Petrochemicals

A deethanizer reboiler condensate drum experienced hydraulic hammering when the reboiler operated at lower steam loads and when the column loads were reduced quickly. The condensate drum level indicator was unreliable and insensitive to the variations in level control valve opening. Condensate drum...

Analysis of chemical supply chains is an inherently complex task, given the dependence of these supply chains on multiple infrastructure systems (e.g., the petroleum sector, transportation, etc.). This effort requires data and information at various levels of resolution, ranging from network-level...

Braskem is a Brazilian petrochemicals manufacturer, producing monomers, resins and chemicals specialties. Its ethylene capacity is 2,500 Kty, distributed in four Olefins plants, all based on naphtha steam cracking. This paper reports a high rate of fouling in the Primary Fractionator, resulting in...

Gas cracking plants are especially sensitive to fouling in the quench water section. One main fouling mechanism in the quench tower and in the related equipment is the accumulation of material with a high pour point. Fouling can be avoided or at least significantly reduced if the pour point of the...

Present vacuum resid conversion processes, either coking or hydroconversion, are far from achieving their maximum conversion. With the remaining petroleum resources, on average, having a greater fraction of the vacuum resid fraction, it is imperative that new resid conversion processes or schemes...

(Please Note: the audio does not start until 5 minutes 20 seconds as the speaker's microphone was not turned on.) A number of models have been proposed for the prediction of fouling rates in heat exchangers forming the pre-heat trains used in crude oil distillation units. Most of these models...

While olefins can be readily produced by various technologies, they are generally not suitable for use until impurities such as acetylenes, NOx and oxygen are removed. Here two different catalyst technologies are presented to accomplish this task. With both catalyst technologies, acetylenes are...

About 10 years ago in Europe, a new regulation came into force, EN 746-2 “Safety Requirements for Combustion and Fuel Handling Systems”, which effectively mandated the use of Burner Management Systems (BMS) for fired heaters, including olefins cracking furnaces. The regulation required immediate...

The trend of processing heavy and sour crude is resulting in 'fuel long' refineries which seek to export energy in the form of refinery fuel gas or are looking for other ways to extract value from the fuel gas system. There are common solutions that either are applicable to a few selected high-...

In mid-2009 at the BASF FINA Petrochemical L.P. Steam Cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, a venturi-type flow meter in super-high-pressure steam service ruptured catastrophically, resulting in a major release of pressure and trip of the plant. Initially a steam leak was observed at the flow meter, and...