Acid Gas Removal

Put acid gas hydrocarbons in their place with staged regeneration

Bela, F., WorleyParsons

Common organic contaminants of Claus sulfur recovery unit (SRU) acid gas (AG) feed include: heavy hydrocarbons, in general; benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), in particular; and methanol (CH3OH).

Handling mercaptans in gas processing plants

Mokhatab, S., Consultant; Northrop, P. S., ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co.

With the continued development of sour gas fields around the world, the removal of mercaptans from gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon streams is becoming a challenge for today’s gas processing plants.

Innovations

Andrew, Bob, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

Power generation and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) specialty rental company, Aggreko Plc., and sulfuric acid alkylation technology licensor, DuPont, have collaborated to provide Aggreko temperature control, including chiller systems, to STRATCO sulfuric acid alkylation customers.

Boost capacity of SRUs with mixing devices for oxygen enrichment

The requirement for additional sulfur recovery unit capacity in a refinery may stem from hydroprocessing operations; a refinery expansion project; a shift from lighter to heavier, sourer crudes to improve margins; or the need to remove extra sulfur content to meet tighter environmental regulations.

Improve refinery flexibility and responsiveness

Olsen, T., Schodowski, E., Emerson Process Management

The hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) has changed significantly with an abundance of available discounted crude oils, a rise in markets served beyond the traditional local or regional demands, and a renewed focus on being both competitive and profitable while complying with ever-changing regulations.

Improve relief-device sizing under supercritical conditions

Smith, D., Smith & Burgess LLC; Burgess, J., Smith and Burgess LLC

Properly sized relief devices under supercritical conditions are vital to processing natural gas and gas condensates into olefins. These processes operate near the critical locus of the process gases ..

Bolivia expands petrochemical capability with Bulo Bulo ammonia complex

Nogarin, M., Contributing Writer

The Bulo Bulo ammonia-urea facility will be Bolivia’s first petrochemical venture. This new facility is expected to produce sufficient urea/ammonia supplies for domestic demand and will provide surplus product for export.

How caustic stress leads to failures of incinerator caustic spray nozzles

Maity, M., Al-Zahrani, E., Al-Meshari, A., SABIC Technology Centre

Frequent failures of the waste spray nozzles in incinerators result in accelerated degradation of the refractory lining, requiring unscheduled shutdowns for repairs. A study was carried out to identify the factors that contributed to the nozzle failure and to prevent the reoccurrence of similar failures in the future.

Extend heat exchanger lifecycle with hyper-duplex stainless steel

Perea, E., Sandvik Materials Technology

Intensifying performance demands in refineries, coupled with the ongoing decline in crude oil quality, require a new and improved duplex SS grade to withstand increasingly tough operating conditions. This need has led to the development of hyper-duplex stainless steels.

HP Innovations

Blume, Adrienne, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

Corrosion prevention for high-TAN refiningFor petroleum refiners, improving profitability by processing high-total-acid-number (high-TAN) crude oils requires an investment in high-temperature corrosio..