Petrochemicals

Extension of system run length and maximizing plant throughput will bring substantial profit to olefin producers. The fouling problem in the oil quench tower of the ethylene plant, however, has become a challenge to achieving long run length goals and has even led to unscheduled shutdown or reduced...

The bottom C4’s product specification could not be met on the Depropanizer tower during a plant start up. The olefins unit had been started with a new start up procedure, which involved significant reduction in feed rates to the unit until achieving on spec ethylene. C3 & C4’s product were to...

Polymer inhibitors are used within an ethylene plant in locations which are susceptible to aggressive polymer formation i.e. Primary Fractionator, Compressors, Pyrolysis Gasoline Strippers and within the Gas Separation units. Over the years, the use of such additives has been extended to newer...

Whereas process mass spectrometers have been used as an alternative (lower cost) solution to multiple process gas chromatograph installations for many years, their use has been somewhat limited by their complexity - both real and perceived. The latest generation of process mass spectrometers has...

Objectives of Anti-Surge Control Preventing a compressor surge is the primary purpose of an anti-surge controller. However, there are additional requirements that must be met for an anti-surge control package to be effective. It must be stable and reliable, while also keeping energy costs to a...

It is becoming a widespread norm that refineries are processing an increasing quantity of heavy and sour crudes than ever before. The depleting oil reserves of light sweet crudes have resulted in the need for deeper exploration. Considerable finds in the Orinoco belt of Venezuela, California and...

Perfect safety records and perfect environmental records are an “inalienable right”, given to us not by governments, companies, or others. It is a right we give ourselves. It takes different skills and thinking to stay at zero recordable incidents than it does to get to zero recordable incidents...

Flaring in chemical process industry (CPI) is an important method to protect equipment and personnel safety during the process upset and the chemical plant turnaround. However, excessive flaring emits lots of carbon dioxide as well as air pollutants, which cause negative environmental and social...

Fouling behaviour is a crucial consideration in the selection and design of heat exchangers to be used in refinery pre-heat trains. We make the following observations regarding fouling associated with the heating of crude oil: 1. The fouling rate decreases with increase in wall shear stress 2. The...

The changing landscape of the ethylene industry requiring more feedstock flexibility and upstream and downstream integration increases the complexity of cracker design and management exacerbating challenges traditionally present in ethylene plant operations such as the fouling phenomena. The...