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FEBRUARY 2012
HPIMPACT
SPECIALREPORT
TECHNOLOGY
CLEAN FUELS
CLEAN FUELS
Innovative methods
Innovative methods
optimize clean diesel
optimize clean diesel
production
production
Bio-based polymers
Bio-based polymers
could be the next
could be the next
big thing
big thing
European pipeline
European pipeline
performance
performance
Eliminate cavitation in
Eliminate cavitation in
your piping system
your piping system
Treat oily waste via
Treat oily waste via
centrifuge plants
centrifuge plants
SPECIAL REPORT: CLEAN FUELS
41
ViewpointKey representatives from the energy industry present their insight on how to achieve balanced energy policy, what is the future for alternative fuels, what part will renewable/biofuels play in the transportation fuel mix, and more
51
Consider total value when optimizing catalytic cracking unitsLow rare-earth catalysts balance activity and selectivity against cost S. Ismail
57
Increase energy efficiency for your refineryBehavioral and organization changes are needed to effectively maximize operating profits Z. Milosevic
61
Use advanced catalysts to improve xylenes isomerizationThis refiner wanted to increase ethylbenzene conversion while limiting aromatics losses G. Shouquan and J. Chua
65
Improve diesel quality through advanced hydroprocessingNew upgrading technologies help meet fuel quality specifications C. Peng, X. Huang, T. Liu, R. Zeng, J. Liu and M. Guan
69
Debottleneck crude-unit preheat exchanger network inefficienciesSimulation models can be effectively used to optimize heat transfer and boost operational performance E. Bright, S. Roy and S. Al-Zahrani
Cover During the 1940s, the focus of the US refining industry shifted to producing quality transportation and aviation fuels needed by the military. The US federal government sponsored several construction projects to increase refining capacity to support war efforts on two different fronts. This expansion program involved the construction of fluid catalytic cracking units (FCCUs)—a process needed to blend 100-octane aviation fuel—along with the building of new isomerization and alkylation units. Over $900 million was invested in refining construction projects from 1943 to 1945. This month’s cover is a photo of the dedication ceremony for the Texas Co.’s two new FCCUs, held on Feb. 29, 1944 (see pg. 11). This Port Arthur, Texas refinery is still in operation and owned under Motiva, a joint venture between Shell Oil and Saudi Aramco. This refinery is completing another major expansion and is scheduled to come onstream in early 2012. It will have a crude distillation capacity of 600,000 bpd and rank among the 20 largest global refineries.
HPIMPACT
19 Bio-based polymers could be next big thing 20 European pipeline performanceCOLUMNS
9 HPINSIGHT Government, environment and taxes, oh my! 13 HPIN RELIABILITY Selecting steam turbines in a ‘lean’ environment 17 HPINTEGRATION STRATEGIES Standards needed for laboratory system integration 90 HPIN CONTROL How difficult is it to control absorber columns? DEPARTMENTS7 HPIN BRIEF • 23 HPIN INNOVATIONS • 29 HPINCONSTRUCTION 38 HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE
86 HPI MARKETPLACE • 89 ADVERTISER INDEX
FLUID FLOW
75
Eliminate cavitation in your piping systemsNew pressure control devices improve fluid flow E. Casado flores
ROTATING EQUIPMENT
79
Understand multi-stage pumps and sealing options: Part 1Service life and cost impact what seals to use on your heavy-duty pump L. Gooch
83
Treat oily waste with decanter centrifuge plantsTurning a challenge into an opportunity A. Hertle
www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com FEBRUARY 2012 • VOL. 91 NO. 2
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BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITORHYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
7A three-year study by a team of researchers based at MIT has now iden-tified a suite of policy and investment strategies that could accelerate innova-tion in the US, helping the country to meet its growing energy needs. The conclusions are detailed in the new book Unlocking Energy Innovation by Richard Lester, a professor at MIT, and David Hart, a professor at George Mason University.
The authors identified four stages through which an innovative technol-ogy becomes an established part of the energy infrastructure. Of those, the first stage (the discovery of new tech-nological options) and the final stage (fine-tuning of technologies already in commercial use) are relatively well-managed, they said, though both will require more investment.
The two middle stages are less well-managed. These stages, spanning what is often referred to as “the valley of death,” include the development of prototypes to demonstrate viability in the marketplace and the initial imple-mentation of the first full-scale systems by early adopters in the marketplace. These intermediate stages are costly and pose high investment risks, and a modest carbon price will do little to accelerate them.
The book’s analysis of past advances reveals several steps that tend to foster energy innovation: encouraging com-petition (and always leaving space for new market entrants), making rigorous and timely selections of promising con-cepts, and matching the scale of the system to the scale of the need. “The current system satisfies none of these,” the authors said.
They think that it’s essential to pur-sue parallel innovation strategies aimed at different timescales: changes over the next decade focused on efficiency improvements, such as building insula-tion and gas mileage; mid-range efforts to reduce the costs and risks of known low-carbon energy-supply and elec-tricity-storage technologies; and, from about 2050 on, a third wave of techno-logical deployments drawing on fun-damentally new developments in fields such as materials and catalysis. HP Petroplus Holdings closed three European refineries in January due
to credit line difficulties. According to the company, the restart of the refineries is dependent on economic conditions and credit availability. The shuttered refineries are in Antwerp, Belgium; Petit Couronne, France; and Cressier, Switzerland. The refiner-ies have a combined throughput capacity of approximately 667,000 bpd. Meanwhile, the company’s refineries in the UK and Germany are running at half of their com-bined 330,000-bpd capacity.
Inpex and Total have finalized sales agreements with customers in
Japan and Taiwan for their proposed Ichthys gas-export project in northern Australia, according to the country’s resources minister. The agreements to provide Taiwan’s CPC and Japan’s Chubu Electric Power Co. and Toho Co. with liquefied natural gas (LNG) were first announced in June. Inpex and Total have also agreed to sell LNG from the project to another five Japanese utilities and they are close to making a final investment decision on the project’s construction. Inpex said last June that it had agreed to sell to CPC 1.75 million metric tpy of LNG from the project for 15 years, commencing 2017. It also said it had agreed to sell Chubu Electric 490,000 tpy and Toho 280,000 tpy.
LyondellBasell will shut down two polypropylene (PP) lines in
Wesseling, Germany, by mid-2012. The lines, with a combined capacity of 90,000 tpy, are among the company’s smallest and oldest PP production units. A company executive said that it has sufficient capacity to meet the needs of customers in Europe from its larger scale facilities. LyondellBasell produces PP at eight sites in Europe, including facilities in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Enterprise Products Partners has received sufficient transportation
commitments to support development of its 1,230-mile Appalachia to Texas pipeline (known as the ATEX Express) that will deliver growing ethane production from the Marcellus/Utica shale areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to the US Gulf Coast. ATEX Express will have the capacity to transport up to 190,000 bpd from the Appalachian production areas to the partnership’s storage and distribution assets in Texas. The committed shipper transportation rate will range between 14.5 cents per gallon and 15.5 cents per gallon.
Tesoro plans to sell its Hawaii operations, including the 94,000 bpd
Kapolei refinery, operations at 32 retail stations and all associated logistical assets. The company’s president said that Hawaii is not aligned with its strategic focus on the Midwest and West Coast. The Kapolei refinery yield is distillate-focused and is complementary to the on-island demand for utility, jet and military fuels. The facility has the necessary logistics to support product movements to and from the US West Coast or Pacific Rim markets. The Hawaii operations are fully integrated and include a hydrocracking refinery, a network of retail stations, a deep draft single point mooring facility for crude and product movements, proprietary pipelines with connections to business hubs and terminal access and barge operations to supply the major outlying islands.
IHS CERA’s 31st annual executive conference rolls into Houston’s
Hilton Americas March 5–9. This year’s CERAWeek will focus on energy’s new role in rebuilding the global economy and providing stability in a volatile time for the international political order. Heavy hitting speakers booked for this event include Martin Craighead, CEO of Baker Hughes; Iain Conn, BP’s executive direc-tor; James Hackett, chairman of Anadarko Petroleum; and Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric. HP
■
Accelerating
energy innovation
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HPI
NSIGHT
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
9Government, environment and taxes, oh my!
In this issue of HPInsight, the global hydrocarbon processing
industry (HPI) still battles some very familiar and present day challenges, such as economic cycles, feedstock spikes, government over regulation, construction material shortages and more. The times may be different, but the HPI must continue to evolve and innovate to resolve its problems and hurdles.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, February 2002:
For the first time in a decade, total US consumer petroleum
product demand declined in 2001. The US consumed about 19.6 million bpd of crude oil, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Demand for most oil products weakened during the year except for gasoline, which showed a 1.4% rise over 2000 levels. Among the causes for the decline were sharply reduced air travel after the September 11 attacks, continued lackluster economy, fuel switching to natural gas, weak demand for petrochemical feedstocks and abnormally warm winter temperatures.
Revised EU directive poses plant upgrades. The EU oil refining
industry will face new challenges due to revisions to the 1988 Large Combustion Plant directive (88/609/EEC). It will limit the processing of heavy residuals from the refining processes. New guidelines further limit emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulates.
US process catalyst demand to grow 4.4%/yr. Demand for
process catalyst (which excludes environmental applications) is forecast to increase 4.4%/yr to $3.3 billion in 2006. Demand is being driven by the refining sector and continued strength in new polymerization technologies.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, February 1992:
Key issues identified by refining execs. A survey of US refining
executives lists tops concerns for the industry; they include: 1) Clean Air Act (CAA), 2) public intervention in environmental matters, 3) use of more oxygenates, 4) government intervention on CAFE and taxes, 5) safety, and 6) processing heavier crudes. Leading environmental issues were prioritized as: 1) CAA, 2. ROI of capital expenditures, 3) corporate strategies and profit-ability, 4) alternative fuels, 5) public environmental pressures, 6) government intervention in CAFE and taxes, and 7) use of new catalysts.
TAME is a ‘forgotten’ oxygenate. The forgotten oxygenate is
tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME) according to the European Fuel Oxygenates Association. TAME is produced by reacting FCC isoamylenes with methanol. Only a few TAME units are in opera-tion because of octane-component investments and marginal economics for such units.
Natural gas prices ‘to be up 5%’ in 1992. Natural gas (NG)
prices will be about 5% higher in 1992 than 1991 levels, while crude oil prices will face significant instability as the world’s sup-ply picture changes. In 1992, the US energy demand is forecast to grow slightly as the economy strengthens. NG will assume a larger market share of the new energy demand in the industrial and utility sectors. However, a large-scale movement to NG by the transportation sectors is not in the immediate future. NG wellhead prices will hover around $1.45/MMBtu in 1992, up slightly from 1991 prices of $1.38/MMBtu.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, February 1982:
Europe’s refining industry continues stagnation, but there is
hope. There is new cracking capacity coming online from 1980 to 1985. Here is how the countries line up for capacity increases, in million tpy (MMtpy): Austria, 1 MMtpy; Belgium, 3.7 MMtpy; Denmark, 1.5 MMtpy; France, 6.7 MMtpy; West Germany, 8.8 MMtpy; Italy, 11.6 MMtpy; the Netherlands, 11.3 MMtpy; Spain, 7.6 MMtpy; and the UK, 10.6 MMtpy, according to Fol-ger & Co., Boston.
Sell alcohol as an octane booster, not a fuel. That is Texaco’s
approach. The company will redirect its marketing program for alcohol-enhanced motor fuels to emphasize the value of ethanol as an octane improver. Federal and state tax programs will play a key role in alcohol fuel’s future.
World styrene consumption forecast to grow. From 1982 to
1990, annual global styrene consumption should average a 5.1% increase. Styrene demand will have double-digit growth
BP and Petrofina constructed a new catalytic cracking unit with a capacity of 500,000 tpy at the Antwerp Refinery. The new unit enabled this refinery to increase motor spirit production, July 1955.
HPI
NSIGHT
10
I
FEBRUARY 2012 HydrocarbonProcessing.comin developing nations such as Algeria, South Africa and Turkey. In contrast, demand consumption by industrial regions of North America and Western Europe are expected to average a 3.9%/ yr increase. In 1981, world styrene capacity was only at 71% of nameplate capacity. New project announcements will keep ahead of future demand growth through 1990.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, February 1972:
Forecast 10% growth for synthetic rubber. Synthetic rubber
production in the US and Canada will increase 10% to reach 2.65 million long tons in 1972, according to the International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers Inc. Increased production is based on a predicted 6% increase in rubber demand for autos and tires. Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) will hold the largest share of synthetic rubber produced and reach an all-time high demand of 1.63 million long tons.
Non-US sector leads in petroleum investment. Capital
expen-ditures by the global petroleum industry, at an all-time high of $20.1 billion in 1970, must increase substantially in the future to allow for costs associated in controlling the environment, accord-ing to a Chase Manhattan Bank (CMB) report. CMB stressed the need for well-planned capital investments over environmental protection projects. The petroleum industry invested more money in capital projects in 1970 than in any other single year. Nearly $11.9 billion was spent in the “Free Foreign” nations in 1970—an increase of $1.7 billion over 1969. The US industry invested $8.2 billion over the same period. An unattractive investment climate is cited as the reason for less spending on US projects in 1972.
New sulfur recovery technology unit startup. With the
Septem-ber 1971 startup of the world’s first IFP sulfur-recovery unit at the Nippon Petroleum Refining Company’s (NPRC’s) Negishis refinery, the company concluded it has proved that atmospheric pollution can be dramatically reduced. In the IFP process, tail gas from a one-, two- and three-reactor Claus unit is catalytically converted in a liquid-phase reactor to yield high-purity liquid sulfur. In Japan, the atmospheric pollution problem became so acute, that Idemitus, Kyokuto Petroleum and Shows Oil decided to construct the IFP sulfur-recovery units in their refineries.
Shell Oil completes first orthoxylene unit in the US. The
facil-ity is located at Shell’s Houston, Texas, refinery and has an annual
capacity of 200 million lb. The new unit is the second expansion with the construction of a paraxylene unit in 1967. With the new orthoxylene unit, Shell will become an important manufacturer of xylene isomers.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing and Petroleum Refiner, February 1962:
Esso reports new HDDV process. Esso R&D has developed
a hydrogen-donor-diluent-visbreaking (HDDV) process that involves mild hydrocracking to aid visbreaking operations that are limited by fuel oil quantities.
Remedies for road antiknock. New methods for calculating
antiknock performance were developed by a joint Ethyl-Standard Oil study on the feasibility of using “road blending numbers” of gasoline components to predict road performance of finished gasoline blends. One method predicts the road octane number when combining particular components with base gasoline. This method could be useful in process planning and refinery control.
Polypropylene fiber breakthrough. Motecatini has developed
the first dyeable-type polypropylene (PP) fiber for commercial production. The PP fiber can be stock, yard or piece-dyed, alone or in blends with dyestuffs in use by the textile industry. The dye-able fiber in no way alters the PP’s properties, but affords many new applications for PP fibers.
New acetic acid process available. The Soviet Union claims to
have found an easy, economical solution for using butane for acetic acid manufacturing. A Moscow refinery has successfully used the new process, which liquefies butane at 140°C at 750 psi. A catalyst is added to initiate a violent oxidization reaction that yields acetic acid and substantial quantities of solvents. The new process is claimed to be more cost-efficient than present acetic-acid manufacturing technologies.
Japan increasing petrochemical production. Japan is planning
to expand petrochemical production through 1970. A new fore-cast claims ethylene capacity to reach 4 billion lb/yr by 1970 and require more naphtha cracking capacity. Propylene capacity will climb to 2.8 billion lb/yr, which will be supported by offgas from refineries and byproducts from naphtha cracking.
Headlines from the Petroleum Refiner, February 1952:
Steel for refinery expansions. Additional steel to spur
construc-tion of needed refining capacity may be possible in later 1952 based on a recent Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) statement. The agency is developing a new refinery expansion program to permit the construction of 475,000 bpy of new refin-ing capacity. The new projects will consume 44% more than the present steel allocation program.
Shale oil production and refining today. The US Bureau of Mines
recently announced that it will build a much larger plant for the production and refining of shale oil. This project, together with the recent dangerous development in Iran, has again moved shale oil into the limelight. The amount of US shale oil is tremendous, and it is estimated to be in excess of 225 billion bbl. Many new
pro-Early construction of an Orthoflow catalytic cracking unit at Atlantic Refining’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, refinery, December 1953.
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
11HPI
NSIGHT
cesses are under consideration for recovering shale oil. The ultimate objective in refining shale oil is the production of gasoline and diesel fuels. Refining operations applied experimentally to refine shale oil include crude distillation, visbreaking, recycle cracking, coking and reforming. One of the most promising techniques that maximizes gasoline yield from shale oil is hydrogenation.
European synthetic catalyst plant built to meet increasing demand for high-octane gasoline. Growing European demand
for high-octane gasoline is reflected in the construction of a new
synthetic catalyst plant in Warrington, Lancashire, England. With a capital cost of $2.8 million, the new facility will manu-facture sodium silicate catalysts, using a process developed by The Davison Chemical Corp. The new catalyst unit will supply catalyst to several oil companies including Esso Petroleum Co., Anglo-Iranian Co., Shell Refining & Marketing Co. and Bahrein Petroleum Co. HP
To see the headlines from 1942 to 1922, visit HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
The Allied forces of WWII depended on aviation fuel to conduct their operations on several continents in two very different regions. Consequently, the newer military air force needed much higher octane fuels than in the pre-1940s era to meet their mission goals and to transport soldiers and supplies throughout Europe and the Pacific region.
Role of technology. The refining technology of the pre1940s included using alkylation processes for octane goals, and the average refinery blending pool was about 65 octane. However, the new engines for the military air force needed 100 octane. The US government, in cooperation with domestic refining companies, embarked on a massive construction program to expanding the processing capability and to produce more gasoline and diesel along with higher octane aviation fuels for the military. This program involved applying new refining technologies to reach 100 octane for the blending pool. A new process, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), became the foundation to meet this fuel goal. Several licensing companies joined in the effort. Refining technology leaders participating in the 100-octane program included The M. W. Kellogg (now KBR), Universal Oil Products (UOP, a division of Honeywell) and the Standard Oil Co. The push was to produce aviation- grade alkylate.
The program involved construction of catalytic cracking capacity, along with new alkylation and isomerization units.
The core of the program involved the construction of 94 plants that would support the blending of 100-octane aviation gaso-line. The cost for the US government sponsored construction program exceeded $900 million. With completion of the pro-gram, 60 refineries were equipped with FCC units (FCCUs).
This month’s cover is a photo of the dedication cer-emony for The Texas Co.’s FCCUs, held Feb. 29, 1944, at Port Arthur, Texas. This refinery installed two FCCUs. The first FCCU came onstream in March 1944, and the second FCCU became operational on April 1944. After startup, both FCCUs began shipping butylene to the Neches Butane Products Co., another project sponsored by the US Petroleum Administration for the War in the Golden Triangle area of Texas. Neches Butane used butylene streams from the sur-rounding refineries to produce butadiene—a feedstock for the government-sponsored styrene-butadiene rubber (SRB) manufacturing facilities. By the end of 1945, The Texas Co.’s Port Arthur refinery was producing more than 1 million bpd of aviation gasoline. HP
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Aviation gasoline plant construction will be completed in 1944,” Petroleum Refiner, January 1944.
Gish, E. N. Gish, Texaco’s Port Arthur Works, A legacy of Spindle Top and Sour Lake, www.texacohistory.com
“Role of natural gasoline industry in the 100-octane gasoline program,”
Petroleum Refiner, May 1943.
HPI and aviation fuel needs of the 1940s
New catalytic cracking unit constructed at The Texas Co.’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery. The facility was part of a US government sponsored effort to produce 100 octane aviation fuel for the WWII effort. Approximately 60 catalytic cracking units were constructed at US refineries at a total cost of $900 million over a four-year period, according to the Petroleum Refiner, January 1944.
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HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR
HPI
N RELIABILITY
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
13We received a nice compliment recently from a reader in South America. He wrote: “I am a mechanical engineer working on power plant designs at a major corporation and admire your work as a writer of turbomachinery books. Your texts are much respected and I usually refer to them to find answers to my equipment ques-tions.” He then added, “I am writing you because I could not find all the answers in your steam turbine text.1 My aim is to clear up
some doubts related to steam turbine technical specifications. More specifically, the corporation is developing a combined-cycle power plant project that includes an 86-MW condensing-type steam tur-bine with one reheat entry. The HP inlet steam is at 110 bar and 540°C and the reheat is being designed for 24 bar.
We are communicating with several respected steam-turbine manufacturers and some of them are proposing a ‘standard-type’ machine. In other words, they offer a turbine with a single casing and a single rotor direct-coupled to the generator. But there are also some manufacturers that propose a “cross-compound-type” machine, a turbine with two casings and two rotors. In one offer, the HP rotor is coupled to the generator by gearbox and the IP/ LP casing is direct-coupled to the generator.
Personally, I am not comfortable with the ‘cross-compound’ machine. Accordingly, I would like to know your opinion about this machine. Is this solution technically feasible? Are there many operating and maintenance (O&M) problems?”
I drafted an answer agreeing that the recent Bloch-Singh steam-turbine book gives little guidance on the matter.1 It does,
of course, describe similar machines. However, the book may have added to the reader’s confusion by mentioning not only cross-compound double-casing machines, but also double-shell steam turbines.
More information needed. The only way one could make a definitive judgment is to:
a) Look at the guaranteed efficiencies of the two different offers and keep in mind the overall steam balance of the facility
b) Make a decision as to how well trained the operators will be c) Closely examine the respective field and service experience histories of the two different turbine offers.
Complying with the basic requirements of a), b) and c) requires considerable diligence, time and effort. The reviewer should add to this a thorough check of the gearbox design and should accept that time is needed to draw up a comprehensive comparison between the two offers. It would even be appropriate to ask if the original inquiry went to the right bidders. It is always prudent to solicit bids from manufacturers that have ample experience with both direct-drive generator turbines and the more complex compound/reheat multi-casing machines.
With time permitting, consider including a few bidders who can comment on the very advisability of double-shell machines. A double-shell construction machine prevents inlet steam coming
into direct contact with the outer casing joint. These machines require less attention from the operator. However, during the maintenance cycle, this steam turbine does need very competent maintenance skills.
“Cross-compound” machines are probably found on shipboard, but predominantly at inlet pressures slightly lower than 110 bar. Again, substantial inquiring should be done before a decision can be made. As regards items to be reviewed, one might investigate the lubrication system. In a cross-compound machine, the input and output shafts are at different levels, and the lubrication system serves not only the turbine and generator bearings, but also the gearbox. Investigate who makes the gearbox and how the gears are lubricated.
Total cost issues. Initial cost, operating cost (efficiency) and
long-term reliability expenses are of interest, and the total must be considered as part of the life-cycle cost. All are of equal concern and, without making a final judgment one way or the other, many different options should be explored before reaching a conclusion. Although one should make good use of vendor input and defer to their demonstrated experience, expect double-shell machines to cost more money and cross-compound machines to require more than the average maintenance commitment. And the “simple” machine would also stay in the running until all the data are reviewed.
Don’t get caught in the ‘lean and mean’ craze. A perceptive reader may have seen how our answer alludes to the
Selecting steam turbines in a ‘lean’ environment
Axial rocking First axial First tangential 0 4,000 1,000 0 2,000 3,000 Turbine speed, rpm 5 x running speed 6 x NPF5 x NPF 4 x NPF 3 x NPF 2 x NPF 1 x NPF (44 NOZ) 4,000 5,000 6,000 8,000 12,000 Fr equenc y, – HZ16,000 20,000 24,000 Governor adjustment range (3,520 to 5,293) Mode 54 52 51 50 49 48 46 45 43 39 31 29 28 27 24 23 22 Rated speed 28,000
Campbell or interference diagram for a partial steam turbine stage.
HPI
N RELIABILITY
14
I
FEBRUARY 2012 HydrocarbonProcessing.comsubject of suitability analyses or pre-purchase selection work that needs to be done. We were reminded of the pitfalls of “lean and mean” when another facility experienced several extreme failures on smaller two-stage back-pressure mechanical drive steam tur-bines. For several years, these turbines had been driving refrigera-tion compressors without incidents. Then, about two years ago, the refrigeration gas composition was changed to accommodate new (and well-justified) environmental concerns. The new gas conditions mandated a speed change for the steam turbine drivers, and multiple catastrophic blade failures have occurred since then.
It seems that the equipment owner was unaware of the need to look at the vibration modes of the blades for these steam tur-bines. A Campbell diagram, or interference diagram (Fig. 1) is used to indicate what speeds to avoid and to safeguard blade life in a particular stage. Because almost all blade failures are caused by vibratory stresses, many reliability-conscious purchasers are requesting Campbell diagrams with turbine quotes or orders. A Campbell diagram is a graph with turbine speed (r/min) plotted on the horizontal axis and the frequency, in cycles/sec, plotted on the vertical axis. Also drawn in are the blade frequencies and the stage-exciting frequencies. When a blade frequency and an exciting frequency coincide or intersect, it is called resonance. Stress magnitudes are greatly amplified at resonance.
Over the past few years, the mindless interpretations given to “lean and mean” thinking have often led to costly oversights. No time or budget is allocated to understanding what happens when steam turbine speeds are re-set for operations away from the original governor adjustment range. The result has been a
much higher probability of steam-turbine-blade failures. Con-sider this comment a plea to know if and when it is proper to be lean or green, or whatever. Evaluating interference diagrams and steam turbine blade stresses is a mandatory task that can never be overlooked in a modern plant
Likewise, let your specifications reflect attention to seem-ingly small issues; include such items as keeping lube oil from exiting the bearing housing, or steam leakage from entering into a bearing housing. Review how best-of-class companies have systematically solved these problems by using advanced bearing protector seals (see HPIn Reliability, August 2010) or by
scrupu-lously avoiding outdated or risk-prone old-style components (see
HPIn Reliability, October 2007 and HPIn Reliability, May 2009).
Include details on field erection requirements in your specifica-tion; HPIn Reliability, February 2008 commented on these.
Avoid carbon seal rings in steam turbines (HPIn Reliability, April
2008) and use only the most advantageous seal configurations in turbine-support pumps (HPIn Reliability, January 2009). These
are just some of the items that can allow you to achieve lowest possible cost of ownership. HP
LITERATURE CITED
1 Bloch, H. P. and M. P. Singh, Steam Turbines: Design, Applications and
Re-Rating, 2nd Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, New York, 2009.
← Alejandra Peralta, CHEMCAD Support Expert
Engineering advanced
© 2012 Chemstations, Inc. All rights reserved. | CMS-322-1 1/12
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The author is Hydrocarbon Processing’s Reliability/Equipment Editor. A practic-ing consultpractic-ing engineer with 50 years of applicable experience, he advises process plants worldwide on failure analysis, reliability improvement and maintenance cost-avoidance topics.
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HPI
NTEGRATION STRATEGIES
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
17Standards needed for laboratory system integration
Industries across the board are coping with relentless pressure to reduce costs while simultaneously improving product quality. The hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) has an additional challenge in achieving higher product quality as a result of the heavier raw materials available for processing. Heavier crude feedstock from sources such as the Canadian tar sands have high sulfur content, thus making them more complex and expensive to refine. This heavier feedstock is in direct contrast to requirements for low-sulfur products dictated by ever-more-stringent regula-tory requirements. In this environment, a well-designed quality management system (QMS), which includes a robust laboratory information management system (LIMS) that facilitates ISO 17025:2005 accreditation is critical to ensuring product quality
and customer satisfaction.
LIMS is vital to quality management. Inspection systems that perform product sampling and chemical analyses are expen-sive; yet, they can be easily justified. Reprocessing or scrapping product wastes time, money and resources. Furthermore, off-spec product can lead to unhappy customers or worse, product recalls that can damage the manufacturer’s corporate image. Conversely, product quality over and above that required by contractual obli-gations incurs additional costs for which manufacturers are not compensated, and this impacts margins and profitability.
A comprehensive QMS with an integrated LIMS can help reduce product variability and improve operational performance. In the HPI, lower-grade feedstock may dictate higher in-process sampling and analysis rates to prevent defects during the manu-facturing process. When integrated with manumanu-facturing execution system (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, production and other departments can access quality-related infor-mation generated by the LIMS to help ensure that products meet defined specifications and demonstrate compliance with regula-tory, product and safety standards.
An LIMS, such as Sample Manager 10 from Thermo Fisher Scientific, adds value to quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC) systems with full traceability functionality and it serves as a repository for documents and reports as evidence of compliance. An LIMS can provide vital information at the front end of the manufacturing cycle. Identifying off-spec raw materials upon inspection can provide the needed heads-up to tune the production process to yield acceptable final product(s). It can demonstrate that a sample was handled appropriately and that the analysis was done by a properly trained, qualified technician. It can act as a repository for laboratory equipment and maintenance histories or analytical method validation, as well as the corporate quality manual. LIMS data can also be useful in determining the appropriate corrective action for off-spec product and to evaluate the performance of the quality system. Upon final QA quality and contamination checks, it can quickly release shipments.
If a non-compliant lot was inadvertently shipped, fast efficient flow of information will ensure that a recall can be quickly imple-mented. Without traceability records from an LIMS, it would be nearly impossible to accomplish product recalls in a timely and controlled manner.
Integrated LIMS enhances QC. In the manufacturing envi-ronment, analytical measurements define the “who, what, when, where and how” of a manufacturing process. As the backbone of the laboratory, an LIMS provides quantitative and qualitative infor-mation about chemical processes for enhanced QC. The wealth of analytical measurements provided places increased importance on integrating this information into higher-level enterprise application platforms. To improve response to operational issues, managers look to technology to connect plant floor and business systems, like ERP, product information management system (PIMS) and MES, making it critical that analytical information are presented to the viewer in the context of their role, responsibility and authority. For real-time quality management, information visibility is the driver behind the demand for better integration of laboratory-generated information throughout the enterprise. Laboratory ISO 17025
compliance demonstrates commitment to quality.
Due to fluctuations in raw materials, HPI laboratories are becoming almost like third-party service laboratories. As such, these labs must assure compliance of product(s) to specifica-tions, making laboratory accreditation with standards such ISO 17025:2005 no longer just nice to have, but a necessity to ensure
conformance and customer satisfaction. Compliance with as ISO 17025 demonstrates a commitment to quality, and provides
cus-tomers the assurance that the laboratory’s management and techni-cal requirements adhere to globally accepted best practices.
ISO 17025 requires a complete history of each piece of
equip-ment including checks and calibrations performed prior to being placed in service as well as detailed records of all calibrations, repairs, maintenance and performance checks over the serviced life of the device. A clear advantage for final product manufacturers is that utilizing certified ISO 17025 laboratories as subcontractors
fulfills all the requirements as applicable to calibration and test-ing activities of an ISO 9001 quality management system. This
enables the manufacturer to recognize the sub-contractor as ISO 9001 certified for any work done within the ISO 17025 scope.
Quality audits of an accredited subcontractor are not required. HPI manufacturers can use the statements of work provided by an LIMS to ensure that customer requests match the delivery of samples to the lab, along with and the delivery of results back to the customer. HP
The author has nearly 30 years’ experience in the areas of sales and product marketing in industrial field instruments that utilize a vast array of technologies including magnetic, Coriolis, radar, electrochemistry, capacitance and ultrasonic.
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HPI
MPACT
BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
19Bio-based polymers
could be next big thing
Biofuels and bio-based chemicals have been promoted as a potential solution for dependence on petroleum. They also have favorable greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels and petrochemicals because any carbon sourced from biomass can be directly traced to atmospheric CO2 via photosynthesis. Plus, the
increased emphasis on lifecycle analysis for both economic and ecological factors has caused industry players to become familiar with the details of bio-feedstocks. The drumbeat for biofuels has thundered for some time now, but new analysis is showing that bio-based polymers could become the next big thing.
Global commodity polymer demand grew from 2000–2007. After a slight dip in recent years due to the economic downturn, consumption is expected to continue to grow for the next ten years (Fig. 1), providing an opportunity for bio-based polymers to enter the market and make a splash. This idea is put forth and explored in a new report from Nexant called, “Plants to plastics: Can nature compete in commodity polymers?”
Many producers, especially in high cost locations, have been looking for lower cost feedstocks in places like the Middle East, or are considering alternative feedstocks such as bio-based sources. With virtually all Middle East ethane allocations already appor-tioned for petrochemical projects, a portion of the next wave of new ethylene may well be from bio-based sources that can emerge from strong agricultural-based economies such as Brazil, the US or India.
As illustrated in Fig. 2, there are many conventional routes to polymers that can be integrated with bio-based feedstocks to either supplement or replace current petrochemical feedstocks. The report from Nexant compares technology, economics and potential markets for polymers produced via renewable sources versus petrochemical sources.
Bio-ethanol dehydration to ethylene is a 40-year-old commer-cial technology available for license from companies in Sweden and the US. Bio-based “green propylene” and other “green” com-modity polymers most often can be made by adapting conven-tional petrochemical routes like metathesis. Metathesis is a com-mon process to react butylenes with ethylene to make propylene. Bio-propylene has a few alternative routes, including:
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
50,000
Global commodity polymers demand,
thousand tons LDPE PET LLDPE HDPE PP 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000
Global commodity polymers demand from 2000–2020. FIG. 1
Fermentation (yeasts, bacteria, fungi)
Propane Rubber, ABS, etc. BTX Natural gas Naphtha Ethane Steam cracker
Propylene Ethylene Butadiene
PET PE PP Ethylene oxide +H2O Refinery PX PTA Ethylene glycol PVC Crude oil +O2 +O2
Conventional petrochemical routes
PDH Renewable feedstocks Grains/Starches Corn* Wheat Grain sorghum Cassava Lipids Vegetable oils* Fats Greases Jatropha Algae Sugars Sugarcane* Beets Sorghum Lignocellulosic Wood Grasses Corn stover Straws MSW Hydrolysis Pre-treatment biomass FCC Lipids Transesterification Glycerine Propylene Thermochemical (gasification, pyrolysis, catalysis) Propane PDH Isobutanol Ethanol Isobutylene Isooctene PX Ethylene Pyrolysis w/zeolite BTX
Potential green integration into the polymer value chain. FIG. 2
20
I
FEBRUARY 2012 HydrocarbonProcessing.comHPI
MPACT
• Bio-butanol dehydration to butylenes metathesized with bio-ethylene
• Bio-ethylene dimerization to butylenes metathesized with bio-ethylene to make bio-propylene
• Bio-based propane dehydrogenation
• Fermentation to propanol followed by dehydration. The three leading commodity polymers in the market (all grades of polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride) are highly relevant to large volume applications, and can all poten-tially be made by bio-based routes. That is, finished bio-polymers can potentially be made that will be indistinguishable from the best-performing conventional polymers, but with carbon content completely sourced from green plants or biomass.
The report also examines bio-based polyethylene terephthalate, which can be produced by adapting conventional petrochemical routes. Bio-based terephthalic acid can be made from paraxylene via the benzene, toluene and xylene process from renewable feedstocks. Also of note is bio-based mono ethylene glycol, which can be pro-duced via conventional ethylene-oxide routes using bio-ethylene.
The next 10 years could see bio-based polymers having a major impact on downstream polymer production (or not). Only time will tell.
European pipeline performance
European oil industry group CONCAWE has collected 40 years of spillage data on European cross-country oil pipelines with particular regard to spillages volume, cleanup and recovery,
envi-ronmental consequences and causes of the incidents. The results have been published in annual reports since 1971. CONCAWE recently issued a report that covers the performance of these pipelines in 2010 and provides a full historical perspective since 1971. The performance over the whole 40-year period is analyzed in various ways, including gross and net spillage volumes. Spillage causes are grouped into five main categories: mechanical failure, operational, corrosion, natural hazard and third party.
Data for the CONCAWE annual survey comes from 77 com-panies and agencies operating oil pipelines in Europe. For 2010, data was received from 69 operators representing over 160 pipe-line systems and a combined length of 34,645 km (Fig. 3), slightly less than the 2009 inventory. There were minor corrections to the reported data.
Nine operators did not report, but CONCAWE believes none of them suffered a spill in 2010. Nevertheless, they are not included in the statistics. The reported volume transported in 2010 was just under 800 million m3 of crude oil and refined
products, about 10% less than in 2009. Four spillage incidents were reported in 2010, corresponding to 0.12 spillages per 1,000 km of line, well below both the 5-year average of 0.25 and the long-term running average of 0.52, which has been steadily decreasing over the years from a value of 1.2 in the mid-1970s (Fig. 4). There were no reported fires, fatalities or injuries con-nected with these spills. The gross spillage volume was low at 336 m3 (Fig. 5). This is 10 m3 per 1,000 km of pipeline compared
to the long-term average of 78 m3 per 1,000 km of pipeline.
Yearly Running average 5-year moving average
Gross spillage volume, m
3 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
Gross spillage volume from 1971–2010. FIG. 6 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 0 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Hot pipelines inventory, km
Cold and total pipelines inventory, thousand km
Total
Crude White productsHot
CONCAWE oil pipeline inventory and main service categories from 1971–2010. FIG. 3 0 5 10 15 20 25 Spillages/yr Yearly Running average 5-year moving average
1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
The 40-year trend for the annual number of spillages for all pipelines. FIG. 4 0 50 100 150 200 250
Mechanical Operational Corrosion Natural 3rd party
Average gross volume spilled, m
3
The 40-year average gross spillage volume listed per event by cause.
HPI
MPACT
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
21CONCAWE reports that essentially all the spilled volume was recovered or safely disposed.
Two of the spills accounted for about 95% of the gross spill volume. Over the long term, less than 20% of the spillages are responsible for about 80% of the gross volume spilled (Fig. 6). Pipelines carrying hot oils such as fuel oil have in the past suffered from external corrosion due to design and construction problems. Most have been shut down or switched to cold service (Fig. 7), so that the great majority of pipelines now carry unheated petroleum products and crude oil. Only 159 km of hot oil pipelines are reported to be in service today. The last reported spill from a hot oil pipeline was in 2002.
Of the four reported incidents in 2010, two were related to mechanical failures, one was caused by external corrosion, and one was the result of third party activities. Over the long term, third party activities remain the main cause of spillage incidents, although the number of events has progressively decreased over the years. Mechanical failure is the second largest cause of spillage. After great progress during the first 20 years, the frequency of mechanical failures has been on an upward trend over the last decade.
In-line inspections were at a record high in 2010. A total of 89 sections covering a total of 12,300 km (45% more than in 2009) were inspected by at least one type of intelligence pipeline inspec-tion gauge (pig). Most inspecinspec-tion programs involved the running of more than one type of pig in the same section, so that the total actual length inspected was less at 7,178 km (21% of the inventory).
Most pipeline systems were built in the 1960s and 1970s. Whereas, in 1971, 70% of the inventory was 10 years old or less,
by 2010 only 4.4% was 10 years old or less and 50% was over 40 years old. However, this has not led to an increase in spillages. Overall, there is no evidence that the aging of the pipeline system implies a greater risk of spillage. The development and use of new techniques, such as internal inspection with intelligence pigs, hold out the prospect that pipelines can continue reliable operations for the foreseeable future. HP
Cold pipelines spillage frequencies by cause, % 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 20 40 60 80 100 1971-1975 1976-1980 1981-1985 1986-1990 1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005 2006-2010
Spills per year per thousand km
3rd party Natural Corrosion Operational Mechanical All causes Cold pipelines spillage by cause.
FIG. 7
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YOU CAN RELY ON US.™™
EBARA CORPORATION
HPINNOVATIONS
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 2012
I
23SELECTED BY HYDROCARBON PROCESSING EDITORS
AESSEAL wins big at IMechE awards
The UK-based mechanical seals manu-facturer was nominated for seven out of nine categories at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Manufacturing Excel-lence 2011 awards, and was voted Overall Winner. It also won the IMechE Customer Focus award.
AESSEAL has grown at an average rate of 20% per year since opening in 1979, and it is now the world’s fourth-largest mechanical seal manufacturer, with more than 70 sites worldwide. The firm’s water-management technology also saves industry over 25 billion gal of clean water per year. Total sales are expected to rise from around £128 million (MM) in 2011 to £150 MM in 2012 and to £200 MM by 2015.
The company offers a wide product range, including cartridge mechanical seals, gas seals, component seals and bear-ing protection. AESSEAL has also emerged as a product leader, crossing into new but complementary sectors such as seal support, health care contract management of host equipment, and refurbishment services for rotating equipment.
AESSEAL’s logistical and operational efficiencies are evident in its ability to deliver much of its product range with a lead time of two days. The firm is investing in a new product life-cycle management system for 2012, which it hopes will give it even greater control over its production processes.
Additionally, the company has invested heavily in its customer support teams both in the UK and abroad, and has established a global network of subsidiaries rather than relying extensively on agents. This approach gives it global coherence in customer service.
Jonathan Wilkinson, CEO of AES-SEAL, explained, “The company’s pur-pose has always been clear: to deliver such exceptional service that our customers need never consider an alternate means of supply. Delivering on that promise is difficult, but the business has been designed to achieve it.”
Select 1 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS Fieldbus introduces
devices for H1 ITK 6.0
The Fieldbus Foundation recently registered the first Foundation fieldbus
devices based on its H1 Interoperability Test Kit (ITK) Version 6.0. Emerson Pro-cess Management and Yokogawa supplied the registered H1 (31.25 kilobits/second) devices, which were tested for their func-tionality and conformity with the Founda-tion funcFounda-tion block and transducer block specifications.
Emerson’s registered devices include the TopWorx D2-FF Discrete Valve Control-ler, which combines analog/digital position sensing and monitoring with Foundation fieldbus communications and pilot valve output drivers for on/off applications; and the Rosemount Analytical 1066 pH Transmitter, which measures pH and ORP/ Redox, and provides comprehensive sensor, transmitter and calibration diagnostics to the bus via field diagnostics.
Yokogawa’s registered devices are enhanced pressure transmitters featuring innovations in multi-sensing technology that makes use of a single-crystal silicon resonant sensor. They also support AR, IS, SC, IT and PID function blocks; NE107 field diagnos-tics; and software download function.
All H1 ITK 6.0-tested devices support the latest advancements in field diagnostics per the NAMUR NE107 recommenda-tion, which builds upon the existing diag-nostic capabilities of Foundation field-bus equipment. At the same time, it adds a greater degree of organization so that field instruments can represent their diagnostics in a more consistent way. For example, the use of NE 107 field diagnostic capabilities allows noncritical diagnostics to be routed to a maintenance station for future work, while critical diagnostics can be routed to operations with specific recommendations on how to resolve an instrumentation issue. This and other advanced ITK 6.0 features are fully configurable to provide flexibility in user applications.
A complete list of registered Founda-tion fieldbus products is available in the Fieldbus Foundation’s registered catalog at www.fieldbus.org/registered.
Select 2 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS Sinopec picks new technology for catalyst research
The Chinese oil firm’s Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP) recently
selected parallel reactor technology from hte—the high throughput experimenta-tion company—to enhance its research and development (R&D) efficiency in oil refin-ing. The X2000-series catalyst testing sys-tem from hte is optimized for clean gasoline production. The parallel reactor system was scheduled to be delivered to Sinopec RIPP in Beijing, China at the end of 2011.
RIPP’s decision to choose hte’s technol-ogy was based on its favorable performance in a pre-validation study of hte’s reactor systems. The X2000-series parallel reactor system offers stable control of all key pro-cess parameters, which means that 16 cata-lysts can be tested simultaneously under the same or variable conditions over extended periods of time.
Small-scale testing reduces the amount of feed and catalyst required, while the qual-ity of the data is comparable to pilot plant data. The tailored unit features an analyti-cal suite for real-time, full-product analysis, which will allow Sinopec RIPP to reduce the time to market for new catalyst solutions.
Select 3 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
As HP editors, we hear about new products, patents, software, processes, services, etc., that are true industry innovations—a cut above the typical product offerings. This section enables us to highlight these significant
developments. For more information from these companies, please go to our website at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/rs and select the reader service number.
Award-winning AESSEAL offers a wide range of products. FIG. 1
