STEAM DRUM AND

INTERNALS CAN BE
CUSTOMIZED FOR
FAST REACTION TIME.

STEEL COMPONENTS
PREFITTED FOR
QUICK FIELD
INSTALLATION.
HEAT TRANSFER
SURFACES DESIGNED
FOR OPTIMAL POWER
CONSUMPTION.

TEXAS HERITAGE.
RENTECH BOILERS. AS TOUGH AS TEXAS.
At RENTECH, every boiler’s custom built. The conditions, demands and specs
of your application are unique – and mission critical to success. Our expert
engineers will analyze your needs and design an integrated, cost-effective
solution. Then we’ll construct and deliver a boiler that’s durable, energy efficient
and clean running. Always the best – and never off the shelf.
[Link]
 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]

HPI’S TOP PROJECTS 2019

THE TOP REFINING AND PETROCHEMICAL PROJECTS OF 2019

IMO 2020
HOW WILL IT AFFECT THE
GLOBAL REFINING INDUSTRY?

DESIGN, ENGINEERING,
CONSTRUCTION
THE NEED TO DEVELOP NEW STRATEGIES FOR CHANGING MARKETS
 DECEMBER 2019 | Volume 98 Number 12
[Link]

57

28

SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS

AND CONSTRUCTION 4 Industry Perspectives
29 Surviving turbulent times requires deep management changes 8 Business Trends
J. P. Chevrierre and A. Daily
80 Advertiser Index
33 Modeling a dividing wall column for NGL fractionation 81 Marketplace
H. Y. Noh and M. Cherif
82 Events
MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY
COLUMNS
37 Consider installing a VFD to increase reliability and savings
M. Vila Forteza 7 Editorial Comment
HPI spending forecast to reach
41 HC condensate sphere inlet pipe failure investigation nearly $440 B in 2020
A. Rinawi, A. Al Bukhari, M. Al Hajji and M. Al Boobaid
13 Reliability
When slow-rolling machines
ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY can cause failures, and
47 Rethink fired heater design for emissions how to avoid them
K. Malhotra
15 Optimization
Steam methane reformer
53 How changes to functional safety standards can optimize vs. electrolysis technology
fire and gas detection
E. Naranjo 17 Petrochemicals
Petrochemical data management
HP TOP PROJECT AWARDS 2019 using cloud-based digital solutions
57 Details on high-impact refining and petrochemical projects, 21 Equipment
as chosen by HP editors and readers Rotating equipment repair:
L. Nichols The technology-driven shift
from preventive to predictive
IMO 2020
23 Executive Viewpoint
63 Refinery residue and bitumen upgrading: Gasification Succeeding against cyber attacks
A. Abazajian and A. Sloley
25 Digital
69 The plight of the modern refinery: Racing to meet IMO 2020 regulations Better maintenance
V. Scalco through better data

73 IMO 2020 stability and compatibility headaches 27 Heat Transfer

Designing electric process heater
L. E. Curcio and A. Barsamian systems for catalytic regeneration

HEAT TRANSFER
77 Improve exchanger operability and efficiency
through tube-side enhancement
P. Drögemuller and P. Ellerby

Cover Image: Construction of Fractionators 2, 3 and 4 underway at the Phillips 66 Sweeny hub
in Old Ocean, Texas.
 P. O. Box 2608
Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA
Phone: +1 (713) 529-4301
Fax: +1 (713) 520-4433
[Link] Editors@[Link]

PUBLISHER Catherine Watkins

Industry Perspectives EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Lee Nichols

EDITORIAL
Executive Editor Adrienne Blume
New project announcements Managing Editor
Digital Editor
Mike Rhodes
Stephanie Bartels
surpass 400 in 2019 Technical Editor
Reliability/Equipment Editor
Sumedha Sharma
Heinz P. Bloch
Contributing Editor Alissa Leeton
According to Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction Box- Contributing Editor ARC Advisory Group
score Database, more than 400 new projects have been an- Contributing Editor Anthony Sofronas
nounced in 2019. The total represents a 25% increase in new MAGAZINE PRODUCTION / +1 (713) 525-4633
project announcements year-over-year. Most of these proj- Vice President, Production Sheryl Stone
ects were in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by the U.S. and Manager, Advertising Production Cheryl Willis
Manager, Editorial Production Angela Bathe Dietrich
Middle East. A breakdown of new project announcements by Graphic Designer Krista Norman
region include: Artist/Illustrator David Weeks
• Africa—6% (24 projects) ADVERTISING SALES
• Asia-Pacific—46% (189 projects) See Sales Offices, page 80.
• Canada—3% (14 projects)
CIRCULATION / +1 (713) 520-4498 / Circulation@[Link]
• Western Europe—4% (18 projects) Director, Circulation Suzanne McGehee
• Eastern Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS)—6% (23 projects) SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscription price (includes both print and digital versions): One year $399,
• Latin America—3% (12 projects) two years $679, three years $897. Airmail rate outside North America $175 addi-
• Middle East—12% (48 projects) tional a year. Single copies $35, prepaid.
• U.S.—20% (80 projects). Hydrocarbon Processing’s Full Data Access subscription plan is priced at $1,995.
In total, Asia, the Middle East and the U.S. represent nearly This plan provides full access to all information and data Hydrocarbon Processing
has to offer. It includes a print or digital version of the magazine, as well as full
80% of new project announcements in 2019. Over the past access to all posted articles (current and archived), process handbooks, the
several years, the Asia-Pacific region has dominated in new HPI Market Data book, Construction Boxscore Database project updates and more.
project announcements, as well as in capital expenditures, and Because Hydrocarbon Processing is edited specifically to be of greatest value to
2019 is no different. Several countries in the region are invest- people working in this specialized business, subscriptions are restricted to those
ing heavily in new processing capacity to satisfy increasing engaged in the hydrocarbon processing industry, or service and supply company
personnel connected thereto.
demand for transportation fuels, petrochemical products and
Hydrocarbon Processing is indexed by Applied Science & Technology Index, by
natural gas. These investments include the construction of ad- Chemical Abstracts and by Engineering Index Inc. Microfilm copies available through
ditional refining units to produce low-sulfur and ultra-low-sul- University Microfilms, International, Ann Arbor, Mich. The full text of Hydrocarbon
fur fuels, new investments to incorporate petrochemical units Processing is also available in electronic versions of the Business Periodicals Index.
into existing refining operations and LNG export and import DISTRIBUTION OF ARTICLES
infrastructure to either monetize domestic natural resources Published articles are available for distribution in a PDF format or as professionally
or to import natural gas for power generation. printed handouts. Contact Foster Printing at Mossberg & Co. for a price quote and
details about how you can customize with company logo and contact information.
The increase in new project announcements has pushed
global capital expenditures to nearly $1.9 T, according to For more information, contact Jill Kaletha with Foster Printing at
Mossberg & Co. at +1 (800) 428-3340 x 149 or jkaletha@[Link].
Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction Boxscore Database.
Hydrocarbon Processing (ISSN 0018-8190) is published monthly by Gulf Energy
Just as the Asia-Pacific region is the leader in total active and Information, 2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, Texas 77046. Periodicals post-
new refining project announcements, the region is also, by far, age paid at Houston, Texas, and at additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send
the leader in total capital expenditures. Total capital expendi- address changes to Hydrocarbon Processing, P.O. Box 2608, Houston, Texas 77252.
tures, by region, are broken down as such: Copyright © 2019 by Gulf Energy Information. All rights reserved.
• Africa—$195 B Permission is granted by the copyright owner to libraries and others registered
• Asia-Pacific—$655 B with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to photocopy any articles herein for
the base fee of $3 per copy per page. Payment should be sent directly to the CCC,
• Canada—$165 B 21 Congress St., Salem, Mass. 01970. Copying for other than personal or internal
• Western Europe—$26 B reference use without express permission is prohibited. Requests for special
• Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS—$155 B permission or bulk orders should be addressed to the Editor. ISSN 0018-8190/01.

• Latin America—$50 B
• Middle East—$275 B
• U.S.—$370 B.
These figures represent projects to 2030 that are some- President/CEO John Royall
where along the project’s planning, engineering or construc- CFO Alan Millis
Vice President Andy McDowell
tion timeframe. At $370 B, the U.S. follows the Asia-Pacific Vice President, Finance and Operations Pamela Harvey
region in total capital expenditures. The country’s shale pro- Vice President, Production Sheryl Stone
Vice President, Data Sales Harry Brookby
duction boom has led to hundreds of billions of dollars in new
Publication Agreement Number 40034765 Printed in USA
capital investments in petrochemical and gas processing/LNG
Other Gulf Energy Information titles include: Gas ProcessingTM, Petroleum Economist ©,
export capacity. World Oil ®, Pipeline & Gas Journal and Underground Construction.

4 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Zyme-Ox® Plus

Rezyd-HP™

Zyme-HT®

Zyme-Flow® UN657
Select 79 at [Link]/RS

zymefl[Link] © United Laboratories

International, llc. All Rights Reserved
Select 84 at [Link]/RS
 Editorial LEE NICHOLS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Comment [Link]@[Link]

HPI spending forecast to reach nearly $440 B in 2020

As the hydrocarbon processing indus- capital investments in China and India, INSIDE THIS ISSUE
try (HPI) moves into the next decade, the region is investing heavily in all areas
three regions will be the leaders in new
capital construction—Asia, the Middle
of the downstream sector.
Following the Asia-Pacific region in 23 Executive Viewpoint.
The digital transformation
is providing operators with an
East and the U.S. These three regions CAPEX is the U.S. and the Middle East.
account for approximately 70% of total With the continued increase in shale gas abundance of benefits that optimize
capital expenditures (CAPEX) in down- production, the petrochemical and gas operations. However, with an increase
stream processing capacity construction processing/LNG industries in the U.S. in digital technologies comes the risk
to 2030. At present, Hydrocarbon Process- continue to witness capital-intensive of cyberattacks. Instituting security
measures to guard against cyberattacks
ing’s Construction Boxscore Database is capacity builds in midstream and down-
can allow producers to gain the benefits
tracking more than 1,430 active projects stream projects, such as ethylene and
of the digital transformation age, as well
around the world, representing nearly ethylene derivative units, methanol and
as safeguard crucial equipment.
$1.9 T in CAPEX. ammonia/urea plants, gas processing and

28 Special Focus.
Capital spending globally was one of natural gas pipeline infrastructure and Hundreds
the major topics discussed at Hydrocar- LNG liquefaction trains/export facili- of billions of dollars are
bon Processing’s 46th Annual Forecast ties. For example, the U.S. is developing being invested in capital projects
Breakfast. Held in early November, the nearly 15 MMtpy of additional ethylene around the world. These investments
forecast presentation provided attendees capacity by 2024, representing more than include expansions, debottlenecks,
with insights into major trends affecting $60 B in CAPEX. On the natural gas side, modernizations and grassroots facilities.
the downstream HPI, including the edi- the Energy Web Atlas is tracking nearly 36 As capital costs continue to increase,
tors’ forecast for capital, maintenance and LNG export projects, representing more greater efforts will be applied to optimize
operating expenditures in 2020. than 400 MMtpy of liquefaction capacity engineering and construction activities.
at a cost of more than $260 B.
HPI Market Data 2020. The event also
included the launch of Hydrocarbon Pro-
cessing’s HPI Market Data 2020. This mar-
The Middle East is investing heavily in
boosting its downstream products port-
folio—low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur
47 Environment and Safety.
As environmental regulations
are becoming more stringent, burner
ket outlook spans 120 pages, with nearly transportation fuels and high-value petro- designs are changing to adhere to
35 tables and 90 figures. HPI Market chemical products—and significantly in- revised regulations. However, improper
Data 2020 provides readers with detailed creasing gas processing capacity and natu- design can result in heater downtime,
analysis on the major trends affecting ral gas logistics infrastructure. The region emissions permit non-compliance or
spending in the HPI in 2020 and beyond. is quickly becoming a hot bed for clean unsafe operating conditions. This article
This includes a breakdown of capital proj- fuels production and is investing heavily in rethinks fired heater designs to comply
ects for nearly every country around the integrating petrochemical units into exist- with emissions regulations.
world, regulations and initiatives that will ing refining operations—a major trend be-
boost spending for new processing capac-
ity, comprehensive analysis on worldwide
ing seen in the Asia-Pacific region, as well.
57 Top Projects. It’s finally
here! Hydrocarbon Processing
readers have selected the top refining
economics, social and political trends Forecast webcast. To learn more about
and petrochemical projects of 2019.
driving HPI activities, and much more. the major trends and initiatives that are
See which projects won, and learn
affecting spending in the global HPI, the
more about the winners and nominees
Spending. In 2020, the editors of Hy- editors invite our readers to Hydrocarbon
in this issue’s detailed overview.
drocarbon Processing forecast capital, Processing’s forecast webcast on Wednes-

63 IMO 2020.
maintenance and operating spending to day, December 11. Although the editors In 2020, the
reach nearly $440 B globally. Most of the of Hydrocarbon Processing will provide an IMO’s Global Sulfur Cap
HPI’s capital spending will occur in the overview of spending and major trends af- regulation will go into effect globally.
Asia-Pacific region. The Construction fecting the HPI, a detailed analysis on capi- How will the regulation affect the global
Boxscore Database and Gulf Energy In- tal projects, regulation/initiatives and sup- refining industry? This special section
formation’s Energy Web Atlas are track- ply/demand by country is available only reviews the upcoming regulation, along
ing more than $655 B in capital projects within HPI Market Data 2020, which can with technologies refiners can utilize to
in the Asia-Pacific region to 2030. Led by be purchased at [Link]. adhere to new marine fuel specifications.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 7

 | Business Trends
Success in a construction project can be ensured by having a
well-defined construction contract. This guarantees that the
interests of each party are appropriately protected, and risks
associated with the project are carefully managed. This month’s
Business Trends article describes the main types of construction
contracts and the key elements of a construction contract,
including scope, schedule, cost, risk and dispute resolution.
Understanding these elements will provide a clear and consistent
understanding of the rights and responsibilities of each party.

Phone: Fluor executes a wide range of design and construction projects

for clients in the refining market, from single-unit revamps to multi-billion-
dollar grassroots petroleum refining complexes. Photo courtesy of Fluor.
G. SHAHANI and J. BERG, ShureLine Construction,
Kenton, Delaware

Business Trends

The ins and outs of construction contracts

Industrial construction projects are becoming larger and sociated effort of the contractor. The contractor is obligated to
more complex, with shorter schedules.1 To meet these chal- halt its activity once the NTE value is met and will need to dis-
lenging requirements, such construction projects are often cuss any additional work efforts with the owner before proceed-
executed by multiple entities located in different countries ing further on the job.
that may have different business objectives.2 Engineering and Unit price. A unit price contract is based on precise costs to
design may be carried out in one country with low-cost labor, carry out well-defined tasks. The rates are influenced by project
while fabrication may be done in another country that has requirements and job site conditions (e.g., welding at-grade as
cheap material costs. Orchestrating such a complex arrange- opposed to elevation). A typical job could have hundreds of unit
ment under a tight budget and a demanding schedule is accom- rates, which is challenging to organize and manage. However,
plished by using construction contracts. once unit rates have been agreed to, this contract type is easy to
A construction contract between the project owner and manage since the only variable is the quantity of components.
various suppliers is a vital instrument that ensures that the in- Of course, quality must also be managed. These contracts spread
terests of each party are protected, and risks associated with risk between the owner and contractor and are most appropriate
the project are carefully managed. A construction contract is a when there are repetitive tasks on a certain project.
legally binding instrument that must be clearly understood by Cost plus. This contract is based on the payment of actual
all concerned parties at the outset. This article describes the costs (labor, material and equipment) plus an agreed-upon fee
main types of construction contracts and the key elements of a (an actual stated fee amount or a percentage) that is used to cover
construction contract, including scope, schedule, cost, risk and the contractor’s overhead and profit. Cost plus contracts are used
dispute resolution. Understanding these elements will provide when the scope has not been clearly defined. While similar to a
a clear and consistent understanding of the rights and respon- T&M-type contract, there are enough differences in a cost plus
sibilities of each party. arrangement. The contractor needs to provide enough support-
ing detail on all costs incurred, which provides the owner with
Types of contracts. It is useful to understand how the own- some insight on the contractor’s business activities. However,
er/operator relates to a construction contractor or subcontrac- with a T&M contract, there is not much incentive for the contrac-
tor. FIG. 1. shows the relationships in a typical contract struc- tor to find the most cost-effective means of executing the scope,
ture hierarchy. The main types of contracts are: lump sum, as it will receive a profit and overhead regardless of any cost.
reimbursable time and material, unit price, and cost plus.
As discussed in a previous article3, there is no single perfect Contract components. An infinite variety of projects exists
contract type for every situation. The choice depends on the depending on location, size, scope and schedule. Likewise,
technical capabilities of each party, the degree to which each there is an infinite variety of commercial contracts. It is impor-
party can manage risk, and the project’s critical success factors. tant to have all the relevant documents as exhibits attached to a
Lump sum. A lump sum contract is suitable when the scope contract. This avoids any sort of confusion on what is covered
of the project is well-defined and a reasonable amount of engi-
neering design has been completed. Such a contract is helpful to
minimize risk for the project owner. This is the most common
Owner/
type of contract. In some instances, the owner will put guaran- Tier 0 Operator
teed maximum price language to minimize cost risk/exposure.
In this instance, the contractor is capped on the total value of
the contract and has limited avenues to pursue with the owner
in recouping any additional project costs that are incurred. Tier 1 Contractor 1 Contractor 2
Reimbursable. Reimbursable contracts are based on previ-
ously agreed time and material (T&M) rates for labor, material
and equipment rental. These contracts are suitable when time
is of the essence, the project scope is not fully defined, and the
engineering design is not complete. Such a contract must be Tier 2 Subcontractor 1 Subcontractor 2 Subcontractor 3
managed by the owner with highly qualified people. An owner
will sometimes add a “not to exceed (NTE)” stipulation in the
FIG. 1. Typical contract structure.
contract language to set a maximum limit on the cost and as-
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 9
 Business Trends

in the contract. This section will review the critical areas of a damage. This insurance is essential in today’s litigious
construction contract. environment. Typically, the contractor is best positioned
Scope of work. The scope of work defines the project. Such to manage a safe jobsite. Subcontractors must carry their
a description includes a clear definition of the work that must own insurance, which should match the insurance of the
be accomplished by the contractor. Typically, the owner defines main contractor. Otherwise, significant gaps in coverage
the scope of work. Scope defines the exact location of the proj- can result. If there is a valid claim against a policy,
ect and the prevailing environmental and climatic conditions. there can be an increase in the premium. Hence, it is in
Depending on how much engineering has been completed, the everyone’s interest to maintain a safe work environment.
scope should include a heat and material balance, piping and in- Completing jobs on time, being responsible and keeping
strumentation diagram (P&ID), equipment list and equipment a solid business operation lead to smaller premiums and
layout. Construction materials and line sizes should be clearly deductibles in the insurance policy.
specified. Any restriction on sourcing materials from certain • Payment bonds—The owner may require the
countries should also be clearly described. The split between contractor to have payment and/or performance bonds.
the activities of the owner, such as securing permits, and those This provides the owner with assurances that a contractor
of the contractor is important to avoid confusion. A project will pay all vendors and subcontractors associated with
administration function should be defined, including how pay- the project. A performance bond provides assurance that
ments will be issued and the process for changes. the project will be completed in a timely manner, with
Schedule. A scope of work is meaningful if it is associated high quality. While bonds are obtained from an insurance
with a detailed schedule. A clear timetable should be includ- company, they are different from insurance. If the owner
ed, which includes dates from issuance of a purchase order to makes a claim against the contractor for either payment
project substantial completion and startup. or performance issues, the bonding agent will settle the
Cost considerations. Several cost considerations include: claim with the owner and seek reimbursement of the
• Price—The contract price defines the total amount of claim from the contractor. A bond must be paid for by
money being contracted. This should be in the same the contractor. Conversely, an insurance claim must be
document as the scope of work. Possible additions paid by the insurance company.
or deductions to the contract price should be clearly Risk. The following are instances of risks on a project:
specified. It is also important to describe how the money • Force majeure—This is an event that cannot have been
is going to be paid to the contractor, whether it is on a reasonably foreseen. Such an event would prevent the
monthly basis or progress payments based on achieving contractor from completing their task on schedule. It also
well-defined milestones. This section should also specify has cost implications. Certainly, the word ‘reasonably’
what percentage of money may be retained on the is open to interpretation. For example, delays due
contractor’s invoices. In addition, depending on project to snow in December in Chicago can be reasonably
scope, complexity and criticality of completion time, foreseen. However, it is not reasonable to expect such
there may be liquidated damages language included to delays in Houston. Some common force majeure events
provide the owner with assurance that the project will include fire, weather and labor disputes. A contract must
be completed as agreed to, and some financial relief will clearly specify whether there is provision for additional
be provided by the contractor in case the date is not met. schedule and compensation due to force majeure.
Typical payment terms are net 30 d from invoice. At • Limitation of liability—Liability can be limited
present, it is not uncommon for owners to ask for net 60 d or excluded by having a clear clause in the contract.
or even net 90 d. While such a clause is possible, it adds Indemnification is also used to limit liability.
an additional burden to the cash flow of the contractor. These provisions are state-specific and must be
The contractor is acting like the ‘bank’ for the owner. carefully examined.
• Warranty—A warranty is a commitment by the • Liquidated damages—Liquidated damages is a term to
subcontractor that it will remedy, without additional compensate the owner for delays due to the contractor. It
charge, deficiencies in its material and workmanship is specified based in terms of dollars/wk up to a certain
during an agreed period—typically 1 yr after maximum value. Typically, liquidated damages are tied to
installation. A warranty that is spelled out in writing lost profit for the period in question. Liquidated damages
in a construction contract is called an “explicit need to be clearly understood and specified, as they
warranty.” In addition, there are certain implicit represent a large exposure to the contractor.
warranties recognized in a construction contract unless • Termination—Termination by the owner can be
they are explicitly excluded. When subcontractors are at will or due to a cause. In the case of “at will,” the
employed, the term of the subcontractor’s warranty owner will be required to compensate the contractor
should match that of the main contractor. for all expenses incurred up to that point, including a
• Insurance—A construction company usually must have reasonable markup. Termination at cause can be due to
the following types of insurance to manage risk: general a failure of the contractor to perform. This can be due
liability insurance, commercial auto insurance, license to quality, safety and/or skill level of workers. Likewise,
bonds/permit bonds, workers’ compensation insurance a contractor can terminate the contract if the owner has
and umbrella insurance. not paid undisputed amounts. The range of reasons for a
General liability insurance is for injury and property contractor to terminate a contract are very limited.
10 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Business Trends

Disputes. Construction companies like to avoid disputes with a dispute will be resolved. Companies can also have an arbitra-
their customers.4,5 However, for anyone with experience in this tion clause, which happens prior to filing a legal claim, which is
industry, it is common knowledge that disputes happen. For ex- costly and time-consuming for all parties.
ample, incidents can happen regarding miscommunication on
scope or schedule, mistakes in estimating, late ordering of long Takeaway. Success in a construction project can be ensured by
lead items and failure to adequately deploy necessary resources having a well-defined construction contract. This ensures that
onsite. These mistakes are bound to happen eventually, since the interests of each party are appropriately protected, and risks
human beings are not infallible. Disputes can be minimized by associated with the project are carefully managed. A construc-
having good paperwork administration, rigorous prequalifica- tion contract is a legally binding instrument that must be clearly
tion of project participants, sound quality management practices understood by all concerned parties from the outset. A good
and having a risk mitigation plan. Large, complex projects have construction contract should include scope, schedule, cost, risk
hundreds of documents that are relevant. Key documents should and dispute resolution, thereby providing a clear and consistent
be attached to the contract. If this is not possible, and conflict- understanding of the rights and responsibilities of each party.
ing information is presented in different documents, then a clear
REFERENCES
order of precedence must be established. This describes which Complete References available online at [Link].
document applies in the event of a dispute.
The mark of a superior contractor is how it deals with dis- JAMES BERG is the CFO at ShureLine Construction. Previously,
putes. The best approach is to sit down face-to-face, in a non- he worked for 22 yr at MBNA America Bank/Bank of America
in a number of financial management positions. He holds
emotional environment, to examine the facts and figures, with- a BA degree in business administrations/economics from
out any finger-pointing. In such a problem-solving environment, the University of St. Thomas, and an MBA from the University
both parties should find the best solution and resolve the issues of Delaware.
among themselves. When this is not possible, a contract will GOUTAM SHAHANI is Vice President of sales and marketing
specify that third-party arbitration is the remedy. As a last resort, at ShureLine Construction. Previously, he was Business
the contract usually specifies the governing law. Typically, this is Development Manager at Linde Engineering in North America.
With more than 30 yr of industry experience, Mr. Shahani
defined by the state in which the owner is located or where the specializes in industrial gases for the energy, refining and
project is being executed. It may be noted that governing law is chemical industries. He holds BS and MS degrees in chemical
different from the jurisdiction state. Jurisdiction refers to where engineering, as well as an MBA degree.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 11

BE
FUTURE
FORWARD

TOMORROW’S REFINERY IS INTEGRATED, CONNECTED, AND SUSTAINABLE.

It consumes less energy and produces less waste. It readily responds to market
conditions. Plus, it allows you to analyze plant data with UOP proprietary process
information to achieve peak performance and profitability.
Sound impossible? Not with Honeywell UOP. As an operational partner, we’ll help
you create your tomorrow today.

BE FUTURE FORWARD
[Link]
© 2019 by Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.
 HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR
Reliability [Link]@[Link]

When slow-rolling machines can cause failures,

and how to avoid them
All the book learning in the world driven, 14-stage centrifugal pump in light
will fail if we do not use common sense. hydrocarbon service; it was being started
We could also say that we need to think up at a refinery in the central U.S. In this
things through and should recognize that example, the operators wanted to “take it
intuitive logic can lead us astray. If that easy” on the machines. They slow-rolled
sounds like semantic banter, let us zero the pump-and-turbine set as part of the
in on three practical field examples that initial commissioning.
illustrate the issues at hand. However, operation at slow speed
caused the stainless-steel wear rings to
Offshore pump testing. Offshore fire make rubbing contact, and the pump
water pump testing is a first example. This seized before its normal operating speed
particular scenario involved a diesel en- was reached. Galling was severe enough
gine with an idle speed of approximately to require rebuilding with new wear rings.
600 rpm and a normal operating speed Of course, incorporating stationary wear
of 1,800 rpm. The engine was coupled to rings made of oriented carbon fiber-filled
the horizontal input shaft of a right-angle perfluoro-alkyl (sold as Vespel CR-6100)
gear unit with a 1:1 speed ratio; the out- would probably have eliminated the
put shaft was connected to a multistage, problem, and/or other preventive mea-
vertical firewater pump. sures could have been engineered with a
The pump was designed and installed bit of forethought.
with a series of flanged sections of pipe Be careful when someone argues for FIG. 1. Spider bearing sandwiched between
forming a long, vertical column. Its pipe “taking it easy” on equipment; take time two flanged pipe sections. Two threaded
sections and pump shaft lengths had been to think it through. One significant ad- shaft sections and a surrounding coupling
manufactured in 10-ft increments. At vantage of using electric motors is that the are shown above the bearing.
each of the flanged joints, carbon-filled driven fluid machine comes up to speed
PTFE (Teflon) “spider” bearings were in- quickly. The wear rings then act like bear- time a reliability professional was consult-
stalled to keep the shaft aligned and con- ings and help center the shaft. ed, considerable damage had been done.
centric with the 102-ft total vertical col-
umn length of the pump (FIG. 1). These On the hunt for Btus and kilojoules. Author’s appeal to managers. The
carbon-filled PTFE spider bearings were In a third example, a team of graduate en- message here is really an appeal to man-
lubricated by the seawater being pumped. ergy conservation engineers was engaged agement. An organization is made up of
Things were going well, until an un- in a search for reduced steam consump- individuals having process/operations
named employee was handling the peri- tion. The team issued guidelines to re- know-how and people with significant
odically scheduled fire pump test. The duce steam turbine slow-roll speeds to the mechanical/machinery experience. The
employee decided to treat the equipment bare minimum needed to keep the casings different job functions must communi-
gently and started the engine, allowing it hot for imminent starts. cate and cooperate.
to idle for an extended warmup run at 600 After the team issued an edict that Beware of traditionalists who have no
rpm. Unfortunately, at that low speed the small steam turbines should be slow-rolled time for perfluoro-alkoxy polymers and
height of the liquid column produced by at no more than 60 rpm, numerous sleeve other strange-sounding materials. Involve
the vertical pump was insufficient to wet bearing failures resulted. When slow-roll younger engineers who paid close atten-
all the spider bearings. As a result, which- speeds are too low, the required oil wedge tion in college classes where basic physics
ever spider bearings remained above the cannot establish itself. An oil wedge is were taught. You will not regret it.
water level inside the pump column were needed to keep shafts from making direct
damaged and had to be replaced. contact with the low melting point bear- HEINZ P. BLOCH’S latest book (co-authored with
Don Ehlert and Fred Geitner) is titled Optimized
ing alloy typically used in sleeve bearings. Equipment Lubrication, Oil Mist Technology, and
Similar experiences exist elsewhere. Also, a certain oil flowrate will be needed Storage Preservation. The book was recently released
A second example is a steam-turbine- to remove heat from the bearing. By the by [Link], based in Fort Myers, Florida.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 13

 S. KOUL and M. SHAH
Optimization Linde Engineering India, Vadodara, Gujarat, India

Steam methane reformer vs. electrolysis technology

Hydrogen (H2 ) market demand is forecast to expand. Bulk before it is sent to the reformer section. The SMR process oc-
petrochemicals, ammonia, methanol and gasoline refining con- curs at high temperatures (850°C–940°C) in the presence of a
sume nearly two-thirds of global H2 demand. These facilities Ni catalyst. The process reaction, using natural gas as feed, is
typically have H2 requirements of up to 250,000 Nm3/hr. The shown in Eq. 1:
remaining H2 demand is directed to process industries includ- CH4 + H2O O 3H2 + CO (endothermic) (1)
ing chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metallurgy (steel), glass and
semiconductor manufacturing. The reformer is the heart of an SMR unit. Reformer design
Four main sources exist for the commercial production of plays a vital role in the performance of the unit.
H2 : natural gas, oil refining, coal, and electrolysis (FIG. 1). H2 can An additional molecule of H2 can be obtained by reacting
be produced using diverse domestic resources including nuclear the carbon monoxide (CO) with water (H2 O) via shift conver-
energy, natural gas, coal, biomass and other renewable sources. sion process, as shown in Eq. 2:
Onsite H2 production is believed to be an important step- CO + H2O O CO2 + H2 (exothermic) (2)
ping-stone technology in the transition to an H2 -based infra-
structure. Various methods exist for H2 generation, which is A pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit purifies the H2 by
used mainly by small consumers such as steam methane reform- removing impurities, such as methane, CO, CO2 and H2O va-
ing (SMR) and electrolysis. The availability of feedstock plays a por. The PSA provides the H2 with the quality required for the
major role in the selection of H2 generation technology. end use of the H2 .

Steam methane reforming. SMR is a widely used technol- Flue gas

ogy for H2 generation. The steam reforming process converts
natural gas, LPG or naphtha into H2 -rich gas in the presence Demineralized H2O Waste heat
of a nickel (Ni) catalyst. Steam reforming of natural gas is the recovery
cheapest and most common method of producing commercial H recycle
bulk H2 , at about 95% of world production.
Natural gas is a preferred raw material for producing H2 be-
cause it is easy to handle, it has few impurities and the efficiency Feed Steam CO shift PSA
of the plant is higher. For small H2 consumers, H2 generation Natural gas feed pretreatment reforming conversion Hydrogen
units are generally designed so that there is no export steam Air
generation, which makes the units more efficient (FIG. 2). The Tail gas
Natural gas fuel
rest of the process is similar to large, conventional units.
The first step in the SMR process is feed pretreatment—i.e., FIG. 2. Process flow of SMR technology for H2 generation.
desulfurization. In this process, sulfur is removed from the feed

– Power +
e- e-

Natural gas 48%

Oil refineries 30% O H
Coal 18%
Electrolysis 4%
Pt(s)

Anode – Catode +

FIG. 1. Total H2 generation market coverage in terms of H2 generation. FIG. 3. H2 generation via the electrolysis process.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 15

 Optimization

TABLE 1. Comparison of SMR and electrolysis technologies

The steam reforming process has a high thermal efficiency.
for H2 generation The reliability of SMR units is higher compared to electrolysis.
The main raw materials and utilities required for SMR technol-
Technology Feedstock Efficiency ogy are feed, fuel, electrical power, demineralized H2O, cooling
SMR Hydrocarbons 75%–85% water and instrument air.
Electrolysis H2O + electricity 60%–70%
Electrolysis. Electrolysis is one of the oldest H2 generation
technologies. In the electrolysis process (FIG. 3), water is split
TABLE 2. Capital Investment for H2 production according to the principle shown in Eq. 3:
Technology capacity Capacity Capital investment
H2O + Electric energy → H2 + 1/2O (3)
SMR 300 Nm /hr
3
100%
This reaction takes place in a unit called an electrolyzer. A
Electrolysis 150 Nm3/hr 75%–85%
DC electrical power source is connected to two electrodes, or
plates, which are placed in water. H2 will appear at the cathode,
and oxygen (O2 ) will appear at the anode.
The electrolysis process takes place at room temperature. A
commonly used electrolyte in H2O is sulfuric acid, and the elec-
trodes are platinum (Pt), which does not react with sulfuric acid.
The process appears to be ecologically clean because no green-
house gases are formed; however, it uses electricity generated
from multiple sources, including coal. The only limitation of this
technology is its extremely high power consumption. Utilities
used in this process include electricity and demineralized water.

Technology comparison. The efficiency for the two technol-

ogies is compared in TABLE 1. With standardized, smaller-capaci-
FIG. 4. Onsite H2 generation unit based on SMR technology.
ty SMR units, investment cost for SMR is now comparable with
electrolysis (TABLE 2). At present, SMR technology is driving
the market for small H2 consumers due to its competitive capi-
tal investment and low operating cost.
Electrolysis is the best technology to generate H2 for smaller
NEW VERSION
capacities, typically up to 100 Nm3/hr–150 Nm3/hr, provided
that electricity is affordable. The energy requirement to pro-
InstruCalc duce 1 Nm3 of H2 by electrolysis ranges from 4.75 kWh–5 kWh,
and nearly 2 l of water is required to produce 1 Nm3 of H2 .
CONTROL VALVES • FLOW ELEMENTS • RELIEF DEVICES • PROCESS DATA SMR technology is used to produce H2 for typical capacities
beyond 200 Nm3/hr, subject to the availability of natural gas.
SMR is generally preferred over electrolysis, and is more reli-
InstruCalc 9.0 calculates the size of control valves, able for H2 production. Skid-based steam reforming plants are
flow elements and relief devices and calculates fluid economical for small- to medium-sized applications as well, be-
properties, pipe pressure loss and liquid waterhammer cause the technology can be easily scaled down. The economics
flow. Easy to use and accurate, it is the only sizing for small-scale SMR units and electrolysis units largely depend
program you need, enabling you to: Size more than 50 upon electricity and natural gas costs.
different instruments; Calculate process data at flow Standard-sized H2 plants with capacities of 150 Nm3/hr–
conditions for 54 fluids, in either mixtures or single 300 Nm3/hr are available in the market (FIG. 4). Such H2 plants
components, and 66 gases, and; Calculate the orifice are suitable where natural gas is available and small quantities of
size, flowrate or differential range, which enables the H2 are required. These units are modularized, occupy less space
user to select the flowrate with optimum accuracy.
and produce H2 at the lowest cost.
Updates include Engineering Standard SUNEEL KOUL has 18 yr of professional experience in business
Upgrades and Operational Improvements development and sales management of projects for the oil, gas
and petrochemicals industries. He has extensive domestic and
in InstruCalc Version 9.0 international sales expertise. He also has experience in working
with leading multinational EPC companies in petrochemicals,
Please contact J’Nette Davis-Nichols refining, steel and power projects.
for more information. MANAN SHAH is a Global Product Manager at Linde Engineering
[Link]/InstruCalc or call +1 (713) 520-4426. India for small H2 generation units called “Hydroprime Min.”
He has more than 10 yr of professional experience in sales
for oil, gas and petrochemicals.

16 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 K. SMITH
Petrochemicals Thermo Fisher Scientific

Petrochemical data management

using cloud-based digital solutions
Petrochemical companies face significant commercial pres- While the existing LIMS software had been adapted to meet
sure to offer high-quality products at competitive prices. To the requirements of individual sites, supporting and upgrading
boost operational efficiency and support regulatory compli- multiple systems was a growing problem. With the need to ac-
ance, many businesses operating in the petrochemical sector quire, configure and maintain hardware for each implementa-
use informatics tools, such as laboratory information manage- tion, project timelines and costs were escalating. Furthermore,
ment systems (LIMS), to organize their data. By bringing to- upgrading each version of the LIMS platform was becoming in-
gether people, instruments and processes, and providing key creasingly difficult, often requiring the in-depth review of core
stakeholders with comprehensive oversight of workflows in real code modifications and/or the development of custom code.
time, LIMS enable companies to make data-driven decisions Additionally, with a dynamic workforce, the company was
quickly and efficiently to maximize competitiveness. Moreover, facing significant knowledge gaps as many of the creators of the
by giving businesses access to full and detailed audit trails, these original code had moved to new roles. As a result, many prob-
solutions play an essential role in helping businesses ensure lems could take months to resolve, and resources were often
compliance with the latest regulatory guidelines. locked up in a continuous cycle of discovering and addressing
Since the late 1990s, many petrochemical companies have these issues. With the increasing strain on its budget, a culture
taken a customized approach to implementing LIMS solutions of customization in data management was no longer considered
to meet the needs of their individual laboratories, departments cost-effective, and a new LIMS platform was sought that would
and sites. Often, this is achieved by modifying a platform’s soft- be more financially sustainable in the long term.
ware code to suit the specific requirements of each team. While
this strategy has its benefits, it can raise significant challenges Standardizing data management using a cloud-based
when it comes to maintaining and upgrading these separate LIMS. The company required an organization-wide LIMS solu-
systems. For businesses operating several different LIMS imple- tion that could meet the business requirements of individual sites
mentations, completing like-for-like upgrades across the orga- without requiring changes to the core software code. At the same
nization can be very time- and resource-intensive. Furthermore, time, the benefits of transforming its IT infrastructure were in-
the loss of institutional memory that occurs when team mem- creasingly recognized: by switching from using the company’s
bers who initially developed highly customized software code own data center and embracing a cloud-based approach, deploy-
move on to other roles, can make it extremely challenging to
keep the LIMS running efficiently.
As petrochemical companies progressively utilize big data to
support faster and smarter decision-making, many businesses
are finding the use of multiple software implementations to
manage their data increasingly difficult to maintain. As a result,
the most forward-thinking organizations are moving away from
using heavily customized LIMS platforms and turning to highly
integrated solutions that can support more efficient and effec-
tive processes. This article explores how one petrochemical
company streamlined its operations and improved its competi-
tiveness by implementing a single, cloud-based LIMS platform
across its multiple teams and workflows.

The challenge: Improving efficiency in data manage-

ment. A major multinational petrochemical company found
that achieving cost-effective data management was a significant
challenge. To meet its business needs across different regional
markets and regulatory environments, the organization had
customized nearly every aspect of the LIMS software it origi- FIG. 1. The latest cloud-based LIMS solutions enable workflows
nally deployed in the late 1990s—with more than 20 different to be configured to automatically follow a decision tree format,
with the next steps depending on the result of each assay.
LIMS implementations in operation.
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 17
 Petrochemicals

ment and future upgrades could be significantly simplified. After Safeguarding quality in the petrochemical industry. Fol-
reviewing the options available, the company decided to replace lowing the successful pilot study, the petrochemical company
its heavily customized systems with a proprietary LIMS software.a deployed its cloud-based LIMS at other sites, including its facil-
To achieve its aims, the organization worked closely with ity in Canada—an integrated hydrocarbon processing site that
the solution provider to implement a LIMS platform that could converts oil sands bitumen into finished products. Prior to the
meet the requirements of multiple sites in a standardized way. LIMS upgrade, the Canadian site used two separate software im-
The company initiated a pilot study at a single site to test the plementations for its refinery facility and chemicals laboratory.
feasibility of adopting the cloud-based solution. In this trial, the Each solution had been modified to meet the site’s individual
custom coding in previous LIMS implementations was replaced workflow requirements. However, by replacing this customized
with a new platform that enabled actions to be executed using a approach with a new, standardized LIMS software platform, the
decision tree (FIG. 1). facility was able to boost operational efficiency and productivity
Workflows were configured so that actions following an as- while increasing confidence in product quality.
say could be chosen automatically, depending on whether the One especially noteworthy benefit to this site was the sim-
result was a pass or fail. For example, certain workflows would plification of sample scheduling. The laboratories at this facility
automatically email a group of stakeholders with results, allow- support fuel production with objective quality measurements
ing data-driven decisions to be made as soon as the informa- in a defined testing schedule that requires samples to be drawn
tion was available. In the event of a failure, a re-test could be from particular tanks at specific intervals. Adapting the existing
automatically initiated; if further input was required, then a LIMS to schedule these important tests involved a complex se-
prompt could be sent to the appropriate analyst to enter the ries of templates and customizations.
required information. Given that 70% of testing was driven by this software, the busi-
These features enabled the petrochemical company to estab- ness risk was significant. Transitioning to the new, standardized
lish streamlined workflows to control the entire testing process, system ensured that sampling plans would be followed correctly,
from the collection of samples to the verification and authoriza- and that these critical tests could be performed in a more consis-
tion of results. The pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of tent manner. By implementing this cloud-based solution across
using configuration options to retain the benefits of a custom- all of its sites, the company expects to significantly reduce the
ized approach, while employing a single system that could be time and resources required to undertake scheduled maintenance
adopted across global sites. and upgrades, lowering the total cost of LIMS ownership and ul-
timately enabling it to offer products at a more competitive price.
Another way in which the new solution significantly simpli-
fied processes was report generation. Before the LIMS upgrade,
Get the inside reports had to be written to order. This could be a time-consum-
ing process and placed heavy demands on IT teams. However, us-
intelligence for the ing the new system, reporting requirements now can be handled
entirely by the software, providing a simpler process and enabling
gas processing industry the company to streamline its operational procedures.

Takeaway. Highly customized data management systems are

commonly used in the petrochemical industry to meet the needs
of individual laboratories, sites and workflows.
Technology and Business
Information for the Global
Gas Processing Industry
In this example, the petrochemical company implemented a
cloud-based LIMS that could be easily adapted to support work-
[Link]
| MAY/JUNE 2019
flows across the entire organization. Configuring this standard-
ized software rather than customizing the core code helped over-
come these challenges, streamline processes and reduce overall
cost of ownership. Companies in this important sector can now
PIPELINES AND more efficiently produce high-quality and regulatory-compliant
TRANSPORTATION products at a competitive price through the implementation of a
Selecting pretreatment technolog

cloud-based, organization-wide solution that meets the needs of

ies for FLNG projects
Balancing Europe’s natural gas supply
and demand

COMPRESSORS
Predict centrifugal compressor performan
ce
in off-design condition
individual workflows and sites.
LNG
Improve liquefaction efficiency
with vortex feed gas precooling
NOTES
a
Thermo ScientificTM SampleManagerTM

Special Supplement to KEVIN SMITH is the Senior Director for customer services
for the digital science business unit at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
During his 35 yr with the organization, his career has focused
on the development and deployment of enterprise laboratory
SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL! informatics solutions for the process, pharmaceutical and
food and beverage industries. Mr. Smith previously held
Visit [Link] positions at Ciba Geigy and BP, and holds a BS degree in
physics and computing from the University of Canterbury in the UK.

18 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
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 R. PANDITA
Equipment Persistence Market Research, Pune, India

Rotating equipment repair: The technology-driven

shift from preventive to predictive
Rotating equipment repair vendors are looking at a future 6
that can be described as both exciting and challenging (FIG. 1).
As predictive maintenance (PdM) makes deeper inroads, ven-
dors have been forced to rethink their legacy repair offerings.

Percent
The integration of technology, along with a growing preference
for full-service providers among end users, are among the key
factors influencing the global rotating equipment repair mar-
3
ket, valued at more than $16 B in 2018. 2018 2019 2020 2027 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028
Operators’ expectations from their repair and maintenance
Condition monitoring and relability services
providers continue to evolve. As the oil and gas industry wit- Repair, refurnish and retrofit
nesses a resurgence of sorts, pressures on improving opera- Component and operating software upgrades
Reverse engineering and upgrade
tional efficiency and reducing downtime have also increased. Installation and commissioning
Among the various aspects, the focus on reducing lead times
for repairs has been particularly notable. As the adoption of FIG. 1. Rotating equipment repair market growth projection by service,
2018–2028.
new technologies becomes more of a necessity than an after-
thought, repair providers are being hard-pressed to scout for
new talent. According to research, nearly 42% of respondents these two sectors collectively accounted for more than 63% of
listed “labor/talent gap” as the leading challenges to growth. global revenues in 2018. The numbers are not surprising—over
Increasing market fragmentation and demand fluctuation were the years, an unwavering focus on efficiency has seen structural
among the other key challenges, according to the survey. changes in the way repair and maintenance is carried out.
Among these, spending on repair, refurnishing and retrofit Among the various efficiency measures, reducing equipment
generate the highest revenues for service providers, followed by lifecycle cost has particularly gained the attention of plant own-
condition monitoring and reliability services. These two service ers. Further, deferral and postponement of essential repairs, re-
offerings collectively make up a nearly 66% revenue share of the luctant strategies in a low-price environment, are also likely to
market. However, it is pertinent to note that revenues generated have a lesser impact owing to present market dynamics. As a
from condition monitoring and reliability services are growing result, repair service providers can expect a steady stream of op-
at a higher rate than repair, refurnishing and retrofit services. portunities from this sector in the short and long term.
Growing emphasis by plant owners on a preventive rather than Although independent repair vendors are witnessing great-
reactive approach continues to drive growth in this segment. er opportunities, direct original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) remain the go-to resource for plant owners, especially
A proactive, predictive approach. Of all the capital costs those with colossal maintenance budgets. In 2018, direct OEMs
incurred on rotating equipment repair, pump repair alone ac- accounted for a revenue share of more than 60%, and the status
counts for nearly 50% of spending. Rotating pumps have some quo is unlikely to change soon.
of the highest failure rates, with vibration problems being the Considering the nature of the landscape, leading players
root cause of equipment failure in most cases. (with a target product revenue of more than $100 MM) have
Rather than relying solely on sensors, plant owners and ser- a stronghold on the rotating equipment market. These players
vice providers are now focusing on wireless technologies, ar- collectively hold a market share in the range of 42%–47%. Some
tificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing to gain insights of the leading players in this segment include Sulzer AG, Sie-
in real time. While preventive maintenance is usually done at mens AG and General Electric Co.
specific intervals of time, predictive maintenance is a continu-
ous process. The adoption of these advanced technologies also Adapting to the new. Succeeding in the rotating repair equip-
helps in scheduling repairs that cause minimum interference to ment market will entail adapting to the new. It will take a con-
process uptime. certed effort to integrate new technologies with legacy systems
to provide a superior, efficient service to end users. The shift
Growing focus on efficiency. Oil and gas and power gen- from preventive to predictive can induce a level of transforma-
eration are two of the most lucrative sectors for service provid- tion that can change how maintenance and repairs are perceived
ers. Revenues generated from repair and maintenance work in and executed.
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 21
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 Executive DR. ZIED M. OUERTANI
Viewpoint ABB, Houston, Texas

Succeeding against cyber attacks

nology (OT) systems. These legacy sys- and sustained structures to maintain se-
tems are still prevalent in brownfield sites. curity controls. Chemical companies
In committing resources towards upgrad- are also changing their thinking when it
ing either the hardware or software, op- comes to security by adopting a mental-
erators must balance the return on invest- ity of zero trust.
ment against the reduction in risk.
Secondly, operators must efficiently Developing an in-depth strategy.
address the concept of “secure by de- For our company, cybersecurity is a
sign” for automation, safety and control six-step process that we characterize as:
systems in greenfield facilities. Finally, identify, protect, detect, respond, re-
when it comes to digital transformation, cover, and consult. This scenario follows
operators need to create scalable refer- the entire lifecycle of cybersecurity, from
ence security architectures for edge and initial awareness beginning with identi-
cloud use cases. fying the risk, before moving on to pro-
tection with strategies such as malware
Growing awareness, but lack of protection, system hardening, security
compliance. A far greater awareness patch updates and network segmenta-
DR. ZIED M. OUERTANI oversees ABB’s use of
exists of cyber threats than in the past. tion. With protection in place, chemical
technology in helping transform the chemicals If anything, there is significant fatigue operators can screen for attacks by moni-
and refining industries for the future. Dr. with vendors using fear, uncertainty and toring the network with anomaly detec-
Ouertani joined ABB in 2012 and has served as doubt to sell their products and servic- tion, security log collection and security
the company’s principal scientist in corporate es. A recent survey carried out by CXP event correlation.
research and as a business consultant for
corporate strategy. He holds a PhD in Information
Group questioned 320 professionals Control and automation systems
Systems. He brings more than 10 yr of global worldwide with decision-making power need to build in resilience to enable
experience, and is skilled at connecting customer on OT/industrial control systems (ICS) them to recover in the event of a cyber-
needs to value-added digital solutions. Prior to cybersecurity, along with 12 expert inter- attack. Staff require training on incident
ABB, Dr. Ouertani worked at the University of views.1 According to the findings, more response with cyber drills, and a strategy
Cambridge, UK, as a postdoctoral researcher
for the Cambridge Service Alliance, and as a
than 75% of companies believe that cy- must be in place to restore the system,
business transformation consultant for IBM, BAE bersecurity is a major priority and that if necessary. Finally, the system must be
Systems and Caterpillar. they are likely to become the target of a maintained by continually monitoring
cyberattack. However, even armed with the latest cyber solutions.
such beliefs, only 23% are compliant with When it comes to making chemical
minimal mandatory industry or govern- operations more secure, it is all about
No doubt exists that the added con- ment guidance and regulations around people, process and technology. Opera-
nectivity that modern control and auto- cybersecurity of ICS. tors need to think of their investments in
mation systems deliver offers a myriad When it comes to protection against these three crucial areas as comparable
of benefits. By embedding computing cyberattacks, however, the chemical in- to managing a portfolio.
within the process and utilizing edge and dustry has made some progress. From
cloud technologies, it can provide greater my experience, around half of all industry Getting active with cyber defense.
visibility. It creates a digital thread for the operators have completed assessments The digital transformation is delivering
plant and allows both equipment and the and understand where their risks lie, with technologies that can bolster many of the
processes to be analyzed, as well as giving about half of their sites moved to address traditional cybersecurity tactics. The in-
prescriptive advice. baseline risks that line up to highest risk creased adoption of artificial intelligence
However, as connectivity both within security controls and locations. and machine learning is enhancing many
the plant and externally increases, the risk We are also seeing more chemical passive monitoring techniques, enabling
of cyberattacks grows. The challenges companies looking at some critical points operators to understand network latency,
that face chemical companies are three- on how to effectively scale with regards asset IDs and asset performance manage-
fold. Firstly, they need to remediate the to items such as reference architectures, ment (APM). This adoption is leading to
security risks in legacy operational tech- a standardized security technology stack more integrated security capabilities that
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 23
 Executive Viewpoint

are becoming standardized, much like seat One exciting tactic within the active
will support thwarting this growing
belts in cars—which were once optional defense toolbox is the honeypot. This threat. People are, and will continue to
but are now widely used in many countries. strategy may seem counterintuitive in an
be, fundamental. Generally, it is the hu-
man element that is the weak
link, enabling cyber criminals’
For a security strategy to succeed, it must be embedded into access to vulnerabilities within
systems. The most common
organizational culture. Every employee and team member routes for delivering attacks
must have buy-in to their respective role and accompanying remain phishing emails or so-
cial engineering of mass email
responsibilities. Everyone working in an industrial environment campaigns. Many employees
has a part to play in securing organizational systems. do not realize that many secu-
rity measures can be bypassed
by them simply bringing per-
New tools and technologies are era based on layered defense solutions, but sonal devices into a control system.
emerging that can be vital components this strategy, rather than blocking attacks, For a security strategy to succeed, it
in any cybersecurity portfolios. Tradi- actively invites them. In its simplest terms, must be embedded into organizational
tional antivirus solutions depend on file a honeypot is a system that impersonates culture. Each and every employee and
signatures, but signatureless antivirus a possible target of a cyberattack. It serves team member must have buy-in to their
solutions rely on behavior, reputation, a dual purpose of deflecting attacks from respective role and accompanying re-
trust level and other file characteristics. their real goal, as well as enabling cyber sponsibilities, so that they become sec-
Another tactic is whitelisting that explic- defense teams to gain information about ond nature. As with any significant new
itly allows some identified entities access how cybercriminals operate. initiative, employee awareness training,
to defined privilege, service, mobility, ac- Another option is security informa- open communication and a drive for un-
cess or recognition. tion and event management (SIEM). This derstanding the implications of individual
To date, most cybersecurity strategies methodology is a combination of security actions are necessary. Everyone working
are based on a passive defensive approach, information management (SIM) and secu- in an industrial environment has a part to
but with threat levels escalating, it may no rity event management (SEM). SIEM col- play in securing organizational systems.
longer be enough, and a move to more ac- lects and pools data from multiple sources Chemical operators also need to start
tive defense may be required. By adopting to enable the system to identify any devia- thinking about how they can support tal-
an active defense, strategy operators will tions from normal process operations. ent generation and create good career
be able to confront and defeat attackers in paths for existing employees to move into
real time by combining threat intelligence Culture and recruitment. Not only structured, sustainable security teams.
and analytics resources. technology and process improvements Cybersecurity has a numbers problem,
because there are so many empty jobs.
Recruiting ICS cybersecurity employees
with the right skills and competencies
can be a major challenge. Companies
must be ready to support team members
willing to move into new career paths and
tackle the challenges and nuances that the
convergence of information technology
(IT) and OT present within the indus-
trial cybersecurity landscape.
Ultimately, a top-down approach is
needed, with boards and CEOs integral
to setting the security policies and proce-
dures for chemical companies. Such a suc-
cessful top-down approach necessitates
working with personnel—including ex-
isting IT and security teams—to under-
stand where risk lies. This is measured by
identifying what is most valuable to the
business, where there are safety risks and
gaps, and which risks are acceptable.

LITERATURE CITED
1
Schwab, W. and M. Poujol, “The state of industrial
FIG. 1. Six pillars to address cybersecurity. cybersecurity 2018,” CXP Group, June 2018.

24 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 HPI
MARKET
DATA
2020
PROSPECTUS

[Link]
Global downstream processing capital expenditures nears $1.9 T
Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction Boxscore Database is At present, global refining capacity is more than 101 MMbpd. By 2025,
tracking more than 1,430 projects around the world, representing global distillation capacity is forecast to increase to 108 MMbpd–109.4
nearly $1.9 T in capital expenditures. The following is a breakdown of MMbpd. The Asia-Pacific region will be the leader in new refining capacity
active project market share by sector: within the forecast period, led by capacity additions in China and India.
• Refining—36% (522 projects) To combat the effects of increased emissions, dozens of countries
• Petrochemicals—35% (489 projects) around the world are increasing pressure on refiners to reduce the amount
• Gas processing/LNG—29% (421 projects). of sulfur in transportation fuels, primarily in diesel and gasoline, as well
The Asia-Pacific region accounts for approximately 37% of active as in marine shipping fuels (e.g., IMO 2020). Due to the advancement
projects globally, followed by the U.S. and Middle East regions. In total, of clean fuels legislation, the industry will witness a surge in secondary
the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and U.S. regions represent nearly 70% of unit capacity additions within the same time frame. According to OPEC,
active projects globally. nearly 12 MMbpd of new secondary unit capacity will begin operations
In 2020, the hydrocarbon processing industry’s capital, maintenance by 2024. These capacity additions include more than 6 MMbpd of new
and operating budgets are expected to reach nearly $440 B. Asia desulfurization capacity, more than 3 MMbpd of conversion capacity
continues to invest heavily in all areas of the downstream sector. and more than 1.7 MMbpd of octane-boosting capacity. Most of this
This buildout includes additional capacity to satisfy demand for new capacity will be in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. This
transportation fuels, petrochemicals and natural gas. processing capacity will be added through the construction of greenfield
With the continued increase in shale gas production, the refineries, as well as through plant upgrades and expansions.
petrochemical and gas processing/LNG industries in the U.S. continues
to witness capital-intensive capacity builds in midstream and Petrochemicals. Over the past several years, investments in
downstream projects, such as ethylene and ethylene derivative units, petrochemical capacity additions have skyrocketed. Hundreds of
methanol and ammonia/urea plants, gas processing and natural gas billions of dollars have and will be invested in additional petrochemical
pipeline infrastructure and LNG liquefaction trains/export facilities. The units and complexes. Most capital expenditures will be made in three
Middle East is investing heavily in boosting its downstream products primary regions—Asia, the Middle East and the U.S. The IEA forecasts
portfolio—low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur (ULS) transportation fuels that approximately 25% of the increase in oil consumption to 2023 will
and high-valued petrochemical products—and significantly increasing be from demand for petrochemical feedstocks. In total, petrochemicals
gas processing capacity and natural gas logistics infrastructure. production is forecast to increase from approximately 400 MMtpy in
2020 to nearly 600 MMtpy in 2050.
Refining. Regardless which forecast is consulted, global oil demand The petrochemicals sector holds a 35% market share in active
will continue to increase to the mid-2020s. Most of the increase in oil projects globally—representing nearly 490 projects. The Asia-Pacific
demand will come from transportation fuels, primarily gasoline, diesel and U.S. regions account for more than 60% of active petrochemical
and jet fuel. However, a sizable portion of oil demand will be used to projects around the world. Both regions are investing heavily in new
produce feedstock for petrochemicals generation. This increase in petrochemical capacity; however, Asia is primarily building new units
oil demand is being led by the Asia-Pacific region, followed by the to satisfy increasing regional demand, while the U.S. is focused more
Middle East. on exporting petrochemical products to demand centers, such as Asia
and Central and South America.
250
Refining
Petrochemicals Gas processing/LNG. Natural gas consumption will continue to
200 Gas processing/LNG surge to 2040. The primary driver for additional natural gas demand
is the move by many nations to switch to natural gas for power
150 generation. The main driver of demand will be from the Asia-Pacific
region, primarily China and India. Both nations have ambitious
initiatives to substantially increase natural gas in their total energy mix.
100
The increase in natural gas demand will continue to boost the need
for additional LNG import and export capacity, as well as new pipeline
50 infrastructure. The leader in global gas trade will be LNG. Although
Australia was the leader in new liquefaction capacity growth over the
0 past decade, the U.S. is expected to begin operations on more than
Africa Asia-Pacific Canada Western Eastern Europe, Latin Middle East U.S. 71 MMtpy of new LNG export capacity by 2021. LNG regasification
Europe Russia, CIS America
builds will be led by China and India, as both markets are switching to
FIG. 1. Total active projects by region and sector, October 2019. natural gas for power generation.
HPI MARKET DATA 2020 FULL CONTENT
This prospectus is just a snapshot of the expanded GLOBAL CONSTRUCTION MAINTENANCE
data and analysis available in the full, 120-pg edition
of HPI Market Data 2020.
AND INVESTMENT AND EQUIPMENT
Active Projects Maintenance Expenditures
THE 2020 EDITION Total Spending Components of Maintenance
Discover how market conditions, regulations and
Africa Turnarounds
government initiatives will impact spending and
Asia-Pacific Equipment Life Assessment
business activity in the global refining, petrochemical
Canada Criticality
and gas processing/LNG industries. HPI Market Data
2020 is the HPI’s most trusted forecast of capital, Europe Digital Transformation
maintenance and operating expenditures. Produced Latin America The Digital Twin
annually by the editors of Hydrocarbon Processing, this Middle East Process Safety
comprehensive resource provides critical insight into U.S. Predictive Maintenance
HPI market trends, capital expenditures and activity. Cybersecurity
REFINING External Visual Inspection
46 YEARS OF HPI FORECASTING Global Distillation Capacity Still Relevant
EXPERIENCE Active Projects The Critical Maintenance Team
Hydrocarbon Processing marks its 46th year of Africa Changing a Maintenance Culture
producing its HPI market report. HPI leaders, executives, Asia-Pacific Workforce
sales/marketing, analysts and decision-makers Canada Competency
throughout the world have come to rely upon this Europe Maintenance: The New Profit Center
analysis and data for valuable strategizing information. Latin America HPI Equipment: Heat Exchangers,
HPI Market Data 2020 features detailed trend Valves And Pumps
Middle East
analysis on the downstream industry, as well as forecast Rotating Equipment
U.S.
breakdowns for capital, maintenance and operating Heat Exchangers
expenditures in the following major industry sectors: NATURAL GAS/LNG Servicing Valves
• Global midstream and downstream project Applications
construction and investment Global Forecast Forestalling Fugitive Emissions
• Refining Consumption Cooling Towers
• Natural gas/LNG Production and Trade Intelligent Pumps
• Petrochemicals LNG Project Developments Rotating Pumps
• Maintenance and equipment. Global Reserves Submersible Pumps
This analysis is broken out by several factors, including Global and Regional Market Lubricants
geographic region, year, supply and demand, government Breakdowns Filters
regulations/initiatives, activity level, among others. Processing Refinery Catalysts
NGL
HIGHLIGHTS Unconventional Gas
Water Treatment
• 2020 global forecast for capital, maintenance Fittings
Methane Hydrates Flare Gas Recovery Systems
and operating expenditures Gas-to-Liquids
• Expanded editorial analysis of worldwide Gaskets And Seals
Smaller-Scale Gas Processing Membrane Separation Technologies
economic, social and political trends driving Construction Activity
HPI activity across all sectors Flowmeters
Spending Marine Emissions Controls
• An exploration of changing markets and demand
within the global HPI, with discussion of growing PETROCHEMICALS APPENDIX
markets and insight into the downstream industry
landscape in 2020 and beyond Active Projects
HPI Schematic
• Capital expenditures by region and sector, with a Africa
Bibliography
detailed breakdown on active projects for nearly Asia-Pacific
Websites
every country around the world. Know who is Canada
building what, where, for how much and why Europe
• The future of supply and demand for fuels, natural Latin America
gas/LNG and petrochemicals and the investments Middle East
being made to satisfy global demand. U.S.
INDEX OF TABLES AND FIGURES FOR HPI MARKET DATA 2020

GLOBAL CONSTRUCTION AND INVESTMENT TABLE 4. Capital-intensive refining projects in Latin America
TABLE 5. Middle East oil demand by product and capacity
FIG. 1. Total active projects by region and sector, additions to 2024
September 2019. TABLE 6. Major refining initiatives in Iraq
FIG. 2. Total active project market share by region, TABLE 7. Major refining initiatives/projects in the U.S
September 2019. by company
FIG. 3. New project announcements, June 2018–August 2019.
FIG. 4. Active project market share in Africa. NATURAL GAS/LNG
FIG. 5. Distillation capacity additions (MMbpd) by region,
2018–2024. Source: OPEC. FIG. 1. Gas trade by supply source, 2017–2040. Source: BP.
FIG. 6. Active project market share in the Asia-Pacific region. FIG. 2. Carbon emissions from power sector, 1998–2018.
FIG. 7. China plans to add more than 4.3 MMbpd of new Source: BP.
refining capacity by 2025. Source: Sinopec. FIG. 3. Gas consumption per capita, 2018. Source: BP.
FIG. 8. New capacity in China will be in bases along FIG. 4. Gas consumption by region, 2018. Source: BP.
the eastern coast. Source: Sinopec. FIG. 5. LNG demand growth by region, 2016–2018.
FIG. 9. China’s ethylene and PX capacity is forecast to Source: Shell.
reach 53 MMtpy and 40 MMtpy, respectively, by 2025. FIG. 6. LNG imports and exports, 2017–2040. Source: BP.
Source: Sinopec. FIG. 7. Global gas consumption by sector, 2018–2035.
FIG. 10. Australia LNG export capacity buildout by project, Source: Shell.
2005–2019. Source: U.S. EIA. FIG. 8. Gas production by region, 2018. Source: BP.
FIG. 11. Active project market share in Latin America. FIG. 9. Global gas trade movements, 2018. Source: BP.
FIG. 12. Active project market share in the Middle East. FIG. 10. LNG spot and short-term flows by region,
FIG. 13. Active U.S. projects by PADD, October 2019. 2010–2018. Source: GIINGL.
FIG. 14. U.S. LNG export projects under development. Source: FIG. 11. Share of LNG spot and short-term flows vs. total
Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction Boxscore Database, LNG trade, 2010–2018. Source: GIINGL.
the Energy Web Atlas and the U.S. Department of Energy. FIG. 12. Global LNG export capacity forecast by region,
1980–2050. Source: DNV GL.
TABLE 1. 2020 worldwide HPI spending, billions $ FIG. 13. Global LNG regasification capacity forecast
TABLE 2. 2020 worldwide total spending by budget, billion $ by region, 1980–2050. Source: DNV GL.
TABLE 3. 2020 worldwide HPI capital spending, billions $ FIG. 14. Global LNG capacity installed and under construction,
TABLE 4. 2020 worldwide HPI maintenance spending, 2016–2025. Sources: Bernstein Research, Citigroup,
billions $ Bloomberg.
TABLE 5. 2020 worldwide HPI operating spending, billions $ FIG. 15. Location of Anadarko’s proposed LNG development
TABLE 6. Total refi ning capacity (MMbpd) by region, in Mozambique.
2018–2025 FIG. 16. Digital rendering of Cheniere Energy’s planned
TABLE 7. Active projects market share by activity level Corpus Christi LNG project in Texas.
in Europe FIG. 17. Aerial view of Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG project
TABLE 8. U.S. ethane cracker projects in Western Australia.
FIG. 18. Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project offshore northern
REFINING Australia.
FIG. 19. Novatek’s Yamal LNG project in Russia.
FIG. 1. Distillation capacity additions (MMbpd) by region, FIG. 20. Petronas’ PFLNG Satu project offshore Malaysia
2018–2024. Source: OPEC. was relocated in 2019 to take advantage of different
FIG. 2. Market share of active projects globally by activity gas reserves.
level. Source: Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction FIG. 21. Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil’s Golden Pass LNG
Boxscore Database. project in Texas.
FIG. 3. New secondary unit capacity construction (MMbpd), FIG. 22. Projections for LNG use as a marine fuel through
2018–2024. Source: OPEC. 2035. Source: Shell.
FIG. 4. Chinese oil demand by product, 2018–2024. FIG. 23. Europe gas import sources in 2018, Bsft3d.
Source: IEA. FIG. 24. Europe coal-to-gas switching economics.
FIG. 5. Indian oil demand by product, 2008–2024. Source: IEA. Source: Shell.
FIG. 6. OECD Europe product demand (top) vs. non-OECD FIG. 25. Projected gas supply to Europe through 2025.
Europe, Russia and the CIS product demand Source: Shell.
(thousand bpd), 2018–2024. Source: IEA. FIG. 26. Projected gas supply to Europe through 2040.
FIG. 7. Latin America oil demand (MMbpd) in selected Source: BP.
countries, 2018–2024. Source: IEA. FIG. 27. China regasification capacity additions, 2018–2022.
Source: Shell.
TABLE. 1. Global oil demand by product (MMbpd), 2018–2024 FIG. 28. China gas supply growth by source, 2018.
TABLE 2. Major refining projects and initiatives in India Source: Shell.
TABLE 3. Additional refining projects/initiatives in Asia FIG. 29. Gas supply to China, 2010–2040. Source: BP.
FIG. 30. India regasification capacity additions, 2018–2022. FIG. 8. Active petrochemical project market share
Source: Shell. in the Middle East.
FIG. 31. North America gas processing capacity additions, FIG. 9. Aerial view of MEGlobal’s 750,000-tpy Oyster Creek
2019–2023. MEG facility. Photo courtesy of MEGlobal.
FIG. 32. Global LPG demand by region.
FIG. 33. LPG exports by major exporters, 2005–2025. TABLE 1. GDP growth (percent) in selected countries,
Source: IHS Markit. 2018–2024
FIG. 34. U.S. supply and demand of LPG by source. TABLE 2. GDP growth (percent) by region, 2018–2024
FIG. 35. U.S. EIA-assessed shale gas basins around TABLE 3. Major petrochemical projects/initiatives in India
the world as of September 2015. TABLE 4. Ethylene, PE, propylene and PP capacity additions
FIG. 36. Typical products split for a large-scale GTL plant. (MMtpy), Western Europe vs. Eastern Europe, Russia
Source: Muse, Stancil & Co. and the CIS, 2017–2022
FIG. 37. Schematic of the GTL production process. TABLE 5. Major petrochemical projects in Russia
Source: Muse, Stancil & Co. TABLE 6. Capital-intensive petrochemical projects
FIG. 38. Investment projections for liquefaction capacity. in Saudi Arabia
Source: Shell. TABLE 7. U.S. ethane cracker projects
FIG. 39. LNG contract volumes by seller type, 2008–2018. TABLE 8. Major petrochemical projects in the U.S.,
Source: Shell. excluding ethane cracking projects
FIG. 40. Average LNG contract length, 2008–2018.
Source: Shell. MAINTENANCE AND EQUIPMENT
FIG. 41. Worldwide greenfield LNG investments by approval
year, 2015–2021. Source: Rystad Energy. FIG. 1. Global downstream maintenance expenditures ($ B),
FIG. 42. Global LNG CAPEX by facility type, 2013–2022. 2013–2022. Source: Douglas-Westwood.
Source: Westwood Global Energy Group. FIG. 2. Industry 4.0 and digitization developments are changing
FIG. 43. Global FLNG CAPEX by region, 2013–2024. the way operators plan and execute major turnarounds.
Source: Westwood Global Energy Group. FIG. 3. For early adopters, digitalization improvements
FIG. 44. Projected costs for FLNG vs. onshore projects, can provide considerable opportunities for performance
2000–2018. Source: Wood Mackenzie. and profitability, particularly around turnaround and
FIG. 45. Capacity of LNG facilities vs. reserves. Capacities maintenance planning.
greater than 4 metric MMtpy benefit from onshore FIG. 4. The maintenance maturity pyramid.
development. Source: Wood Mackenzie. FIG. 5. Integration with augmented reality (AR) and mixed
reality technology empowers workers with in-depth
TABLE 1. World LNG and pipeline gas exports and imports, knowledge of the asset directly at their fingertips,
2017–2018 facilitating operations and maintenance.
TABLE 2. Top 10 countries with proven natural gas reserves FIG. 6. Most notable functionalities used to download and
TABLE 3. Top 10 countries with technically recoverable install malware.
shale gas reserves FIG. 7. Direct and indirect employment increases due to
TABLE 4. Commercial-scale GTL projects in operation crude exports. Source: API.
around the world FIG. 8. NASA’s Jim Wetherbee’s representation of the factors
TABLE 5. Total worldwide gas processing projects influencing workforce behavior.
TABLE 6. New worldwide gas processing projects FIG. 9. Comparative costs for maintenance programs.
TABLE 7. Key FLNG projects operational and under FIG. 10. Failure rates for common plant equipment items.
construction FIG. 11. Rotating equipment repair market, 2018–2028.
TABLE 8. Estimated 2020 gas processing spending Source: Persistence Market Research.
FIG. 12. Predicted global heat exchangers market by
PETROCHEMICALS end-user industry.
FIG. 13. Global submersible pumps market. Source: Future
FIG. 1. Petrochemicals production to 2050. Source: IEA. Market Insights.
FIG. 2. Active petrochemicals project market share FIG. 14. Global filter market. Source: Freedonia.
by activity level. FIG. 15. Refinery catalyst market. Source: Global Market Insights.
FIG. 3. Active petrochemical project market share in the
Asia-Pacific region. TABLE 1. U.S. valve demand, $MM
FIG. 4. Balance of major petrochemicals in China in 2025. TABLE 2. Common valve types
Source: Sinopec’s New Horizons for China’s TABLE 3. Pumps used in HPI processes
Petrochemical Industry 2019.
PROSPECTUS

FIG. 5. Active petrochemical project market share in

Western Europe.
FIG. 6. Active petrochemical project market share in
Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS.
FIG. 7. View of construction activities on the ZapSib-2 project.
 What is the Future of
DOWNSTREAM CAPITAL
CONSTRUCTION?

Discover how market conditions will impact spending

and business activity in the global petrochemical,
refining and natural gas/LNG industries. HPI Market
Data 2020 is the hydrocarbon processing industry’s
most trusted forecast of capital, maintenance and
operating expenditures.

Produced annually by the editors of Hydrocarbon

Processing since 1973 and featuring data provided by
governments, associations, public and private companies
and institutions, and Hydrocarbon Processing’s
Construction Boxscore database and Gulf Energy
Information’s Energy Web Atlas, this comprehensive
resource gives critical insight into HPI market trends,
spending and activity.

Obtain HPI Market Data 2020 to:

• Plan strategically for 2020 and beyond
• Locate new opportunities in today’s
changing environment
• Obtain regional and market analysis
to inform your planning
• Understand new regulations and initiatives
that will affect future capital spending
• Discover how spending trends by sector
will impact your company.

Order Your Copy of the Downstream’s Most

Trusted Forecast of Capital, Maintenance and
Operating Spending & Put Your Company in
Position to Gain Market Share and Win New
Business in 2020 and Beyond!

Order Today!
Call +1 (713) 520-4426 or order online at
[Link]/HPIMDB2020

[Link]
 N. EICHELBERGER
Digital Accruent, Omaha, Nebraska

Better maintenance through better data

When I talk to professionals in the refining and petrochemi- software can schedule preventive maintenance when actual us-
cal businesses, they are always interested in how new technolo- age approaches the equipment’s limit.
gies can improve operational efficiency, make plants safer and Why is this shift to the preventive maintenance approach im-
increase profitability. portant? A recent report from ARC Advisory Group indicates
One fascinating area is how the unglamorous world of plant that manufacturing companies lose $50 B/yr in unplanned
maintenance is being transformed by better data—recording downtime. When unplanned downtime occurs in a chemical
data, analyzing and putting it at the fingertips of workers in plant during off hours, labor costs increase because of overtime,
the plant. Whether it is historical asset data, information on expedited materials and equipment needed for repairs.
past maintenance activities or the most up-to-date engineer- When equipment maintenance is planned, the parts can be
ing specifications, putting this information in the hands of the available, the labor scheduled, and the maintenance performed
workers responsible for keeping plants in operational running in a more efficient manner. When a CMMS is used to make
order is having a transformational effect. production downtime predictable, operations planners can
build product inventory levels in advance, so customer ship-
On-demand asset data increases maintenance effec- ments are not interrupted for necessary maintenance.
tiveness. Systematically storing the maintenance history of
each piece of equipment and providing technicians with im- Mobile data access reduces time to repair. ARC Advi-
mediate access to that information can deliver more efficient sory Group recently reported that 50% of maintenance tech-
maintenance. Traditionally, most of that data has been isolated nicians worldwide are using mobile devices for work orders.
on scraps of paper or on individual departmental computers. The author expects that trend to continue increasing in the
Consider a polymer process plant. If the reactor agitator future because anytime/anywhere access to maintenance data
goes down, the polymer can harden inside the reactor within improves labor productivity and helps technicians spend more
an hour. When the polymer hardens, cleaning the reactor takes time using their expert skills.
2 d–4 d. In addition to the maintenance costs, cleaning days also Mobility adoption can make a big difference in labor effi-
mean production losses. When prior work order history is not ciency and time to repair completion. With a tablet or phone, a
readily accessible, it takes more time for the maintenance tech- technician can call up key information without walking back to
nician to repair the agitator. the shop, saving significant amounts of time.
However, with new, computerized maintenance manage- In addition to the time-saving value of delivering data to a
ment systems (CMMS), the agitator’s entire work order history technician’s location, mobile systems can enable the technician
is easily viewed, speeding up the technician’s troubleshooting to record information more accurately. For example, when a
and getting the agitator back into service quickly. Technicians’ technician records work completion on their mobile device,
work can also be accelerated through easy access to operational future task time estimates can be more accurate, and planning
documents, procedures, flow diagrams and up-to-date engi- can be improved.
neering drawings through integration of the CMMS with engi- By embracing the changing maintenance landscape and
neering document management (EDM) technology. focusing on these key elements, companies can reduce down-
time, improve productivity and lower maintenance costs.
Historical data drives preventive maintenance. In the Is your operation capitalizing on maintenance data through
past, maintenance work was primarily reactive. Schedules— modern CMMS and EAM systems to make your plants safer,
usually established manually—lacked consideration for the more productive and profitable? Make sure your maintenance
capacity and availability of resources. As a result, maintenance and engineering data is always accessible to your technicians,
schedules were followed loosely, if at all. At present, a CMMS- with a full history for each piece of equipment available on tech-
generated schedule can assess the availability of skills and parts nicians’ mobile devices for just-in-time optimization.
and automatically perform optimization.
When maintenance management has the right historical NATHAN EICHELBERGER is a Senior Vice President at
Accruent. He is responsible for client relationships across
data in its system, it can identify trends to reduce the number multiple industry sectors, including discrete and process
of reactive, unplanned downtime events. This creates time and manufacturing, distribution and utilities. He has 24 yr of
energy to deliver more uptime through proactive preventive experience in technology leadership, and has built his
career developing collaborative relationships to achieve
maintenance. For example, by analyzing the work order history innovative solutions for his teams and customers. Prior to
of a motor, it can become clear that the motor typically fails joining Accruent, his career encompassed executive roles at Gateway
after 5,000 hr of use. With this data, automated maintenance Computers, LANDESK Software and Ivanti Software.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 25

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 P. BARTELL
Heat Transfer Valin Corp., San Antonio, Texas

Designing electric process heater systems

for catalytic regeneration
Achieving effective catalyst regeneration requires a process gas heating would generally have a heating element always run-
that produces a very high level of heat in a very efficient man- ning at 23 W/in2. This common watt density, also referred to
ner. Over the years, several different approaches have been as heat flux, has worked for nearly 100 yr. However, this design
taken to create this required heat. Traditional steam has been standard is not always the most optimal. Consideration must
a popular choice, as has heated transfer media. However, these be given to the actual temperature of the resistance wire that
methods have limitations. creates this heat. Why? Because the flow of the product across
As a better alternative, electric heaters have long been an these elements is what takes the heat away. Through modern
ideal heat source in the regeneration of catalysts within pro- heat transfer modeling, it can be determined that a smaller-
cesses. Whether the application concerns refining, ethylene, diameter element, higher watt density, smaller chamber and
propylene, olefins or any of the air separation industries, increased velocity all lead to a cooler-running, smaller unit.
achieving catalyst regeneration using electric heaters is ulti- The next vital design consideration is determining where
mately preferred. They can produce high heat levels (can be the control systems of these heaters are ultimately located. His-
well over 500°C) in a more efficient manner than the alterna- torically, engineers and designers will specify that the control
tives. However, that is not to say that proper design and imple- panel for these regeneration heaters be located locally. Usually,
mentation are not critical for catalyst regeneration with electric this location is at the side of the heater and out in the plant in
process heaters—in fact, they are essential. a hazardous area.
First and foremost, there are multiple uses for electric heat- To mount a heater control panel locally, additional hard-
ers in catalytic regeneration processes across the aforemen- ware must be used, such as a Z purge and a hazardous-rated air
tioned industries. For example, electric process heaters are conditioner. It is often difficult for suppliers to separate out the
utilized in the reforming of naphtha to produce gasoline or ole- equipment and still provide the scope of what the engineer re-
fins, in the chlorination process and in superheating to remove quires. However, for the end user at the plant, having a control
hydrocarbons and contaminants from catalyst material. panel in the MCC is much easier to maintain. Furthermore,
Furthermore, electric heaters are used in superheating to with this approach, less equipment is required. Considering
attain a specific reaction temperature, as well as in molecular modern operations, with an air-conditioned motor control
sieve systems designed to assist in the separation of specific gas- center in such close proximity, there is no real reason that the
es from air. These heaters can utilize several media to include control panel needs to be out in the plant next to the heater. Fi-
air, methane or nitrogen in the renewal of catalytic efficiency. nally, both plant interface and the communication with process
In every case, the heaters are critical, as they are required to PLC or DCS systems is an important design consideration.
provide optimal performance in any given reaction. Designing A DCS type system is found in most operations. Within a
these units to work most effectively is very important to both process globally, every piece of equipment is monitored or run
an operation and the bottom line. with the permission and oversight of this system. In the case
One of the more underappreciated parts of the application of a regen process performed by an electric heater, it is easy for
is the need for proper design. An effective design generally that DCS to actually perform the control function of the regen
requires a variety of expertise. The most optimal design for a heater directly. Alternatively, adding a local control device can
heater and control system in a catalytic regeneration applica- complicate matters unnecessarily. By doing this, it simply adds
tion requires specific design disciplines. As the electric heater one more point of possible equipment failure.
industry is quite mature, there was little change or evolution As global demand for fuel and plastics continues to grow,
for a long stretch of time. electric process heaters will be added to processes around the
However, more modern innovations have provided im- world. The benefits of utilizing these heaters far outweigh the
provements to both performance and system longevity. This alternatives available. However, as electric heaters and their
makes it even more important to elicit the help of an experi- control systems continue to evolve through necessity and in-
enced electric process heat engineer to assist in the design of a novation, special attention should be given to the design of
new system or the upgrade of an existing operation. This will the process.
ensure that no stone is left unturned in optimizing the process.
PATRICK BARTELL is the Vice President of Sales for Valin Corp., a technical
One of the most important factors to take into consideration solutions provider for the technology, energy, life sciences, natural resources
is the optimal heat transfer and the effectiveness of any electric and transportation industries. Valin offers personalized order management,
heater while it is running. For example, traditional designs for onsite field support, comprehensive training and applied expert engineering.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 27

 | Special Focus
PLANT DESIGN, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION
From planning and engineering through construction and commissioning, hundreds of
billions of dollars in new capital investments are being developed around the world.
These capacity expansions and grassroots facilities are aimed at satisfying increasing
demand for transportation fuels and petrochemical products. Engineering, licensing,
equipment fabrication, procurement and construction functions are performed by
engineering teams located in various offices, on several continents and in different
time zones. As capital costs continue to increase, greater efforts will be applied to
optimize engineering and construction activities.

Photo: ZapSibNeftekhim is set to become the largest modern petrochemical facility in Russia. It is
a part of the Tobolsk site, which comprises facilities operating in three major segments—monomer
and polymer production and power, heat and steam generation.
 Special Focus Plant Design, Engineering and Construction
J. P. CHEVRIERRE, Transmar Consult Inc., Houston, Texas;
and A. DAILY, Daily Thermetrics, Houston, Texas

Surviving turbulent times requires

deep management changes
The Stone Age did not end due to a stone shortage. The Con- New management strategies for the E&C industry. Why
ventional Oil Age was not eclipsed by vanishing traditional oil and have managements at global E&C companies not addressed
gas resources. The Shale Revolution unleashed an era of abun- the problem of insufficient reserves? The main reasons are per-
dant, new unconventional oil and gas supplies. It caused pricing verse incentives. Management bonuses and stock options are
volatility and numerous other changes that are transforming the based on the absolute size of company profits. Setting aside
hydrocarbon industry. As with any major tectonic shift, the turbu- greater fund reserves to support higher risks would signifi-
lence accompanying the shale revolution is irregular, erratic and cantly lower the net income and, consequently, harm executive
nonlinear. Consequently, senior management must apply new bonuses and stock options.
business models to address the unprecedented market challenges
within the energy and hydrocarbon processing industries. Available solutions. Company executives have four resources
that can be used to increase productivity and raise real profits.
Leadership through tough times. If a company has no clear These include:
end goals firmly in place, then no amount of time or resources 1. Capital (money)
will successfully achieve those targets. Unfortunately, many en- 2. Physical assets (buildings, equipment)
gineering and construction (E&C) contractors operate without 3. Knowledge (intellectual capital)
firm direction. These companies are not developing the appro- 4. Time.
priate strategies and structures to meet the new market condi- To manage marketplace turmoil, senior executives of E&C
tions initiated by the shale revolution. companies are aggressively reallocating the listed resources.
Better leadership is needed within the E&C industry. For ex- Such plans begin with a thorough understanding of where capi-
ample, more than 50% of the major E&C contractors replaced tal funds are tied up in each specific resource and effectively re-
their CEOs over the past three years. Yet, many E&C contrac- distributing money to net maximum efficiency. Every E&C con-
tors are still losing money, seeking mergers or facing potential tractor allocates investment monies differently. Upstream E&C
bankruptcy. The question baffling E&C management is: What companies have most of their capital in floating rigs. Other E&C
actions are needed to reverse the damaging situation and ensure companies may have the bulk of their funds in physical build-
long-term survival and prosperity? ings or proprietary technologies. Senior leadership must un-
Due to turbulent and transformative times, E&C contractors derstand where the investment monies (capital) reside to best
are working under higher risk levels. The higher risks require manage such resources and increase companywide productivity.
that contractors earn greater remuneration levels for their efforts.
However, present accounting figures do not correctly inform se- Trimming the “fat” is painful. The next question is: what
nior management of what remuneration and earnings are really investment capital is no longer productive? Within the organi-
needed. In some cases, the figures are overestimates of the com- zation, management must decipher what is no longer muscle
pany’s true profitability. E&C industry accounting can be mis- and is only fat (waste of resources). Often, this means going on
leading; consequently, these financials lack quality information a corporate “diet” and reallocating capital to more productive
to support good decision-making. areas. Under this era of great transformation, E&C contractors
make changes not due to pride, internal politics, incapacity or
Seed funds for E&C companies. In the agriculture industry, arrogance. Unfortunately, the “fat” resources are no longer pro-
there is the concept of “seed corn,” which is a portion of a harvest ductive and cannot remain part of the organization.
that is reserved for future planting. It is not part of the harvesting E&C contractors must retire old products and services that
profit and is a cost to stay in business. Similarly, for E&C com- once contributed to corporate performance but now are finan-
panies, part of what is supposedly profits are really costs (reserve cial drags. This includes past acquisitions or JVs that no longer
funds) that are required to just “stay in business.” Due to the add value to company strategies or performance.
present market turbulence, the need for higher levels of “seed
funds” by E&C contractors is obvious and acute. Unfortunately, It is a matter of survival. Contractors are like ships trav-
E&C contractors are not earning (saving) enough seed funds. elling in the ocean for many months; they inevitably pick up
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 29
 Plant Design, Engineering and Construction

barnacles that slow their speed, efficiency and maneuverability. Knowledge is capital and power. The modern E&C indus-
Just as ship operators remove the barnacles to improve perfor- try is increasingly populated by knowledge professionals. They
mance, contractors must clean out the old and have a policy of are specialists and self-motivated; more importantly, they do not
systematic divestment or abandonment. Hydrocarbon process- respond well to authoritarian-style management. Such profes-
ing operators developed and successfully use this action plan. sionals are experts in specialties including digitalization, shale
E&C contractors need to do the same. exploitation, marketing, logistics, modular construction, etc.
Intellectual capital must be better managed. Senior E&C Knowledge professionals are vital; they provide senior manage-
contractor managements need to boost the productivity of all ment with critical information to support good decision-mak-
four crucial resources. Each key resource must be managed sepa- ing. To keep knowledge workers highly productive, they must
rately, and all resources must increase their productivity. A key be treated as colleagues and given authority commensurate with
resource for E&C contractors is intellectual capital, which also their responsibilities. Senior management should treat knowl-
requires better management. This comprises proprietary knowl- edge professionals as peers. Unfortunately, this is not the normal
edge and, more importantly, professionals or subject matter ex- case, and change is needed (FIG. 2).
perts (SMEs). Manual or low-skilled workers can be substituted In addition, senior management must assign professionals and
with capital investments in automation. However, no such substi- knowledge workers to the right tasks to gain high productivity.
tution is possible for engineers and SMEs within the E&C indus- The assignment must fit the skills and experience of the knowl-
try (FIG. 1). Professional and knowledge workers must be prop- edge professional. The wrong assignment simply guarantees non-
erly supported to enhance motivation and productivity. This is a performance and poor productivity. Top management must put
key task for senior management, but it is often overlooked. knowledge workers where they can be the most productive.

Knowledge Time is money. The fourth key resource is time, which is es-
Creativity
pecially significant during transformative periods. Top manage-
Abilities
ments must balance the short run against the long run—the
present against the future. It makes no sense to purchase higher
Mentor Skills
profits today by making decisions that endanger the future
Human capital health of the enterprise. The present and future must be satisfied
by balanced decision-making.
Wisdom Education The time dimension is even more important today. In the
1970s, a new industrial plant was expected to pay for itself with-
in 3 yr. With current capital investment in developed countries,
Judgment Training labor costs are 25 times greater than in the 1970s. Present-day
Experience
return-on-investment (ROI) for capital projects can exceed
FIG. 1. Preserving human capital is critical for the survival of E&C
10 yr. Good and right decisions are critical. One reason for the
companies. popularity of shale development is the quick ROI, which aver-
ages 3 yr. In comparison, an offshore deepwater project may re-
quire 10 yr for full ROI.

Solutions to survive turbulent times. The future is un-

known, and it will be different than the past. Therefore, top
management must aggressively manage the time dimension and
other resources. E&C companies need to rethink their goals
and strategies to return to prosperity. At present, too many E&C
companies are failing. Better management of the four key fac-
tors—capital, physical assets, knowledge and time—will great-
ly help E&C contractors.
LITERATURE CITED
1
Brennan, J., “Measuring productivity for a change,” June 27, 2017, online: http://
[Link]/2017/06/27/measuring-productivity-for-a-change/

J. P. CHEVRIERRE spent most of his career working in the international energy

arena. He held executive positions at ARCO and Honeywell UOP. He has also
authored many technical articles in all major hydrocarbon publications and
journals, and is a frequent speaker on diverse management and engineering
subjects. He holds a BS degree in engineering science with honors from Temple
University, an MS degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
a PhD from the Université de Paris. He is a member of numerous professional
organizations, including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the
Houston Philosophical Society.

ANABEL DAILY is President and CEO of Daily Thermetrics, a Houston-based heat

FIG. 2. Senior management often does not use knowledge workers
management manufacturing company serving the hydrocarbon and aerospace
to their fullest potential.1
industries. Dr. Daily holds a doctorate in medicine and an MBA from Rice University.

30 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
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America’s
Infrastructure
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Primoris trades on NASDAQ under the symbol PRIM. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, visit us at [Link].

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 Special Focus Plant Design, Engineering and Construction
H. Y. NOH, Saudi Aramco, Yanbu, Saudi Arabia; and
M. CHERIF, Saudi Aramco, Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Modeling a dividing wall column

for NGL fractionation
Dividing wall column (DWC) mod- column. The separated C4 stream is pro- deethanizer has a refrigeration system to
eling was conducted to apply to natural cessed, and then supplied to customers keep the operational temperature around
gas liquids (NGL) fractionation to find and/or to the refrigeration unit and stor- 6.1°C (43°F), with pressure around 400
if there were any benefits in the design. age. C5+ is separated again in the down- psig (27.6 barg). Despite the benefit of
Regarding the convergence of a unique stream process in the Reid vapor pressure enough cooling, the deethanizer can ex-
column with an internal dividing wall, (RVP) column into C5 and C6+. All these perience operational problems, unlike
a search was conducted for commercial distillation columns are the conventional other columns with air fan coolers. These
simulation software that would be appli- valve tray type and consume a significant problems include:
cable. In terms of operational reliability, amount of energy, unlike DWC technol- 1. Depending on the contents
the study attempted to determine which ogy, which is the focus of this article. (moisture and hydrocarbons such
traditional distillation columns in an as ethane, methane and propane),
NGL fractionation plant are more favor- Background. In the Yanbu NGL frac- hydrates can easily form under
able for integration with a DWC. The tionation department (YNGLFD), there such conditions (e.g., 400 psig
results of capital cost and energy con- are three deethanizer columns, two and 6.1°C). Once formed, hydrate
sumption are summarized in this article, depropanizer columns, two debutanizer solids flow through the lines and
along with a case study that compared columns and one RVP column. Each start to accumulate in the heat
traditional binary columns to DWCs, as deethanizer, depropanizer, debutanizer exchanger’s tube-side inlet (less
well as tertiary separation columns with- and RVP column processes the following than 1 in. per each tube diameter).
out dividing walls, in an oil refinery where feedstock amounts: C2 product on the cold side takes
all three column types observe the same • Deethanizer: C2+ of 155,000 bpd the tube side, and C3 refrigerant
product specification. • Depropanizer: C3+ of 158,000 bpd on the hot side takes the shell
A deethanizer is a fractionation col- • Debutanizer: C4+ of 75,000 bpd side. In case of hydrate formation,
umn used in an NGL fractionation plant • RVP column: C5+ of 70,000 bpd. methanol injection is used as a
to separate C2+ into C2 and C3+. C2+ When it comes to C2+, the typical means of mitigation. However,
is a feedstock, while C2 and C3+ are re- mole composition of C2 , C3 , C4 and C5+ the injection rate is bound to the
sults of separation at the top and bottom is 45%, 30%, 15% and 10%, respectively. limit where the purity of C2 is not
of the column, respectively. C2 is sup- All columns have air fan coolers to negatively affected for product
plied to customers and C3+ flows into cool the column’s overhead stream, except specification. The depropanizer
the depropanizer column, where C3 and for the deethanizer column, which has a and debutanizer have no chances
C4+ are separated in the same manner as unique propane refrigeration system. All of hydrate formation, since
the deethanizer column. A C3 stream at columns have steam reboilers for heating the column overhead stream
the top of the column moves to treating the bottom stream. In the deethanizer, the temperature is far higher than
units, mercaptan oxidation and dehydra- C2 overhead vapor stream passes through water’s freezing point. For this
tion, where sulfur impurities and mois- the refrigeration process, becomes par- reason, hydrate formation can
ture are removed to be met within the tially condensed, and reaches the reflux happen only in the deethanizer.
specification for sale. Finally, the refined drum where liquid returns to the column 2. C2 from the deethanizer is in a
C3 stream is split into two streams: One as reflux and vapor heads directly to cus- vapor state, while C3 from the
is supplied to local domestic customers, tomers. Unlike the deethanizer, the C3 depropanizer and C4 from the
while the other stream flows to the refrig- and C4 overhead stream passes through debutanizer are supplied in a
eration unit and to the storage tank for ex- air fan coolers, becomes fully condensed, liquid state. The vapor supply has
port. Likewise, C4+ at the bottom of the and reaches the reflux drum, where the a greater risk for the supplying
depropanizer flows into the debutanizer liquid splits into two streams—one re- company than the liquid supply.
column where C4 and C5+ are separated turns to the column as reflux and the For example, if a downstream
in the same manner as the depropanizer other heads to treating units for sale. The petrochemical company reduces
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 33
 Plant Design, Engineering and Construction

or stops its intake due to sudden complicated process and control the greatest amount on the first
operational troubles, the supplying system than that of the air fan column encountered—for YNGL,
company continues processing coolers. The degree of integrating it is the deethanizer. Even though
YNGL has several strainers prior
to the deethanizer to screen
DWC technology has tremendous savings potential out particles from the C2+ feed,
the particles are sometimes
in capital and energy. DWC modeling has shown too small (with a size on the
dramatic energy and capital savings, no matter order of microns) to be caught.
what columns were chosen among the deethanizer, As a result, they pass through
strainers, reach deethanizers and
depropanizer and debutanizer. accumulate on the surface of
tube bundles in reboilers in the
deethanizers. The problem is that
the same throughput. Due to the process in the reflux drum level the deposited black powder acts
accumulation of hydrocarbons, is higher in the deethanizer than like insulation material, requiring
pressure rises from the back in any other column. For this more tube-side steam injection
side first (e.g., backpressure), reason, the deethanizer reflux to compensate for the insulation
affecting the supplying company. drum level is included in the phenomenon. Furthermore,
Since the vapor volume is much model predictive controller if steam valves are fully open,
higher than the liquid volume, the (MPC) program—implemented deethanizer columns lose the
pressure increment rate is much in the distributed control operational degree of freedom
faster when the vapor valve line is system—as a controlled variable (e.g., reboiler controllability).
closed than in the liquid line. For (CV). It is controlled with extra Thus, plant throughput must be
troubleshooting, plant throughput caution, unlike other reflux cut down immediately to control
is immediately decreased to a drums in the depropanizer and the reboiler, so that product
lower pressure by eliminating the debutanizer. The C2 stream specifications can be met within
accumulation. from the deethanizer has a greater the designated range.
3. The propane refrigeration chance of operational upset
system—comprising compressors, (e.g., fluctuation). Modeling. Unfortunately, commercial-
air coolers, expansion valves 4. Fine dust particles in the feed ized simulators have not provided users
and evaporators—has a more (from upstream processes) deposit with features like a built-in DWC pack-
age. Although a nonexisting built-in
package makes modeling challenging,
DWC modeling can be sufficiently de-
Prod. X veloped with reasonable approaches in
A simulation environments. When cham-
A Prod. X bers of the DWC are examined (FIG. 1),
Feed Prod. Y Feed Prod. Y there are four spaces (A, B, C and D) in
B C B C the DWC.1
D To discuss material flows, consider
Prod. Z D
the B space. Here, input is the feed from
the left side plus downward, and upward
Prod. Z flows from spaces A and D, respectively,
while output is upward and downward
streams from space B. Likewise, streams
FIG. 1. Conversion of a DWC into four equivalent sub-columns for the purpose of simulation.
in the systems of spaces A, C and D can
be broken down. Overall, internal flow
streams between the chambers in a DWC
can be represented as four equivalent
sub-columns on the right side in FIG. 1.
As the four sub-columns are the same as
the combination of traditional columns,
the DWC modeling can be done for a
simulation environment.
To converge the DWC simulation,
Type A Type B Type C Type D five variables must be specified. Three
are the purity of products X, Y and Z in
FIG. 2. Four typical dividing wall shapes and positions.
the same way as traditional column con-
34 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Plant Design, Engineering and Construction

vergence. The remaining two are unique TABLE 1. Comparison of a DWC with two other types of columns
variables. In sub-columns A and D, the
bottom and top flows are split into two Conventional Three side-draw
streams. Since those two split ratios are column without
DWC De-C3 De-C4 Total a dividing wall
unknown, they are variables and must be
specified. In a real structure, a split ratio Condenser duty, 249.9 190.9 116.1 307 1,679
is determined by the shape and position MMBtu/hr
of the internal dividing wall. Four typical Reboiler duty, 263.9 194.4 82.1 276.5 1,693
structures are shown in FIG. 2.1 As can be MMBtu/hr
predicted, type A has chambers distrib- Number of column trays 85 49 53 102 102
uting flows evenly. Type B indicates that C3 recovery 96 LV% 96 LV% – 96 LV% 96 LV%
chambers A and D distribute more flow
downward and upward into chambers B C4 recovery 96 LV% – 96 LV% 96 LV% 96 LV%
and C, respectively. Type C explains that C 5+ 97 LV% – 97 LV% 97 LV% 97 LV%
chamber A distributes more flow down-
ward into chamber C, while chamber D C3
distributes less flow upward into cham-
ber C. Finally, type D is the case of op- C3
position of type C. In this article, the di-
viding wall type selection is determined C4
C3+ feed DeC3
by two factors: energy consumption and
column tray numbers. C3+ feed C4

C4+
Proposal. Since Yanbu NGL has three DeC4 DWC
different columns of deethanizers, depro-
panizers and debutanizers, there are two C5+
options to be considered: C5
1. Combine the deethanizer with
the depropanizer as a DWC
FIG. 3. Selected target columns for integration—the depropanizer and the debutanizer.
2. Combine the depropanizer with
the debutanizer as a DWC.
The first option is not recommended, in condensation and 16.7% more energy NOMENCLATURE
since the deethanizer already has many in the column trays. C2: Ethane
C2+: Ethane and heavier
operating issues—hydrate formation, va- The three side-draw separation col-
C3: Propane
por supply condition, complicated con- umn without a dividing wall is not rec- C3+: Propane and heavier
trols and black powder. ommended, since these columns require C4: Butane
When it comes to potential risk a very high amount of energy—both in C4+: Butane and heavier
and frequent operational issues in the the condenser and in the reboiler. In ad- C5+: Pentane and heavier
deethanizer, it is better for the deetha- dition, remixing middle boiling point C6+: Hexane and heavier
nizer column to be operated more con- components is ineffective for maintain- DWC: Dividing wall column
NGL: Natural gas liquids
servatively with a conventional type. ing high purities of C3, C4 and C5+ (more RVP: Reid vapor pressure
The depropanizer and debutanizer have than 96%).
shown very stable operation in their re- LITERATURE CITED
spective histories. Hence, it is strongly Takeaways. DWC modeling has been 1
Ashrafian, R., “Using dividing wall columns in LNG
believed that a DWC would be ideal successfully carried out for NGL fraction- production,” NTNU, June 2014.
when the depropanizer and the debuta- ation by using commercial process simu-
HAE YONG NOH is a Process Engineer at Saudi
nizer are integrated together (FIG. 3). lation software. Although commercial Aramco’s YNGLFD. He earned a BS degree in
software has not implemented any fea- chemical engineering from Chung-Ang University
Results. Based on the proposal, two ture of the DWC package, the modeling in Seoul, South Korea, and an MS degree in
simulations were conducted: (1) with was successful because it was based on a interdisciplinary engineering from Purdue University
in West Lafayette, Indiana. Mr. Noh has 10 yr of
a DWC, and (2) conventional columns reasonable approach. DWC modeling has experience in the oil and gas industry, and is a
and three side-draw streams (C3, C4 and shown dramatic energy and capital sav- licensed professional engineer in chemical and
C5+) without a dividing wall. The results ings, no matter what columns were cho- mechanical engineering.
are summarized in TABLE 1. Consequently, sen among the deethanizer, depropanizer MOUNIR CHERIF is a Process Engineer at Saudi
the DWC consumed the least amount of and debutanizer. Considering the opera- Aramco’s Jazan refinery complex. He has 25 yr
energy, both in the condenser and in the tional issues in the deethanizer column, of experience in the oil and gas industry. Mr. Cherif
reboiler. It also required the lowest num- it is believed that integrating the depro- earned a BS degree in chemical engineering
from the Algerian Petroleum Institute and an
ber of column stages. Individual columns panizer with the debutanizer would be MS degree in chemical engineering from the
consumed an additional 22.8% of energy the best option for a successful DWC. University of Houston.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 35

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 Maintenance
and Reliability
M. VILA FORTEZA, Petronor, Muskiz, Spain

Consider installing a VFD to increase

reliability and savings
The Petronor oil refinery is in the north of Spain and is part • The plant cooling water reached the oil cooler at low
of REPSOL Group. In 2019, the facility upgraded the driver pressure because the machine is installed at the top
of a reformer’s draft fan from a general-purpose steam turbine of the furnace, so oil temperature problems were
and gearbox to a variable frequency drive (VFD) electric motor. experienced
Draft fans for refinery furnaces or reformers are critical because • The hydromechanical governor and its transmission
they usually do not have standby machines installed; when a sometimes did not reach the targeted MTBF of 5 yr
failure occurs, one or more production units must be stopped. • Steam ingression into the bearing housings due to
The desired mean time between failure (MTBF) for draft fans, leaks through carbon rings were reported
like numerous critical machines, is 4 yr–5 yr for the whole cycle • Oil ring lubrication problems in the steam turbine
between turnarounds without failures. were detected.
The original configuration of the upgraded centrifugal fan • Spurious high-speed trips were caused by vibrations
was installed in the late 1980s. The driver was a 20-kW, gen- of the governor’s transmission or other vibration issues.
eral-service steam turbine working at 4,300 rpm, controlled Due to these challenges, tighter inspection and mainte-
by a hydro-mechanical governor and coupled to a gearbox that nance tasks for the steam turbine, gearbox, governor and lube
transmitted the power to the fan and reduced the speed from system were designed and implemented to achieve improved
4,300 rpm to 960 rpm. This set required lubrication by an oil reliability. These actions included more frequent inspections
console that, like the draft fan, was located at the top of the re- by operators during their shifts, additional oil changes, and
former 20 m aboveground (FIG. 1). careful and more frequent inspections by lubrication crews
The minimum desired MTBF of 4 yr–5 yr was not achieved, and reliability inspectors.
as issues related to numerous different components could not It is important to highlight that the refinery’s electric sup-
resolved completely. The primary issues experienced included ply had reached the highest standards in the past few years.
• The oil system had a self-cleaning filter, rather than Therefore, the installation of a steam turbine for this service
a duplex filter was not strictly necessary to guarantee the machine availabil-

Gear box for H3-FA-1 Steam turbine

PI PLH PSH PSHH PSL PAL PAL
TI 520 521 521 522 523 523A 523
392 Speed CSB 1 in.
control
TI CSO 3 in.
391 4 in. CL 600
Reducer TI TI PAL
shaft PSLL A ¾ in.
388 389 523B 524 FV

F 35 EV
Reduction
TI gear box CE BE HC
394 sump TI DE AE
393 PALL PALL PSV CV
I 348
BV
524 524A ¾ in. AV AV
¾ in. ¾ in. ¾ in. ¾ in.
2 in. x 3 in. E ½ in. NPT
PALL set at FG 6 in. ¾ in. ½ in. NPT
524B 5.3 KSCG 357
M
CSV-8 35 35 GT GT GT
Auto start/stop 12 12 12

CSO HC

PY
524 11 12 To low lube oil
pressure turbine trip 15 12 21 20 11 56
9 26

FIG. 1. A simplified schematic of the steam turbine, gearbox and oil system auxiliaries.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 37

 Maintenance and Reliability

ity of 8,600 hr/yr. Finally, the steam production cost was, and chosen solution if the same machine had been designed in
still is, much more expensive than electric power. Considering the last 20 yr.
these factors, it is reasonable to assume that the solution of The steam turbine, governing system (FIG. 2), gearbox and
installing a VFD could provide benefits in both increased reli- lube oil console were dismantled, and all steam piping was re-
ability and reduced energy consumption. moved. The driver was reduced to an installed, 20-kW electric
Since the risk of failure during the 5-yr cycle was unaccept- motor and a frequency converter, and maintenance require-
able, the refinery’s reliability department studied the draft fan ments were reduced from previous levels. An MTBF of > 5 yr
from the design point of view rather than solving each prob- can be expected for the VFD electric motor drive system, so
lem individually. Reliability engineers reached the conclusion no failures should appear between turnarounds. Conversely,
that the driver was unnecessarily complex for a draft fan of when the steam turbine and gearbox and its auxiliaries were
only 20 kW. This complexity led to decreased reliability due to working, one or two stops and/or repairs were necessary dur-
the number of mechanical components and systems working ing each 4-yr cycle.
together. In other words, because many of the installed com- With the installation of the VFD electric motor (FIG. 3), the
ponents were old, the probability of failure was higher. draft fan became more efficient and reliable. The new speed
control provides slightly better capacity control of the fan,
Solving the problem. The proposed solution of installing improving the reformer pressure control and leading to other
a 20-kW electric motor directly coupled to the draft fan with potential energy savings.
VFD control seemed feasible and easy to implement. The en- A reduction of 430 tons of fuel oil equivalent was achieved
gineering team worked on the project, and the new driver set with this upgrade, contributing to the reduction of the to-
was installed in 1Q 2019. In fact, this would have been the tal carbon footprint. Additionally, more than €140,000/yr
($155,000/yr) in steam production has been saved. The high-
est-revenue savings were obtained with the higher availability
of the hydrogen unit where the fan was installed. These sav-
ings are expected to last through at least the whole turnaround
unit cycle.
Finally, maintenance costs and inspections have been re-
duced due to this revamping. The fan driver set now requires
less maintenance and has become much more reliable—the
perfect equation.

Takeaway. In this case, the takeaway is like the conclusion

discussed in literature.1 Reliability engineers must study an
entire design; sometimes problems arise because the machine
itself is unreliable by its design philosophy.
The solution implemented in this case it is not a complex
nor highly technical application, but rather a matter of com-
mon sense. It is unreasonable to expect a high MTBF when
the equipment being used is an old, general-purpose steam
FIG. 2. Steam turbine and speed governing system. turbine with oil rings, controlled by a hydromechanical gover-
nor coupled to the turbine shaft by a lubricated transmission,
and transmitting the power to a gearbox lubricated by an old-
fashioned console.
When a machine experiences a series of problems stemming
from different causes, it may be time to question the entire de-
sign. Reliability engineers should perform detailed analyses to
determine the optimum implementation of the most effective
solution. In this case, the solution can be described as “the sim-
pler, the better,” as the system reliability has been boosted by
removing a complex solution.

LITERATURE CITED
1
Vila Forteza, M., “Redesign, simplify and demonstrate facts,” Hydrocarbon
Processing, November 2017.

MARC VILA FORTEZA is responsible for the rotating machinery

reliability department at Repsol’s Petronor refinery at Muskiz,
Spain. He has held this position since 2009. He holds an MSc
degree in mechanical engineering and a BSc degree in naval
engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)
FIG. 3. A view of the newly installed driver, the VFD electric motor
in Barcelona, Spain. He has published technical articles on
coupled directly to the fan.
reliability, hydrogen compressors and lubrication management.

38 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
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EURASIA
 Maintenance
and Reliability
A. RINAWI, KELM Engineering LLC, Houston, Texas;
A. AL BUKHARI, M. AL HAJJI and M. AL BOOBAID,
Saudi Aramco, Dharan, Saudi Arabia

HC condensate sphere inlet

pipe failure investigation
During a normal turnaround and inspection (T&I) of a condensate is pumped to the suction of the condensate ship-
hydrocarbon sphere, a fatigue failure in the 24-in. inlet pipe per pumps, while sour water is pumped to sour water strippers.
riser was discovered. As per the original 2003 design, the The sphere has an inlet standpipe extended inside the sphere
sphere serves as a surge tank during pipeline scraping, as well from the bottom to a height of 46 ft, with a U shape to direct the
as a backup for a stabilizer during T&I. Each stabilizer has a feed flow above the high-high level (HHL) of the sphere. The
capacity of 78,000 bpd. However, due to asymmetry in the pip- standpipe is mainly intended to provide the wet condensate ad-
ing configuration, the sphere typically receives higher flow of equate residence time inside the sphere for separation before
90,000 bpd, with rates sometimes reaching 110,000 bpd as a re- it leaves from the bottom nozzle. This standpipe was found to
sult of scraping or other activities happening concurrently. The be broken near the bottom nozzle (FIG. 2) after opening the
sphere was upgraded to work continuously in 2012 to handle sphere for a planned T&I. The support flange near the top of
the anticipated additional condensate by adding an overhead the sphere, shown in FIG. 3, was found detached with one bro-
gas compressor and a dedicated condensate shipper pump. ken bolt inside the sphere. The seven other bolts for the flange
The surge sphere (FIG. 1) operates as a three-phase separator were missing, and it is likely these were carried into the suction
to separate water, gas and HC condensate. The HC condensate strainers of the condensate and water pumps.
is stabilized at 50 psig in the surge sphere with the flashed va-
por flowing to the overhead gas compressors. The stabilized

FIG. 1. The surge sphere operates as a three-phase separator

to separate water, gas and HC condensate. FIG. 2. Broken standpipe near the bottom nozzle.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 41

 Maintenance and Reliability

History. The plant reported high vibration on the inlet HC con- was investigated to check if the jet flow from this recycle 8-in.
densate line below the sphere, as well as on the outlet gas line line would hit the failed inlet riser pipe.
on top of the sphere. Two vibration surveys were conducted on
the sphere and its piping. A detailed finite element stress evalua- Jet impact from condensate recycle line. It was reported
tion of the sphere’s external nozzles based on measured vibration that the sphere had visible high vibration during recycling con-
showed that these nozzles can safely handle the vibration. After densate through the newly added pump with higher discharge
the inlet pipe was found detached inside the sphere (FIG. 4), fur- pressure. The recycle 8-in. line enters the sphere near the top
ther review of the process data was conducted. Findings included: and is directed towards the center of the sphere. Jet flow was
• A high condensate flowrate to the sphere beyond the analyzed to see if the recycle line jet would hit the inlet pipe.
original design rate of 2,275 gpm (78,000 bpd) was FIG. 6 shows the jet flow trajectory calculations. The calculated
observed on several occasions and increased in frequency path shows that the jet has little effect on the inlet pipe.
during October 2017–March 2018 (FIG. 5). The flow
reached 3,500 gpm (120,000 bpd), particularly Plug flow in two-phase, 24-in. condensate inlet. The
in October 2017. The average flow in that month 24-in. inlet pipe contains two-phase flow. Two-phase flow
was 3,200 gpm (110,000 bpd). forces were calculated, assuming a condensate liquid flow of
• Significant fluctuation in the sphere level was observed 3,200 gpm (110,000 bpd) and 16 MMft3d of gas. These repre-
during the same period, which indicates sudden liquid sent the flow in November 2017.
surge to the sphere. The maximum slug force is calculated as 2,376 lbf (pound-
• The high flow to the sphere took place during the outages force), as shown in Eq. 1. It was assumed that the liquid slug is
of one stabilizer, which was encountered more frequently driven by the high-velocity gas into the sphere. The change in
in 2017–2018 due to stabilizer reboiler cleaning activities. direction causes a large force due to momentum change. The
• The observed surge in flow to the sphere is caused by force is multiplied by a factor of two to account for dynamic
diverting excessive HC condensate to mitigate capacity amplification.
limitation in the stabilizers, which may have also
coincided with pipelines scraping operations. Force = 2 × ρl × Veff2 × A = 2376 lbf (1)
• When one stabilizer is out for cleaning, the sphere is used
as a backup stabilizer. During this scenario, the piping The effective velocity (16.8 ft/sec) was calculated as the sum
configuration preferentially diverts more flow to the of the superficial gas velocity (14.4 ft/sec) and the superficial
sphere, causing the flow to exceed sphere design capacity. liquid velocity (2.4 ft/sec).
The plant indicated that high vibration was observed dur-
ing recycling of the HC condensate using the newly added
2,692-gpm pump with high discharge pressure. This scenario

FIG. 3. Detached support flange near the top of the sphere. FIG. 4. Inside the sphere, the inlet pipe was detached.

42 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Maintenance and Reliability

Inlet pipe fatigue analysis from slug flow. A proprietary The 24-in. support flange bolting is shown to scale in FIG. 10.
stress analysis programa was used to calculate inlet pipe fatigue Problems with this flange design included:
stresses. The missing guide support would have caused a fatigue • Bolts too far from pipe, causing prying and bending of plate
failure at the inlet nozzle. No failure is expected with an active • Thin plate (12 mm)
guide support. The calculated stress is multiplied by two to ac- • Small bolts (5⁄8 in.)
count for peak stress, as per ASME NC-3673.2. The resultant • Few bolts (8)
peak stress of 17,139 psi is placed into the ASME VIII 3.F.2 • Single nut is used.
fatigue curve for un-welded carbon steel. With approximately To strengthen the old design, a new support flange design,
200,000 cycles, if slugs can occur every minute or so, the inlet shown in FIG. 11, was proposed. Advantages include:
pipe failure can happen in approximately 4.6 mos. The stress at • Bolts are closer to the pipe, eliminating prying effect
the pipe support weld to the top of the vessel was much less, at • Thicker A36 plate (18 mm vs. 12 mm) and smaller radius
1,040 psi, so no failure is expected at that location (FIG. 7). (760 mm vs. 813 mm)
• Larger bolts (1 in.)
Inlet pipe flange fatigue analysis. The stress analysis pro- • More bolts (16)
gram was used to calculate the moment at the pipe support • Double nut with tack weld to avoid loosening
flange (FIG. 8) as 20,924 ft/lbf. Using the calculated slug mo- from vibration.
ment, the bolt stress is calculated as per the ASME B31.8 equa- Based on the calculation,1 the bolt stress is reduced from
tion. The calculations show that the bolt stress is satisfactory 27.6 ksi to 5.96 ksi (a reduction of 4.6 times). The fatigue life
based on static loads (FIG. 9). For cyclic loads, the bolt stress is increased from 70,000 cycles to 10 MM cycles, or 142 times
range is 27.6 ksi with a fatigue life of 70,000 cycles. (FIG. 12).

Assumptions. Slug loads are based on gas and liquid rates

that are measured at the outlet pipes. Inlet flow may be higher,
but average values are the same. A dynamic amplification fac-
tor of 2 is used in calculating the slug forces. The slug force is

FIG. 5. Process data findings.

FIG. 7. Since the stress at the pipe support weld to the top of the
FIG. 6. Jet flow trajectory calculations show that the jet has little effect vessel was much less at 1,040 psi, no failure is expected at that
on the inlet pipe. location.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 43

 Maintenance and Reliability

based on the highest possible force, assuming an all-liquid slug by continuous use of the sphere as a stabilizer. Bolt
is pushed by the gas. loosening could have triggered an earlier failure, as well.
Analysis summary: • High condensate flowrate to the sphere beyond the
• Jet flow from the 8-in. recycling line would not impact the original design rate of 2,275 gpm (78,000 bpd)
inlet pipe and, therefore, cannot be a cause for the failure. was observed on several occasions and was more
• The weak flange connection with eight small bolts failed frequent during October 2017–March 2018 (FIG. 5).
by overstressing due to high cyclic slug loads caused The flow reached 3,500 gpm (120,000 bpd),
particularly in October 2017, when the average flow
was 3,200 gpm (110,000 bpd).
• Significant fluctuation in the sphere level was observed
during the same period, indicating sudden liquid surge
to the sphere.
• The high flow to the sphere took place during the outages
of one stabilizer, which was encountered more frequently
in 2017–2018 due to stabilizer reboiler cleaning activities.
• The observed surge in flow to the sphere is caused by
diverting excessive HC condensate to mitigate capacity
limitation in the stabilizers, which may have also
coincided with pipelines scrapping operations.
• When one stabilizer is out for cleaning, the sphere is used
as a backup stabilizer. During this scenario, the piping
configuration preferentially diverts more flow to the sphere,
causing the flow to exceed the sphere design capacity.

⅝-in. bolt
¾-in. hole
8 bolts

FIG. 10. Existing flange with bolting to scale.

FIG. 8. Flange moment from slug forces. 760 mm

680 mm
18 mm
Check existing bolts
per ASME B32.8 equation ML = (C/4) (Sb Ab – PAp )
Calculated moment at flange ML = 20900 × ft × lvf
1-in. bolt hvy hex
Bolt size 5 1⅛-in. hole
db = — × in. 590.55 mm (inside diameter) to confirm
8 16 bolts SA-193 B7M,
Number of bolts N=8 L = 110 mm
db2 32 nuts SA-194 2HM
Total bolt area Ab = N ×  × —
4 (Double nut with
Bolt circle diameter C = 750 × mm tack weld)
4×M FIG. 11. Proposed support flange design.
Bolt stress Sb = —–––L = 13.843 ksi
C × Ab
Allowable stress (SA-193 B7M) B32.3 Sa = 25 × ksi Sb < Sa
Static bolt stress check passed 50 Type D and E
Fatique check: 2 × Sb = 27.685 ksi 40 Type A, B and C
Bolt stress range 30 Type F
Estimated cycles (UT-Austin tests) Cycles = 70,000
20
Stress range, ksi

Check new bolts

Specimen
Bolt size db = 1 × in. 10 Type A – AI93 – 1⅜-in.
Number of bolts N = 16 Type B – AI93 - 1¾-in.
db2 5
Total bolt area Ab = N ×  × — Type C – 4340 - 1⅜-in.
4 Type D – A36 - 1⅜-in.
Bolt circle diameter C = 680 × mm Type E - A36 - 1⅜-in.
4×M Type F - A36 - 2-in.
Bolt stress Sb = —–––L = 12.982 ksi
C × Ab 1
Bolt stress range 2 × Sb = 5.964 ksi 104 104 106 107
Estimated cycles (UT-Austin tests) Cycles = 10 × 106 Cycle to failure

FIG. 9. Based on static loads, the bolt stress is satisfactory. FIG. 12. Fatigue life calculations for A193 bolts.

44DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]

 Maintenance and Reliability

Recommendations include:
• Replace the support flange to increase the fatigue life
of the inlet pipe. The bolt stress will be reduced by
4.6 times, and a double nut with tack weld will prevent
bolt looseness. Both flanges should be identical on
both sides of the support. Plate material is A36, as per
original design. Alternate plate material A516 grade 60 is
acceptable. Plate thickness of 20 mm is also acceptable.
• Maintain the flow within the design rate of 92,000 bpd for
liquid and 17 MMft3d for gas for two-phase flow until it can
be confirmed that higher flows can be processed through a
more detailed analysis with designer involvement.
• Temporarily avoid scraping operation on the pipelines
when the sphere is utilized as stabilizer during the Tailor-made solutions for
shutdown of one condensate stabilizer. This is to
avoid sudden liquids surge to the sphere and results
cost-effective gas treatment
in high flowrate. and sulphur recovery plants
• When the sphere is utilized as a stabilizer during the
shutdown of one condensate stabilizer, divert the
condensate from the slug catchers directly to the sphere Over 500 projects developed
to minimize the impact of the imbalance in the gas/
condensate ratio between the sphere and condensate for onshore, offshore, upstream
stabilizers. During this mode of operation, ensure all slug and downstream installations
catchers’ water interface level controls are functioning
and in auto mode to avoid water carryover.
• Inspect the strainers of the condensate and water pumps
to locate the missing bolts for analysis.
NOTES
a
Bentley’s AutoPIPE stress analysis program

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Saudi Aramco plant engineer Jassim Aliwani for
his support in this investigation.
LIERATURE CITED
1
Fischer, F. L. and K. H. Frank, “Axial tension fatigue strength of anchor bolts,”
Center for Highway Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Research Report
Number 172-1, March 1977.
Licensor of SRU and supplier of
ABDULKARIM RINAWI is a Senior Vibration and Stress Consultant
for KELM Engineering. He has 28 yr of experience in piping, stick-built process plants and
structural and rotating equipment vibration, pressure pulsation, modular or skid-mounted units for:
pipe stress and flow analysis in piping, pipeline, power generation
and nuclear facilities. Dr. Rinawi earned a PhD in structural • Gas treatment
engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
• Gas field development
AMER AL BUKHARI has more than 10 yr of experience and is a • Gas dehydration with solvents or adsorbents
Pressure Vessels and Tanks Engineer with Saudi Aramco’s
consulting services department. He earned BS and MS degrees in • NGL recovery and stabilisation
mechanical engineering, and is an API 510 pressure vessel • Gas sweetening
certified inspector and a member of Saudi Aramco’s Vessels
Standards Committee. • Sulphur recovery and tail gas treatment
MOHAMMAD HAJJI is an Engineering Consultant with Saudi Custom solutions to fit your needs
Aramco with more than 27 yr of experience in gas processing,
with expertise in gas sweetening and sulfur recovery. He works to
provide technical support to operating facilities and introduce
new technologies. He graduated from King Fahd University of
Petroleum and Minerals (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) with a BS degree
in chemical engineering.

MOHAMMAD AL BOOBAID is a Process Engineer in Saudi

Aramco’s process and control systems department/gas
processing unit. He has 6 yr of experience in the gas processing
industry in gas sweetening, gas and liquid dehydration, gas
conditioning and NGL recovery. He earned a BS degree in
[Link] - marketing@[Link]
chemical engineering from King Fahad University of Petroleum
and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 45

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[Link]
 Environment
and Safety
K. MALHOTRA, S & B Engineers
and Constructors Ltd., Houston, Texas

Rethink fired heater design for emissions

As environmental regulations are becoming more strin- HEATER OVERDESIGN
gent on reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx ) and carbon monoxide When designing a new unit, extra design margins are typical-
(CO) emissions, burner designs are changing to meet revised ly added to the entire process (increased process duty, process
regulations. The heater design must complement the chosen flow, etc.) as an insurance to meet or exceed the guarantees pro-
burner for optimal performance. Although design duty is con- vided. Excessive margins can be problematic for heater designs,
sidered to be the main focus of the heater design, the range of as this results in excessive burner overdesign and heater turn-
heater operation and its impact on heater safety and emissions down requirements. Excessive overdesign can cause problems
needs are often neglected. in designing heaters and burners to meet emissions at turndown
(BWT lower than 1,300°F promote high CO and VOC emis-
Heater operating range. The heater operating range should sions). When excessive heater overdesign is observed, it should
be considered at the design phase itself. Typically, burners wit- be discussed with the client or the process licenser to ensure
ness CO breakthrough (increased CO emissions) at bridge- that they are aware of the limitations.
wall temperatures (BWT) lower than 1,300°F. Volatile organic Case Study 2. A hot oil heater with a selective catalytic re-
compound (VOC) emissions also increase with BWT lower duction (SCR) system was specified with 120% overdesign to
than 1,300°F. In some cases, burner vendors may be willing to meet design guarantees, which resulted in a much lower turn-
guarantee emissions for lower operating temperatures, but it is down requirement. This resulted in low radiant box tempera-
a case-by-case discussion.1 tures (BWT). The specified hot oil had a low process outlet
FIG. 1 provides an estimation of the BWT vs. average radiant temperature, with considerable margin in maximum allowable
flux as a function of average tube metal temperature (TMT). film temperatures.
The tubes are spaced at two nominal diameters. This specifica- The average radiant flux was increased, and a turndown
tion applies to most operating box and vertical cylindrical fur- emissions guarantee was obtained for 1,250°F BWT. In this sce-
naces (single fired boxes). nario, the process film temperatures could accommodate higher
Although the TMT is dependent on the heat flux and fluid temperatures (without affecting the desired heater run length),
dynamics inside, for most operating furnaces, average TMT can with the increase in average radiant flux to achieve the required
be approximated using Eq. 1: process and emissions guarantees at turndown.

Tavg = Tin + 0.75 (Tout – Tin ) + 125°F (1) Common burner types. The burner is the heart of the heater,
where combustion occurs. Burner selection is extremely critical
where:
Tavg = Average TMT, °F 1,800
Tin = Process inlet temperature, °F
Tout = Process outlet temperature, °F. 1,700
Case Study 1. A new regeneration heater was installed with 1,600
ultra-low NOx burners, as an effort to reduce NOx emissions.
BWT, °F

1,500
CO and combustibles analyzers were added as a part of the Average TMT = 200°F
safety upgrade. 1,400 Average TMT = 400°F
Average TMT = 600°F
When the heater was operated, high CO emissions were Average TMT = 800°F
1,300
recorded. It was realized that the heater datasheet listed only Average TMT = 1,000°F
the design case (higher-duty case), which was considered as a 1,200
8,000 9,000 10,000 11,000 12,000 13,000 14,000
design basis; however, when the heater was operated at normal Average radiant flux, Btu/hr ft2
loads (greatly reduced duty) it resulted in a cool box, which
contributed to high CO emissions. The heater was re-permit- FIG. 1. Estimation of BWT as a function of average TMT and average
ted, and reduced load emissions guarantees were obtained from radiant heat flux (tubes spaced at two nominal diameters) for single
fired boxes.
the heater and burner vendors.
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 47
 Environment and Safety

for heater design, safety and emissions. Some common burner Most jurisdictions now require a sub-30-ppm NOx perfor-
types are listed in the following subsections. mance from the fired heaters, with a push for even lower re-
Premix gas burners work with the primary air and fuel gas duced NOx emissions. As a result, ultra-low NOx burners have
mix upstream of the burner discharge, before combustion oc- become a standard selection for most fired heater designs.
curs. Kinetic energy of the fuel is utilized for mixing. These
burners are characterized by short, tight flames. However, these Design considerations. It is important to consider a few
burners have limited turndown due to flashback concerns. design features for safe heater operation that ensures emission
In raw gas burners, the gas and the combustion air do not guarantees are met.3
mix until they leave the discharge ports, which eliminates the ULNB considerations. ULNB are characterized by longer
flashback concerns of premix burners. Therefore, raw gas burn- flame lengths. For a properly designed heater and burner, the
ers have good turndown capability. These burners are typically combustion process should be completed well before the ra-
characterized by a single tip with discharge ports. diant arch (also referred to as the bridgewall). The estimated
Low NOx burners use staged air or staged fuel for staged flame length is 1.5 ft/MMBtu–2 ft/MMBtu. Depending on
combustion and reduced peak flame temperature. This burner the burner design and spacing utilized, flame coalescing can
technology utilizes some flue gas recirculation and results in increase flame dimensions considerably. The chosen burner
longer flames, when compared to a premix or a raw gas burner. flame length should not exceed two-thirds of the radiant box
Ultra-low NOx burners (ULNB) utilize increased flue gas height. Expected flame height should be discussed with the
recirculation (cool flue gases at the heater floor) with staged fuel burner vendor and should be accounted for in the required ra-
(as much as 90% fuel staged to secondary tips). Combustion is diant height/coil geometry design.
delayed, which results in much longer flames and reduced NOx Case Study 3. An existing box heater was being revamped
emissions. These flames are more dependent on the radiant box with ULNB burners to meet reduced NOx emissions, as an up-
flue gas recirculation currents for proper combustion and flame grade from installed raw gas burners. When the CFD was con-
shape. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of the ra- ducted, it was realized that the flames coalesced and the box
diant box is highly recommended when considering the ULNB height and floor layout were not adequate for the increased
technology. A detailed burner test(s) should be considered with flame dimensions. A multiple-row burner layout with stag-
CO probing (for determining flame boundary/dimensions) at gered rows was considered. A multi-burner test was conducted
the vendor’s facility for the burner operating range. at the burner test facility to ensure that flame dimensions and
all emissions guarantees were being met.
TYPICAL HEATER EMISSIONS Radiant box geometry. Radiant box geometry substantially
Several types of heater emissions should be considered, as influences the ULNB flame shape and stability. Asymmetrical
listed in the following subsections. boxes can have odd flue gas recirculation, which can adversely
NOx emissions. Oxides of nitrogen are typically formed affect the ULNB flame shape, stability and performance.
through thermal and fuel NOx (mainly NO and NO2 emis- Case Study 4. An existing twin cabin heater with a com-
sions). Air staging, fuel staging and increased flue gas recircula- mon convection section and premix gas burners was retrofit-
tion are common ways to reduce NOx emissions. In special cir- ted with ULNB to reduce emissions. When the heater was
cumstances, steam injection is used to reduce NOx . Post-flame operated, the flames bent on one side of the box and impinged
treatment methods to reduce NOx include the use of SCR or, in on the tubes, causing high tube metal temperatures and re-
some special cases, selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) stricting the heater duty. It was realized that the slant on the
technologies. top of the radiant section, coupled with a side exit for the
CO emissions. Incomplete combustion or improper mix- common convection, caused the flue gases to recirculate at
ing of fuel and air will result in increased CO emissions. the top of the heater, thereby pushing the longer flames on the
VOC emissions. VOCs are typically caused by incomplete tubes. CFD was conducted, and the floor was redesigned with
combustion. API RP 5352 defines VOC as any compound of forced-draft burners to reduce flame height.
carbon that can participate in atmospheric photochemical re- Tube layout. Tube layout should be evaluated before
actions. selecting the type of burner. Tube layouts can cause asym-
Particulate emissions. API RP 535 states that all fuels will metrical flue gas patterns that can adversely affect the burner
contain or produce particulates. Some particulates can also re- performance.
sult from eroded refractory, tube scales, etc. Case Study 5. A client retrofitted new ULNBs with origi-
SOX emissions. Sulfur content in the fuel directly contrib- nally supplied raw gas burners for a reheat furnace with arbor
utes to SOx emissions. SOx emissions react with water to form coils (inverted U-coils) to reduce NOx emissions. When the
sulfuric acid. The best way to reduce SOx is to reduce the sulfur heater was fired up, all the flames leaned to one side, imping-
content of the fuel. ing on the tubes and restricting heater operation. A field visit
NH3 emissions. Ammonia (NH3 ) slip emissions are showed that the furnace created asymmetrical flue gas patterns
caused by the unreacted NH3 passing over the SCR catalyst. due to hot-end and cold-end tube walls (i.e., the process enter-
These are to be addressed when an SCR unit is installed with ing one cold-wall side manifold and exiting the other hot-wall
the heater. Typically, CFD is carried out to ensure proper NH3 side manifold). Considering the box size and the extra cush-
distribution. ion in the NOx emissions guarantees, the floor was redesigned
CO2 emissions. A byproduct of combustion is CO2. Higher and replaced with a center wall and flat flame burners. This
heater efficiency will produce fewer CO2 emissions. redesign solved the problem.
48 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Environment and Safety

Burner layout and spacing. Inadequate burner spacing pro- diant box, and the burner circle diameter was rearranged to
motes flame-to-flame coalescing and increases flame dimen- address the problem.
sions in field operation, which results in higher NOx emissions. Case Study 7. An operator was adjusting the stack damper
As a general rule, a minimum burner-to-burner spacing should from the control room. He accidently entered a wrong input,
be equal to the flame diameter (estimated at two times the which resulted in the sudden closure of the stack damper (with
burner throat diameter). It is important to realize that flame- large movement from its initial position). This created a pres-
to-flame coalescing can result in greatly increased flame dimen- sure surge in the box and took out the burner flames and the
sions in the field. The final layout should be discussed with the pilots. No incident occurred. Flame scanners were installed
burner vendor to ensure that guarantees are being met. later as safeguards.
As a minimum, the burner layout should meet all API RP Note: Many incidents have occurred in heaters, due to sud-
560 specified clearances. It is generally recommended to add a den adjustments made to the heater draft. Draft is created due
6-in. or greater margin for burner-to-tube spacing. The layout to the differential densities between the cold air and the rising
can be a single row or multiple rows for box heaters, or a single hot flue gases. Draft is negative pressure inside the furnaces,
circle or two circle for a vertical cylindrical heater. Single-row which is required to inspirate the air through the burners to
or single-circle burner layouts are preferred for new designs. ensure proper combustion.
With multiple-row or two-circle layouts, flue gas recirculation FIG. 2 shows the sensitivity of the burner performance when
to the inner burners becomes problematic and can increase sudden changes in draft occur. Shown are an operating floor
NOx emissions. When dealing with retrofits or heater revamps draft and a corresponding set of draft change curves to indicate
on existing furnaces, however, all options may need to be con- how much excess air change (%) will occur in the natural-draft
sidered due to the existing layout or plot space constraints. burner when a corresponding draft change (as shown in the
Case Study 6. A vertical cylindrical heater with ULNBs curves) is made. The heater is operating at 15% excess air. The
was commissioned and started up. As the heat duty was in- graph indicates that shorter boxes are much more sensitive to
creased, the flames collapsed on the tubes. It was realized that draft changes than taller boxes. Although the burner may hold
the burner circle diameter was large, which led the flue gases flames at sub-stoichiometric conditions, most burner vendors
to rise and develop a downward flow through the center of the may not provide any flame assurance once the burner reach-
radiant box inside the burner circle. This, in turn, pushed the es stoichiometric conditions. Unstable burners can witness
flames on the tubes. A CFD study was conducted for the ra- flameout even at higher-than-stoichiometric conditions.

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Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019PM 49
 Environment and Safety

15 condense and cause liquids to carry over to the burners,

10 heating of the fuel gas may be considered.
5 • Heat tracing with insulation may be considered between
0
the fuel gas heater and the burners. When insulation
-5
is used, corrosion under insulation should be evaluated.
Excess air, %

-10
-15 • Depending on the fuel gas composition, a fuel gas
-20 Draft change 0.05 in. wc piping metallurgy upgrade should also be considered
Draft change 0.1 in. wc
-25 Draft change 0.15 in. wc from the coalescer to the burners.
-30 Draft change 0.2 in. wc Note: The range of refinery fuel gas compositions (light, av-
-35 erage and heavy) should be specified to ensure that the burner
-40
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 is stable and the flame dimensions and emissions are met for the
Operating floor draft, in. wc entire range of fuel gas heating values.
Case Study 9. Burners were reported to be exceeding the
FIG. 2. Air change (%) in a heater as a function of draft changes
(heater operating at 15% excess air) for natural-draft burner. burner capacity curve. The heaters utilized ULNBs with re-
finery fuel gas. A study of the heaters indicated that although
the heater was operating within its design capacity, the burners
The burner vendor should be consulted on the burner stabil- were severely plugged. Nearly one-third of the burners were on
ity range for the specific application with alarm and trip point a constant maintenance burner cleaning schedule, which result-
recommendations. It is typically not advisable to operate heat- ed in over-firing of the other burners to meet process demands.
ers with less than 10% excess air. Fuel gas conditioning and a piping upgrade were implemented
Floor draft can be estimated using Eq. 2: to address the issue.
Radiant floor heat density. An important parameter when
DFloor = 0.01 × HRad + DArch (2) considering the heater floor design with ULNBs, the radiant
floor heat density is calculated as the design heat release di-
DFloor = Operating floor draft, in. wc. vided by the tube circle area (for vertical cylindrical heaters),
HRad = Radiant box height, ft or the box area confined by the tubes (length × tube-to-tube
DArch = Draft at radiant arch, in. wc. width). Optimal floor heat density is less than 200,000 Btu/hr/
In practical operation, the bridgewall drafts are seen to vary ft2. However, some vendors consider maximum allowable floor
in the range of 0.1 in. wc–0.15 in. wc. densities between 300,000 Btu/hr/ft2 and 400,000 Btu/hr/
Burner overdesign. The burner should be designed with ft2, which can be common in retrofit applications. Higher floor
reasonable overdesign. API RP 560 defines these require- densities increase the potential of flue gas plug flow in the radi-
ments. However, it has been observed that in some cases, the ant section, with inadequate flue gas recirculation to the burn-
burners are greatly overdesigned, which directly impacts the ers. This increases NOx and results in poor flame patterns.
flame shape and stability. Case Study 10. A client retrofitted an old vertical cylindri-
Case Study 8. An operating heater was reported to have cal heater with ULNBs. When the heater was operated, flame
issues with tall, lazy flames impinging on the tubes. A study patterns were not uniform. A CFD study indicated that, due to
indicated that burners were designed for forced-draft opera- slender box design with L/D > 3 and high floor heat density, the
tion with 125% burner duty requirement in natural-draft op- flue gases witnessed a plug flow with inadequate recirculation
eration, to accommodate multi-burner maintenance due to to the burners. The burners were redesigned with forced-draft
fuel gas quality issues. Poor design of air plenum resulted in operation to address the issue.
severe maldistribution to all burners. Burners were changed Air leakage. Ideally, all excess air measured should come
to higher-pressure-drop burners, with reduced duty in nat- through the burners to ensure that burners are getting the re-
ural-draft operation. A CFD was conducted on the air duct quired air for proper combustion. Air leakage from the tube
arrangement with restriction orifices to address air flow mis- penetrations also results in increased oxidation and higher ther-
distribution. This resulted in tight and short flame burners, mal stresses. Air leakage through the furnace should be mini-
which addressed the field issues. mized. It is recommended to install boot seals on all process
Fuel gas quality. ULNBs have multiple burner tips with tube penetrations, tube guides, the caulk radiant and convec-
small orifices that are prone to plugging. Fuel gas condition- tion sections.
ing should be utilized to minimize operator maintenance and Case Study 11. Burners were reported to be highly unsta-
burner downtime. This is especially important if refinery fuel ble. An inspection of the heater indicated that a few burners
gas is utilized. As a minimum, the following guidelines should had air registers stuck open and were not being operated. This
be observed: resulted in high leakage of air through the burners, thereby
• Strainers upstream of the trip valves provide assurance completely starving the operational burners of air. Air registers
that the trip valves will have a tight seal when the heater is were made operational and closed for non-operational burn-
shut down. ers, resolving the stability and flame pattern issues.
• Coalescers should be considered if there is a possibility of Heater efficiency and BWT. BWT increases with the uti-
liquid carryover to the burners. Knockout drums should lization of ULNBs, which results in a slight loss of heater effi-
be designed adequately to capture the liquid slugs. ciency. Efficiency loss can vary depending on the furnace de-
• If the fuel gas lines have heavies that can potentially sign parameters, and should be evaluated and considered in the
50 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Environment and Safety

heater design. Since all burner emissions are based on the BWT, wash or other cleaning considerations should be provided for
accurate temperature measurement is required at this location. salt cleaning.
BWT measurements using convection thermocouples are Case Study 12. An induced-draft (ID) heater was installed.
sometimes found to have an error margin as high as 200°F– When the heater was operated, an ID fan damper control was
250°F, due to the location and the re-radiation from the sur- found to be inadequate. A CFD study showed that the flue gas
rounding cold surfaces. Shielded velocity thermocouples should patterns entering the ID fan were not uniform, thus causing
be considered in the radiant bridgewall sections for accurate inadequate control. Turning vanes were added in the flue gas
temperature measurement. A shielded velocity thermocouple duct to address the issue.
is basically a shielded stainless steel tube (1 in.), which shields
the thermocouple from cold surfaces. A velocity thermocouple CO catalyst considerations. Ideally, the heater operating
has an air connection that creates a vacuum for induction in an range is designed to be well within the NOx , CO and VOC
actual flue gas sample, and the sample is measured through the emissions guarantees. However, certain process restraints can
thermocouple. result in turndown scenarios where CO or VOC emissions can
Note: Radiant floor temperatures can vary with the furnace increase, and CO catalyst may need to be utilized to meet envi-
design; however, typically they can be estimated in a range of ronmental constraints.
200°F–300°F lower than the BWT. CO oxidation catalyst can be utilized to reduce CO or
VOC emissions. However, it is important to realize that a CO
SCR considerations. NOx reduction from the burners has oxidation catalyst reacts actively with NH3 and results in oxi-
limitations. As the combustion is delayed, the flame becomes dation of NH3 to NOx. When utilizing CO catalyst in a system
longer and more dependent on the radiant flue gas currents. with SCR catalyst, typically the CO catalyst will be placed up-
Although new advancements in burner technology are work- stream of the NH3 injection grid, so that the NH3 does not
ing to achieve extremely low NOx numbers, the proposed react with CO catalyst to increase the NOx emissions, which
burner technology for NOx reduction should be closely evalu- will result in a bigger NOx catalyst and a bigger ID fan to en-
ated and considered with the heater design. For reduced NOx counter higher pressure drop, which results in higher operat-
requirements, most commonly utilized post-combustion NOx ing cost. However, if CO catalyst is placed downstream of the
control technology is an SCR. Typically, SCR technology is NH3 injection, then SCR catalyst should be sized to account
preferred over SNCR due to higher NOx reduction capability for increased NOx emissions.
(upto 95% reduction) and tighter ammonia slip (NH3 emis- Case Study 13. A heater with an SCR system was designed
sions). SNCR requires high operating temperatures to be ef- with space for future CO catalyst. The client was witnessing
fective for the operating range. This limits the use of SNCR to CO emissions issues and wanted to add a CO catalyst to meet
specific applications. the emissions permit. However, when a check was done before
The following design features should be considered with an installation of the CO catalyst, it was realized that the origi-
SCR: nal design accounted for increased pressure drop in the ID fan
• Depending on the sulfur content of the fuel, at low from CO catalyst. However, it did not account for increased
flue gas temperatures, salt formations (ammonium NOx emissions from CO catalyst, with the CO catalyst location
sulfate and ammonium bisulfate) can occur due to downstream of the NH3 injection grid.
NH3 reacting with sulfur (SO3 ). This can plug up the Due to the extra pressure drop margin available in the ID
SCR catalyst. Very high flue gas temperatures can result fan, the injection grid was located downstream of the CO cata-
in SCR catalyst damage (sintering). Salt formation lyst, and a pressure drop plate was added for uniform NH3 dis-
temperatures and sintering temperatures should be tribution over the SCR catalyst. A CFD was conducted, and
carefully evaluated, and the SCR operating temperature the issue was resolved.
range may need to be adjusted for trouble-free operation.
• Possible SCR catalyst poisons in the fuel/flue gas should NOTE
All case studies presented here have been developed solely for the purpose of
be evaluated and discussed with the SCR supplier. illustrating typical problems and their solutions. Their resemblance to any real instal-
• It is recommended to have castable refractory in lation may be coincidental.
the convection and duct sections, as these sections LITERATURE CITED
witness higher flue gas velocity. Flaking of the ceramic 1
Malhotra, K., “Improve the operations of fired heaters,” Hydrocarbon Processing,
fiber from the convection has resulted in plugging March 2015
of the SCR sections. 2
API, “API Recommended Practice 560: Fired heaters for general refinery ser-
vice” and “API Recommended Practice 535: Burners for fired heaters in general
• A CFD of the NH3 distribution in the flue gas duct refinery services.”
and across the SCR should be considered. Inadequate 3
Malhotra, K., “Rethink specifications for fired heaters,” Hydrocarbon Processing,
distribution will result in shortened catalyst life and October 2015.
increased NH3 emissions.
KAPIL MALHOTRA is a Heat Transfer Engineer at S & B
If an air preheater is considered, special consideration should Engineers and Constructors Ltd. in Houston, Texas. He has
be given to dewpoint issues at the cold end. Cold air bypass or air more than 15 yr of experience in the design, engineering
preheating are common methods to prevent cold-end dewpoint and troubleshooting of fired heaters, combustion systems
and thermal equipment. He holds an MS degree in mechanical
issues. In special circumstances, borosilicate glass tube design at engineering from Oklahoma State University. Mr. Malhotra is
the entry section is used to address the cold-end dewpoint issues. a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas, and
When utilizing the air preheater with an SCR unit, a water is the author of several papers on heat transfer.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 51

 Submit your
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 Environment
and Safety
E. NARANJO, Emerson Automation Solutions,
Saint Paul, Minnesota

How changes to functional safety standards

can optimize fire and gas detection
ANSI/ISA-84 is one of the most influential standards in specific safety-related topics, such as verification of safety in-
functional safety and has been a driver for instrumented pro- strumented functions, wireless sensors, mechanical integrity
cess safety improvements over the last 20 yr. It is a comprehen- and fault tree analysis. ISA-TR84.00.07-2018 was first issued
sive norm covering a wide range of aspects related to functional in 2010 and has been updated with a 2018 edition. Given the
safety in process industries, including the entire life cycle of de- length of time it can take for companies to evaluate and begin
signing, implementing and operating safety systems. implementing large-scale standards changes, many are likely
Originally released in 1996, it was expanded, updated and still just beginning to consider its implications in detail.
harmonized with IEC 61511 in 2004, which is its current ver- Part of the reason for treating this topic in a technical report
sion. It has three parts: is the nature of FGS designs. First, they are not safety systems
• Part 1: Framework, Definitions, System, Hardware in the sense outlined in the main standard, because they are not
and Software Requirements designed to prevent an incident, but, instead, to provide mitiga-
• Part 2: Guidelines for the Application of ANSI/ISA- tion of an incident in progress. Fire and gas systems act because
84.00.01-2004 Part 1—Informative a fire has already started. Second, fire and gas sensors are not
• Part 3: Guidance for the Determination of the Required deterministic. As pointed out by the standard, “Even a properly
Safety Integrity Levels—Informative. designed and managed FGS can provide poor risk reduction in
Many resources are available online that cover this standard the operating environment due to inadequate detector coverage
and its use. This article’s focus is more specific, concentrating on and mitigation effectiveness.”
recent changes to the technical report, ISA-TR84.00.07-2018, For example, there is no question that a properly functioning
Guidance on the Evaluation of Fire, Combustible Gas, and Toxic and correctly installed pressure transmitter will be able to detect
Gas System Effectiveness,1 which addresses fire and gas system and measure an overpressure incident. Conversely, while there
(FGS) design. is no question that a flame detector can detect the type of flame
for which it is intended (FIG. 1), real-world effectiveness of an
Technical reports. ANSI/ISA-84 has spawned a series of FGS deployment depends on having the right location, sensing
supplementary technical reports, each with greater depth on coverage, minimum intensity for detection and other factors.

FIG. 1. Flame detectors are typically designed to sense specific radiation wavelengths produced by burning hydrocarbons and/or burning
hydrogen. This tuned sensitivity helps avoid false alarms. Photo courtesy of Emerson.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 53

 Environment and Safety

Due to this dependency on detection effectiveness, fire and gas classifications are illustrated in the annexes. The report recog-
systems must be evaluated differently. nizes that, in practical terms, not every assessment requires a
Engineers creating FGS-related safety functions and using quantitative probability, so there is more discussion of qualita-
the original 2010 technical report for guidance will now find tive aspects. When the risk-reduction factor is less than or equal
substantial changes in the 2018 version. Most of these updates to 10, semiquantitative methods and qualitative confirmations
expand the range of acceptable technologies for various applica- are deemed enough. Guidance for both types of classifications
tions. They also add discussions on safety philosophy and offer are provided in annexes A, C and D.
practical guidance on implementation. These updates provide Mitigation action verification step. The new version adds
many more resources for assessing risk and configuring systems. a step to the lifecycle for verification of mitigation action effec-
tiveness. Although the 2010 version defines mitigation effec-
Looking at the forest: Conceptual changes. Some of tiveness and describes its use in Section 5, the assessment of the
the topics addressed in the revisions are specifically related to probability that the results of activating final elements will suc-
sensor technologies and deployment options. Others take the cessfully mitigate the consequence of a hazard are not included
bigger picture into view and suggest ways to change conceptual as a step. By placing the verification in terms of the lifecycle
approaches. For example, the 2018 version specifies that the steps, the new report acknowledges that, in addition to detector
guidance offered is intended for addressing hazards in process coverage and safety availability, mitigation effectiveness must
areas. The following are several more specific examples. be verified to obtain greater assurance of FGS performance.
Earlier design integration. The new version shifts the em- Limits on risk reduction. New guidance in the 2018 tech-
phasis on when the design process should begin. Just as ANSI/ nical report puts a practical limit to the risk reduction achieved
ISA-84 emphasizes the concept of the safety instrumented sys- through FGS design. Taking credit for risk reduction factors be-
tem (SIS) lifecycle, the 2018 technical report drives designers yond one order of magnitude is risky. Even one-order-of-mag-
to include the FGS design much earlier than in the larger SIS de- nitude risk reduction can be achieved only if detector coverage
sign process. This prevents looking at the completed plans and and effectiveness factors are equal to or greater than 90%, which
deciding how to configure the FGS to make it fit. The standard is rarely achieved (FIG. 2) because there are too many uncon-
recognizes that it is not enough to teach FGS designers simply trolled factors in addition to the number, type and placement
how to perform a fire and gas hazard assessment, create a sys- of detectors. As the technical reports suggest, in most process
tem and bolt it on. To be enduring, the lifecycle steps must be plants, it is impractical to provide flame and gas detectors to ad-
part of the FGS design process and integrated into every stage dress every flammable or toxic gas release scenario.
of a larger project for design, implementation and operation of Design details. The 2010 technical report makes little ref-
a new plant, or for an upgrade to an existing automation system. erence to design-basis hazards, but the 2018 version goes into
Performance metrics. ANSI/ISA-84 quantifies risk-reduc- detail with more examples. Tables 5 and 6 offer an extensive list,
tion and protection levels to evaluate SIS effectiveness; but, including use of new sensor technologies.
as previously mentioned, it is difficult to apply the same hard Sensor device selection. The technologies discussed in the
numerical analysis to an FGS, given the variability of detector 2010 technical report reflected the state of the art in the years just
coverage, safety availability and mitigation effectiveness. Con- prior, basically more than 10 yr ago. Since then, a broader and
sequently, there are just two classifications in the technical re- much improved range of sensor options has emerged, such as ul-
port: a risk-reduction factor (RRF) greater than 10 (RRF > 10), trasonic gas detectors (FIG. 3). These can detect the sound made
or less than or equal to 10 (RRF ≤ 10). Techniques for both by a pressurized gas leak, providing immediate response rather
than waiting for a gas cloud to accumulate to the point where it
can be detected by conventional sensors. Most FGS implemen-
tations will need both technologies, but well-placed ultrasonic
detectors can respond more quickly in critical applications.

Getting into the trees: More specific, prescriptive

changes of practices. Engineers familiar with the original
2010 version will find many more design and implementation
practices spelled out in the 2018 update. As already shown,
most of the updates relate to philosophy and practices within
the larger safety context, but there are also more granular con-
siderations, such as specific sensor types and acceptable tech-
nologies. The following are a few of the more critical points.
Table 2: “Examples of combustible gas detection phi-
losophies.” This new table makes a differentiation as to how
FIG. 2. Achieving the highest risk reduction factor depends on having gas accumulations should be detected by contrasting between
effective coverage through careful sensor placement. Flame detectors onshore and offshore facilities. For onshore facilities, the aim
are optical, so they depend on the same field-of-vision considerations should be to place detection equipment at strategic points
as cameras. If placed behind an obstruction, their vision will be where risk of release is high to enable early detection. For off-
reduced. Rendering used with permission and the courtesy of shore facilities, more of an overall approach is suggested to
Detect3D model, Insight Numerics. detect hazardous accumulations anywhere. In both cases, the
54 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Environment and Safety

detection system should be tied to manual or automatic emer-

gency shutdown systems.
Table 4: “FGS performance metrics.” This new table pro-
vides qualitative and quantitative expressions for performance
metrics, including FGS detector coverage, FGS safety availabil-
ity and FGS mitigation action effectiveness. It includes ties to
annexes A, C and D for additional guidance.
Sections 4.3 and 4.4: “Differences between detecting
fires and detecting combustible gas releases.” The new stan-
dard differentiates between detecting active fires as opposed
to hazardous situations still developing, such as the presence
of gas. Tables 1 and 2 offer different scenarios for working in
monitored areas, and for working in areas where the problem
has moved beyond the monitored area.
Section 4.6.3: “Analysis of consequences”. The process of
analyzing the consequences of a given fire or gas scenario, in-
cluding the potential for escalation if it is not detected quickly,
has been expanded. It also ties to references to the Center for
Chemical Process Safety for additional guidance.
Table 5: “Examples of design-basis fire hazards.” Any
FGS design must begin by defining what type of fire it is ex-
pected to encounter. Table 5, which is new, provides examples
of specific types of fires (e.g., 50-kW heat output), along with
typical associated applications. The table includes 10 examples
of incipient hydrocarbon fires and three examples of fully devel-
oped hydrocarbon fires.
Section 5.1: “Basic engineering.” This new section discusses FIG. 3. Ultrasonic gas detectors do not look for a specific gas, but
the mechanisms for launching the FGS design earlier in the pro- instead listen for characteristic noises made in ultrasonic frequency
cess, in keeping with the push for earlier integration. It offers tools ranges by pressurized gas escaping through a leak. When positioned
to help designers set targets for the FGS through an evaluation of carefully, they can detect a release long before enough gas has escaped
hazards and risks associated with major process equipment. to be detectable by other methods. Photo courtesy of Emerson.
Table 6: “Examples of design-basis gas hazards.” Like Ta-
ble 5, Table 6 is also new and similarly treats the design basis for port sets practical limits on what operators may claim for a risk-
gas hazard detection. It considers the formation and size of gas reduction factor. Further, it requires users to base assessments
clouds resulting from different types of releases, as well as the on prior use experience and on compliance to other industry
area where a cloud may be forming. The designer must deter- standards whenever an FGS target is RRF > 10.
mine whether the primary purpose of the system is incipient gas Like all safety-related standards, ISA-TR84.00.07-2018 is
detection or major hazard detection, as these findings guide sen- naturally conservative. It tells users how to evaluate the ele-
sor placement and quantities. New technologies, such as ultra- ments necessary for an effective FGS, such as detector cover-
sonic leak detection, are now permitted to detect not only when age, safety availability and mitigation effectiveness. It puts FGS
a leak may have formed, but also where gas accumulation may design in the context of the capital project workflow, including
not be great enough to trigger a conventional gas cloud sensor. basic engineering and detail engineering design. Users must
These are only a few examples of the expansion of the 2018 never forget that even the best FGS has its limits and that it is
technical report. Individuals familiar with the 2010 edition will only one layer of protection. The FGS cannot be relied upon to
see improvements, while newcomers will find the additional make up for other weaknesses and must instead be part of effec-
hands-on guidance and advice contained in the tables and an- tive engineering on all levels. Making this happen is far easier
nexes very helpful. This does not negate the importance of when working with consultants and vendors who are able to
consulting with safety system experts when designing or up- bring their expertise to the table.
grading an FGS.
LITERATURE CITED
1
ISA-TR84.00.07-2018, Guidance on the Evaluation of Fire, Combustible Gas,
Working for balance. When comparing both technical report and Toxic Gas System Effectiveness, online: [Link]
documents side by side, the authors are striving to create a prac- tr840007-2018,-guidance-on-the-evaluation-of-fire,-combustible-gas,-and-toxic-
tical balance. While an SIS and FGS both relate to safety, what gas-system-effectiveness/64416390
they do and how they work are different, so they should not be EDWARD NARANJO is Director of Fire and Gas Systems
evaluated the same way. An FGS needs both fully quantitative for Emerson’s Rosemount products. He is an ISA Fellow and
and semi-quantitative risk analysis, and users must understand a certified functional safety engineer with 16 yr of experience
how and where to apply these systems. in flame and gas detection. He holds a BS degree and a PhD,
both in chemical engineering, from Caltech and the University
The technical report points out that, while fully quantitative of California, Santa Barbara, respectively, as well as an MBA
analysis is more accurate, it may not be necessary, and the re- degree from the University of Chicago.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 55

L. NICHOLS, Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher • 2016—KNPC’s Clean Fuels Project
• 2017—KNPC’s Al-Zour refinery
The global hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) continues • 2018—Jazan refinery.
to expand and modernize to efficiently meet growing demand Petrochemicals:
for energy, transportation fuels and petrochemicals. At present, • 2014—Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical’s SADARA
the Hydrocarbon Processing Construction Boxscore Database is Petrochemical Complex
tracking more than 1,430 projects around the world, represent- • 2015—Sasol’s Ethane Cracker and Derivatives Complex
ing nearly $1.9 T in capital expenditures (CAPEX). These invest- • 2016—Dow Chemical’s Oyster Creek PDH unit project
ments include projects that have been announced or are in the • 2017—Petronas’ Pengerang Integrated Complex
planning, engineering or construction phases. • 2018—ZapSibNeftekhim (ZapSib-2) petrochemical
The editors of Hydrocarbon Processing have identified nine complex.
projects that are anticipated to significantly impact the global or The 9 projects span the globe and represent more than $65 B
regional downstream industries. The winners and nominees of in total CAPEX. This year’s refining nominees represent approxi-
the HP Top Project awards will have a considerable impact on the mately 400,000 bpd of new refining capacity by 2021 and a total
HPI, whether through CAPEX, satisfying domestic or regional de- investment of nearly $15 B. The five petrochemical nominees
mand, diversifying product offerings, or adding to the resurgence cost more than $52 B and represent more than 30 MMtpy of ad-
in refining and/or petrochemical processing capacity. The winners ditional petrochemicals production by the early 2020s.
of this prestigious award over the past several years have included: Over the past two months, thousands of Hydrocarbon Process-
Refining: ing readers voted online to select the top refining and petrochem-
• 2014—Saudi Aramco and Total Refining and ical projects of 2019. The following sections present the results of
Petrochemical Co.’s (SATORP) Jubail refinery the reader poll, along with details of the Top Project winners and
• 2015—SOCAR’s Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR) the nominees’ projects.
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 57
PETROCHEMICAL
LIWA PLASTICS INDUSTRIES
COMPLEX, SOHAR, OMAN
Oman is investing more than $14 B in new down-
stream infrastructure. These investments will help diver-
sify the nation’s products portfolio—a major initiative of
many Middle Eastern nations—and accomplish a major
pillar of its Vision 2020 plan. The country’s Vision 2020
plan calls for the diversification of Oman’s economy,
which includes developing its downstream refining and
petrochemical sectors.
One of the country’s major downstream projects is
the Liwa Plastics Industries Complex project. Located in
Sohar, the $6.5-B facility will receive feedstock from the
recently completed Sohar refinery, as well as from a new
NGL extraction plant to be built in the Fahud gas field
located approximately 330 km south of Sohar. The Liwa
complex will consist of an 800,000-tpy steam cracker,
HDPE and LLDPE plants, a 300,000-tpy PP plant, MTBE
and pygas units and additional processing units.
The steam cracker and associated facilities are being
built by McDermott and CTCI. Tecnimont SpA, a subsid-
iary of Maire Tecnimont, will build the PE and PP plants.
Mitsui and GS E&C will build an NGL extraction plant at
the Fahud gas field in western Oman. The Fahud NGL ex-
traction station will extract NGLs from produced natural
gas, which will be used as feedstock for the Liwa complex.
Punj Lloyd is the main contractor for the construction of
the 330-km pipeline that will transport the NGL from the
Fahud gas field to Sohar.
Ethylene and MTBE technologies for the Liwa facility
are being provided by McDermott. The PP and PE plants will utilize technology from LyondellBasell and Univation Technologies,
respectively. Axens will provide its proprietary technology for the plant’s pygas unit.
The Liwa project is scheduled to be completed in 2019. Once completed, the facility will be instrumental in increasing ORPIC’s
PE and PP production to 1.4 MMtpy.

Owner/operator: Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries (ORPIC) / EPC: McDermott, CTCI, Tecnimont SpA,
Mitsui, GS E&C, Punj Lloyd / Licensors: McDermott, Axens, LyondellBasell, Univation Technologies

ZHOUSHAN ISLAND INTEGRATED COMPLEX, ZHOUSHAN ISLAND, CHINA

Zhejiang Petrochemical Co. Ltd.—a JV of Zhejiang Rong- 600,000-tpy propane dehydrogenation unit and a 1.4-MMtpy
sheng Holding Group Co. Ltd., Juhua Group Corp., Tongkun ethylene plant. Additional processing units will produce deriva-
Group Co. Ltd. and Zhoushan Marine Comprehensive Devel- tives such as PE, PP, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, and ethyl-
opment Investment Co. Ltd.—is building one of the largest ene vinyl acetate. Phase 1 is expected to be completed in 2019.
integrated facilities in the world. The integrated refining and A second phase could double the size of the plant by 2021. If
petrochemical complex is being built approximately 280 km Phase 2 is completed, total refining capacity could top 800,000
south of Shanghai on Zhoushan Island. bpd, with production of aromatics, ethylene and PX doubling
The $24-B mega-complex will be built in two phases. to 10.4 MMtpy, 2.8 MMtpy and 8 MMtpy, respectively.
Phase 1 includes the construction of a 400,000-bpd refin- The facility is part of China’s goal to mitigate imports and
ery, a 5.2-MMtpy aromatics complex, a 4-MMtpy PX plant, a produce more raw materials for downstream processing.

Owner/operator: Zhejiang Petrochemical Co. Ltd. / Licensor: Honeywell UOP, McDermott

58 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 PENNSYLVANIA PETROCHEMICALS
COMPLEX, POTTER TOWNSHIP,
BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Shell is building a world-scale petrochemical com-
plex in the northeast U.S. approximately 30 mi north-
west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The $6-B facility
will process shale gas produced from the Marcellus
and Utica basins into 1.6 MMtpy of PE. The complex
consists of a 3.2-Blb/yr ethane cracker and three PE
units—two HDPE units and one LLDPE unit.
Shell took FID on the project in June 2016. The
complex, being built by Bechtel, will utilize process
technologies from Linde North America. At peak con-
struction, an estimated 6,000 workers will be onsite.
Along with four processing units, the complex will include a
274-m cooling tower, rail and truck loading facilities, a water
treatment plant, an office building and a laboratory. Opera-
tions are expected to begin in 2021/2022. Once completed,
the complex could be the start of a petrochemicals produc-
tion hub in the northeast U.S.

Owner/operator: Shell Chemical Appalachia

EPC: Bechtel / FEED: Bechtel-Linde
Licensor: Linde

RESIDUE UPGRADING AND

OLEFINS DOWNSTREAM COMPLEX
PROJECT, ULSAN, SOUTH KOREA
South Korea’s downstream focus has been on refining
and petrochemical integration. The most capital-intensive
project was S-Oil’s Residue Upgrading Complex (RUC)
HENGLI PETROCHEMICAL and Olefin Downstream Complex (ODC) project. The
INTEGRATED COMPLEX, $4.5-B project, built at the company’s 669,000-bpd Ulsan
refinery, was inaugurated in mid-2019. The project’s scope
CHANGXING ISLAND, CHINA included the modernization and expansion of the refin-
ery’s processing units to convert heavy hydrocarbons into
Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co. Ltd. is invested more than
high-value fuels and olefins. The RUC will produce raw
$11 B to build a massive refining and petrochemical integrated
materials that will feed into the 705,000-tpy ODC. The
complex near Shanghai. The capital-intensive complex, which
ODC will process this material to produce 300,000 tpy of
began operations this year, was built in the Hengli Petrochemical propylene oxide (PO) and 405,000 tpy of PP.
Industrial Park on Changxing Island, approximately 42 km north- Axens was awarded the contract to supply several pro-
east of Shanghai. The integrated facility consists of a 400,000-bpd prietary technologies to the RUC. These units include an
refinery, a 4.5-MMtpy aromatics plant, a 450,000-tpy PP plant, a atmospheric residue desulfurization unit, a high-severity
400,000-tpy HDPE plant and a PX plant. The high-purity PX pro- FCCU, an LPG sweetening unit, an MTBE unit and a
duced will feed into Hengli’s existing purified terephthalic acid butane isomerization unit, among others. A consortium
(PTA) plants—and a fourth 2.5-MMtpy PTA line—licensed by comprised of Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Daewoo
INVISTA Process Technologies. Several proprietary technologies E&C built the ODC.
are being used within the complex, including technologies from During the inauguration ceremony, S-Oil, along with its
Axens, Chevron Lummus Global, DuPont, LyondellBasell and JV partner Saudi Aramco, signed a Memorandum of Un-
W.R. Grace. derstanding for Phase 2 of the project, which includes a $6-
B, 1.5-MMtpy mixed-feed steam cracker and olefins proj-
Owner/operator: Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Co. Ltd. ect. This facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2024.
Licensors: Axens, Chevron Lummus Global (McDermott and
Chevron JV), DuPont, INVISTA Performance Technologies, Owner/operator: S-Oil / EPC: Daewoo Industrial
LyondellBasell, W.R. Grace and Co. Co. Ltd., Daewoo E&C / Licensor: Axens
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 59
REFINING
KOCHI INTEGRATED REFINERY
EXPANSION PROJECT,
KOCHI, KERALA, INDIA
In January, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, inaugurated
Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.’s (BPCL’s) Kochi refinery expansion,
as well as laid the foundation stone for an integrated petrochemical
complex to be built. Due to high demand growth for refined petro-
leum products in India, BPCL invested more than $4 B in the expansion and
modernization of the Kochi refinery. Located in the Indian state of Kerala,
the Kochi Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP) increased the fa-
cility’s refining capacity from 9.5 MMtpy to 15.5 MMtpy. IREP also included modernizing the plant to process high-sulfur crudes to
produce high-quality transportation fuels that meet Euro 4 and Euro 5 specifications.
The project included the installation of a new crude distillation unit (CDU), delayed coker unit (DCU), fluid catalytic cracking
unit (FCCU), VGO hydrotreater, diesel hydrotreater, sulfur recovery unit (SRU), tail gas treating unit (TGTU), hydrogen generation
unit, offsites and utilities. The completion of the project has made the Kochi refinery one of the largest public-sector refineries in India.
The nearly $2.5-B petrochemical integration project will enable BPCL to utilize the refinery’s propylene production as feedstock
to produce specialty chemicals. Phase 1 was completed in mid-2019, with Phase 2 scheduled to begin operations in 2022.

Owner/operator: Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. / EPC: Essar Projects, Air Products and Chemicals, Technip
Licensor: CB&I

NGHI SON REFINERY AND DAVIS REFINERY, BELFIELD,

PETROCHEMICAL COMPLEX NORTH DAKOTA
PROJECT, NGHI SON, VIETNAM Meridian Energy is building the first full-conversion refinery
The $9-B Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical project is Viet- in the U.S. in more than 40 yr. The 49,500-bpd David refinery
nam’s second refinery. The project was developed by a JV of Kuwait will be in Billings County, North Dakota—in the heart of the
Petroleum Co. (35.1%), Idemitsu Kosan (35.1%), PetroVietnam Bakken shale basin. The refined products produced will serve
(25.1%) and Mitsui Chemicals (4.7%). The 200,000-bpd refinery regional markets. The facility’s site construction began in July
produces high-octane gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The complex’s 2018, with operations scheduled to begin in early 2021.
construction was a major part of the country’s 2020–2025 devel- McDermott International was awarded the FEED and EPC
opment plan, which calls for the construction of new processing contracts for the project. Other contract awards include: Axens
facilities to mitigate costly fuel imports. North America will supply proprietary technologies; SEH En-
In January 2013, the EPC contract was awarded to a consor- gineering was the site planning and engineering firm on the
tium of Japan’s JGC Corp. and Chiyoda, South Korea’s GS E&C project; ZIA Engineering and Environmental Consultants was
and SK E&C, France’s Technip and Malaysia’s Technip Geopro- the air quality controls engineer and emissions dispersion mod-
duction. With the expansion of the Dung Quat refinery—Viet- eling firm for the project; and BASIC Equipment is fabricating
nam’s only other operating refinery—and the completion of the the atmospheric crude tower.
Nghi Son facility, Vietnam will be able to satisfy 65% of domestic Owner/operator: Meridian Energy Group / FEED/
refined product demand by 2020.
EPC: McDermott International / Licensor: Axens
Owner/operator: Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical North America / Engineering/Construction:
EPC: JGC–Chiyoda–Technip–GS E&C–SK E&C Vepica USA, SEH Engineering, BASIC Equipment
Licensor: Axens Other: ZIA Engineering and Environmental Consultants

GELA BIOREFINERY, GELA, ITALY

Eni’s Green Refinery project converted the Gela refinery The plant was created by modifying two existing desulfuriza-
from a traditional refinery into a biorefinery. According to Eni, tion units, along with building a steam reforming unit to pro-
the 750,000-tpy biorefinery will use proprietary technologies duce hydrogen. Not only has the project improved the refin-
to convert unconventional (palm oil) and second-generation ery’s environmental footprint, but it has also created one of the
raw materials (animal fat, raw vegetable oil) into green diesel, most innovative biofuel plants in Europe. The site also includes
green LPG and green naphtha. a waste-to-fuels pilot plant, which allows Eni to test advanced
Eni invested more than $400 MM in the conversion project. technologies in the renewables field.
Owner/operator: Eni / EPC: Amec Foster Wheeler (Wood Group)
60DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
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 IMO 2020
A. ABAZAJIAN and A. SLOLEY,
Advisian, Houston, Texas

Refinery residue and bitumen upgrading:

Gasification
Gasifiers take the bottom of the crude take a variety of distillate and compliant fuel use, refiners and shippers
barrel and move the residue into the C1 residue streams from different have options that include:
value chain. Refiners have had a variable suppliers and blend them to a • Refiners:
record of running gasifiers for a time and range of market fuel specifications. ° Upgrade to low-sulfur fuel
then shutting them down. Reasons for this They also provide storage oil (LSFO) production to
include inexperience with gasifier opera- (bunkering) capacity and are often meet the new requirements
tions, lack of knowledge on how to extract involved in hedging in the market. ° Reduce high-sulfur residue
profits from the C1 value chain and market • Shippers, the consumers of the fuel, production by shifting to
difficulties in catering to clients operating will be influenced by the responses low-sulfur-in-residue crudes
in different business environments. of shipowners and ship charterers
MARPOL Annex VI mandates a global (the cargo shipper), as well as by
cap of 0.5 wt% sulfur in marine fuels be- owner-shippers.
ginning January 1, 2020. The present glob- Each party has serious concerns about
al cap is 3.5 wt% sulfur. Many of the coastal how they will be affected by the changes.
areas around the world already have Sulfur Consultants and different organizations
Emission Containment Areas (SECAs) have predicted everything from nearly
that mandate sulfur levels of 0.1 wt%. insignificant disruption to massive chaos.
These mandates create problems for Due to the upcoming regulation, ap-
both ship fuel supply and refinery resi- proximately 3 MMbpd of residual oil
due disposition. This article focuses on will have some change in its disposition.
residue disposition. Even if shippers can The exact volumes involved will depend
get low-sulfur fuels, refiners still must on levels of compliance with the sulfur
find a disposition for high-sulfur resi- regulations. While various short-term
dues. The need to find a disposition for compliance rates of 50%–90% have been FIG. 1. Influencers of the new supply-
more than 3 MMbpd of residue creates a predicted, most predictions put compli- demand equilibrium of the refining and
new opportunity for gasification, which ance rates in the 70%–90% range. Within shipping industries.
creates products outside of traditional
refinery fuels.
Both technical and commercial fac-
tors must be solved for successful gas-
ification projects. For gasification joint
venture ( JV) projects, attention must be
given to how the deal is structured to re-
duce capital risk for all parties.

A new equilibrium. As illustrated in

FIG. 1, different parties will influence the
new supply-demand equilibrium of the
refining and shipping industries.
• Refiners typically see high-sulfur
fuel oil (HSFO) as a disposition
for their worst products, often
made from heavy crudes.
FIG. 2. Conventional refinery options.
• Blenders, the marketers of the fuel,
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 63
 IMO 2020

markets should be examined.

The issue of high sulfur in residue fuels
is not new. One of the first actions was the
United States Clean Air Act of 1970, which
reduced sulfur oxide (SOx ) emissions
from power plants, which were impelled to
use lower-sulfur feed or install post-com-
bustion cleanup. At the time, bunker fuel
was a significant power plant feed.
The first atmospheric residue desulfur-
izer went online in 1969, the first flue gas
scrubbers in power plants went online in
1972–1973, and the first vacuum residue
desulfurizer went online in 1977.
Since then, certain refinery processes
FIG. 3. The status of coal gasification vs. petroleum coke and petroleum liquids (TABLE 1) have proven to withstand the
gasification capacity.
test of economics and time:
• Coking is the largest volume residue
efficiency will help reduce overall fuel conversion technology. The liquid
demand, but ships have long lives and products are typically hydrotreated,
the switch to more fuel-efficient ships is and most sulfur is left in the
likely to be slow enough that total energy petroleum coke (petcoke).
demand for shipping will increase. • Residue desulfurization
(hydrotreating) is typically done
Focusing on demand shift. The im- when residue is feed for downstream
pact of this demand shift on refiners conversion units.
means that each investment at the refin- • Residue hydrocracking with an
ery must be evaluated for the overall net- ebulating catalyst bed is used to
FIG. 4. Schematic of upgrade options back to the refiner. This involves evaluat- convert some volumes, although this
with gasification added. ing the overall upgrade path on capital, is an expensive option.
operating costs and differential value be- • Gasification has also been used.
° Shift to crudes that produce tween feeds and products. While other conversion technologies
residue volumes within existing Since the sulfur in the crude cannot attempt to convert residue to liquid
conversion capacities go into HSFO, it must be removed from fuels, residue gasification competes
° Find another market disposition the refinery mass balance by some other with other synthesis gas technologies
for high-sulfur residues route. It can be removed by one of the (e.g., natural gas reforming).
° Upgrade residues to alternate paths here or from the feed to the refinery: The Clean Air Act, coupled with the
uses (not as fuel oil). • Direct removal via hydrotreating oil crisis in 1973, led to one of the 20th
• Shippers: • Indirect removal century’s great shifts in the refining indus-
° Use low-sulfur, low-cost fuels ° Delayed coking try. Residual fuel oil use for power gen-
(for the shipowner, this is ° Deasphalting eration dropped dramatically. This was
an ideal solution) ° Gasification particularly noticeable in the U.S., but also
° Fuel displacement by: ° Hydrocracking occurred to some extent in most industri-
■ Shift to distillate fuels, no ° Residue catalytic cracking alized countries.
capital but at a higher cost ° Post-combustion treating After the Clean Air Act, market win-
■ Liquefied natural gas (LNG) (power or on-ship scrubbers) ners included:
■ Electric • Feed substitution • Power generation
■ Methanol ° Using lighter crudes that ° Coal + flue gas desulfurization.
■ Biofuels (hydrothermal produce less residue The use of coal, including the
liquefaction oils, ° Using lower-sulfur crudes that installation of solids feed systems
biodiesel, etc.) have less sulfur in the residue. and flue gas desulfurization,
° Post-combustion sulfur removal Capital investment can be integrated is cheaper than oil.
with scrubbers. with changes in other units for capital op- ° Power plant flue gas
Marine fuel market demand is grow- timization. FIG. 2 illustrates major conven- desulfurization is less
ing at a reported 4.2%/yr, which increas- tional refinery options. expensive than refinery residue
es the opportunity for displacement fuels desulfurization.
but also may cause price escalation in Residue desulfurization. To under- • Refining
the markets served by the displacement stand the driving forces for refiners, pre- ° Expanded shipping markets
fuels. IMO regulations to improve ship vious changes in residue operations and for bunker
64DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 IMO 2020

° Residue conversion capacity share. Much visbreaker product contaminants have been removed, use of
(mostly delayed coking). ends up as a component of HSFO. Refin- the residue hydrotreater product as a fluid
ers dependent on visbreakers to dispose catalytic cracking (FCC)/reduced crude
Gasification. The origins of gasification of residues face significant exposure to conversion (RCC) feed is often more at-
go back to the beginning of the chemical market swings due to IMO. tractive than its value as an LSFO.
industry. Natural gas prices rose in the late All conventional refinery routes focus
1990s to mid-2000s. Gasification prod- Routes forward. For refineries, HSFO on producing gasoline-to-middle dis-
ucts, which competed with natural gas-de- is a poor market. The major reason re- tillate fuels with a C6–C12 molecule. In
rived products, were expected to become finers have stayed in the market is that contrast, gasification changes the entire
more valuable. These products included: little capital has been required to produce concept of disposing of refinery residues.
• Hydrogen (H) residue for bunker fuels. Visbreaking was The products are now in a completely dif-
• Ammonia (NH3) often used because capital requirements ferent value chain: the C1 chain. TABLE 2
• Methanol (CH3OH) and operating costs were low compared summarizes key positives and negatives
• Substitute natural gas to other options. for the basic options.
• Synthetic liquid fuels, base oils Lacking an HSFO market, the incre- FIG. 4 shows a schematic of upgrade op-
and chemical intermediates via mental economics for sulfur removal tions with gasification added as a choice.
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis change. Economics for delayed cokers The best route for residue conversion is de-
• Synthesis gas for other chemical and residue hydrocrackers are driven by termined by the profitability of that route.
applications distillate fuel values. Neither process easi-
• Power via integrated gasification ly produces a direct LSFO product blend- Market drivers. The global trade in
and combined cycle offered an stock in large quantities. petcoke is growing; yet, increased de-
opportunity to concentrate and Residue hydrotreaters are also relative- layed coking capacity means an excess of
reject carbon dioxide (CO2). ly expensive. Once the sulfur and other petroleum coke on the market. This has
At the same time, the global refining
slate shifted to heavy crudes that required TABLE 1. Global processing status
more residue processing. These events
prompted the industry’s push for residue Process Capacity, thousand bpd Notes
and petcoke gasifiers. Total coking 4,962
Over time, actual natural gas prices Including delayed coking 4,192
dropped due to increased production. In Including fluid coking 770
the 2010s, North American shale gas be-
Residue desulfurization 1,693 All types
came more prevalent and less expensive.
This low-cost advantage has propagated Residue hydrocracking 541
throughout the world in lower down- Residue FCC Significant, but not as large as coking
stream product prices and, more recently, Deasphalting Modest
in increased LNG shipments. This re-
Gasification ~320 Modest
duced the cost of gas-based products.
Interest in new residue gasifiers dropped. Coke production 1,144 5.5 bbl/metric t
In fact, most refinery gasifiers shut down. Visbreaking 2,440
FIG. 3 compares the status of coal gasifica-
tion vs. petroleum coke and petroleum
TABLE 2. Refinery process for residue conversion
liquids gasification capacity.
Process Plus (+) Minus (-)
The industry today. As TABLE 1 shows, Coking Reliable Not full conversion
coking—predominately delayed coking—
Product treating
is the dominant residue conversion tech-
nology. Coking produces liquid fuel pre- Residue desulfurization Reliable Residue product
cursor streams and petroleum coke. Coker Residue hydrocracking High-value products Capital required
liquid streams are usually hydrotreated to High-conversion Catalyst costs
produce transportation fuels. Petroleum
Operating costs
coke has a global market and is used for
cement kiln fuel, anode coke, steelmaking Residue FCC Capital Catalyst costs
and power plant uses, among others. Product treating
Coking has some business risk, but Deasphalting Capital Asphaltene product
that risk is related to possible changes in
Gasification Total conversion Capital
the petcoke market rather than IMO sul-
fur changes. In fact, the IMO sulfur chang- Can handle residues Reliability
from other processes
es may improve delayed coker economics.
Visbreaking has the second-largest Product values

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 65

 IMO 2020

uum tower bottoms, petcoke, deasphalter

TABLE 3. Gasification technologies
residue, hydrocracker pitch, hydrocracker
Entrained flow unconverted oil and visbreaker residue.
Gasifier type (best for liquid feeds) Fluidized bed Fixed bed Situations that support gasification in-
Technologies GE Energy, McDermott HTW, KBR Lurgi clude:
(COP), Shell, TRIG, U-GAS • Expensive alternate routes to
Choren (Siemens),
MHI, Koppers-T,
gasification products; expensive
PRENFLOW, ECUST or curtailed natural gas
Outlet temperature High Moderate Low
• The ability to replace and recover
refinery fuel gas
1,250°C–1,600°C 900°C–1,050°C 425°C–650°C
• Unsatisfied power demand,
(2,300°F–2,900°F) (1,650°F–1,900°F) (800°F–1,100°F) integrated gasification combined-
Oxygen demand High Moderate Low cycle (IGCC)
Ash conditions Slagging Dry ash or Dry ash or slagging • Available backup for products:
agglomerating multiple gasifiers or product
Size of coal feed < 0.2 mm 6 mm–10 mm 6 mm–100 mm networks for hydrogen, syngas
that can compensate for lower
Acceptability Unlimited Good Limited
of fines gasifier onstream factors
• Large existing production of
Carbon conversion High Moderate to low High
resid or petcoke and limited
Other characteristics CH4, tars, oils in syngas or distant markets
• High sulfur and high metals content
TABLE 4. Selected bitumen and residues in residue, which make it difficult
to process by alternate means
Atmos Atmos Vacuum Vacuum
residue residue residue residue Bitumen
• Gasification is capital-intensive,
so high capital availability and
Property Units Arabian Medium Arabian Heavy Morichal Maya Athabasca
a low-risk investment climate
Cutpoint °F 698 698 950 1,000 help gasification
°C –370 –370 –510 –538 • Availability of experienced and
API gravity ° 12.5 10.5 4 6.1 8.5 skilled personnel.
Specific 0.9825 0.9962 1.0443 1.0283 1,011
Three main refinery-affiliated gasifier
gravity projects include:
Carbon wt% 82.79 82.76 83.89 84.26
1. The Jazan, Saudi Arabia gasification
project gasifies vacuum residue
Hydrogen wt% 11.39 11.09 10.07 9.9
bottoms from a new refinery and
Sulfur wt% 3.72 4.39 3.84 3.5 4.94 produces much-needed power in
Nitrogen wt% 0.11 0.1 0.74 0.36 that region of the country.
Oxygen wt% 1.96 1.66 0.54 2. The Jamnagar, India project is
Nickel wt ppm 12 28 150 41 65
projected to gasify 46,400 tpd
of petcoke. The project has
Vanadium wt ppm 40 110 633 190 193
completed startup of all
10 gasifiers and is working to
has pushed down petcoke prices and If all of the displaced residue goes to increase unit availability and
made petcoke an attractive, low-cost fuel coking units, then the petcoke supply ris- rates. When fully operational,
for specific users. U.S. petcoke exports es by approximately 60%. If so, petcoke Jamnagar will consume 22%
to India, Mexico, China and Turkey are prices may be severely depressed and of the world’s coke production.
growing fast; India imported 17,900 tpd gasification may become an attractive 3. The Sturgeon, Canada gasifier is
from the U.S. in 2017, primarily for use petcoke disposition, or perhaps even an designed to convert hydrocracker
in cement kilns and aluminum smelters. attractive alternative to delayed coking. unconverted oil.
Two trends in petcoke markets are These projects are very large: Jazan
expanded delayed coking capacity in Gasification. Gasification switches pet- consists of 15 Air Products gasifiers, while
the developing world coupled with in- coke to C1 products, such as hydrogen, Jamnagar has 10 McDermott gasifiers
creased regulations on petcoke com- methanol, substitute natural gas, synthet- in total. The projects are attempting to
bustion emissions. India is building ic fuels, and chemical and industrial uses achieve economies of scale to offset high
more delayed cokers and discussing a of CO and CO2. These are very large mar- capital intensity, and multiple trains im-
ban on petcoke imports, except perhaps kets. Sulfur is rejected as hydrogen sul- prove reliability of supply. However, these
for use in cement kilns. There has also fide (H2S) and is typically converted to are very large capital requirements.
been some discussion in China on pet- sulfur or sulfuric acid. Gasifier feeds may Situations that hurt gasification in-
coke restrictions. include atmospheric tower bottoms, vac- clude:
66 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 IMO 2020

• Inexpensive gasification products view gasification products, such as hy- ing. FIG. 5 illustrates an example syngas
° Low-cost hydrogen drogen or fuel gas, as utilities and expect value chain, which represents a large por-
° Synthesis gas, etc. nearly 100% uptime. Gasifiers, even fully tion of global petrochemical production,
• Cheap natural gas spared, do not fit these expectations. including ammonia, the largest-volume
• Low resid or petcoke production This is often further exacerbated by re- chemical produced at approximately 160
rates, resulting in a single gasifier finers that are inexperienced in gasifiers metric MMt; and methanol, the fourth-
or a gasifier and a single spare startup and operation. Liquid feed gasifi- largest chemical produced at approxi-
• Large nearby markets or established ers have lower capital costs and higher mately 92 metric MMt.
trade networks for resid or petcoke service factors by avoiding solid feed The syngas value chain consists of
• Relatively low sulfur and metals problems, but liquid feeds themselves three main parts:
in the residue are at times more expensive. • Ammonia value chain
• Lack of qualified personnel for • Acetyls value chain
design, construction and startup of Extending gasification to bitumen • Fuel value chain.
the complicated gasification systems upgrading. Bitumen resembles residue. While most chemical products grow
• CO2-related attention or penalties; Carbon, hydrogen and sulfur values are roughly with GDP growth, the methanol
to produce C1 products, gasifiers somewhat different, but still within a rea- market has been experiencing relatively
reject large amounts of CO2. sonable range. As with vacuum residue, rapid growth at cumulative 7%/yr up to
Given the situations that help and hurt nitrogen values are high. Metals content and including 2017. This rapid growth has
gasification, likely gasification targets are: is high to very high, and is similar to been promoted by the expansion of metha-
• The Middle East some atmospheric and vacuum residues nol and its derivatives into the fuel markets:
° Power generation from residues (TABLE 4). • Direct use of methanol as gasoline
to displace atmospheric residue Bitumen upgraders are extremely blendstock in some jurisdictions,
° Desalination integration to use capital-intensive. Compared to this, gas- notably in China
low-level heat ifiers may be an alternate route of con- • Conversion of methanol into olefins
• Asia verting bitumen to petrochemicals. Re- and subsequently into polyolefins,
° Continued demand growth in cent efforts by the Province of Alberta also in China, where domestic
fuels, shipping, products to encourage petrochemical investment coal gasification competes with
° Environmental pressure. may create a nucleus of petrochemical imported crude or imported LNG.
infrastructure in the region. Adding in- Going forward, and barring legislative
Gasifier operations. Several technolo- frastructure would ease adding bitumen impetus to introduce methanol as gaso-
gy choices exist in gasification, as detailed gasifiers for petrochemical production. line blendstock in large markets such as
in TABLE 3. When compared to most refin- However, Alberta is also a source of low- Europe or India, methanol growth is pro-
ery units, gasifiers have lower reliability cost natural gas and small markets for hy- jected to slow to 4%/yr. Even at the lower
due to several factors: drogen and synthesis gas, amounting to growth rate, the methanol market growth
• Solids gasifiers typically experience an unfavorable gasification scenario. will equal or exceed fuels market growth
multiple problems in the solids in most regions.
handling area. Downstream value. Gasification
• Large oxygen requirements call moves residue or petcoke into markets The near future. Recent developments
for large air separation units (ASU), globally dominated by natural gas-based in gasification of refinery residues or pet-
which employ very large single- feedstocks and natural-gas-based pric- coke include the Jazan gasification proj-
train compressors to save costs.
• High process temperatures cause
burner and refractory problems.
• Inexperienced operators can,
at times, contribute to lower
operating rates.
Given these issues, the typical first-year
service factor is approximately 60%–65%.
After 3 yr, the typical service factor is
80%–85%. Reports have been seen in
China of commercial gasifiers operating at
nearly 90% service factor immediately af-
ter startup with highly experienced design,
construction and startup crews. However,
this experience has not been equaled in
documented cases outside of China.
Recent history has shown that refin-
ers are impatient when encountering the
FIG. 5. An example of a syngas value chain.
reliability issues of the gasifiers. Refiners
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 67
 IMO 2020

• It handles the dirtiest residues.

As the situation develops, regulatory
changes, market changes and strategic
investment decisions that may not nec-
essarily claim the best economic routes
should be anticipated.

Managing investment risk. FIG. 8 il-

lustrates three key components of the
gasifier chain for refinery residues:
• The refinery
• The gasifier
FIG. 6. The overall configuration of the Jamnagar gasifier project, which targets fuel and
• The downstream value chain.
chemical products from gasification. Economies of scale have enormous
importance in all three. Success in any of
these requires technical ability, manage-
ment depth, and market knowledge and
capability. Few companies can truly claim
the required expertise in all areas.
Refiners are most concerned about
market security on the downstream to
justify investment. The gasifier product
consumers are concerned about supply
security. Equally, the refiner is concerned
whether the downstream customer will
remain committed to the resid-based
product rather than switching to a lower-
price, gas-based feedstock when it be-
FIG. 7. The basic configuration of the Sturgeon refinery project in Redwater, Canada (North West comes available. These concerns increase
Refining), which is intended as a total upgrader with a blended-bitumen feed. the risk for the investment profile.
Putting together a sound business
hydrogen, olefins and other streams. The plan requires knowledge to balance both
final project concept may include petro- the technical and commercial aspects for
chemicals recovery from the acetyls chain success, and deals must be structured to
and integration with olefins production. protect all parties.
The Sturgeon refinery project in Red-
water, Canada (North West Refining) ARMEN ABAZAJIAN is a
FIG. 8. Key components of the gasifier chain takes a different approach. The refinery petrochemicals, chemicals and
for refinery residues. fuels technology, market and
is intended as a total upgrader with a economics expert with a strong
blended-bitumen feed. FIG. 7 shows the technology background. He has
ect in Saudi Arabia, which is integrated basic configuration. In this case, the gas- more than 30 yr of experience
with a 400,000-bpd refinery. The tech- ifier feed is unconverted pitch from the in consulting, engineering,
technology and project development and
nology is arrayed in IGCC configuration hydrocracker, and the gasifier produces technology startups. His technical expertise is
and is intended to back out crude oil- hydrogen for the rest of the refinery. in gasification, gas reforming, hydroformylation,
fired power generation, which represents To date, the refinery gasification histo- GTL, CTL, dehydrogenation and olefin oligomers,
a large economic incentive, especially if ry has featured some investment and has including alpha-olefins, olefin derivatives,
oleochemicals and alternative fuels. He has been
oil prices are high. been used occasionally. The future invest- granted 12 patents and has published numerous
The Jamnagar gasification configura- ment in gasification of refinery residues articles in international publications.
tion targets fuel and chemical products will be determined by:
ANDREW SLOLEY is an operations,
from gasification. FIG. 6 illustrates the over- • Natural gas availability or pricing; technology, competitive
all configuration of the Jamnagar gasifier refinery gasification competes with intelligence and economics
project. The gasifiers are integrated with natural gas feeds. expert with a strong technology
the largest refinery in the world and are • Residue and sulfur must go background. He has more than
35 yr of experience in consulting,
intended to run on petcoke feed. Approxi- somewhere. Current petcoke engineering and project execution.
mately 50%–67% of the petcoke is gener- and resid markets may not Mr. Sloley’s work has included distillation theory
ated at the refinery. Purchased petcoke is accommodate the additional and practice, refining technology and site-wide
planning for large petrochemical-refining complexes.
intended to make up the remaining feed. material as it is forced out of HSFO. He has published extensively, including more than
Jamnagar is intended to have SNG dis- • Gasification may represent the 300 articles and columns. Among other subjects,
place refinery fuel gas, with recovery of “least unfavorable” option. he teaches seminars on refining unit operations.

68 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 IMO 2020
V. SCALCO, General Atomics, San Diego, California

The plight of the modern refinery:

Racing to meet IMO 2020 regulations
When Kitack Lim won his second, all 3% reduction from the current sulfur
four-year term as the Secretary General limit—as opposed to a 2% reduction in
of the International Maritime Organiza- previous regulation shifts—as well as a
tion (IMO) in November 2018, it solidi- reduction in maximum catalyst fines at
fied the organization’s aggressive 2020 50 ppm from < 60 ppm.
deadline for a global < 0.5% sulfur limit
on fuel oil used onboard ships. This re- Who is affected? For some large refin-
duced sulfur requirement, commonly eries, LSFO that meets the IMO’s new
known as IMO 2020, squeezes the oil and limits is already a reality due to existing
gas industry, confounding the medium- Emission Control Areas (ECAs) require- FIG. 1. The challenges and opportunities with
and small-size refineries that struggle to ments of 0.1% sulfur limits. For others, impending IMO 2020 bunker fuel regulations.
produce low-sulfur fuel oil (LSFO), and the limits are within reach with minor in- Source: Euro Petroleum Consultants.
wracking the nerves of maritime freight vestments/modifications. For small- and
shippers facing volatile fuel pricing. medium-size refineries that must modify To succeed in the dramatic switch
While the industry has come to terms production methods and the shippers to LSFO, refiners will want to cut their
with the need for change to support the that are reliant on the success of these HSFO as much as possible to offset the
health of the oceans, keeping up with this refineries to ensure adequate supply of anticipated drop in value. For refiners
type of growth requires agility and flex- compliant fuel, the shift to IMO 2020 unable to upgrade in time to meet the
ibility, both on the part of the refineries limits is more complicated. expected demand, a shift in refinery low-
and the shippers. Since IMO 2020 effectively changes sulfur crude processing will be the next
the criteria for qualifying as LSFO or step in meeting production without re-
What is the problem? The IMO 2020 high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) from 3.5% ducing crude distillation unit (CDU)
guidelines are in line with the type of sulfur to 0.5%, what is considered LSFO production. This will alter refiners’ bot-
changes the oil and gas industry has faced may not qualify in the future, making tom lines by causing them to consider the
for years. IMO 2020 is certainly not the present LSFO production insufficient extra cost of up-front purchases of low-
first time that new regulations have shak- for market demand and saturating the sulfur crude. Most market research sug-
en the oil and gas industry, a community market with HSFO (FIG. 1). The global gests that less than 70% of the industry
that is used to year-over-year changes in supply of HSFO is approximately 3.3 will either make plans to reduce overall
requirements from the United Nations, MMbpd, with a maximum 3.5% sulfur fuel oil supply due to IMO 2020 regula-
the IMO and other far-reaching organi- and < 100-ppm catalyst fines. tion tightening, or ultimately find other
zations. In 1996, ISO 8217 MARPOL In response to this paradigm shift in markets for HSFO.
standards enforced a 5% sulfur limit and the definitions of LSFO/HSFO, refineries Refiners will have little incentive to
a maximum of catalyst fines at 80 ppm; in will likely do one or more of the following: produce HSFO after the new regula-
2012, MARPOL standards reduced those • Find ways (capital investments tions are enforced. A small demand will
limits to 3.5% sulfur and maximum cata- and new technologies/methods) remain from shipping companies install-
lyst fines of < 60 ppm. to reduce the amount of sulfur ing scrubbers, but tight regulations on
The oil and gas industry has proven and particulates in fuel oil to backwash scrubbers and even vessels
resilient throughout the course of these keep up with LSFO demand containing HSFO can become a concern
changes, innovating quickly to meet these • Wait for shippers to bring in for shipping companies relying solely
global limits. The difference this time additional shipboard scrubbers on exhaust scrubbers. The increase in
is the extent of the change. While previ- for HSFO (thereby putting the onus scrubber-equipped ships and the in-
ous sulfur limits were already significant, for sulfur reduction on the shippers) creased power generation demand will
IMO 2020 (MAPROL Annex VI) pushes • Find other markets for HSFO play a large role in balancing the market’s
the industry’s agility further: an over- • Reduce the overall fuel oil supply. call for HSFO.
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 69
 IMO 2020

HFSO: Catalyst for change? One of the rid of slurry is not an option. Moreover, of heated holding tanks and extended
options available to refineries is exploiting SO’s aromatic, dense, high-boiling and vis- residence times. Less frequently used me-
residue fuel from the bottom of the CDU. cous nature, as well as the amount of FCC chanical approaches include filtration, hy-
To extract more value, this stream is pro- catalyst particles found in the oil, can also droclones and centrifugation. Mechanical
cessed using fluidized catalytic cracking cause significant erosion to refinery equip- removal methods also include holding
(FCC), hydrocracking or cokers to make ment. Moreover, asphaltenes, a molecular tanks, filtration and liquid suspension.
products that are more valuable (although substance found in crude oils, increases
this is associated with a higher capital ex- the viscosity of SO and frequently causes Holding/sedimentation tanks. Hold-
pense). FCC processing, one of the most production problems (fouling or coking) ing tanks process SO through a heating
versatile and profitable upgrading oppor- when exposed to heat, particularly if the and settling process, where, after an ex-
tunities in a refinery, requires the removal SO contains other metals. How do refiner- tended settling period, the tank’s heat fa-
of catalyst fines from the slurry oil (SO) to ies exploit this low-value product, sidestep cilitates the separation of catalysts from
produce a higher-quality fuel. penalties for illegal dumping and avoid the oil, resulting in usable CSO. While this
SO, an FCC product, is the lowest-val- damaging their equipment? process is effective in separating the cata-
ue liquid product from an FCCU or resid lysts from the CSO, drawbacks include:
fluid catalytic cracking unit (RFCCU). Catalyst removal methods. Catalyst • Hazardous waste
Worldwide FCC SO production is esti- fines are very small particles (< 25 µm) º Catalysts sitting at the bottom
mated at approximately 750,000 bpd. To from the catalytic cracking process. Re- of the tank create a hazardous
increase the value of this stream, refineries moval of these particles from fuel oil is sludge that requires special
must remove the catalyst solids to low lev- complicated and, in most cases, even the treatment for its disposal
els to make the stream usable for fuel oil use of settling tanks does not allow the º An estimated $1 MM–$4 MM
blending, carbon black and needle coke refiner to meet the specifications required are expected per cleaning
feedstock, and upgrading to lighter fuels. for marine fuel. • Costly settling process
Due to environmental regulations that Refiners with successful fines separa- º This process can take
prevent the dumping of SO, simply getting tion have found that the best available up to several months
technologies are the di-electrostatic sepa- º Chemical settling aids are
TABLE 1. Catalyst sizes, non-mechanical rator for clarified SO and some mechani- estimated to be in the order
removal approaches (electrostatic) cal removal methods, although these of $0.06/bbl–$0.20/bbl treated1
methods are generally burdened with • Variances in results
SO particle size distribution high maintenance costs and frequent º The tank design, characteristics
Particle diameter, μm Range, % blockage from asphaltenes or paraffins. of the SO, temperature of the
0–5 30–60 tank and use of settling aids
MECHANICAL can affect the resulting CSO’s
5–15 30–55
REMOVAL METHODS quality/characteristics.
15–25 2–12 Historically, refiners have primar-
25+ 1–5 ily processed SO using a combination Membrane/mechanical filters. Most
mechanical filtration uses tubular, po-
rous-metal elements to collect solids
(catalysts) on the inside of the elements at
approximately 600°F (316°C) without af-
fecting the rest of the oil. Other filters use
porous, sintered woven-wire, meshmetal
filters [400°F–650°F (204°C–343°C)] or
a 2 µm–5 µm woven-wire filter element
[350°F (177°C)] using LCO as a back-
wash, and claim 85%–95% solids removal
from the feed slurry. Given the solid re-
moval rate for these types of filters, me-
chanical filtration is a popular choice with
many refineries.
One of the main issues with mechani-
cal filtration is that, particularly with
RFCC refineries, filtration elements clog
with asphaltenes and waxes or erode,
making the unit inoperable.

Liquid suspension/slurry settlers.

Two types of liquid suspension removal
FIG. 2. An electrostatic separator.
methods for SO, hydrocyclones and cen-
70 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 IMO 2020

trifugation, are being phased out of the than pricier LCO or HCO, and without portional to such factors as catalyst activity,
oil and gas industry and are generally gas assistance), rinses the catalyst from the temperature, catalyst-to-oil ratio, etc.; and
viewed as hazards. beads. A final cycle, called the purge cycle, are directly proportional to nitrogen, sulfur
Hydrocyclones are conically shaped to then removes the backflush and prepares and asphaltene (or, alternatively, vacuum
create a vortex that pulls catalyst particles the beads for their next separation cycle. bottoms) content of the FCC feed.
out of the SO, filtering larger particles Refineries champion electrostatic
through the bottom of the unit and small- separators (FIG. 2), which have been in Asphaltenes. Refineries introduce in-
er particles through the top.2 Conversely, use for more than 30 yr, as unaffected by creasing levels of resid (and, therefore,
centrifugation uses a bowl-shaped device asphaltenes or other tars—an issue that asphaltenes and heteroatoms) into the
to spin the SO, pulling the catalysts out of plagues all mechanical removal meth- FCCU; therefore, SO yields will increase
the oil where they settle on the edges of ods. Given the electrostatic separator’s and the quality of the SO will decrease.3
the bowl. While these methods of liquid relatively small footprint (10 m × 5 m × As a result, SO asphaltenes levels are a
suspension suffice and are a low-cost op- 4 m for a high-capacity unit), low mainte- growing factor in deciding which technol-
tion for some refineries, they are unable nance cost and resilience against fouling, ogy is best for removing particulate solids.
to achieve the solids removal levels of the refineries will increasingly favor electro-
other approaches (approximately 55%). static separation. SO quality. SO quality is a function of
Unlike mechanical catalyst removal ap- such variables as the properties of the FCC
proaches, electrostatic separation uses an FACTORS FOR feed, severity of the operation, type of cat-
electrical charge to attract SO catalysts, CONSIDERATION alyst, operating conditions in the FCCU,
so that they cling to glass beads during a Since the efficacies of catalyst removal etc. The composition of the SO can deter-
separation cycle. Due to the strength of the methods are highly contingent on the mine the efficacy of catalyst removal meth-
electrostatic pull of the charged beads, this composition of the SO and the planned ods—oil testing can help refineries and
type of filtration can remove up to 97% of application for the CSO, no single solution catalyst removal vendors assess the best
catalysts present in SO. Once the beads exists for refineries looking to exploit this catalyst removal option for the SO quality.
have collected as much catalyst as their sur- FCC product. SO compositions from FCC
face can accommodate, the backflush pro- and RFCC are a function of the severity of Catalyst sizes. Particle size distribution
cess (typically done with raw feed, rather the operation; are generally inversely pro- ranges from a variety of SOs are shown in

GLOBAL
DOWNSTREAM
PROJECT DATA
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Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 71

 IMO 2020

contain aluminum and silicon as

major components, can combine
with other elements to form high-
melting-point compounds that
are corrosive to valve seats and
exhaust valves in diesel engines.

Takeaway. Despite the impending IMO

2020 regulation, not all refineries will
make dramatic shifts to their operations.
Since SO and CSO of various qualities and
types can be used for purposes other than
marine fuel, small refineries can either rely
on shippers taking care of the IMO re-
FIG. 3. Large fuel oil producers will benefit from economy of scale.
quirements, or they can funnel their prod-
ucts through the other applications for SO
that have less rigorous requirements.
TABLE [Link]: For these SOs, more than Internal refinery use (50 ppm– For medium and large refineries, the
90% of the particles range in size from 0 150 ppm) opportunity for answering the marine in-
µm–25 µm in diameter. 1. Recycle to extinction in FCCU dustry’s call for fuel that meets IMO 2020
• Increases coke make, which requirements is more lucrative (FIG. 3).
Intended application (internal and increases regenerator This may mean the oil and gas industry
external to the refinery). Most impor- temperatures will see expansions in these refineries to
tantly, the intended ultimate use for the • Can adversely affect selectivity include the right catalyst and sulfur re-
SO determines which processing method to prime products moval equipment, as well as other adjust-
is the best fit. Each end use requires a dif- • Does not require low catalyst ments to cut HSFO production as much
ferent set of specifications on the SO. levels, unless FCCU injectors as possible to offset the anticipated drop
erode or heat exchange in value. For those refineries bracing for
Market opportunities (external to equipment fouls facility upgrades to increase their SO-to-
refinery) 2. Refinery fuel CSO conversion capabilities and meet
1. Marine fuel (< 50 ppm)** • Use of SO as fuel in the refinery IMO requirements, the electrostatic sepa-
• Worldwide consumption is practiced routinely and is a rator may be the best way to meet the ag-
of 3.9 MMbpd viable option if applications gressive catalyst ppm limits anticipated in
• **IMO 2020 Regulations have have been well thought out January 2020. As with previous growth
pushed the ppm requirement and equipment is critically in the face of increasingly perilous cli-
for marine fuel from 50 ppm– examined for processing mate change and evolving environmental
150 ppm to no more than 50 a solids-containing stream6 needs, refineries and shippers will find
ppm, with a sulfur limit of 0.5% • Such equipment as piping, creative solutions to stay competitive and
2. Needle coke feedstock burner tips, nozzles, heat address global health needs.
(25 ppm–100 ppm) exchangers, etc., must be
LITERATURE CITED
• Worldwide consumption evaluated for long-term 1
Minyard, W. F. and T. S. Woodson, “Upgrade FCC
of 20,000 bpd (limited market) viability when charging solids- slurry oil with chemical settling aids,” World Refining,
• Type of coke used in EAF steel containing streams November/December 1999.
3. Carbon black feedstock • To minimize downstream 2
Zhi-shan, B., W. Hua-lin and T. Shan-Tung Tu,
(50 ppm–500 ppm) processing difficulties, “Removal of catalyst particles from oil slurry by
hydrocyclone,” Separation Science and Technology,
• Worldwide consumption removal of the contained Vol. 44, Issue 9, 2009.
of 130,000 bpd catalyst to keep solids Complete Literature Cited available online at
• Used in automobile tires, belts, diluted below recommended [Link].
hoses and pigments, etc.4 concentration levels
Since 1997, VICTOR SCALCO has been an integral part
• The required density for carbon 3. Fuel oil blending stock of process design and developmental downstream
black feedstock is high, • Accounts for about 80% of solutions for hydrocarbon recovery. Working in support
and special attention must production of key players in the industry, his present position
be given to operating the FCC • SO as cutter stock for heavy allows for new development of filtration and separation
systems. He is principally involved in technical
fractionator at a high enough fuel oil blending development and training with EPC and FCC/RFCC
temperature to obtain the • Trace metals deposited on licensors worldwide. His experience includes program
desired density 5 FCC catalysts, such as nickel, development for commercial applications, scoping
studies and commissioning. He holds an MA degree
• Some refiners lack the ability vanadium and sodium, or from San Diego State University and has worked
to get the required SO density adhering to catalyst particles and for more than 20 yr in the design and implementation
for carbon black applications. FCC catalysts themselves that of hydrocarbon filtration systems.

72 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 IMO 2020
L. E. CURCIO and A. BARSAMIAN, Refinery
Automation Institute LLC, Morristown, New Jersey

IMO 2020 stability and compatibility headaches

The year 2020 will be a mess from the cutters and paraffinic cutters. Aromatic the aromaticity of the blend above 50%
fuel oil stability and compatibility points cutters are typically from FCC units and constantly; the reverse is not true.
of view. The year will be price-driven, so include light cycle oil (LCO), heavy cycle Aromatic blends typically use
the temptation to “cut corners” is great— oil (HCO) and slurries or clarified oils “cracked” blend components, such as
meaning that a highly variable number of (CLO). These cutters are highly aromatic visbreaker tar bottoms, and highly aro-
blend components to manufacture the fuel liquids, at 80% or higher. Paraffinic cutters matic cutters, such as LCO and HCO.
oil will open a “Pandora’s box” of complex are typically from atmospheric and vacu- The aromaticity of visbreaker tar bot-
and questionable fuel formulations. um distillation units, such as atmospheric toms is in the range of 47%–56%; the
gasoil (AGO), light and heavy AGO and aromaticity of cycle oils is in excess of
Blending issues. Exhaustive studies vacuum gasoil (VGO). These cutters have 80%. Any aromatic blend will always
of the relationship between asphaltene low aromaticity of around 30%–50%. have an excess of aromaticity (more than
content and aromaticity have shown that 50%) and be stable.
the order in which the fuel oil blends are 2020 fuel oil blends. The types of Hybrid blends typically use paraffinic
created is critical to obtaining compatible 2020-compliant fuel oil blends fall into blend components such as atmospheric
and stable fuels.1,2,3 three categories: paraffinic blends, aro- tower bottoms, vacuum tower bottoms
The order of blending is one of the matic blends and hybrid blends. and mixtures of both paraffinic cutters,
concerning issues1 (FIG. 1). Two fuel oil Paraffinic blends typically use vacu- such as AGO, LAGO and HAGO; and
blend components, A and B, each per- um tower bottoms and the cheapest cut- aromatic cutters, such as LCO and HCO.
fectly stable on their own, exhibit a puz- ter [e.g. light atmospheric gasoil (LAGO), The aromaticity of atmospheric tower
zling behavior: When blending fuel A into heavy atmospheric gasoil (HAGO) or bottoms and vacuum tower bottoms are
B, the blended fuel is perfectly stable and more expensive ultra-low-sulfur diesel in the 50%–60% range; the gasoils are
compatible. On the other hand, blending (ULSD)]. The problem is that while 30%–40% aromatics, and the cycle oils
fuel component B into A leads to immedi- vacuum tower bottoms have approxi- are in excess of 80%. Depending on the
ate sludging. Why is that? mately 80% aromatics, gasoils typically blend recipe, a hybrid blend is not guar-
By now, most people know that as- have 30%–40% aromatics, and the result- anteed to always have an excess of aroma-
phaltenes micelles in fuel oil are kept in ing blend aromaticity could drop below ticity (more than 50%) and be stable.
a colloidal solution by “high” aromaticity 40% depending on the blend ratio and Typical recipes using components
of the colloidal “soup” of maltenes. The the order of blending. The vacuum tower readily available on the US Gulf Coast
question is, what signifies high aromatic- bottoms/gasoil blend becomes a candi- are found in literature.4 For example,
ity? Some answers can be found in vari- date for sludging, depending on the order a hybrid blend recipe might have 70%
ous studies3 and patents.2 of blend: GO dropped in vacuum tower vacuum tower bottoms, 10% LCO, 16%
bottoms is acceptable because it keeps AGO and 4% slurry.
Asphaltene content and aromatic-
3% Jet A1
ity. An extreme case analysis of expected
Paraffinic
2020 fuel oil blend categorizes them into P = 4.3
paraffinic, aromatic and hybrid. Before
considering the characteristics of these Aromatic
blends, typical properties of residual ma- P = 4.8
terials and cutters must be examined. 1% S HFO 3% S HFO 1.8% S HFO
TABLE 1 3 illustrates some of the prop-
erties of vacuum residue—i.e., vacuum
Blend P = 0.57
tower bottoms and visbreaker tar bottom.
These residues have high aromaticity of P = peptization value, higher number is better
between 50% and 60%.
TABLE 2 3 illustrates properties of typi- FIG. 1. Blending aromatic fuel oil into paraffinic fuel oil equals sludge. Image credit: G. Ivey
and PetroJam.
cal cutters in two categories: aromatic
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 73
 Environment and Safety

Order of blending. If an aromatic cut- tion methods, such as toluene equivalent Blenders must ensure (and sometimes
ter is poured into a paraffinic tank, then and asphaltenes content, to predict stabil- guarantee) that their blended products are
the initial small volume of aromatics in ity and compatibility. However, having a stable and compatible. To do this, blend-
a paraffinic medium will just disturb the superficial and incomplete lab certificate ers must analyze stability and compat-
low aromaticity of the paraffinic “base,” of analysis is not a guarantee of stability. ibility issues in more detail by calculating
thereby increasing the probability of as- For fast, efficient testing, shipown- the asphaltene solubility of their blends.
phaltene sludging. ers frequently use two ASTM test meth- Lab analysis of the aromaticity of blends
In the opposite situation, where paraf- ods—the “spot” test method and total can be done, using well-established test
finic blendstock (either cutter or heavy fuel sediment potential. These tests are avail- methods such as toluene equivalent (the
oil) is poured into an aromatic medium able as inexpensive, onboard, manual test ExxonMobil method, or Exxon 79-004),
(above 70%–80% aromaticity), the aroma- kits with step-by-step instructions. Ship- xylene equivalent (the BP method) and
ticity at the interface of the two liquids will owners must follow instructions, such as asphaltenes content with ASTM D6560
be predominated by the aromatics and will heating the components to 100°C, blend- or IP-143.
always keep asphaltenes in the solution. ing the components in desired ratios and The abovenamed methods use hep-
then putting a drop of the desired finished tane to precipitate the asphaltenes
Shipowners vs. blenders. Stability and product on a filter paper to compare what and toluene, or xylene to keep the as-
compatibility have different meanings for is observed with reference charts and phaltenes in solution. Then nonlinear
shipowners and blenders. Shipowners do photos. This allows for a quick determi- equations are used to calculate the final
not have the time to calculate fuel stability nation of whether or not the fuel is stable blend stability and compatibility factor,
and compatibility using lengthy lab titra- and should be purchased. as shown in Eq. 1:

TABLE 1. Resid properties a

Virgin Vacuum Blend of 60% VVR,
Properties residue (VVR) 30% HVGO, 10% LVGO VBR Sample 1 VBR Sample 2 VBR Sample 3 Sample
Specific gravity, d420 0.9969 0.9598 1.011 1.003 1.004 1.01
Kinematic viscosity 1194 136 260 260 228 270
at 80°C, mm2/s
Conradson carbon, % 15.3 9.2 22.4 20.08 23.1 22.4
Sulfur, % 2.48 2.13 2.43 2.44 2.29 2.28
Metals, mg/kg
Sodium 59.1 62.5 76 64.8 56
Aluminum 4 6 4 4
Silicon 9 14 9 8
Nickel 71.2 50.9 79.8 58.5 71.1
Vanadium 207 212.7 229.2 209.4 228
Distillation D-1180, °C
350, vol% 0 7 10.4 10 10 10.7
360, vol% 0 10 12 12 13 13
400, vol% 0.1 20 19 20.5 21 20
440, vol% 0.7 30 25.9 28 27 26.5
480, vol% 5 41.4 33 35.5 36 35
510, vol% 19 51.5 40 43 47.8 43
Group hydrocarbon composition
Saturates, wt% 24 38.7 22.8 26.5 27.1 30
Total aromatics, wt% 62.7 52.9 55.8 52.4 51.4 47.6
Mononuclear aromatics, wt% 13 12.2 7.7 7 6.1 5.3
Polynuclear aromatics, wt% 49.7 40.7 48.1 45.4 45.3 42.3
Resins, wt% 10.2 6.5 11.1 13 11.8 10.1
Asphalthenes, wt% 3.2 1.9 10.3 8.1 9.8 12.4
Sediments, wt%, ISO 10307-1 0 0 0.07 0.09 0.18 0.37
Sediments measured after sample treatment with hexadecane at 100°C for 1 hr, wt%
ISO 10307-2 0 0 0.08 > 0.5 > 0.5 > 0.5
Stability factor after Kuo7 0.198 0.167 0.131 0.123 0.107 0.083
a
Adapted from D. Stratiev3

74 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Environment and Safety

k = BMCI ÷ TE (2) bunker fuel oil asphaltene “solubility re- click. The optimizer allows users to under-
where BMCI = Bureau of Mines Cor- serve,” K, as the ratio of BMCI divided by stand if a finished product (for example,
relation Index, an indicator of aromaticity TE or XE, as shown in Eq. 3: IFO-380, 0.5% sulfur) is compatible or not.
of the blend; and TE = the measured tolu- The optimizer has already incorporated all
K = (BMCI ÷ TE) = > 1.5 (3)
ene equivalent value. the equations for stability and compatibil-
Or, alternatively, K = (BMCI – TE) = ity, plus all the nonlinear equations, to pre-
Compatibility calculation. Compat- > 15 dict viscosity, pour point, flashpoint, etc.
ibility and stability issues have been thor- The higher the K ratio of available aro- Blenders and shipowners could use such
oughly investigated for more than 30 yr. maticity (BMCI) to required aromaticity a standalone tool to estimate the compat-
A well-known method to measure the (TE), the greater the “solubility reserve,” ibility of a desired fuel, or to check if blend-
propensity of bunker fuel to become in- and, therefore, the more compatible and ing components can be mixed without cre-
compatible/unstable is to measure the stable the bunker fuel. ating sludge and damaging the engine.
aromatics solvent power of asphaltenes in Modern tools, like a bunker fuel oil
bunker fuel, in the form of toluene or xy- blend optimizer (FIG. 2) allow users to pre- Desirable additions to ISO 8217-
lene equivalence (TE or XE). This refers dict compatibility and stability with one 2017. To minimize uncertainty and risk
to the percentage of aromatics (toluene
or xylene) required to keep asphaltenes
in the bunker fuel oil colloidal solution
without precipitation. Most oil companies
have filed patents based on these funda-
mental principles.2,5,6
Following the ExxonMobil patent
US9,803,152,2 the TE is directly propor-
tional to the asphaltene content of bunker
fuel, as shown in Eq. 2:
TE = ΣTEi × Ai × yi ÷ ΣAi × yi (1)
where Ai = asphaltene content and yi =
mass fraction of component in blend.
Compatibility/stability is defined by FIG. 2. Bunker blend optimizer automatic calculation of stability and compatibility.

TABLE 2. Cutter properties a

Properties FCC slurry FCC HCO FCC LCO HSRGO AGO HVGO VBGOb VBHGOb
Specific gravity, d420 1.054 0.9888 0.9196 0.8506 0.8737 0.904 0.874 0.9361
Kinematic viscosity at 40°C, mm /s 2
40.4 5.8 1.7 4.4 10.6 4.6
Kinematic viscosity at 80°C, mm2/s 14.7 18
Distillation, vol% ASTM D1160 ASTM D86 ASTM D86 ASTM D86 ASTM D86 ASTM D1160 ASTM D86 ASTM D1160
IBP 199 235 180 163 257 239 194 207
10 292 280 210 269 314 369 221 373
30 334 295 229 290 343 403 257 427
50 372 310 240 302 357 430 289 462
70 409 326 252 315 366 459 299 481
90 475 350 270 335 381 497 330 512
FBP 518 369 295 353 398 515 347 524
Recovery 95 98 98.5 96 95 98 95
Group hydrocarbon composition
Saturates, wt% 14.39 19.2 19 70 62.7 59.1 53 38.1
Total aromatics, wt% 81.57 80.8 81 30 37.3 39.5 47 58
Mononuclear aromatics, wt% 0.75 27.8 30 12 15.1 8.3 23 17.2
Polynuclear aromatics, wt% 80.82 53 51 18 22.2 31.2 24 40.8
Resins, wt% 3.25 1.4 3.9
Asphalthenes, wt% 0.79
Conradson carbon, wt% 6.18 0.2
a
Adapted from D. Stratiev3
b
VBGO and HVBGO have been distilled from VBR Sample 2

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 75

 Environment and Safety

on the part of bunker buyers, the ISO of aromatic and paraffinic components. LEE ELISEO CURCIO is a Chemical
Engineer, Vice President and CFO
should consider including the following Blenders and shipowners can avoid at Refinery Automation Institute
changes and additions to ISO 8217 RM- the sludge issue by calculating the fuel’s (RAI). As a blending and
grade residual fuels: compatibility and stability. Blenders and optimization specialist, he has
worked with RAI for the past 6 yr
• Asphaltene content, because shipowners have different way of cal- in the areas of gasoline, diesel
compatibility is a function of culating it, but the use of an optimizer and bunker blending, ethanol nonlinear property
asphaltene content makes these calculations easier. correlations and octane boost, and naphtha and
• Compatibility test using ASTM Although the addition of these param- butane blending. He also teaches the gasoline,
diesel and bunker blending optimization section of
D4740 spot test, a simple and eters (asphaltene and aromaticity) to ISO RAI’s blending public course. As a manager, he is
approximate indication of 8217 specifications has been pointed out responsible for growing the business, acquiring new
compatibility and stability. to ISO and other bunker industry organi- customers and managing company cashflow. He
worked previously at Catholic University of Louvain
Adding these desired specifications zations in written proposals, they have not in advanced modeling and optimization. He holds
could give blenders, shipowners and oth- been adopted so far. The authors believe BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering with
er parties the possibility to estimate the that these organizations have done a great high honors from the University of Calabria, Italy.
fuel compatibility quickly, thereby avoid- disservice to the bunker community by
ARA BARSAMIAN is the President
ing expensive surprises. refusing to adopt these additions. Bun- and CEO of Refinery Automation
ker users will pay the price in buying ISO Institute LLC (RAI) and has more
Recommendations. The asphaltene 8217-compliant bunkers that may not be than 49 yr of experience in bunker,
gasoline, diesel and biofuels blending
content and aromaticity of fuel oil is crit- fit for use. operations and technology. Early in
ical to its fitness for use. With the new his career, he was a Group Head and
IMO 2020 low-sulfur regulation, most LITERATURE CITED Section Head with Exxon Research & Engineering Co.,
President of 3X Corp. and VP of ABB Simcon, all in the
bunker suppliers and buyers will need 1
Ivey, G. et al., “Heavy fuel oil separation at power
area of fuels blending. Among his first experiences
to use low-sulfur blend components to plants,” PetroJam presentation, May 29, 2014.
at Exxon was computerized bunker blending in the
2
Kar et al., US Patent 9,803,152 B2, assignee:
be compliant. As described here, this ExxonMobil, “Modifications of fuel oils for compat-
Aruba refinery. Lately, he has been involved in the
IMO 2020 bunker blends, recipes and ISO 8217 specs.
increases the chance of creating sludge ibility,” October 31, 2017. Mr. Barsamian is a member of AIChE, ASTM, IBIA, ISA
and/or damaging ship engines because Complete Literature Cited available online at and ILTA. He holds BS and MS degrees in electrical
of the wide-ranging blending outcomes [Link] engineering from City University of New York.

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76 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Heat Transfer
P. DRÖGEMULLER and P. ELLERBY,
CALGAVIN Ltd., Alcester, UK

Improve exchanger operability and efficiency

through tube-side enhancement
The authors’ company has been serving the process indus- ogy revamps operations to reach the highest efficiency in the
try for more than 35 yr to improve tube-side heat transfer in case of heavily tube-side-controlled operation.
tubular heat exchangers. Its main application area is the use of
a proprietary tube insert technologya in new equipment design Benefits of increased heat transfer coefficient. Eq. 1
for exchangers with laminar tube-side flow, where consider- can be used to discuss the different revamp scenarios that focus
able size reductions are achievable due to the increased tube- on the increase in tube-side heat transfer and, consequently, in
side performance. An increased focus exists for the use of this the increase of overall coefficient. An example for the retrofit of
technology in heat exchanger revamps. Aside from the obvious a viscous oil heater demonstrates the different possible revamp
potential of increased duty and, therefore, increased exchanger scenarios. In the base case, before revamping, the oil is heat-
efficiency, applying this technology can also often provide im- ed from 120°C to 163°C with condensing steam (20 bar) on
proved operability.
1.2
Revamp considerations. The main driving forces to under- 1,400
Allowable pressure drop
take heat exchanger revamps on existing units can be divided 1,200 1.0
Tube-side coefficient hI, W m2 K

as follows:

Tube-side pressure drop, bar

1,000 hiTRAN heat transfer 0.8
• Increased overall heat transfer coefficient 2 Plain-tube heat transfer Eight-pass
• Improved fluid distribution 800 hiTRAN pressure drop design
1 Plain-tube pressure drop 0.6
• More stable operation and longer run times. 7 8
600 Two-pass 6 5
The tube insert technology enhancement affects only the design 3 4 0.4
thermal tube-side performance; whereas, for an exchanger re- 400 2 1
vamp, the impact on overall performance must be determined. 200
0.2
The heat duty of a heat exchanger can be approximated in Eq. 1: 160
0 0.0
Q = U × A × EMTD (1) 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Tube side velocity (u), m/sec
The increase in overall coefficient U determines the effi- FIG. 1. Heat transfer and pressure drop as a function of tube
ciency of the revamp. Since this coefficient is also a function velocity (pass arrangement) for a typical proprietary tube insert
of the wall and fouling resistance and the tube outside coef- technologya design.
ficient, the impact of the revamp depends very much on those
variables, shown in Eq. 2: 1,400 9
1 1 1 8
= + + Fouling resistance + Wall resistance (2) 1,200
U hi ho 7
1,000
In the revamp example in FIG. 1, the tube-side heat trans- 6
U-value multiplier
U-value, W/m2K

fer increased almost nine-fold, from 160 W/m2K to 1,400 W/ 800 5

m2K, at an identical pressure drop of 1 bar. The impact on 600 4
the overall coefficient and, therefore, on the effectiveness of hi hiTRAN = 1,400 W/m2K 3
the revamp, depends on the other heat transfer resistances in 400 U-value multiplier
2
Eq. 2. 200 hi plain = 160 W/m2K
This is demonstrated in FIG. 2 by considering different 1
tube outside coefficients (ho ). It is evident that with a higher 0 0
10 100 1,000 10,000
tube outside coefficient, the revamp becomes more tube-side Tube outside heat transfer, (ho) W/m2K
controlled and, therefore, more efficient. For a heavily tube-
side-controlled scenario, the overall multiplier approaches the FIG. 2. Change of U-value and U-value multiplier, which increases
tube outside coefficient (ho ).
increase in tube-side coefficient only. The tube insert technol-
Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 77
 Heat Transfer

the shell side. Due to the viscosity of the viscous oil between This option is feasible only if the exchanger is designed
7cP and 17cP, the flow in the eight-pass AES heat exchanger as a multi-pass unit. To keep the piping arrangement for the
(236 tubes 6 m × 26.4 mm × 2.11 mm) ranges from laminar exchanger unchanged, in general, only an even-to-even modi-
to transitional, resulting in a low tube-side heat transfer coef- fication is considered. After removal of pass partition plates,
ficient. The constraints for the different revamp scenarios are a the flow velocity is reduced accordingly (FIG. 3). The different
constant heat transfer area A and also the maximum allowable possible revamp scenarios are calculated with a thermal pro-
pressure drop of 1 bar. cess design and simulation softwareb comprising a proprietary
The summary of base conditions is shown in TABLE 1. Where design and selection program softwarec plug-in and later sum-
the exchanger operates before revamp, as in this case, at the marized in TABLE 1.
tube-side pressure drop limit of 1 bar, the number of tube pass- The impact on the shell-side performance must be consid-
es must be reduced to one to reduce the flow path length. This ered; increased tube-side duties may result in change in shell-
is a contributing factor to the tube-side pressure drop. side outlet temperatures, which affect the effective mean tem-

FIG. 3. Pass arrangement reduced from eight to two passes, shown in HTRI for the example case.

TABLE 1. Summary of the different revamp scenarios discussed (red values highlight main achievements)
4.1.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3
Increased throughput Increased throughput Increased Reduced
Base case Two-pass One-pass outlet temp steam pressure
Shell side
Condensation pressure, bar 20 20 20 20 5.2
Condensation temperature, °C 212 212 212 212 153
Tube side
Number of passes 8 2 1 2 2
Flowrate, kg/sec 12 32 85 12 12
Temperature out, °C 163 180 151 211 151
Calculated pressure drop, bar 1 1 1 0.85 1
Velocity/shear equivalent, m/sec 1.3/1.3 0.9/1.4 1.15/2 0.33/0.9 0.33/1.1
Reynolds Noumber, - 920/2,650 650/2,800 860/2,200 250/1,700 240/650
Heat transfer, W/m2K 172 1,016 1,354 1,405 1,001
Duty, MW 1.3 5.4 9.1 2.8 1.3

78 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 Heat Transfer

perature difference (EMTD). In this case, the use of condensing to an increasing number of underperforming air coolers. In
steam means that the overall EMTD is largely unaffected. those situations, an increased tube-side coefficient and, con-
sequently, higher overall heat transfer can compensate for a
Increased throughput. The purpose of a revamp is often to loss in EMTD, as seen in Eq. 1.
increase plant throughput; here, heat exchangers can be the A different scenario is demonstrated with the viscous
bottleneck since they are designed for specified mass flow. In steam heater example. The increased tube-side coefficient can
the case of tube-side-controlled operation, as discussed here, be used to operate the exchanger with significantly reduced
the increase in tube-side heat transfer translates to a much- condensing steam pressure. In this case, the steam pressure
improved overall coefficient (U). In this case, with condensing can be reduced from 20 bar to 5.2 bar. This often means that
steam on the shell side, the temperature levels for both streams lower-quality steam can be used. Alternatively, due to the
are kept constant, and the potential increase in mass flow will lower temperature level, the process can be switched from
be proportional to the increase in overall heat transfer. steam-heated to a heat transfer fluid-heated process with asso-
Since both the increased mass flow and the use of enhance- ciated benefits. Apart from the cost reduction, a reduced tem-
ment inside the tubes will add pressure drop, the number of perature driving force will lead to reduced wall temperatures.
passes must be reduced to stay within the allowable pressure For liquids sensitive to temperature-driven chemical reaction
drop, as explained before. In this case, a reduction from eight fouling, the drop-in wall temperatures can have a dramatic ef-
to two passes will allow an increase in the friction factor of 64 fect on fouling behavior.
times for the modified arrangement, without exceeding the
pressure drop (Eq. 3). Takeaway. Detailed information of the potential benefits
3 when using the proprietary tube insert enhancement technol-
N p( plain ) ogy has been provided. Those benefits are divided into op-
f plain fhiTRAN (3) erational process improvements, increased exchanger duty
N p(hiTRAN )
and improvements that affect a better fluid distribution in the
The mass flow can be increased from 12 kg/sec to 32 kg/ equipment. A substantial duty increase is possible where the
sec within the allowable pressure drop of 1 bar. The increased tube-side heat transfer is the controlling heat transfer resis-
heat transfer from the design and selection program software tance in the unit. It is also evident that minor changes to the
allows increased heating of the fluid beyond the required pass partitions in the header opens considerable possibilities
151°C. This suggests that a considerable further increase in for revamp in existing units. The aim is to encourage the plant
flowrate is possible, which can be achieved by a change to a operator and thermal design engineer to understand the op-
one-pass arrangement, requiring a modification to the piping portunities to revamp with this technology.
and headers. As a result, the flowrate can be increased by the
factor of seven to approximately 85 kg/sec within the allow- NOTES
able pressure drop. a
CALGAVIN’s hiTRAN tube insert technology
b
HTRI Xchanger suite
c
CALGAVIN’S [Link]
Increased/reduced outlet temperatures. In other re-
vamp situations, the mass flow through the exchanger remains PETER DRÖGEMULLER is the Head of research and
unchanged, and the aim is to achieve a higher temperature development for CALGAVIN. He joined CALGAVIN initially
change of the process stream. An example is product air cool- in 1998 for 2 yr as a Process Engineer before re-joining in 2003
ers, where the outlet temperature for storage can be reduced. as research and development Manager. Dr. Drögemuller
is responsible for new product design and research into
In feed/effluent exchangers, the increased heat transfer enhanced tube-side heat transfer devices in single- and two-
equates to higher heat recovery rates and can be used to re- phase flow applications. In his position, he leads the startup of
duce the load on the fired heater. Again, the level of improve- the company’s state-of-the-art, in-house research facilities. He is also responsible
for cooperation with various external research institutions in the UK and Europe.
ment possible depends on the tube-side flow condition and Based on these research activities, he took a leading role in developing the
how much the overall coefficient is affected by the change in company’s design and selection program softwarec, which was first launched
tube-side performance. in 2007 as a standalone version. He was then subsequently responsible for the
In this example, the pass arrangement of the exchanger integration with Aspen EDR and HTRI Xchanger Suite products. Dr. Drögemuller
has also authored various scientific papers and magazine articles, and represents
must again be modified to operate within the allowable pres- CALGAVIN at international meetings and with industrial clients in aspects of
sure drop. As a result of the much-improved tube-side heat heat transfer engineering and exchanger debottlenecking.
transfer coefficient, the outlet temperature increases from
PETER ELLERBY joined CALGAVIN in 1996 as an Engineering
151°C to 211°C, as shown in TABLE 1. The outlet temperature Manager with overall responsibility for thermal design,
pinches with the steam temperature of 212°C at this level. engineering and technical proposals. During his time with
Such revamp option temperature pinches must be considered. CALGAVIN, Mr. Ellerby has overseen many new and retrofit
An additional benefit is an additional capacity to allow for projects worldwide, from conceptual heat exchanger design
to startup. He also made a significant contribution to the
fouling margins. development and use of the company’s proprietary design
and selection program softwarec tool and has pioneered the application of
Reduced temperature driving force. The aim of a revamp enhancement in new applications, including two-phase systems. He has
can also be to run an exchanger for the same duty with a re- represented CALGAVIN on technical committees, at conferences and exhibitions,
and has authored a range of papers on specialist aspects of heat transfer and heat
duced temperature driving force. Examples include increasing exchanger design. He earned a BS degree in chemical engineering. Previously,
ambient air temperatures beyond the design values, leading Mr. Ellerby worked for Graham Manufacturing, Tioxide Europe Ltd. and Heatric.

Hydrocarbon Processing | DECEMBER 2019 79

 Catherine Watkins, Publisher ADVERTISER INDEX
Phone: +1 (713) 520-4421
[Link]@[Link]
[Link]
AICHE ............................................................61
NORTH AMERICA WESTERN EUROPE ARC Advisory Group....................................... 56
Hamilton Pearman
NORTH HOUSTON, NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS,
FORT WORTH
+33 608 310 575 AXENS .......................................................... 84
[Link]@[Link]
Jim Watkins
+1 (713) 525-4632 INDIA CTCI Corporation .............................................. 2
[Link]@[Link] Manav Kanwar
+91 (22) 2837 7070 EMGC ............................................................ 83
WEST HOUSTON, CENTRAL TEXAS, India@[Link]
NEW MEXICO
Brett Stephen
Energy Web Atlas .......................................... 39
ITALY, EASTERN EUROPE
+1 (713) 525-4660 Riccardo R.C. Laureri
[Link]@[Link] Office: +39 02 2362500
FTC ............................................................... 32
Mobile: +39 335 6962477
DALLAS, MIDWEST/CENTRAL U.S [Link]@[Link] Gulf Sotware ..................................................16
Josh Mayer
+1 (972) 816-6745 JAPAN Hargrove Engineers & Constructors ................. 49
[Link]@[Link] Yoshinori Ikeda
+81 (3) 3661-6138
WESTERN U.S., BRITISH COLOMBIA Japan@[Link]
HP Marketplace ..............................................81
Rick Ayer
+1 (949) 366-9089 KOREA HPI Market Data 2020 ....................................46
[Link]@[Link] YB Jeon

SOUTHWEST HOUSTON, SOUTH TEXAS,

+82 (2) 755-3774 IRPC Eurasia ..................................................40
Korea@[Link]
UPPER MIDWEST, ALBERTA
Nathan Frank RUSSIA, FSU John Zink ..................................................... 22
+1 (713) 525-4608 Lilia Fedotova
[Link]@[Link] +7 (495) 628-10-33 Koch Industries .............................................. 11
[Link]@[Link]
SOUTHEAST HOUSTON, GULF COAST &
SOUTHEAST U.S Linde............................................................ 36
UK, SCANDINAVIA, IRELAND, MIDDLE EAST
Austin Milburn Sam Wibrew
+1 (713) 525-4626 +44 (0) 208 133 7678
McDermott.....................................................14
[Link]@[Link] [Link]@[Link]
Merichem .......................................................6
NORTHEAST U.S., EASTERN CANADA Neil Levett
Merrie Lynch +44 (0) 7774 290522
+1 (617) 594-4943 [Link]@[Link]
Primoris Service Corp......................................31
[Link]@[Link]
CLASSIFIED SALES
Saint-Gobain NorPro ......................................19
OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA Laura Kane Siirtec NIGI SPA.............................................. 45
AFRICA +1 (713) 525-4626
[Link]@[Link] Sinopec Tech ................................................. 20
Dele Olaoye
+1 (713) 240-4447
FULL ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION SALES
Africa@[Link] Subscriptions ................................................ 62
J’Nette Davis-Nichols
BRAZIL
Evan Sponagle
+1 (713) 520-4426 Sustainability................................................ 52
[Link]-Nichols@[Link]
Phone: +55 (21) 2512-2741
Mobile: +55 (21) 99925-3398 CORPORATE ACCESS
TLV Corp ....................................................... 26
[Link]@[Link]
Harry Brookby UOP...............................................................12
CHINA, HONG KONG +1 (713) 520-4456
Iris Yuen [Link]@[Link]
China: +86 13802701367
ZymeFlow Decon Technology ...........................5
Hong Kong: +852 69185500
China@[Link]

This Index and procedure for securing additional information

is provided as a service to Hydrocarbon Processing advertisers
and a convenience to our readers. Gulf Energy Information
is not responsible for omissions or errors.
80 DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
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29 SPECIAL FOCUS:
PLANT DESIGN,
AUTOMATION AND
PROCESS CONTROL
15 Optimization of BOG
management during
LNG unloading with
dynamic simulation
S. Su

21 Delivering asset data

integrity through
36 digitization and
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S. Fabiano

25 Reduce gas dehydration

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E. Keachie, Y. Lou
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40 29 Avoid costly startup

delays with a MAC
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LNG TECHNOLOGY
31 Manage contaminants
in LNG feed gas and
cryogenic processing—
Part 2
11 D. Engel, C. Ridge
and S. Williams
DEPARTMENTS
Gas Processing News .....................................................................................6 PIPELINES
U.S. Industry Metrics ......................................................................................9 36 Sectionalizing valve
Global Project Data ...................................................................................... 10 location on an onshore
New in Gas Processing Technology .......................................................... 40 buried gas pipeline
COLUMNS S. Zardynezhad
Editorial Comment .........................................................................................4
The future of FLNG: Less is more?
Regional Focus............................................................................................... 11
Australia to boost LNG exports despite domestic gas shortage
Executive Viewpoint..................................................................................... 13
Back to production: Where we’re going, we don’t need pipelines
Cover Image: Shell’s Prelude is now a live and
operating FLNG facility, with gas onboard.
 EDITORIAL COMMENT
[Link]

P. O. Box 2608
Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA

The future of FLNG:

Phone: +1 (713) 529-4301
Fax: +1 (713) 520-4433
Editorial@[Link]

Less is more? PUBLISHER

Catherine Watkins

EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief
Global LNG export capacity is expected to increase by Adrienne Blume
45% between 2017 and 2022, to more than 400 metric Managing Editor
MMtpy, with 90% of the new capacity coming from sanc- Mike Rhodes
tioned projects in the U.S. and Australia. By 2050, this ca- Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher,
pacity is anticipated to exceed 700 MMtpy. Regasification Hydrocarbon Processing
capacity is anticipated to increase even more sharply. Lee Nichols
Growing volumes of these production and import
capacities will come in the form of floating liquefac- MAGAZINE PRODUCTION
tion (FLNG) and regasification (FRGU) vessels. FLNG Vice President, Production
projects backed by major oil and gas firms and supported Sheryl Stone
by adequate gas reserves and LNG demand are the most
A. BLUME, Editor-in-Chief Manager, Advertising Production
likely to achieve completion. Africa and Asia are viewed
Cheryl Willis
as key areas for liquefaction and regasification spending. Australian FLNG projects
also have a good chance of moving forward, as they will be in close proximity to Manager, Editorial Production
Asian countries with growing LNG demand. Angela Bathe Dietrich
However, according to a 2019 survey of LNG industry professionals by DNV GL, Assistant Manager, Editorial Production
the industry will prefer smaller FLNG projects and tanker conversions in the future Lindsey Craun Sönmez
over massive FLNG projects. The first FLNG vessel to come online was Petronas’ Artist/Illustrator
$2-B, 1.2-metric-MMtpy PFLNG1 project (FIG. 1), started up in November 2016 off- David Weeks
shore Sarawak, Malaysia. In March 2019, Petronas announced that it had relocated the Graphic Designer
vessel from the Kumang cluster field to the Kebabangan cluster field, offshore Sabah. Krista Norman
Shell’s Prelude, pictured on the front cover, is the largest seafaring vessel ever built
at 488 m long and 74 m wide. The long-awaited Prelude FLNG vessel, located off- ADVERTISING SALES
shore Broome, Western Australia, shipped its first cargo in June 2019. Shell and its See Sales Offices, page 42.
partners produce an impressive 3.6 MMtpy of LNG, 1.3 MMtpy of condensate and Copyright © 2019 by Gulf Energy Information LLC.
400,000 tpy of LPG on the floating facility, which cost more than $12 B to construct.
All rights reserved.
In the future, however, smaller vessels may have several advantages. Smaller-scale
FLNG vessels are cheaper to build and operate, faster to deploy and effective at exploit-
ing smaller volumes of stranded gas and serving niche markets. In these scenarios, it
is more likely that a contractor will
liquefy gas on behalf of the operator President/CEO
of the vessel, thereby reducing risk John Royall
by purchasing a service rather than CFO
buying an asset. Alan Millis
For more in-depth information Vice President
and forecasts for market trends, Andy McDowell
construction projects and spending in Vice President, Finance and Operations
the LNG/FLNG and gas processing Pamela Harvey
sectors, please see the Natural Gas/ Vice President, Production
LNG section of the “HPI Market Sheryl Stone
Data 2020” report, published by Vice President, Data Sales
Hydrocarbon Processing in November Harry Brookby
FIG. 1. Petronas’ PFLNG1 vessel was the world’s and available for purchase at www. Other Gulf Energy Information titles include:
first floating liquefaction plant, commencing [Link]/market- Hydrocarbon Processing ®, World Oil ®,
operations 3 yr ago offshore Malaysia. Petroleum Economist ©, Pipeline & Gas Journal
data/hpi-market-data-book GP and Underground Construction.

4 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]

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 GAS PROCESSING NEWS
A. BLUME, Editor-in-Chief

Cheniere targets Total eyes two more trains Singapore to stick

early LNG train at Mozambique LNG with natural gas
completion in power for now
H1 2021 Natural gas will continue to
play a dominant role in electricity
Cheniere Energy Inc. expects generation in Singapore while the
to reach substantial completion country plans to accelerate the
of the third liquefaction train at its use of renewable energy, primarily
Corpus Christi LNG export plant solar power, in the next decade
in Texas earlier than previously to battle climate change, a senior
expected, in the first half of 2021. government official said.
The company previously The cost of installing solar
said it planned to complete the power has become more
train in the second half of 2021. competitive with the use of
This would continue a pattern fossil fuels, making it more
for Cheniere and Bechtel, the attractive as an energy source
engineering firm building the to reduce pollution and meet
trains, of completing units ahead emissions targets.
of schedule and on budget. “We are now faced with new
Cheniere also said in its 3Q and urgent challenges in climate
earnings release that it expects change,” Minister for Trade and
to complete the sixth train at its Industry Chan Chun Sing said.
Sabine Pass LNG export plant in Singapore, a low-lying country,
Louisiana in H1 2023. The company is vulnerable to rising sea levels.
said Corpus Train 3 was about Its weather has become hotter and
68.6% complete, and Sabine Train rainfalls have become heavier due
6 was about 38.1% complete. to the effects of climate change.
Cheniere has five liquefaction “However, Singapore has few
trains operating at Sabine and alternative energy options,” Chan
two trains at Corpus Christi. Each French energy major Total aims to expand its Mozambique LNG said. “We have limited land area,
train is capable of liquefying project with two additional trains. “We’re starting to look at studies no hydro or geothermal resources,
approximately 0.7 Bft3d of gas. for Train 3 and Train 4, because the resources are clearly there to and low wind speeds.”
About five MM U.S. homes can develop,” Mike Sangster, head of Total Exploration and Production To address these challenges,
be supplied for a day by 1 Bft3d for Nigeria, remarked. Singapore aims to widen the use
of gas. Total concluded the acquisition of Anadarko’s 26.5% interest in of solar power in the city-state,
In addition, the company is the Mozambique LNG project for $3.9 B in September as part of its targeting at least 2-GW peak
developing seven mid-scale LNG takeover of Anadarko’s Africa assets, which included projects in solar power capacity by 2030,
export trains at Corpus, called Ghana and Algeria. which is equivalent to more
Stage 3, with a total capacity to Sangster added that the company expects to close its acquisition than 10% of the country’s peak
liquefy around 1.25 Bft3d of gas. of Anadarko assets in Ghana and Algeria in early 2020, once electricity demand today.
Cheniere hopes to decide to build regulatory approvals are cleared. According to Total, the Mozambique The city-state also plans
Corpus Stage 3 in 2020, which project includes the construction of a two-train liquefaction plant to deploy 200 MW of energy
would enable the plant to enter with a capacity of 12.9 metric MMtpy. The firm has said that 90% of storage systems (ESS) beyond
service in 2023. Mozambique LNG is already sold under long-term contracts. 2025 to augment solar power
Sabine was the first big LNG generation. “Over the next 10
export facility to enter service in Cyprus moves forward on LNG years, we expect solar with ESS
the Lower 48 U.S. states. When to reach cost-parity with current
Sabine shipped its first cargo in infrastructure development gas turbines,” Chan said.
February 2016, the U.S. was not The Natural Gas Public Company of Cyprus (DEFA) announced in However, natural gas will
exporting any LNG. Since then, the July the successful completion of the first step of a tender procedure continue to be the dominant
country has become the world’s for the Cyprus LNG import terminal. Three international consortia have fuel for Singapore in the near
fourth-biggest exporter of the fuel submitted proposals: future due to the time needed
in 2018, behind Qatar, Australia • A consortium of China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co. Ltd., to scale up alternative sources
and Malaysia, and is on track to Aktor SA and Metron SA for power generation.
overtake Malaysia and become • A consortium of Samsung C&T Corp., Posco E&C, Singapore plans to diversify
the third-biggest in 2019 and the Mitsui OSK Lines and Osaka Gas Co. its sources of natural gas, and
biggest in the world in 2024. • A consortium of Damco Energy SA, Enagás Services Solutions, it will continue to develop its
Looking at terminals under GasLog LNG Services Ltd., Snam SpA and Terna SA. role as a trading hub for LNG.
construction, total U.S. LNG The companies that submitted offers cover a wide geographical The country is also studying
export capacity is expected to range. Dr. Symeon Kassianides, Chairman of DEFA, called the successful plans to build a second LNG
rise to 6.9 Bft3d by the end of result of the tender process “…the first milestone for the realization of a import terminal and will look at
2019 and 9.6 Bft3d in 2020 from long-term project that is directly linked to the country’s energy upgrade issuing more import licenses,
6.8 Bft3d at present. Cheniere has and energy pluralism in Cyprus.” Chan said.
estimated the cost of the first The consortia will now complete an evaluation process and start work Located on a 40-hectare plot
five trains at Sabine, including for the immediate implementation of the project. The primary objective at the southern tip of Jurong
financing, at between $17.5 B of DEFA is to lay the foundations for a functioning natural gas market Island, the Singapore LNG
and $18.5 B, while the first three in Cyprus that ensures security of reliable, low-cost, environmentally Terminal is the first open-access,
trains at Corpus are expected friendly gas supply, initially for power generation and subsequently to multi-user LNG terminal in Asia.
to cost between $15 B and $16 B industries, hotels, bunkering, transportation and domestic consumers. Singapore LNG is designed
after financing. Cheniere said The LNG terminal would include a floating storage and regasification to deliver regasifed LNG at a
it has a $2.5-B contract with unit (FSRU), a jetty for mooring the FSRU and a jetty-borne gas pipeline maximum pressure of 40 barg and
Bechtel to build Sabine Train 6. and related infrastructure, and would be completed in 2021. a minimum temperature of 13°C.

6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 GAS PROCESSING NEWS
A. BLUME, Editor-in-Chief

Bulgaria to finish Yamal LNG tanker no longer under sanctions

TurkStream Teekay LNG’s tanker venture,
the Yamal LNG JV, is no longer
pipeline stretch subject to U.S. sanctions after
by 2020 a change of ownership at its
partner China LNG Shipping
(Holdings) Ltd.
Teekay LNG and China LNG
Shipping each own half of the
Yamal LNG JV. The JV company
owns four specialized ARC7 LNG
tankers, or “ice class carriers,”
which ship LNG from Yamal
LNG, the massive production
facility operated by Russian
Bulgaria has promised to independent gas producer
complete its stretch of the Novatek in the Russian Arctic.
TurkStream gas pipeline by 2020 The JV was blocked in
as planned, according to Russian late September after the U.S.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. imposed sanctions on two units
In September, Bulgaria signed of COSCO Shipping Energy
a €1.1-B ($1.2-B) contract with Transportation Co. Ltd., including COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian), which owns China LNG Shipping.
Saudi-led group Arkad to build the The sanctions caused shipping costs for oil and LNG to more than double across the globe. China LNG
474-km pipeline across its territory. Shipping is no longer classified as a “blocked person” under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
Bulgaria hopes the entire rules after COSCO Shipping completed an ownership restructuring on arms-length terms, Teekay Corp.
pipeline, which it has dubbed and its subsidiary, Teekay LNG, said in a statement.
Balkan Stream, will become “The four existing ARC7 LNG carriers are continuing to operate under their long-term contracts,
operational as early as 2020; transporting gas from the Yamal LNG project, and the remaining two ARC7 LNG carrier newbuilds are
however, given that the contract expected to deliver in the fourth quarter of 2019,” Teekay stated.
with the Saudi company was Teekay has a controlling stake in Teekay LNG, which is the world’s third-largest independent owner
signed only in September, some and operator of LNG carriers.
industry officials are doubtful of
the timeline.
Russia, which is building Woodside to greenlight $11-B gas project
TurkStream to bypass Ukraine Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has pushed out the final approval date
to the south, has said its second for its mammoth Browse gas project, but slightly brought forward
portion, with an annual capacity plans to sign off on its smaller Scarborough project as it races to fill an
of 15.75 Bm3, will pass via Bulgaria anticipated global supply gap.
to central Europe. Bulgaria has Woodside, Australia’s top independent gas producer, said it is now
already opened an 11-km pipeline targeting a final investment decision on the $20.5-B Browse project in
that links its gas transport network the first half of 2021 as it continues to wrangle with its partners. It had
with Turkey as part of its push to previously expected approval in late 2020.
transport Russian natural gas from However, Woodside also said it now aims to sign off on the $11-B
TurkStream to central Europe. Scarborough gas project and Pluto LNG expansion in early 2020, as
Bulgaria has also inspected the opposed to the first half of 2020.
laying of pipes Arkad has started “Our competition is global,” said Woodside Chief Financial Officer Sherry Duhe. “The entire global LNG
in northwestern Bulgaria. community has obviously seen that there’s a supply gap that’s sitting out there once we get past 2021/2022,
The pipeline stretch is part and we believe that our projects are perfectly timed.”
of Bulgaria’s plan to link its The faster timetable for the Scarborough project is dependent on Woodside reaching an agreement with
southern border with Turkey to its partner, BHP Group, on a price for processing gas from the field at the Pluto plant.
its western frontier with Serbia Pressure is on BHP to finalize a tolling agreement before the end of the year, Duhe said, noting that BHP
and provide a link to the Russia- has an option that expires on December 31 to increase its stake in Scarborough by 10% to 35%.
backed TurkStream twin pipeline BHP previously said it sees the project as an attractive, low-risk opportunity, but with lower returns
to Serbia, Hungary and Austria. compared to some of its other growth options. Discussions on Browse, the biggest undeveloped gas resource
In October, Russia’s Gazprom off northwestern Australia, are more complicated as they involve several partners in both the field and the
began filling the first part of the associated West Shelf LNG plant, with only some overlap in ownership.
TurkStream pipeline, which runs Chevron Corp. and BHP are stakeholders in the LNG plant, but not Browse; while PetroChina is in Browse,
via the Black Sea, with gas. Russia but not the LNG plant. The other stakeholders—Woodside, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Japan’s Mitusbishi Corp.
plans to launch the first part of the and Mitsui & Co.—are on both sides of the fence.
pipeline, with an annual capacity of Woodside said it still expects the partners to greenlight preliminary engineering for Browse, which has
15.75 Bm3, by the end of the year. been stuck on the drawing board for years, by the end of 2019.

Angola forms consortium with five oil firms for $2-B LNG expansion
Angola has formed a consortium with five international oil companies, including Eni and Chevron, to boost LNG supply from its Soyo plant,
the newly formed national oil, gas and biofuels agency ANGP said.
The New Gas Consortium (NGC) was signed in late October with representatives of the Soyo terminal.
The expansion project will have an initial cost of $2 B, with a tentative production start date of 2022, an ANGP spokesperson said. Italy’s Eni
will operate the project, and the members will share costs according to participation.
Chevron will take a 31% stake, Eni will reserve a 25.6% share, Sonangol P&P will hold 19.8%, Total will own 11.8% and BP will take a 11.8% share.
Exploration and production will initially come from the Quiluma and Maboqueiro fields, as well as other blocks.
The Soyo LNG plant is designed to process 1.1 Bft3d of natural gas and has the capacity to produce 5.2 MMtpy of LNG, as well as natural gas,
propane, butane and condensate.

Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 7

 GAS PROCESSING NEWS
A. BLUME, Editor-in-Chief

ConocoPhillips Denmark greenlights Nord Stream 2 IMO 2020-

quits northern compliant marine
Australia fuel available
ConocoPhillips has agreed in Germany
to sell its northern Australian
business to partner Santos Ltd.
for $1.39 B, in a deal that will hike
the Australian group’s output
by 25% and boost its position
in the global gas market.
The deal, which was not
unexpected, marks the second
major acquisition by Santos in Finland’s Neste Oil and
less than a year, following a sharp Germany’s BMT Bunker und
turnaround in its fortunes under Mineralöltransport GmbH have
Managing Director Kevin Gallagher. signed a partner agreement
ConocoPhillips, which has concerning the distribution and
been focusing on its U.S. shale sale of Neste Marine 0.5. This new
assets, will quit the Darwin LNG marine fuel, containing a maximum
plant, which it opened in 2006, Denmark has given the go-ahead to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, of 0.5% sulfur, has been available
and gas fields off northern removing the last major hurdle to the completion of the Russian-led in Bremerhaven, Germany, since
Australia, but hold on to its stake project that has divided opinion in the EU. early November 2019.
in the Australia Pacific LNG plant The Danish permit was the last needed for the 1,230-km-long BMT is a bunkering services
in Queensland state. (765-mi-long) pipeline from Russia to Germany. The U.S. and several company with significant
The move comes as the experience in the sale of marine
East European, Nordic and Baltic countries have expressed concern
Bayu-Undan gas field that feeds fuels. The company is well known
that the project, led by Russia’s Gazprom, will increase Europe’s
Darwin LNG is set to run dry in along Germany’s North Sea coast,
reliance on Russian gas.
2022 and the project’s owners which is a key logistics channel
U.S. President Donald Trump, like his predecessor, President Barack
near a decision on which field to for global shipping companies.
Obama, has opposed the project. The U.S. is offering exports of LNG
develop next to keep the plant
to Europe to lessen dependence on Russian gas. Russian President
open, with Santos aiming to
develop the Barossa field.
Vladimir Putin believes it is in Europe’s interest to finish the project. Saudi Aramco,
“We welcome this decision,” Putin said. “Denmark has proved
The deal, set to close in 1Q
itself as a responsible participant of the international communication,
ACWA to
2020, is expected to boost Santos’
earnings per share by 16% and
defending its interests and its sovereignty, [and the] interests of invest $3 B in
its main partners in Europe that are interested in diversification of
increase its production by 25%
deliveries of Russian hydrocarbons.” Bangladesh LNG
in 2020, the company said. It adds
According to its initial schedule, Nord Stream 2 should have been Saudi Aramco and ACWA
to its stakes in the Gladstone
operational by the end of this year when an agreement on the transit of Power have signed a deal to
LNG project and PNG LNG in
Russian gas via Ukraine, the main route for exports to Europe, expires. develop a 3,600-MW, LNG-based
Papua New Guinea.
The EU has urged Moscow and Kiev to reach a new agreement power plant and LNG terminal
Santos has agreed to pay
before December 31, but there are a number of obstacles, including in the country. As part of the
a further $75 MM if a final
a political row between Kiev and Moscow, a pro-Russian insurgency in deal, the Saudi company will
investment decision is reached on
eastern Ukraine, and litigation between Russian gas supplier Gazprom invest approximately $3 B, the
developing the Barossa field. The
and Ukraine energy company Naftogaz. Germany has also said that Bangladesh government said.
deal gives Santos control over the The Bangladesh prime
future of Darwin LNG, the second- Nord Stream 2 would only be launched if Gazprom continued to transit
gas through Ukraine. minister’s investment adviser,
oldest of Australia’s 10 LNG plants, Salman Fazlur Rahman, said the
at a time when it is vying against A spokesman said the Nord Stream 2 consortium, which includes
Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall DEA, Anglo-Dutch Shell, Austria’s agreement “represented one of
several LNG projects worldwide to the largest deals in Bangladesh’s
line up gas buyers to extend its life. OMV and France’s Engie, would work to complete the project “in the
coming months,” but declined to specify a timeline. lucrative power sector” and
Santos will acquire reflected confidence in the
ConocoPhillips’ majority stakes More than 87% of Nord Stream 2 has been built, but applications
country’s “investment-friendly
in Darwin LNG and Bayu-Undan, with Danish authorities to lay pipes under Danish waters have been
environment.”
as well as a 37.5% stake in Barossa, pending since April 2017.
ACWA chairman Mohammad
but will aim to cut its stakes in “We are pleased to have obtained Denmark’s consent to construct
Abdullah Abunayyan said
Darwin LNG and Barossa to about the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline through the Danish continental shelf area,” his company would make the
40%–50%. It said it has already said Samira Kiefer Andersson, Nord Stream 2’s permitting manager direct investment by next year.
reached a preliminary agreement in Denmark, in a statement. He described the project as a
to sell down a 25% stake in The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) said in a statement that it had “landmark” that would be the
Darwin LNG to its Barossa partner granted a permit to Nord Stream 2 to construct a 147-km section of company’s largest gas-to-power
SK E&S of South Korea. the twin pipeline southeast of the Danish island Bornholm in the Baltic development.
It was also in talks with other Sea. Nord Stream 2 will need to wait another month before the permit The plant and terminal are
Darwin LNG partners, which can be used, according to Danish law, which gives parties the option to set to be built in either the
include Japan’s Inpex Corp., Italy’s lodge complaints for up to four weeks after the decision, the DEA said. Moheshkhali area of Cox’s Bazar
Eni SpA, and Japan’s JERA and A U.S. bill to slap sanctions on companies involved in building the or the port of Payra. Riyadh and
Tokyo Gas to sell equity in Barossa project passed a Senate committee in July, but has yet to reach the Dhaka have long maintained close
and Darwin LNG. Santos also aims full chamber. John Sullivan, a deputy secretary of state and Trump’s bilateral relations, with Saudi
to line up contracts for 60%–80% nominee for U.S. ambassador to Russia, told his nomination hearing on Arabia being the largest source
of LNG volumes for more than 10 Wednesday that sanctions may impose a substantial cost on Russia, but of Bangladesh’s vital foreign
yr before taking FID on Barossa. not stop the pipeline. remittances.

8 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 U.S. INDUSTRY METRICS
A. BLUME, Editor-in-Chief

On November 4, the thousandth LNG export cargo was shipped from the
U.S. since the start of LNG exports from the Lower 48 States in February
2016. An estimated 3.42 Tft3 of natural gas have been exported as LNG
from the U.S. between February 2016 and early November 2019. The
so-called “second wave” of LNG projects in the country includes 14 ter-
minals worth a collective $118.4 B. The vast majority of the projects are
located along the Gulf Coast. U.S. LNG production capacity is estimated
at 8.9 Bft3d at the end of 2019, representing more than twice the lique-
faction capacity of 3.6 Bft3d in place at the end of 2018. GP

U.S. gas production (Bft3d) and prices ($/Mcf)

100 7
6
80

Gas prices, $/thousand ft3

5
Production, Bft3d

60 4
40 3
Monthly price (Henry Hub) 2
20 12-month price avg.
Production
Production 1
0 0
MAM J J A S O N D J F MAM J J A S O N D J F MAM J J A S O
2017 2018 2019
Production equals U.S. marketed production, wet gas. Source: EIA.

U.S. natural gas spot prices at Henry Hub

and NGL spot prices at Mont Belvieu, $/MMBtu
25
Natural gasoline Propane
Isobutane Ethane
20 Butane Natural gas spot prices (Henry Hub)
NGPL composite

15
$/MMBtu

10

0
Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July [Link]. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July [Link]. Oct. Nov.
2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019
Our industry doesn’t require blast testing
U.S. natural gas plant field production of on blast-resistant structures. But we do.
NGL, LPG, ethane and propane, Mbpd
And it makes all the difference in terms
50 of performance and peace of mind.
U.S. gas plant field production, Mbpd

40

30 NGL
LPG
Ethane/ethylene
Propane/propylene
20
TESTED FOR LIFE
10
June- July- Aug.- Sept.- Oct.- Nov.- Dec.- Jan.- Feb.- Mar.- April- May- June- July- Aug.-
855-733-4827 | [Link]
2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019
Source: U.S. EIA

Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 9

 GLOBAL PROJECT DATA
LEE NICHOLS, Editor/Associate Publisher, Hydrocarbon Processing

Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction Boxscore Database and the past year, nearly 150 new gas processing/LNG projects have
Gulf Energy Information’s Energy Web Atlas is tracking more been announced. Most of these projects are in the Asia-Pacific re-
than 420 active gas processing/LNG projects around the world. gion, which continues to build out its natural gas infrastructure.
The gas processing/LNG sector represents approximately 32% of This includes the construction of gas processing plants, natural
active midstream/downstream processing projects globally. Over gas pipelines and LNG export and import capacity. GP

30
42
Canada
30 Eastern Europe, Russia, CIS
96
Western Europe

US 31 148
29
Middle East
Africa
15
Latin America Asia-Pacific

Active gas processing/LNG projects by region

Source: Energy Web Atlas and Construction Boxscore Database

New gas processing/LNG project announcements, Active project market share

September 2018–September 2019 by activity level

14 14 12% Engineering
12 12 12
10 10
11
10
11 10% FEED
9 9
8 25% Under construction
5% Study
48% Proposed/planning
Oct.- Nov.- Dec.- Jan.- Feb.- Mar.- April- May- June- July- Aug.- Sept.- Oct.-
18 18 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19

Detailed and up-to-date information for active construction projects and operational assets
in the gas processing, LNG and pipeline industries across the globe | [Link]

10 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 REGIONAL FOCUS

Australia to boost LNG exports

despite domestic gas shortage
E. GERDEN, Contributing Writer 

Australia is planning further increases in partnership with Total, Tokyo Gas, cated in the southeast. According to the
in LNG production and exports over the Osaka Gas and Chubu Electric Power. Australian Competition and Consumer
next decade, despite quickly depleting Over the past few years, the cost of the Commission and the Australian Energy
reserves and a looming supply shortage Ichthys project has more than doubled Market Operator, Victoria may face a full-
in the domestic market. from $20 B to $45 B. This led Total to scale gas shortage by mid-2021. At pres-
In recent years, supplies of Australian reduce its share from 30% to 26% at the ent, Victoria is the largest consumer of
LNG to global markets have increased end of 2018. Similar situations have been gas in Australia. Possible shortages could
sharply, from 27.6 MMt (38.1 Bm3) in observed with other Australian LNG pose serious threats to the energy security
2015 to approximately 67 MMt (92.5 projects for which costs have significantly of the entire country.
Bm3) in 2018. Australia’s LNG produc- increased in recent years. Most of the gas is supplied to Victoria
ers plan to collectively displace Qatar At the same time, Australia’s compe- from Gippsland Basin, which is home to
from its leading position in the global tition with Qatar in the LNG sector has Australia’s largest oil and gas fields. Most
LNG market. caused gas prices for consumers on the of the fields are jointly developed by Exx-
Australia is prepared to increase its east coast to almost double. The major- onMobil and BHP Billiton through a JV.
LNG export volume to 100 MMt in ity of Australia’s gas is located on the west These offshore fields have provided Aus-
the short term. This would help meet coast of the country, making it too expen- tralia with cheap gas since 1969 and sup-
growing demand from China, which is sive to build pipelines to transport sup- plied about one-fifth of Australia’s east
expected to overtake Japan in the next plies to the east. coast gas demand in recent years. Howev-
few years to become the largest buyer of A recent forecast from independent er, these fields likely will be unable to meet
Australian LNG. research group EnergyQuest predicts demand volumes going forward, due to the
another doubling of prices by 2028. The ongoing depletion of their reserves. Exx-
Export projects struggle with high large number of long-term export con- onMobil has even considered importing
costs, gas shortages. Shell’s re- tracts between Australian LNG suppliers LNG to Australia in a move to overcome
cently commissioned Prelude floating and foreign buyers has further impacted gas shortages and protect its market share.
LNG (FLNG) vessel (FIG. 1), used in domestic gas volumes and prices.
the Prelude and Concerto gas fields in A complex situation is observed in Australia: The next LNG importer?
the Browse basin 200 km off the coast the large Australian state of Victoria, lo- Despite its status as one of the world’s
of Australia, produces 3.6 MMtpy of
LNG, 1.3 MMtpy of condensate and
400,000 tpy of LPG.
According to analysts, production
from Prelude and other FLNG vessels
may lead to a worldwide decrease in the
cost of LNG supplies and raise the com-
petitiveness of LNG in comparison to
other energy sources.
However, Australia’s massive LNG
projects, including Prelude, have been
fraught with cost overruns. In some cas-
es, this has caused—or is predicted to
cause—delays in the startups of some
LNG projects. An example of this is the
Ichthys LNG project (FIG. 2), which in-
volves the development of the Ichthys gas
field off the northwestern coast of Austra-
lia, in the Timor Sea. Among the stake-
FIG. 1. Prelude FLNG is the world’s largest offshore facility ever constructed.
holders of Ichthys LNG are Inpex Corp.
Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 11
REGIONAL FOCUS

leading LNG exporters, Australia may port terminals near major seaports in the government to force LNG exporters
soon enter the list of major importers. New South Wales, Victoria and South to break long-term contracts with their
The re-orientation of export-focused Australia. LNG imports could come to Chinese, Korean and Japanese custom-
LNG plants already in operation will not Australia from the U.S. and Middle East. ers. The overestimation of resources is a
be financially feasible or supported by Analyst predict further deterioration key factor. Queensland could be forced
their investors. Australia may be forced of Australia’s LNG sector, as the growing to shut down one-third of its US$59-B
to begin construction of large LNG im- domestic supply shortage may prompt (A$84-B) LNG production volume be-
cause gas supplies are predicted to run
out faster than initially expected.
In 2018, the government approved
a gas security mechanism allowing it to
force LNG producers to limit exports in
the event of a domestic shortage. This
security mechanism has not yet been en-
forced, but the policy raises critical ques-
tions about sovereign risk and the future
of Australia’s multi-billion-dollar LNG
industry. GP
EUGENE GERDEN is an
international contributing
writer specializing in the
global oil refining and
gas industry. He has been
published in a number
of prominent industry
publications.
FIG. 2. The Ichthys LNG development off the northwestern coast of Australia has seen massive
cost overruns.

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12 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT

Back to production: Where we’re going,

we don’t need pipelines
MARK CASADAY, CEO, EDGE

In 2017, the U.S. tipped from net im- However, there is no shortage of Ap-
porter of natural gas to net exporter for palachian asset owners still waiting on
the first time in 60 yr.1 In 2018, the U.S. pipeline expansion to unlock their fields.
exported 3,832,761 ft3 of gas—more They may be kept on the hook for some
than 900,000 ft3 in excess of imports.2 time, with fewer large-scale pipeline ex-
Behind that transformation lie the gas- pansions scheduled for this year in the re-
rich fields of the Appalachian basin, par- gion. This may discourage drilling activ-
ticularly the Marcellus, as well as rising ity, and production may be constrained
capacity in the Permian. These valuable by limited demand growth within basins,
reserves can play a role in fueling the downstream limits on pipelines and de-
American economy, supporting its tran- mand, rising pipeline project costs and
sition to gas from coal and aiding its rise availability of capital.
as a major global gas exporter. Does it matter? After all, the U.S. has
Yet, so much potential goes unhar- surged to a strong position as a natu-
nessed, purely because lack of access to a ral gas exporter; the industry is not in
pipeline has meant there is no economic dire straits. However, there is plenty of
way to take the extracted gas to market. headroom for further growth. The Inter-
MARK CASADAY is a veteran of the American
Unknown thousands of orphan wells are national Energy Agency (IEA) expects
natural gas industry with more than 30 yr of strewn across the U.S., abandoned due to global gas demand to grow at roughly
experience at gas gathering, processing and dis- unfavorable economics, and many more 1.6%/yr through 2023, largely due to ris-
tribution companies. In the course of his career, stranded assets are as-yet undrilled for ing demand in Asia.5 The growth of U.S.
Mr. Casaday has held leadership positions at similar reasons.3 Despite fevered take- export capacity—especially LNG ship-
some of North America’s foremost gas com-
panies, including Niska Gas Storage Partners,
away expansion in the Appalachian ba- ments—is expected to be a key driver
Penn Octane Corp. and Mainline Energy Partners. sin over recent years, this will remain the for meeting that demand, so it is far from
case for many asset owners who still find clear that now is the time for putting on
themselves remote from traditional mid- the brakes. Plenty of opportunity is avail-
stream infrastructure. able for Appalachian producers if they
However, what if pipelines were un- can crack their takeaway conundrums.
necessary? What if a cost-effective way However, the true potential of the
existed to extract and distribute natural market—both domestic and export—
gas, regardless of proximity to pipeline, could be even greater. As the energy
and bring those assets back to produc- transition gathers pace, there is a clear
tion? What if the industry went in a direc- direction of travel toward favoring
tion that did not need pipelines? For those cleaner-burning natural gas over dirtier
looking to monetize unproductive natural fossil fuels, such as coal and diesel. This
gas assets or bring unproductive wells back is true for large-scale power generation,
to production, it would be revolutionary. but also in many other areas of economic
activity—for example, remote industrial
The pipeline deficit. Historically, the sites or mines that are too far removed
Appalachian basin has struggled for for grid connection and reliant on die-
takeaway capacity, creating bottlenecks. sel gensets, or hauliers’ truck fleets, or
In recent years, fevered pipeline expan- ferries and ships burning marine diesel.
sion has somewhat alleviated that—the Furthermore, a growing number of off-
U.S. Energy Information Administration grid homes in the U.S. are looking for a
(EIA) estimates that pipeline capacity in functionally similar alternative to fuel
the Northeast region grew from 5 Bft3d oil for heating. All that is needed to un-
to 23 Bft3d between 2008 and 2018.4 lock these sectors is a more flexible and
Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 13
EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT

reliable method of distributing gas to ter quality and safety concerns, to name used onsite, transported via existing take-
where its needed. a few contentions. The politicized nature away options or distributed to market by
of pipelines introduces unhelpful levels truck. This virtual pipeline is limited only
The problem with pipelines. The obvi- of risk and delay. by the road network, enabling reliable de-
ous solution would be a massive expan- livery directly to end users, however re-
sion of pipeline infrastructure and gas Where we’re going, we don’t need mote the site.
distribution networks. This would be pipelines. If only there were an alterna- Small-scale LNG is the ideal option for
both expensive and difficult. tive method of takeaway and distribution non-pipeline distribution. It is safe, easily
Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline that offered greater reach and flexibility transportable and suitable for a variety of
alone was priced at $4.2 B (CAPEX) in than pipelines, with comparatively neg- uses, with or without regasification. For
2017,6 and since then has racked up more ligible costs and risks. Such a solution asset owners, the unit integrates quickly,
than $15 MM in fines, along with the would unlock opportunity for operators safely and efficiently to extraction equip-
company’s Mariner project.7 These are sitting on orphan wells or stranded assets ment without causing damage, opening
large infrastructure projects, and more across the Appalachian basin, while also up a previously closed revenue stream.
will only be built if developers are confi- facilitating new end-use markets for natu- For LNG buyers, it creates a new source of
dent of long-term favorable market con- ral gas as an alternative to diesel. high-quality, low-cost LNG to power a va-
ditions and suitable risk levels. As such, What might such a solution look like? riety of end-use applications—all without
pipelines are ill-suited to respond to One answer to this is the virtual pipeline the need for additional fixed infrastructure.
more short-term fluctuations in demand. concept. This entails sending one or more A combination of new technologies
Pipelines also come with a consid- unique, cryogenic liquefaction units to and business models means that, for those
erable political price tag. For example, the site, which are capable of quick and wondering what to do with orphan wells
there is fierce opposition at the state level simple conversion of natural gas to LNG or stranded assets, there is a way back to
in New York to the planned Constitution at the wellhead. Crucially, the unit is the production—and where we’re going, we
pipeline, as well as argument between size of a truck trailer, so it can be deliv- don’t need pipelines. GP
the state and Federal Energy Regulatory ered wherever there is road access, far be- LITERATURE CITED
Commission (FERC).8 Battle lines can yond the reach of the pipeline network. Complete literature cited available online at
be drawn over planning permissions, wa- The produced LNG can then either be [Link].

NEW VERSION

InstruCalc •

CONTROL VALVES • FLOW ELEMENTS • RELIEF DEVICES • PROCESS DATA

InstruCalc 9.0 calculates the size of control valves, flow elements and relief devices and calculates
fluid properties, pipe pressure loss and liquid waterhammer flow. Easy to use and accurate, it is the
only sizing program you need, enabling you to:
• Size more than 50 different instruments
• Calculate process data at flow conditions for 54 fluids, in either mixtures or
single components, and 66 gases
• Calculate the orifice size, flowrate or differential range, which enables the user to
select the flowrate with optimum accuracy.

Updates include Engineering Standard Upgrades and Operational

Improvements in InstruCalc Version 9.0
For More Information:
Contact J’Nette Davis-Nichols at
[Link]/InstruCalc or call
+1 (713) 520-4426.

14 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN,
AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

Optimization of BOG management during

LNG unloading with dynamic simulation
S. SU, ProPEng Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada

In LNG receiving terminals, the dy-

namic nature of boiloff gas (BOG) gen-
eration in the unloading process can be
difficult to understand, and BOG man-
agement can be challenging. Dynamic
simulation has been used in a few limited
studies in this field, but a systematic ap-
proach is lacking for conducting simula-
tions, data collection and analysis.
In this study, dynamic simulation, ex-
periments and analysis are used to model
the entire LNG unloading process, to
collect and analyze experimental data, to
gain insights into system behavior and
to optimize the unloading process. This FIG. 1. A simplified LNG receiving terminal process flow diagram.
optimization is performed with respect
to two important decision variables— and process and equipment selection for like an LNG receiving terminal, which is
the recirculation flowrate and the bypass BOG handling. affected by multiple variables. Dynamic
flowrate—to reduce operating cost. Processes vary from terminal to ter- simulation has been used in only a few
By using designed experiments and minal. A typical LNG receiving terminal limited studies due to its challenging
analysis as powerful tools, the dynamic comprises an unloading facility (i.e., jet- nature, and the method for conduct-
simulation and data collection/analysis ties, unloading arms and associated pipe- ing the simulation lacks efficiency in
can be carried out more efficiently and lines, etc.), storage tanks, a BOG handling terms of data collection and analysis. In
more accurately. Insights are gained re- facility (i.e., compressors, recondensers, this article, dynamic simulation is used,
garding BOG generation behavior during etc.), and an LNG regasification facility along with designed experiments and
the unloading process that can be used to (i.e., pumps, vaporizers, etc.). A simpli- statistical analysis, to study the unload-
guide operations, and cost savings goals are fied LNG receiving terminal process flow ing process of LNG receiving terminals,
achieved through process optimization. diagram is shown in FIG. 1. to optimize unloading operations and to
Previous research1–6 has used numeri- achieve cost savings.
Process background and previ- cal modeling or equations of state to study
ous research. Since LNG is stored and the internal behavior of BOG generation LNG unloading operations. In FIG. 1,
transported at an approximate tempera- inside LNG storage tanks. Some research- valve V3 (typically 24 in.–32 in.) is the
ture of –160°C, there will be continuous ers7 have proposed optimal operating unloading valve, and the much smaller-
heat leakage into LNG storage tanks and conditions for an LNG regasification fa- sized V4 valve (typically 2 in.) is the by-
pipelines. Mechanical equipment, includ- cility. Others8 studied and improved BOG pass valve. When no ship unloading op-
ing low-pressure (LP) and high-pressure recondensation operations in an LNG eration is taking place, V3 is closed while
(HP) pumps, will also send heat into the receiving terminal. A method for optimiz- recirculation valves V1 and V2 are open,
LNG stream. These factors (together with ing BOG compressor operations has also and part of the LNG flow from the low-
other effects, like tank volume displace- been proposed.9 Studies of LNG receiving pressure (LP) pumps is sent through the
ment under unloading operations and terminals have focused on system perfor- recirculation line into the unloading pipe-
flashing due to pressure difference) result mance optimization to reduce costs10–13 line to keep the unloading system cold (at
in the generation of BOG in the system. and make operations smoother.14 –160°C to –150°C).
Managing BOG in LNG terminals is chal- However, a systematic approach is Most of the recirculation flow is sent
lenging since it involves safety, hydraulics, missing regarding the data collection downstream via V1, while a small por-
turndown, transient behavior, economics, and analysis used for a dynamic system tion is returned to the tank via bypass
Gas Processing | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 15
SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

FIG. 2. Dynamic simulation model for LNG receiving terminal unloading process.

the LNG storage tank is formed, and the

pressure is gradually released to the tank.
This process is called depressurization.
Other things to prepare for unloading
after ship berthing include ship-side and
shore-side communication, and unload-
ing arm connection and purging, which
will typically take a few hours before un-
loading can start. The bypass valve V4 is
then closed. The valves in the unloading
pipeline (V3 and V7) and the valves on
FIG. 4. Normal probability plot of residuals. the ship side are open. Once the unload-
ing path is clear and both sides are ready,
FIG. 3. Customized experimental design the ship unloading can formally begin.
for LNG unloading study. The maximum unloading rate reaches ap-
proximately 12,000 m3/hr.
TABLE 1. Process parameters and Dynamic simulation. In LNG receiv-
values used in a dynamic simulation
ing terminals, the entire BOG system is
of LNG unloading
in dynamic operational mode and never
Parameters Values achieves a steady state; therefore, dynam-
Average unloading cycle 2d ic simulation is the correct way to analyze
Unloading time 12 hr
the system. As explained in the unloading
operations section, one unloading cycle
Unloading flowrate 11,520 m3/hr
is made up of recirculation, depressuriza-
FIG. 5. Residuals vs. predicted plot.
Unloading LNG temperature –160.5°C tion and ship unloading processes. After
Recirculation inlet –159°C ship unloading is finished, the system re-
temperature tion flowrate, the temperature difference turns to the recirculation stage and a new
Unloading arm pressure 564.5 KPa will decrease, and vice versa. The recir- cycle begins.
culation flow pressure is kept relatively A dynamic simulation model for the
Unloading pipeline size 32 in.
high (around 1,000 KPa) to prevent unloading process, as shown in FIG. 2, is
Unloading pipeline insulation 0.02193 W/mK LNG from vaporizing and to accommo- built using a proprietary process simula-
thermal conductivity
date the downstream (recondenser) op- tor with a Peng-Robinson-Stryjek-Vera
Recirculation pipeline 0.02277 W/mK erating pressure. This process is called equation of state (PRSV EOS) fluid pack-
insulation thermal recirculation. age. Using this model, the entire unload-
conductivity
To prepare for unloading an LNG ing process can be modeled by switching
Electricity cost $0.13/kWh carrier, the unloading pipeline is depres- the valves. The process parameters and
surized since the recirculation system values are incorporated into the dynamic
valve V4 to keep the branch pipeline pressure is much higher than the carrier model or used for cost calculations, as
cold. The recirculation flowrate is con- tank pressure, which is slightly above at- shown in TABLE 1.
trolled such that the recirculation outlet mospheric pressure. This is achieved by
and inlet temperatures have a recom- closing recirculation valves V1 and V2 Experiments and analysis. The unload-
mended difference of approximately while keeping open bypass valve V4. A ing process can be analyzed using struc-
3°C–5°C.13 By increasing the recircula- closed-loop system with only one exit to tured sets of experiments, or designed
16 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

experiments, that allow for efficient col- then be conducted based on the factor with Eq. 1:15
lection and analysis of data. constraints and the system objective. S
For the unloading process, the deci- W pump = Qr ∆ P (1)
η pump  ηmotor
sion variables are the recirculation flow- Operating power consumption cost
rate Qr and the bypass flowrate Qb, since analysis. Since only the unloading pro- The pump parameters are presented in
they determine the pipeline temperature cess is studied here, the power consump-
and, therefore, the amount of BOG pro- tion of the LP pump is considered only TABLE 2. System factor settings
duced. The constraint for the recircula- at the recirculation stage of the specific
tion flowrate is that the recirculation in- recirculation flowrate used for cooling. Ambient Main pipeline
temperature length Tank pressure
let and outlet temperature difference is During the depressurization and ship un-
within 3°C–5°C. The bypass flowrate is loading stages, the LP pump may still be 20°C 3 km 115 KPa
in the range of 1 m3/hr–10 m3/hr, based sending fluids downstream, but none are
on experience. related to the unloading process; there- TABLE 3. Pump parameters
The main physical system factors fore, the LP pump’s power consumption
include the ambient temperature, the is not considered. The BOG compressor, Parameter Value
length of the main unloading pipeline and however, is working constantly to handle ∆P 800,000 Pa
the storage tank operating pressure. The the BOG generated during the unload- S 1
full experimental design can be used to ing process. ηpump 0.8
test how these factors affect the system The pump power consumption from
performance and how they interact with the unloading process can be calculated ηmotor 0.85
one other. However, only one combina-
tion is taken to illustrate the methodology
and to study the unloading process. The
optimal recirculation flowrate and the
bypass flowrate can be determined based
on system performance measures (i.e., the
experiment responses): the amount of
BOG generated by the process, the pump
cost (PC), the compressor cost (CC) and
the total cost (TC). The objective is to
minimize the total cost. The system factor
settings are shown in TABLE 2.
By running the dynamic simulation
model, using the previously outlined sys- FIG. 6. BOG main effects plot.
tem factor settings, the valid range for Qr
is 120 m3/hr–220 m3/hr, based on achiev-
ing the recirculation inlet and outlet tem-
perature difference of 3°C–5°C.
Although standard designs are avail-
able, like Central Composite Design
(CCD) and D-optimal designs, they are
not sufficiently flexible to model the re-
quired design space. The experimental
designs used in this study are specifically
customized as shown in FIG. 3.
After running the simulations with
the designed experiments, the experi-
ment analysis can be done using a com-
mercial design software package. Based
on the inherent features of the system to
be studied, the resulted response surface
model can be linear, quadratic, cubic or
even higher-order models. The analysis
of variance (ANOVA) can be performed,
and the significance of the model can
be checked. The model graphs, includ-
ing main and interaction effects, contour
plots and 3D surface plots (if applicable)
FIG. 7. BOG contour plot.
can be obtained. The optimization can
Gas Processing | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 17
SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

TABLE 3. The compressor power consump- The compressor parameters are pre-
TABLE 4. Compressor parameters
tion cost can be calculated with Eq. 2:11 sented in TABLE 4.
Parameter Value
k ⎞
Wcomp = 0.0002777 ⎛⎜ Optimization procedure. After the dy-
PI 115,000 Pa ⎝ k −1 ⎟⎠
namic simulation model is built, and the
PO 758,000 Pa
⎡ k−1
⎤ (2) experimental design and the constraints or
Q BOG ⎢⎛ PO ⎞ k
k 1.4 PI −1⎥ boundary conditions are set, a procedure
ηm 0.7 ηm ⎢⎝ PI ⎠ ⎥ can be used to find the optimal solution.
⎣ ⎦
The combinations of the experiments
should first be run. For each combina-
tion, the entire process should be run—
i.e., recirculation and depressurization to
ship unloading—and the BOG generated
from the corresponding unloading pro-
cess at each stage should be recorded. The
three stages of the unloading process are
simulated in order, and the ending con-
ditions of the previous stage are used as
the starting point of the next stage. After
each combination is run, the total amount
of BOG generated should be recorded,
together with the Qr used, which can be
used for calculating the PP, CC and TC.
After all combinations are run, an
analysis can be carried out to find the re-
FIG. 8. BOG generation at the beginning of LNG ship unloading. lationship between the decision variables
(Qr and Qb) and the system performance
(the amount of BOG generated and the
costs incurred). Based on these data, an
optimization can be performed to deter-
mine the optimal factor settings for mini-
mizing the total cost.

Study results. The model of the BOG

generation in terms of Qr and Qb is linear.
ANOVA analysis shows that the model
is significant, and the diagnostics look
favorable. This analysis can be used for
analyzing and predicting the system per-
formance. FIG. 4 shows the normal prob-
ability plot of residuals, and FIG. 5 shows
the residuals vs. predicted plot.
FIG. 9. BOG generation during the recirculation stage.
The BOG main effects plot (FIG. 6)
and the contour plot (FIG. 7) show that
when Qr increases, the amount of BOG
generated decreases. Bypass flowrate Qb
is exactly the opposite. When Qb increas-
es, the amount of BOG generated also
increases. This observation is reasonable
because when Qr increases, the pipeline
temperature decreases, meaning that a
smaller amount of LNG vaporizes into
BOG. Bypass flow Qb goes directly into
the storage tank, so when Qb increases,
more BOG is generated due to heat input
from environment, pressure drop flash-
ing and volume displacement.
Most of the BOG is generated in the
FIG. 10. Pump cost main effect plot. ship unloading stage, compared to the re-
18 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

circulation and depressurization stages. The rate of BOG generation during the rate is low, the constant heat input from
When ship unloading starts, a sharp jump recirculation stage is constantly rising (see the environment causes the branch pipe-
is seen in BOG inflow sent to the tank. The solid red line in FIG. 9), which is shown in line temperature (the dot-dash blue line in
BOG inflow decreases and stabilizes in the dynamic simulation strip chart. Inves- FIG. 9) and the vapor fraction (the dashed
approximately 30 min for the 3-km main tigation shows that this is due to the tem- black line in FIG. 9) to rise constantly.
pipeline. FIG. 8 (copied from the dynamic perature rise and, therefore, the vapor frac- Moreover, the recirculation system
simulation strip chart) shows typical BOG tion increase in the branch pipeline. The pressure is high, and a large pressure drop
generation at the beginning of the ship un- recirculation and main unloading pipeline is seen through bypass valve V4 to reduce
loading stage. After recirculation is stopped temperatures (shown as the red dotted line the pressure to the same level as the tank
and during the depressurization stage, the in FIG. 9) are relatively stable because of the pressure, which is slightly above atmo-
heat input to the pipeline causes vapor larger recirculation flowrate compared to spheric pressure. The large pressure drop
formation, and the depressurization pro- the bypass flowrate. Since the bypass flow- causes more LNG to flash into BOG.
cess itself causes LNG flashing into BOG.
When unloading starts, the LNG from the
carrier pushes the vapor in the unloading
pipeline into the tank, which causes a sharp
increase in BOG generation.
Due to the large unloading flowrate
and the cold temperature of the LNG
from the carrier, the unloading pipeline is
quickly cooled, and the BOG generation
decreases and stabilizes at a level corre-
lating with the volume displacement of
LNG into the tank. Therefore, tank pres-
sure should be closely monitored at the
beginning of ship unloading, especially in
the first hour or so. FIG. 11. Compressor cost main effect plot.

SAVE THE DATE!

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Gas Processing | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 19

SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

The BOG generated at the depressuriza- goes up; this is also true for Qb. FIG. 12 HP BOG compressor—i.e., the amount
tion stage is low and negligible due to the shows the TC main effect plot. of BOG that cannot be condensed by the
short time span and the limited holding Optimization can be carried out based recondenser due to a limited amount of
volume inside the pipeline. on the response surface model that is ob- LNG sendout or another reason.
The PC of power consumption is di- tained to find the optimal solution to min-
rectly proportional to Qr, which can be imize the TC. The results show that the Recommendations. BOG management
seen from Eq. 1. Since Qb is a portion of lowest TC occurs when both Qr and Qb in LNG receiving terminals is challenging.
Qr, it does not affect PC directly. FIG. 10 are at the lowest levels—120 m3/hr and This article proposes a powerful and effi-
shows the PC main effect plot. 1 m3/hr, respectively. This recirculation cient way of performing a dynamic simu-
The CC of power consumption is flowrate corresponds to the recirculation lation and collecting and analyzing data,
directly proportional to the amount of inlet and outlet temperature difference of using designed experiments and statistical
BOG generated. When Qr increases, CC 5°C. FIG. 13 illustrates the 3D surface plot analysis. The LNG receiving terminal un-
decreases; when Qb increases, CC also of TC. By simply switching from a 3°C loading process has been studied using this
increases. This correlation is reasonable difference to a 5°C difference, the annual methodology. Insights have been gained
since it explains how BOG generation is cost savings is approximately 5%. on BOG generation behavior during the
related to Qr and Qb. FIG. 11 illustrates the This result is based on the LP pump unloading process that can be used to guide
CC main effect plot. and BOG compressor operating costs operations. Process optimization has been
From this analysis, when Qr increases only and is applicable to LNG receiving carried out to adjust the recirculation and
the pump cost also increases, while the terminals that do not have a high-pres- bypass flowrates to achieve cost savings.
compressor cost decreases. Therefore, sure (HP) BOG compressor installed. If The results show that it is favorable to
Qr creates a trade-off between the pump an HP BOG compressor exists, its cost set both flowrates at the lowest settings
operating cost and the compressor oper- should also be included in the calculation. allowed by the system. Simply switching
ating cost. In that case, the recondensation process from high-level flow settings to low-level
The TC fits into a linear model with must be taken into consideration, as it is flow settings can give an approximate cost
Qr and Qb. When Qr increases, total cost related to the intensity of operation of the savings of 5%/yr. However, this study is
based on LNG terminals that have no HP
BOG compressor installed. If an HP com-
pressor is installed, then its cost must be
included and the recondensation process
must be studied again. GP

NOMENCLATURE
Q Flowrate, m3/hr
P Pressure, Pa
η Efficiency
S Safety factor
W Power, W
∆P Pressure drop, Pa
k Specific heat ratio
FIG. 12. Total cost main effect plot. r Recirculation
b Branch
m Mechanical
comp Compressor
I Inlet
O Outlet

LITERATURE CITED
Complete literature cited available online at
[Link].

SCOTT SU is a Senior Process

Engineer with ProPEng Inc. in
Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He
received a BSc degree in chemical
equipment and mechanical
engineering from Liaoning
University of Petroleum and
Chemical Technology in 1995, and an MSc degree
in mechanical engineering from the University of
Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Mr. Su is a registered
FIG. 13. Three-dimensional surface plot of the total cost. professional engineer in Alberta (Canada) and in
Texas and Pennsylvania (U.S.).

20 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION
AND PROCESS CONTROL

Delivering asset data integrity

through digitization and standardization
S. FABIANO, Yokogawa U.S. Technology Center, Dallas, Texas

During the lifecycle of an asset—

from capital project activities through
operations and maintenance and to end-
of-life—data about the asset are handed
over numerous times, from engineering,
procurement and construction (EPC) FIG. 1. Compounded situations often result in abandoned or bad asset data.
firms, various supply chain partners,
owner-operators, and internally within nation with digital twins of assets. Digital Issues with integrating applications.
each of these organizations. During twins—one aspect of digital transforma- Integrating different software applica-
handover events, valuable data can be tion in an asset-intensive industry—are tions, internal and external to an organiza-
lost, misinterpreted or keyed-in incor- critical, especially during normal plant op- tion, so that the digitized data can be ex-
rectly. Tag and equipment data are diffi- erations. The digital twin software should changed is not seamless and is an arduous
cult to manage because they are often in be interoperable with business and op- task. Custom integration requires custom
differing formats, exist in various appli- erating software applications to allow for development and testing of adaptors. All
cations and systems, and are transmitted straightforward digital handovers. the burden is placed on the owner-oper-
by different means (FIG. 1). As plants are upgraded, data are ators, as personnel within these organiza-
Incorrect or missing asset data leads to handed over multiple times, similarly to tions are responsible for ensuring that data
more required work to correct or find the a greenfield capital project. Even when can be communicated to and from all sys-
information, thus leading to lower pro- an asset must be decommissioned, asso- tems at all times.
ductivity and increased costs. Most digital ciated data should be updated. Whether In addition, when software applications
handovers occur during the capital proj- during greenfield projects, brownfield are upgraded, modified or changed out,
ect phase of an asset’s lifecycle, and poor projects, regular operations and mainte- software integration and testing must be
information handover during this phase is nance, or end of life, all asset information performed again. This can be out of an or-
often a major contributor to project cost handovers should be digitized and stan- ganization’s control if the changes are made
overruns and delays in project startup. It dardized (FIG. 2). by the company with which the organiza-
also has been shown to cause difficulty in The first step in solving these prob- tion is exchanging information. An alter-
spare parts planning and maintenance, in lems is data digitization. Asset data must native to frequently implementing new
the ability to properly train facility per- be digitized so that they can be program- releases of an external software application
sonnel, in obtaining permits, and in load- matically consumed (e.g., not on paper is to change vendors. However, this can
ing data into a computerized maintenance or PDF). After this is accomplished, come with high switching costs, and own-
management system, enterprise asset digitization of the business processes er-operators will ultimately feel the pain of
management or other operational system. and models is now possible by leveraging vendor lock-in. Neither approach is ideal.
If asset data are kept current and their digital technologies like application pro- Inconsistencies also exist in the engi-
maintenance status is known, failures and gramming interfaces, so that the digitized neering terminology used by various indus-
accidents can be mitigated or avoided. data can be communicated electroni- try players and individual organizations.
Therefore, asset management plays a key cally. Digital transformation is ultimately Each often have their own reference data
role in operational safety, and it is critical achieved when business activities, com- libraries (RDLs), requiring this informa-
to capture and transmit these data in a se- petencies and business models fully le- tion to also be transformed when commu-
cure, digitized way to ensure that they are verage digital technologies. nicated during asset information handover.
up to date, accurate and easily accessible. Success can be achieved by accom- To eliminate the effort involved in
plishing these goals; however, with mul- translating the data terminologies and
Digitization improves asset data in- tiple software vendors’ point-to-point so- formats, the data must be digitized in an
tegrity. Improved operations and mainte- lutions, the resulting enterprise software agreed-upon, standard format. At present,
nance can be achieved through predictive architecture will be difficult and expen- many standard (and non-standard) refer-
and prescriptive maintenance in combi- sive to maintain. ence models are used in process industries,
Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 21
SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

• A data model: For structuring

data and documents about assets
• A process and guidance document:
Outlining implementation steps, and
what should and should not be done
• A set of requirements for
implementation software: Outlining
the functional requirements for
handover systems.
DEXPI (Data EXchange in the Process
Industry) is another emerging standard
FIG. 2. Digital data handovers throughout an asset’s lifecycle. for digital data exchange, with the work-
ing group’s primary focus being to digi-
tize piping and instrumentation diagrams
(P&IDs). DEXPI has interfaces to the
industry-leading CAE systems most com-
monly used to create P&IDs. The P&IDs
are digitized using the DEXPI information
model, which is organized similarly to a
unified modeling language class diagram.
Industrie 4.0’s AAS (Asset Admin-
istration Shell) defines a standardized,
digital representation of assets and their
properties in sub-models. It also de-
scribes the means to obtain the AAS
and asset information securely through
various networks. The AAS is designed
for both factory and process automation
industries. Generic sub-models are avail-
able for common Industrie 4.0 assets,
and templates are provided to allow the
FIG. 3. OIIE inter-enterprise systems connectivity and services architecture. development of individual sub-models.
XML and JSON data formats are used to
communicate the AAS and its respective
but none are all-encompassing; therefore, To gain wider support for these initia- asset information, with OPC UA for use
the only viable solution is to integrate all of tives and ultimately provide substantial in production operations and Automa-
the most relevant RDLs. savings for the LNG and gas industries, tionML being developed.
an introduction to the various standards MIMOSA was formed to develop sup-
Standardization solves problems. By groups is provided. plier-neutral standards to enable complex
standardizing digital data formats using CFIHOS, which stands for Capital industrial assets, systems and associated
multiple libraries and by utilizing web- Facility Information Handover Specifica- processes to be modeled, monitored and
based services, interoperability can be tion, is a standard for supply chain par- managed wherever they are operated. MI-
achieved throughout the entire process in- ticipants of process industries to provide MOSA’s objective is to complete the core
dustry. When this interoperability is based a consistent, electronic approach to infor- requirements for industry digital transfor-
on published and company-neutral stan- mation handover among the companies mation by 2020.
dards, the cost savings and improved data that own, operate, construct, design and MIMOSA, in cooperation with the
quality can be efficiently shared by the en- provide equipment for process facilities. Open O&M Initiative Members and Stan-
tire group of participating industries, creat- More than 60 companies are participating dards Leadership Council Members (ISA,
ing the basis for a cross-industry, company- in the development of CFIHOS. The goal MESA/B2MML, OPC Foundation,
neutral, industrial digital ecosystem. is to propose CFIHOS as an ISO 15926- POSC Caesar Association, PPDM and
Several organizations are developing 10X standard under TC 184/SC 4/WG3. USPI) built the open industrial interop-
information handover standards to en- The following are CFIHOS deliverables: erability ecosystem (OIIE). The OIIE is
able this interoperability, including JIP36- • A technical specification document: a supplier-neutral and standards-based
CFIHOS, DEXPI, AAS and MIMOSA. Requirements, rules and principles industrial digital ecosystem providing
Many of these groups came into existence for information handover interoperability for asset-intensive indus-
to meet the needs of oil and gas owner-op- • A dictionary (RDL): Unified naming tries. FIG. 3 describes the OIIE architec-
erators. CFIHOS and DEXPI are collabo- of equipment, equipment attributes, ture and some use cases.
rating, and MIMOSA plans to incorporate documents and disciplines The OIIE allows for improved work-
the CFIHOS RDL into its RDL library. according to ISO standards flows after project completion, when the
22 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

EPC is no longer the mediator and infor- so that action can be taken before and interoperable ecosystems are the pre-
mation is typically exchanged between failures occur or before efficiency, ferred path forward in a world embracing
the owner-operator and original equip- product quality, etc., are impacted Industrie 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of
ment manufacturers (OEMs). Messaging • Remove and replace maintenance Things (IIoT).
is based on a standardized set of web ser- activities are performed as a result Productivity will improve as secondary
vices to allow for publish/subscribe and of CBM advisories indicating business processes related to asset manage-
request/response events. imminent asset failure and allowing ment and data integrity are minimized.
The OIIE is further described in the proactive scheduling of a remove/ These standardization efforts can be accel-
standard ISO 18101-1 Technical Specifi- replace maintenance work order erated by participating in one or more of
cation being developed by ISO TC 184/ • During the lifecycle of a plant the aforementioned standards groups.
WG 6. The objective of this specification or in a brownfield project, a Being part of a greater digital ecosys-
is to provide requirements for a supplier- request for information on a tem and utilizing economies of scale will
neutral and interoperable industrial digi- serialized asset is made, and allow organizations to gain access to a full
tal ecosystem for asset-intensive indus- the OEM returns appropriate set of standardized data to manage assets
tries and their supply chains. model asset-specific data. throughout their lifecycles, while also re-
At the end of each sub-phase, a techni- ducing risks and costs. GP
Pilots prove viability. The oil and gas in- cal report is produced that includes lessons
SANDRA FABIANO is a Systems
teroperability (OGI) Pilot is an instance learned, gap analysis and a recommended Architect at Yokogawa’s U.S.
of the OIIE and is designed to prove the path forward. The latter will be used in Technology Center in Dallas.
OIIE architecture. Two iterations of the conjunction with industry input to deter- With a focus on digital data
OGI Pilot have previously demonstrated mine the content of the next sub-phases. handover, she participates in
the MIMOSA group, as well as
that asset data can be exchanged in an in other similar standards groups.
open, standardized format using stan- Takeaway. Solutions based on supplier- She holds a computer engineering degree from
dardized exchange methods. specific ecosystems are inefficient due Concordia University in Montreal and an MBA degree
from the University of Texas at Dallas. She has
The next iteration of the OGI Pilot is to a lack of interoperability. New initia-
more than 25 yr of experience in software
underway and is based on oil and gas asset tives based on transmitting standardized, development and consulting in the manufacturing,
classes and on standard use cases applica- digital taxonomies of assets among open telecom and banking industries.
ble to all process industries. The pilot uses
an EPC-developed dataset and involves
all supply-chain actors (owner-operators,
EPCs and OEMs), in addition to soft-
ware vendors. MIMOSA is working with
Get the inside intelligence
end users, engineering software suppliers,
EPCs and OEMs to pilot the specification for the gas processing industry
based on several key OIIE use cases span-
ning capital project to operation.
The pilot is divided into three sub-
Techno
logy and
Business
Informatio
n for the
Global
Gas Pro

phases. The first sub-phase covers the fol-

cessing
Industry

lowing use cases: GasPro

cessingN
[Link]

• Export the Proteus XML format

m | SEPT
EM BER/O
CTOBER
20 19

of P&ID data from the EPC’s Technology and

Bu
Business Informat ion for the Global
Gas Processi ng Industry

engineering systems and transform GasProcessingNew

[Link] | JULY/AU
GUST 2019

to CCOM XML for use by owner-

operator systems
• In a greenfield project, a request for
information based on functional
requirements is made by the EPC,
with a response of possible model LNG
E T EC H N
numbers and model datasheet SMALLER-SCAL O LOGY
PROCESSING
Driving the
viability of
micro-LNG
information coming from the OEM Opportunities for increasin
in small- to mid-scale
g efficiency
LNG plants
Manage con
taminants
in LNG fee
projects
d gas and
cryogenic proces

• After procurement, the assets are Evaluate train size, drivers

and digitalization options
for mid-scale LNG
LNG
sing
Specia
l Supple
ment to

installed as part of the capital project,

business models
How technology and changingg the future of LNG
ent to
Special Supplem
are impactin
wave?
: Has FLNG crested the
FLNG market overview

and the as-built information is

handed over to the owner-operator
• Condition-based maintenance
(CBM) is performed by collecting
and analyzing measurement data, SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL!
and by producing the health Visit [Link]
assessments and outputs required
Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 23
 March 11–12, 2020
The Landmark,
Nicosia, Cyprus
CYPRUS

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The 7th Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference Keynote speaker
(EMGC) takes place in Nicosia, Cyprus on 11-12
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new business partners. The Eastern Mediterranean

Gas Conference is the only event that is supported
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EMGC 2020 will explore crucial issues, including: HE Georgios Lakkotrypis
• LNG supply and demand Minister of Energy, Commerce
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For the preliminary agenda and to register online - [Link]

Questions about sponsoring/exhibiting at EMGC 2020?

For more information, please contact
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 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN,
AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

Reduce gas dehydration costs

with high-efficiency mixing
E. KEACHIE, Y. LOU and G. HALLAHAN, ProSep, Houston, Texas

The gas dehydration process is typically carried out using a The process involves the co-current injection of glycol to
large contactor tower, where glycol [typically triethylene glycol a compact simple inline mixer, in comparison to a counter-
(TEG), ethylene glycol (MEG) or diethylene glycol (DEG)] current tower (FIG. 2). The mixer has the same restrictions as
enters counter-currently to the process gas for optimum con- a conventional tower and operates optimally under the same
tact between glycol and gas during mass transfer. These towers conditions as any dehydration unit.
consist of several stages, each accounting for one equilibrium
stage of mass transfer (the absorption of water from gas to the Case study with mixer implantation. The mixer was tested
glycol) to allow the gas to meet the required outlet specifica- during dehydration of natural gas, using TEG, at a test facility
tion for transport. in collaboration with a major operator. The test facility results
However, conditions in the field change. If the natural gas is were then compared to another company’s mixer model to
not meeting specification or if production increases, then the identify the case study mixer’s dehydration performance via ap-
contactor tower must be optimized or replaced. Tower replace- proach to equilibrium (ATE).
ment can be costly and potentially cause significant weight and The testing showed that 100% ATE is achievable with the
size increases to the process. An alternative solution to this case study mixer. The results also proved that the mixer achieves
scenario is to change the mixing methodology by using a high- the highest gas dehydration possible and can act as a single equi-
efficiency mixer, which can be installed upstream of the exist- librium stage in the natural gas dehydration processes.
ing contactor tower, or by installing a slipstream. The test results have implications for the development and
One proprietary mixera incorporates an inline liquid injec- use of compact dehydration systems on offshore platforms and at
tion mixing technology that enhances mixing efficiency to subsea wells, as well as for improving the performance and capa-
achieve highly effective distribution and utilization of chemical bility of existing dehydration systems that are underperforming.
in the gas process flow. This mixer has an economically viable FIG. 3 shows the setup of the test facility. The dry gas is com-
track record and can provide the same results as optimizing the pressed to the required pressure, circulated via a blower and
contactor tower (one mixer acts as a single equilibrium stage). then bubbled through water to saturate the gas. The gas stream
The mixer has added benefits, such as insensitivity to mo- enters the mixer, which increases the gas velocity due to a re-
tion, no foaming issues and reduction in glycol losses. An ad- duced open area. The saturated gas stream will contact the lean
ditional benefit of using the mixer upstream of existing towers TEG as it is injected onto the surface of the inverted cone.
is that it can improve the system as a whole by reducing OPEX The testing team used lean and semi-lean TEG in separate
costs, with a knock-on effect seen in the regeneration process. tests to confirm the possibility of a two-stage compact system,
with TEG flowing “counter-current” to the gas—i.e., lean TEG
Mixer design and benefits. The patented mixera design pro- will enter the second mixer and treat the leaner and less-water-
vides homogeneous, high-efficiency mixing with no lower limit saturated natural gas.
on the injection fluid flowrate. The static mixer is primarily ap- For analysis, the rich/semi-lean TEG from the separation
plied to gaseous streams where the injection rate is low relative vessels was then measured for water content using the Karl
to the main process flowrate. The design utilizes an inverted
cone as the mixing mechanism to ensure that the injected phase
is introduced into the zone of highest velocity, where the great-
est degree of dispersion is achieved.
The mixer has a venturi design, with tapered inlet and outlet
sections, and the addition of an inverted cone in the middle of
the mixer (FIG. 1). This inverted cone enables the injection flu-
id to be introduced into the process stream, where the highest
velocity occurs. The mixer provides hydrodynamic forces for
atomizing the injected fluid, thereby giving a high mass trans-
fer area, and creates turbulence, rapidly reaching homogeneous
FIG. 1. General design of the mixer.a
fluid properties within three pipe diameters.
Gas Processing | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 25
SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

TABLE 1. Design basis parameters

Design basis
Normal gas flowrate 700 Am3/hr
Liquid injection flowrate 1–1.5 m3/hr
Operating temperature, °C 10, 20, 30
Operating pressure, barg 50, 90, 120
Pressure rating 1,500 lb
Material of construction A350-LF2/A694-F52
Pipe size 8 in.
FIG. 2. General operation of the mixer.a

Proposed setup TABLE 2. Test cases and data points

Lean TEG
H2O
Guard Compressor Internals Dataset Condition
Test Demisting
DS 1 & 2, Case 1 P = 90 barg, T = 30°C
Lean
TEG DS 3 & 4, Case 2 P = 90 barg, T = 20°C
H2O pump DS 5 & 6, Case 3 P = 120 barg, T = 20°C
DS 7 & 8, Case 4 P = 90 barg, T = 20°C
Air cooler DS 9 & 10, Case 5 P = 50 barg, T = 20°C
Rich TEG

Theoretical
WCoutlet
Circulation pump = Theoretical water content of dry gas, ppm.
Previous work indicated that the mixer provides a reasonable
FIG. 3. Flow diagram of natural gas dehydration setup.
level of expected natural gas dehydration, estimated to be 98% of
the calculated ATE per the use of the Peng-Robinson Equation
of State (PR-EOS). This requires consideration of a one-stage
120
contactor with 100% removal of water per the incoming glycol
100 purity and gas operating conditions.
Approach to equilbrium, %

80
From a simulation perspective, after the ATE is calculated, 2%
of the removed water is added back to the main process flow to
60 simulate a reasonable expectation for achievable gas dehydration.
40
Test conditions and results. Five cases of test conditions
20
were provided from testing partners, each with two sets of data
0 points per condition. The respective cases and data points are
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Case shown in TABLE 2. More in-depth information about each data
point was received, including flowrate, DP across the mixer,
FIG. 4. Dataset vs. ATE.
TEG flowrate, TEG purity, temperature and inlet water vapor
content. These data (not provided here) were used to validate
Fischer titration method. Gas samples were taken with gas the mixer model.b
chromatography to support measurements taken with laser me- Based on the data, the actual results can be compared to
ters. The basis of design for the testing is shown in TABLE 1. theoretical predictions used for the dehydration process, as well
as validate the mechanical design of the mixer—i.e., pressure
Approach to equilibrium and modeling. As a method to de- drop observed vs. the calculated value from the internal design
termine the performance of the mixer with regard to gas dehy- spreadsheet. The data can also be used to confirm the existence,
dration, the ATE for glycol absorption of water is determined. if any, of TEG losses.
The ATE expresses the actual performance of the mixer (water When used for gas dehydration, the mixer is confirmed to
vapor removal) in comparison to the theoretical equilibrium create mixing conditions that efficiently use 98% of the estimat-
vapor, as shown in Eq. 1: ed glycol capacity for water vapor absorption—i.e., the resulting
Measured ATE is 98%. In some cases, the resulting ATE was above 100%,
WC Feed – WCoutlet
ATE = Theoretical 100 (1) with the lowest ATE observed just below 96%. Results above
WC Feed –WCoutlet 100% ATE are possible, since it is known that the PR-EOS is a
where: conservative EOS for simulation software. The PR-EOS often
WCFeed = Water content of saturated feed, ppm requires process designs with larger glycol flows, thus providing
Measured
excess capacity should low performance be seen.
WCoutlet = Water content of outlet dry gas TABLE 3 shows the actual measured test results vs. the pre-
(downstream of scrubber), ppm dicted mixer model results using PR-EOS. FIG. 4 represents
26 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

TABLE 3. Test data and theoretical data

Test data Mixer modelb
Water content Water content Water content Water content
Dataset upstream of mixer, ppm downstream of mixer, ppm upstream of mixer, ppm downstream of mixer, ppm ATE, %
1 250.6 84 250 78.5 96.8
2 230.2 59.6 230.2 64.9 103.2
3 134.6 31.9 134.6 33.4 101.5
4 136.4 32.7 136.4 33.9 101.2
5 192.6 77.5 192.6 74.8 97.7
6 187 65.3 187 74 107.7
7 218.1 61.2 218.1 75.7 110.2
8 226.2 83.6 226.15 77.1 95.6
9 316.2 116.3 316.2 117.7 100.7
10 331.3 100.7 331.3 91.3 96.1

how effectively the mixer performed, based on TEG dehydra- 112

tion ATE. The mixer was found to be equal to one stage of mass 110
transfer (100% ATE), as compared to a 100% mixed stream of 108
TEG and natural gas, or vs. an absorption column.
Approach to equilbrium
106
In tests where the measured water content achieved an ATE 104
above 100%, it can be said that the mixer has achieved a level of 102
natural gas dehydration with TEG that is greater than one stage 100
of mass transfer in the mixer model.b This is possible because, 98
as aforementioned, it is widely accepted that the PR-EOS gives 96
conservative estimates with regard to natural gas dehydration 94
92
and required TEG circulation rates. A conservative approach is 20,000 20,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 100,000 110,000 120,000
important so that offshore dehydration modules can be robust- Monentum at throat, kg/ms2
ly designed with performance margins factored into consider-
FIG. 5. ATE vs. momentum.
ation. When the ATE is below 100%, the level of dehydration
achieved with the mixer and TEG injection is below the opti-
mum level of water removal that can be theoretically achieved. alongside the Reynolds number consideration, as they consid-
From the European measured test data, the ATE was re- er the process conditions that would influence the density of
ported to be at least 95% when using the mixer as one equilib- the gas. This means it is important to consider the velocity and
rium stage in the dehydration process. In over half of the trials density of the gas at different conditions to maximize perfor-
reviewed, a performance greater than one theoretical stage mance of the mixer for specific wellsite designs.
was observed.
Based on these test results, it can be concluded that the mix- Takeaway. Using this case study as an example of how the mix-
er is capable of achieving one equivalent equilibrium stage in er fits into the wider industry, the technology offers clients and
the dehydration process and can achieve higher than one stage operators an alternative for optimizing an existing system. It can
in some cases. Several key design parameters, such as Re num- allow existing processes to increase existing processing capacity
ber, momentum and DP can be used to provide a mechanically or improve the outlet specifications (better end product) with
sound and high-performance, co-current mixing unit. minimum maintenance and disruption.
The FPSO application can mitigate poor performance of
Momentum and performance. As with the fluids flow re- existing units to motion. The mixer also allows increase in ca-
gime, behavior is important. It is also important to consider pacity during mature field developments or extensions. It offers
the momentum of the gas as it enters the throat of the mixer. greater turndown than a contactor, reductions in CAPEX and
The velocity increases at this point as the dynamic pressure de- OPEX, and less methanol injection, among other benefits. GP
creases to the lowest point in the system.
NOTES
Additionally, the performance of the mixer relies on the a
ProSep’s Enhanced Centre Located Injection Pipe Spool Element (ECLIPSE) mixer
dimensionless Weber number, where droplet breakup occurs b
ProSep’s UniSim model for the ECLIPSE mixer
once inertial force exceeds liquid droplet surface tension. A
graph of the lab results with ATE as a function of momentum EILIDH DUNCAN is a Senior Process Engineer at ProSep.
at the throat is shown in FIG. 5.
YUECUN (TERRY) LOU is a Senior Process Engineer at ProSep.
From the results shown in FIG. 5, it is recommended to target
a momentum of approximately 60,000 kg/m.s2 to achieve max- GREG HALLAHAN is the Director of Process Engineering and Product
imum performance in the mixer. The momentum is important, Development for ProSep.

Gas Processing | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 27

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[Link]
 SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN,
AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

Avoid costly startup delays with a MAC

S. MCENTEE, Rockwell Automation, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

A nightmare scenario for a commis-

sioning engineer could be described as
follows: Days away from the scheduled
launch of a new plant or platform, the en-
gineering team is frantically scrambling to
connect original equipment manufacturer
(OEM) skids and is at risk of missing the
launch deadline. Sadly, this is a familiar
situation for many engineers. Almost ev-
ery oil and gas company has experienced
the chaos that comes with trying to finish
a startup in its final days.
The good news is that this does not have
to be the status quo. Steps can be taken to
dramatically reduce integration challenges
and keep projects on time and on budget.
One such step is utilizing a main automa-
tion contractor (MAC), or changing how FIG. 1. Companies can greatly reduce integration costs and challenges by changing the way they
the company already works with its MAC. work with their MAC.
A MAC can be beneficial to projects,
but many companies offering this ser- that arrive at a facility have a mix of pro- A better way to integrate. It is some-
vice lack the reach, business models and tocols, operating systems, configuration times assumed that the MAC is responsi-
bandwidth to successfully align OEM tools, faceplates, and alarming and coding ble for all automation, including the DCS
packages. This can result in slippage and methodologies. Much time and resources and other packages. The reality, however,
additional costs during the final days of can be spent just trying to get equipment is that many of these companies are un-
commissioning. Embedding an OEM to talk to one another. This work is often able to align project OEMs to a single
MAC in gas processing facility projects happening at the worst time—at the end standard and make it stick. They simply
can help standardize equipment and re- of the project, when there is tremendous do not have the business model or OEM
duce integration challenges. pressure to get the facility up and running. relationships to achieve alignment. Tradi-
This work also comes with some large tional MACs can also benefit from the ad-
An inherently troubled process. The costs. More personnel may need to be ditional costs required to integrate OEM
last-minute scrambling that is so com- brought in to integrate equipment and packages with disparate systems.
mon in project startups happens for two resolve problems. More critically, miss- To reduce integration challenges,
main reasons. The first is the nature of ing the launch date can be associated with an embedded OEM MAC must play a
how projects are typically executed. They more significant lost production costs. bigger role from the onset of a project
begin with installing infrastructure, in- For example, consider the launch of a (FIG. 1). This starts at the front-end engi-
cluding mechanical, electrical and piping large gas processing facility that has been neering and design (FEED) phase. Here,
systems. Then, the distributed control built with a significant number of mod- the OEM MAC creates a user require-
system (DCS) must be started up. Finally, ules that are then integrated onsite. The ment specification that the engineering,
as the launch date draws closer, dozens of facility expects to process 400 MMsft3d procurement and construction (EPC)
equipment packages must be integrated of wet gas to produce dry gas and NGL company will issue to OEMs and that will
from a variety of vendors and OEMs with with combined sales of approximately $3 be used throughout the life of the project.
the DCS. MM/d. The facility will lose this amount By establishing this technical standard
Another challenge is a lack of stan- of revenue for every day the project start- during the FEED stage, the commonal-
dardization. The equipment packages up is delayed. ity of hardware and functionality can be
Gas Processing | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 29
SPECIAL FOCUS: PLANT DESIGN, AUTOMATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

maximized across OEM packages. Also, Additionally, worker training in the manage the control systems, safety in-
variability in networks and the number new facility is simplified because the strumented systems and interfaces to the
of active components received can both human-machine interfaces (HMIs), face- OEM skids in each facility. The company
be reduced. It is critical that the standard plates and alarming are all the same. Valu- was also involved throughout the project,
be developed in the FEED phase. If it is able digital data is more easily accessible from the FEED to the FATs to plant com-
provided to OEMs at a later point, they because the network and systems are har- missioning and startups.
may say that their pricing was based on a monized. In the end, the OEM MAC helped
different standard during the FEED phase The kind of savings that can be real- the company deploy all three plants at
and then charge more to comply with the ized during commissioning will vary 10% under budget and 5%–10% ahead of
“new” standard. based on the size of a gas processing fa- schedule, depending on the plant. More
The OEM MAC’s role continues into cility and the number of OEM packages than merely supplying control technolo-
the build phase. The MAC can provide needed for integration. However, even in gy, the OEM MAC provided key benefits
embedded support to help OEMs under- a small, 15-package facility, the slippage like cleaner technology integration and an
stand and adhere to technical standards. risk could be reduced from 40 d to 10 d, accelerated project schedule (FIG. 2).
Also, it can assist OEMs with factory ac- while realizing hundreds of thousands of In another project, the same OEM
ceptance testing (FAT). This assistance dollars in cost savings. Most importantly, MAC was hired to provide a robust
can involve sending commercial engineers by reducing the potential for integration SCADA system for an LNG terminal
or solution consultants to the OEM site. delays, the likelihood of multimillion-dol- upgrade. The role included project plan-
Increasingly, end users and EPCs are look- lar production delays can also be reduced. ning, execution of a phased delivery ap-
ing to speed up FATs and reduce travel The benefits of an OEM MAC ex- proach and development of strategies to
costs by conducting them virtually—mak- tend far beyond startup. Worker training minimize integration issues with third-
ing it important that an OEM MAC is able can be simplified, and spare parts can be party equipment.
to support this process. Finally, the OEM greatly reduced, as equipment is stan- The OEM MAC provided the SCADA
MAC can provide onsite management of dardized. Instead of technicians needing system and the overall project’s system
the delivery, integration and acceptance to use multiple work stations to resolve design, including network design, cyber-
testing of the OEM packages. issues and become familiar with multiple security policy implementation and server
technologies, they can use one station and virtualization. It also managed the cabinet
Smoother startups. Many of the benefits work with the same technology every day. build and conducted a full, integrated FAT.
of working with an OEM MAC come dur-
ing commissioning. The equipment pack- OEM MACs at work. Gas processors are A paradigm shift. Integration challenges
ages that are received from several different taking advantage of OEM MACs to keep that are common today in project startups
OEMs are built to the same standard and project startups on time and on budget. do not have to be the norm. System and
tested. As a result, they fit into the archi- In one case, a leading energy producer equipment integration for a new gas pro-
tecture easily and integrate with the DCS turned to an OEM MAC to support the cessing facility can be a far more seamless
using one protocol. This helps avoid com- launch of three gas processing plants to and painless process when working with
mon faults and reduces the risk of costly provide 1 Bft3d of capacity. The OEC an OEM MAC—specifically, a MAC that
delays caused by integration challenges. MAC was hired to engineer, procure and has the right people, infrastructure and
technical and industry know-how.
This change in strategy can save valu-
able time and money—and it can help
commissioning engineers sleep better at
night. GP

SIMON MCENTEE is the Global Solutions Business Sales

Director for the EMEA region for Rockwell Automation.
He began his career at Rockwell Automation in 2009
as a Regional Sales Manager, where he developed
key accounts across North and East Europe for the
life sciences, metals, oil and gas, food and beverage,
consumer packaged goods and tire markets. In 2016,
Dr. McEntee became the oil and gas lead for the EMEA
region to help Rockwell Automation meet and exceed
market demands. He is responsible for Rockwell
Automation solutions business across all industry
segments within Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
He leads a team of sales specialists who work closely
with local sales organizations to provide value-based
solutions in control, process safety, drive technologies
and digital oilfield applications. Dr. McEntee holds
a PhD in engineering from Glasgow Caledonian
FIG. 2. Launching and upgrading projects becomes easier and more efficient when paired University, with research on the application of condition
monitoring and artificial intelligence techniques in
with the right MAC and OEM.
production quality control.

30 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 LNG TECHNOLOGY

Manage contaminants in LNG feed gas

and cryogenic processing—Part 2
D. ENGEL, C. RIDGE and S. WILLIAMS, Nexo Solutions, Amine Optimization Division, The Woodlands, Texas

The process of treating and liquefying was determined to be taking place, and move any liquids during operation, and
natural gas into LNG is a complex and fouling was postulated as the most likely it was unknown whether liquid contami-
often delicate operation. LNG produc- cause. The LNG facility also began hav- nation was present or was carrying over
tion is growing rapidly to meet demand, ing problems with amine solvent foam- past the coalescer. To determine whether
and processing facilities are highly prof- ing, predominantly in one of its two con- the feed gas coalescers were operating ef-
itable when designed and operated cor- tactor towers. The reason why only one ficiently and identify potential options to
rectly. The profitability of a plant depends contactor experienced more frequent improve their performance, the facility
on throughput, which is maximized by and potent foaming events was unknown. requested an inspection of the vessels and
maintaining stable operation, consis- The LNG facility began commercial op- assistance with turnaround maintenance.
tently meeting product specifications and erations in early 2018 and, after some ini- The facility processed pipeline-quality
identifying and managing contamination. tial challenges with amine foaming and natural gas to produce LNG. The main
These goals must be met in several sys- other complications, was operating with process began with compression, then gas
tems throughout the LNG process. relative stability. Foaming episodes were flowed to two amine contactors, where
Part 1 of this article reviewed require- not a major concern until the summer of predominately CO2 was removed. The
ments for contamination management, 2018, when liquids carryover from the treated gas was then dehydrated with
common issues in LNG processing and amine contactor began to occur with in- molecular sieve beds. Once the water was
feed gas contamination. Part 2 presents a creasing frequency. completely removed, the gas flowed to a
case study to demonstrate how proactive It was suspected that surfactant con- liquefaction plant, where heavy hydrocar-
contamination sampling and onsite testing tamination in the feed gas stream was bons were removed. The gas was then liq-
prevented a plant shutdown and revealed a not being removed effectively by the feed uefied for storage and further transport.
solution to avert further problems. gas coalescers and, therefore, entered the
amine contactor and contaminated the Onsite testing and troubleshooting.
Case study. A North American LNG amine solvent. The feed gas coalescers To identify contamination in the feed
plant was experiencing difficulties with had not been observed to collect and re- gas, three locations were chosen for sam-
fouling in the main cryogenic heat ex-
changer (MCHE). The heat exchanger
was an aluminum, spiral-wound design
that operated at low temperature as part of
the liquefaction process. Small amounts
of contamination were suspected to
have been deposited in the gas stream in
the exchanger. This contamination was
thought to be acting as a seed point for
further fouling and/or freezing of other
contaminants. It was further suspected
that contaminants could be leaching from
the molecular sieve beds, where buildup
and potential formation of contaminants
were theorized to have been occurring.
In the spring of 2018, an analysis of
liquid contamination from the mixed
refrigerant system revealed C5–C14 hy-
drocarbons that were suspected to be
coming from the feed gas. A decrease in
FIG. 4. Sampling unit as assembled for feed gas contamination testing and sampling.
heat transfer in the exchanger over time
Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 31
LNG TECHNOLOGY

pling and testing—one immediately up- tactor. In addition to gas testing, Unit 1 Accumulation of liquids was observed
stream of the MCHE and two farther up- was set up to operate a water wash injec- only once, at the MCHE inlet location,
stream—to attempt to locate the source tion and recirculation system to intimate- upon arrival at the plant on the morning of
of the contaminants. The objectives of ly contact the gas stream with water and day two. Visible accumulation of 70 ml of
testing were to isolate and quantify any extract any water-soluble contaminants clear liquids with no observed haze or sol-
contaminants present throughout the for further analysis. The next system, ids was drained from the Unit 1 sight glass
process, determine their potential rela- Unit 2, was set up at the inlet of one of the into a pressurized gas sampling cylinder
tion to fouling issues at the MCHE, and dust filters downstream of the molecular and sent for further analysis. It is important
identify solutions to mitigate fouling. sieve beds. The farthest downstream sys- to note that a leak at the unit the previous
Testing was also performed at the outlet tem, Unit 3, was set up at the inlet to the night forced the plant to shut down from
of the molsieve bed dust filter to deter- MCHE. The locations for gas testing are normal operations and recirculate gas until
mine if any contaminants from the mol- illustrated in FIG. 5. the plant was at steady state, and all tem-
sieve bed were carrying over downstream. The injection water recirculated peratures were adjusted back to normal
Testing was also performed upstream of through Unit 1 at the inlet to the amine operations. Due to the low temperatures
the amine unit contactor to determine if contactors was analyzed by a number of needed to liquefy LNG, the startup pro-
any contaminants from the feed gas were methods to determine the presence of cess that took place thereafter required sev-
affecting the liquefaction process. any gas-phase contaminants extracted. eral hours. The liquefaction process was
To help determine the source of Most parameters analyzed were not of run in a recirculation mode, until tempera-
foaming, the coalescer, carbon bed and concern, but some evidence of contami- tures decreased enough to produce LNG.
amine filters were inspected and evaluat- nation was found. Total nitrogen and No liquid accumulation was observed
ed. Antifoam usage, amine solvent qual- carbon were quantified to determine if at any time other than the morning of day
ity, historical data, several operational nitrogen-based additives, such as corro- two at the MCHE inlet Unit 1. These re-
parameters and equipment designs were sion inhibitors and other surface-active sults suggested that the ingression of liq-
also evaluated. components (surfactants), were present. uid contamination with the feed gas was
Gas testing. To properly assess The results strongly suggested that a large minimal or, at worst, rare and intermittent.
contamination levels and contamina- number of organic additives were present. The presence of liquids at the MCHE inlet
tion breakthrough or carryover in a gas The injection water sample was found to only after a change in operation suggested
stream, effective removal and quantifica- have lower surface tension compared to that the ingression of liquid contamina-
tion of all liquids in the stream are neces- pure water, which further suggested that tion was due to the change in operation
sary. This was accomplished by using the surfactants were present in the feed gas. that occurred and was present in the gas
authors’ company’s proprietary testing To characterize contaminants present only during the recirculation mode oper-
and sampling system.a The system uses in the injection water, a portion of the ated the previous night.
a high-pressure housing equipped with sample was extracted and tested using The liquid sample from Unit 1 at the
a high-efficiency gas coalescing element infrared (IR) analysis. The IR spectrum MCHE inlet was analyzed to determine its
designed for the capture and separation indicated the presence of a hydrocarbon- origin and characteristics. Due to the low
of liquid contaminants and aerosols in the based component(s), similar to lubri- temperatures needed to liquefy LNG, the
gas stream. The testing and sampling sys- cation oil-based contaminants from a startup process that took place thereafter
tem also has instrumentation to measure compressor. Lubrication oils and other required several hours. The liquefaction
flow, pressure, differential pressure and similar oil-based additives may have been process was run in a recirculation mode,
liquid buildup levels. FIG. 5 shows a simi- used upstream of the facility, and many until temperatures decreased enough to
lar system assembled for gas testing. of these products contain amphiphilic produce LNG. The sample was found to
The farthest upstream system, Unit 1, surfactants that can cause amine foaming contain a significant amount of C1–C4
was devised at the inlet to the amine con- and other effects. mercaptans. The mercaptans contamina-
tion was suspected to have been caused by
Treated hydrocarbons carryover from the molecular sieve bed,
where cycling up of the contaminants can
occur. Other components detected en-
compassed heavier hydrocarbons, includ-
ing benzene and toluene, as well as minor
Gasco 1 Gasco 2 amounts of dimethyl ether and acetalde-
Coalescer
hyde. The analyzed sample also included
Hydrocarbon some of the feed gas components—most-
Amine contactor Molecular sieve beds Dust filter
inlet ly methane, ethane and propane.
At the low process temperature, heavier
MCHE HRU hydrocarbons and mercaptans may have
contributed to fouling in the MCHE. The
Gasco 3 presence of heavier hydrocarbons also sug-
gested that the upstream heavies recovery
FIG. 5. Gas testing connection points throughout the LNG process.
unit (HRU) was not operating effectively.
32 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 LNG TECHNOLOGY

In fact, this small sample of liquids was foam tendency for a water sample. This spected and evaluated to determine if the
identified only once during testing, and its is unusual and indicated that surfactants vessels showed any signs of carryover or
composition was the strongest evidence had entered the amine unit and dissolved low efficiency. Upon opening, all coalesc-
of the root cause of MCHE fouling. This in the amine solvent, and that those sur- ing elements were found to be in place and
cascaded a series of activities directed at factants were volatile or water-soluble installed securely inside the vessel. The el-
verifying the HRU operation. enough that they could go overhead in ements were observed to be clean on the
Foam testing. Several samples were the regenerator into the reflux loop. Based exterior, which suggested that solids or liq-
taken from the amine system and from on the physical characteristics of the flash uids carryover through the element media
Unit 1 at the amine contactor inlet for tank top layer and the foam tendency was not occurring. Additionally, the ab-
foam testing to determine relative foam of the sample, it seemed likely that the sence of staining or liquids on the element
tendency and stability. The results, shown sample contained injected antifoam that endcaps, exterior or vessel wall suggested
in TABLE 3, revealed the degree of amine had accumulated in the flash tank. The that liquids carryover was not occurring.
foaming at the unit. The treatment of lean amine sample had a foam tendency No evidence was found to suggest that any
samples, followed by foam testing, re- and stability that was twice as high as the liquid level had been present in the upper
vealed potential solutions to eliminate or samples taken in the spring of 2018. This section of the coalescer vessel. The inlet
reduce foaming. indicated that surfactants had entered the gas coalescer designs were also evaluated
The results showed a number of pat- lean amine solvent and increased the po- to determine if the vessels were adequate
terns and important observations. The tential for foaming in the amine unit since for the gas throughput.
injection water sample cycled 10 times the previous visit to the plant. The vessel sizing was first evaluated by
through Unit 1 was found to have me- The other samples analyzed were determining critical design values for the
dium foam tendency and stability relative makeup amine diluted to varying concen- system at the current operating conditions.
to samples from other plants. This result trations of water to determine the effect in Nozzle sizing and clean pressure drop was
showed that some surfactants were enter- terms of foaming. The results indicated that found to be within guidelines. Annular
ing the amine contactor with the feed gas higher amine concentration reduced foam velocity—i.e., the speed of the gas flow in
and likely contributed to amine foaming. tendency. This effect has been observed at the void space between the elements—
Among the amine samples tested, the re- other plants and with other amine solvents. was just below the maximum guideline at
sults were similar for all samples in terms The phenomenon is not fully understood, normal operating flowrates. This is a criti-
of low-to-medium foam tendency, which but it is believed that the effect is caused by cal parameter, since a high exit gas velocity
showed that, while surfactant contamina- the reduction in surface tension inherent from the coalescing elements will usually
tion was present in the amine, the degree from the diluted amine samples. produce liquids carryover into the efflu-
of foaming was not very high. Vessel inspections and evaluation. ent gas stream. Carryover is common in
It should be noted that in the spring of During the second visit to the plant, the undersized gas coalescer vessels or in ves-
2018, antifoam chemical was used con- inlet coalescer to the amine unit was in- sels with deficient internal flow geometry.
tinuously at the plant, or periodically on a
consistent basis every day. It was unknown
TABLE 3. Amine unit sample foam testing results
whether the amine contactors could run
effectively without antifoam injection. It is Foam height, Foam break Foam break
possible that an overdose of antifoam actu- Sample Date, time cm time, sec rate, cm/sec
ally made foaming increase in severity and Injection water—0 passes Day 4, 10:00 0 0 N/A
caused other process upsets. Lower dos- Injection water—1 pass Day 4, 10:10 1 2 0.5
ages of antifoam could actually improve
Injection water—10 passes Day 4, 11:30 7.6 17.5 0.44
amine foam tendency and stability. Some
antifoams have a small operational win- Lean amine post-carbon bed Day 1, 10:00 3.5 24 0.15
dow for treating, and excess product could Lean amine pre-carbon bed Day 3, 10:10 3 13.3 0.23
revert it to a foaming promoter. Other an- Lean amine post-carbon bed Day 3, 10:10 3.8 21 0.18
tifoam products were tested with the lean
Lean amine post-carbon bed Day 4, 10:00 5 30 0.17
amine samples to determine if a more ef-
fective product could be used at lower dos-
ages. It was found that although the plant TABLE 4. Foam testing results
antifoam did reduce foam, it was much less
Foam height, Foam break Foam break
effective than other formulations. Sample Date cm time, sec rate, cm/sec
The authors’ company returned to the
Reflux water 9/19/2018 7 9 0.78
site for troubleshooting and testing when
foaming issues were occurring. Samples Lean amine 9/19/2018 7.7 42.7 0.18
were taken from the lean amine, reflux Flash tank skimming 9/19/2018 1 4 0.25
water and flash tank skim. The results 40% fresh amine 9/19/2018 4.3 25.5 0.17
shown in TABLE 4 revealed a number of
50% fresh amine 9/19/2018 3 26 0.12
patterns and important observations.
The reflux water had a relatively high 66% fresh amine 9/19/2018 1 18 0.06

Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 33

LNG TECHNOLOGY

The effective media face velocity—i.e., amine was passed through the column at Mitigation strategies and process im-
the speed of gas moving through the co- a low flowrate to achieve a contact time provements. The central problems that
alescing media—was also just below the of 15 min. TABLE 5 shows the results from triggered the onsite work and trouble-
maximum guideline necessary for effec- the activated carbon screening. The re- shooting investigation at the LNG facility
tive liquids interception and coalescence. sults indicated that both carbon products were fouling in the MCHE and foaming
Undersized vessels with an insufficient were effective in reducing foam stability in the amine unit contactor. The findings
number of elements or the use of elements in the amine solvent. The foam tendency, relevant to each issue and the solutions de-
with low media surface area often perform however, was not affected significantly veloped based on those findings resolved
poorly in terms of liquids coalescence due by either carbon product. Based on the the MCHE fouling issue and mitigated
to high media face velocity. reduction in foam break time, both prod- amine unit foaming to an adequate level.
The lean amine carbon bed was evalu- ucts were determined to be effective so- MCHE fouling. Feed gas testing at
ated to determine if it was sized appropri- lutions for foam reduction, and Product each of the three locations resulted in
ately for the normal operating conditions A was chosen for implementation at the little to no liquids accumulation except
for which it was in service. Key perfor- amine unit. FIG. 6 shows the results of the at the MCHE inlet location, where 70
mance indicators for a carbon bed include activated carbon testing. ml were collected over the course of one
the effective contact time and the cross- However, activated carbon treatment night. This liquids accumulation may
sectional velocity through the bed. Effec- will not perform effectively if certain con- have been caused by process upset. The
tive contact time is the amount of time taminants are allowed to enter the bed. contaminants, identified as heavy hydro-
that the amine stream is in contact with Hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon-based carbons and mercaptans, likely contribut-
the activated carbon in the bed. At normal additives that are insoluble in the amine ed to fouling and freezing at the MCHE.
flowrates, the effective contact time in the solution will physically coat the carbon The mercaptans were determined to
vessel was only 13.1 min—just below the grains in the bed, preventing actual ad- be coming from the molecular sieve beds.
minimum recommendation of 15 min. A sorption. It is commonly believed that a The molecular sieve beds appeared to
decrease in amine flowrate to the bed was carbon bed can be used to remove hydro- have accumulated mercaptans that de-
suggested. The cross-sectional velocity carbons, but it is only actually effective at sorbed in the regeneration gas. Small con-
through the bed is the velocity at which removing dissolved hydrocarbons. Free centrations of mercaptans in the feed gas
the fluid passes through the bed. At nor- or emulsified liquids will clog the carbon to the molecular sieve beds likely built up
mal flowrates, the cross-sectional velocity grain pores and quickly deactivate the slowly over time, until the sieves were sat-
in the vessel was 3.3 gal/min/ft2, below the bed. Antifoam products often have the urated and began to release contaminants
recommended maximum of 5 gal/min/ft2. same effect, leading to a challenge where downstream. Due to the closed system
Several activated carbon products the “cure” (contaminant removal via acti- design, it takes the fuel gas longer to re-
were screened for their ability to reduce vated carbon treatment) is prevented by move the mercaptans, which can only be
foam tendency and stability in a lean the “symptom relief ” (antifoam treatment released in the treated gas over time.
amine sample taken at the plant. The to reduce foaming). The heavy hydrocarbons found in the
liquid sample collected at the feed to the
TABLE 5. Foam testing results for activated carbon screening MCHE were present due to inefficien-
cies at the upstream HRU. This problem
Foam height, Foam break Foam break was identified only because of the con-
Sample Date cm time, sec rate, cm/sec
tamination found during gas testing at
Lean amine 9/19/2018 7.7 42.7 0.18 the MCHE inlet. The HRU was found
Lean amine contacted with Product A 9/19/2018 7.5 14.5 0.52 to be having difficulty removing heavy
Lean amine contacted with Product B 9/19/2018 8 14.5 0.55 hydrocarbons in the past due to a leaner-
than-expected feedstock. The lean feed
resulted in less liquid hydrocarbon sol-
vent available to effectively scrub the gas.
This issue was remedied in the past, but it
was discovered as a result of onsite testing
that the issue was recurring during startup
operations. Necessary changes were made
to the startup procedure to prevent heavy
hydrocarbon carryover. Also, operations
were adjusted to prevent reduced effi-
ciency at the HRU after an upset. This
prevented further fouling of the MCHE.
Feed gas conditioning. Several ob-
servations made during the inspections
suggested that liquids carryover was not
occurring from the feed gas coalescers.
FIG. 6. Amine solvent before (left) and after (right) activated carbon product screening. Determination of critical design values
34 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 LNG TECHNOLOGY

for the feed gas coalescer revealed that section had a relatively high foaming ten- As observed in this and other LNG
the vessels were operating on the edge of dency for a water sample, which indicated facilities, a multitude of factors often
guideline conditions, so any increase in that (1) surfactants had entered the amine lead to process performance difficulties.
flowrate could have caused liquids carry- system and dissolved in the amine, and One of the most relevant factors in foam
over to occur. that (2) those surfactants were volatile or and fouling promotion was found to be
One option to improve critical design water-soluble to go overhead in the amine the presence of inlet contaminants. Con-
values for the feed gas coalescers was to unit regenerator. It was recommended tamination sampling, testing, and further
operate both coalescing vessels in parallel that the reflux water be discarded over separation and control strategies for any
with split flow. This would improve criti- certain periods of time to help reduce process unit is and will continue to be a
cal design values to within guidelines for contaminants. Discarding the reflux wa- critical step for ensuring stable and reli-
optimal operation and would ensure that ter can be an effective mode of removing able plant performance. The majority of
the coalescers perform as well as possible surfactants from the process, instead of the plants that do not consider this im-
to prevent liquids carryover. This dual returning them to the unit and potentially portant step are often challenged against
mode of operation was recommended to exacerbating foaming issues. foaming and fouling episodes in addition
the facility. The lean amine activated carbon bed to high operating costs, low reliability of
The water injection and recirculation design and key performance indicators equipment and other adverse situations
testing conducted at the amine contactor were evaluated. The effective contact that can have direct impacts on overall
inlet showed that water-soluble contami- time was determined to be below the rec- plant economics. GP
nants in the feed gas were entering the ommended minimum of 15 min. It was
amine unit and likely affecting the foam- recommended that the amine flowrate NOTE
ing tendency of the amine solvent. The into the bed be reduced slightly to achieve GASCO (GAs Super COalescer) system
a

installation of an effective water wash a minimum 15-min contact time. Analy-

injection upstream of the amine unit sis of the spent activated carbon sample DAVID ENGEL has more than 25 yr
gas coalescers to remove surfactants was revealed that the carbon was coated with of industrial experience in a variety
of chemical engineering and
demonstrated to be a potentially effective plant antifoam, amine and possibly hy- chemistry areas. He is the inventor in
solution for reducing surfactants entering drocarbon contaminants. Hydrocarbons 22 U.S. patents and the author of a
the unit in the gas phase. Water wash sys- and antifoam will reduce carbon bed number of technical and scientific
tems are often used as a “catch-all” tool capacity and lifetime. The activated car- papers. Dr. Engel has developed
business and technology for Eastman Kodak, Eli Lilly,
to remove many contaminants from the bon was also found to not be the most Pentair, General Electric and Sulphur Experts
feed. In addition to gas phase contami- effective available, and another activated worldwide. He has specialized in chemical engineering,
nants that are soluble, water washes help carbon with reduced foam stability was process chemistry, optimization and contaminant
removal technologies. Dr. Engel is the Managing
remove liquid water and hydrocarbons chosen for implementation at the facility. Director of Nexo Solutions and the Technology Leader
by improving coalescing. Hydrocarbon ingression to the carbon for Exion Systems. He holds a BS degree in industrial
Amine conditioning. The lean amine bed should be kept to a minimum, pri- chemistry, an MS degree in chemistry and a PhD in
sample had a relatively high foaming ten- marily by preventing ingression with the organic chemistry. He is also Six Sigma and Project
Management certified. Dr. Engel is President of the
dency for an amine solvent sample, as well feed gas to the contactor. Hydrocarbon American Filtration Society, Southwest Region; and
as a high foam stability, indicating that ingression was reduced by following all a member of the Gas Processors Association Technical
surfactants were present in the lean amine of the previously indicated recommenda- Section M, as well as a member of the boards of
directors at several companies.
solvent that increased the potential for tions for the gas coalescers. Hydrocarbon
foaming in the amine unit. The foam ten- ingression was also minimized by increas- CODY RIDGE is a Lead Process
dency increased over time since the first ing the flash tank residence time and by Engineer at Amine Optimization
visit. Surface tension and rheology results regularly skimming the flash tank to re- Company and a Chemical Engineer
from Texas Tech University in
supported these findings. move hydrocarbons and antifoam build- Lubbock, Texas. He is responsible
Foam testing results also showed that up. Antifoam ingression into the lean for field engineering and
increased amine solvent concentration amine stream will invariably deactivate technology development with
reduced foaming tendency. Increasing the activated carbon bed and reduce its Amine Optimization. Mr. Ridge has worked as an
operator and process engineer in the Permian Basin.
the amine solvent concentration was not lifetime. Reducing antifoam injection by
feasible at the time of onsite testing, but if using a more efficient antifoam will also SCOTT WILLIAMS is a Process
foaming issues became unstable or persis- increase activated carbon bed run time. Engineer at Amine Optimization.
He has industry experience in a
tent, then the option would be considered. number of projects in oil and gas,
Antifoam testing using lean amine Concluding remarks. After addressing petrochemical, chemical and water
samples from the plant showed that the the root causes of fouling at the MCHE treatment applications. As part of
plant antifoam was moderately effective, and foaming in the amine unit contactor, the Amine Optimization engineering
group, Mr. Williams is responsible for technical design
but only at relatively high dosages. Other solutions were established considering and solutions development in engineering and
antifoam products were tested and ob- all evidence, data and careful observa- technology applications. He also provides support for
served to work more effectively at lower tions. These solutions were developed analytical and specialized service projects. His recent
work has been focused on amine unit contamination
dosages. A specific product (AF-12) was based on extensive onsite testing, de- control, process stability and energy reduction. Mr.
recommended for use at the amine unit. tailed data analysis and thorough process Williams holds a BS degree in chemical and biological
The reflux water at the regenerator evaluations and simulations. engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 35

 PIPELINES

Sectionalizing valve location

on an onshore buried gas pipeline
S. ZARDYNEZHAD, TurboTech Consulting Corp., Calgary, Alberta, Canada

In onshore buried natural gas pipelines, sectionalizing valves Pipeline incidents and valve role. The risk of gas pipeline
are used to divide the pipeline into smaller segments that can be failure is constant and common, and many experiences and
isolated in an emergency case or when needed to allow for op- causes can lead to pipeline incidents. Prevention of pipeline
eration, inspection and maintenance activities. When appropri- failures is the primary concern of the pipeline owner, and is
ately located on the pipeline and properly maintained and op- planned in the conceptual and feasibility phases of the project
erated, sectionalizing valves can reduce the volume of product and realized during operation by considering a pipeline integ-
released in the event of a buried gas pipeline failure or rupture. rity program.
These valves are an important element of the reliable and safe As shown in FIG. 1, pipeline valves do not prevent pipeline
operation of the pipeline system. When determining the place- failures, and valves alone cannot fully mitigate the consequenc-
ment of such valves, primary consideration must be given to the es of a failure. Valves only play a control role and minimize con-
location mode (i.e., aboveground or underground) to provide sequences in the event of a significant pipeline failure. They are
continuous accessibility to the valves.1 part of the response, rather than prevention.2 Incorrect selec-
Generally, no single option for valve location mode is correct tion of a valve location mode in a sensitive area may incorrectly
for every application. A detailed study is needed based on proj- create a risk that could outweigh the benefit. Many factors
ect constraints (i.e., cost, schedule, etc.), pipeline terrain, risks, must be considered in selecting the proper mode for pipeline
client preference, etc. sectionalizing valves on an onshore buried gas pipeline.
Valve location for onshore buried natural gas pipelines (long-
distance/cross-country) has a significant impact on project cost Pipeline codes in the U.S. and Canada. Natural gas pipe-
when the number and size of the valves are increased. It also im- line regulation in the U.S. is carried out through the American
pacts the project construction timeline. This article reviews and Society of Mechanical Engineers’ standard ASME B31.8 “Gas
compares American and Canadian pipeline codes for sectional- transmission and distribution piping systems.”1 In Canada,
izing valve location. Also, a general comparison is made between pipeline codes are dictated by Canadian Standards Associa-
aboveground and underground installation of sectionalizing tion standard Z662 “Oil and gas pipeline systems.”3 Both codes
valves on buried natural gas pipelines, based on the author’s ex- incorporate similar approaches regarding valve location mode
perience in the field. for onshore buried natural gas pipelines.
Note: It is important to remember that a detailed study must be TABLE 1 provides a tabulated version of the comparisons be-
conducted for each project. The contents of this article are based tween U.S. and Canadian gas transmission pipeline design in
on personal lessons learned and are unrelated to any company. terms of valve location mode.

Essential factors. All codes and standards consider limited

factors and minimum requirements in valve location mode.
The engineering company and the owner have the responsi-
bility of determining supplemental factors based on specific
loadings, site location, known risks, level of uncertainty, geo-
hazards, sound engineering practice, lessons learned, etc. Also,
the engineer must provide the necessary protection and risk
reduction mechanisms for each potential risk.
The essential factors and parameters that must be consid-
ered by the engineer for the pipeline sectionalizing valve loca-
tion mode (i.e., aboveground and underground) are explained
in the following subsections.
Applicable codes, standards and specifications. The
first step in the selection of the valve location mode is select-
ing the applicable codes, standards and specifications. Many
FIG. 1. Pipeline incident prevention and response strategy.2
codes, standards, specifications and regulations exist for pipe-
36 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 PIPELINES

line design, and each code and standard may use different cri- valve are restrained by backfilled and compacted soil (FIG. 3).
teria and limitations. Wind load and lightning risks. Buried valves are protect-
Accessibility for maintenance, operation and inspec- ed from lightning risk compared to aboveground valve instal-
tion. Proper and safe access for operation, inspection and lation. The effect of wind load on valve and structure around
maintenance of the valve assembly (i.e., valve body, actuator, the valve must be considered during the design of the aboveg-
instrumentation and stems) are important and necessary. round installation, especially in locations with high elevation
The aboveground valve installation will provide ease of ac- and/or high wind velocity.
cess for operation, inspection and maintenance to the valve Geohazards. A geohazard is a subset of natural hazards and
body by a proper piping design around the valve, compared is an event “caused by geological contribution factors and pro-
to underground installation. In underground installation, the cesses that present severe threats to humans, property and nat-
valve body is buried and is not accessible for inspection and/or ural and built environments.”4 In the context of this article, geo-
maintenance. However, manufacturers normally design small- hazards may include hydrotechnical (e.g., debris flow/flood,
bore pipes to allow operators to lubricate, drain and vent the avulsion, scour, lateral erosion and outburst-type flood), rock
valve from aboveground (FIG. 2). slope geohazard (e.g., rockfall, rapid rockslide, rapid rock ava-
Access to the valve actuator is easier with an underground lanche), soil slope geohazards (e.g., debris slide and avalanche,
valve compared to an aboveground valve, as the need for an ac- earth landslide) or seismic hazards (e.g., lateral spreading and
cess platform may not be necessary. If the underground valve fault rupture). These geohazards have the potential to impact
requires major maintenance (e.g., replacing seats or repairing the pipeline system, including the valve, and result in a pipeline
the ball), then the time needed for repair and/or maintenance failure mode (i.e., exposed or impacted pipeline, dent, buckle,
is longer compared to an aboveground installation, due to the leak or rupture).
need to excavate, clean, remove the coating, etc. Vulnerability, V(i), is an estimate of the likelihood of the
Risk of differential settlement and movement. Buried pipeline failure after the geohazard has occurred, reached the
pipelines and valves are fully restrained by the soil, and they right of way, and touched the pipeline or valve. The vulner-
do not typically have overbends or sag bends upstream or ability is expressed as a conditional probability that typically
downstream of the valve. Consequently, they do not generally ranges from 0.1 (low likelihood of failure) to 1 (high likeli-
experience the axial displacements that significantly occur in hood of failure).5
aboveground valve installation. Buried pipeline valves are nor- For a given potential of a geohazard to occur at a loca-
mally well supported by footings placed on undisturbed soil, tion, (i) along the pipeline (i.e., the occurrence factor) and
or a precast foundation or piles, depending on the soil charac- the same value of annual geohazard frequency (i.e., estimated
teristics of the valve station. The lateral displacements to the number of events of a certain size occurring each year at a spe-

FIG. 2. Small-bore pipes for lubrication, drainage and venting of the

underground valve. FIG. 3. Installation of a 56-in. buried valve on a natural gas pipeline.

TABLE 1. Comparison between U.S. and Canadian gas transmission pipeline valve installation modes
Code issue ASME B31.81 CSA Z6623 Comments
Valve location 846.1.1 4.4 • Both codes emphasize the location of the valve, which should be accessible to authorized
personnel and protected from damage or tampering
847
• The valve must be suitably supported to prevent differential settlement and movement
of the attached piping
• Neither code dictates a specific mode of installation (i.e., aboveground or underground)

Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 37

PIPELINES

cific location) and the same spatial probability of impact (i.e., ticularly sensitive areas such as national parks, protected areas,
the probability that a geohazard will reach the pipeline right- wildlife areas, archaeological and heritage sites, and other en-
of-way and then touch the pipeline), the V(i) of the aboveg- vironmentally sensitive areas.
round valve installation is much higher than the underground Cost and time of installation. Belowground installation of
valve installation. valves on a buried pipeline requires less cost and time for pro-
Water table. Risk of water table fluctuation and interfer- curement, shop inspection, installation and construction due
ence with the valve should be considered in underground in- to the omission of unnecessary accessories, such as an access
stallation. Coating for a valve body up to 300 mm–500 mm of platform, S-bends, insulating joint/gasket and installation, etc.,
the extension stem cover should be considered at minimum. compared to aboveground valve installation. Time and cost of
Coatings must have the highest possible moisture resis- trenching may not be significant; however, if the size and num-
tance to maintain their properties and be effective over a long ber of the valve stations are higher, then associated costs must
period time. The best corrosion-resistant valve coating gener- be considered. Both installation modes require valve stations
ally has the lowest water absorption. Also, the valve coating with fences and gates, blowdowns and valves, gas detectors, re-
should have a strong resistance to the ionic passage from the mote terminal units, lighting, etc.
exterior of a coating to the valve substrate. Corrosion protection. Aboveground installation of valves
The risk of coating disbanding due to cathodic protec- for a buried pipeline requires installation of additional insu-
tion or catching a sharp corner of the valve surface must be lating joints/gaskets to prevent leakage of the rectifier supply
addressed during engineering, and proper mitigation actions current from the underground pipeline system to the aboveg-
should be considered. The coating must have a low moisture round structure/piping. The underground valves will require
vapor transfer rate and very high adhesion to resist cathodic coating and cathodic protection.
disbanding. Aboveground installation of the valves does not Noise. Noise will be greater in aboveground valve installation
carry the risk of water table fluctuation or cathodic disbanding compared to underground installation. Local noise regulations
of the coating. must be considered during the selection of the location mode.
Overbend and sag bend. Underground installation of the Risk of vandalism and external interference. Aboveg-
valves on the buried gas pipeline do not require any overbend round installation of a valve brings higher visibility and makes
and sag bend combinations upstream or downstream of the the valve more susceptible to vandalism, sabotage and ex-
valve, compared to aboveground valve installation. Those ternal interference, compared to underground valve installa-
bends induce axial displacement, mainly during transient tion. These risks are addressed in Annex H of CSA Z662 and
events such as operation temperature changes (e.g., weather ASME B31.8 and must be considered during the selection of
change, startup and shutdown), which may require mitigation the location mode. For class locations of 2, 3 and 4, under-
for displacement. ground installation has fewer external interfaces and less risk
Wildfires. If the risk of wildfires exists in a specific area of of vandalism.
the pipeline route, the aboveground installation of the valve End connection. For both aboveground and underground
may make the valve more vulnerable, compared to under- installation of pipeline sectionalizing valves, welded end con-
ground installation. nections are recommended. It is not good engineering practice
Environmental impact. The installation of a valve will to bury the flanges, as the gasket may leak and require replace-
create an impact on the environment, and the valve itself can ment. In addition, an aboveground valve with flange connec-
have issues related to reliability, leakage and susceptibility tions is not recommended for “off-plot” and unmanned instal-
to accidental damage or vandalism.4 Both underground and lation (e.g., outside the facility fence) due to the risk of gas
aboveground valve installations impact the environment, par- leakage from the flange gasket.

FIG. 4. Two views of a 56-in. buried valve welding inside the trench of a natural gas pipeline.

38 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 PIPELINES

Valve type and dimension. The valve type and specifica- Minimum design metal temperature (MDMT). The
tions are similar in both aboveground and underground in- MDMT may change the material and impact the test re-
stallations, except for the length of the valve stem extension quirements of the valve parts, especially the valve body. The
and the coupling between the valve and actuator, the latter MDMT should be decided based on the lowest operating
of which is higher in underground installation compared to temperature or the lowest reported ambient temperature—
aboveground installation. No significant difference is seen in whichever is more severe. The engineer should use suitable
valve dimension between aboveground and underground in- MDMT considering the lowest installation temperature and
stallation of valves. the soil temperature.6
Thickness of connected pipeline. Thickness of the Underground installation of valves has the advantage of
aboveground pipeline may be less than the thickness of the lower MDMT compared to aboveground installation of the
buried pipeline for the same design conditions, and may be valves. The valve material must meet the fracture energy
calculated based on the same applicable codes and standards. and shear area requirements at the minimum design tem-
Aboveground pipeline wall thickness is calculated based on perature. The valve body welds and the heat-affected zone
the hoop stress. For buried pipelines with soil-pipe interaction, (HAZ) toughness values must be validated at the MDMT.
maximum combined stress (Hoop stress – Longitude stress) The MDMT at a specific location for aboveground valves can
must be less than 0.9 × SMYS × Design temperature.6 be assumed at –45°C; however, for underground installation,
Transportation and storage. The valve assembly height is the MDMT may be decreased to –29°C, which could lead to
greater in underground installation compared to aboveground significant cost savings for the project, especially with a high
installation; however, transportation and storage of the valves are number and size of sectionalizing valves.
not significantly changed nor impacted by valve location mode.
Valve spacing and class change. Valve spacing is not de- Takeaway. Two proven pipeline codes are generally used to de-
pendent on the mode of valve installation. Clause 4.4 of CSA sign natural gas pipelines—CSA Z662 and ASME B31.8. Nei-
Z662 states that in absence of an engineering assessment con- ther addresses detailed criteria for the installation of sectional-
ducted in accordance with Clause 4.4.3, the spacing of valves in izing valves (i.e., aboveground or underground) on a buried gas
the pipeline shall be: pipeline. As such, many factors and risks must be considered
• Class 1 location: Not required for the selection of the mode of installation of the pipeline sec-
• Class 2 location: 25 km tionalizing valves, and not just cost or ease of operation.
• Class 3 location: 13 km The author’s conclusion is that the mode of installation for
• Class 4 location: 8 km. the pipeline sectionalizing valves can, in some circumstances,
The spacing may be adjusted by up to 25% based on opera- interact to threaten the integrity of pipelines/valves and cre-
tional, maintenance, access and system design factors. ate more risk. Valve integrity, along with pipeline integrity, is
If there is a risk of pipeline class change in the future, ad- of prime importance to pipeline operators, as well as to those
ditional valve(s) may be required. Underground installation is who live and work close to the pipeline. Pipeline valves need
easier and less costly compared to aboveground installation. their own inspection programs, regardless of whether they are
Pipeline service life is normally 50 yr or more, so the long- installed aboveground or underground. Valve maintenance, in-
term development plans of cities, towns, districts, etc. should spection and integrity must be considered during installation
be studied with regard to the pipeline route. mode selection. Incorrect valve installation mode in a sensitive
Safety and space requirements. Aboveground installa- area may create a risk that could outweigh the benefit. GP
tion may impact public and personnel safety due to the in-
creased noise level and the higher risk of leakage due to exter- ACKNOWLEDGMENT
nal interferences. In addition, aboveground valves will require The author is grateful to his daughter for assistance in editing this article.
more land, which can be a challenge for the owner to purchase
LITERATURE CITED
or authorize through the municipality or landowners, the pub- 1
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B31.8, “Gas transmission
lic and regulatory agencies. Installation and welding work of and distribution piping systems,” 2018.
the buried valves has higher safety risks due to working inside 2
National Energy Board Website, “Fact sheet: Valves on a pipeline.”
the valve trench (FIG. 4). 3
Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z662, “Oil and gas pipeline system,”
Effect of weather condition. The effects of weather condi- 2015.
4
Nadim, F., “Introduction to the proceedings of ECI geohazards—Technical, eco-
tions and changes, such as direct sunshine temperature, freez- nomic and social risk evaluation,” Lillehammer, Norway, 2006.
ing, snow load, etc., must be considered for aboveground in- 5
Baumgard, A., “Implementing a quantitative geohazard frequency analysis frame-
stallation. Underground valves are less impacted by weather work as a component of risk assessment of new pipelines,” 2016.
6
Zardynezhad, S., “Consider key factors in pipeline wall thickness calculation and
effects and changes; however, the frost line may be a concern. selection,” Gas Processing, February 2015.
The frost depth or freezing line is the maximum depth within
the soil where groundwater is expected to freeze. The frost
SHAHAB ZARDYNEZHAD is a registered senior mechanical/pipeline engineer in
depth depends on many parameters, such as outside temper- Alberta and British Columbia with more than 27 yr of experience working in the
ature, the amount of insulating snow cover, the heat transfer world’s largest oil, gas and petrochemical projects. He has experience in many
properties of the ground material, etc. Knowing the depth of cross-country, long-distance pipeline projects including buried, aboveground,
thermal, high-pressure, NGL and sour gas pipelines. He holds a BS degree
the frost line in the area where the underground valve is in- in mechanical engineering from the University of Petroleum of Iran, an MS
tended to be installed is important for the design and materials degree in industrial engineering from IUST Iran and an MS degree in mechanical
selection of the small-bore pipeline. engineering (pipeline specialization) from the University of Calgary in Canada.

Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 39

 NEW IN GAS PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
A. BLUME, Editor

Kongsberg to digitalize gas processing facility Shell, Magma

Kongsberg Digital, a subsidiary of KONGSBERG, signed an to qualify
agreement to digitalize the Nyhamna facility, a gas processing and
export hub for Ormen Lange and other fields connected to the cryogenic flexible
Polarled pipeline. pipe for LNG
A/S Norske Shell is entering the partnership as operator of
Ormen Lange and on behalf of Gassco as the operator of Nyhamna. Magma Global announced
KONGSBERG will utilize Kognifai Dynamic Digital Twin to establish it has signed a contract with
a dynamic virtual representation of the gas plant and its behavior, Shell Global Solutions
continuously updated with integrated information reflecting the status International BV to develop
of the facility in real time. and qualify a flexible single
As Technical Service Provider at Nyhamna, Shell will be equipped with the ability to simulate scenarios polymer composite (SPC) pipe
and uncover new options for optimization of its real-life counterpart. for cryogenic applications of
The business benefits of digital twin technology for the oil and gas industry include real-time view of temperatures as low as –196°C.
a facility, its processes and its production. Physical models and machine learning algorithms provide Magma was selected
virtual sensors and insight into the non-instrumented part of a facility and can be leveraged to spin up for its high-precision laser
and manage model instances to perform “what-if” analysis and scenario analysis, and to uncover the best manufacturing capability and
options for optimization. experience in development and
These capabilities can be used at existing assets to increase production, manage power consumption qualification of composite pipe
and reduce carbon footprint; and to plan, design and construct new assets or modify existing facilities. for hydrocarbon service. The
Virtual collaboration and common situational awareness across disciplines can drive down maintenance cryogenic flexible pipe will suit
and operating cost and enable remotely operated assets and efficient operations centers. a number of applications,
The partnership between Shell and Kongsberg to develop a dynamic digital twin of the Nyhamna facility including Shell’s low-cost,
will be based on an open and collaborative business model, thereby entailing opportunities for future jettyless LNG offloading system.
collaboration and deployment of dynamic digital twin technology at other assets. Photo by Norsk Hydro ASA. The pipe will be made from
an SPC. Long, unidirectional
fibers are combined in a matrix
Air Liquide makes A solution for “watered-in” landfill of the same polymer to produce
large methanol gas wells a tape that delivers high
strength while maintaining all
investment Waste Management’s the benefits of the polymer.
Springhill Regional Landfill near The tape is then fused together
Air Liquide has signed an
Campbellton, Florida generates in layers, using lasers within
agreement with Methanex Corp.
“green” energy by extracting and Magma’s precision manufacturing
to supply oxygen, nitrogen and
burning the methane in landfill process, resulting in a continuous
utilities to Methanex’s upcoming
gas. Its $7-MM landfill gas energy length of spoolable pipe with
methanol plant expansion project
plant is capable of producing 4.8 excellent cryogenic properties.
in Geismar, Louisiana.
To serve Methanex and its MW of power. When operating at Magma Global CEO Martin
other customers in the industrial its peak, the landfill can generate Jones said, “LNG is being
enough energy to supply the embraced by energy operators,
basin that encompasses Geismar
electrical needs of 4,000 homes. but facilitating the growth has
and Baton Rouge, Air Liquide will
However, the plant was its challenges. This exciting
invest more than $270 MM in two
receiving only enough gas to run development uses a very
new large air separation units
two of the six engines. Consulting low-cost polymer composite
(ASUs) and infrastructure assets
engineers determined that to produce a pipe with
connected to its Mississippi River
high levels of liquid, primarily exceptional cryogenic
Pipeline, and significantly increase performance, which makes it
its production capacity in the U.S. condensed water vapor, flooded
most of the wells’ available highly attractive in the LNG
Gulf Coast region. market and in many other
To support the levels of surface area, reducing gas
extraction efficiency. applications where simplification
oxygen and nitrogen needed and cost reduction are the
at Methanex’s third methanol The excess liquid needed to be pumped down, but the pumps
needed to survive operating in hot sulfuric acid. Air-powered focus. We are delighted to
plant in Geismar, as well as other be working with Shell to
customers along its Mississippi AutoPumps from QED Environmental Systems were developed for
enable LNG to meet fast-
River Pipeline System, Air difficult pumping applications at landfills and petroleum and solvent
growing global demand.”
Liquide will build two new ASUs spill remediation sites.
Arjan Maijenburg,
with capacities of 2,500 tpd of The facility ordered six AutoPump AP4 units, followed by another six
Engineering Manager LNG
oxygen each, thereby increasing units two months later. By the time the 12 units were up and running, the Regas, said, “Development of
the company’s Mississippi River landfill’s gas supply was back to nominal levels and all six engines were jettyless concepts for low-cost
Pipeline’s supply capacity by running at capacity, generating the full 4.8 MW. LNG transfer will open up new
more than 25%. The new ASUs are Across the U.S., approximately 650 of the 2,500 existing landfills markets for LNG import. This
expected to start production in extract methane for green energy, either to burn it and produce composite pipe development
mid-2022 to support Methanex’s electricity or pipe the gas to industrial consumers. While some sites are is a key step in enabling these
production of methanol. too small or too old to produce enough methane for the process to be solutions. We look forward to
This investment also enhances economically viable, another 500 US landfills are reasonable candidates working with Magma to develop
the competitiveness of Air Liquide for energy projects this product.”
in one of the major industrial Installing landfill gas energy plants at the remaining landfill An overall cost reduction of
basins by modernizing its asset candidates could almost double energy contributions and emissions 30% can be achieved by moving
fleet and increasing energy reductions. The average American produces approximately 4.5 lb/d of away from a jetty/trestle-based
efficiency, further reducing the trash. This amount of trash in a landfill gas energy process would, for solution with breakwater to
carbon intensity of its operations example, produce enough energy to light a 60-W bulb for 15 min. QED a jettyless system without
and contributing to achieving the AutoPumps can help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while providing breakwater and using subsea
group’s 2025 climate objectives. energy to communities. cryogenic composite pipelines.

40 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | [Link]
 NEW IN GAS PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
A. BLUME, Editor

China wind power Yokogawa to accelerate robotics for facilities inspection

firm plans $1 B ExRobotics BV, a Netherlands-based developer of robotics
technology for hazardous environments, and Yokogawa Electric Corp.,
LNG terminal a global provider of industrial automation, control, and measurement
China’s Suntien Green Energy technology, have signed a licensing agreement that will enable
Co. Ltd., a wind power producer Yokogawa to sell and deploy ExRobotics’ inspection robot hardware and
and piped gas distributor, plans software platforms worldwide.
to build a $1-B LNG receiving ExRobotics was established in 2017 to commercialize robotics
terminal in north China by the technology for use in the potentially explosive atmospheres found at oil
end of 2022, after its investment and gas production and processing facilities, which are often in remote
plans won state approval. locations with harsh environments.
The firm, backed by the Hebei Even on unmanned facilities, a human presence is generally still
provincial government, joins a needed for regular inspection work. Deploying robots can have a
handful of Chinese companies significant positive impact on worker safety by minimizing worker field
outside the dominant state energy trips, which in turn reduces operating costs.
giants aiming to own and operate Equipment operating in these hazardous environments must
a receiving facility for LNG, of have IECEx1 Zone 1 certification. The ExRobotics ExR-1 was the first
which China is the world’s second- commercially available robot of its kind to meet these stringent requirements.
largest buyer. It can be equipped with a range of sensors and cameras, has 4G LTE wireless network capabilities, and can
In a Hong Kong exchange be monitored and operated from a laptop, tablet, or smartphone by an operator located in a safe control room
filing, Suntien said the central anywhere in the world.
government had approved its plan The robot is certified at a module level, which allows for customized configurations. It also has optional
to build a gas terminal in the city of modules for gas detection and autonomous navigation.
Tangshan with an eventual handling Under the agreement, Yokogawa will leverage its customer base and global sales and service network to
capacity of 12 metric MMtpy. introduce the ExR-1 and future ExRobotics products to offshore and onshore oil and gas production facilities,
The company plans to initially where inspections by humans should be minimized, as well as large refineries and chemical plants.
invest 8.07 B CNY ($1.15 B) in
a first-stage terminal able to Chevron plans maintenance Renergen
handle 5 metric MMtpy LNG
by the end of 2022. at Gorgon LNG commissions
The project will include eight
storage tanks, each sized 200,000
Chevron Corp. is planning LNG/helium
to conduct maintenance rounds
m3, and a berth able to dock at its Gorgon LNG project plant in
LNG tankers between 80,000 m3
and 266,000 m3. Suntien plans
through two separate periods South Africa
this year and in 2020, according
to finance the Tangshan project Energy company Renergen
to a notice on the energy
through its own capital and loans recently commissioned South
company’s website.
from financial institutions. Africa’s first commercial LNG
The company planned to
The company began operating and liquid helium plant, the
shut more than half of an LNG
in 2010 as a wind power generator, Virginia Gas Project.
train at the facility from October
but aims to expand its natural gas The gas project will position
11–November 29, and more than an entire LNG train from May 23–
business to contribute half of its South Africa as the only
July 11 in 2020.
profit within 5 yr, vs. 30% in 2018. commercial helium producer
The three-train Gorgon project, one of the world’s largest natural
The move would compensate for in Africa, and one of eight
gas projects, can produce 15.6 MMtpy of LNG from its three trains,
a less prospective wind power countries in the world exporting
according to Chevron.
business, which is reportedly the natural resource, alongside
Chevron is the Gorgon project operator, with its Australian subsidiary
facing challenges from over- the U.S. and Qatar.
holding a controlling 47.3%. ExxonMobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell
capacity and dwindling state Renergen has appointed
each have a 25% share, and the remainder is held by Japan’s Osaka Gas,
subsidies. Suntien’s gas business, Chinese equipment company
Tokyo Gas and JERA.
however, has been robust. Western Shell Cryogenic
Suntien operates 4,140 km Equipment Co. (WSCE) to supply
(2,575 mi) of pipelines in Hebei, VUV Analytics partners technology and equipment for
China’s top steel-making province, the plant, and EPCM Bonisana
and last year supplied the
for gas chromatography to install the pipeline and
province with nearly 20% of its VUV Analytics Inc., developer of Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) manage the interface.
total gas needs, securing gas from Spectroscopy-based analytical instruments, and PerkinElmer, a The U.S government’s
top gas producer PetroChina. manufacturer of analytical and healthcare instruments, announced a Overseas Private Investment
Gas demand in Hebei is global solutions distribution agreement. Corp. (OPIC) approved a
forecast to hit 20 Bm3 in 2020, Under the terms of this nonexclusive agreement, PerkinElmer Inc., $40-MM loan in February to
up more than 40% from 2018, along with its subsidiaries, will be allowed to market and sell the VUV provide capital for the project
thanks to a strong government Analyzer Platform for Fuels, VGA-100 and VGA-101 detectors, and after the company announced
push to switch from coal to gas VUVision and VUV Analyze Software as bundled solutions with its it had discovered reserves of up
to tackle pollution. gas chromatography instruments worldwide. to 11% helium concentrations
in the Free State province.
Woodside awards new Pluto-to-North West Shelf pipeline The project is planned to be
operational from 2021, with daily
project to AGIG production of 645.3 metric tons
Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) has been awarded a project by Woodside for the pipeline of LNG and 350 kg of helium.
component of its Pluto-North West Shelf Interconnector. A 30-in., 3.2-km pipeline will connect the Pluto LNG The second phase is being
terminal to the Karratha gas plant (KGP). AGIG will design, construct and operate the new pipeline and three planned and may involve the
facilities—a new inlet point and pig launcher next to the Pluto gas export compressor; a new meter station inclusion of a helium-bearing
near the KGP; and a new pig receiver and outlet in the KGP. sandstone trap in the project area.

Gas Processing & LNG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 41

 NEW IN GAS PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
ADRIENNE BLUME, Editor

Hyundai gets BCCK to construct NRU project CNOOC to trial

approval for LNG for Energy Transfer LNG delivery by rail
containment system China National Offshore Oil
Corp. (CNOOC) is working with
South Korean shipbuilder
a railway company to trial
Hyundai Heavy Industries has
delivery of LNG by rail. The
secured a general approval
2-yr trial will involve sending
from Lloyd’s Register for its
LNG to central China from four
independently developed LNG terminals—Guangxi, Zhuhai,
containment system. Zhejiang and Tianjin.
The company noted in its China is the world’s second-
statement that the general largest importer of LNG but lacks
approval of the system, named natural gas pipeline and storage
HyMEX, is above the basic infrastructure. While trucks
approval in principle, which carrying ISO tanks can serve
represents the certification of the distances of 500 km, trains can
basic design of the technology. serve longer distances of more
Following the award of the than 1,000 km. Each ISO tank
general approval, Hyundai Heavy can carry 17 metric t–18 metric t
Industries is ready to complete the of LNG, and the trains will be
full-scale demonstration by 2020. able to take 50 tanks.
The system features a CNOOC, China’s largest
membrane-type LNG cargo LNG importer, aims to transport
tank technology with a double- BCCK Holding Co. has been selected by Energy Transfer for the 1 metric MMtpy of LNG from
barrier structure limiting the construction and installation of a Nitech nitrogen rejection unit (NRU) in 2019–2021, using ISO tank
sloshing effect. West Texas. containers. This volume will
The company has now The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project will increase to 2 metric MMtpy by
set its sights on developing consist of a 97-MMsft3d nitrogen rejection unit incorporating BCCK’s 2022–2023.
vessel fueling and propulsion Style III Nitech NRU technology at Energy Transfer’s Rebel Plant. CNOOC also plans to use ISO
technology as a step towards The agreement was finalized in September, and the installation of tanks for LNG storage, as they save
the decarbonization of ships, the NRU is expected to be completed in Q3 2020. This project marks space and are about 30% cheaper
according to a company official. BCCK’s 30th NRU. than existing storage facilities.

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