OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
Contamination control is an important part of a proactive maintenance strategy
STRATEGIC SAVINGS
Shadi Aladarbe delves into how a Canadian oil refi nery has saved US$10 million by renting fi ltration equipment
O
il refi neries are increasingly looking at renting fi ltration equipment for downstream processing to reduce
capital expenditure. Many are also assessing the suitability of equipment prior to purchasing and are seeing the benefi ts of faster delivery and installation, with reduced downtime, which limits the loss of production revenue. One Canadian refi nery saved around
US$10 million by renting fi ltration equipment from Pall Corporation – the facility remained operational rather than suff ering a 10-day shutdown. As well as saving on lost sales revenue, it was able to avoid replacing a catalytic reactor bed.
PREVENTING LOST PRODUCTION REVENUE The refi nery noted a rise of pressure drop in its hydrocracker reactor bed due to particulate contamination. Contemplating an early catalytic reactor bed change, the refi nery risked a 10-day facility shutdown which could have resulted in lost production revenues of $1 million per day. To solve this, they opted to lease a
high-fl ow fi lter vessel to handle the entire oil fl ow of the hydrocracker and stabilise pressure drop.
22
www.engineerlive.com
THE CORRECT PRESSURE DROP A key factor in hydrocracking eff iciency is to maintain a consistent pressure drop across the reactor bed, ensuring proper fl uid fl ow through the reactor. If the pressure drop is too low, undesirable reactions such as carbon formation occur, leading to a decrease in quality. If the pressure drop is too high, operators risk the reactor bed becoming plugged, reducing the overall eff iciency of the process. Common causes of higher-pressure
drop include a decrease in the size of the catalyst particles which, in turn, increase the resistance to fl ow. This also causes fouling of the catalyst particles by contamination, decreased bed porosity, and poor contact between the catalyst particles. Refi neries must monitor and maintain
the correct pressure drop regularly to ensure optimal performance and product quality.
HYDROPROCESSING ADVANTAGE Throughout the hydrocracking process and conversion of low-value heavy crude oils into higher-value light products such as diesel fuel; contaminants such as sulphur, oxygen, nitrogen, and metals must be removed.
This is critical for reducing emissions during combustion and preventing contamination of downstream catalysts. To comply with fuel emissions
regulations, refi neries must consider the appropriate fi ltration media to best suit their needs. Liquid particle fi lters, liquid/liquid coalescers and liquid/gas coalescers perform various functions throughout the refi nery from input into the hydrotreater feed to output of the fi nal petrochemical product.
BENEFITS OF RENTALS By renting, refi neries can have equipment quickly delivered and installed, avoiding both the need for lengthy internal approvals of funding for new equipment and further delays for building and delivering equipment. Renting also allows refi neries to test
fi ltration media without risk of a high- value purchase. They can take advantage of support during installation as well as post-installation technical assistance, on-site and in the lab. Monitoring ensures the fi lter solution is achieving the desired results – operators can make adjustments and perform fi lter cleaning when required. Once the equipment meets the
necessary requirements and can be shown to improve operations, many refi neries then buy it with no loss of production, safe in the knowledge that their purchase is valid.
Shadi Aladarbe is senior manager of industrial services at Pall Corporation
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
