecu les are either

fou

nd

in

the

HCO and cla rifi ed oil st ream s o r

deposit as coke. Saturation of aromatics

results in higher value products

and

greater

Ben;tothiophene i n

gaeol

i

ne boiling ,ang .

conve rsion in

the

Fee. Saturat ion of

aromati

c rings

sta

rts

from

the

cent

re

of the

molecule wi

th

a decrease in relative

rea

ction

rat e as p

olynuclear aromatics are

hyd

rogenated

.

The cr

itical o

perating paramete

rs

that

influence these

reaction

rates are hydrogen

partial pressure and operating temperature.

In order

to

maximise aromati

cs

saturation

Figure 4. Impact

of

low severity aromat ic treatment on

Fee

products.

for

a given uni t,

it is

important

to

maximise

or

sulfides are nOI

in

gasoli

ne

boiting range

hydrogen purity and hydrogen avai labili t y to

optimise hydrogen partial pressure,

part icularly at t he reactor outlet. In addition

to maximising hydrogen part ial pressure,

operat ing temperatures must be increased

to maximise

sa

turation. Howeve r, saturation

of aromatics is equilibrium l imited at

constant hydrogen part ial pressure so

there

is an o

pt

imum temperature range for

igure 5. Im pact of h igher severity aromatic treatment on

Fee

products.

maximum saturat ion. This optimum

temperature range is often referred to as t he

kinetic

region

or

the

aromat

ics saturat

ion

plateau. Operating in the kinetic region

prOVides the best quality feed for the Fee.

... ............... ........... ...

C, ,

r'

,

,

•

C,H, ©

Ui>

CC Cracking

•

0 S

c,H,

CA

©

cS

.

S

AND f OA

C . H

Hp

n

CH

\i,R,

CH

Hfi

R

•

CH

Hfi- R

CH,

When evaluating an increase in severity of a

Fec pretreatment unit, there

is

typically a

synergy between the additional temperat ure

required and ma ximum aromat ics saturat ion

operating mode. The elevated desulfurisation

severity drives the unit closer

to

maximum

aromatics saturation mode, which re sul ts in

Figure 6. Impact

of

basic nitrogen inhibition on

Fee

products.

improved yields

in

the FCC product

sla

te.

Additional

ly,

the elevated desulfurisation

severity early in the cycle capitalises on the

maximum aromatic

sa

turation activi ty of theroducing 1000 ppm product sulfur, the more severe Fec

pretreatment opera

ti on

t o produce FCC gaso line su

lf

ur in

the 20 - 30 ppm range requires FCC pretreatment prod u

ct

s

ulfur to

be in the

300

ppm range and cycle l ife is

still

more than 24 months

when

us ing CENTERA ca

talyst.

In

addition, the product nitrogen

is

reduced significan

tly

and

hydrogen consumption, FCC pretreatment vo lume gain

and Fec conversion are increased.

The improvemen t s in Fee performance and y ields

from

higher severity operat ion of the Fec pretreatment

unit are linked to the inc reased saturation of po lynuclear

aromatics. The s

aturation

of aromatic rings in these

comp

lex

mole

cules

determines

both

the

product

distribution and the relative sulfur

dist

r ibution in the

Fee

products. In the FCC, aroma tic r ings do

not

crack

whil

e

functional

groups attached to the aromatic rings can be

catalyst sys tem throughout the cycle which maximises overall

yields.

Increased aromatic

sa

turation has an impact on the

distribution of the sulfur containing aromatic molecules in

Fce products. The

following

discussion illustrates the impact

of FCC pretreatment seve rity on a typical polynuclear

aromatic species and the impacts on product sulfur

distribution.

Untreated feed (no FCC

pretreatment

For

an

untreated aromatic molecule, the

FCC

simply removes

the

functional group chains attached to the compound and

leaves the majority of the molecule unconverted, resulting in

higher coke and

or

cycle oil yield. This results in higher sulfur



in

the unconverted cycle oils

or

higher

sax

in

the

fiue

gas

after

coke is burned off the catalyst. There is a low probabil ity

of

seconda ry thiophene cracking

in

the Fee. thus the suI fur

in

this molecule ends up in the cycle oil

or

coke (Figure 3).

Low

severity

F pretreatment

When

the

same molecule is treated but in a low severity

operation

, the resulting aromatic

saturation

result is an

increase in gasoline yield. But because

the sulfur atom

remains i

ntegrated with

the

aromatic benzothi

ophene,

the

probability

of secondary cracking is low and it remains in

the gasoline boiling range (Figure 4).

Higher severity F

pretrea tmen t

Increased

aromatic

saturat ion by increasing severity in

the FCC pretreatment

unit conve rts

the polynuclear

aromatic

(PNA) to a single ring compound. Secondary

cracking of the thiophene yields H1S, which removes the

sulfur from the gasoline boiling range (Figure 5).

This secondary

thiophen

e cracking in

the

FCC is

inh ibited by the basic nitrogen

in

the

Fce

feed and, in the

presence of basic nitrogen. the inhibition decreases the

amount of sulfur removed from the gasoline fraction

(Figure 6).

The higher severity FeC pretreatment

operation

thus

provides additional advantages by increasing the nitrogen

and basic nitrogen removal from FCC feed. This impacts FCC

cracking reactions and influences

the distribution of

sui fur

in

the

FCC products. Thus, improved nitrogen removal also

leads

to

a reduction in gasoline sulfur.

In conclusion, the increased HDS achieved by

increased FCC

pretreatment

severity along

with

the higher

saturation and

denitrification

are critical in reducing FCC

gasoline sulfur while still achieving reasonable cycle life.

Applying best available

catalyst technologies

opens

the

door to

improved

product

quality

and maximum

profitability.

Several US ref iners are already using Criterion s

industry leading catalysts

to increase severity and are

capturing

the yield improvements

while also

producing

low sulfur FCC gasoline streams that are suitable for

blending to Tier 3

specifications.

With

the

increased

severity, the diesel side stream off the FCC pretreatment

unit

has

, in several cases, been

of

ultra low

sulfur

diesel

(ULSD) quality, thereby

further

improving the economics.

atalyst developments in F

post

treatment

Likewise

Criterion

has

continued

R D

development of

FCC gasoline post treatment catalysts with focus on

maximising

desulfurisation

activity and

selectivity

w ith

minimal

olefin saturation. Criterion

curren

tl y

produces

a

Generation FeC post treatment catalyst that is

employed in

Fee

gasoline

post

treatment with a new

catalyst

in

the development

stage. The new catalyst is

designed for maximum sulfur

reduction

while minimising

octane loss.

The

ke

y challenge has been to develop catalyst

nanostructures that selectively maximise desulfurisation

sites, whi le minimising active sites associated w

ith

hydrogenation

of

olefins.



Generally. conventional metal sites (Co-Mo-

S)

on alumina

favour

bo t

h thiophenic compound desulfurisation and

satur

at

i

on

of

the

olefinic species present. This

type

of

process

in

g results

in

high octane loss and hydrogen

consumption. Increasing selectivity for desulfurisation, whi

le

suppressing olefin saturation, is key to increasing process

effiCiency, thus reducing cos ts, and making post

treatment

processing economically effective under the more stringent

suifur reduction specifications.

Select

ive

post treatment hydrodesulfur

isa

ti

on is

generally

co

ndu

cted in

multiple stage reactors:

in

the first stage. some

diolefins are removed and high mercaptan and

high sui fur

compounds are converted

to

heavier

sulfur

compounds. The

effluent

is

fractionated

to

produce an olefin

rich

light naphtha

stream and a sulfur

rich

heavy naphtha stream.

In

the second

stage. the heavy naphtha fraction

is

desulfurised

using

selective

catalysts. Depending on the process employed, effluent

sui fur

from this section can vary

from tens to

hundreds

of

ppm. Post

Table 1. Polishing reactor feed properties

Total sulfur. ppmw

159

Mercaptan sul fur, ppmw 52

Bromine number

24

AP

I

47,0

PIONA analysis, wt

Napthenes

14.55

I

so

paraffins

2U2

n

Pa

raffins

8.47

Cyclic olefins

4,62

ISO oleffns

4,37

n o l

ef

i

ns

2,

86

Aromatics

44.12

Simulated d ist illation D-3710C-7890

IBP, F

5,

wt

10

30

50

70

90

99

FBP

Table 2. Product properties

Temp , F

Base

s....

Base

&a >e+

Ba

se

Pressure.

LH5V, 1/

psig

hr

Base Base

Ba

se

Base-

Base

Base.

Bas

. . Base

Base

Base

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

140

164

183

230

287

340

395

438

446

Gas rat

e,

ft /bbl

Base

Base

Ba

se

Base

Bas.·

Gen 1catalyst

Sppm

Br

No

Base Base

Base

Base

Base

Base

Base

Base

Base Base

treatment processing in fixed

bed

units is

employed

in

some

processes

to

further

reduce

sui fur

content of

t h

is

effluent.

Ca

ta lyst

development

for

the

finishing catalyst was

conducted

at

Criterion's

R&D

centres,

where enhanced

experimentation eqUipment were employed. This

experimentation

technique

allows multiple experiments

to

be

cond ucted

simultaneously, while analysing and

statistically organising data, thus enhanCing the chances of

a significant catalyst

development

breakthrough. Th e focus

in the development

of this

catalyst

was to reduce the sites

involved

in

hydrogenati

on

and enhance

the

sites involved

in

the direct desulfurisation route. This involved

both the

development of

new

support

material and

enhanced

surface metal chemistry

to

maximise selective

desulfurisat ion, while minimis i

ng

undesirable reactions.

Table

1

shows t

he

pr

operties of the

feed used for

pos

t

treatment

catalyst

testing. This

feed

was

collected

from a

Gulf Coast refiner and

represented

feed

to

a pol ishing

reactor

to

reduce sulfur

content.

Table

2

shows

the

product

properties

for

two

catalyst

generat

ions

collected

at

various process operating

conditions.

Va

rious studies

were

conducted

where

process

parameters such as catalyst

temperature

, hydrogen partial

pressure, gas circulation rate and system pressure were

varied over an applicable range. Under all process

conditions,

the

new generation

catalyst showed

superior

activity for sulfur removal and olefin

retent

ion

compared

to

the

previous

catalyst

generation.

Conclusion

Proposed Tier

3

regulatiOns redUcing average gasoline

sulfu r content to

10 ppm wi

ll require further reduction of

the

FCC gasoline sulfur. Refiners are

current

ly evaluating

their op t ions which include increasing

FCC pretreatme

nt

severity

or

expanding

FCC pretreatment

assets, increasi

ng

FCC

gasoline

post treatment

severity

or

expanding

FCC

post treatment

assets

or a combinat

ion

of the

two.

Opportu ni

ties exist

to

minimise

or

eliminate

these

investments

by

use

of

advanced

catalyst

technologies

to

attain

the

longest possible cycle life

at the

increased

desulfurisat ion requ irem

ents in the FCC

pretreatmen

t unit

or to

red uce

the

FCC

gasoline sulfur

in the

FCC

gasoline

post treatment

unit while minimising

octane

loss.

i 'I

References

1. EPA,

'EPA Proposes Tier 3 Tailpipe

and

Evaporative Emission

and Vehicle Fuel Sta ndards , May 2013.

2. BAVARO, V GRIPKA,

P.,

GABRIELOV.

A ZHANG, C Value

Driven CQtalyst Developments in

Fee

Pretreatment Service',

AIChE

Gen 2 cata lyst

Spring Annual Meeting. April 2006.

3. CARLSON, K.D., DE HAAN, D.}.,

JONGKIND

H.H.,

SHIVARAM, A.

5 ppm

Br.

o

'Continued Gains in Fee

Pretreat

Performance - Gains in Process

•

Capability Used Effectively in lean

Fuels Production',

ERTC,

November

•

2008,

4.

G

ILLE

SPIE, B., GABR IELOV, A.,

WEBER,

T., K

RAUS

, L., 'Advances

+

in Fee pretreatment catalysis', PTQ

Catalysis, 2013,

vol

18, No. 2.

+



L

ng term t rends in refined products market demand are calling for less gasoline, but for more

diesel and light olefins The fluid catalytic c

ra

cking

unit FCCU)

process has inherent flexibil it y

to crack different types of feed and shift the yield pattern among the various products, and

this has resulted in the primary focus of th process moving from producing maximum

gasoline from vacuum distillate towards cracki

ng

heavier more contaminated residual feeds to make

light olefms.

Ho

wever

the

unit s flexibility also allows short term changes

in

the

feed and

produ t

values to be exploited.

HYDROCARBON



A major factor in this

flexibility

is that, unlike fixed bed

catalytic processes, the FCCU

catalyst

has to be continually

replaced ,

therefore

there is an opportunity to dynamically

adjust the catalyst formulation to meet changing feed and

product

economics.

Residua l

oil

feeds that are becoming more prevalent

have higher contaminant levels than traditional feeds, most

notably

vanadium, nickel. sodium, calcium, iron. 5ulfur, and

nitrogen V

, Ni ,

Na, Ca , Fe ,

S,

N respectively). This has

collided

with

the need

for high

conversion

and selectivity.

while meeting tighter environmental emissions standards for

both

refineries and vehicles. Feed metals

V, Ni

, Na,

Ca

and

Fe). which primarily accelerate the catalyst deactivation rate

and compromise selectivity, have required the development

of

more active and tolerant catalysts and new addit ives to

maintain the desired level

of

cracking while minimising

undesirable side reactions. Higher heteroatoms S and N) in

feed ha ve required more active and selective additives to

reduce flue gas emissions, while

the

increased levels in Fee

gasoline have necessitated

hydrotreatment

with

a

consequential loss of octane. This has enhanced the value of

light olefms, not just for petrochem icals but also,

as

feed for

alkyl

at

ion and etherification units to compensate

for

lost

octane.

Many refiners only undertake Fee catalyst selections

every 2 - 4 years, sometimes using testing and sometimes

no t. However, long supply chains and working inven tory

reqUirements usually del

ay

gett ing the new catalyst into the

FCCU by up to 6 -

12

months. Meanwhile, process economics

are changing on a daily basis and refineries processing

multiple opportunity

crudes and supplementary feedstocks

can see major swings in feed

quality on

a similar frequency.

Usually feed and product demand are radically

different

by

the time

the newly selected Fec catalyst

is

established in

the unit.

Furthermore catalyst and additive suppliers are

continually proactively developing no vel products,

often

tailored for specific requirements,

as

well as responding to

customer requirements and disruptions

in

raw material costs

such

as

rare earths. Being locked i

nto

using a particular

catalyst or additive inevitably leads to missed opportunities.

Some refiners do reformulate their catalyst to

try

and

respond to shifts in feed quality and product demand.

However, the range

of

available catalyst propert ies and

working inventories limits the

ability to

make significant

moves on a reasonable time scale and

the

catalyst

formulation is never properly optimised to extract the

maximum possible value. Just

as

a refiner would never dream

of running

down

alk

ylate

mixed with other gasoline blend

components because it would compromise its high value,

stemming

from

high octane, low vapour pressure and low

contaminant content, to maximise

the

benefits of FCCU

flexibility

refiners need to segregate indi vidual components

in

the catalytiC system.

With

accurately controlled

use of

the best available catalysts and additives, they are in a

position to rapidly optim ise catalytiC systems.

This article describes

how

the

refiner can achieve a level

of

catalyst formulation flexibility

that

better matches the

market time scales, while still meeting the environmental

and process constraints. This lowers risks and increases

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

margin, thereby exp loiting t he value

of

formulation

flexibility .

Logistics issues

To meet

the

many and conflicting demands described above,

va rious additives may comprise nearly one third of

the

total

makeup in some FCCUs. The large vo lumes of additives

involved can create logistical and administrative difficulties

if not managed appropriately. These include:

• Freq uent fork

lift

truck movements

in

constricted

areas.

• Increased

Fce

operator work load.

• Increased raw material management and controL

• Multiple suppliers.

• Multiple

addition

systems.

i s ~ q v a n t a g e s

of preblending

addItIves

Some suppliers preblend additives with the base catalyst.

either to ease these logistics issues, or to modify

the

base

catalyst selectivity, although this

is

not

always known by

the

refiner. Preblending is most commonly implemented for

ZSM-S and CO promoter, but SOx reduction, active matrix,

and metals trap additives have also been preblended.

Nonetheless, there are a number

of

disadvantages when

additives are preblended, which add to costs and reduce

margins. The major disadvantages include:

• Excessive add itive usage to cope with extremes forces

suboptimal operat ion and/or

rai

sed emissions, thereby

risking permit infringements.

• Additives are an operating cost. They are gener<llly much

more expensive than fresh catalyst. It

is

therefore

extremely important not to over add, which equates to

wasting money.

• An inhomogeneous product due to a

poorly controlled

blending process can cause erratic over and under

addition, resulting in suboptimal operation

and/or

raised emissions risking

permit

infringements.

• Refiners are unable

to

independently monitor/audit

additive quality. Standard practice under ISO-9001 is

to

retain random samples of fresh catalyst and additive

deliveries for

spot

checking and reference in

the

event

of

a problem. This aids trouble shooting and helps

eliminate 'finger pointing', alloWing the

root

cause

to

be

qU ickly addressed.

• Refiners are tied to their base catalyst supplier and not

free

to

choose a

better

additive

from

a

competitor

For

example,

lohnson Matthey

does not supply base catalyst

but

has a

wide

range of industry leading INTERCAT

JM

add itives, such

as

Super Z Exceed, with the highest

activity

ZSM -S additive commerCially available; Super

SOXGETTER

-

II

- and LoSOx-PS proven

to

be the most

effective

sax

reduction additives in full and partial burn

FeC's; and COP-NP , the number one selling non-

plat

inum combustion promoter.

xamples of the opportunities

Zeolite to

matrix

optimisation

Figure 1 illustrates

how one

feed

property

(density) can vary

in contrasting situations. Normally the base catalyst is

deSigned

for

the most common feed. However, when the

feed lightens there is an

opportunity

to increase V-zeolite

to



)

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The only word you

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world

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specialty

gases.

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Q.linde-gas.com



1

I

1

\

I \

~

I \ ./

I \

I

\

I

1\

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

o

I

I .

YA

[ ,

./

·v

£

r ... ~

4

6 80 100

Regenerator

After

burn F

- Before New COP -NP

loade

r - With New COP -NP Loader

Figure

5.

Improved afterbum .

70

60

SO

E

40

30

20

o

z

10

o

-\

~

_

N

A

\

\

I

~

I

rJ

-J\.I

20 30 4 50 60 70

80

NOK Emissions p

pm

- Before New COP-NP

Loader

- With New

COP

-

NP

Loader

Figure 6. Improved NO , control.

120

90

Scanning

electron microscopy

SEM)

analys is wi

th

elemental

mapping can be used to

detect the

presence

of

phosphorus

rich

discrete particles

and this

provides

conclusive evidence of ZSM-5

additive

being present in

Feat or Ecat.

Combustion

promoter

Many refiners

use prepromoted catalysts

that have a

fixed amount of

combustion

pr

omoter

added. In order to

ensure they always have enough CO promoter to avoid

afterburn

excursions

these

catalysts usually have excess

promoter. However, excessive usage of CO promoters

causes unnecessary increases in NO

x

emissions. Figure 4

is an example where a large

quantity of

a low NO

x

non-platinum promoter was added in error: as can be

seen

it

caused a large spike in

NO

x

emissions. As

environmental regulations

on

NO

x

become tighter

refiners need to control their CO promoter

additions

to

the bare

min

imum. Figure 5 and Figure 6 show how one

refiner

reduced afterburn and

NO

x

wh i le Simultaneously

tightening their control

by using an INTERCAT)M loader

for precisely

controlled

CO promoter add itions.

Controlling multiple additive and

catalyst

additions

Many

refineries have

poor control

and rel

ia

bility

of

base

catalyst additions, and often ask how they can manage

these let alone three or four addit ives. Johnson

Matthey s latest

INTERCAT M additive addition systems are

much more advanced than many people realise w ith

features includi

ng:

• Highly reliable and precise,

fully

automated additions.

• 100% maint enance support proVided by Johnson

Matthey at

no

extra cost for leased loaders.

• Loaders can be refilled from drums, big bags, tote bins,

transportable hoppers, road and rail tankers, and

refinery hoppers.

• Refilling can be manual or fully automatic.

• Skid mounted for easy installation.

• Provide independent, aud itable

addition

records

for

Government compl iance where required.

• Mu

lt

iple independent catalyst

component options

available.

•

Automat

ic i nventory management (AIM)

option.

•

Si

ntered metal filters

for

zero particulate emissions.

• Extensive DCS interface capability.

Table 1 i

ll

ust rates

the

reliability

of

JNTERCAT)M oaders,

the

key

to

which

is

the simple design

with

a Single, speCial

design addition valve in

contact with

cata lyst.

Has

demonstrated over 5

cydes

with

no

measurable

wear). The design combined

with the

patented control

system achieves the high degree

of

precision sh

own

in

Table 2.

Johnson Mat they

can

complement th is reliability and

accuracy

with a supply chain system that combines an

appropriate ly sized loader with one of multiple options

for

additive delivery mode. The AIM TECHNOLOGY makes sure

that this runs smoothly, with minimal input from the renner.

Small systems are normally reloaded by vacuum from sealed,

reusable bulk bins

(1000

kg

capacity/bin)

or

big

bags,

or

dr

ums.

La rge systems are norma

ll

y pressure loaded from

pneumatic trucks or rail

cars

(24

- 100

t per refill). Intermediate

sizes can use the new 15 t capacity transport hoppers, which

are delivered full, tilted, connected tothe I

NTERCAT

M

addition system, emptied by dai ly consumption, and when

empty , picked up and replaced by truck.

All systems

can

also be refilled from an existing catalyst

hopper.

The AIM TECHNOLOGY option allows add ition system

to phone home to Johnson Matthey s secure

network

once

a day

usi

ng fixed telephone line or GSM network.

Additive

usage, and onsite additive inventory is

monitored

automatically to ensure t hat refi nery does not run

out of

additive, and reordering can be automated,

or

reminders

issued eliminating increased costs from panic reordering,

etc.

Inventory and usage statistics are available

to

refiner

from

a secure web site

24

hours a day minimising workload

for operations group and budget holders and can be u

sed

in

place

of

connection

to

the refi nery

DCS.

Conclusion

There is Significant value available to refiners in utilising the

inherent flexibili ty conferred on the FCC process by

continuous catalyst replacement. To exploi t this value

the

refiner needs to employ a combination of various additives

in a preCisely

controlled

way and avoid preblending these

additives with

the

base catalyst. 1

t





Testing

at

different scales

In order to obtain optimum performance in a trickle bed reactor,

catalyst packing, gas and

liquid

flow distribution and heat

management need to be controlled properly. With an optimised

reactor configuration. the catalyst

is

the remaining degree of

freedom

that

can

be

tuned

to

further improve

the

performance.

Depending on the scope of

the ca

ta

lyst

testing. different

types

of

trickle bed

reactor system can

be used. from

nanoflow

type

reactors

typically

1

ml

catalyst volume

scale), right up

to pilot scale

typically

1000

ml

catalyst volume

sca

le) Figure

1).

Catalyst development

and

comparative long term stability

testing with basic product analysis,

as

well

as

optimisation of

stacking configurations or basic reactor operation conditions call

for

small

catalyst amounts typically 1

ml

scale)and a high degree of

parallelisation (typi

call

y 16 - 48

fold). It

is a low ri

sk

and cost

effective approach

for

catalyst preselection compared to paper

study based pre selection. Ranking of pre selected commercial

catalysts focusing on catalyst performance as well as sufficient

product quantities

for

detailed ana lysis of product fractions require

larger catalyst amounts typically

10

100

ml

scale) and a moderate

degree of parallelisation typically 4 - 8 fold). Basic process studies

such

as 2

stage processing

e.g. mild hydrocracking)

are performed

at this scale as well. Pilot tests typically 1000 ml sca le or highe r and

1

old)

are used to predict the detailed performance of the

1- 1_

-

_

,

1(kri 100TIl

..

H

l.IIbcJlIlr) T

ncI Je.fled

Reactor

' ' '

OOm

'

Figure 1. Tri

c

kl

e bed

reactor

scaling w ith

typical

catalyst

volume

and degree

of

parallelisation.

preferred catalyst

in

a commercial unit under realistic process

conditions (testing recycles, adiabatic operation and integration of

product separation), as

well

as

being

able to deliver enough of the

product for fleet tests.

Testing at smaller scales only makes sense

if

the obtained

performance data can be transferred to

larger

and , finally, to

industrial sca l

e.

An important prerequisite for proper scalability are

well

defined reaction conditions in bench scale systems

by

means

of well known lab reactor design criteria.1 2 3 Proper temperature

control and reactor heating concepts ensure isothermal operation

and

thus enable

well

defined temperature performance

correlations. Control of reactor length to diameter to catalyst

particle

size

ratio

as well

as optimised catalyst

packing

concepts

are needed to obtain

an

even

gas

and liqUid flow distribution over

the reactor cross section, and hence efficient catalyst wetting

throughout the entire catalyst bed defined

as plug

flow

conditions).

Catalyst packing

A proper pac k

ing

procedure

is

an important prerequisite for

reproducible catalyst testing. The structure of the packed bed

determines the fluid dynamiCS

in

the tricklebed reactor, affects the

catalyst wetting and hence has a strong impact on the absolute

reaction rate measured for a given catalyst

4

Packing

configurations with

an inner

reactor diameter to

particle

size

ratio (aspect

ratio)

of

less

t

han

25,

which

are

typical for

full

size commercial shapes packed in bench scale reactors, suffer

from

uneven

liquid

and gas

flow

distribution over the reactor cross

section.

1 3

The reactor

wall has an

ordering effect on the catalyst

particles

resulting

in

an increasing void

fraction close to the reactor

wall.

As

a consequence, channe l

ing and bypass

close to the reactor

wall

can

occur,

leading

to inefficient catalyst wetting throughout

the catalyst

bed.

Embedding

futl size commercial

ca

talysts into a

matrix

of

small

diluent particles in bench scale reactors

with low

aspect ratio can

suppress these phenomena.

5

The small diluent particles dominate

the fluid dyna

mics

and help meet the reactor design criteria for

plug flow

behaviour and

effic

ient catalyst wetting. This results in

better comparability to pilot and

industrial sca

le reactor

packings

with a larger aspect ratio.2

The

embedding approach has

led

to the

costly pilot plants used traditionally gradually

able

1. Typical d im

ension

s a

nd

s

uper fi

cial velocities of hte and

OMV

trickle bed react

ors

at different scales

being

replaced by bench scale reactors.

6

Reactor scales

at hte

and

OMV

r ht

Nanoflow Benchscale

Catalyst particle dp, mm

1.5

15

Reactor inner D, m

0.004 0.019

D/dp

. -

3

13

Reactor length L, m

0.20 0.40

Udp . - m 267

L/D

, -

50

21

Cross

section, m

2

0.000013 0.000281

Dilution ratio, % 50

50

Catalyst volume,

0.0013

0.

0498

Superficial liquid velocity,

0.

020

0.035

mm/s

SuperfiCial gas velOCity,

0.

006

O

Otl

Nm/s

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

OMV

Pilot scale

1.5

0.055

37

0.90

600

16

0 .002376

50

1.0549

0.

089

0.027

OMV

Industrial

1.5

2.500

1667

20.00

Bm

8

4.908739

0

98174 .7704

4.

000

1.200

For case study, hydroprocessing units

with

different reactor scales at hte 16

fold

nanoflow

high throughput unit to four fold bench sca le) and

OMV (two fold pilot plant

and fina il

y a

commer

cial plant)

(Fi

gure 2)

were

used. The

catalyst

vo

l

ume

of these

units

spans

from

1

ml,

through

100 ml

and 1000

ml

,

right up

to

100

m

3

Tab le 1). Comparison of the superficial velocities

(defined

as

flow rates over reactor cross section)

clearly shows that for a given

liquid

hourly space

velOCity

LHSV) and gas to oil ratio GTO) the

indust

ri

al scale units typically operate at higher

cross sectional load and hence most likely

in

a

different fluid dynamiC regime than the test

units.u The test units do not show a Similarly



dramatic difference among each other with respect

to superficial

velocities. They lie within a range of factor

four.

Alignment

is

possible

by

adjusting the reactor length to diameter ratio.

Testing units typically

work

with smaller diluent particles

to

improve isothermal operation and

fi ll up

the

void

space

for

better

gas

and

liqUid distribution. A decrease in void space results

in an

increase

in

the actual interstitial velocities . Nonetheless, this further

increase by smaller diluent particles cannot compensate

reaching

the

much higher

cross sectional load

of industrial

scale.

Consequently, the strategy for test units is not necessarily to

reproduce the exact same

fluid dynamiC

profile as

in

the

commercial unit Instead, techniques

such as

catalyst embedding

are applied to assure

an

even

flow

distribution throughout the

entire reactor cross section. Th is plug flow profile in the trickle bed

reactor and the resulting efficient catalyst wetting ensure optimum

catalyst utilisation and avoid

masking

artefacts from poor fluid

dynamiCS.

Hydroprocessing case studies

The case studies presented here comprise an independent catalyst

ranking of two full size commercial catalyst systems Aand B or

two stage

mild

hydrocracking MHq of vacuum

gas

oil (VGO) with

1

wt /o

sulfur and

1000

ppm nitrogen. In the first case study, the

HDS/HDN catalysts Aand B n the firs t MHC reactor stage were

ranked

against each other reactor pressure 60

bar(gl

, L SV l.5l/hr,

GTO 300

NI lt

r).

The

ranking was performed in a hte 6 fold high

throughput system (nanoflow), as we ll as in

an

hte four fold bench

scale

un

it.

The

setup comparison was done to prove the

possibility

of reasonable downscaling of full

size

commercial catalyst

ranking

rlO n

lypical

bench scale lo lml scale.

In

the second case study, the

base case

MHC

catalyst system A

was util

ised to compare the hte

bench scale un it with the O V pilot plant

for

the combined two

stage MHC ofVGO

reactor pressure

60 bar g)

,

LHSV

0.7211h, GTO

300 NI/ltr). In all cases, the apparent rate constants were obtained

with irreversibl

e,

ideal plug flow kinetics with reaction order n =1.67

Downscaling from

hte

bench

scale to hte nanoflow scale

Two

fu

ll size commercial quadrilobe extrudate catalysts A

and

B

were ranked in the nanoflow system and in the bench scale

unit

accor

ding to

defined test protocols

for

combined

hydrodesulphurisat ion

HDS) and

hyd rodenitrification HDN) of

VG0

Some difference exists between both tests due to somewhat

different

run

modes. The bench scale unit was operated in a

constant

MHC

conversion mode,

i.e.

the temperature was adjusted

to maintain a certain conversion. The high throughput unit was

operated in a temperature scan mode,

i.e.

the temperature was

increased stepwise over defined time intervals

in

order to produce

a temperature history and

run

time close to the one

in

the bench

scale unit. Thus, the test protocols for the two units were not

identical but close enough to ensure a reasonable level of

comparability.

The

catalyst activation protocol was

identical.

The high

throughput

un

it

was

additionally used to measure the

HDS/HDN kinetics

over a broader temperature

range

than that

offered

by

the catalyst

ranking

protocol.

Figure

3 shows

HDS

conversion and the corresponding apparent rate constant

for

full

size

extrudate catalysts Aand B

as

well

as

catalyst A crushed to a

powder fraction as a function of temperature.

Commercial catalyst ranking is typically performed under

industrially

relevant conditions, i.e.often at hi

gh

conversion

levels

Figure 2. Reactors

at

different scales from

left

to right):

16

fold high throughput unit

at

hte

nanoflow). 4 fold bench scale

unit

at hte, 2 fold

pilot

at OMV,

commercial plant

at

OMV.

iii

;<

E

c

0

u

E

•

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

sso

900

800

-

700

-

600

500

400

300

200

100

o

580

/

/

- 8 · exlrudates

- A· powder

- A • exlrudates

.

_.-

.

600 620 640

660 680

Temperature I KJ

8 • exlrudates

I

A· powder

/

- A • exlrudates

/

/

/ /

/ / /

/ / /

~ ~

-

_ _

-

600 620 640

660 680

Temperature I KJ

Figure 3. Comparison

of

HDS

kinetics: conversion

left)

and

apparent rate constant right), for full

size commercial catalysts A and B, as well as base

case

A in crushed powder form.

far in

excess of

90%

conversion for

HDS/HD N. As

can be seen

in

Figure

3,

the measured conversion differences are

very

small in this

domain,

while

the calculated apparent rate constants expand the

difference. As a consequence, the conversions

in this

domain must

be determined with absolute preciSion in order

to

accurately

distinguish even slight conversion differences and avoid

experimental artefacts that are blown up when converted

to

rate

constants. An imperative prerequisite

for this is

a reprodUCible

catalyst packing protocol

ensuring

plug flow

since

artefacts

from

uneven flow distribution and incomplete catalyst utilisation may

significantty

corrupt the catalyst

ranking.

The

result

of

the comparati

ve

catalyst ran

king in

the nanoflow

and bench scale unit

F

igure

4)

shows that catalyst B

s

approximately 2.5 times more active than catalyst

A.

Although

there is a slight deviation between both setups due to different run

modes, the catalyst

ranking

on both scales lead to the same

HYDROCARBON



D

esigning and

manufacturing complete thermal

systems is

Watlow s expertise

We

have over 20

years experience

working

our

energy

process

customers

to

determine

optimum

therma

l

process heating applications.

supplies engineering deSign,

services and products for:

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

as Dehydrat

i

on

and Sweetening

Catalytic Cracking

and

Regeneration

Polycrystalline Sl icon

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Production

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Watlow today for

the

best thermal solution

process application

Technical Sales Offices

+49 0) 7253-9400 -0

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1

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taly

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low com

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U +44 0) 5-964-0777

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t

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,...

r . a

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Figure 1.

SRU

Claus process.

.. T

.........._

.

. . loI\

.. r ..

-

is

becoming

the

preferred

heating

method to protect

t

he

environment/support

an environmentally friendly future.

If an upgr

ade

of the t hermal loop

is needed.

electric

heaters

are a

more

cost

effective

choice. Upgrading

the

heat

sou

r

ce

of

an existing process, such as a

hot

oil

system, with a

non-electric option

can

add expense

and

cause

unnecessary

downtime.

Adding

electric

heat can

reduce costs

and minimise disruptions

on

an existing

thermal

system.

Typically. an

electri

c heating system

is

a safer

option

espec

ially

in

haza r

do

us environments. Electric

heaters

have

no

open

flames, which may be a

safety

requirement.

Unlike indirect

heat

exchangers, electrical

heaters

reduce the risk

of

catalyst contamination

if a

tube

ruptures

or

fails causing

the

leaking fluids to

inte

rfe re with

the

process.

Significant load variations can be an issue for thermal

syste

m

s,

especial ly if

tighter tempe

r

ature

band widths are

requi red. The

combination

of an

electric heater

with a

silicon

controlled

rectifier

power

controller

will solve this

issue and

is best suited

for

these performance

requirements.

Some

common

applications

of

electric

heaters

include:

• Continuous

catalyst

reforming

CCR).

• Isomerisation

catalyst

regeneration.

• Pr

opane

dehydrogenation

PDH).

• 5ulfur recovery units {SRUs)/tail gas units TGUs).

• Knock

out

drums

KO

drums).

• Reactor

start

up using hea t transfer salt

HTS).

CCR

is

a chemical

process

used to

convert petroleum

refinery naphthas. typically having low

octane

ratings, into

high

octane

liquid

products

called

reformates

which are

co m

ponents

of high oc t

ane gaso

line (also known as high

oc t

ane

petrol). Basically, the

process

rearranges

or

restructures

the

hydrocarbon

molecules

in the

naphtha

feedstocks

as well as breaking

some

of

the

molecules

into

smaller molecules. Electric

he

a

te

rs play a critical role

in

the

chemical process. There are

two

major

owners

of

the

CCR process: UOP and Axens. UOP r

eactor towers

are

stacked, whereas Axens uses s

ta ndalone

towers.

At t

he

r

eactor towe

r, catalysts flow

due

to

their

gravity reaction with naphtha. Near

the end

of this process,

at

t he

lowest

reactor

tower,

coke

will build up and

the

ca

talyst

is

in

need

of

regeneration.

These

spent

catalysts are pneumatically lifted with

nitrogen

to the

regeneration tower, where a

set

of

electric

heaters

is

used to perform speCific functions.

In the CCR

regenerator,

three out

of

the

four basic

steps

of the

catalyst regeneration take place:

• Burning the coke.

•

Oxidation/chlorination.

• Drying.

Burning

the

coke

Burning

off the

coke can be accomplished by a

set

of air

heaters. The air enters

the

process

at

a

temperature

of

approx imately 300 'C 572 ' F and is heated up to

approx imately 570 ·C

1058

·

F .

This

is

done

at an

operating

pressure of

0.241

Mpag

35

psig). The

hot

air

will

burn

the

coke

that

has

developed

on

the

catalyst

at

the reactor

tower. Due

to

the

requirements

of

low operating pressures

and high

tempe

ratures, this

is

typically accomplished using

multiple

heate

rs

in

series. The construction and

mater

i

al of

air heaters are chosen and designed

to

withstand high

oxidation. Typically,

these

heating elements use an

Incoloy·

840 or

32155 sheath material, while

the

rest of

the

wetted

parts are built with 30455.

Oxidation

/

chlorination

The chlorination

of

gas

is

typica lly done by inject ing o rgan ic

chloride into

the

dry air. In order to restore

the

chlori

de

level of

the

catalyst, it needs to achieve a chloride level of

approximate

ly

1.2

by weight. Typically, this gas mixture

is

then

heated

up from approximately

47S

·C (887

O) to

530 ·C (986

OF

by using a Single heater. To

prevent

stress

corrosion cracking failures, which can

occur due

to

the

chloride

content

and high temperatures,

the

material of

ch

oice

for all

wetted

parts

is

Inconel® 600.

Drying

The medium contains nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases,

which will ente r

the heated

section

at

approximately

445 'C

833 OF

and emerge

at

approximately 480 'C (896 O

,

at

an operating pressure of

0.241

Mpag

35 psi g).

This can be

achieved

by one

or

two heate

rs

connected in

series. The

hot

gas will

then

dry

the

catalyst afte r

the

chlorination

processes. Typical heating element materials are

Incoloy·

800

or

32155

for

the

sheath and 30455 for

the

rest

of the wetted

parts.

The

las

t and final

step

to

complete

the

regeneration

process of

the

catalyst is

to

r

educe

its oxidation. This

is

accomplished

by

a change

of

atmosphere

her the

regeneration

towe

r. using hydrogen rich and hydrocarbon

mixture gas. This gas mixture

is

heated from approximately

200 ·C

392 OF to

400 °C

752 O

and introduced

to

the

catalyst

before it enters

the

r

eactor

towers.

Add

itional processes which can include electric heaters

include:

• The isomerisation process also uses e lectric

heaters

for

catalyst regeneration. But unlike

CCR,

the

process may

not

be

co

ntinuously reforming.

• The

PDH

process by

UOP

uses

the

same

set

of CCR

heaters.

In

addition

to

these

heaters,

there

are

heaters

for

each

reactor

tower

and sulfur stripping.





Figure 2. Electric heater for heat transfer salt for a

petrochemical plant in Korea.

•

SRUs

and

TGUs

play a vital role

in

reducing

the

sulfur

emisSion into the atmosphere. The quality of crude

being refined is getting dirtier whereas the

requirement for allowable sulfur emission

is

getting

tighter

USA ew Source Performance

Standards (NSPS)

for Petr

oleum

Refineries,

subparts

J

and

Ja

40

CFR

60.100). This combination

is

creating

new breeds of

SRUs

and

TGUs.

The traditional shell and tube heat exchangers are now

being replaced

by

electric heaters due to

the

benefits

stated earlie

r.

This also applies to

TGUs.

Knock out drums

are

used to separate fluids and

liquids

before another process or

flare.

The

fluids

are

heated

to lower

the viscosity fo r handling. Di rect

immersion

heaters

are typical fo r

this application.

Other petrochem

ical

processes

use

HTS

for

heating

reactor towers.

El

ectr

ic heate rs

are used to heat the HTS

during

start up

.

y p i ~ a l heater design

reqUlrements

• H

eaters

can be a single unit

or

several units

in

series,

depending on the

required outlet

temperature.

• Electrical

enclosures need

to

be explosion

proof and

certified

to

perform

in

hazardous

locations.

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

• Pressu re

vessels

typically require a design to

meet the

requirements

of

and be stamped

as

ASME VI

II

Div 1

•

Heater bundles shou

ld be

designed without segmental

baffles to minimise

pressure drops

and avoid

possible

hot spots

from

dead

flow areas.

• Heating elements

need

to

be made

from

seamless

tubing

with

minimum wall thickness of

1.25

mm (0.049 in.) to

eliminate

failures

at the tube

seams and serve with

reliable high

performance.

100000 hrs of

continuous operation

are a typical life

cycle

for

these elements.

•

Heate

rs

should be

produced to

meet tighter

resistance

tolerances (within 5 ) and are

required

to

deliver

deSigned

wattages at

minimum

voltage

.

•

Heaters should be

used in

combination

with

SCR

controllers

, typically

two

leg burst fire.

• Heating

elements need

to be seal

welded

to

the

flange.

The use of

bite

coupling

or soldered

connections

is

not allowed.

Materials of

construction

To avoid

stress ch

l

oride

cracking

fai

lure

due

to

traces

of

HCI in the gas mixture,

most

chlorinat ion

heaters

require

the wetted

parts

(heater bundle

, flange and vessel) to

be

made of Incone -

600.

Air

heaters

use sta inless

steel

vessel and flanges with 321

SS or

Incoloy*

840 elements.

Regeneration

heaters

use stainless

steel

vessel and

flanges

with

Inco l

oy*

800 elements.

Care and maintenance of

heaters and

controllers

Electric

heaters

for the

mentioned applications

are major

investments. These

heaters

are

typ

ically ordered

and

delivered

several

months ahead

of

the

installation

and

startup process. These heaters

should be

kept in

a d ry

place, cove red

and

preferably

in

a low humidi ty

environment.

If the

site

has no

storage

room, the

heaters should be

kept in

a

crate

and

covered

wit h tarp to protect them

from

ra

in

or

sun.

If the heater element

has

been

deformed

during

handling, it

should be straightened to

avoid

touching

other elements. Otherwise, hot

spots

will be cr

eated,

which

result in

failure.

When the heate

rs

are

installed and running, a

good

regular

monthly check of

the e lectr ical

enclosure cooling

fan filters

should be

done

to

ensure good air flow

and

cooling

of

the thyristors in the

panel. For

heaters that

are

used for startup only and will

be on standby

for a few

months, a good nitrogen

or

dry air purge

in

the

enclosure

box will ensure a good isolation

of

the

heater fo

r the next

usage.

Finally, it is

recommended

to

perform maintenance or

inspections

of the

heater s electrical enclosure at least

once a

yea

r

to

make sure

the connections are tight and

show no

signs of

overheating

.

Conclusion

When properly

operated

and maintained,

electric heaters

have

been proven

to be in service

of

refineries

and

petrochemical

plants

well

above the

required 100

000

hrs

of

continuous

service,

i1 I









Figure 1. Process flow scheme of a typical crude

oil desalting process.

• In the

US

alone, the cost for crude oil fouling

in

refinery pre

heat trains is estimated at USS 1 2 billion/y excluding casts for

increased CO

2

emissions.

• The cost of pre heat train fouling in a 160 bpd refinery in

France was

estimated at

US

1 5

million over a 3month period.

When reading these numbers it becomes apparent that

increasing uptime of heat

exchangers by

reducing fouling can lead

to

ma5Sive cost savings for

individual

refineries.The costs

associated with

fouling

in crude pre heat trains can be categorised

as follows:

• Energy costs associated with the additional fuel required for

the

furnace due

to

the reduced heat recovery and excessive

pressure drop (pumping power) in the crude p

re

heat train

heat

excha

nger

s

• Production loss due to fouling. If the pre heat train throughput

is limited by the furnace capacity firing limit), the crude oil

throughput must be throttled back with serious economic

consequences.

• capital expenditure APEX). This includes excess surface area

of the heat exchangers to account for

fouling,

real estate costs

to handle larger and heavier eqUipment, and increased

transportation and installation costs.

• Maintenance costs. This includes labour and other costs for

removing fouling deposits and the cost of chemicals or other

operating costs of anti foul ing equipment and environmental

penalties associated

with

disposal of cleaning chemicals.

In

the refinery, the crude oil distillation

unit CDU)

is

literally

the

heart of the refinery. The crude distillation unit uses both an

atmospheric tower and a vacuum tower

to

fractionate crude

oiL

The products, also called distillates, from the (DU unit are then

further processed and refined into products that

can

be sold on the

ma

rket and thus generate profit for the

refinery.

Hence, operating

problems

in

the CDU unit can have huge consequences for the

refinery s operating

ma

rgin.

An important component of most CDUs is the desalter. Raw

crude contains salts, metals, solids, water and various organic

compounds that can cause

fouling,

corrosion and catalyst

deactivation in downstream equipment. These undesirable

components are removed to acceptable levels by adding water

and separating the aqueous and

Oily

phases

in

a piece of equipment

ca lled a desalter.

Heat exc hangers play a crucial role

in

the operation of a

desal

te

r

As

severe fouling can be expected due to the various

types of crudes processed

in

a desalter, chooSing the right heat

HYDROC RBON

ENGINEERING

exchange technology is not the easiest task. However, through

some innovative think ing it can eaSily be understood that there is

money to save on cutting

OPEX

and CAPEX. One way of being

innovative is to steer away from old Shell Tube heat exchangers

and

replace these with more reliable spiral heat exchangers

SHE).

The desalting process

• Upstream the desalter, the crude

is

mixed with a water stream

wash water/dilution water). Intense mixing takes place over a

static mixer to improve the contact between the salts

in

the

crude oil and the

wash

water injected

in

the

line.

• Before entering the desalter, the crude oil is further emulSified

in

an em u

lsifying device.

The desalter uses an electric field

(electrostatic coalescence) to separate the crude from the

water droplets. The desalter operates best at 130 • 150 ·C

• After the separation

in

the desalter, the produced water, also

called effluent water (water separated from the crude oil),

is

discharged to the water treatment system. The salts being

dissolved

in

these water droplets, is entrained in the effluent

stream

along

with suspended solids and other undesirable

components.

• The effluent water

generally

conta

ins

chlorides

and

is

therefore

very

corrosive. Hence,corrosion resistant alloys, or

carbon steel with some corrosion allowance, should be used

for

the equipment

in

contact with the effluent water.

• The separated crude oil

from

the desatter is sent to the

distillation column where

it

will be fractionated into the

desired products. Since the crude oil is now desalted, the

fractioning can be done without excessi

ve

problems with

corrosion, plugging,

scaling, coking

of heat exchangers and

furnaces, etc.

Spiral heat exchangers

The SHE

is

constructed by

rolling

two long metal strips around a

cylindrical centre core to

form

two concentric

spiral

channels with

rectan

gula

rcross sections. The channels are then alternately

welded on opposite edges to fo rm a hot and cold channel. The

welding of the channels eliminates the potential for any cross

contamination o f the

fluids

.

On one side, the hot fluid enters the centre nozzle of the hot

cover and spirals

its

way out to a nozzle on a distribution manifold

attached on the shell. The cold fluid Simultaneously enters a

distributing manifold and flows counter currently to the hot fluid

to the centre nozzle on the cold side cover. Removable cover

plates with

full

face gaskets are used to seal the open end of the

channels

and

prevent external leakage and bypassing of a

respective

fluid

from the distribution manifold to the centre

nozzles.

What

is

unique about the SHE

is

that

it has

a Single flow

passage for each

fluid

wh ich diversifies it

from

other heat

exchanger tec

hnologies

where multiple parallel channels are

common.

The

benefit with the

Single

channel design is that

it

minimises

the potential for

fouling

to occur since

any build up

in

the channel results

in an

increase in local velocity at that pOint,

which increases the turbulence and the fluid shear stress on the

heat exchanger surface, thereby limiting the fouling

build up

or

in

some cases even removing it.

Due

to this effect,SHEs are

said

to

be

self cleaning which means that a SHE typically operates two to

three times longer between cleaning than a She

ll

Tube exchanger

for the same duty. The fouling that does occur in the heat

exchanger generally tends to be a thin layer which is evenly

distributed across the width of the channel. These characteristics



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Optimize your plant for a safe efficient start-up

n

When co nsidering m

ec

hanica l pre-commi ssion ing and commi

ss

ioning for your plan t start-up - consider th is

Innovative engin

ee

ring and

se

rvi

ce

exce llence resul ts in grea ter qualit

y

nd TH T

reduces costs

We

re an oil and g

as

services company committed to exce llence . Eve rything

we

do in the field

we

enginee r first to meet you r

sp

ecific needs

emand

Professi

onals

.

emand Fou

rQu

est

Ener

gy

.

For a complete list of se rv ices, v is

it

ou r w ebsite.

www

· fourqu st

om

o ~

s

t n Q r g y

Conne

ct

with us

on

:

Cl a III

SC N

TH

IS

CODE TO

VIEW OUR

WEBSrT

E



Figure 4. HeatMatrix air preheater equipped with

an in situ cleaning system.

Figure

5.

Large scale polymer air preheater.

th rough a coating or polymer liner. The propr ietary

polymer bundle design consists

of

multiple

tubes that are

connected to each

other

over almost the full length of

the tube. This structure creates a strong rigid matrix grid

that is

able

to resist high gas velocities

and

thermo

shocks. As

opposed

to polymer hose or glass tube

designs, the connected polymer tube bundles are not

sensitive

to

breakage

or

rupture

. The

connector between

the

individual

tubes creates simultaneously a

counter

current flow configuration

between

the two fluids. This

configuration

improves the heat

transfer by up to 20

compared to cross

flow

type exchangers

(Figure

3 .

The inlets

and

outlets

of the exchanger are located at

the

side

of the heat exchanger

in

order to allow

easy

access to

the

polymer

tube bundles.

These lightweight

bundles are

retractable

from

the top and

can be cleaned

or replaced

without

demounting

the complete exchanger.

In the

case of

fouling

flue gas each bundle can be

eqUipped

with

a spraying nozzle, which

thoroughly cleans

each bundle

in

an

alternating

cleaning

sequence

(Figure 4).

The

capacity

of the air preheater is fully

scalable

by

placing

severa

l polyme r

bundles

in parallel in a shel l.

The

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

smaller

size

exchangers have

a cylindrical

shape

as

shown

in

Figure 3

and

the larger size air preheaters

have

a

conta iner shape to accommodate flue gas flows

up

to

500000 kg/hr

Installation options

For grass root

installations

with

a flue gas temperature

below

200

·C,

integration of

the

polymer

air preheater

is

straightforward.

For

installations with

a

flue

gas

temperature

above

200

·C

a

combination

between a

metal

air preheater

and

po l

ymer

air preheater in

series is

required.

This hybrid

design has

the

following advantages:

•

Increased

heat

recovery over

a

wide

temperature

range.

• The

polymer

air preheater protects the

metal

air

preheater against low air temperatures that lead

to

cold

spot

corrosion problems.

•

The metal

air preheater protects the

polymer

air

preheater against high temperatures.

A

steam

air

preheater

for

raising

the

temperature

of

the combustion air is

no

longer

necessary

with this hybrid

air

preheater

design.

Addition of

a

polyme

r air

preheate

r

to

existing

installations

will

be

a

profitable investment

as wetl.

Existing civil

and

steel structures frequently have

sufficient

over design to

accommodate an

add

i

tional

lightweight exchanger.

Also

for boilers with

a large

distance

between

stack and combustion

air

induced draft

fan

solutions can be prov

i

ded.

For

this case

a

twin coil

system comprising

a

polymer flue

gas

exchanger

and

a

simple

finned

tube exchanger is recommended.

Case

study

The

follOWing typical

case

is

based

on

the performance

of multiple projects that have been

realised

over the past

years. A flue gas flow from a large

steam boiler of

100000 kg/hr and

170

' C enters

the polymer

air

preheater

and is

cooled

to

85 ·C

by

95 000

kg/hr

combustion air of

15

°C. The

recovered energy is

2.6

MW

,

which is

approximately

5

of

the steam boiler

duty.

Conclusion

Energy effiCiency

and carbon abatement are currently

hot

topics

and

energy efficiency is seen as the most

important contributor

in

every

governmental strategy

to

reduce fossil fuel consumption. In that light

flue

gases

should be seen

as

an important source of hidden energy

because

flue gas still

contains

5 -

10 of

the primary

energy used

to drive the combustion pro

cess.

New

technologies

like

this polymer

air

preheater can

contribute to

improve

energy

efficiency

throughout the

industry

. i 'I

References

1.

HILBRECHTS,

W.M.M., and

LEFERINK, R., Latest advanc

es

in the understanding of acid dew point

corrosion

Corrosion

and

stress

corrosion

cracking

in combustion gas

condensates ,

Anti-corrosion methods and materials, 2004

VoL

5 Issue 3 pp.

173 - 188.

2. GAMBALE, 0

., Heat

exchangers for hot acids: material

selection', Chemical Engineering, July 2011.



•

ANTG GURMAN

BARTEC RUS GMBH

RUSSIA DISCUSSES

TEMPERATURE

MANAGEMENT IN

CRUDE OIL



Application

In

order to

remain on a state of

the

art level of technology

IPP

permanently invests in the modernisation of

the

crude oil

terminaL Furthermore

the

company aims for a consequent

increase of the tank farm capacity

and reco

nstruction of the

fuel pipeline

in

accordance with European ecological standards

of safety_ In this context BARTEC succeeded in convincing IPP

of its technical know how

and

competence The safety

technology provider recei ved the

order fo

r the engineeri

ng

manufacturing and supply

of

trace heating for the plant. The

implemented cable was the self limiting parallel heating cable

PSB as

well

as the self limiting parallel heating cable HSB. PSB is

used for the heating of the fire

figh

t

ing

water lines and the

technological water lines

to

avoid the pipes gett ing frozen. HSB

is

used for the heating of crude oil and ship fuel. The target here

is to

maintain the technological temperature. The convincing

advantage of these two kinds

of

cables

is

their ab ility

to

be used

in exploSive atmospheres without any temperature limiter.

Consequently, costs for further components could be sav

ed

.

More than

22

000

m

of

the

cables are used in total. They

are

divided into 870 heating sections.

Installation

The PSB and the HSB heating cables have a

temperature

dependant resistive element between

two

parallel copper

conductors that regulates and

lim

its the heat output of

the

heating cable according

to

the ambient temperature.This

output

regulation

is

carried out automatically along the

ent

ire

length of the heating cable according to the prevailing ambient

temperature.

Ac:. the

ambient temperature rises,

the

heat output

of

the

cable

is

reduced. This self limiting property prevents

Figure 1. The self limiting heating cables can be

used without any limiter in explosive atmospheres.

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

overheating even when

the

cables are overlapped. A

temperature limiter

is

not required, not even in explOSion

hazardous zones as in Novorossi jsk crude oil terminal.

Thanks

to the

parallel power supply the heating cable can

be

cut

to any required length. Th is feature considerably

simplifies pr

oject

planning and installation. The heating cable is

cut and

te

rminat

ed in

accordance with the local requirements

directly on the construction site. In cases where the cable may

become damaged, it

is

not

necessary

to

replace the whole

circuit but only the

affected

part. The

protective outer

jacket of

either fluor polymer or polyolefin protects the inner copper

braiding from corrosion and chemical attack. The

copper

braiding serves as an earth conductor in accordance with

VDE

0100 and also increases the mechanical stability

of

the

cable. Under the protec tive braiding are

two

synthetiC jackets

proViding electrical insulation. The inner of the two jackets

is

thermally fused

to

the heat ing element (bonded jacket).

Because the related equipment

to

the heating pipes also

has

to

be certified for applications in

Ex

areas, the PLEXO

connectio

n system,

the

connection

technology

heat

shrink

Ex

as well as cold applied sets have been used

to connect

the

heating cables. PLEXO, the first plug in connection system for

heating cables used in potentially explOSive atmospheres, of fers

substantial reductions

in

installation time and expense.

Ma i

ntenance

work for future modifications of

the

heating

ci

rcuit can

be

carried out more effiCiently. The connection

system

is

well suited for self limiting parallel heating cables.

The heat ing cable and power supply connection cable

are

connected

via safe spring creating the requ isi te pressure,

eliminrlting any need for unravelling or twisting. A sophisticated

sealing system offers safe and

rel

iable protection against

adverse weather

co

nditions. The flexibility

of the

system allows

direct

connection

of the heating cable to a supply cable or an

Ex junction box. Two similar heating cables can be joined to

each other

by means of a splice plug

and socket

connection

sleeve. The heating

tape

remote end termination can be

eqUipped with plug in contacts for future extensions

of

the

heating Ci rcuit.

The

connection

technology heat shrink Ex

is

a reliable

technology for connecting heating cables. The principle is easy.

After st ripping the heating tape, insulat ion tubes are shrunk over

the supply lines and the twisted protective braiding and wire

end sleeves are put on . As a basic rule, the heating cable

is

connected

to

terminals in an enclosure

that

has increased

safety

or

fiameproof encapsulation

protection

class. The

heating circuit

end is

also closed with shrinkable tubes. For

direct connection of the se lf limiting heating cables into the

junction box cold applied sets have been used. The easy

assemb

li

ng with silicone cold applied technology offers

connection and termination in one set. It

is

a small place saving

and economic solution.

93

temperature sensors as well as seven control and

distribution panels we re also part

of

the application . The

system to control the heat t racing was deSigned by

BARTEC

Russia and

is

based on t he Russian controllers OWEN, fully

featured programmable devices for au tomation tasks. The

software for

the

touch

screens

on the

control panels was a

customer specific

development

by

BARTEC

Russia.

By competently handling this project, BARTEC succeeded in

laying the foundations for further cooperation. i I



C

ndition

monitoring

of

rotating equipment is a well

established practice

in

many hyd rocarbon processing

[ants wi t

h

a goa l

to

detect . analyse and correct

machinery faults

to

optimise maintenance intervals,

extend production sc hedules and avoid

un

planned d w l l l il ne.

Critical machinery turbines, compressor

s

l

ar

ge

motors)

is

normally equipped with online condition monitoring and

protection systems

but the

balance of plant equipment motors,

pumps, and fans generally is not. This

machine

category

represents well over half

of the

rotating machine

pop

ulati

on

and

consumes a significant

pe

rcentage of a maintenance budget.

ften

, these machines are monitored with portable data

collectors as, hi storically, it has been either impractic

al or

uneconomical

to

insta ll and maintain a permanently wired

system. However a new breed of wireless condition

mon ito

ring

systems

proposes to

bridge

the

gap between

the cost

of

wired and portable systems.

Wireless condition

monitoring

developments

The promise of ubiquitous, low cost

sensors

op e

rating over a plant wide

wireless network has fuelled massive

investments by leading technology companies in

va ous wireless applications. As a result, developments in

industrial wi reless technologies are happening at a frenetic pace.

Wireless condition monitoring devices have been available for several

years, however wid

esp r

ead

market adoption has

not

taken place

due to

technical issues including proprietary protocols) and

cost

barrier

s.

With

recent advances

in

networking, rad

ios

processors, sensors, and power

sources

it is

now possible

to

overcome these obstacles.

Cond

iti

on monitoring using dynam

ic data e.g.

vibration) makes unique

demands on wi reless sensors, networks and associated components, such

as high bandwidth, good dynamic range, low noise, higher level processing

capabilities and

the

ability to capture data

at

the right time. hen



Ba lance..af-Plant

80

)

Figure 1. Balance

of plant equipment

represents

well over half of the rotating machine population

of a typical plant and consumes a significant

percentage of a maintenance budget.

operating as self conta ined units, which are typically battery

powered, options are further challenged by the limitationsof

available

power

and requirements f

or

long service life. The

devices or sensors as well as the wireless network

components must also be equipped

to

cope wi

th

the

agg ressive conditions found in the industrial environment,

such as exposure

to

water and/or elevated temperatures,

electrical interference, hazardous area classifications,

obstructions, and physical location/distance

Some lS years ago interest emerged

about the

possibi lity

to

measure a moving

as

set such

as

a machining head on a large

metalworking machine

tool

and the axle bearings of a

locomotive. Soon after, the first

SKF

totally wireless system

was

developed

and the knowledge of how to use wireless

technology

in

condition monitoring was enhanced.

In

the

years that followed, wireless

protocols

became available and

increaSingly advanced systems have since been

developed

to

offer e ffective wireless monitoring systems to

enhance

equipme nt reliability.

Traditionally

the

implementation

of

wireless based

surveillance systems has been accomplished by the u

se

of off

the shelf wi reless network solutions that replace wired

backbone systems such as Ethernet. Often the system

comprises a signal acquisition system that can take inputs

from 16,

32

or even up to 48 sensors wired locally. The

acquisition system manages the conversion of the data into a

digital fo rm and then transmits the data to host software

wirelessly. This works well and there are thousands of

channels of vibration data being managed in this way.

Wireless standards currently

in deve lopment will shape

the infrastructure in which the wireless condition monitoring

systems need

to

operate

and conditio n monitoring systems

must

be

compatible with the dominant standards

in order

to

gain wide acceptance.

HYD OC RBON

ENGINEERING

Comparing

methodologies

Walk around systems have been traditionally wired between

the portable instrument and the sensor. Advances in the

availability of such protoco ls as bluetooth have meant that

we can n ow use a wireless connection from the vibration

sensor to the portable vibration data collecto r, which has

been requested by users on the grounds of health and safety.

Portable systems are still a Widely used option for the bulk

of condition monitoring of balance of plant but there are

many areas that would benefit from a wireless transmitter.

Examples include areas where it may

be

considered

too

dangerous

to

take data, or machinery that may be running

intermittently and is

often

not available during the

time

that

the

operator takes readings.

A brief comparison of wireless systems includes:

Wifi

• Uses IEEE 802.11g radio standa rd.

• Commonplace

in

offices, hotels and homes, and well

understood.

It

is

not

so

com

mon

in

industrial plants,

but

voice over internet protocol

VOIP)

and webcam

surveillance are driving its deployment forward.

• High data rates but high power consumption.

• Low to moderate point to point range e.g. 100

m).

9 MHz

• Uses the 900 MHz public radio band.

• No radio standard, but offered by many smaller

companies using a proprietary

protocol

and methodology.

• Low data rates with medium

power

consumption.

• Longer point to point range e.g. 300

m).

Mesh networks

• Uses

IEEE

802.15.4 radio standa rd.

• WirelessHART protocol or ISA 100.11a.

•

Early adoption

phase

in

industrial plants (mainly oil and

gas)

at

sensor data level.

• Self generating network reduces installation cost.

•

Low

data rates

but

low

power

consumption.

• Low to moderate point to point range e.g. 50 - 100

m).

Integrating condition

momtoring

and

process

control

data

An

important

development

has been

the

ability

to

share data

with process contro l systems. Changes in vibration levels may

be

due to a change in operating conditions, and without that

knowledge an incorrect diagnosis could be costly in terms of

wasted time and lost production output

In the past, passing data such as temperature, flow and

load,

between

the

condition monitoring system and

the

process control system was time consuming and complex,

involVing dedicated serial communication links and

cumbersome data protocol programming. Today, the

emergence of

object

linking and embedding for process

control OPC OLE for process control) has redu

ced

this task

to

a few click and drag operations

between

networked

computers. This has had a Significant impact on the analyst s

ability to correlate vibration changes with pr

ocess

conditions .



A solution

for

hazardous envir

onments

The potential to improve efficiency through

condition

monitoring

has

driven the development of a new wireless

solution from

SKF

The SKF Wireless Machine Condition

Sensor is ideal for monitoring machine components

in

locations that are difficult to access, and uses its wireless

technology

to

solve a series

of

issues that could not be

addressed

with wired systems. CrUCially

the

product has

ATEX

Zone 0 certification, which means that

it can

be used in

hazardous environments, and has significant benefits in many

app

lications

throughout the

petrochemical, oil and gas

sectors.

The SKF Wireless Machine Condition Sensor collects data

on three key machine conditions: temperature (indicative of

lubrication

issues

, increased friction, rubbing. etc.); overall

machine condition (vibrations caused by misalignment.

imbalance. mechanical looseness. etc.); and rol ling element

bearing condition (allows damage

detection

and diagnosis of

source

as

ball/

roller

. cage. inner

or

outer raceway).

A rough estimate for the cost

of

installation

of

online

sensors

in

onshore applications

can

be

as

high

as

15 times the

cost of the accelerometer and for offshore installations it

can

be higher than 20 - 30 times the cost of the accelerometer.

The use of a wireless device could equate to

an

approximate

saving

of

approximately USS

1500

/ measurement point.

With this new technology,

users

can benefit

from

an

improved maintenance programme, reduced maintenance

cos

ts

reduced installation costs and enhanced employee and

machine safety. The sensor also

of

fers

compatibility with

the

SKF @ptitude onitoring Suite, a comprehensive software

11

.£ . 1

LTH<5'1.COM

CC; ; ;

Fertilizer

j lndustr

ia l IOil I

Ga

s I Metallurgy

China International

T

o

Sulphur Sulphuric Acid

C\I

4th International Conference Exhibition

Sponsors:

V

CHEMTR DE

GIOtlS

..:leveo

r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I

S K F C W I > I L d ~ 1

W ' s a 5 e l 1 s o r C l e ¥ i c e M ~ I C I f h o ,

Figure 2. Mesh networks can relay data from point

to point and to the gateway.

suit

that integrates data fr

om

a wide range of SKF portable

and

online data acquisition devices.

SKF

Wireless Machine Condition Sensors communicate with

each

other,

and with

a wireless gateway, creating a mesh network

This

type of network

and

communication protocol is ideal for

monitoring rotating machinery because it

can

function in areas

where traditional WiFi communications are not present.

Official publications

la FERllUZERWEEK

Media partners

-

NG INEERING



Figure 4. The

SKF

Wireless

Ma

chine Condition

Se

nsor collects

d t

on

three

key machine

conditions: tempe

r ture

, overall machine

co ndition , and rolling element bearing, and

h s

ATEX Zone 0 certific ation.

Communicating via a

mesh

network

Communicationcapabilities of the SKF device include

relaying

data

from one node to another, relaying data back to

the

gatew

ay

, and

receiving automated commands from the Wireless Sensor Device

Manager

software that

initi

ates the measurement

and

processing

circuits

to

take data and transmit

it

back over the

network.

If a

node is unable

to

receive signals directly from the WirelessHART

gateway. it will instead send and receive its data through a nearby

node that ca n

pass

the data to and from the gateway, ultimately

creating the mesh network.

Once

data

is collected the WirelessHART gateway

o

mmunicates with the Wireless Sensor Device Manager software

supplied by

SKF.

Data can then

be

automatically exported into

SKFs

comprehensive diagnostic and analytic software package,

where a maintenance manager can ana

ly

se the data and determine

a course of action. In

pa

rallel, the WirelessHART gateway can

al

so

send applicable data directly to the process control system

for

vis

ual

isation and trending by operators.

Th is is the first SKF product to use the Wireless HART

communication protocol which was unanimously approved by the

Intemational Electrotechnic

al

Commission (lEe)

in 2010

,and to

prOVide

a battery powered wireless condition monitoring solu

ti

on

suitable

for

use

in

an

ATEX Zone °

nvironment. The mesh

network and excellent battery management

gives

the device a long

ope rating life,

making

it a practical alternative to

wi

red online

systems for monitoring balance of plant machinery.

Case study

Anewly

built

refin

ery

in

Asia Pacific with

an annual

capacity of

2

million tpy

275

000

bpd)

installed the

SKF

Wireless Machine

Condi t ion Sensor. The single train plant is designed to process high

acid

heavy

offshore crude.

All

critical

machinery

was fitted

wi

th protection systems

(API-670) by the EPC but there was no onHne machinery condition

monitoring

system.

The plant had no portable

vibration analyser

programme

in

pl

ace;

instead, equipment was moni tored

using

biweekly operator rounds collecting vibration

and

other data using

simple hand held devices and industrial PDAs.

After several unplanned outages on pumps, a reliability centred

maintenance (RCM) study determined the need to add a

surveillance system on all pumps above 500 kW.

Requ

irement

was

for more frequent data collection of vibration and temperature at

pump bearing locations.

The sol ution was to provide a sensor system for machi ne

condition monitoring that could monitor plant areas uneconomical

to cover by wired or walk around

sol

uti

ons,

avoid cable trays and

wi

r

ing,

reduce installation t ime, and minimise project engineering

and documentation. Deploying a network of wireless fie ld sensors

using WirelessHART protoco l engineers achieved open and

interoperable communications, while the mesh network offered

the capability to naVigate data around obstacles and cover

dis

tances greater than the devices innate

ra

nge.

Within three months of installation, the ex tended monitoring

proVided by the wireless sensor network

found

a pump problem

that would

have

gone undetected by the previous portable

prog

ramme: extremely high but intermittent vibrat ions were

recorded at the pump bearings. These vibrations we

re

most likely

process induced, and had

led

to bearing damage that

was

clearly

identified in the spectra sent

back

f

rom

the wireless sensor.

The

maintenance team

was

able to

plan

a bearing change at the next

convenient window, and the plant avoided

an

unexpected failure

on this important pump. The downtime cost saving of th

is

incident

alone

justified

the investment in the wireless sensor

network.

Conclusion

Wireless systems will change the way we approach machine

cond

ition

parameter data collection. Wireless sensors w

ill

no

doubt result

in

much more data

being

acquired and therefore there

will be

an

increasing need to analyse and store this data. Further

data interpretation using decision support systems and data

reduction methods will need to be developed and deployed.

Ease of deployment of

wi

reless systems connected to process

cont rol

sys

tems will be driven by users, not by suppliers of

technology solutions, and performance monitoring

will

become

more closely integrated to cond

iti

on monitoring. Using

manufacturing and control system information

will

enhance the

way

vibration data

is

analysed.

Thi

s

will

allow maintenance

personnel to determine the cause of the fai lure of a machine or

system component not just change a defective component

without knoWing why it fai led. Also, fully integrated embedded

sensors using standard industrial protocols to sha re data,

will

be

offered by which

will

bring the benefit of low installation

costs.

The stage

ha

s passed when early adopters installed

simple

systems on an experimental bas is. For

wi re less

condition

monitoring,

thi

s

is

the end of the

beginni

ng. What engineers are

looking

for

is

a system that

is

simple to

install

and ea

sy

to configure

and uses existing knowledge and decision support systems to

manage the configuration and interpretation of the data.

This will

give real value to plant managers in manag ing plant uptime and

effiCiency. i' 'II



t

GLOB L

M IN

EN NCE

HYDROC RBON

NGIN RING

provides an

overview of maintenance

projects

undertaken around

the world

over the past 2 months



AFRICA

AFRICA

(ihafHi I

It was anno unced at the end of Febr uary

2014

tha t PetroSaudi

Internatio

nal and Ghana are looki

ng to

sign a

jOint

v

en

tu re for

the revival of the Tema Oil Refinery . The plant has been shut

on numerous occasions over

th

e pas t fou r years due t o lack of

fu nds.

Libya

In

S

epte

m

be

r 20

13

.

i

bya's National Oil C

orpor

ation

announced maintenance at its Zawiya refinery. The length of

th e ma i

nt

e nan

ce

proje

ct

was not disclosed but

one

unit was

part of the project . The plant

ha

s a processing capacity of

12

0000

bpd.

Nigeria

Kaduna Petrochemical Company.

towar

ds t he

end

of last year

propo

sed a main

te

nance turnar

ound

th at

will Increase

annual

income to N 1trill ion . The mai ntenance will be carried out by

t he origina l builders of the pl ant, Chiyota of Japi ln . The last

maintena nce work was done in 2005 and th

is

new project has

been approved by the Federal Government.

SQuth .Af.riC9..

In the middle of last year. National Oil Company Pe

tr o

SA

ann ou

nc ed

th

at in

an effo rt to improve e

ffi

ciency it was going

to suspend op erations

at

the Mossel

Bay

facilities for 37 days

fo r a planned

statuto

ry maintenance shu

tdown

. The

shutdown

was scheduled

to

start

on

nn

September and affect t he

Mo

ssel

Bay gas

to

liquids

GTL)

refinery and offshore FA

platfo rm. During the 37

day

perIod, PetroSA ce a

se

d all

product ion act ivities. Products that were not availa

bl

e during

the maintenance pe riod included liquefied pe troleum gas,

propane

. CO

2

, l

iq

uid nitrogen and liquid oxygen.

Petr

oS

A made

con

t ingency p lans for the ava

ila

bility of

ot

her products such as diesel and petrol for the South ern

Cape area.

Pe

troSA also informed its other customers in a

t ime ly manner

abo

ut the shutdow n and encouraged t hem to

make altern ative sup p ly a rrangements.

W C SE

SI

U Y

In

July

2013

Engen Pet roleum, the African downstream

petroleum multinat ional , announced th at It had plans to

sig

ni

ficantly inc rease i

ts

supply

capac

Ity to

southern

African

cou

nt ries. after it acquired seven In

count

ry operations from

co

mpetitor

Chevron in

the

region and

the

Indian

Ocean

Islands. The

company

is currently undergoing firs t

phase

revamp work

on

Bei

ra Terminal. an Import and

storage

faCility in

th..e

Port of Belra , Mozambique. When comp lete .

the terminal will be able to supply Mozambi

que

. Zimbabwe.

Zambia. Botswana

and

southern ORe.

Strategy and investment

The

depot

forms part of the Mozamblcan compotent of the

acqui i tion and predated all ot hers. It was aimed at

strategICally bo osting s ecuri ty of supply in the region . given

Engen's increasing market share

in

southern and Sub-Saharan

Afr

ica . The depot

requ

ired a significant cap ital Investment to

overhaul and extend and the te rminal was

no

t operational

for a conSiderable

time

. The pr

oject

involved

the

cleaning

and

safe dismant

li

ng of

redundant pip

ing

and

two unusable

tan

ks

; rev

amp

ing of

three

tanks

and

admln offices;

and

Installation of new ta nks .

road

tanker loading faciliti es.

GLOBAL

import and export piping. a firefight i

ng

system and security

system.

Phased supply and progress

The first phase of

proceed

ings was a imed

at

readying

the

fadilt y for impor t and supply of

petr

o l

and

diesel in

Mozambique {20

of

the olume requir

ement

, and Zimbabwe

(80 ). The wo rk was done via the ex isting pipeline to Ma sasa

Depot in Harare. The

term

Inal's designed capacity of

18 million Itrs of diesel and 7 million ltrs of

petrol

is

expected

to

be

sufficient for this purpose.

Once

phase one projected products demands were

achieved, Engen had plans for second phase construction

which was planned to involve Increasing tank and

road

loading

capacity. and

the

const ruct ion of a ne w ra il loading facility to

cater for Engen's other southern African sister companies.

In July of last year the project was on track with the

target of reachi

ng

9 mechan ical completion by the

end

of

December

2013

. The company planned

to

have

the depot

fully operational in the first

quarter

of 2014

and

hopes to

e c o m

the leading Sub-Saharan African oil company by

2016.

\ A N T l l ~ £

REVEW

I

MBY



The shutdown was aimed

at

ensuring

the

integrity

of

equ i

pment

and systems

at

the

two

facilites, in compliance

with the Mine Health and Safety Act and the Occupational

Health and Safety Act. PetroSA's operating permit also

requ ired

that

the company undergo routine statutory

shutdowns n

order to

inspect and repaIr critical

equipment in order to ensure their integrity. Over the

years. PetroSA has s

et

a proud record

of

executtng

shutdowns within budget and safely. The four yearly

scheduled shutdown is expected to

involve a combined

workforce

of

app roximately

4

. The number

is

inclusive

FRIC

SI ND

nfEP CIFIC

of

temporary employees sourced from the Mosse l

Bay

community. During

the

2009 shutdown, 80

of the total

workforce was made up of people from the Mossel

Ba

y

area.

In

May of

last year. the SAPREF refinery shut

one of

its

secondary un its for planned ma intenance which was

anticipated

to

take three weeks. The Durban refinery shut

i

ts vis

breaker unit which is used

to

reduce viscosity when

distill i

ng

crude oil. The SAPREF refinery is jOintly

owned

by

Shell and

BP

.

SI

ND

DIE P ClRC

4 l J s q j J l j ~

In

November

last year,

ASS signed a

long

term

service

agreement

with

QGCm

a wholly owned subsi

diary

of

SG

Group. to provide

planned and unplanned maIntenance for the up and mid stream

facilities at Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNq The project, located

in

Queensland. Australia, is the world s first to convert gas from

coal seam

into

LNG

.

The contract value is AUSS 33 million over four years. booked

in the third and fourth quarter of 2013, with potenti

al

for extending

the

service

term

up to

a period

of

10

years.

ASS is

to

provide

comprehensive

se/Vices

including

an

onsite tream

to

maintain

ABS s

Extended Automation System 800 A Integrated Control and Safety

System. The contract also covers spare parts management for

QCLNG s

upstream collection and transportation

facility as well as

for the midstream liquefaction and export facility.

C l 1 i n ~

ASS signed a

long

term Preventative Service

'

agreement with

China

LNG Shi

pp

i

ng

International Co . Lld (Cl5ICO) in May last year, to

proVide

maintenance services

to

all

ASS

equipment onboard

of

its

sixLNG

vessel

s In the next five years.

The

new service agreement helps

CLSICO

with optimised

vessels

performanceat a predicted

minimum

level of budget.

ASS

will provide annual site survey and on call services

to

the six vessels

covered by the agreement, as well as dry dock selVice every

2S

year

s. The

scope of the agreement covers preventitive

maintenance onboard. power generation plant and mechanical and

electrical systems.4

I o d i ~

Mid 2013,

Alfa

Laval won an order to supply

Alfa

Laval Packinox heat

exchangers

to

a petrochemical p ant in Ind ia.The order was booked

In the Process Industry segment with a

value

of

SEK 185

million.

Deliveries

were scheduled for 2013 and 2014.

Last November Bharat Petroleum Co rp. Ltd. (BPCL) bagan partially

shutti

ng

secondary units at three of its refineries for ma intenance.

Work on the

Kochi

refinery began in

mid November

. This

was

foHowed

by

the

Mumbai

refinery in December and the

Numalrgarh

refinery

in January of

this

year.

Each

shutdown was scheduled to

last 25 - 30 days.

At

the start of this year BPCL made an announcement that

it

was to

shut a crude unit at the

Mumbal refinery

for approximately

two weeks between Apnl and May as part

of

the 40 day

maintenance plan at the facility for the catalytic cracker unit.

Heurtey Petrochem announced the

Signature

of a

€

31 million

contract in the petrochemical sector with Reliance

Industries limited in May last year.

The

contract concerned the

turnkey

delivery of

six furnaces

for a petrochemical complex within

the

Jamnagar refinery

in Gujarat

Sate,

West India.The delivery of

the equipment is scheduled for January

2015

.

Reliance Industries

announced n

March

of

this

year that

it was to

shut one of the four crude distillation units at the

Jamnagar refinery

for ma intenance.

The

work was scheduled

to

begin on 20

th

March

and was expected

to

last three and a half

weeks.

The company also

planned to use

the scheduled shutdown to

repl

ace catalyst

in

the

plant s vacuum gas

oil

and naphtha hydrotreater.

J ~ p a n

Turraround \york at the

Nansei Sekiyu refinery will

be carried

out this year from 3

rd

February to r March. The main objective

of the shutdown and mamtenance routine is to overhaul and

GLOB L



ASIA AND

THE PACIFIC

Inspect a

l the

refinery s equi

p nt

.

This will be

the most

extensive maintenance project carried out at the facility in

10 years and

represents

a significant investment in the

refinery's operat ional safey and will see an increase of over

8 in the workforce.

t < a z a k h ~ t a n

At

the

end

of

January t his yea r. PetroKazakhstan Oil

Products. LLP and Chinese company (PECC entered mto a

contract for the detai led engineering, procurement of

equipment and

materials

and

i

mplementa

t ion

of

construction and installation work, as part of PKOP's

transition to pract ical implementation of the Shymkent

refinery modernisation project.

The naphtha isomerisation unit is being constructed

at

PKOP LLP tn

accordance

with the complex

development

plan

of oil refineries for the Repub

li

c of Kazakhstan, as well as

within

the

framework of

the R State

Program for Forced

Ind

ustrial and Innovative

Development

. Implementation of

the first startup

complex

includes

construction

of the

naphtha

isomerisation unit with u capacity of 6 tpy .

which will allow reducing

an

environmental impact by

enhancing the high

octane

gasoline

production

pr

ocess

and

applying up to date technologies in operations . It

is

expected that by doing so PKOP will make a transition to

production of top quality

and

safe high octane gasoline

meeting

en

vi ronmetnal classes

K4 and K5

as per requirements

of the Customs Union Technical Regu lation as ea rly as 2016 .

The licensor company (UOP) stated that the

isomerisation unit designed for the refinery is technology

in tenSive and meets the latest requirements of the world

standards.

Rominserv. part of the Rompetro\ group. is performing wo rks

for modernisation and enhancement of process capacity at

the

Pavlodar refinery

in

Kazakhstan. The value

of the

contract

is USS

1.072

billion.

The modernisation program targets an inc rease In

processing capacity by 7 million tpy. an increase in the

refining yield. the i

mp

rovement of

product

quality and the

r

eduction

of

environmenta

l impact. 10 units are

In

cluded in

the

revamp:

crude

distillation unit. vacuum distillat ion unit ,

ke ro hyd rotreater, diesel

hydrotreater

unit, merox,

naphtha

hydrot

reater, vacuum gas oil,

cataly

t

ic

c racking unit, catalytic

reforming unit . utilities and off sites. New facilities wilt

be

built in addition, including a Penex isomerisation unit, sulfur

recove

ry unit. sour wat

er

stripp ing, amine regeneration unit

and

diesel hyd r

otreater and dew

ax

i

ng

.

According to the contract. In the first stage the Romanian

company

is

to ensure the project and the procuring of

materials and equipment for the construc t ion of new

GLOBAl

MI'I'ITB'WU

REVEW

installations, as well as for the upgrading of existent

ones.

During

2014

, the

Pa

vlodar refinery will analyse the

launching of the second phase of the project. which aims to

im prove the yield of crude and the increased production of

high quality fuels .

Th is

phase

is

anticipat

ed

to be

comple

t

ed

in 2018.

p ~ p u C . N e . \ N

Guine.a (PNG)

Wood Group

PSN

(WGPSN) was awar

ded

a

contract

by Esso

Highlands limited, a subsidiary

of

ExxonMobil Corpora t ion .

to

provide eng ineering

procurement

,

construction

and

mai

ntenance

services to

suppo

rt its

PNG

LNG

ope

rations.

Under

the

contract. WGPSN

w1ll pro

vide brownfield

engineering and procurement support to ExxonMobil's

operat ions in PNG, including construction and maintenance

se

rvices to both the Hides gas conditioning plant in the

highlands. and the LNG plant

northwest

of Port Moresby. It

was effect ive from pt August 2013.

The. P h i l i p ' p i n ~ s

Petron Corp. announced

towards

the end of 2013 that it

would

be

shutting a

crude

d

is

tillation unit at the 180 bpd

Bataan refinery for planned ma i

ntenance

in the first quarte r of

2014. The plant has

three

crude distillation units but only one

Is expected to be closed for up to 20 days as part of this

work . The impact on fuel supplies is expected to

be

minimal

as the refine ry will ramp up production as at the time of

announcement it was only running at 80 capacity.

S i g ~ p o r e

Plans for upgrade work at Singapore's smallest refinery was

announced at the beg in ning of the year after a year's delay on

the

project

. Singapore Refining Company are planning to

spend

over

USS

500 million on installing new facilities in the

plant

on

Ju

rong Island and

is

particularly

interested

In

add

ing

clean fuels and cogeneration facilities to the plant.

$C)l tt K . Q r ~ ~

In March 2014 Foster Wheeler

AG announced

that subsidiaries

of its Global Engineering and Construct ion Group were

awarded contracts

by S-Oil Corporatio n for the front

end

engineer ing design (FEED) for a residue upgrading project at

S-Oil's Onsan refinery in Ulsan. South Korea. Foster

Wheeler

co

ntract values were

not

disclosed and were included in the

co mpany's first quarter

2014

bookings.

The upgrade of the refinery includes the addition of a

res i

due

hydrodesulfurisat ion unit, a residue fluid ca talytic

cracker and multiple downst ream upgrading units to enable

the refinery to produce more higher val ue products. and

in

particular, maximise production of polymer grade propylene.



In

addition

to

execut

ing

the FEED. Foster Wheeler

will also prepare the tender for the engineering,

procurement and construction

(EPC)

phase, procure

long lead items. evaluate the EP( bids. and prepare a

cost estimate to support S-Oil's final investment

decision.

Sr i

In

May of last year, Sri Lanka s sole refinery faced

temporary closure for

up

to

four weeks due

to

delayed crude deliveries. This closure coincided with a

period

of

planned maintenance at the facility.

In

the

July of last year further maintenance was carried out at

the plant for a period of three days as part of a

decarbonisation period.

T ~ i w C . l

In

August last year, Formosa Petrochemical announced

its intensions to shut

two

secondary units

at

the

glob l indust:r:YH

u

.

requires l f ~ ~ l

.

= 1

.:1

+

;>

HYDROCARBON

ENGINEERING

SI ND

THE PACIFIC

Mailio refinery for planned maintenance in October

20ll.

The plant's 80

000

bpd vacuum distillation unit and

84 000 bpd residual fluid catalytic cracking unit were

the units in question and work was expected to last up

to

four weeks.

Y i ~ t l a l T

At the end of

2013

, Gazprom Neft signed an

agr

eement

with PetroVietnam

to

ac

quire a stake

in

the

Dung Quat refinery and to participate

in

the

mode

rnisation

of the

plant. The modernisation

program

will

include increaSing production

capacity at the plant from 6.5 million tpy of

processing capacity

to 12

million tpy within a year.

Improvements

to

the plant's technical efficiency

of

motor fuel production will also be undertaken

to

ensure the facility 's products meet Euro 5

standa rds.

PEINEM NN

QU I N T

For more information

vis

it ww w.peinemannequipmenl.com

or contact us al [email protected]

www .pe n t . mannt .qulpment.com



UROP

Belgil m

In

May of

2013.

TOTAL

announced that it

was

to invest

€

1billion in its Belgian refin

ing

and petrochemical complex,

n

order to boost its diesel

making

capacity and cut costs. Plant

refurbishment was scheduled to include the construction of a new

20

000 bpd hydrocracking unit to transform high sulfur heavy fuels

into low sulfur diesel and heating oil from early

2016

.

Simultaneously,TOTAL announced plans to shutdown

uncompetitive units. including a 240 000 t oil based naphtha

cracker unit and two polyethylene making units.

It illy

Sunday

2 ~ t July

2013

marked the

beginni

ng

of

the

closure

of

the

produ tio

n systems

of

the ENI Venice refinery in order

to

carry ou t

modifica tion operations which would enable production

of

biofuels as part of

the

gr

een

refinery project. During the transition

period between closure and reclamation, it was warned that the

visibility

of

the flare and chimney may undergo variations but they

were not deemed crit ical. The transition period ended within the

nrst 10 days of August and system modincation and ma intenance

interventions began in September last year. Initiation of production

of the new biofuel

was

expected at the start of this year.

In October last year, ENI announced plans to invest

USS

895 million in updating the

Gela refinery,

southern Italy.

The

investment is being made as in its current state , the facility

is

lOSing

money.

The

refurbished rennery is expected

to

be online and fully

operational by 2017.

t-4P

rw

a.y

Foster Wheeler

AG

has announced that a subsidiary of its Global

Engineering and Construction Group has been awa

rd

ed a contract

by

StatoH

ASA

to undertake a feasibility study for the upgrade

of

Statoil's Mongstad refinery

in

Norway.The value

was

not disclosed

and was included in the company's second quarter

2013

bookings.

Foster Wheelers scope includes performing

high

level process

simulations to identi

fy

the

opt

i

mum

technical soluti

on

for the

refinery upgrade, and production

of a

detailed study report and a

total installed cost estimate.

The

study is scheduled for completion

at the end of

2013

.

SE SIU Y

In order

to

meet changing environmental rules and standards,

Total Grandpuits refinery (near Paris) Implemented a plan

to

reduce nitrogen oxide (NO,) emiSS ions from the refinery.

The plan aimed

to

reduce the NO. emissions from

the

refinery. from a variable 280

to

3S0

mg Nm

) at 3% 0 2to below

the new annual limit set by locallegrslatlon and ministerial

decree, which was set at 300 g m at 3% 0 2

The

6 2F

furnace. for atmospheric distillation

(AD)

is

one

of

the major contributors of NO

x

emissions from the refinery and

therefore, Total dedded

to

reduce the emissions

of

this furnace.

On

the basis of

in

ternal procedures several optTons were

inIt

Ially

considered and studied. but

finally.

Total checked that

the low NO, burner technique would allow

at

least a 25%

reduction

of

nitrogen OX ides

in

order to meet the required

performance.

F

Ives

P

illa

rd proposed the LONOlLAM Dual burners with

air

stag ing. The technology

of

low NO. burners is recognised as the

best availab le technique IBA

T) for

liqUid and gaseous fuels .

The project. which was added

to

a programmed shutdown

phase managed

to

meet the followi

ng

criteria:

• Safety In all work

phases.

wit hout any accident report

Incidence.

• The costs were as per the budget.

Ma

y

GLOBAl

REVEW

N

600

0

SIlO

'

)

300

'"

200

Z

0

100

E

0 -

Gaz seul 5O%gaz

Uax/

fuel 011

50% fuel mini gas

NO, measured

by

Total Cres.

The delivery time was met. the deadline was oflglnally

imposed by the imt al shutdown.

•

The

furnace operation specification was followed.

• NO, performance. especially

when firing gas

were beyond

guaranteed values.

The

change

to

low

NO

l

bumer

firing

made

a

Significan

t

environmental impact a.

weH

as

an

Improvement in the furnace

operating condi

tIons

.

and with this

contract

Foves f l

llard shows

it

s

added value f x

combustion dedicated to

refinery furnaces.



The refi

nery

upg rade project by StatoH aims to address crude

feedstock flex i

bility

requirements and to increase d

iesel

production, Including the production of ultra low sulfur diesel. The

upgrade

is

expected to include the installation of a new vacuum

distillation unit, together with new diesel hydrotreaters.

polC

p

The Polish company Grupa LOTOS S.

A.

selected Axens to

provide t he technology lteense for a new coker

na

phtha

hydro treater at it s Gdansk refin ery. Th

is

contract is part of the

Gdansk refine ry development and modernisation program

based

on

heavy residue coking technology.

The two step coker nap htha hydr

ot

reating unit, with a capacity

of152 000 tpy Is being designed to pr

oduc

e naph tha quality for

petrochemical use.

Axens has extensive experience in the d

iolefin

hydrogenation

and hyd rodesulfu nsation of cracked naphtha (Fee. coker,

visbreaker, steam cracker). Drawing on this large expertise,

Axens offers a very

ef

fi

cient and commercially proven process

wi

th

a cho ice

of

speci

fi

c catalysts and operating conditions

to

SE

SIU Y

Kirishinefteargslntez

000

KINEF) is the

only

0 11

refinery in Northw€'st@rn Ru ssia. The history of the Kirishi

operation. l

ocated

in close proxim i

ty

to

the

Baltic Sea ports.

dates back to

March

1966. when the first batches of petroleum

derivativ

es

were shipped

to

customers. Since then. the

refinery

has

been supplyIng petroleum products to the entire

region.

With an

installed

refining

capacIty

of

19.8 million tpy. the

KINEF refinery is • stable player within the OAO

Su

rgutneftegaz holding . which it merged with in 1993. In recent

years. the refinery has constantly exceeded its design crude

throughput.

KINEF

is a recognised leader

in

wholesale petroleum

products distribution in Northwestern Russia, producing all

kinds

of

fuel as well

as

products

highly

demanded

by

the

petrochemical industry, paint manufacturers, household

chemicals producers and the construction industry.

Benefits

In

selecting Honeywell's Experion· Process Knowledge

System PKS) to be implemented on two process units . the gas

fractionating

unit

GFU) and the crude distillatIon

unit

AT 1).

KINEF

Site was seeking to upgrade i

ts

control systems

and improve

the

financial and operational performance

of

the

refinery.

With H oneywell having supplied modern automation

technology

to

KINEF

in the past, the

cOc:J.lP.jlR)l

's

management turned to Honeywell. exP,efts to

help choose a to r d e P ocess

well as anti surge control and compressor equipment

protection. Honeywell engineers also performed equipment

implementat ion and commissioning.

The benefits of Implementing the Honeywell process

control

platform included:

• Increased reliability and overall performance

improvement.

• Maximised equipment utilisation rate.

• Targeted ROI.

• Faster

project

implementation and Interoperability with

existing systems.

Challenge

n order to improve its financial and operational efficlencles,

the

KINEF

refinery not only needed

to

bring its

proces

s

control

system up

to

date, but also to ensure

complete interoperability

between

eXsting systems and

Experion PKS.

Solution

KINEF believes the Experion PKS platform prOVides an

effective answer to Its process automation needs. In

addition,

the

company plans to equip its process units with

a

spec

ialised Honeywell Advanced Alarm Manager system

to enable effective early inCident detection and res

ponse

,

alarm initiation analysis and task specific reporting. These

solutions wi

ll

help opttmise

the

refining

proce

ss and

improve oo.lnes. results.

With Honeywell's solutions. KINEF can fully utilise

the benefits

Of

integrated process control and safety

systems through a single in terface to enhance

the

overall

operating performance

of

the refinery.

GLOBAL



UROP

W

SE

SIU Y

Preem

AB

, is the largest oil company

In

Sweden, wi

th

a

crude

oil refining capacity

of more

than

18 million m

y.

Preem s

two

refineries (Lysekil and Goteborg), operated as

one joint refinery named Preemraff, are among the most

modern

and environmentally friendly

In

Europe and

the

world.

Benefits

Production and the facilities at Preemraff Lysekll and

Preemraff Goteborg are managed and optimlsed as one

system with shared management. strategy, development and

future. Intensive effort

is

under way to work together to

achieve the

common objective

of being one

of

Europe s

most efficient refinery systems.

Honeywell s Experion Blend

ontroller

EBC) was

selected by Preem for its Preemraff Lysekil Eco Diesel

Blender

to

replace an

older

Honeywell application

that

was

ber-oming more difficult

to

support. Experion Blend

Controller was initially installed

in

2005 and recently

upgraded. ensuring

that

Preem continues to achieve the

following benefits for its

ECO

Oiesel Blender

• Improved blending efficiency.

• Stable and reliable blender operation

• Meeting all return

on

investment

(RO

I) targets .

Challenge

Preemraff Lysekil faced several challenges associated with its

ECa Diesel blending operations .

First. Preemraff Lysekil had employed Honeywell s Blend

Ratio Control (BRC) application on their TotalPlant System,

and

it had

become more

difficult

to

support because

of

its

ageing infrastructure. This challenge required a new

DCS

system (Honeywe\l's Experlone

PKS

platform). along wi

th

a

new O line blending control system.

In addition, ECO Diesel, which is a key product for

Preemraff Lysekil. is blended primarily to ships. so the

ECO

Diesel blender faced additional challenges:

• Using

the

ECa Diesel Blender

to

load ships requires the

loading arm

to

have very steady operation. The pressure

control valve for the

ECO

~ i s l Blender IS located near

the jetty, while the pressure indicator Is located near

the

component

streams. This situation means there Is

signIficant elevation difference between the two, thus It

is possible the pressure in the header can drop too low

or even dram completely.

If

a blend Is started under

these

conditions.

then

the

loading

of

the

sh

ip can

be

dangerous.

• Additionally. the ECO Diesel Blender is controlled

by

one

of two pressure

controllers

. The pressure controllers. In

GLOBAL

IEVEW

Preem AB Lysekil refinery.

reality. however . have the same pressure sensor and only

the control valve

is

dual. Therefore, the

operator

must

choose

the

correct

pressure control valve at blend

setup

.

• All blends that go directly to the harbour are used to fi ll

ships moored at the jetties. If there is a problem in

the

harbour.

then the

pumps feeding

the

blender are

shut

down

by

the harbour operators through a digital tag. In

line blending systems must

stop

on the same signal to

bring the blender

to

a

state

equIvalent

to

the pumps.

• In general. the blender blends

directly

to the ship.

ensuring the blended volume Is accurate. Immediate

shutdown

is

always used 1 stop

the

blend. When this

shutdown occurs.

the

in line blendIng system

needs to

stop the

pumps ftrst prior to closing the flow controller

value. Finally, duri

ng the

blend. the

operator needs

the

ability

to

change

the

pressure

setpomt

.

l u ~ j o n

Preem chose HoneyweU's EBC because

of

Its ability to

address

these

unique challenges

of the

EeO Diesel blender

and

also because

of the

ir past success with Honeywell's

blending solutions.

EBC is Experion based software

that

controls the

operation

of in

line blenders for gasoline. distillate. fuel oil.

crude. bitumen and chemical blending applications.

EBC

ensures

that

components

are blended in

accordance

With

blend recipe specifications by controlling

the

pumps and

flow controHers associated with the blending applicatIon.

EBC IS part of

Honeywell's Blending

and Movement

Management solution

that

delivers

complete

planning.

execution and performance monitoring of

off

sites blending

and movement

operat

Ions.



t-telpiV\c.3 re.f iV\erS t r Q . V \ s . f " o r ~

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ensure meeting the proouct specifications wh

ile

maximising the

catalyst cycle length.

The

Axens technology turned out

to

be the bes t one among

those

evaluated by Grupa LOTOS. lt

meets

both the specifications

set by the company as

it

is simple

and

highly

ener

gy efficien

t.

ROITlc: nia

OMV

Petrom.

commissioned inJuly

2013

a new unit for gas

desulfurisation

wi

thin the Petrobr

azi refine

ry,

as

part of the

mode

rn isation

progr

am

init

ia

ted in

2010.

The new

unit

deter

min

es

a reduction

in

the refin

ery

pollut ing emissions.

in

line with

Eu

ropean

levels.

thus contributing

to

a cleaner environment. In

additton.

the new

unit

Will have

a positive Impact

on the

ener

gy

efficiency

o

the refinery

The project to implement a new desulfurisation unit started at

the end of 2010 and entailed investments of approximately

€ 40

million.

For

the

modernisation and efficiency increase of

Pe t robrazi refi nery, O MY Pe t rom has foreseen its budget

investments

of approximately € 6 million and as of August

2013 ,

€

500 million had already been invested .

Anot her sta ge in the modernisat ion process o f t he above

refinery was marked earlie r in

2013

,

when

the

coker

unit

mode

rnisat ion was completed follow ing an investment of

ap proximately € 45 million. The next steps consist of

expanding th e capacity of the gas oil

hydrot

r

ea

t ing unit and

fluid catalytic cracker unit as the last

stage in

th e efficiency

increase process

of

the refinery and improvement

of

white

product yie lds.

Rompetrol Ra

fi

nare, a member

company

of

The

Rompetro

l

Group

announced

last year that it had completed the

revamp of t he coker unit within

the

Pet romidia refine ry.

following an investment of US$ 53 million. The inves tment

prOV ided the unit

operation

wi t h high standards of

pe rformance according to the assumed commitments on

environmen

ta

l compliance.

SE SIU Y

The challenge

At a European refinery. TA Cook Identified opportunities

across all phases of turnaround (TAR) preparation, from

productiVity to overall performance Improvements. Initial

assessment identified a savings

potentia

l of

23

on direct

labour

far

a

scope

exceeding

2

hrs.

During an tn ltlal three week analysis, a number of key

areas for Improvement

around

the preparation and execution

ofthe

TAR were identtfied . These included:

• Low level of

executio

n productivity compared to

industry

good

practice. Only

35

of

the

paid available

time was

spent

on va lue adding actiVities versus the

6 - 65 recognised Industry best practice.

• InsuffiCIent management and coordination of

the TAR

execution schedule teadmg to overtime, delays and poor

productivity.

• The planning base (the

time

and effort required to carry

out

a mechanical task) had been overestimated

by

up to

100 in comparison to the Industry average.

Absence of

adequate TAR scope

challenge processes.

• Inadequate work permit pro cess leading to loss of

productiVity at the start of the day.

The solution

Defining and

deve

loping

operationa

l improvements during the

preparation phase was es

se

nt ial if execution with fewer

t

MaY

mechanical resources but a roughly similar scope was to be

achieved. Negotiation with mechanical contractors was also

vital and required the team to begin working on the key

i

mprovement

tevers

one

year before

the

actual execution

date.

An

impr

oved

permit system with predefined clusters, such

as area, equipment. systems. entry

and

special, was

developed

in

order

ta

move from an administrative and time

con

suming

process to a leaner and safer one. This was vital in

order

to

meet the safety reqUi rements for work ing In a 'cold plant'

environme

nt

.

AdditIonally. by defining a man agemen t control and

reporting system, including KPls. performance re

vi

ew

meetlOgs

and next day preparation standards, the client's decision

making

and

problem solv(ng abilities were va stly improved

Activities

co

uld then be planned and scheduled correctly and

according to priority.

Results

By

promoting one single line of

report and

reVIewing and

Improv ing the planning base. 18 of mechanical hours were

reduced. AlongSide

the

key leve

rs

needed to achieve

productivity Improvements, additional solutions

were

developed

to optimise the client's current practices in a

number of different fields. s

uch as

lo

gisti

cs . mater,.1

m n gement

and

scope processes.



Developed in partnership with

Rom

inse rv and

ConocoPhillips, unit revamp began in 2008 and benefit

ed

fr om

the

American company wi

th

regards

to

techno logy

and basic engineering and consulting. Its

const

ru

ct

i

on

and

st rtup took place in the 2010 -

2013

pe riod. The updatin g

process dete rmined a 90% reduction of technolog ical

consumpt ion, an annual decrease

of

technological losses by

USS 3 mi

ll

ion, as well as a

sign

if

ic

ant reduction of energy

UROP

consumption.

At the

same time, such updati

ng

has provided

the increase of the re liability and safety level of the unit

and the pr

otec

tion level

of

the employees.

With a ca pa

ci

ty

of

1.1

7

milli

on

tpy. the coke r

un

it

wil

l

provide a superior processing of the vac

uum

residue

de rived from vacuum distillation to obtain integrated

products such

as

: gas. gasoline, light gasoil, heavy gasoit and

coke .

W SE SIU Y

Customers of Metso's

De

vice Management Business ervice hav

commented that It

provides

the v

aluable

expertise in device

management that they do

not

have in house.

The LOTOS

r

efine

l}'

in Gdansk. Poland

is agood

example.

Device and part management

Managing a valve

or

process field

measurement

devICe

spare

parts

Inventory for

a

large

Industrial complexlike

an

oil

refinery

S a

daunting task for

a

plant maintenance

group

.There ma

y

be

thousands

of valves

and

other devices of

various vintages

from

many

marufaJCturer; Lack

of a detailed and accurate parts

i

nventory.

IJ'ICertaln

lfifer>tanding of he

critical

parts required.

overstocking of some obsolete or out

of wanranty

parts.

all

add up

to increased costs and. In the worst

cases,

plant production

ma

y

be

interrupted by

lack

of

parts

at the

nght time

.To streamline

parts

management for

valves.

ensure parts availability

,

and lower the

i

nventory

costs

Metso has implemented its Device Management

Business

Solution

in

a

variety

of

industries including

hydrocarbon

processing. The results

c

an be substantial

,as

the

costsof the

inventory

can

be taken

off the

plant

's

books and the

experti

se

of

Metso

is

utilised to ensure dayto day and long term parts

management

for

high availability and

low

costs. This Metso

soiutlon has

been

used

for

all manufacturers'

products. not

just

Metso'

s,

The

busi

ness soiutlon s

tarts

with an

audit

of current parts

inventoriesand actual dev ice needs as there can

be

a substantial

g

ap

between

what

is needed

for critical

device

maintenance and

what actually

exists.

ThIS provides

a dear

view

of

the

current

installed base

so

the spare part inventory can be streamlined.

harmon

i

sed

and

costs

lowered

The

c

ritICality

of

Me\sO

and

other

manufacturers'

dev lCliS Is iSiiised

w

ith plant

p r r i d t

integrity

,

safety and en

v

ironmental comP.J\ance

In mind.

Next, Metso

develops a lifecyde

plari

to...,....,

an optim81 device nilx

and

inventoi}' for ""'iInd

into the

fUture

.Ow r time, it

allows

redundancJes

ancljhoIescenceOfspare

rts to be

Grupa LOrOS Refinery. Gdansk. Poland.

lo

w

ered.

Customers of

his

servke comment that

Metso

provides

the

experti

se

of

device management

that they do not

have In

house

.

Grupa

LOTOS re

finery

Just

suc

h a case has

been

implemented at the Gdansk

Poland

refinery

of Grupa LOTOS

.Metso has been contracted to look after

the parts management of 3600 valves

some

of

which have

been

work

ing

for 30 years.

Appro

xi

mately

20

of

the

valves

are MeISo

'

s,

Gregory 81edowski.Technical director at the LOTOS refinery.

appreciates the help

from

Metso's local office ,

and

has said that it

S Important that a supplier has avery strong local

office

and

is abie

to offer

support.

The

engineering

facility

proVides the refinery

with

""'Y

strong support in

its day

to day activities. It is

important

to

icnq

wthat

the

response

is

helpful. quick and

at a

reasonable

cost

MetsoandtOTOS have

been

working together since

September 2013: Bledowskl is positive about the agreement

but

feels it will

tab

a year to see the full effect since the

stock

Inventory has;been transferred from

LOTOS

to Metso,

however

. it

is

ex

pected to tie a win / win

agJ

eet

M I'lt.

GLOBAL



UROP

SE

SIU Y

a

n<;\gin,g cpntra

ct

or

Res

po

ns

ib

ili

ty for coordi

natrng

all

ma

in and subcontractors in

preparations and

planning

,

quality

, schedules and safety was

Bilfinger Ma intenance Nord's rem it for the autumn 2013

tu

rnaround

of

a refinery operated by Kuwa it Petroleum

Europoort in Rotterdam.Planni

ng

the proje

ct

took one year,

with the refinery turnaround lasting two months. At up to

350

0

operatives were

Simultaneouslydeployed at the si

te

.

The refinery was familiar terrain for the Silfinger experts. The

IndustrIal services prov ider

has

been a partner to Kuwait

Pe

t roleum Europoort

since

2006,

hav

i

ng

executed atotal of four

turnarounds at the site.

As

the managing contractor. the

company

was the customer s sole contact partner in the past.

assum

i

ng

full responsi

bil

Ity for the entire project.

In

the interests of

minim

ising production loss and costs, it is

generally more effic1ent to dose down the entire plant and to

perform

all

necessary

work

in a single

large

turnaround. Instead

of the partial turnarounds every two years in lIne with the

previOUS practice, the refinery Is now to undergo a full scale

turnaround in

roughly

five year intervals. The second trend

concerns the selection of the contractual partner. Potenti

al

service

prOV

iders for a turnaround are audited by the customer

we ll

in advance of the actual contract award these

days

.

References are also obtained for this purpose.

Whereas 350 operatives

work

on the entire site dUring

no

rmal

refinery operations. the workforce required for the

turnaround of all

fa

cilities number 2500 and at times. as

many

as

3500.

Silfinger alone

had

8 employees at the site

from

SIX

Silfinger companies in Germany, Austria.

th

e Netherlands and

Slo

v

akia

.

ln

addition to its

tasks

as

manag

ing contractor, SHfinger

handled scaffolding. insulation, coating, trace heating and piping

activities.

Ahead

of

the turnaround, up

to

8

employees were involved

in planning the mechanical w

ork and

piping rackIng

up

some

50 work hou rs. They were responsible fo r managing

monitoring and coordinating 18000 work packets, transporting.

storing and coordinating materials and transporting tools and the

necessary speCial vehICles to and from the site. As managing

contractor, Bilfinger was also in charge of site safety.This entailed

pl

anning

all precautions

in

consultation with the customer s top

level managemen

t.

As well as this,

it

was necessary

to

coordinate

the safety team stationed at the site.Consequently, no

reportable incidents arose, resulting

in

an lost time

Injury LTI)

ratio of zero.

The

turnaround was to be completed within tw

o

months at

the end

of

2

013

. Th is involved executing 80 ind ividual projects

and

coordinati

ng

15 other se

rvice

cornpanles pa rticipating in the

project,

The

turnaround

ma

terially owed its succe

ss to th

t

Ma

y

GLOBAL

REVEW

Bilfinger Maintenance Nord managed the

turnaround of the refinery operated by

Kuwait Petroleum Europoort in Rotterdam.

Bilfinger experts high technical

skills

and broad experience In

all

ma in turnaround areas. In addition. Si/finger benefited

from

its

intematlonal network via which it S able

to

access a l

arge

number of acti

vi

ties

and

qualified resources, allowing it to

comp

le

te complex projects with its own staff.

In addftion to the turnaround at Ku wait Petroleum

Europoort. Bllfinger completed other projects In

Germany

, the

Netherlands, Austria and the

Czech

Republic for Total Bitumen

Deutschland, BASF,PCK Raffiner ie Schwedt. Boreahs as well as

Cesk

a

Rafinerska

and Unipetrol in

20

13 The total value was

around € SO million. The largest ones were the turnarounds at

the

BASF

synthesis gas plant In Ludwlgshafen, at Borealis In Linz,

Austrla and Kuwait

Petroleum

Europoort in

Rotterdam in the

Netherlands.



combustion

le der

allidus Technologies, LLC

is

an

established world

leader in

process burner flare and thermal oxidizer technology.

We have earned that reputation by providing solutions that set new

standards in performance and

re

liability. Our approach to combustion

science continues to break new ground every day with innovative new

products and solutions for the worlds most difficult combustion

challenges. This commitment to technical excellence

is

driven by our

focus to provide a custom designed solution for every project based on each customer s specific

requirements. One example is our flare gas recovery system, designed to achieve zero flaring, reducing

process fuel costs while eliminating visible flame, odors and auxiliary flare utilities.

Having one

of

the largest installed bases of process burners, production flares and thermal oxidizers

in

refining and petrochemical facilities around the wo rld. Callidus should be yo

ur

choice for next generation

combustion equipment and solutions for new construction or retrofit operations with installation

capabilities anywhere in the world.

Callidus Technolog i

es,

LLC

A

Honeywell

ompany

7130 South Lewis, Suite 335,

Tutsa

, OK 74136, call 1-918-496-7599 or visit our website www.callidus.com

;)

2014 Honeywelllnternational Inc. All rights reserved.



UROP

R " , ~ ~ i i i

AVEVA announced

at t he

start of

this year,

that

Burgasnefteproekt , an engineering company in

the

field

of

petrochem

icals, had ach i

eved

significant

cost

savings using

AVEVA Laser odeller. Burgasnefteproekt recently acquired

the

AVEVA software

and used

it

to

capture

the as built

asset

and create a 3D

model of

an exis ting flaring

system

.

This

is

part

of

a revamp project

to

rebuild the system and

ensure up to date

. accurate project documentation. Using

3D

laser scanning technologies and processing the scan

data using AVEVA Laser odeller and AVEVA PDMS,

Burgasnefteproekt achieved approximately 80 savings in

design man hours.

The laser scan

data captured

from

the

faciltiy was

imported into AVEVA Laser Modeller, where the modelling

process is driven by the hig h resolut ion. photo realistic

BubbleVlew. On completion the new model was t rasferred to

AVEVA PDMS . The resu lt is an accurate 3D as built model

that

Burgasnefteproekt used fo r the revamp project, as well as

providing a valuable digital asset for future design and

maintenance activities.

Any

future plant modifications can be

easily compared with

the

as built 3D mode l as

the

LFM Server

technology can

be

used

to

reference the laser scan data

d irectly inside AVEVA PDMS .

The use

of

laser scanning technology on this project had

a Significant impact

on the

overall labour costs by making

the

process faster and more efficient. Us ing AVEVA technologies,

Burgasnefteproekt was able

to complete the documentation

in only

136

man hours. Using traditional ways of working,

the

same task would have taken between 700 and 9 man hours.

As

a result'.

the

company rapidly ga ined an accurate as built

3D

mode

l which can be used for r

edes

i

gn

.

Foster Wheeler

AG

announced

that

a subsidiary

of

its Global

Engineering and Construction Group was awarded a

contract

by OJSC Gazpromneft Moscow refinery

to

provide front end

engineering design

(FE

ED) and design

documentation in

accordance

with Russian Nor

ms

. for a major in

vestment

,

te rmed the combined oil refinery unit (CORU) project, at the

Moscow refinery. The value of the award was not disclosed

and will be included in Foster Wheeler's first quarter 2013

bookings.

The CORU project is part of the implementation of

Gazpromneft's OJSC Moscow refinery revamping and

upgrading program. under which

the

refinery will be

expanded up to 2020 to process an additional 6 million tpy

of

cru

de

oil and pr

od

u

ce

tra nsportation fuels

to

Euro V

standards.

The

CORU

facilities are planned

to

include crude

distillation and vacuum d

is

tillat ion units. a continuous

GLOBAL

MAM13'IANCE

REVEW

catalytic reforming unit with naphtha hydrotreatment and

hydrogen recovery by pressure swing adsorption, a diesel

hydrotreater including a dewaxing section. a gas planJ with a

LPG sweetening unit and common utilities.

LU Oil commissioned a diesel fuel hydrotr

eatment

unit at t he

Perm refinery towards the

end of

2013. The commissioned

technology

is

reequipp

ed

as part of

the

quadripartite

ag r

eement

signed in July

of

2011

by the

company.

the

Federa l

Antimonopoly Service. Rostekhnadzor and Rosstandart.

As

a

result

of

the

technical reequi

pment

. t

he

unit will increase

the

output

of

Eu ro 5 ult ra low sulfur diesel

ULSD)

fuel by

325 tpy. In add ition. the specific energy intensity of the

hydrotreatment process has

been

considerably reduced.

which enhances

the

production efficiency. The

expected 2014

ULSD fuel

output

at the Perm refinery is to exceed 4

mill

ion t.

Roseneft announced in October 2013 that subsidiary Saratov

refinery would undergo a modernisation and techno logical

upgrade as part of the planned overhaul

of

the facility tha t

lasted from 2nd October - Mid November 2013. This was one

of the largest investment initiatives as part of the program is

to ra ise the production efficiency

of

the

ELOU

-AVT-6 primary

refining unit

to

7 million tpy

to

ensure an Increase in

the

ext raction of vacuum gas oil. Other tasks included the

upgrade

of

processing units to

meet the

latest industrial

safety reqUirements.

The overhaul was predicted

to

be

the

largest in scale ever

since the company's foundation, with more than 1500 workers

employed at

the

apex

of the

program. With

the

job

done

,

the

facility enjoys a dramatic increase in oil refining volumes. not

to

mention t he improvement

of

processing equipment safety.

and

the

genera progress r

eac

h

ed

as part

of the

cont inuous

effort

to put

In action

the

wide ranging plans for

development

.

In

addit ion

to

the

above

work,

the

refinery made a reserve

stock

of

petroleum products and reached agreements

on

additional deliveries from

other

Rosneft refineries in

order to

ensure uninterruupted supplies

of

fuels to consumers during

the ove

rhaul period.

The Saratov refinery was founded in 1934. The enterprise

produces engine fuels meeting the most stringent Euro 5

ecological standards, as well as fuel oil. bitumen, vacuum gas

oil and technical sulfur.

~ r

In

the

summer

of

2013. NIS completed the investment

activities at the Pancevo oil refinery worth approximate ly 6

billion RSD. The process

of pe

rmanent improvement

of the

refming capacities has been continued after

the

successful

start up

of

t he MHC DHT complex for producing Euro 5



petroleum products. Since then the company has completed

the modernisation

of

the terminal at the river Danube and

continued to moderni

se

loading terminals. In addition, the

biggest refining complex for the production of gasoline and

gasoline components has been reconstructed. Numerous

Investments have been comple

ted to

reduce

the

producti

on

costs and achieve the level of energy efficiency.

in

cluding

thermal insulation In

24

tanks which implies the application

of

a special liquid ceramic insulation material.

In

the

two months following th is announcement.

all

requirements for

the

production

of

blodiesel with

the

appropriate com ponents content was expected

to

be met

and the investment was expected

to

allow NIS

to

export

petroleum products

to

countries within

the

.

Further work at

the

Pancevo refinery was carried out

in

October 2013 and included the replacement of worn out

relay protect ion in substation C and analyser installation at

the

platformmg unit in

the

refinery block S. These

investments were expected to increase operational

reliabil ity and energy efficiency and achieve financial savings

in the refini

ng

process.

Within

the

above process, three analysers were

ins

talled

at

each

of

the four furnaces

of

the platforming unit.

generating data which enables optimal combustion In the

furnaces. In addition. this investment, the value

of

which

exceeded 53 million RSD. ensured lower heavy fuel

consumption and a longer life cycle of the equipment. On an

annual basis. savings in heavy fuel consumption will range

rom

1630 -

2160 t.

In June

2013

new automatic compressor systems were

commissioned for

the

Novi Sad refinery with a

22 kW

capacity. Putting a modern compressor system

in

the Novi

Sad facility allowed it

to

cease using the outdated machine

and was expected

to

result

in

the

reduction

in

electricity

costs

by 85 as well as four times lower maintenance costs.

Replacement of the obsolete compressor system at the

refinery represented one

of

the stages

of

a comprehensive

program

of

increased energy efficiency in

the

operation

of all

organisational units of the company.

w ~ ~ ~ n

Honeywell has announced

that

it has been selected

by

Preem

AB

to modernise one of Europe s largest refineries.

Preemraf

Lysekil

, with Honeywell 's enhanced high

performance process manager (EH PM) industrial process

controller

s.

The project should

Sig

nificantly extend the ljfe

of

the existing control.system at the refinery, located

in

southern Swedep. Preem AB, is the country argest oil

producer and

will

use

the

enhanced high p e r f o r m a ~ c e

process manager to as much as trip{e the capacity of the

refinery s

eXIsting

controllers.

Preem has

an

annual refining capacity

of

more than

18 million

t,

accounting for 75

of

refining capacity in Sweden

and approximately one third

of

the entire Nordic region.

Preem is the largest supplier of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in

Sweden, with a sulfur content

of

less than 5 ppm, Significantly

lower than

the Euro

4 requirement

of

50 ppm.

The upgrade will be completed during planned

maintenance at the refinery and will not require any

additional downtime.

It

is scheduled

to

be completed before

the

end

of the

year.

V

Flexitallic has secured a new three year contract with Total

lindsey oil refinery for the supply and servicing of standard

gaskets and exchangers at the refinery

in

North Lincolnshire.

The contract was secured through a competitive tender

process and continues a relationship in excess

of

20 years

between Flex itallic and the refinery at North Killingholme.

As part

of

the new agreement. Flexitallic, which has its

UK

headquarters in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. will contmue

to

deliver a range

of

its gasket technologies

to the

site.

Total Lindsey oil refinery

is

currently Britain s third largest.

with a processing capacIty of 200 bpd.

Teeside based construction and maintenance services

company, Hertel won a three year maintenance contract with

TOTAL

UK

in

the middle of 2013. The contract is related to

the Lindsey refinery in Immingham. Hertel has worked in

partnership with the refiner for nine years already. supporting

turnarounds and projects and under

the

new contract the

company will also be providing access services. thermal

insulation and painting.

1 ; 1 ~ ~ w . ~ r ~ j n I ; y r o p ~

In July 2013, one

of

the four industrial gas production leaders

worldwide and Burckhardt Compression Signed a field services

and valves maintenance framework supply agreement for

the

European terri tory. Under the agreement. Burckhardt

Compression will provide onsite field service and valve

service on

all

types

of

reciprocati

ng

compressors for more

than 40 industrial gas plants

in

Europe. The agreement

is

valid

for three years.

The agreement builds upon the excellent cooperation

between the two companies. The industrial gas production

company

is

a longstanding global partner

of

Burckhardt

Compressi.on in areas of new compressor systems and

compressor components and services. Further. the agreement

draws upon the strong service network

of

Burckhardt

Compression. its enhanced service capabilities and

comprehenSIve knowhow.

GLOB L

MAMENANCE



MI LE

E ST

MIDDLE

EAST

p pl: abi

Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge)

LLC

, a subsidiary

of

Adnot

awarded Kentech

Internatio

nal

Limited

Abu

Dhabi a

three

year

contract

in December last year.

The

contract

was for

the operation maintenance

and

repair services for

HVAC equipment at

Ruwa is plant .

Kentech

will

carry

out

operations

predict iv

e and

pre

ve

ntative

maintenance

. repairs and overhauls for

all

heat

ing, ventilation, refri

ge

r

ation

and a

ir co

nd itioning

systems

on th

e Borouge

pe

t rochemIcal facility

at

Ruwais.

approximately 250 km west o f Abu Dhabi city in the

UAE

.

Borouge

is

a jo i

nt venture between

the

Abu Dhabi

National Oil Company (ADNOC). one of the world's major

oil and gas

compani es

,

and

Aust ria

based

Boralis. a leading

provi

der

of

chemical and

i

nnovative plast

i S

solutions

.

The Production facility

at

Ruwais

is

ce

ntral

to

Bor

ou

ge's

op e

rat ions and by mid 2014 will have an annual

producto

in capacity of

4.5 mi

ll

ion t and will

be home to

the

world 's largest in

tegrated

polyolefins plant.

This

is

Kentech's

fi

rst

HVAC O&M

contract

in the

UAE

and

followed the

re

cen

t award

of

a similar

contract

in

Qatar

for She l

l.

These contracts

build

on

the

rapidly

developing operatio

ns

and

main

tenance

capability within

the

Kentech Group, and

provides

a solid

founda

t io n for

our

long te rm ambit ions in the Middle East.

Qahraill

Ba

hrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco)

expects

to

complete

an

upgrade

of

its only refinery in 2019,

that

will i

ncrease

processing

capacity

by

35%

.

Bapco plans

to start

work on upgrading

the

Sitra

refinery in

2015 in order to boost

its

capacity

to

360000

bpd

from

267

000

bpd

currently

.

Bapco

and

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saud i Aramco)

are in

the

final

stages

of

approving work

on

enlarging a pipe line

that

carries Saudi light

crude to the

Sitra refinery by

120000 bbl to 350 000 bb l to feed the expans

io

n. The

two co

mpanies are

expected

to

sign

the

contract

for

the

pipeline work by

the end of th

is

ye

ar.

Iraq

SGS Oil, Gas Chemica ls Services (OGe) announced

in

September 2013 the

award

by Iraq

's

Ministry

of

Oil. Oil

Marketing Company (SOMO). fo r third

part

y metering and

inspect

ion services at

Al

Basrah oil terminal , Khor Alamava

oil terminal

and

Sing le pOint moorings.

SGS

OGC was

expected to commense operations towards the end of

September

. The opertations

are coordinated through

GLOBAL

w NTENANCE

REVEW

SGS

OGC's

UEA

regional

of

f

ic

e

in

Jebel

Ali

as a focal

point

and

is headed

by

the

International sales hubs in

Geneva

,

Houston

, London,

or

Singapore.

SGS OGC i

ntervent

ion under this

contract

will

include expertise

being

deployed

from

both upst

r

eam

and

downstream

working groups. The

scope of

work

i

ncludes

metering. sampling. calibration

and

trade

i

nspection

. In

addition

to

the

basic proviSion

of

profeSS ional serVICes,

SGS

OGC

is com

m

itted to

working

wit h SOMO

to

optimise

all

aspects of

the operations

fo r

stake

holde

rs.

u w a

Hydrop rocessing Associates

LLC

carried

out

work

for

KNPC.

The

company completed

re

trof

its , i

nternal

mod

ifications and repa irs o n

the

hydr

ocrackers

for five

beds. Two large vesse ls we re completely removed

with

one

bed

having

been lowered

and new Chevron

des

ign

trays ins

talled and

we l

ded in

safely

ahead of

schedule

with quality

to

the

highest standards.

At

the end

of 2013 , Technip was awa r

ded

by Kuwait Oil

Company

(KOC)

a cont r

act

worth

over US

400 million.

for

consultancy

services for

project management and

eng

inee

ring. This deals with the

construction

of ne w oil

and gas

in frast

r

ucture

faci lities. as well as

the

upg rad ing

of

ex is t ing facilit ies,

in

Kuwait. Technip will

prOV

i

de

services for

the

next five

ye

ars with an op tion

for

an

add

it ional

period of one

year.

.Om .ao.

Petrofac in a

50/50

jo int

ventu

re with Korean

based

Daelim Industr ia l Co Ltd was

awarded

a 36

month

engineering.

procurement

and

construction

(EPC)

contract by

Oman

Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industr ies

Company

(ORPIC)

. The

contract

value

is usS

2.1 billion.

Located

in the

Sohar Industria l Area, 230

km North

West

of Muscat, the

sco

pe of work encompasses engineering,

procurement

,

construction

,

startup

and commissioning

services

at

the

refinery. The

contract

includes

improvements

at the

eXisting facility as well as

the

addition

of new refining units.

The refinery was originally

constructed and

commissioned

10 2006

and

ORPIC IS

now investing in

improveme

nts

at

the

site

to

enhance the current

produ

ction

capacity

. When

complete

. it is

anticipated

that the revamped

facility will inc rease

current

output

by

more than

70%.



HEAT EXCHANGE

ENGINEERING

MIDDLE EAST 2 14

MANAMA

THE

KINGDOM

OF

BAHRAIN

19TH- 21ST OCTOBER 2014

CONFERENCE TRAINING EXHIBITION

Optimising Processes Improving Efficiency

Why should you attend?

Heat Exchange Engineering will provide

delegates with a

dedicated

event where they

can

connect

with exper

ts

and peers through

technical presentations discussions and

networking opportunities

to

gain knowledge and

n

understanding

of

best practice

in

industrial

heat exchange

The event s focused on advances n heat

exchange technology which deliver:

Improved

energy

efficiency

Reduced emissions

Increased throughput

etter

reliability

To

find

out more about

the

event please visit

heatexchangeengineering.com

HEE

EVENT

ORGANISERS:

I\

TE CHNOLOGY

TR NSFER

M N GEMENT

Who should attend?

The conference will bring together a

r nge

of

technical practitioners including:

Technical

management

Design

engineers

Energy

efficiency

managers

Plant engineers

Maintenance specialists

Equipment suppliers

Service

providers

Researchers



MIDDLE

E ST

W

C SE

SIU Y

Abo Dhabi Gas I

ndust

ries Ltd (GASCO) is the operating company

in

Abu Dhabl respon

sib

le for processing on5hore natural gas and

associated

gas

from onshore oil production

fields

. With a process

capability of 8

billion

ft of feed

gas

/ d and producing

28 000 bbls of condensate,6800 t of

sulfur,

and 44 000 t of NGL

pel

day

,GASCO is currently one of he largest

gas

processIng

companies in the world.

GASCO's

industrial

complex

,one of the biggest

in

the

UAE.

is

composed of

four

desert

plants,

Asab

,

u

Hasa

,

Habshan, and

Bab

and Ruwals, and a

plpehne

networkwhich process and deliver a

range of

p<oducts

exported

all

over the

world.

GASCO s priOrity

s

to

maximise

production

In

the most cost

effective mamer, while maintaining the highest

possib

le standards

of

industri

al safety

and protection of the environment

To

ensure

that Its production meets growing energy demand,

Gasco

decided

to

invest in build inga robust.

centralised.

and integrated plant

enginee

rin

g management system for informatfon Integrity and

to

ensu

re

that

all plant dr

awings

are as

built.

Gasco adopted Intergraph

l

m a r t l a n ~

Enter

prISe

as a

standard to:

Consolidate three plants into one centralised enterpr

ise

system.

using,

SmartPlant Foundation

(SPF)

and

an

engineering applicat ions database.

• Create a robust SPF Integrated with SmartPlant engineenng

applications infrastructu

re

with

high

availabi

li ty

.

• Standardise SmartPla nt Enterpr

ise

latest release and

SmartPlant engineering applications.

• U

nr

fy

SPF Schema and Sma

rt

Plant P

ID

(SP

P

ID)

, SmartPlan t

Instrumentation

(SPI),

and Smart

3D Data

Dictionary.

Create new standard Major Projects/B-13

Au

tomation Plan

• Enable

the integration of SPF,

Maximo

, and Open Text ECM

Overcoming c h a

l l ~ n g e s

Ensur

i

ng

a successful

migrat

ion

to

SmartPlant Enterpnse

requ

ired some infrastructure and organisational changes. An

engineering numbering procedure (plant breakdown structure.

documents

and tags) was

estabHshed to ensure accuracy

and

consistency

of

data and documents. lIfecyde Information

requirements were listed (documentation

for

operations)

and

the contractor

s'

scope of

work was defi

ned. It

was

Important

to

identify one EPC responsible

to

deliver the SmartPlant

Enterprise deliverables.This ensured leadership and appropriate

coordinat ion.

It

also provIded early access

to

handover of data

and documentation,

with

early access to compliance

review

and validatton and venfication of dellverables.The

implementation of the

Major

Projects Automation

Plan

was

executed by establishing data and document standards.

procedures, and

worl<flows

,These Included data validation

before handover, plant testIng, and security audit conducted

Ma

y

_

_

....-

GASCO gas t n s ,

before handover. as well as creating a proper ba.ckup. Follow up

with

EPC contractors during the project was essential

to

success.

Realising results

Currently, all plants are standardised and unified on SPF and

related SmartPlant Engineering Applications.

The

PBS hierarchy

structure for the new system is complete and a unified

SCHEMA

file

for SPF has been created, Anew files database

was

created for SP

PID.

SPI , and Smart 3D. All SPE hardware and

software infrastructure s

et

up

was

completed. The company s

major projects automation plan is up and running. enabled by

upgraded SP

P ID

and SPI engineeri

ng

applicatIOns and

publ ishing systems.

The business benefits include

quicker

and easier retrieving

of information; engineering data

1s

shared between applications

and users

; and the company

has

better control

of aU

plant

modifications requests through

SPF

Engineenng Change

Management.

as

wen

as

better control of the

eng

ineeri

ng

processes workflow. Intelligent

3D

models.data.

draWings.

and

documents are up to date and naVigation between 20

documents

and 3D

models Is easler and faster. Consolidated

and

aggregated data from multiple heterogeneous sources

provIde

a single reliable source of the truth:

which

increases

efficiency

and ultimately reduces costs.

Gasco

Is currently working on optimising projects and

operations workflows

to

enable smoother decision making and

increase productivity. All

existing

plant drawings will be

converted to 5martPlant Enterpr

ise.

providing

as

built

models of

existing

assets. An increasing number of projects wJII be brought

Into

the

system, aIming

to

achieve fully automate and

rnte1ligent plant operations.





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