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 MARCH 2011

HPIMPACT SPECIALREPORT BONUSREPORT

US pipeline safety bill CORROSION CONTROL PLANT SAFETY

Global midstream Methods show how New technologies,
M&A update to detect and standards and systems
control corrosion reduce plant risks

www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com
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Select 55 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

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 MARCH 2011 • VOL. 90 NO. 3
www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

SPECIAL REPORT: CORROSION CONTROL

Cover This is an Elliott 60M
29 Updates on improving refractory lining service life
Tips help maintenance and operations care and maintain refractory products
centrifugal compressor rotor in
Elliott’s high-speed balance facility,
in high-temperature operations Jeannette, Pennsylvania. The rotor is
M. Maity coated with Elliott Pos-e-Coat® Plus,
a premium protective and functional
coating that provides superior
39 Flare stack structure revamp: A case history
An innovative approach was used to repair an older flare structure
anti-fouling and corrosion resistance
for components in hydrocarbon
online without an extensive shutdown gas-processing applications.
S. Singh

43 Avoid brittle fracture in pressure vessels

Key points identify effects from auto-refrigeration on steel vessels
F. Khazrai, H. B. Haghighi and H. Kordabadi
HPIMPACT
49 Improving pH control mitigates corrosion in crude units
Equipment and pipe failures can be avoided through
17 Pipeline safety bill
introduced in US
better desalting practices and inhibitor injections Senate
D. L. N. Cypriano, J. A. C. Ponciano, A. T. Vilas Boas, P. D. Murray and M. R. Nasser
17 2010 midstream
M&A activity hits
$49 billion
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011—SUPPLEMENT 19 Association says

55 Turnaround and Maintenance 2010

Guide on how to successfully execute turnarounds and proper facility maintenance
CFATS should be
made permanent
20 US demand for
BONUS REPORT: WATER MANAGEMENT activated carbon
growing
75Process safety: Blind spots and red flags
Improving safety for organizations involve more than technological solutions;
understanding processes and plant interactions are a must
T. Shephard

78 Consider new design criteria equipment modules

Construction offers cost-effective protection of critical systems
COLUMNS
D. Cole and D. Austin 9 HPIN RELIABILITY
Oil mist and electric

83 Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard turns four:

What’s next? 11
motor windings
HPIN EUROPE
An in-depth look at the standard China enters and
R. Loughin Russia deepens its
influence in European
INSTRUMENTATION refining
13 HPINTEGRATION
85 Avoid these top-10 instrumentation headaches
Visual engineering program solves designer and engineer issues across the industry STRATEGIES
Terminal automation:
D. Gibson
More challenging
than it looks
ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES
15 HPIN ASSOCIATIONS
89 Case 61: Pressure loss in a reactor
Much information is available from a simple analysis
Maintenance,
securing the cloud
T. Sofronas and a pep talk
94 HPIN WATER
DEPARTMENTS MANAGEMENT
7 HPIN BRIEF • 21 HPIN CONSTRUCTION Passivation in cooling
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26 HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE
90 HPI MARKETPLACE • 93 ADVERTISER INDEX

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 HPIN BRIEF
BILLY THINNES, NEWS EDITOR

[email protected]

Honeywell has formed a new business focused on providing

advanced open software services to the process industries. Honeywell is seeking to
■ Refineries for sale
achieve this goal by integrating the open connectivity and broad platform capability of BP is looking to sell two of its US
its Matrikon acquisition with its applications and solutions business. Honeywell plans to refineries. The company has officially
use an outcome-based consulting approach to offer solutions for supply chain, produc- put a “for sale” sign in front of its
tion execution and operational excellence in areas such as energy efficiency, compliance, refineries in Texas City, Texas, and
performance improvement and asset effectiveness. The new business will also address Carson, California. BP is also seeking
industrial and cyber security, advanced process control and optimization, process design a buyer (perhaps the same one) for its
simulation and operator training simulation. associated integrated marketing busi-
nesses in southern California, Arizona,
and Nevada. BP plans to complete the
GE has completed a new expanded licensing agreement that will sales by the end of 2012, and this
allow the company to continue offering high-efficiency reverse osmosis (HERO) systems liquidation of assets would cut in half
to help more of its industrial customers increase water-usage efficiency and reuse capacity. BP’s US refining capacity.
The new pact is with Debasish Mukhopadhyay, HERO’s process developer and patent BP plans to focus future down-
holder. According to GE, the HERO offers higher recovery of feed water, higher produc- stream investment in the US on further
tion rates, higher product water quality levels and reduced scaling and fouling when com- improving and upgrading its other
pared to conventional RO systems. Under the agreement, GE will hold specific rights refining and marketing networks
to market and manufacture solutions that utilize the HERO technology in key industry in the country, based around the
Whiting, Indiana, and Cherry Point,
segments and applications including hydrocarbon processing and chemical processing. Washington, refineries and its 50%
interest in the Toledo, Ohio, refinery.
The Dow Chemical Co. will close two vinyl chloride monomer So in essence, the company is less
(VCM) production units in 2011. Dow will shut down a production unit in Oyster interested in the sun-baked climates
Creek, Texas, in the first quarter of 2011. The closure of a second VCM unit, located in of the American Southwest and more
Plaquemine, Louisiana, was announced in 2009. The Louisiana plant will cease opera- compatible with a Midwestern vibe.
tions in the third quarter of 2011. According to BP, these refineries have
“This is a continuation of the decisive actions taken by Dow to right-size our core greater flexibility to refine a range of
crude oils including heavy grades, and,
chemicals manufacturing footprint and shift our basic feedstocks toward performance on average, are more diesel-capable
derivative businesses,” said Carlo Guarino, global business director for Dow Chlor-Vinyl. than BP’s current portfolio.
The Carson refinery, south of Los
SPECTRO Analytical Instruments GmbH has formed a strategic Angeles, is at the heart of an inte-
marketing alliance with SII NanoTechnology, Inc., to market SPECTRO’s inductively- grated fuels value chain stretching
coupled plasma optical emission (ICP-OES) and mass spectrometers (ICP-MS) in Japan. across southern California, Arizona
The alliance covers all SPECTRO ICP-OES and ICP-MS instruments. SPECTRO will and Nevada. The refinery, which has
continue to support its existing Japanese customers through a subsidiary formed in 2008. 265,000 bpd capacity and supplies
around 25% of Los Angeles’ gasoline
demand, became part of BP through
Sunoco said that it will move forward with the planned the 2000 acquisition of ARCO.
separation of SunCoke Energy after reaching an agreement with ArcelorMittal that The Texas City refinery became
resolves the lawsuit concerning coke pricing for Sunoco’s Jewell facility in Vansant, part of BP with the 1998 merger with
Virginia. The settlement agreement includes a renegotiation of the Jewell coke contract, Amoco. It is a large, highly complex
including the elimination of the Jewell coal cost multiplier and an increase in fees. The refinery with 475,000 bpd refining
pricing of Jewell coal will be based upon the third-party coal price at SunCoke’s Haverhill capacity—the third biggest refinery
facility. Also of note: Sunoco will pay no compensatory damages. in the US, with gasoline manufactur-
ing capability equivalent to approxi-
Based upon the guidance assumptions that the company previously provided, the
mately 3% of US production.
impact of this settlement for 2012 is estimated to reduce earnings before interest, taxes, During the last few years, over $1
depreciation and amortization by approximately $60 million. billion has been invested in moderniz-
ing and improving the Texas City plant.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) called on the US Much of that investment was driven by
Department of State to approve the Keystone pipeline project as soon as possible “as a the requirements of federal regulators
matter of critical national interest.” The pipeline, which would be built by TransCanada after the March 2005 fire and explo-
Corp., would be part of a pipeline system bringing oil from Alberta’s oil sands region in sion at the refinery killed 15 workers
and injured more than 170 others.
Canada to US refineries. Canada’s oil reserves are second only to Saudi Arabia, and the US
Investigation of the accident revealed
imports more oil from Canada than from all Persian Gulf countries. More than 342,000 BP was to blame for subpar mainte-
new US jobs are likely to be created between 2011 and 2015 because of Canadian oil nance and safety procedures. HP
sands development, according to a study by the Canadian Energy Research Institute. HP
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HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I7
GE Power & Water
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 HPIN RELIABILITY
HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR

[email protected]

Oil mist and electric motor windings

We often get questions relating to oil ard was again investigated on this occasion LITERATURE CITED
1 Bloch, H. P. and A. Budris, Pump User’s
mist and how it affects electric motor wind- and confirmation obtained that the oil/
Handbook: Life Extension, 3rd Edition, The
ings. For a quick answer, contact us at Gulf air mixture of a plant-wide oil mist system Fairmont Press, Inc., Lilburn, Georgia, 2010,
Publishing via e-mail. We’ll steer you in the remains substantially below the sustainable pp. 477-478
right direction by explaining that oil mist burning point. Experiments had shown the
will not harm modern motors. But if you concentration of oil mist in the main sup-
must minimize oil mist intrusion into elec- ply manifolds ranging from .005 to as little
tric motors, we recommend you insist on as .001 of the concentrations generally con-
having the vendor prove IP66 compliance. sidered flammable. The fire or explosion
IP is the universally recognized Ingress Pro- hazard of oil-mist-lubricated motors is thus
tection Code; it’s discussed in Reference 1. no different from that of NEMA-II motors.
At least one fully compliant sealing product No signs of overheating were found, and
is available; it was introduced in 2003 and winding-resistance readings conformed
has since been an unqualified success. fully to the initial, as-installed values.
FIG. 1 A worn Vee-ring removed from an
History. There are other historical facts New windings. With the introduction electric motor.
relating to oil-mist lubricated motors. In of epoxy motor-winding materials several
the mid-1970s, oil mist had demonstrated decades ago, it was shown that these wind-
its outstanding suitability for lubricating ing coatings will not deteriorate in an oil- Oil mist in
and preserving electric motor bearings. By mist atmosphere. This has been conclu-
that time, petrochemical plants on the US sively proven in tests by users and motor
Gulf Coast, Caribbean and South America manufacturers. Among them were Reliance
had converted in excess of one thousand Electric (Cleveland), Continental Electric
electric motors to dry-sump oil-mist lubri- (Newark), and an oil refinery in the Carib-
cation. In 1986, there were more than bean where windings coated with epoxy
4,000 electric motors on oil mist lube in varnish were placed in beakers filled with
the US Gulf Coast area alone. As of this various types of mineral oils and synthetic
writing (in 2011), there are an estimated lubricants. Next, these windings were
26,000 electric motors that run on pure oven-aged at 170°C (338°F) for several
oil mist with outstanding success. Many of weeks, and then cooled and inspected—
these are in the Middle East. no problems.
However, universal acceptance did not Decades ago, experimentation with
come overnight. Conversely, it seemed motor winding and cable terminations in
logical to extend oil-mist feeder lines from conduit boxes showed that a Teflon-based
centrifugal pump bearing housings to the wrap should be used in the conduit box Oil mist vent
adjacent electric motor bearings. On the for best results. Other materials, including
other hand, concern was voiced that lube silicone tape, seemed to exhibit a tendency Overflow drain
oil would enter the motor and cause dam- to swell or become gummy when exposed
age to winding insulation, or cause over- to oil mist. It was then decided to provide
heating until winding failure occurred. Ini- sealant between the motor frame and con- FIG. 2 A successful oil-mist-lubricated
tial efforts were, therefore, directed toward duit box to reduce (an open system) mist motor bearing dating to the mid
developing lip seals or other barriers con- emissions at the conduit enclosure. Mist 1970s.
fining the oil mist to only the bearing areas. supply and condensed oil-drain ports were
Those efforts date back to about 1975. made accessible without the need for covers
The author is Hydrocarbon Processing’s Reliability/
and guards. A simple pipe nipple or similar Equipment Editor. The author of 18 textbooks and
Issues. When, in the late 1970s, failures extension was considered just fine in the over 490 papers or articles, he advises process plants
of old-style Vee-ring seals (Fig. 1) were 1980s. Today, environmentally friendly worldwide on reliability improvement and mainte-
experienced in operating motors, oil mist “closed circuit” oil-mist systems would be nance cost-reduction opportunities. For more details,
see his Practical Lubrication for Industrial Facilities,
did enter, and it coated the windings with used in industry, but oil mist is still the best ISBN 0-88173-579-5.
coalesced oil. The potential explosion haz- way to lubricate. HP
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I9
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 HPIN EUROPE
TIM LLOYD WRIGHT, EUROPEAN EDITOR

[email protected]

China enters and Russia deepens

its influence in European refining
Like for the local couple that went long-distance ice skating here 49% stake in the 320,000 bpd (320 Mbpd) ISAB refinery in the
on the Swedish west coast recently, there are disconcerting rumblings Mediterranean on the strategically located island of Sicily.
of change underfoot in the European refining industry. This couple Mr. Sechin is at pains to distinguish the Russian oil indus-
saw a wave rolling toward them one morning as they skated half a try, privatized and listed, from the majority of the OPEC–based
mile from the mainland. It was from a large tugboat, whose portly NOCs (Rosneft is publicly listed but state-controlled). State-
progress created a slow wash that slipped under the soft salt ice and owned China National Petroleum Company would say the same
continued toward them. In its wake, they were stranded on a small of PetroChina, its listed affiliate and the world’s most valuable
iceberg. Much to their chagrin, they began a slow drift out to sea. company. It tops the Financial Times’ Global 500 list.

In reality. The wave that is breaking up and reforming Europe’s China’s deal. After much speculation in the Scottish press,
refining operations is also the result of a passing behemoth. I PetroChina has now joined a partnership with the operator of
described in my December 2010 column that the international the 400 Mbpd Ineos (formerly BP) refinery at Grangemouth in
oil companies (IOCs) are, in many cases, raking in their “chips” Scotland. The deal also involves the 220 Mbpd Lavéra refinery
and leaving the table. And there is a sense of unease among the at Marseille on the Mediterranean coast, from where it supplies
large customers of this industry as they wake up to a new creed French, Swiss and Southern German markets.
of trader—or banker-supplier. But since I wrote, the tectonic of At a signing ceremony in London presided over by Nick Clegg,
these changes are becoming clearer, and they are on a grander scale. the British deputy prime minister, and Li Ke Qiang, the Chinese
The oil rich are joining skills-rich. The cash rich are merging their vice premier, PetroChina’s UK general manager echoed to an
interests with wealthy western inland markets. And the IOCs and extent the sentiment of Igor Sechin. “The framework agreement
the national oil companies (NOCs) are getting together. to work toward forming trading and refining related joint ventures
with INEOS is consistent with PetroChina’s strategy of building
Russian deal. Through a landmark $16 billion share swap at a broader business platform in Europe and of becoming a leading
the start of the year, Kremlin-controlled Rosneft is now the single international energy company,” he said.
largest shareholder in BP. Thwarted, it may feel, in the Gulf of
Mexico, the deal gives BP a route to explore for oil on the massive Changing field. A research desk friend and I were discussing
Russian Arctic continental shelf in an area comparable in size and the current changes: “The buyers are long crude,” he pointed
potential, say the companies, to the North Sea. It’s said to be the out. He sees coincidence on an epic scale, rather than some grand
first major equity-linked partnership between an international and design—the NOCs picking up opportunities as the IOCs seek to
a national oil company, giving the Russian company a 5% stake get more value out of what they particularly can do well. Focusing
in BP in return for 9.5% of its shares. upstream, he said, at least gave the IOCs a chance to differentiate
Since BP remains a substantial force in refining, and is said themselves. “With the possible exception of Exxon, refineries are
to be the largest supplier of the US military, the tie-up has had built by a handful of companies—UOP, KBR, the Japanese …
US Congress members questioning its security implications. But and they buy catalysts from BASF, UOP, Albemarle, Axens and
here’s what Rosneft Chairman Igor Sechin, who is also deputy Haldor Topsøe. It’s hard to differentiate yourself by processing
prime minister, had to say about the purpose of the deal. “Rosneft another barrel of oil.” Better, he suggested, for the IOCs to be
is working on a new strategy aimed at transforming the company operating in an environment where good seismic or better drilling
into an international energy holding. . . BP has gained a great can make a substantial difference.
amount of experience, including the Gulf of Mexico incident,” In the context of these deals, the rise of the Vitols and Morgan
he told Russian television station, RT. Mr. Sechin is on record as Stanleys as products suppliers is put into perspective. The arrival of
saying that his dream is to sell finished products, not crude oil: “In PetroChina may even cause a small skirmish. Morgan has, in recent
10, 15, 20 years, I would really like for Russian crude to be refined years, marketed products from INEOS’ refineries. As for the ice
on Russian refining assets or those with Russian ownership,” he skaters, they may have been half a mile from land; but fortunately,
told the Wall Street Journal in 2009. they were just a mobile-phone call from rescue by helicopter. HP
It’s not just crude that the Russians export to the West. Fuel
oils from straight-run Russian sites are also an upgrading staple of The author is HP’s European Editor and also a specialist in European distillate
Northwest European refiners. Russia’s Lukoil is expanding inter- markets. He has been active as a reporter and conference chair in the European
nationally through acquisitions, as well. It is now firmly in the key downstream industry since 1997, before which he was a feature writer and reporter
ARA oil hub at Vlissingen, in The Netherlands, where in 2009, it for the UK broadsheet press and BBC radio. Mr. Wright lives in Sweden and is the
founder of a local climate and sustainability initiative.
bought 45% of the Total TNR refinery. The company also took a
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 11
© 2010 Swagelok Company

Simulated computer modeling, dimensional testing, and electron scanning

of raw materials – you name it, we’ll go to any lengths to ensure that if it’s

We don’t have a department from Swagelok, it’s top quality. Because Quality isn’t just one of our values.
It’s our attitude. It’s the focus of every associate, affecting everything from
dedicated to quality. We have our services to our products. And by using the same disciplines, practices,
and technologies through every office in every country, that focus is constant.
a company dedicated to it. We know that quality isn’t just a well-made product, it’s customers served
beyond what they were expecting. To see what that attitude can do for you,
visit swagelok.com/quality.

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 HPINTEGRATION STRATEGIES
PAUL MILLER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

[email protected]

Terminal automation: More challenging than it looks

Due to increasing market, competitive, regulatory and social TABLE 1. Some terminal-automation solution providers
pressures, terminal automation is more important today than ever TAS suppliers Full-line
before. Nevertheless, many smaller petroleum-product terminals TMS software (software-based, automation suppliers
continue to operate with a relatively low level of automation, and specialists with some (hardware/software
many larger terminals operate with outdated, poorly supported (software only) specialized hardware) solution)
automation technology and/or a hodgepodge of disconnected sys- AC2 Dearman Systems ABB
tems. Due to the recent flood of mergers and acquisitions, many CSE Global General Atomics Emerson
multi-terminal owner-operators also find themselves with differ- CSI M+F Endress+Hauser
ent systems (or, at best, different versions of the same systems) Telvent DTN Prosoft Honeywell
installed in their various terminals. This can make it difficult
Implico TopTech Invensys
to coordinate activities, obtain the required information, avoid
Varec Siemens
incidents, train operators and support the systems. All in all, it’s
not a pretty picture. Yokogawa

Some good news. The good news is that existing specialist ever-increasing number of different petroleum- and biofuel-related
suppliers in the terminal automation system (TAS) space have products and additives, deal with extreme price volatility, and com-
been continually enhancing their hardware and/or software offer- ply with stringent and ever-changing governmental regulations.
ings to make them even more functional, flexible, interoperable Several highly publicized terminal explosions, fires and spills
and easy to use. Terminal management systems (TMS) are also underscore the need for increased safety to protect people, equip-
available to extend the capabilities of terminal automation systems ment, property and the environment. The threat of terrorists or
to help optimize the supply chain and provide more effective tools disgruntled employees targeting these relatively vulnerable facili-
for real-time decision support (relative to allocations management, ties and ongoing problems with product theft highlight the need
credit management, product pricing, etc.). Several prominent, for increased security. All this has become extremely difficult, if
full-line automation suppliers have also effectively leveraged their not impossible, to handle manually or with stand-alone paper-
general automation expertise and wide-ranging portfolios (includ- based systems.
ing some well-targeted acquisitions) to develop comprehensive ter-
minal-automation solutions with compelling value propositions. Challenges in TAS supplier selection. The wide variety
Most suppliers to this market can point to a successful track record of major and minor sub-systems and applications that must be
of projects and a fairly long list of customer reference sites. Almost integrated makes terminal automation particularly challenging.
all claim to be able to work well with SAP, Oracle/JD Edwards, In the past, there were only a limited number of TAS suppliers
and other back office ERP systems used within the oil and gas and and few, if any, that offered comprehensive terminal-automation
petrochemicals industries. Several even have certified interfaces. solutions. However, there are a growing number of suppliers,
So, as an owner/operator, how do you go about selecting the several of which offer (at a price) relatively comprehensive, largely
right automation solution for your terminal or terminals? Should pre-integrated terminal automation solutions encompassing hard-
you stick with your current supplier(s) (if any) or look elsewhere? ware, application-specific software and appropriate services. Other
Should you partner with the same full-line automation supplier suppliers offer more specialized terminal-automation hardware
that might be providing measurement and control systems else- and software, or specialized TMS software solutions. Increasingly,
where within your parent organization, or work with a specialist these are designed with a high degree of openness and interoper-
in this area? What are the characteristics and functionalities of the ability, making them relative easy to integrate within a larger TAS
many different suppliers’ offerings within this space, and how do solution.
you map these against your specific terminal requirements? These In our comprehensive market outlook study, ARC divided the
are some of the questions that ARC attempted to answer in a suppliers into two logical categories: full-line automation suppli-
recent series of reports on terminal automation systems. ers with dedicated solutions for terminal automation, and more
specialized TAS/TMS suppliers that largely focus on the terminal-
Terminal automation becoming more sophisticated. automation market. HP
While, in the past, a surprisingly large number of petroleum-prod-
uct terminals operated with minimal automation (limited largely Paul Miller is a senior editor/analyst at ARC Advisory Group and has 25 years
to either the load racks or some limited transactional functions), of experience in industrial automation industry. He has published numerous articles
terminal automation is no longer optional. Today’s terminals, large in industry trade publications. Mr. Miller follows both the terminal automation and
water/wastewater sectors for ARC.
or small, need to accommodate and accurately account for an
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 13
 Sulfur

Experience For the past four decades, Linde Process Plants, Inc. (LPP) has designed and/or constructed
sulfur recovery systems. These systems process off gases from gas treating units and sour water
strippers. LPP is a world leader in plant modularization and on-site constructed plants.

Advantages LPP has the experience, specialized skills, impressive track record, and extensive fabrication
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- Extensive technology portfolio
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 HPIN ASSOCIATIONS
BILLY THINNES, NEWS EDITOR

[email protected]

Maintenance, securing the cloud and a pep talk

Microsoft’s Global Energy Forum was work into their daily activities; key leaders tribute feedback to their replacements.”
held in January at the Westin Galleria in can articulate maintenance spending and Mr. Hodges also wanted to note the
Houston. The gathering offered a little bit failure-mode levels for station equipment; inroads Microsoft has made into down-
of everything for interested parties: some and activities are integrated with main- stream support. Companies like Aspen-
upstream, some downstream, lots of inten- tenance efficiently and utilize root-cause Tech, OSIsoft, Honeywell and Invensys
sive technology sessions and a keynote analysis programs to complete the mainte- all have offerings available that are built
lunch address from former New Orleans nance within a work-flow process. on Microsoft technology.
Saints quarterback Archie Manning. “We have a strong ecosystem of part-
I was at the event to explore several Trustworthy computing. After the ners that is helping manage the refining
action items. I was interested in a ses- proactive maintenance session, I went and petrochemical process,” he said.
sion on proactive plant maintenance that to a suite at the top of the hotel and met Looking to the future, Mr. Hodges said
focused on the expertise of GenOn and with Craig Hodges from Microsoft. Mr. that business intelligence and better col-
Accenture. I wanted to learn more about Hodges and I spoke about security issues laboration will continue to be a big push.
Microsoft’s efforts to ensure security with and how they can impact plant safety and All facets of intelligence and collaboration
its cloud-computing concepts that are real-time collaboration. We also touched are constantly being examined and reex-
being implemented at sensitive refining upon using technology as a solution to the amined. The essence of all this is Micro-
and petrochemical facilities across the industry’s aging workforce problem. soft’s quest to help its customers find, use
globe. And, finally, I wanted to know what Mr. Hodges was keen to discuss Micro- and share data in the most efficient man-
Archie Manning thought about former soft’s initiative known as trustworthy com- ner, he said.
Saints and Houston Oilers’ coach Bum puting. The company seeks to make all
Phillips. Thankfully, I was able to satiate the platforms it provides inherently safer. Archie Manning. Archie Manning’s
all levels of my curiosity. Microsoft works to develop more secure lunchtime address was well-received. He
code and it holds its engineering teams touched on his time with the Saints, living
Proactive maintenance session. accountable for the security of the code in New Orleans, having two NFL quarter-
The proactive maintenance data gate- they deliver. The other main key to the back sons and some motivational themes.
way (PMDG) is based upon the Accen- trustworthy computing concept is the goal For those of you reading not familiar with
ture plant performance solution (APPS). to reduce an organization’s exposure to American football, consider Mr. Manning
PMDG correlates transactional and real- attacks, through threat protection, detec- like the star striker on a bad EPL soccer
time plant information relative to critical tion and removal. Microsoft says it collects team that is constantly getting relegated.
equipment and systems. The overall goal data using various feedback mechanisms Mr. Manning’s best anecdote concerned
is to provide management, engineers and combined with a global multi-vendor his former coach Bum Phillips, who was
station personnel access to accurate plant research effort to enable fast discovery of one of his favorites. HP
and financial performance information protection against new threats.
that is needed to support operations and Once oil and gas plants have a bona
maintenance decisions in the most effi- fide security system in place to prevent
cient manner. mischief and worse, it opens the door
This software suite helps a company for real-time collaboration to be used as
like GenOn look at its equipment via a a work-around to the aging workforce
life cycle, especially in procurement proce- dilemma facing the industry.
dures and keeping track of repairs. It also “The number one thing companies
helps with re-commissioning. need to do is capture and classify know-
GenOn’s goal was to be less than 10% how. Many customers are using Share-
reactive in its maintenance approach. The Point [Microsoft’s business intelligence
average industrial plant performs more and content management collaboration
than 55% reactive maintenance work. software] as a way to capture knowledge
Fully implemented proactive mainte- and then classify and retain knowledge,”
nance allows for: station personnel to be Mr. Hodges said. “To mitigate the culture
knowledgeable of roles; the personnel are change, business logic can go up in the
fully trained in utilizing maintenance tech- cloud through a hosted service and retir- Craig Hodges is a Microsoft executive who
nologies; staff members incorporate this ees can have access to the data and con- believes in trustworthy computing.

KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 15
 Spray Spray Spray Spray
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 HPIMPACT
BILLY THINNES, NEWS EDITOR

[email protected]

Pipeline safety bill generally considered a safer mode of trans- additional pipeline inspectors and pipe-
introduced in US Senate portation than other options for moving line safety support employees through a
gas and liquids. phased-in increase over the next four years.
Two US senators have introduced leg- Since 2006, there have been approxi-
islation to enhance pipeline safety in the mately 40 pipeline incidents each year that 2010 midstream M&A
country. The bill strengthens pipeline safety resulted in a fatality or injury. Last Sep-
oversight by the US federal government tember, a natural-gas pipeline exploded in activity hits $49 billion
and addresses long-standing safety issues, San Bruno, California, killing eight people. Worldwide mergers and acquisitions
including the use of automatic shutoff In January of this year, a 12-in. gas main (M&A) transactions involving midstream
valves and excess flow valves. exploded in a residential neighborhood of energy assets, which include natural gas
“Pipelines transport valuable energy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killing a gas pipelines, gas-gathering and processing
resources to communities across our nation. company employee and injuring five oth- facilities, as well as tankers and diversified
While our pipeline system is largely safe, ers. The cause of that blast remains under holdings, returned to the 2006 all-time
when accidents occur the consequences investigation. high of $49 billion in 2010, according to
can be catastrophic,” said Senator Frank The pipeline safety legislation seeks to results in a recent IHS Herold study.
Lautenberg (D-NJ), one of the bill’s two mitigate pipeline risks through a number This figure represents a 400% increase
original co-sponsors. “Our legislation will of measures. It would reauthorize and (above 2009 transaction values of $12.6
help to ensure the safety and efficiency of strengthen the authority of the PHMSA billion) in total asset deal value. Accord-
this vital transportation network. We can through fiscal year 2014. Other highlights ing to the report, nearly all (94%) of mid-
prevent deadly accidents by requiring more of the bill include: increased civil penal- stream M&A activity in 2010 was driven by
advanced technology, increased inspections, ties for violators of pipeline regulations; spending on gas pipelines and gas-gathering
and steeper penalties for safety violations.” expanded excess flow valve requirements to and processing facilities in the US. Several
“Safety should be the bedrock of any include multi-family buildings and small large transactions involving restructurings
responsible business,” said Senator Jay commercial facilities; required installation of master limited partnerships (MLPs)
Rockefeller IV (D-WV), the other origi- of automatic or remote-controlled shut- operating primarily in conventional US
nal co-sponsor of the legislation. “We off valves on new transmission pipelines; gas plays contributed more than two-thirds
want to make sure worker and consumer instructs the US Secretary of Transporta- of 2010 total transaction value, but total
safety remain a top priority. This bill will tion to establish time limits on accident transaction value for shale gas play assets
give the US Department of Transporta- and leak notification by pipeline opera- was up 255% year-over-year, reaching an
tion’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials tors to local and state government officials all-time high of more than $5 billion.
Safety Administration (PHMSA) the tools and emergency responders; requires the Transactions involving gas-gathering
it needs to provide stronger oversight of US Secretary of Transportation to evalu- and processing facilities led the deal count
our nation’s pipeline system. Safety should ate whether integrity management system with 24 deals in 2010, followed by 10 deals
never take a backseat to profit.” requirements should be expanded beyond involving liquids pipelines and eight deals
The US has approximately 2.5 mil- currently defined high-consequence areas involving gas pipelines.
lion miles of pipelines that transport oil, and establish regulations as appropriate; “The midstream M&A activity in
natural gas and hazardous liquids. These makes pipeline information, inspections, 2010 was clearly a reflection of the rapidly
pipelines are an integral component of the and standards available to the public on increasing volumes of natural gas that are
US economy and energy supply, and are the PHMSA’s website; and authorizes being produced and brought online in the
US combined with the current unfavorable
TABLE 1. Highlights of Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2010
economic climate for gas,” said Cynthia
• Reauthorizes the authority of the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Pross, senior analyst for M&A research at
Safety Administration (PHMSA) through fiscal year 2014 IHS. “I think many of these deals indicate a
• Increases civil penalties for violators of pipeline regulations desire by companies to cut costs by stream-
lining operations through restructuring,
• Expands excess flow valve requirements to include multi-family buildings and small commercial facilities
to improve balance sheets, and to gain
• Requires installation of automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves on new transmission pipelines
increased access to capital through larger,
• Instructs the US Secretary of Transportation to establish time limits on accident and leak notification by consolidated operations. Ultimately, they
pipeline operators to local and state government officials and emergency responders want to optimize their profitability, since
• Requires the US Secretary of Transportation to evaluate whether integrity management system requirements natural gas margins are so thin.”
should be expanded beyond currently defined high-consequence areas and establish regulations as appropriate
• Makes pipeline information, inspections and standards available to the public on the PHMSA’s website MLPs. Ms. Pross said there were several
• Authorizes additional pipeline inspectors and pipeline safety support employees through a phased-in US midstream restructurings in 2010
increase over the next four years. involving master limited partnerships. “We
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 17
 Continuous Level Coke Drum
Measurement System

VEGA Americas Inc., formerly Ohmart/VEGA, is the leader in the level

measurement of coke drums, resulting in the development of a new model
for coke drum control. Using a series of patented FiberFlex continuous
detectors, DSG point level detectors, and gamma radiation sources the
Continuous Level Coke Drum Measurement System makes an accurate,
continuous level measurement.

The system is fully customizable to meet customer needs and provide the
following benefits:

϶ Continuous monitoring of the drum level throughout the entire coking cycle

϶ Reduces antifoam usage and saves costs associated with the change out
frequency of catalyst beds

϶ Uses the internal RS-485 gauge-to-gauge communication network for extensive

diagnostics, increasing uptime, and saving time spent troubleshooting

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 HPIMPACT
have seen MLPs streamlining operations infrastructure continues to develop in the gressional panel, the National Petrochemi-
through acquisition of their general part- shale plays, we would expect to see more cal and Refiners Association (NPRA) said
ners, eliminating general partner distribu- consolidation among players, resulting in existing Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism
tion requirements and using those funds for fewer companies, but those that remain will Standards (CFATS) are effective and should
capital expenditures or to maintain distri- be larger, stronger companies with bigger be made permanent. The association’s state-
butions to MLP unit-holders.” footprints in the shale plays.” ment was given to the US House Commit-
One such example of this streamlining tee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee
strategy, the IHS report noted, was evident Association says CFATS on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection
in the largest midstream transaction in and Security Technologies.
2010, when Enterprise Products Partners, should be made permanent “Maintaining a high level of security has
the gas-gathering and processing MLP, In written testimony before a US con- always been, and remains, a top priority
acquired its general partner, Enterprise GP
Holdings, giving the MLP control of the
$22 billion enterprise value MLP. Enter-
prise Products Partners has geographically
diverse gas-gathering and storage assets in
Texas, Louisiana, Colorado and Ohio, pri-
marily serving conventional gas plays.

Major transaction. Another major

restructuring and the largest gas pipeline
transaction value for 2010 was Williams
Companies’ sale of its US interstate gas
pipeline and midstream business and lim-
ited partner interests in Williams Pipeline
Partners, to Williams Pipeline Partners for
a $11.8 billion total transaction value. This
new structure frees up additional funds to
direct to Williams Companies’ upstream
exploration and production operations,
and it consolidates and streamlines mid-
stream operations, cutting operating costs.
Williams Pipeline Partners has diversified
US midstream operations, with major pipe-
lines, primarily in the Rocky Mountains,
that serve conventional gas plays, as well as
some assets that serve unconventional gas
plays in the Marcellus shale.
“Aside from cost control through con-
solidation and a need to enhance balance
sheets,” Ms. Pross said, “many of these
companies find the M&A market a way
to quickly and economically expand geo-
graphically, versus taking on extensive
new construction. In particular, we have
seen this in US shale plays, where we wit-
nessed a higher deal count than those for
conventional gas plays in 2010. Most of
these transactions were asset-level deals that
ranged from approximately $100 million to
$1 billion in total transaction values.”
In addition to consolidation among
pipeline companies, 2010 saw integrated oil
and gas companies selling midstream assets
to midstream companies, allowing the seller
to focus financial resources on upstream
operations while simultaneously locking in
long-term midstream capacity agreements
with the buyer as part of the deal.
“Going forward,” Ms. Pross said, “as
KPE
Select 152 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
19
HPIMPACT
at America’s refineries and petrochemical CFATS program has been successful, but the program permanent were introduced in
manufacturing plants,” the NPRA stated in it needs to be made permanent without the the previous Congress and are expected to
its testimony. “Operators of these facilities addition of any extraneous provisions,” the be considered again this year.
are fully engaged in the maintenance and NPRA said. “CFATS must be allowed to Some previous proposals have included
enhancement of facility security.” be fully implemented by the DHS before measures to require the use of “inherently
Established in 2007, the CFATS pro- any amendments to the program are con- safer technology” (IST). The NPRA’s testi-
gram was created under the US Depart- sidered.” mony reiterated the association’s longstand-
ment of Homeland Security (DHS) to The program is currently operating ing opposition to this change.
regulate security at chemical facilities deter- under a temporary extension granted by “IST is a conceptual and often complex
mined by the department to be “high-risk.” Congress. Legislative proposals both to framework that covers procedures, equip-
“We firmly believe that the current modify the existing program and to make ment, protection and, when feasible, the
use of less hazardous chemicals,” the NPRA
said. “IST is not just a safety program; it is a
process safety program that involves under-
standing chemical engineering and the sup-
ply chain for petroleum-based, natural gas
Wouldn’t it be great liquids-based and other organic chemicals
if everything was derived from these basic feedstocks.
“We strongly oppose the inclusion of
FRACTURE RESISTANT? any IST provisions in chemical security leg-
islation. IST and chemical engineering deci-
sions should be left to individual sites and
not mandated by the federal government.”
The association remains “ready and
willing to work with the Committee and
Congress toward the implementation of
sound, responsible, effective chemical facil-
ity security policy.”

US demand for activated

carbon growing
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to 1.2 billion pounds in 2014. The main
driver of this exceptional growth will be
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Select 153 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
20
 HPIN CONSTRUCTION
HELEN MECHE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

[email protected]

North America facturing HPC, enabling production of ethylene glycol plant of up to 1.5 million
Sasol plans to construct what is said to STARS catalysts. tpy, using Shell’s proprietary only MEG
be the world’s first commercial ethylene advantaged (OMEGA) technology and
tetramerization unit, capable of produc- Europe other olefin derivatives to yield over 2 mil-
ing over 100,000 metric tpy of combined Alfa Laval has received an order for lion tons of finished products.
1-octene and 1-hexene at its Lake Charles compact heat exchangers from a refinery
production site in Louisiana. The unit will in Russia. The order value is about SEK Süd-Chemie AG and Yara Interna-
use Sasol’s proprietary technology to con- 70 million and delivery is scheduled for tional ASA have a five-year framework
vert ethylene to 1-octene and 1-hexene. 2011. The compact heat exchangers will agreement on catalysts for fertilizer pro-
This unique process selectively produces be used in the refinery’s distillation process, duction. Moreover, this long-term supply
alpha olefins required for the high-growth where the crude oil is preheated for further agreement will cover more than 50% of
polymer markets. Construction will com- refining into high-value products such as the requirements of Qatar Fertiliser Co.
mence in 2011, and the plant will reach gasoline. By using Alfa Laval’s compact heat (Qafco), a joint venture of which Yara owns
beneficial operation in mid-2013. exchangers, it is possible to recover heat 25%. Under the agreement, Süd-Chemie
from other parts of the process and use it to will develop, produce and deliver all front-
Endicott Biofuels, LLC (EBF) has an preheat the oil, thereby achieving a highly end catalysts involved in producing ammo-
agreement with KMTEX Ltd. to construct energy-efficient solution. nia, as well as applied technical support.
a 30 million-gpy biorefinery in Port Arthur, Süd-Chemie expects to generate more
Texas. The biorefinery will use EBF’s pro- The Dow Chemical Co. has increased than $40 million from the agreement
prietary technology for producing high- its monopropylene glycol (MPG) capacity during the next five years. In particular,
purity G2 Clear biodiesel. KMTEX will by 15%, an additional 35 kilotons/yr, in Süd-Chemie will provide advanced cata-
host EBF as well as provide certain con- its Stade, Germany, plant after completion lytic technologies for feed purification,
struction and operational services. Equity of an advanced energy improvement and hydrodesulfurization, steam reforming, and
funding will come from Haddington Ven- technology optimization project. high- and low-temperature CO conversion
tures, LLC, and construction is expected to The Stade expansion was completed in and methanation.
begin in late January 2011. August 2010 during planned maintenance,
and it raises the plant’s propylene glycol JGC Corp. has an award to build the
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has a nameplate capacity to approximately 270 gas processing facilities for the Barzan
three-year contract with North Atlantic kilotons/yr. Onshore Project in Qatar. The Barzan Proj-
Refining Ltd. to provide turnaround and ect is managed by RasGas Co., Ltd., which
small capital work services at the company’s Stamicarbon, the licensing and intel- is owned by Qatar Petroleum (70%) and
refinery in Newfoundland, Canada. Jacobs lectual property center of Maire Tecnimont an affiliate of ExxonMobil (30%).
will provide turnaround planning and exe- S.p.A., has acquired the Italian engineering
cution, including pre-planning and post company Noy Engineering from Tecni-
turnaround activities, as well as delivery of mont. With this acquisition, Stamicarbon’s Trend analysis forecasting
small capital works at the site. extensive licensing, innovation and cus- Hydrocarbon Processing maintains an
extensive database of historical HPI project
tomer-service experience are combined with information. The Boxscore Database is
South America Noy Engineering’s polyester and polymeriza- a 35-year compilation of projects by type,
Albemarle Corp. and Petrobras have tion technologies. operating company, licensor, engineering/
signed a memorandum of understanding to Noy Engineering, established in 1983, is constructor, location, etc. Many companies
build a world-scale hydroprocessing catalyst said to be a leading company in the field of use the historical data for trending or sales
forecasting.
(HPC) production plant on the site of their process engineering and plant contracting. The historical information is available in
existing joint-venture Fabrica Carioca de The company designs and builds plants comma-delimited or Excel® and can be custom
Catalisadores SA (FCC SA) in Santa Cruz, worldwide, based on proprietary technolo- sorted to suit your needs. The cost depends on
Brazil. The new facility will complement gies. It has developed an extensive portfolio the size and complexity of the sort requested.
existing production of fluid catalytic crack- of polymer technologies and acrylic. You can focus on a narrow request, such as
the history of a particular type of project, or
ing (FCC) catalysts.
you can obtain the entire 35-year Boxscore
The plant will be constructed ahead Middle East database or portions thereof. Simply send
of significant growth in demand for Qatar Petroleum and Shell have a clear description of the data needed and
hydroprocessing catalysts, as Petrobras signed a memorandum of understanding receive a prompt cost quotation.
begins to introduce new hydrotreaters to to jointly study development of a major Contact: Drew Combs
existing and new refineries over the com- petrochemicals complex in Ras Laffan P.O. Box 2608, Houston, Texas, 77252-2608
ing years. Albemarle will provide FCC Industrial City, Qatar. The scope under 713-520-4409
[email protected]
SA with its leading technology for manu- consideration would include a mono-
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 21
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 HPIN CONSTRUCTION
The project, located in Ras Laffan between GDF SUEZ and Santos Ltd., has beginning of 2012. The investment of more
Industrial City, 80 km north of Doha, calls a planned LNG capacity of two million tpy. than €10 million will create 60 new jobs.
for the engineering, procurement and con-
struction (EPC) of the gas processing facili- LANXESS continues to expand its Fluor Corp. has an engineering, pro-
ties. This includes a gas-processing unit, a Indian production site in Jhagadia, Gujarat curement and construction (EPC) con-
sulfur-recovery unit and an NGL-recovery State. The specialty chemicals group broke tract with Santos Ltd. for its Gladstone
unit to produce methane, ethane, propane, ground for new compounding facilities, Liquefied Natural Gas (GLNG) project in
butane and condensate. The lump-sum with an initial capacity of 20,000 metric Queensland, Australia. Fluor’s EPC con-
turnkey contract is a multi-billion US dol- tpy. These facilities will start producing the tract includes upstream facilities associ-
lar EPC contract. high-tech plastics Durethan (polyamide) and ated with the 7.8 million-tpy LNG project
Pocan (polybutylene terephthalate) at the that will extract and liquefy gas from coal
The Elliott Group has been selected
to supply the compressor packages for the
residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) and
the crude-oil distillation plant as part of
Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Co.’s (Takreer)
Ruwais refinery expansion.
The RFCC unit is the centerpiece of the
project. Under contract with the engineer-
ing procurement contractor, GS Engineer-



'HFRQWDPLQDWHQDWXUDOO\LQDVLQJOHVWHS
%LRGHJUDGDEOH
ing & Construction Corp., Elliott will ,QRQHHDV\VWHS=\PH)ORZŠUHPRYHVKD]DUGRXVFRQWDPLQDQWV
provide seven compressor trains, a power- IURPUHÀQHU\DQGSHWURFKHPLFDOXQLWVQDWXUDOVDIH
IRU\RXUSHRSOH6XOÀGHV +6 DQGS\URSKRULFVDUHHOLPLQDWHG
recovery expander train and associated
/(/VDQGEHQ]HQHDUHUHPRYHG5HVLGXDORLODQGJDVDUHJRQH
auxiliaries. Equipment includes a wet-gas
$OOZLWKRXWLPSDFWLQJZDVWHZDWHUIDFLOLWLHVSHUVRQQHODQGWKH
compressor, two heat-pump compressors,
HQYLURQPHQW6LPSO\SXWLWҋVDQDWXUDOIRUIDVWDQGHIIHFWLYHUHVXOWV
two refrigeration compressors, a propylene
compressor and a hot-gas expander. ;LS!c;VSS-YLL!ca`TLÅV^JVT
The Elliott Group will provide the com-
pressors for the crude-oil distillation plant
under contract with SK Engineering &
Construction Co. Delivery is scheduled
for mid-2013, with commissioning to fol-
low in the first quarter of 2014.

Asia-Pacific
Air Liquide has signed a long-term con-
tract with Tongmei Guangfa Chemical
Industry Co., Ltd., whose major share-
holder is Datong Coal Mine Group Co.
Under agreement terms, Air Liquide will
invest around €60 million in a large air-
separation unit (ASU) with production
capacity of 2,000 tpd of oxygen to sup-
ply oxygen and nitrogen to the customer’s
methanol-production project in Datong,
Shanxi Province, China. Industrial pro-
duction is scheduled to begin in July 2012.
During Phase 1 of the project, 600,000 tpy
of methanol will be produced.

KBR’s consulting subsidiary, Gran-

herne, has been selected by GDF SUEZ
Bonaparte Pty. Ltd. to execute the
upstream pre-front-end engineering and
design (pre-FEED) study for the Bonaparte
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project, a
proposed floating liquefaction plant to be
located in the Bonaparte Basin, North- =\PH)ORZŠLVDPDUNRI8QLWHG/DERUDWRULHV :RUOGZLGH/HDGHULQ5HÀQHU\
,QWHUQDWLRQDO//&8QLWHG/DERUDWRULHV
ern Territory, Australia. The project, ,QWHUQDWLRQDO$OO5LJKWV5HVHUYHG
'HFRQWDPLQDWLRQ

being developed through a joint venture

KPE
Select 154 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
23
HPIN CONSTRUCTION
deposits for eventual export to Asia and know how in fluid-bed reactor design and anchor of a larger petrochemical complex.
other global markets. Fluor booked $3.5 polymer-grade ethylene and propylene pro-
billion in its fourth quarter of 2010 for this duction. Lummus Technology, a CB&I
new contract. company, has a contract with Formosa
IndianOil and LanzaTech have an Chemicals and Fibre Corp. (FCFC) for
KBR and SK Innovation have started up understanding to collaborate in a technol- the license and engineering design of a
their advanced catalytic olefins (ACO) demo ogy demonstration that will enable Indian- grassroots cumene and phenol plant to be
plant in Ulsan, South Korea. Operations to Oil to produce fuel-grade ethanol. As a part built in Ningbo, China. The plant, which
date have met the companies’ expectations of the collaboration, IndianOil will evalu- is expected to start up in 2013, will use
for high-olefins production—particularly ate LanzaTech’s proprietary gas-fermenta- Lummus Technology’s Polimeri Europa/
propylene, with improved economics rela- tion technology in one of its refineries to Lummus cumene and phenol technologies
tive to steam cracking—due to the technol- produce fuel-grade ethanol. to produce 450,000 metric tpy of cumene
ogy’s higher total olefins yields and increased and 300,000 metric tpy of phenol.
propylene/ethylene ratios approaching 1.0. Hyperion Systems Engineering has
The startup is said to mark the first com- been awarded a contract by The Linde KBR’s technology business unit has
mercial demonstration of ACO. Group to supply an operator training sim- a contract with Tianji Coal Chemical
The demonstration unit achieved ulator for an ethylene cracker and associ- Industry Group, Co., Ltd., to provide
design feed rate as scheduled in late Octo- ated units that form part of a polymer com- licensing and related engineering services
ber 2010. The ACO process provides an plex to be built in Dahej, India. The plant for a grassroots aniline plant to be located
attractive alternative to naphtha steam will manufacture 1.1 million tpy of ethyl- in Lucheng, Shanxi, China. The aniline
crackers and, in addition to offering higher ene, 400,000 tpy of propylene, 150,000 tpy technology is offered by KBR through a
olefins production, the process also pro- of benzene and 115,000 tpy of butadiene. licensing alliance with DuPont. KBR will
duces a lower emissions footprint than a Together with consortium partner Sam- license this leading technology, and provide
conventional cracker. sung Engineering of Korea, Linde will basic engineering and field-support services
The keys to this novel technology are build the turnkey plant for India’s ONGC for Tianji’s 450 metric-tpd aniline plant.
the development of a proprietary catalyst Petro-additions Ltd. When it comes online This award follows the successful licensing
and optimization of operating conditions in late 2012, the Dahej plant will report- by KBR of an existing 150,000 metric-tpy
by SK innovation, coupled with KBR’s edly be India’s largest ethylene plant and the aniline plant for Tianji in China. HP

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Select 155 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
24
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
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KPE
 HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE
Company City Plant Site Project Capacity Unit Cost Status Yr Cmpl Licensor Engineering Constructor
AFRICA
Algeria Sonatrach Algiers Algeries Refinery RE 60 Bcfd 908 M 2013 SONARA Technip
Angola Sonangol Lobito Lobito Refinery 200 Mbpd U 2015 KBR
Morocco SAMIR Mohammedia Mohammedia Treater, Kerosine 600 t/a E 2012 UOP Tecnicas Reunidas
ASIA/PACIFIC
Australia Santos\PETRONAS JV Queensland Bowen-Surat Basin LNG EX 1.5 Mtpy 750 U 2011 Total Fluor Fluor
China Unocal Indonesia Ltd Sichuan Sichuan Sulfur 212 MMcfd 1300 E 2013 WorleyParsons
India Mangalore Rfg & Petrochemicals Mangalore Mangalore Refinery EX 9.69 MMtpy 2400 U 2011 EIL|Toyo Japan EIL EIL
Papua New Guinea Esso Highlands PNG LNG Kutubu Kutubu LNG 6.6 MMtpy U 2014 JGC|Chiyoda CB&I
South Korea Hyundai Oilbank Co., Ltd. Daesan Daesan Refinery, Heavy Ends (2) 510 bpd 2330 C 2011
Vietnam Petrovietnam Dung Quat Dung Quat Refinery EX 6.5 MMtpy 3000 P 2016 Technip|JGC| Tecnicas Reunidas
Tecnicas Reunidas JGC|Technip
CANADA
Alberta Altagas Harmattan Harmattan Gas Plant 95 MMcfd 50 P 2012 Gas Liquids Eng
British Columbia Murphy Oil Co Ltd West Tupper West Tupper Gas Plant 180 MMcfd 180 U 2011 Gas Liquids Eng TAHK Projects Ltd
EUROPE
Belarus Mozyr Refinery Mozyr Mozyr Treater, Tail Gas 240 t/a E 2013 Siirtec Nigi Siirtec Nigi
Belgium Eval Europe NV Antwerp Antwerp Polymer (2) EX t/a 470 M 2012 Kuraray Aker Kvaerner Aker Kvaerner
Bulgaria Lukoil Neftochim Bourgas Burgas Burgas Hydrocrack, Resid 2.2 MMtpy 95 E 2013 Axens Technip
Greece Hellenic Petroleum SA Elefsina Elefsina Amine Recovery 280 tpd U 2011 Haldor Topsøe Tecnicas Reunidas
Italy Eni SpA Sannazzaro Raffineria di Sannazzaro Sour Water Stripper 3.5 Mcfd U 2012 Siirtec Nigi
Kazakhstan AGIP KCO Kashagan Kashagan Field Gas Dehydration (1) 200 MMcfd U 2013 Siirtec Nigi Siirtec Nigi
Netherlands Kuwait Petro Corp Rotterdam Rotterdam Sulfur Recovery Unit (2) None 100 C 2011
Portugal Galp Energia Sines Sines Cracker, FCC RE None U 2011 UOP Tecnicas Reunidas Tecnicas Reunidas
Russian Federation Rosneft Angarsk Angarsk Sulfur Recovery Unit 114 m-tpd E 2013 WorleyParsons WorleyParsons
Spain Repsol YPF Cartagena Cartagena Coker, Gas Oil 920000 tpy U 2011 Axens Tecnicas Reunidas Tecnicas Reunidas
UK Powerfuel Plc Hatfield Hatfield Sulfur Recovery Unit 50 m-tpd E 2014 WorleyParsons |Cryoplants WorleyParsons
LATIN AMERICA
Brazil Agrenco Bio-Energia Parana Parana Biodiesel 135 Mtpy S 2013
Mexico Pemex Minatitlan Minatitlan Hydrotreater, Gasoil EX 50 bpd U 2011 Tecnicas Reunidas Rio San Juan Constr
Constr N. Odebrecht
Peru Petroperu Talara Talara Hydrotreater, Diesel 41 bpsd E 2014 Axens Tecnicas Reunidas Tecnicas Reunidas
MIDDLE EAST
Bahrain BAPCO\Neste Oil Corp JV Bahrain City Bahrain City Lube Oil Refining 36 m-t 9300 C 2011 CLG|Neste Jacobs Samsung Eng Samsung Eng
Oman Octal Holding & Co Salalah Salalah PET (2) 527 Mt 296 E 2012 Uhde Inventa-Fischer
Qatar Qatar Petroleum Mesaieed Mesaieed Sulfur Recovery TO 308 m-tpd E 2012 WorleyParsons WorleyParsons Petrofac
Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco Yanbu Yanbu Refinery 400 bpd 580 U 2014 KBR
Turkey TUPRAS Izmit Izmit Utilities None E 2014 Tecnicas Reunidas Tecnicas Reunidas
UNITED STATES
Alaska Tesoro Corp Kenai Kenai Benzene Reduction EX None 90 A 2012 Mustang
Texas Delek Refining Tyler Tyler Cracker, FCC Reactor RE None 10 C 2011 UOP Mustang AltairStrickland
Utah Tesoro Corp Salt Lake City Salt Lake City Benzene Reduction EX None 55 C 2011 UOP Mustang

BOXSCORE DATABASE ONLINE

THE GLOBAL SOURCE
FOR TRACKING HPI
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
For more than 50 years, Hydrocarbon Processing
magazine remains the only source that collects and
maintains data specifically for the HPI community,
publishing up-to-the-minute construction projects
from around the globe with our online product,
Boxscore Database. Updated weekly, our database
helps engineers, contractors and marketing personnel
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For a Free 2 -Week Trial, contact Lee Nichols at
+1 (713) 525-4626, [email protected],
or visit www.ConstructionBoxscore.com

KPE
Select 156 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
26
I JANUARY 2011 HYDROCARBON PROCESSING
 KPE
Select 97 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Reliability has
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Think about ITT.

In oil and gas facilities around the world, ITT delivers pumps, valves, composite piping, switches,
regulators and vibration isolation systems that can handle harsh conditions and keep going.
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 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

Updates on improving
refractory lining service life
Tips help maintenance and operations care and maintain
refractory products in high-temperature operations
M. MAITY, SABIC Technology Centre, Jubail, Saudi Arabia

T
he hydrocarbon processing indus- shutdowns and maintenance outages is The furnaces and vessels in the HPI do
try (HPI) utilizes high-temperature increasing with the implementation of not consume the refractory with corrosive
conditions and relies on the perfor- stringent quality control and preventive liquid metal, slag, abrasion, impact, etc.,
mance of refractory lining for various fur- maintenance programs. The shutdown which are common in metallurgical fur-
naces and vessels. The total installed cost period is usually short in duration and is naces. Refractory lining problems and fail-
of refractories in HPI facilities is negligible planned primarily for mechanical overhaul. ures are mainly due to thermo-mechanical
compared to the total cost of the entire The life and durability of refractory lining stresses, erosion and chemical attack. The
complex. should not be the determining factor in most common refractory problems as expe-
However, refractory lining is very impor- the frequency and duration of shutdowns. rienced in the HPI are:
tant and it plays a critical role in the total In spite of its importance, refractories • Hot spots (higher casing temperature)
performance, profitability and reliable are, in many cases, neglected, misunder- • Excessive cracking
operation of the plant. There are several stood and abused, and the uncared for • Spalling of lining (thermal,
instances of refractory lining non-perfor- refractory can cause several problems dur- mechanical, structural)
mances and premature failures resulted in ing regular plant operations. • Erosion and thinning of lining
unplanned emergency shutdown. We will The unexpected problems can cause • Chemical attack/corrosion from
discuss common problems and failures an emergency shutdown or require lon- process gases (such as hydrogen,
encountered in HPI facilities and some ger maintenance time to rectify both the carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide,
remedial measures to follow. damages in the refractory lining as well as alkalies), flue gases (sulfur, sodium,
mechanical damages to unit equipment. vanadium), steam, etc.
Background. In the HPI, refractories are Also, the sudden failure of the lining can • Acid-gas dew-point corrosion of
mostly installed on fired heaters, hydrogen pose a significant risk and threat to plant refractory and metallic parts
reformers, ammonia primary and second- safety. Therefore, it is important for HPI • Partial melting and degradation of
ary reformers, cracking furnaces, incinera- facilities to optimize the lining reliability lining
tors, process gas boilers, catalytic crack- and performance in various applications. • Excessive shrinkage and development
ing units, coke calciner, sulfur furnaces, It may be possible to minimize refrac- of gaps
utility boilers, air heaters, ducting, stacks, tory related problems and reduce unnec- • Anchor failure and detachment of
etc. Some of the listed equipment operate essary expenses by introducing sound lining from wall
under high pressure, and operating tem- engineering practices, following proven • Failure of metal liner over refractory
perature can vary from very low to very guidelines and sharing practical experiences • Explosive spalling during dry out
high (approximately 500°C to 1,600°C). while designing the lining and selecting • Mechanical damages.
Refractories play a critical role for the construction materials, installation meth- The extent of damages and failures may
total performance and reliable operation of ods, etc. This article will discuss several vary equipment to equipment. Sometimes
high-temperature processing units. Refrac- common problems and failures of refrac- the problems appear within a short time of
tories can be the controlling factor in the tory lining and highlight important consid- operation or during commissioning, and
success or failure of a furnace and vessel’s erations to mitigate such problems. this can become a major concern.
service life, as well as the safe and profitable Most processing industries handle
operation of the plant. Common problems and failures. highly combustible hydrocarbons. There-
Most HPI facilities operate under con- The performance of any lining in a furnace fore, lining problems in critical pressure ves-
tinuous operating mode and will run for is considered to be reasonable when similar sels and boilers are a major concern and, in
several years before a scheduled shutdown service lives are achieved on a regular basis. many cases, causes immediate shutdown to
for maintenance or turnaround. Therefore, Premature lining failure may be defined as avoid any accidents. HPI processing plants
the prime objective here is equipment reli- one that does not achieve normal or average are complicated involving continuous chain
ability. Also, in the HPI, the time between performance and service life. reactions in the interconnected network of
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 29
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

reactors, vessels and pipelines. Any problem shell plate. Also, mechanical damage in the mechanical stresses, etc., can cause vari-
in any particular vessel due to a refractory cyclones due to erosion of the lining and ous problems in the lining. In many cases,
problem can result in a complete shutdown plate may disturb the unit operation. Fail- localized hot spots or high temperatures
of the unit and/or the entire facility. ure of the lining due to inadequate anchor are controlled by steam impingement to
Here are some of the common exam- system is very common for all kinds of reduce the casing temperature and continue
ples of refractory damage (Figs. 1–12). lining. Explosive spalling may be caused plant operation. Reductions in thermal effi-
The reduction in lining thickness in the during the initial dry out due to uncon- ciency, as well as associated risks and plant
catalytic cracking unit is caused either by trolled heating. safety, are major concern for such cases.
cracking and spalling due to heavy thermal Differential movement of the shell and
shock or erosion by catalyst particles and lining due to a mismatch in expansion Failure analysis and corrective
subsequent hot spot or partial exposure of behavior, uncontrolled heating-cooling, actions. Refractory-lined equipment
function as a system. There are several
interacting physical and chemical effects
that may be ongoing, progressive, cyclic,
etc., that will definitely control the perfor-
mance of refractory. Therefore, in most of
the cases, it may be very difficult to con-
clude a single reason for nonperformance
and premature failure of the lining. Also,
there are numerous precommissioning fac-
tors related to design, material selection,
installation, etc., as explained previously
that directly affect performance.
In some cases, the poor quality material
or installation workmanship of the refrac-
FIG. 4 Typical refractory lining failures— tory may contribute to the problem. But it
FIG. 1 Typical refractory lining failures— Castable damage and anchors is also possible that a good quality refrac-
Crack in castable lining. exposed.
tory or installation can give unsatisfactory
performance because of a combination of
other factors. The analysis of any refractory
problem should consider numerous factors
and identify the main root cause for the
problems and select appropriate recom-
mendations.
Identifying the actual reason of non-
performance for the lining is a difficult
task, and this involves systematic study and
analysis of the problem. Reviews of back-
ground information particularly design
engineering, quality and source of mate-
rial, installation procedures and records,
operational records, post-service inspection
FIG. 2 Typical refractory lining failures— FIG. 5 Typical refractory lining failures— and maintenance history are important for
Castable wall detached. Loose bricks hanging. the root-cause analysis. Awareness of the
operational parameters and potential deg-
radation mechanisms that can lead to fail-
ure of the lining is essential to understand
the problems and remedial measures. A
thorough system analysis should result in a
better understanding of the various factors
that control the performance of the lin-
ing and yield in sound basis for corrective
remedial measures and actions. Therefore,
clues and relevant facts of failure should be
gathered, analyzed, explored and studied
to make a meaningful conclusion. Collect-
ing samples and selective laboratory test-
ing should be part of the failure analysis, if
required. Important factors responsible for
FIG. 3 Typical refractory lining failures— FIG. 6 Typical refractory lining failures— the performance of the lining are briefly
Roof lining collapse. CF module fallen from roof. explained here.
KPE
30
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
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KPE
Select 52 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
 CORROSION CONTROL
Maximize
Important factors governing • Operation practices
Material refractory lining performance. • Inspection and maintenance
Performance! Whenever there are some problems in lin-
ing, we mostly conclude that either the
practices.
It is important to give attention to these
refractory material was bad or the installa- listed factors to avoid and minimize unex-
SilcoTek coatings tion was poor. However, in reality, the prob- pected and premature failure or problems
make the impossible... possible. lems are probably due to a combination of of lining.
multiple factors and may not be solely just Design of furnace/vessels. The per-
Solving problems for the process one factor—poor installation or inferior formance and stability of the refractory
sampling, analytical inertness, oil, gas and refractory quality. Clients as well as the proj- lining depends on the structural design of
semiconductor industries for over 20 years. ect contractors, suppliers and others don’t the furnace and its configuration. Some-
always recognize that their actions and over- times adequate attention is not given to
s %LIMINATE SURFACE INTERACTION WITH sights can directly affect the performance of the refractory lining and its engineering
active chemicals like H2S, mercury the lining. related issues during early plant equip-
and many more! To address the problems associated with ment design and detail engineering. One
refractories, it is necessary to recognize the of the most common observations is that
s $RAMATICALLY IMPROVE CORROSION main factors that are involved and contrib- the refractory designers or specialists are
resistance ute refractory related problems. These fac- involved at the final stage of project imple-
s %LIMINATE COKING OR carbon fouling tors are: mentation or during installation. This may
• Design of furnaces/vessels lead to several compromises with refrac-
s 2EPELS MOISTURE QUICK DRYING • Design of refractory lining tory-lining design and engineering prac-
and detail engineering tices as there is limited scope for change
Improve performance • Selection of refractory materials in vessel design, operating conditions and
of many common process materials and specification the process to reduce the impact of these
s 3TAINLESS STEEL s 4ITANIUM • Quality of refractory materials factors on lining performance.
s .ICKEL ALLOYS s #ARBON • Installation of lining The problem of refractory lining may
• Curing, startup and maintenance be due to insufficient combustion vol-
s #ERAMIC of lining ume. The heat released within the system
s 'LASS is more than absorbed by the process and
is dissipated through walls or exhausted
with flue gases. In such cases, there are
possibilities of the lining approaching the
flame temperature and causing several
problems. The burner type, its design,
location, flame shape, possibilities of flame
impingement, flowing pattern of flue
gases, etc., may affect the lining. In many
cases, limited vessel dimensions, inacces-
sibility and complicated configuration
restricts the best lining practices during
initial construction as well as subsequent
maintenance and repair.
FIG. 7 Typical refractory lining fail-
ures—Casing plate corrosion with Design of refractory lining and detail
perforation. engineering. The design and detail engi-
neering of the lining for a furnace and ves-
sel should be done on the basis of careful
analysis of service conditions, availability
of refractory materials, thickness require-
,EARN HOW 3ILCO4EK CAN IMPROVE ments, anchorage, ease of installation and
the performance of your products, future repair and maintenance. Adequate
VISIT OUR WEBSITE knowledge on operating conditions that
are active—such as temperature, pressure,
WWWSilcoTek.com chemical attack, thermal shock, abrasion,
or call us at (814) 353-1778. erosion, furnace gas composition, mechani-
cal movement, vibration, etc.—should be
very useful for the optimum lining design
and selection of refractory. Chemical
attack may occur from gases such as steam,
FIG. 8 Typical refractory lining failures— hydrogen, carbon monoxide, alkalies, sul-
Acid condensation below lining. furous gases, etc.; these acid gases can initi-
ate various problems in the lining, which
KPE
Select 157 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
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Select 79 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

are explained in the literature. All of the While designing a new lining for a ves- high alumina varieties—both insulating
important operating factors and any other sel it is important to consider ease of future and dense types. Mainly bricks, monolith-
criteria specific to the process under consid- maintenance and repair. However, this ics, ceramic fiber items, different types of
eration should be verified for their possible aspect of the lining design is compromised insulating blocks, etc., are used for lining.
effect on the performance of the lining. in many cases because a lining system Bricks and monolithics are available for
Thermal calculation is essential for any that is maintenance friendly may be more both dense and insulating types with a wide
lining to ensure design casing temperature, expensive with respect to initial materials range of properties and each material has an
temperature gradient in the wall and heat and installation expenses as compared to application that is more suitable.
losses. Thermo-mechanical FEM analysis a lining that is adequate to meet the initial Selecting materials should always be
may be carried out for critical vessels and contractual requirements. based on properties and specifications suit-
load bearing refractory structures to predict Details of the lining layout structure, able for the specific application and operat-
temperatures, stresses and displacements in thickness, dimension, shape and sizes of ing conditions. Most refractory materials
the lining. The FEM analysis is a reliable individual bricks and other shaped items, react and change during service according
tool to investigate the spalling mechanisms their laying and bonding patterns, provi- to the principle of thermo-chemistry. It
and to develop ways on improving the lin- sions for expansion allowances, support of is important to know the furnace atmo-
ing behavior. brick-wall, etc., should be part of the detail sphere, presence of any major or minor
Anchors are used for almost all types of engineering for each piece of equipment. chemicals and their possible effects on the
refractory applications. These are mostly Finally, practical experiences and expe- lining. Selecting materials solely based
metallic type. Lining failures due to inad- rience-based judgments are very impor- on price and ease of installation should
equacies in the anchoring system are very tant for successful and reliable design of any be avoided. Very often, monolithic lin-
common (Figs. 6, 9 and 10). Selecting the refractory lining. Therefore, involvement ing system is selected in the lining design
proper metallurgy, anchor dimensions, of experienced engineers from the design of critical vessels where brick lining or
configurations, and spacing are very impor- stages to final implementation is one of the some other design may be more suitable.
tant to achieve the maximum service life of essential parameters to get the optimum The selection may be due to cheap and
the lining. Where metal liners are used over performance of lining. easy availability of monolithics and easier
the lining, the mechanical design should be Selection of refractory materials and installation than brick lining and to avoid
sound and allow free movement of the liner specification. The majority of refractories preparation of too many engineering draw-
on one end from its fixed positions. used in the HPI are alumina–silicate and ings for the complicated brick shapes and
laying details. In many cases, recommen-
dations of refractory manufacturers are
biased and based on their available product
ranges, which may not be appropriate for
the required conditions.
Selection should be based on the desired
service life and cost considerations. Initial
cost of refractory lining should not be the
selection criteria but rather the service life
of lining under operating conditions. It is
better to develop the material specification
for any application based on discussions
with the manufacturers to ensure it is more
practical and realistic. The specification
FIG. 9 Typical refractory lining failures— FIG. 11 Typical refractory lining failures— should be regularly reviewed and updated
Oxidation of anchor. Brick wall bulged. based on actual performance of used mate-
rials and current industry practices.
Quality of refractory materials.
Refractory materials are heterogeneous, and
quality varies both as manufactured and
as installed. Materials should be procured
against specifications most appropriate to
the specific application. For critical appli-
cations, purchasing of materials based on a
comparison of product datasheet or cata-
logue specifications or equivalent principles
should be avoided. The actual performance
references and records for specific products
or brands should be verified against simi-
lar applications. Reviews of manufacturing
FIG. 10 Typical refractory lining failures— FIG. 12 Typical refractory lining failures— facilities and quality-control program, and
Surface spalling and exposed Brick wall collapsed and hexmesh random inspection and testing of impor-
anchor. detachment. tant properties are essential.
KPE
34
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
MERICHEM COMPANY

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Select 78 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS KPE
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

Lining installation. Unlike other engi- subtropical weather conditions. Dry-out temperature and locate hot spots. Infra-
neering subjects, there are very few well- needs to be done at the earliest to prevent red thermography is an important tool for
established and recognized engineering damage. When delays in dry out or com- online-temperature measurement, condi-
standards, design and installation guide- plete dry-out are not practical, suitable seal- tion monitoring of lining, predicting prob-
lines for refractory jobs to ensure quality ants may be used on monolithic lining to lems, and maintaining equipment uptime
installation of the lining and its subsequent reduce alkali hydrolysis reaction and dam- during a problem.
satisfactory performance. In many applica- age. Also, natural-air circulation should be Thermography is very useful for locat-
tions and contracts, the only quality assur- maintained within the furnace to avoid hot ing and monitoring effected areas in case
ance is limited to warranty and guarantee of and humid conditions. of any operational upset or localized prob-
material and lining for a limited operating Developing job specifications for the lem in the furnace, and thus allowing the
period. Installations of refractory rely upon dry out schedule is essential instead of fol- inspectors insight into what is happening
manpower. Because of the human element, lowing general guidelines from the sup- inside the lining. This allows the plant to
care should be taken to ensure involve- plier. Burner size and location, exhaust make appropriate decisions in planning
ment of only experienced manpower in location, air volume, velocity, temperature- the shutdown schedule and maintenance
the installation. Developing job specific control locations, etc., need to be properly repairs and estimating the total materials
installation procedures, quality plans and addressed. Permanent burners or special needed for these repairs.
acceptance criteria of the installed lining, external burners may be used for dry out The maintenance strategy for refractory
prequalification materials, and installation depending on requirements. Permanent linings should be based on cost-effective
crew are some of the important factors that burners have limitations of inadequate proactive systems rather than on con-
companies must address before any job. temperature control at the initial stage. ventional reactive systems. The probable
API 936 guidelines, developed by the Many specialized dry-out agencies are reasons and mode of failure should be
American Petroleum Institute (API) are available to carry out this job in most pro- ascertained before redesigning or repair-
very useful tools for quality control of fessional manner. ing a lining. Change in lining design
monolithic lining. There are also some Unit operation. Production and opera- and installation practices without proper
specifications and standards developed tion personnel should be aware of the pro- analysis of factors limiting the service life
by Process Industry Practices (PIP) espe- cess parameters that may affect the service of the existing lining may not be a long-
cially for process industries. Prequalifica- life of the refractory lining for furnaces term solution. All repair and maintenance
tion of materials, installation procedures, or reactors. Minor changes in operating jobs should be treated like a new job with
machinery and crew, testing of as installed conditions and processes may strongly proper quality control. It is important to
samples, ambient condition monitoring, influence the performance of any lining. inspect and record all repairs to maintain
acceptance criteria for installed lining, Abnormal changes in burner operation— a proper trend and database.
involvement of neutral inspection agency such as flame impingement on refractory Other factors. There are many other
for quality monitoring, etc., are important surface, incomplete burning of fuel causing factors that may directly or indirectly
requirements of these standards. Many change in furnace atmosphere, changes in affect the performance of the lining. In
clients and licensors have started recom- temperature, pressure, fuel quality (dirty most construction sites, refractory instal-
mending compliance to these guidelines fuel), heating and cooling rate, etc.—have lation is one of the last activities. With
for critical applications. Possible quality direct effects on the refractory lining. Oper- any delay in other pre-activities, there is
control for brick and ceramic fiber lining ating at a higher temperature than specified always pressure on shortening and pos-
in similar lines are expected to improve in the design can reduce the service life of sibly compromising the refractory instal-
quality for the total installation job and the refractory. High limit thermocouples lation schedule to make up for earlier
compliance to engineering practices. should be located at strategic positions for delays. This attitude of getting the job
Using common standards and guide- monitoring and controlling temperatures done fast may have major adverse effects
lines will help the industry to mitigate within the system. on quality.
installation problems. This also helps in In many cases, the problem or ini- Ambient temperature and working con-
developing quality installation manpower tiation of deterioration in lining due to ditions for workers have direct effects on
that are actually executing the jobs in operational issues may not become visible the quality of the installation job. Imple-
the field, particularly crews, masons and immediately. Therefore, it is important to menting cost-cutting measures, purchas-
supervisors. gather information on operational infor- ing refractory and selecting the contractor
Dry out and heat up. The heat dry out mation and records while studying the solely on the basis of commercial issues
of a new lining, particularly monolithic problem. with less importance on quality, services,
lining, is a critical step when consider- Inspection and maintenance. Regu- etc., may be the contributing factors to
ing the total quality for the installation. lar inspection of the lining and condition poor performance over the longer term.
Slow and controlled removal of free and monitoring should be part of the operating
chemically bonded water from the lining plan for critical equipment. The frequency Observations for quality. Refrac-
system is essential before actual startup of inspection may be decided based on tory is a diverse class of materials that are
of the unit. Explosive spalling or crack- historical problems, severity of operating used to insulate and protect industrial fur-
ing may occur in lining when quick and conditions, complexity of design and other naces and vessels. The properties of the
uncontrolled initial heat up or dry out of factors. Timely identification of problems refractories are tailored to specific applica-
the refractory is done. and corrective actions may lead to longer tions by varying the composition of raw
Also, alkali hydrolysis is a major con- life of the lining. Temperature-sensitive materials. The technology of refractories
cern for monolithic lining in tropical and paints are widely used to monitor casing is making remarkable progress recently.
KPE
36
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 CORROSION CONTROL

Developments in refractory lining design

system and performance specifications
with as-built quality requirements are
very important for this specialized field. MERICHEM COMPANY
With every lining failure, there is a degree
of uniqueness that results from variabil-
ity in design and application, complexity
of service conditions and material behav-
ior. Awareness of the potential degrada-
tion mechanisms of lining and operating
parameters is essential to mitigate such
problems. Implementing various quality
control programs, advanced installation
procedures and online inspection can con-
tribute to satisfy results. HP
BIBLIOGRAPGHY
American petroleum Institute, “API RP 936, “Refractory
installation quality control guidelines-inspection and
testing monolithic refractory linings and materials.”
Biglin, J., “Refractory Maintenance and repair,” The
American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol.75, No. 5,
May 1996.
Crowley, M. S., “Design better vessel linings,”
Hydrocarbon Processing, December 1979.
Devera, D., “After installation the importance of
a controlled dry-out for castable refractories,” The Sweet Solutions.™
Refractories Engineer, July 2003.
Gardner, A., “FCC Cyclone Refractories,” Today’s
Refinery, November 1998.
Hanley, R. M., “Refractories utilization in the
hydrocarbon processing industries,” The
Announcing…
Refractories Engineer, July 2000.
Hancock, J. D., “Practical Refractories,” Cannon &
Hancock CC.
next generation
Heard, N. E., “Quality Control Practices in the US
Petrochemical Industries,” Unitcer, 1989.
James, S., “The Fundamentals of Refractory
hydrocarbon-treating
Inspection with Infrared Thermography.”
Schacht, C. A., Refractory Linings, Marcel Dekker,
technology
Inc.
Semler, C. E., “Overview of refractory problems in
industry,” Interceram, Vol.40, No.7, 1991. Problem: Mercaptan Odor Removal.
Solution: It’s modular, simple and cost effective, too.

Before your crude hits the pipeline, the light mercaptans must go.
In remote areas, that’s especially tough. MERICAT™ C uses reliable
FIBER-FILM® patented technology to sweeten mercaptan odors,
even where access is limited.

Manabendra Maity is work- Finding the right treating application for hydrocarbon streams is
ing as a refractory specialist at the
Materials & Corrosion Section of Sabic
challenging. Merichem’s decades of experience and commitment
Technology Centre, Jubail, KSA. He to innovation means treating gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons
holds B.Tech degree in ceramic engi-
neering from Calcutta University and a M.Tech degree is efficient, economical and clean.
in ceramic engineering from IT-BHU, India. He has more
than 16 years of extensive experience in refractory lining
design, engineering, installation & quality control, failure Learn how sweet it is at www.merichem.com/MERICATC
analysis and troubleshooting for furnaces and vessels for
the refining, petrochemical and metallurgical industries.
He started his career in 1994 as a refractories & non- Merichem: A global provider of focused technology,
metallics engineer in Engineers India Ltd., New Delhi
and continued there until 2007. It was followed by two
chemical and service solutions.
years in Ciria Division of Thermal Ceramics. Mr. Maity is
life member of India Ceramic Society & Indian Institute
of Ceramics. He has qualifiedfor API-936 Refractory P: 713.428.5000 | E: [email protected] | www.merichem.com
Personnel Certification Program.
KPE
Select 158 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
37
 Anytime, Anywhere

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Anchor-Loc 3 insulating fiber
modules keep your project on
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Anchor-Loc 3 module design features construc-
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®
Anchor-Loc 3 insulating fiber modules are stainless steel alloy hardware and center mount
specifically designed and manufactured for the attachment. The design allows for consistent
global market, providing a winning combination furnace layout, ease of installation and depend-
of performance, reliability and consistency you able service life. All components meet or exceed
can count on anywhere in the established industry standards assuring the
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For more information and a list of our
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product uniformity and consistency worldwide. www.unifrax.com

Select 68 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

KPE
 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

Flare stack structure revamp:

A case history
An innovative approach was used to repair an older flare
structure online without an extensive shutdown
S. SINGH, Reliance Industries Ltd., Nagothane, Maharashtra, India

A
gas flare, alternatively known as a Steam can be injected near the end of mally handles some cold vapors (up to
flare stack, is an elevated vertical the flare tip to reduce formation of black –45°C).
conveyance that is part of installa- smoke. The injected steam does, however, • A dry flare header designed to handle
tions such as oil and gas wells, oil rigs, refin- increase the noise level of the burning gas. dry flare gases. These will also be cold, with
eries, chemical, petrochemical and natural To keep the flare system functional and normal temperatures below –45°C.
gas plants, and other facilities (Fig. 1). On instantly useable, a small amount of purge • A low-pressure acetylene flare header,
oil- production rigs and in refineries and gas is continuously burned. It thus resem- exclusively provided to handle acetylene-
petrochemical plants, the flare stacks primar- bles a pilot light, maintaining the system rich gases.
ily serve to protect vessels or pipes from over- ready for its primary purpose as an over- At Reliance’s Nagothane facility, a large
pressuring during unexpected plant upsets. pressure safety system. The continuous gas flare stack with a design load of 1,000 met-
source also helps to prevent oxygen ingress ric tph is located on the north-east side
Safety system. Whenever plant equip- into the system. of a gas-cracker plant. Flare headers from
ment is over-pressured, the pressure, relief As mentioned earlier, flare systems individual plants—polypropylene, low-
valves on the equipment automatically enhance plant safety by dependably dispos- density polyethylene, linear-low density
release gases (and sometimes liquids as well) ing of all hydrocarbons discharged during polyethylene, gas cracker-OSBL and gas
that are routed through large piping runs plant upsets. All safety valve releases go to cracked-ISBL) join the main flare header,
called flare headers after liquid hydrocar- the flare system. There are, however, two which routes to the flare stack (Fig. 2). The
bons are completely vaporized and then types of flare feeder systems in ISBL: main flare header leads to a knockout drum
send to the flare stack. The released gases • A wet flare header is used to handle in the flare area.
are burned as they exit the flare stack. The flare gases that contain moisture but are The purpose of the knockout drum is
size and brightness of the resulting flame not “cold” gases. to separate entrained liquid droplets car-
depends on how much flammable material • An intermediate flare header, which ried with the gases passing through relief
was released. could contain some moisture and nor- valves. Liquid capture avoids the danger

Flare stack
CPP

Water
seal
drum
Knockout
Water inlet
drum

OSBL
ISBL
LLD
B-1

WF
PP

LD

drum

FIG. 1 Flare stack. FIG. 2 Flare system schematic at the Nagothane plant in India.

KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 39
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

piping were found damaged as well and

some grating had been totally eaten away
by corrosion. Replacement or repair of the
entire structure during a projected 17- day
maintenance shutdown was contemplated
but judged very difficult. It was also real-
ized that working on a flare stack structure
during normal plant operation involves
high risks; needless to say, flaring can occur
at any time due to plant upsets.

FIG. 3 Damaged structure. Repair approach. The conventional

mode of replacing or repairing a flare
structure, piping and subsequent paint-
ing would take more than 100 days. It
was, therefore, judged impossible to do
the entire job during a planned shutdown
of only a 17-day duration. With that in
mind, initial discussions were aimed at
completing the job in discrete phases;
FIG. 6 Lift arrangement and protective specifically up to 44 m elevation, in steps
metallic shields. dubbed non-shutdown or pre-shutdown
tasks. The remaining work from 44 m to
The molecular seal consists of a gas 100 m elevation was to be done during the
FIG. 4 Extreme corrosion on a flare stack
“lead pipe” and an inverted cylinder over scheduled major shutdown.
in India. the pipe. Gas flows in an upward direction, Scaffolding and crane arrangements
turns through 180° and flows downward were implemented as pre-shutdown work
for a short length before being redirected (Fig. 5). That left about 24 days as the
again through 180° and back to the origi- time required for work conducted while
nal flow direction. In the static condition, the facility was shut down. Therefore, and
gas lighter than air will tend to collect in after further deliberations, it was agreed
the upper bend and heavier gases will tend to plan additional pre-shutdown work to
to settle at the lower bend, sealing off the a height of 65 m during non-shutdown
stack against backflow of air. The flare tip and carry out the remaining jobs from
is mounted on top of the molecular seal 65 m to 100 m elevation with the facility
and contains three pilot burners. Dam- shut down.
age to the flare tip due to flame burn back
near the tip is avoided through the use of Risk assessment and safety. Listed
refractory lining on all exposed anchor and among the special risks and risk mitigation
mesh surfaces. steps were:
• Heat radiation due to flaring
Exploring the failure history. The • Exposure to work at heights above
FIG. 5 Pre-shutdown scaffolding work. flare stack at Nagothane was commis- grade
sioned in 1989. Since then and at every • Descending “fire balls” during heavy
plant shutdown, the flare tip was being flaring
of burning droplets falling from the top replaced because it experienced damage • Stinging insect attack or bites.
of the flare stack. Flare gas free of liquid during flaring operation. Until 2010, Among the major work items were pro-
flows to a water-seal drum; its purpose the flare stack structure had never been tective metal shields of 1 mm thickness.
is to provide protection against pulling repaired and neither had it been repainted These were installed at elevations 26 m,
a vacuum and to prevent a flash back in after plant commissioning because no time 44 m and 65 m (Fig. 6). The sheet-metal
the flare header. Occasionally, the stack was available during annual or major shut- guards were affixed to the grating of all
draft effect could decrease pressures below downs. However, inspections of the flare scaffolding grating. In addition, ceramic
atmospheric at minimum flare gas loads. stack structure, ladders, grating, clamps blankets were fastened to the sheet metal
The water seal also eliminates the ingress and associated piping was conducted to substantially reduce the intensity of the
of air into the flare system and any atten- before a major turnaround scheduled for radiant heat and avoid burning risks.
dant risk of explosion. The flare stack at early 2010. Flood lights were provided for job
this facility is 100 m high and has a diam- The support structure of the flare stack execution at night, and water shields were
eter of 1.52 m. The flare height of 100 was found damaged, and loss of thick- installed at the 66-m elevation to effect
m includes the flare tip and a molecular ness was observed and measured at vari- cooling during flare events. As part of the
seal installed just above the flare stack and ous locations, mainly under the support water-shield system, two water-curtain
below the flare tip. plates (Figs. 3 and 4). Fuel gas and steam nozzles were affixed horizontally to the
KPE
40
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

structure. Their effectiveness was dem-

onstrated before they were mounted at
the jobsite.
Two lifts and a crane (hoist) were
deemed appropriate for worker rescue and
to facilitate the lifting of both personnel
and materials. One crane was designated
for emergency rescue of workers; and a
suitable cage was fabricated and load tested
before usage. Of course, the crane was also
used for lifting and lowering of materials.
The rack and pinion lifts were rated at 1
ton and 0.4 ton capacities, respectively. FIG. 7 Water shield at 66 m.
They too could be used for rescue purposes
and up to 22 persons could be evacuated in
case of an emergency.
Nomex coveralls were mandatory for all
workforce members and their supervisors.
Whenever heavy flaring was to take place,
warnings would be issued to the workforce
in the flare area through redundant means, FIG. 10A Massive flare stack at full usage.
including mobile handsets and a plant-
wide loudspeaker (audio) system activated
from the control room. The water-spray
curtain would commence immediately so
as to proactively cool the working area. All
FIG. 8 Platform and clamps after
persons could immediately retreat safely replacement.
to the protective area below the metallic
shield (Fig. 7).
In essence, the non-shutdown and shut-
down work encompassed:
• Erection and dismantling of crane
and lifts
• Scaffolding erection and removal up
to 100-m elevation
• Affixing of metallic shields on the
scaffolding gratings at elevations of 26 m,
44 m and 65 m
• Water-shield system installation at the
66 m elevation
FIG. 9 Piping, insulation and cladding
• Replacement or repair of 20 metric replacement.
tons of structure and replacement of 2.3
metric tons of grating (Figs. 8 and 9)
• High-pressure water blasting of struc- shutdown part of the repair job in time.
ture and flare stack; power tool cleaning All repair work on the flare stack struc-
instead of manual wire brush; all followed ture was successfully done without incident
by painting within the scheduled period—-85 days for FIG. 10B Flare stack structure after repair
• Insulation and cladding replacement non-shutdown work and 16 days for shut- and painting.
of 3-in. and 8-in. steam lines up to 100 m down work. This was the first time in the
elevation history of Reliance that repair work on a
• Damaged fuel gas and steam line rather massive flare stack structure (Fig. 10) Surinder Singh is vice president
replacement. has been done online without any safety (mechanical) with Reliance Industries
incident. HP Ltd. at the Nagothane Manufacturing
Goals. Initially, the non-shutdown tasks Division in Maharashtra, India. He has
over 30 years of petrochemical indus-
were planned to be done during daylight ABBREVIATIONS try experience. At present, he is assigned as head of
hours. With unscheduled flaring on some NMD- Nagothane Manufacturing Division plant mechanical maintenance for the entire complex.
days, the daytime work had to be sus- PP- Poly propylene He has had wide experience in plant downtime reduc-
pended. Lost time was recovered and work LDPE- Linear density polyethylene tion and major turnaround planning. He is credited with
LLDPE- Linear-low density polyethylene filling lead roles and involvement in the development of
execution scheduled on a round-the-clock GC- Gas cracker various safety procedures. Mr. Singh graduated with a
basis using floodlights at night to make OSBL- Outside battery limit BSc degree in mechanical engineering from Regional
up for lost time and to complete the non- ISBL- Inside battery limit Engineering College, Kurukshetra, India.
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 41
 PROCESS INSIGHT
Selecting the Best Solvent for Gas Treating

Selecting the best amine/solvent for gas treating is not a Tertiary Amines
trivial task. There are a number of amines available to A tertiary amine such as MDEA is often used to selectively
remove contaminants such as CO2, H2S and organic sulfur remove H2S, especially for cases with a high CO2 to H2S ratio
compounds from sour gas streams. The most commonly used in the sour gas. One benefit of selective absorption of H2S is a
amines are methanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), Claus feed rich in H2S. MDEA can remove H2S to 4 ppm while
and methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). Other amines include maintaining 2% or less CO2 in the treated gas using relatively
diglycolamine® (DGA), diisopropanolamine (DIPA), and less energy for regeneration than that for DEA. Higher weight
percent amine and less CO2 absorbed results in lower circulation
triethanolamine (TEA). Mixtures of amines can also be used
rates as well. Typical solution strengths are 40-50 weight % with
to customize or optimize the acid gas recovery. Temperature, a maximum rich loading of 0.55 mole/mole. Because MDEA
pressure, sour gas composition, and purity requirements for is not prone to degradation, corrosion is low and a reclaimer is
the treated gas must all be considered when choosing the most unnecessary. Operating pressure can range from atmospheric,
appropriate amine for a given application. typical of tail gas treating units, to over 1,000 psia.
Mixed Solvents
In certain situations, the solvent can be “customized” to
optimize the sweetening process. For example, adding a
primary or secondary amine to MDEA can increase the rate
of CO2 absorption without compromising the advantages of
MDEA. Another less obvious application is adding MDEA to
an existing DEA unit to increase the effective weight % amine
to absorb more acid gas without increasing circulation rate or
reboiler duty. Many plants utilize a mixture of amine with
physical solvents. SULFINOL® is a licensed product from
Shell Oil Products that combines an amine with a physical
solvent. Advantages of this solvent are increased mercaptan
pickup, lower regeneration energy, and selectivity to H2S.
Primary Amines
The primary amine MEA removes both CO2 and H2S from Choosing the Best Alternative
sour gas and is effective at low pressure. Depending on Given the wide variety of gas treating
options, a process simulator that
the conditions, MEA can remove H2S to less than 4 ppmv
can accurately predict sweetening
while removing CO2 to less than 100 ppmv. MEA systems results is a necessity when attempting
generally require a reclaimer to remove degraded products to determine the best option.
from circulation. Typical solution strength ranges from 10 to ProMax® has been proven to accurately
20 weight % with a maximum rich loading of 0.35 mole acid predict results for numerous process
gas/mole MEA. DGA® is another primary amine that removes schemes. Additionally, ProMax can
CO2, H2S, COS, and mercaptans. Typical solution strengths are utilize a scenario tool to perform
50-60 weight %, which result in lower circulation rates and less feasibility studies. The scenario
energy required for stripping as compared with MEA. DGA tool may be used to systematically
also requires reclaiming to remove the degradation products. vary selected parameters in an
effort to determine the optimum operating conditions and the
Secondary Amines appropriate solvent. These studies can determine rich loading,
The secondary amine DEA removes both CO2 and H2S but reboiler duty, acid gas content of the sweet gas, amine losses,
generally requires higher pressure than MEA to meet overhead required circulation rate, type of amine or physical solvent,
specifications. Because DEA is a weaker amine than MEA, it weight percent of amine, and other parameters. ProMax can
requires less energy for stripping. Typical solution strength model virtually any flow process or configuration including
ranges from 25 to 35 weight % with a maximum rich loading multiple columns, liquid hydrocarbon treating, and split flow
of 0.35 mole/mole. DIPA is a secondary amine that exhibits processes. In addition, ProMax can accurately model caustic
some selectivity for H2S although it is not as pronounced as for treating applications as well as physical solvent sweetening
tertiary amines. DIPA also removes COS. Solutions are low with solvents such as Coastal AGR®, methanol, and NMP. For
in corrosion and require relatively low energy for regeneration. more information about ProMax and its ability to determine the
appropriate solvent for a given set of conditions, contact Bryan
The most common applications for DIPA are in the ADIP® and
Research & Engineering.
SULFINOL® processes.

Bryan Research & Engineering, Inc.

BR&E P.O. Box 4747 • Bryan, Texas USA • 77805
979-776-5220 • www.bre.com • [email protected]
KPE
Select 113 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

Avoid brittle fracture

in pressure vessels
Key points identify effects from auto-refrigeration on steel vessels
F. KHAZRAI, H. B. HAGHIGHI and H. KORDABADI,
Chagalesh Consulting Engineers, Tehran, Iran

D
uring an emergency, equipment failure or a planned main- • Construction material is carbon steel
tenance event, hydrocarbon-processing industry (HPI) • Other design basis parameters are listed in Table 1.
pressure vessels are normally depressurized. This action The first simulation was done without including the vessels’
may cause auto-refrigeration and low-metal temperature situations metal mass. In other words, the control volume of depressuriza-
in which the likelihood of brittle fracture may occur in steel vessels tion study was limited to the fluid inside the vessel, and the metal-
and reactors. This case history describes the results from a simu- wall temperature was assumed to be the same as the inventory
lation regarding auto-refrigeration effects on HPI reactors. The fluid temperature. Also, the temperature difference between vapor
study also included investigation on brittle-fracture phenomenon and liquid was assumed to be negligible. Table 2 lists the final fluid
and recommendations for a proactive engineering approach to temperatures obtained in the first simulation.
mitigate such failures. Key points highlighted from the study are: In the second depressurization simulation, the metal mass of
• Although the process-fluid temperature from auto-refrig- each vessel was included in the control volume of the model. Table
eration drops to –86°C, considering the vessel’s metal-mass heat 3 shows the results of the second simulation based on the metal
capacity and ambient temperature, the short-term vessel minimum mass values. As shown in Table 3, the calculated inner-wall tem-
metal temperature does not become colder than –28°C. Therefore,
selecting expensive material of construction can be avoided. TABLE 1. Design basis parameter for simulation
• Complying with the ASME rules or other internationally
V-100 V-101 V-102
recognized codes for minimum requirements is crucial to the struc-
tural integrity of a pressure vessel. However, proactive engineer- Vessel volume, m3 18.3 6.2 8.6
ing practices and precautions pertaining to the design, materials, Initial liquid volume, m3 1.5 1.0 1.1
fabrication, nondestructive examinations and operation are also Initial mass of vapor, kg 2,115 687.1 620.3
required to ensure that the vessels are resistant to brittle fracture. Initial mass of liquid, kg 917.0 584.0 656.3
Vessel metal mass, kg 41,700 11,500 9,200
PROCESS ENGINEERING
Initial operating pressure, bar-g 120 105 69
This case study focuses on a gas field production facility, which
uses several separation vessels and a stabilization unit to obtain Initial operating temperature, ºC 30 4 –10
dew-point control for the natural gas products and Rvp-controlled
condensate products. The process vessels operate as three-phase sepa-
rators containing vapor, light-liquid hydrocarbons and heavy-liquid
phase. The study focused on the simulation and design of three inter-
connected separation vessels—V-100, V-101 and V-102 (Fig. 1). Produced
dry gas
Since in accordance with API 521, all process equipment with
Feed heat
operating pressure higher than 18 barg must be depressurized in Feed gas exchanger
case of an incidence, the fluid pressure should be reduced to 6.9 from
manifold
barg and the blowdown lines including the restricted orifice were production
V-101 V-102
1st stage 2nd stage
designed based on depressurizing to 6.9 barg within 15 minutes.4 line
3-phase 3-phase
In practice during depressurization and blowdown events, the separator separator
actual vessel-fluid pressure drops from operating pressure (initial V-100 V-101 V-102
pressure) down to almost atmospheric pressure (final pressure). V-100
The general assumptions and process design basis parameters used 3-phase
in the simulation include: inlet
separator To condensate
• Minimum ambient temperature of –13°C is the minimum stabilization unit
outer metal-wall temperature of the vessels
• “PV work term contribution” is defined as isentropic expan- FIG. 1 Flow diagram of three vessels for the separation process
sion efficiency and assumed as 100% (a conservative assumption) of the gas plant.
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
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SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

peratures are considerably higher than the calculated fluid final of MDMT calculations for this study’s vessels based on ASME,
temperatures listed in Table 2 from the first simulation. Section VIII, Div. 2.
The simulation work indicates that including the metal-mass
heat capacity into evaluation increases the accuracy of estimated Minimum allowable temperature (MAT), as defined
minimum metal temperature of the vessels. Consequently, more in API 579, is “the lowest (coldest) permissible metal tempera-
accurate vessel wall temperatures aid cost-effective selection of ture for a given material and thickness based on its resistance to
construction materials for the separation vessels. brittle fracture. It may be a single temperature or an envelope of
allowable operating temperatures as a function of pressure.6 The
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING MAT is derived from mechanical design information and material
All three separation vessels were designed using ASME Code specification. MAT at design pressure is MDMT.
Section VIII , Division 2. Table 4 lists the design data for the
separation vessles.5 Lowest metal temperature (LMT). LMT as defined and
used in this article is the lowest metal temperature due to the
MDMT of vessels. The minimum design metal temperature operating condition and minimum ambient temperature. The
(MDMT) of a vessel is the minimum metal temperature in LMT may be a single temperature at an operating pressure or
which the vessel can sustain its full design pressure without hav- an envelope of temperatures and coincident pressures. Actually,
ing to be impact tested. When the vessel operates at pressures the LMT, in this case, is derived from the calculated inner wall
less than its full design pressure, concessions on MDMT are temperature due to the contained process fluid temperature and
allowed based on ASME Section VIII. Table 5 lists the result also the minimum ambient temperature. The LMTs of the ves-
sels coincident with final pressures (after depressurization and
40 blowdown) are shown in Table 6.
As shown in Figs. 2–4 and Table 6, the LMTs for all of the
30 vessels at the final pressure as well as other coincident pressures
20 are on the safe side based on the rules and design philosophy of
ASME Section VIII Div. II. Although the code requirements have
10 been satisfied, further considerations and precautions are required
Temperature, °C

0 to ensure the design and construction of the vessels are resistant

LMT against brittle fracture. Several key factors in combination can
-10 MAT contribute to brittle fracture of steel vessels; a proactive engineer-
-20 ing approach is recommended.
-30
TABLE 2. Final fluid temperatures in first-pass
-40 simulation
-50
V-100 V-101 V-102
-60 Final pressure (after blowdown), barg-g 0.02 0.02 0.02
120 100 80 60 40 20 0
Pressure, barg Calculated fluid final temperature, ºC –35 –57 –86

FIG. 2 LMT curve for vessel, V-100, during depressurization event.

TABLE 3. Simulation results, including metal-mass
values
V-100 V-101 V-102
20
10 Final pressure (FP), barg 0.02 0.02 0.02

0 Mass of vapor at FP, kg 24.74 9.686 14.40

-10 Mass of liquid at FP, kg 425.8 291.6 243.2

-20 Inner-wall temperature at FP, ºC 11 –14 –28
Temperature, °C

-30
-40 TABLE 4. Design data for separation vessels
-50 Vessels V-100 V-101 V-102
-60 Design pressure, barg 128 113.4 76.4
-70 Design temperature, °C 80 80 80
-80 Material of construction Plates: A516 same as same as
LMT
-90 Gr. 70 normalized V-100 V-100
MAT flanges: A105
-100
-110
100 80 60 40 20 0 TABLE 5. MDMT calculations
Pressure, barg
Vessels V-100 V-101 V-102
FIG. 3 LMT curve for vessel, V-101, during depressurization event.
MDMT, °C –20 –22 –22
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I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

BRITTLE FRACTURE PHENOMENA phosphorous (P) present in steels decreases the transition tempera-
The major concern for low-temperature vessels is brittle-frac- ture of steel and improves weldability. In general, steel-transition
ture phenomenon, which can be a cause for vessel failure. Many temperature is a function of carbon content percent plus 20 times
metals loose their ductility and toughness; they become suscep- the percentage of phosphorous. Furthermore, adding nickel to
tible to brittle fracture as the metal temperature decreases. At nor- steel can increase steel toughness and decrease its transition tem-
mal or higher temperatures, a warning is normally given by plastic perature. Stainless steel 304 with 8% nickel can resist impact loads
deformation (bulging, stretching or leaking) as signs of potential at –320°F. Furthermore, sufficiently low carbon equivalents con-
vessel failure. However, under low-temperature conditions, no tribute to the weldability of the material (reducing hardness and
such warnings of plastic deformation are given. Unfortunately, cold-cracking susceptibility) and, thus, making metal crack-free
an abrupt fracture can cause a catastrophic event. girth welds.4 Selecting the appropriate welding material also is a
Only materials that have been impact tested to ensure metal determining factor to ensure a crack-free weld.3
toughness at or above a specified metal temperature should be • Steel structure. A correlation was developed between steel
used. However, certain paragraphs in the ASME Pressure Vessel structure (microstructure and grain size) and fracture-tough-
Code applying to low-temperature vessels indicate when impact ness by numerous fracture toughness tests at different low tem-
testing may not be required for a pressure-vessel component mate- peratures. Based on this correlation, steels with coarse-grained
rial (impact test exemptions). In general, four main factors, in microstructures have lower toughness at low temperatures as
combination, can cause brittle fracture of steel vessels. These factors compared to steels with the fine-grained microstructure. During
are represented in the form of “brittle fracture square” as shown in an 1999 incidence with a high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
Fig. 5. The factors that contribute to the brittle fracture of carbon reactor, a brittle fracture occurred at a temperature of –12°C in
or low-alloy steel pressure vessels are reviewed briefly here: a 24-in. flange of ASTM A105 material that had a coarse-grain
microstructure (ASTM grain size number 5 to 6 ferrite-pearlite
Low temperature. A metal depending on its toughness prop- microstructure ).1a
erty has a transition temperature range within which it is in a semi-
brittle condition (ductile to brittle transition). Within this range, a 0
notch or crack may cause brittle fracture (notch brittleness). Above
the transition range (warmer), brittle fracture will not happen even LMT
if a notch exists. Below the transition range (colder), brittle fracture -10 MAT
can happen even though no notches or cracks may exist.3 Although
the transition from ductile to brittle fracture actually occurs over
Temperature, °C

a temperature range, a point within this range is selected as the -20

“transition temperature” to delineate the boundaries of ductile
and brittle zones. One of the ways to determine this temperature
is by performing many impact tests on the construction material. -30

Loading. The type and level of mechanical/thermal loading

will affect the vessel’s susceptibility to brittle fracture. Dynamic -40
loading associated with cyclic mechanical/thermal or impact
loading, as opposed to quasi-static loading, is a brittle-fracture
contributing factor. Furthermore, shock-chilling effects, defined -50
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
as rapid decreases in equipment temperatures, can be a cause for Pressure, barg
brittle fracture.6 Based on the stress levels applied (in a quasi-static
loading), component material, effective thickness and minimum FIG. 4 LMT curve for vessel, V-102, during depressurization event.
metal temperature, ASME Section VIII, Divisions 1 and 2 present
criteria for vessel-component material-impact test requirements
and/or exemptions. Susceptible steel
Susceptible steel. Susceptibility of steels depends on several
parameters such as poor toughness, material flaws (cracks and
Crack/stress risers

notches), corrosion vulnerability, large thickness, etc.:

• Steel composition. Steels with lower carbon content (C)
Brittle fracture
Loading

are proven to have higher toughness at lower temperatures. Also,

square
TABLE 6. Final vessel conditions after depressurization
V-102 V-101 V-100
Final pressure (FP), barg 0.02 0.02 0.02
Inner-wall temperature at FP, °C 11 –14 –28
Minimum ambient temperature, °C –13 –13 –13 Low temperature
LMT at FP, °C –13 –14 –28 FIG. 5 Brittle fracture square affecting carbon and low-alloy
MAT at FP, °C –48 –104 –46 steels at low temperatures.
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 45
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

• Hydrogen cracks (hydrogen-induced cracks or so-called There are various techniques to prevent hydrogen cracks,
flakes). When hydrogen atoms diffuse into the metal during including appropriate heat treatments or slow cooling after forg-
material manufacturing operations such as forming, forging and ing, in which the hydrogen within the metal diffuses out. In the
welding or when hydrogen is introduced to the metal through a case of welding, usually pre-heating and post-heating are applied to
galvanic or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) corrosion process, the metal diffuse out the hydrogen and to prevent any cracks and brittleness.
is prone to hydrogen cracks. • Environmental stress fracture. Steels exposed to corro-
sive fluids such as wet H2S, moist air or
sea water are prone to premature fracture
Perform auto- Implement “Control
refrigeration simulation of Operation” under tensile stresses, considerably below
their “fracture toughness” threshold. Suit-
able steel materials should be used when
Select (or reselect) Fabricate vessel, Yes Are material No exposure to corrosive fluids is possible.
materials, and design applying relevant requirements
vessel considering “PE” PEs measures satisfied ?
Crack/stress risers. Steel vessels with
thicker walls have a greater probability
Determine MAT and
LMT envelope potential for brittle fracture due to the larger
thermal gradient across the wall thickness.
Examine/inspect materials Thicker metal walls can result in differen-
specification/quality versus
Compare LMT with MAT required specifications tial expansion of material across the wall
thickness and could possibly lead to a crack
occurrence and eventually brittle fracture.
Stress raisers such as sharp or abrupt
No Is LMT< Yes Order materials applying transitions or changes of sections, cor-
MAT ? relevant PE's measures ners or notches (as may be found in weld
Nomenclature
LMT Lowest metal temperature defects) as a result of design or fabrica-
MAT Metal allowable temperature
PE Proactive engineering
tion processes are all stress risers, which
can cause stress intensification. The weak
FIG. 6 Proactive engineering program in designing and manufacturing vessels to avoid points are prone to brittle fracture when
brittle fracture from auto-refrigeration.
other susceptible conditions exist.

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Select 159 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
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I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

PROACTIVE ENGINEERING LITERATURE CITED

Based on the brief technical information given here, several For complete literature cited, please visit www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
proactive measures can ensure resistance of carbon or low-alloy
steel vessels against brittle fracture under quasi-static loading:
• Design pressure vessels, if justifiable, by analysis in
accordance with the ASME Section VIII, Div 2 part 5, or Faramarz Khazrai has worked as a mechanical engineer for
over 30 years in the areas of piping, static equipment and machin-
other internationally recognized codes that result in lower wall ery. In 1986, he joined Chagalesh Consulting Engineers, Tehran,
thicknesses. Iran, and supervised mechanical engineering activities of several
• Order vessel materials from reliable and capable manufactur- hydrocarbon processing projects. Currently, he is the machinery
ers. Key vessel components still require attention to proper heat department head. He graduated from the Sharif University of Technology with BS
degree in mechanical engineering in 1972.
treatment, avoiding hydrogen cracks, quality control, etc.
• Specify fine-grain steel materials with appropriate
specifications and require production tests for plate/piece (from
the same heat) if an impact test is not requested. Ensure that the Hamed Basir Haghighi is a mechanical engineer special-
izing in the area of static equipment engineering. He has par-
steel with fine-grain microstructure/toughness is supplied; do not ticipated in various hydrocarbon processing projects at Chag-
rely just on the material certificates. Also, conduct impact tests on alesh Consulting Engineers since 2001. Currently, he is the static
test pieces to verify required toughness. equipment project specialty leader and also project engineering
manager. His fields of specialization are detail design of static equipment, composite
• Take benefit of the recommendations contained in the
material selection and finite element method. He graduated from Azad University
document indicated in reference 1 for ordering pipe flanges made of Tehran with BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering.
in forged steel complying with ASTM A105.
• Ask the material manufacturer for effective construction/
fabrication methods such as vacuum degassing to prevent Hojat Kordabadi, as a process engineer, has participated in
hydrogen-crack formation in the metal and require stringent the design of various process plants pertaining to the hydrocarbon
nondestructive examinations and quality control. processing industry. He joined Chagalesh Consulting Engineers
• Do nondestructive testing (NDT) to identify cracks or reject in 2007 and has worked in the process engineering department
as a project specialty leader. He is the author of three techni-
materials with detectable cracks. cal paper published in the Chemical Engineering Journal (April 2005, December
• Eliminate “stress risers,” at the design and fabrication stages 2007, September 2008). He holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from Amir
• Verify full-penetration welds with adequate toughness Kabir University and a M.S. degree in chemical engineering from Shiraz University,
using appropriate welding material/processes and require weld- Shiraz, Iran.
procedure qualification and production-weld test specimens for
both the weld and heat-affected zone for each weld process.c
• Conduct proper vessel post-weld heat treatment (PWHT),
preferably in a furnace in one piece whenever practical, and
examine heat-affected zone hardness to ensure the beneficial
CONTROL CORROSION
with these products from Gulf Publishing Company
effects of the performed PWHT.d
• Perform the vessel hydrostatic test in accordance with the
rules of the ASME Section VIII Code or other internationally
The Fundamentals of Corrosion a

recognized codes.b
• Apply “control of operation” proactively, whenever practical,
(e.g., after a depressurizing to ensure that the vessel metal
temperature is sufficiently warm prior to re-pressurization).
A proactive engineering program, as envisioned in Fig. 6, can
incorporate the listed measures during vessels design, procurement
and
nd Scaling

and construction stages. HP

S

NOTES
a Research was conducted by the Belgian Institute for Welding Techniques
on pipe flanges made in forged steel complying with ASTM A105. In June
2002, the study produced a series of recommendations for new flanges as well
as flanges already in service.1 The Fundamentals of Corrosion and Scaling
b The beneficial effect of a hydrostatic test is that crack-like flaws located in the for Petroleum and Environmental Engineers
component are blunted resulting in an increase in brittle fracture resistance.6 Price: $195
c Requiring full penetration would minimize any highly localized stresses
(especially at Category C and D joints) that can have deleterious effect on the
vessel’s ability to resist brittle fracture.”2 Corrosion Awareness Video
d Carbon equivalent in terms of welding is a rate of weldability related to Price: $995
different alloying elements including carbon, manganese, chromium,
molybdenum, vanadium, nickel and carbon content, which affect hardness of
e
the steel being welded.
Fracture toughness is an important property of any material for virtually all
design applications; it indicates the ability of a material containing a crack
GULF
P U B L I S H I N G C O M PA N Y
to resist fracture.
f +1-713-520-4426 l +1-800-231-6275
Proper PWHT reduces residual stresses, improves the resistance of the hard
Email: [email protected] I www.GulfPub.com
heat affected zone to environmental cracking, and improves the toughness.
KPE
Select 160 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
47
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KPE
 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

Improving pH control mitigates

corrosion in crude units
Equipment and pipe failures can be avoided through
better desalting practices and inhibitor injections
D. L. N. CYPRIANO, J. A. C. PONCIANO, A. T. VILAS BOAS,
P. D. MURRAY and M. R. NASSER, Petrobras, Duque de Caxias, Brazil

F
or crude-unit overhead systems, pH is the main process region for the corrosion process to begin. Neutralization equa-
parameter that impacts corrosion rates. To control corrosion tions are:
conditions, many operators use various neutralizers at opti- HCl (aq) + NH3 (aq) => NH4Cl (aq)
mum ranges determined by site-specific conditions. A four-year HCl (aq) + RNH2 (aq) => RNH3Cl (aq)
study (2005–2008) was conducted at a Petrobras refinery using One concern for neutralization is the difficulty of controlling
amine-blend solutions to control pH. Over this period, corrosion the ammonia or amine flowrates, which depend on the varying
rates were measured through ultrasonic inspections and weight- HCl levels in the CDU. The neutralizer injection levels can be
loss coupons. Important process parameters monitored included: too low and the pH in the overhead can drop. Excess neutral-
• pH, chloride and iron concentrations at the bottom of the izer levels, especially in the presence of hydrogen sulfide (H2S),
overhead drum contribute to precipitation of salts, such as ammonia or amine
• Neutralizer and inhibitor flowrates. disulfides or chlorides. Once formed, these salts (molten or solid)
A qualitative comparison was done with two refineries, using deposit on pipe surfaces, likewise, they can cause localized cor-
two other neutralizers: sour water from fluid catalytic cracking rosion with a high rate of thickness loss. If salt formation occurs
(FCC) unit and an ammonium aqueous solution. This investiga- after condensation, then its dissolution into water represents
tion proved that maintaining a low chloride level and stable pH minimal corrosion risk.2
levels were the most effective ways to control equipment damage In this article, some field results are presented, including chem-
from corrosion. Also, the study found that several inspection ical analysis, pH and corrosion rate for a CDU tower overhead. A
techniques were particularly useful in estimating service life qualitative comparison was conducted investigating the different
for pipes and other crude-unit equipment. Applying better pH ways to control corrosion, as listed in Table 1.
control and improved monitoring and inspection programs can
reduce equipment damage from corrosion. Field data. At Refinery A, the observed corrosion rates in pipes,
heat exchangers and accumulator drum, were obtained from
Background. Hydrocarbon-processing companies follow dif- thickness measuring via ultrasonic testing. Corrosion rates reached
ferent methods in controlling crude distillation unit (CDU) values of 0.15 mm/yr. The heat exchanger tubes presented an
overhead corrosion. Common approaches include inhibitors average service life of only seven years, and corrosion deposits
to neutralize acid solutions. Even with a good control on crude were found in baffle-plate regions. Some thickness loss and stress-
oil in storage tanks and the desalting process, hydrochloric acid corrosion cracking were also reported on the shells of the equip-
(HCl) will still be present at the atmospheric tower overhead and ment, which can be attributed to high H2S levels (2,553 ppm) in
it demands proper chemical treatment. Merrick and Auerbach the neutralizing solution used.
performed a study on 129 different distillation units. From these At Refinery B, high chloride levels, caused by inefficiencies in
studies, it was observed that the average chloride concentration the crude preparation and desalting processes, generated high cor-
was 10 ppm to 30 ppm in accumulator overhead drums.1 Chlo- rosion rates. The average corrosion rate observed by the coupon
rides are generated from some salts contained in the crude oil that weight loss over two years was 0.29 mm/yr. The pipes connecting
is processed in the CDU; thus HCl is formed.
There are three main ways to neutralize acidic aqueous solu- TABLE 1. Refineries and neutralizing solutions used
tions at the CDU overhead; they include injecting: for overhead corrosion control
• Gaseous ammonia (NH3)
• Ammoniac water (NH4OH solution) Refinery Neutralizer for overhead control
• Neutralizing amine solutions. A N1—sour water from FCC unit
Regardless of the neutralization technique applied, the pH is B N2—amine blend, based on MEA
lower than the dew point of water. This adds more challenges in
C N3—ammonium aqueous solution
measuring pH when condensation occurs; this is the preferred
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HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 49
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

the top of the atmospheric tower and condensers have flaws from In 2004, measurements were made on about 70 points before
previous campaigns. Localized under-deposit corrosion in the the condensers. Another 70 points were inspected with the same
lower blank of the condenser shell was observed. technique in pipes after the condensers. The same 140 points
At Refinery C, monitoring results for coupons installed in the were inspected again in 2005. The results allowed defining several
overhead condenser (air cooler), had average corrosion losses of average corrosion rates:
0.16 mm/yr. This reflects a uniform thickness loss expected in • Before the condensers: 0.14 mm/yr
equipment and pipes. But there were failures in pipes caused by • After the condensers: 0.16 mm/yr.
localized under-deposit corrosion. In the air cooler, the average Also, there were high standard deviations in both cases, 0.16
tube service life was five years, and failures were reported immedi- mm/yr before and 0.15 mm/yr after the condensers. The highest
ately after the flow entrance, where condensation begins. rate observed in the first case was 0.63 mm/yr, and the lowest 0.02
mm/yr. After the condensers, the highest rate was equal to 0.61
Thickness measuring. For this study, two regions of the mm/yr and the lowest 0.02 mm/yr.
overhead pipe were selected at Refinery B to conduct thickness Before the condenser, 25 points were measured again in 2008;
measurement via ultrasonic testing. Initially, the testing was sepa- the average corrosion rate (2005–2008) was equal to 0.17 mm/
rated into two areas: yr. The data from the corrosion coupons indicated an average rate
• Overhead atmospheric tower and condenser of 0.19 mm/yr in the same period.
• Between the condenser and accumulator drum. In December 2008 and June 2009, five points were measured
Different behaviors are expected from the pipes carrying in random areas of the pipes before the condensers, resulting in an
the fluid before the condenser in the vapor phase (by design), average corrosion rate equal to 0.21 mm/yr. In the same period,
then after, where the water is already in liquid phase. Thus, the some corrosion coupons were analyzed monthly, positioned on
observed corrosion rates were different, as shown in Fig. 1. the inlet connections of overhead condensers; these coupons had
The locations for thickness measurement are always chosen an average corrosion rate equal to 0.28 mm/yr.
based on the experience of the inspection team supervising the
unit and the measurements usually apply these aspects: Process data. For Refinery B, the study was expanded to
• In the curves, the corrosion rates may be higher due to an include how operating conditions had contributed to equipment
increased propensity for the occurrence of corrosion associated deterioration. For example, in 2007, some studies researched the
with erosion. impact from the chloride content variations in the feed at the pre-
• Regions of encounter between two pipes, in the form of “T,” flash tower overhead, while the corrosion rates were measured by
are also preferred regions for erosion. coupons. Due to the ineffectiveness of desalting, there was a direct
• In the straight sections, fewer points are selected, which are influence on the corrosive process in the overhead system, as is
expected to be representative of the system. illustrated in Table 2. During these periods, electrical problems
caused transformer problems that affected the inner electrodes to
TABLE 2. Relationship between problems in the desalting drums. Poor desalting of the crude led to chloride
desalination and corrosion rates in the overhead levels above 1,000 ppm in the overhead accumulator drum. Also,
atmospheric tower system pH was affected, reaching values approximately 4. Weight-loss
coupons were installed in the inlet connections of the atmospheric
Period analysis, Desalting stopped, Corrosion rate, overhead condensers.
(Year–2007) Time–hours mm/yr To improve desalter efficiency at full operating conditions,
1 2/13–4/20 24 0.359 more tests were made by adjusting the differential pressure of the
2 4/30–5/29 0 0.073 mixer valve. Usually covered with ΔP = 1 kgf/cm², this value was
3 5/29–6/28 0 0.086 increased by 0.2 kg/cm². Result: Without any other changes in
4 8/1–9/3 0 0.014
operating parameters, a reduction of 44% in the chloride content
in the accumulator drum was obtained.
5 9/3–11/13 4 0.259
In the overhead atmospheric system, pH, chloride, iron and
6 11/13–12/21 5 0.220 corrosion rates were monitored by weight-loss coupons. Fig. 2
shows the historic data of pH values measured in the accumulator
drum since 2008. The figure shows the mean values and standard
Before After
condenser condenser
Corrosion inhibitor
9
Neutralizer
system-Refinery B
pH of atmospheric

Overhead
condenser 6
Accumulator
drum 3

Naphtha Sour water

Atmospheric 0
Apr/08

Aug/08
Jan/08

Feb/08

Mar/08

Jun/08

Jul/08

Oct/08

Nov/08

Dec/08

tower

Time

FIG. 1 CDU showing locations identified for thickness monitoring FIG. 2 Historic data of pH values in the overhead accumulator
by ultrasonic testing. drum of the atmospheric tower for refinery B.
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I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 CORROSION CONTROL SPECIALREPORT

deviations for measurements over each month, except May and The mass balance at the tower overhead is shown in Fig. 7. It
September, when there were no analysis reports. is known that the chloride content measured in the top accumu-
It is observed that the average pH over the years has always lator is directly linked to the presence of HC1 formed from the
been very close to or within the recommended range. But the high hydrolysis of salts present in the feed. Thus, it is possible to set
standard deviations showed a lack of control during some periods. base values for neutralizing agent flowrates. From the condensate
There were some incidents in January in which a pH reaching 1.5 analysis in the overhead drum, several periods were selected in
was observed and adjusted to 3 on the same day and recovered to which the chloride content was close to 100 ppm, or 50% of
a pH = 6 on the next day. On two days, the pH reached 4. The this, 50 ppm. On the same dates, the average flowrates of the
higher standard deviation observed in this month contributed neutralizing solution and pH were recorded, as listed in Table 3.
significantly to increased corrosion rates. With the pH near the equivalence point, if we consider only
Fig. 3 shows the measured chlorine values in the same drum. the presence of HCl, neutralizer and water, the result is salt for-
The target is 40 ppm as the maximum, which can only be guar- mation, N2Cl, which dissociates. We can determine the resulting
anteed with efficient control in crude preparation at the storage pH; the reactions are:3
tanks and desalter. N2Cl j N2+ + Cl- (1)
It is observed that the values remained above the recommended N2+ + H2O = N2OH + H+ (2)
targets throughout the year, showing deficiency in the early stages From the salt concentration, it is possible to determine the
of crude processing. As an immediate consequence, we can expect expected pH:
greater usage of neutralizers and corrosion inhibitors. What is not K [N 2OH ]×[H + ] [H + ]2
always sufficient to maintain is the appropriate pH and low cor- Ka = w = = = 5.6×10−5
Kb [N 2+ ] [N 2+ ]
rosion rates over slack periods, as observed in January (average of
108.96 ppm chloride). As Ka is very low, the salt concentration Cs = [N2+]:
The iron level in the water was also monitored. Iron can be
another indicator of corrosion in the overhead system. In Fig. 4,
the measurements from 2008 are shown; conditions exceeded 4
atmospheric system
Iron concentration

the maximum value of 1 ppm over the year. Also, we can observe
Refinery B, ppm
3
that the iron content was below the recommended limit 4 of the
10 months evaluated. These results vary greatly over the month, 2
with standard deviations above the mean values; the data is not 1
included in Fig. 4. Intakes of neutralizing solutions and corrosion
inhibitors also represent relevant data on analyzing control param- 0
Jan/08

Jun/08

Jul/08
Feb/08

Mar/08

Apr/08

Aug/08

Oct/08

Nov/08

Dec/08
eters in the overhead system. Figs. 5 and 6 show the injection rates
for neutralizers and inhibitors for Refinery B in 2008.
FIG. 4 Historic data of iron values in the overhead accumulator
drum of the atmospheric tower for Refinery B.
TABLE 3. Relationship between levels of chloride
neutralizer flow (N2) and pH analyzed in the condensate
from the overhead drum—Refinery B 150
Neutralizer injection, l/d

Day Cl–, mean Flowrate N2, l/d pH, mean 120

D1 46 115.2 7.10 90
D2 48 43.2 6 60
D3 49 11.5 7.6 30
D4 49 115.2 7.1 0
Apr/08

Aug/08
Jan/08

Feb/08

Mar/08

May/08

Jun/08

Jul/08

Sept/08

Oct/08

Nov/08

Dec/08
D5 97 115.2 7.1
D6 100 43.2 5.1
D7 100 115.2 6.8
FIG. 5 Historic data of neutralizer amine flowrates at overhead
D8 103 80.6 5.3 pipe in the atmospheric tower for Refinery B.

200 50
of atmospheric system
Chloride concentration

Inhibitor injection, l/d

40
Refinery B, ppm

150
30
100
20
50
10
0 0
Jan/08

Jun/08

Jul/08
Feb/08

Mar/08

Apr/08

Aug/08

Oct/08

Nov/08

Dec/08

Apr/08

Aug/08
Jan/08

Feb/08

Mar/08

May/08

Jun/08

Jul/08

Sept/08

Oct/08

Nov/08

Dec/08

FIG. 3 Historic data of chloride values in the overhead FIG. 6 Historic data of inhibitor flowrates at overhead pipe in the
accumulator drum of the atmospheric tower for Refinery B. atmospheric tower for Refinery B.
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 51
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

on the inlet connection of the overhead condenser. There were

Kw
[H + ]2 = C S × ⇔ 2 log[H + ] = many lack periods, in which the corrosion rate is at greater than
Kb the established limit (0.125 mm), such as in November 2004
1 1 1 (0.60 mm/yr), January 2008 (0.53 mm/yr) and November 2008
×log K w − ×log K b + ×logC S ⇔ (0.55 mm/yr).
2 2 2
1 1
⇔ pH = 7 − × pK b − logC S Discussion. At the three refineries presented in this study, vari-
2 2 ous problems caused by corrosion are sourced to low operating
There are many other contaminants in the overhead system, efficiencies in the crude desalting unit, which is initiated at the
such as H2S, ammonia (NH4), sulfur oxides (SOx) and others that storage tanks. Checking field data and literature to find bench-
can alter conditions and force changes on the predicted pH values. mark values for evaluating the effectiveness of existing desalters
We cannot establish a direct relationship between the chloride can help maximize salt-removal efforts.4 Also, leakages observed in
(Cl-), flowrate and pH neutralizer from field results. pipelines in Refineries B and C were mainly caused by deficiencies
However, we can determine the salt concentration (N2Cl) in pH control. This is the main control parameter in the tower
from the N2 solutions, as described in Table 4, and compare it overhead, and it must be kept within the range with the minimum
with the expected resulting pH. Table 4 lists the results; observing possible deviation. We could not associate a neutralizer type to
that, in a few cases the values coincide, as in D1, D3, D4 and D5, observed failures.
and the neutralizing added on top is extremely diluted into the The results of Refinery B showed that even with at stable pH
total water solution (264,000 l). behavior over the study period, corrosion increased. The standard
deviation observed during 2008 was 0.54, with daily routine
Corrosion monitoring—weight-loss coupon. Fig. measurements. This value is consistent with observed deviation
8 shows the historic data of the weight-loss coupons, installed cited in the literature, equal to 0.78, when gaseous ammonia was
used as a neutralizer in the same unit.5
Hydrocarbon The literature shows that low pH values lead to high corrosion
FG+LPG+Naphtha rates on mild steel, even though the presence of inhibitors may be
86.66% insufficient to alleviate this problem.6 Conversely, a pH too high
Aqueous solution
H2O+HCl+H2S (pH = 2.5) Hydrocarbon can also bring negative consequences:
13.43%
Overhead
FG+LPG+Naphtha • Using excess neutralizing solutions, based on amine or
86.66% ammonia, favors the occurrence of deposits, leading to localized
condenser
Aqueous solution
pH = 6.0 corrosion with extremely fast kinetics.
13.43% • In stream containing H2S, such as the CDU, stability of the
Neutralizer, N2 protective iron-sulfide film is compromised while increasing its
Solution pH = 11 solubility, thus accelerating corrosion.7
0.01%
Inhibitor We can analyze a phase diagram for H2O-HCl and correlate
Water soluble it to the overhead corrosion process.8 It is possible to observe a
0.002% temperature range of approximately 100°C to 102°C, in which
FIG. 7 Mass balance of the atmospheric tower overhead an average concentration observed in the field (0.7% HCl),
system—Refinery B. and in which two phases are present in equilibrium conditions:
vapor (rich in water) and liquid (rich in HC1). At the tempera-
ture where condensation begins, the HCl concentration in the
Atmospheric tower liquid is 10 times higher than vapor phase. Only below 100°C,
Corrosion rate, mm/yr

0.70
0.60 in equilibrium condition, the steam is fully condensed, and the
0.50 final concentration of the liquid is reached. In Refinery C, this
0.40
0.30
0.20 TABLE 4. Relationship between levels of chloride
0.10
0.00 neutralizer flow (N2) and pH analyzed in the condensate
Nov-04
Dec-04
Jan-05
Feb-05
Mar-05
Apr-05
May-05
Jun-05
Jul-05
Aug-05
Sept-05
Oct-05
Nov-05
Dec-05
Jan-06
Feb-06
Mar-06
Apr-06
May-06
Jun-06
Jul-06
Aug-06
Sept-06
Oct-06
Nov-06

from the overhead drum—Refinery B

Concentration, Concentration,
Atmospheric tower Day Flowrate, l/d CS (molar) pH, mean CS (molar)
Corrosion rate, mm/yr

0.70
0.60 D1 115.2 0.000017 7.1 0.000016
0.50
0.40 D2 43.2 0.002754 6. 0.000006
0.30
0.20 D3 11.5 0.000002 7.6 0.000002
0.10
0.00 D4 115.2 0.000017 7.1 0.000016
Apr/07
May/07
Jun/07
Jul/07
Aug/07
Sept/07
Oct/07
Nov/07
Dec/07
Jan/08
Feb/08
Mar/08
Apr/08
May/08
Jun/08
Jul/08
Aug/08
Sept/08
Oct/08
Nov/08
Dec/08
Jan/09
Feb/09
Mar/09
Apr/09
May/09

D5 115.2 0.000017 7.1 0.000016

D6 43.2 0.173780 5.1 0.000006
FIG. 8 Weight loss monitored by corrosion coupons, installed at D7 115.2 0.000069 6.8 0.000016
the inlet connection of the overhead condenser—Refinery
B from November 2004 to May 2009. D8 80.6 0.069183 5.3 0.000011
KPE
52
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 CORROSION CONTROL
Not Mozart, Yet a
behavior was well marked, as leakages occurred in the starting Classical Genius
point of condensation on the overhead air cooler, while the rest
of the pipes were found in good conditions.
To increase the process data analysis, the measured consump-
tion of neutralizing amine in the overhead during 2008 were
compared with values originally estimated by the supplier—data
presented in Table 5. The comparison was done in a period in
which the main process variables, such as pH and chloride content
in the overhead drum, did not suffer interference from typical
discontinuities, such as high levels of base sediment and water in
oil. The selected period was the months of June 2008 to August
2008, in which the corrosion rate was below the recommended
target of 0.125 mm/yr, as shown in Table 6.
Application of neutralizing amine can be varied for many rea-
sons, such as incorrect pH measurement, which interferes directly
in injection flowrate. If the quality of the crude is kept almost con-
stant, the product amount injected into the overhead stabilizes.
This is the condition studied in the chosen period—optimum
injection to compare the predicted with the far field. From Table
5, the relationship between the measured and predicted consump-
tion of neutralizer is doable.
For a maximum chloride content of 50 ppm at the overhead
using data of steam injection background and specific consumption
provided by the manufacturer, the amount of amine provided at
the top would be 60 l/d, while in practice, keeping variables under

TABLE 5. Relationship between predicted

consumption and the measured one
Chloride content, Predicted Measured
Date, kg MCl/kg consumption, consumption, Measured/
2008 solution l/d l/d Predicted
7/30 87 46 95 2
7/24 90 62 86 1
7/23 86 62 89 1
7/21 86 65 69 1
7/11 80 70 66 1
7/4 39 38 69 2
7/3 64 66 101 2 Just like Mozart‘s compositions
7/1 121 129 101 1 SAMSON‘s Series 240 Valves are
world renowned and appreciated.
7/1 109 120 101 1
Tuned like organ pipes, the Series 240
6/20 50 57 124 2 suits all pressures and flows, from ada-
6/16 49 60 115 2 gio to allegro. Yet, the valves definitely
work piano so nobody will be roused
TABLE 6. Corrosion rate in June and July 2008 by a sudden beat of the drum. And, just
(overhead atmospheric system—Refinery B) like in an orchestra, the number of in-
struments is your choice. With position-
Initial date, Final date, Corrosion rate, ers, solenoid valves and limit switches,
coupon installation coupon removal mm/yr further virtuoso performers are waiting
06/16/2008 07/23/2008 0.049 to come in.
07/23/2008 08/26/2008 0.071
We supply the instruments,
you be the conductor.
TABLE 7. Comparison of corrosion rate obtained
by weight loss coupons and ultrasonic thickness (UT)
measurement—Refinery B
Period Coupon rate, mm/yr UT rate, mm/yr SAMSON AG x MESS- UND REGELTECHNIK
March 2005–Dec. 2008 0.19 0.17 Weismüllerstraße 3
Dec. 2008–June 2009 0.28 0.21 60314 Frankfurt am Main x Germany
Phone: +49 69 4009-0 x Fax: +49 69 4009-1507 KPE
Select 161 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS 䉴 E-mail: [email protected] x www.samson.de
A01007EN
SPECIALREPORT CORROSION CONTROL

control, the measured consumption was 120 l/d. We can conclude Conclusions. Among the available neutralizing solutions,
that the predicted flowrate for the neutralizing solution can be a refiners should use the one that provides the best efficiency,
guide for the process, but only constant pH monitoring (preferably coupled with the cost benefit for each unit, while considering
online) can promote adequate control for amine injection. environmental aspects from waste generation and final treat-
Corrosion rates are directly proportional to pH. Accord- ment. There are pros and cons associated with each neutral-
ingly, field monitoring uses weight-loss coupons to validate the izer.10 The results showed that the type of neutralizer used on
quality of process parameters control. At Refinery B, measure- the CDU atmospheric tower overhead was not the determining
ments were made from 2004 until early 2009, when only 45% of factor in minimizing corrosion. Only a good control of process
cases were below the limit—0.125 mm/yr. Throughout 2008, the parameters, especially the desalting efficiency (low chloride level
weight loss was framed in only 30% of the months monitored. at the overhead accumulator drum), can increase equipment
Comparing these results with inspections by thickness measure- service life. We can also establish a direct relationship between
ment, we realized that the difference between the rates obtained the historic data of the process parameters (chloride level, pH,
with both techniques was short only at the second decimal num- temperature and pressure) and the expected thickness loss of the
ber, as shown in Table 7. equipment and pipes.
This study listed a number of results available in many CDUs. Monitoring weight-loss coupons is essential to validate the
But the relationship between them can generate even more support quality of the process parameters’ control. At Refinery B, the rates
for inspection teams that manage equipment integrity. From the obtained with the coupons were compared to results from inspec-
temperature (T) and pressure (P) in the overhead pipe, it is pos- tions by ultrasonic thickness measurement, where only a small
sible to estimate if water vapor and its components reach the dew difference in the second decimal number (0.02 mm to 0.07 mm)
point before the condenser. The pH measured in the accumulator was observed. With these low rates and constant monitoring,
drum indicates how the developed corrosive process will progress the likelihood of failure is minimized, and it becomes possible to
throughout the system. The chloride content, which is directly predict damage to equipment and avoid unplanned shutdowns
related to the flowrate of the neutralizer, also increases corrosion due to equipment failures by corrosion.
at high values, even if the pH is controlled. Injecting inhibitors Plant results and literature data indicate that there is an opti-
can reduce corrosion rates but not with the same intensity as pH mal pH control range for the CDU overhead system. The main
adjustments. Thus, we must work to meet the primary objective process parameter, defined in terms of two main corrosion mecha-
of the refinery integrity program: to reduce unplanned shutdowns, nisms are:
identify root causes for corrosion degradation of equipment and • At low pH (pH below 5.5) the HCl causes severe corrosion
ultimately develop a good corrosion monitoring program.9 in the mild steel
• At high pH (pH above 6.5), due to the presence of H2S,
there is an increase in the uniform corrosion rate due to the break-
down of the iron sulfide layer, and localized corrosion under
deposit is also more likely to occur because of the salts formed.
For each system, an optimal range should be specified. It
will depend on the chemical composition of the final solution
obtained in the accumulator drum. It is important to note that
pH stability is dependent on system automation. More reliable
online information enables low deviations if there is an instru-
mented injection control fed by online pH measurement. HP

LITERATURE CITED
1 Merrick, R. D. and T. Auerbach, “Crude unit overhead corrosion control,”
Materials Performance, September 1983, p. 15.
2 Couper, A. S. “Bothered by corrosion of your crude-unit condensers?,” Oil &

Gas Journal, July 1964, p. 79.

3 Harris, D. C., Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 7th ed., California, 2006.
4 Gutzeit, J. “Controlling crude unit overhead corrosion by improved

desalting,” Hydrocarbon Processing, February 2008, p. 119.

5 Jambo, H. C. M., D. S. Freitas and J. A. C. Ponciano, “Ammonium

hydroxide injection for overhead corrosion control in a crude distillation

unit,” International Corrosion Congress, Granada, Spain, September 2002.
6 Gutzeit, J. “Effect of organic chloride contamination of crude oil on refinery

corrosion,” Nace, Orlando, Florida, March 2000.

7 Sardisco, J. B. and R. E. Pitts, “Corrosion of Iron in an H S-CO -H O
2 2 2
System: Composition and Protectiveness of the Sulfide Film as a Function
of pH,” Corrosion, November 1965.
8 Potolokov, V. N., V. A. Efremosv, S. V. Nikolashin, T. K. Menshchikova,

E. G. Zhukov and V. A. Fedorov, “Liquid-Vapor Equilibrium in the AsCl3-

HCl-H2O System,” Inorganic Materials, September 2006, p. 1027.
9 Ropital, F. “Current and future corrosion challenges for a reliable and

sustainable development of the chemical, refinery, and petrochemical

industries,” Materials and Corrosion, July 2009, p. 495.
10 Jahromi, S. A. J. and A. Janghorban, “Assessment of corrosion in low carbon

steel tubes of Shiraz refinery air coolers,” Engineering Failure Analysis,

November 2004, p. 569.

KPE
Select 162 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
54
 TURNAROUND AND
MAINTENANCE
2011
Special Supplement to

CONTENTS
How would you rate leadership of your capital projects? T–57
What are the “magnificent seven” elements to successfully pick a contractor? T–60
Corporate Profiles
Cooper Crouse-Hinds T–56 AltairStrickland T–63 Curtiss Wright Flow Control T–65 Dunn Heat Exchangers T–67
Microtherm T–69 Rentech Boiler Services T–71 Dollinger Filtration T–73 Voith T–74
Cover Photo: Suncor Plant in Edmonton, Alberta. The curtain material were utilized to shield workers from the environment
and enclose maintenance activities. Photo courtesy of HiTemp Products. www.hitemp.ca
KPE
CORPORATE PROFILE: COOPER CROUSE-HINDS GMBH
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

Maintenance
Headline equipment for hazardous
areas
(2 lines)
improves efficiency and safety
Servicing and maintenance in hazardous areas can
be time-consuming and costly, particularly if engi-
neers are not provided with the right tools to carry
out the job quickly and safely

As industrial processing plants become more complex and safety require-

ments more stringent, these plants have to become more efficient in terms of their
maintenance and servicing activities. The objective is to minimize costly production
downtime and to guarantee the safe operation of the plant.
However, the challenges facing servicing and maintenance personnel can be
daunting, time-consuming and costly, particularly if the engineer is not provided
with the appropriate tools.
A wide range of explosion-protected electrical equipment for plants or
offshore oil platforms is now available to help engineers minimize service and
maintenance costs.
Two line caption
Explosion protected portable torches, search lights and hand lamps, including Contact information
LED versions, will illuminate the working area quick and safe. Mains connected Neuer Weg-Nord 49
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connected to the mains by cable reels and socket distribution units. The objective is Fax: +49(0)6271 806 476
to minimize the time and effort required by the engineer, whilst guaranteeing the Email: [email protected]
safety of personnel at all times. Website: www.coopercrouse-hinds.eu

Enhancing Safety
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Servicing & Maintenance in Hazardous Areas

Safe and efficient! CEAG portable lighting, cord reels and power distribution units
will reliably support your maintenance activities.
E-mail: [email protected]

www.coopercrouse-hinds.eu
KPE
T-56
I TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011 Select 165 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS SPONSORED CONTENT
 TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

How would you rate leadership

of your capital projects?
R. M. PATTY and M. A. DENTON, Consultants

To achieve substantially improved benchmarks in lence. World-class clients and industry-leading senior managers of FEL and EPC
project performance, profound change is needed projects periodically assess remaining project vulnerability (to cost, schedules and
productivity over-runs). These assessments identify the value gained by improv-
Recently, in a major oil company, a team of senior project managers and value ing current work processes and procedures through management by lean work
improving practices experts assessed the impact of implementing lean methods process standards. Sometimes called norms, their development and use provide
during front-end-loading (FEL) and concluded that both total-in-place cost (TIC) and a promising opportunity to take FEL and EPC project performance and reliability
schedule would improve by at least 10% (see Fig. 1). The company’s vice president to the next level.
(VP) approved two pilot projects, with high priority; however, they failed to over-
come middle management resistance to change, stalling their recommendations Creating a foundation of sustained excellence. What
and approvals before actual piloting. separates a good project from a poorly executed one? Some factors include:
Under director level leadership, a major engineering department (approximately • Sub-task level work process standards depict engineering and management
1,500 engineers) evaluated the engineering-lean potential to increase throughput expectations regarding the specifics of what will be done, how, by whom and in
at about 25% with corresponding project cost reduction. Under pressure from the Two line caption
what sequence to achieve desired measurable results during actual circumstances
team’s lean recommendation and client dissatisfaction, the VP of engineering said, faced by employees.
“We recognize the value, but we have a lot of things on our plate right now. We • Lean work process standards are derived with performance measures estab-
think you are about a year ahead of when we can do this.”The VP of engineering lished to provide just what is needed for those doing the job to consistently enable
had been personally responsible for most of the systems currently in use. In the face best practice. Subdividing tasks (e.g., sub-task size to a single deliverable) must be
of overwhelming evidence presented by his team investigating lean, he could not sufficient to assure each sub-task-lead has everything they need to start, execute
deny the benefits, so, he did the next worst thing: admitted the need, but delayed and deliver what is needed without ever stopping. Sub-task sequencing extends
implementation, after all, the clients keep paying the bills. Although resistance was the planning to include all active sub-tasks in the current week to four-week
natural, the lack of executive leadership was also evident and a profound disap- execution window.
pointment to the team. • Lean management by standards requires both policy deployment (calling
Under the author’s guidance, foremen and construction managers at a major for commitment to the standards by the leadership responsible to execute them)
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor site, quantified the and actual progress of each active task at the workface to be visible to manage-
impact of and opportunity for construction-lean (see partial results in Fig. 2). The ment. If any standard does not cause the right things to happen, consistently and
EPC team proceeded to improve many things within their control; then, they solic- reliably, then it is not considered lean. The team must improve: the standard, and/
ited the client to achieve the really profound savings through improved planning or the standard’s deployment policy, and/or workface progress visibility, until the
during design. The issue involved the EPC aligning seven chemical plant operating right things happen.
divisions during FEL to improve reliability. It is now evident that the team should perform nearly everything in engineering,
The Client declined involvement in the face of profound opportunity to improve construction and business according to the best work process standards or their
the root cause of poor planning—i.e., late client information and changes. Client equivalent by some other name (e.g., norms). Teams should define standards jointly,
leadership-of-change among the seven divisions was lacking. Client middle man- led by those who are responsible to manage and must include those who perform
agers resisted the necessary alignment—although senior management was crying inside the company or within their supply and subcontracting chain.
from the profound losses. Short of doing all the work themselves, standards are, in fact, the best way that
Our recently published handbook1 presents many examples of substantial engineering discipline leads or management at each level can effectively assure
improvements and serious root causes in recent multi-bil-
lion dollar losses and explains the processes that created
ERA
the improvements and could have prevented the losses. Traditional project
The authors’ bring the reader a rapid improvement Design
Bid

basis Project proposal Detailed design

discipline with the means for operational trust and meth- MC OS
ods of profound leadership. To do so, we have integrated Procurement fabrication and delivery
experience implementing lean, six sigma, theory-of-con- Construction Startup
ERA
straint and quality-function-deployment, etc., to enhance Lean project delivery
WRLP

value-improving practice and constructability principles Design System Component

basis criteria criteria Detailed design
and methods. The former are not yet formally deployed MC OS
on most large facility delivery projects and programs. Construction Procurement fabrication and delivery
Planning
Construction Startup
Sustained, market excellence. Typi-
cally, we have found improved standards are a good FIG. 1. Major oil company assessment of lean impact on traditional project delivery engineering release
starting point and the foundation enabler of excel- approval (ERA), mechanical completion (MC), onstream (OS), waste reduced lean procurement (WRLP).
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011
I T-57
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

their team understands and implements their ideals, principles and expectations. for balanced progress of every available workface, management eliminates sub-
Lean standards at the work process (e.g., sub-task) level constitute the foundation stantial remaining risk and chaos within able and diligent teams that are trying to
level extension of corporate governance into the workface. figure out how to most effectively perform. The content of standards, their sequence
The workface is where the team can add or manipulate information or material and transparency become the basis upon which teams evaluate performance and
to add value. During project design, it is where the team assimilates information, derive further improvements.
makes calculations or decisions, renders drawings and writes program code or Lessons learned for safety, quality, productivity, constructability, maintainability,
specifications. During manufacturing or construction, it is where the team adds, environmental improvements, etc., are institutionalized quickly by building them
cuts away, alters or assembles material to add value. The team should consider the into sub-task level standards. Management and engineering skill and stakeholders
following as wasting resources: most contributory work (see examples in Fig. 2), build their experience, e.g., what they know about how to avoid problems, into
idleness or rework (in engineering, fabrication or construction), and any available the standards and expect them to be executed and improved. Teams are more
workface that is not fully utilized. Teams can reduce or eliminate these sources of effective and confident when operating within established standards and being
waste by further application of lean principles2 and tools.3 evaluated accordingly. Team trust and morale improves when these systems are
An available workface is where the team can productively perform design, in place. Management’s expectation that teams will anticipate problems before
manufacturing or construction without such work rendering any other work they happen and improve the standards they use while executing them enables
less than fully productive. The establishment of lean work process standards, continuous improvement.
policy of use and systems that provide transparency to achieve aligned progress If, notwithstanding the team’s best efforts, circumstances prevent performance
of value added work at every available workface, profoundly benefits cost and at the standards, then employees are generally expected to halt execution and seek
performance reliability. immediate reevaluation of the standard and its content, sequence or transpar-
ency improvement by applicable skill and stakeholders. The benefits of employee
Benefits—reliable best practice performance. Tradi- empowerment to do so are similar to those experienced by authorization to halt
tional project planning and management systems harness considerable control of work that an employee considers unsafe. Employees know halting the workflow
risks and associated chaos that would otherwise exist. By establishing management is extremely expensive, and ownership of standards they use coupled with man-
by lean work process standards, aligned with a sequence and system, transparent4 agement trust and dependent peers’ visible expectations, will motivate them to
anticipate problems and eliminate them before they happen. All the universal
performance measures and their reliability are profoundly improved: 1) safety, 2)
Non-contributory, waiting and quality, 3) productivity, 4) cost, 5) schedule, 6) environmental protection, and 7)
non-value added work 25.2% employee morale.
Effective setup 13.5%
Direct Dismantle, 1.9% Current opportunity, senior resource leveraging. In
value Fabrication and an industry strained for expertise and experience, standards can close the perfor-
added pre-assembly, 5.8%
mance gap quickly between ambitious young engineers or managers and their
work Excavating and
35.8% backfilling, 2.8% highly experienced senior peers. The sub-task level standards enable reasonably
Final assembly, 11.4% trained and experienced employees to quickly come up to performance at best
Placing, 0.4% practice. Managers who have built what they know and expect into standards for
Contributory work 39% about 90% of what their subordinates do, can use transparent systems to more
Safety work, 3.8%
Rigging and flagging, 1.3% effectively manage many more people than they can with conventional oversight.
Non-contributory, waiting and Inspection and testing, 0.5%
non-value added work 25.2% A broad, flat and highly effective management structure emerges for reliably
Material and equipment
loading, unloading and achieving best practice. Corporate knowledge and experience are captured in the
storage, 1.6% standards and made available when and where they are needed—not lost by
Clean up, 3.2%
Contributory

transfers, attrition or loss of people to a competitor.

work 39%

Maintenance and
repair, 1.0% It is senior management’s fiduciary responsibility to their clients, sharehold-
Personal time, 1.3% ers and employees to recognize any project vulnerability resulting from current
Move self, 8.9%
Move tools and policies and procedures. They must become experts themselves or engage a lean
materials, 14.8% subject matter expert to quantify the benefits of establishing lean standards at
Direct value added Locating and the work-process level, together with visible workface optimization planning. With
work 35.8% positioning, 2.2%
Holding materials or this evidence, senior managers resource the work process standard development
equipment, 0.4% function at the workface then set the example by deriving lean work process
Contributory work 39% standards in support of the workface, with their middle managers at every level.
Idle – crew balance, 6.2%
Non-contributory,waiting and
non-value added work 25.2%

Idle – interference, 2.6% Each must assure agendas include time (about 5%) for reflection on how to
Idle – talk, 0.4% eliminate the source of problems, and build what it will take to prevent problems
Idle – over manning, 2.5%
Idle – late start or early into the standards.
quit, 3.2% Consider what is wrong with the recent response of a well-compensated oil
Idle – discretionary, 3.2% and gas company executive to a well-evidenced lean introduction. “If we hire a lean
Idle – institutionalized consultant, he is going to expect us to do the right things, not just look good, and
standby, 4.2%
Ineffective work, 1.5% that is going to be a whole lot of work. As long as projects continue to go more
Direct value added
work 35.8% Rework, 1.5% or less as they have before, we’re just fine. If not, we are victims of circumstance
and not responsible.”
FIG. 2. Partial results of workface sampling during chemical plant While few will argue against experience being the best teacher, it is usually
construction, Jan. 14–24, 2008. the most expensive. Knowledgeable stockholders cringe and clients’ satisfaction
KPE
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 TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

wanes when employees learn by experiencing critical (and avoidable) incidents

■ Profound leadership is required to achieve
at client or stockholder expense. Managers can and should reliably know before profound rapid improvement
it is too late.
Cultures can and should support employee use of fully aligned skill and • Further, nearly every performance issue affects the trust that project people
stakeholder expertise. Lean methods, such as management by lean work process experience. The level of trust and unity impacts the speed of just about everything,
standards, are operational on FEL (design basis, preFEED, FEED) and EPC (detailed including the feasibility for rapid, sustained organizational improvement. We
engineering, contracting, procurement, construction, commissioning and startup) provide supporting principles and intervention tools to assess and improve trust,
projects and in their supporting organizations. Both motivation and increased unity and culture to solidify, sustain and perpetuate.
team enthusiasm for differentiating performance are created by managers with
a healthy recognition of current project vulnerability who choose to benchmark Lessons from the past. The rapid improvement discipline has
current status and measure the opportunity specific to lean tools. To do so now, developed, building on the work of Dr. Edward Deming. Several decades ago,
racing the industry to generally adopt the tools and establish the supporting cul- when US executives resisted, Dr. Deming told the Japanese that they required
ture, is a promising current FEL and EPC opportunity to leverage senior resources profound knowledge to make correct improvement decisions. We contend that
for sustainable performance excellence. while human nature hasn’t changed, due to the work of Deming and many
Consider what is wrong with the recent response of well-paid executives of a others. Today, during large plant asset delivery, the improvement challenge is
major oil and gas EPC service provider to a well-evidenced lean introduction. “If not primarily a technical one, but also a need for profound leadership—to cross
lean is so important, clients would be willing to pay for it. If we begin to experi- traditional boundaries to collect the profound data and act on it starting with
ence loss of work that a client acknowledges is a result of our not using lean, then defining and aligning work-process excellence (in EPCs, client owners and the
we will just do it.” supply chain).
With the advantage of the primary author’s training from Boeing and Shin- Casting executive dismissal-of-the-need to improve, profoundly, to the realm
gijutsu and an extensive technical review team,6 we have deftly described the of cordial hypocrisy, we contend that projects can and must improve and that
transformation to lean, not just at the introductory levels but transformation of heretofore unseen client and EPC executive leadership is essential for it to
the entire business model and all the supporting processes to solidify, sustain succeed. Subsequent articles in this series will elaborate on what constitutes
and perpetuate: profound leadership and some necessary lean improvement strategies. HP
• More effective metrics and timely tools for measuring performance and
long-term impacts of using lean production techniques are presented. The metrics LITERATURE CITED
1 Patty, R. M. and M. A. Denton, The End of Project Overruns, Lean and Beyond for
provide universally needed management information for transparent control of
project performance, safety, quality, productivity, cost, delivery-schedule, environ- Engineering, Procurement and Construction,” Universal Publishers, Boca Raton, FL,
2010.
mental responsibility and employee morale. 2 Ibid. pp. 66–69
• The tricky part is to change the mindset of just accepting tradeoffs, e.g., 3 Ibid. pp. 14–26
4 Ibid. p. 479
improving schedule at the expense of cost or vice versa. Experienced and success-
5 Ibid. pp. 54–61
ful managers must gain the trust that it will be of mutual benefit to implement 6 Ibid. Acknowledgements, pp ix–x
lean principles because, so far, their companies have rewarded them for their 7 Ibid. pp. 386, 53
past successes without using lean principles. Successful project, construction and
other discipline managers excel in making decisions in the face of uncertainty to a
fault. They fast track their schedule by expediting front end loading and planning
and rely on their intuition and experience to address unexpected issues occurring
during project execution. Lean principles guard against such practices and save
schedules and cost. Lean principles, tools and methods improve most, if not all
project performance metrics, simultaneously, i.e., in harmony. Robert M. Patty, PE, MBA, PhD, civil engineering, currently
serves as an advisor and mentor for company leaders seeking to
• The obvious and superficial lean production mechanisms—such as standard implement the principles and systems of rapid improvement. He
work, work place organization, kitting and consumption-based replenishment served as a constructability/lean consultant for PetroCanada, Saudi
are put in proper perspective with the goals of achieving flow and application of Aramco and BP and recently, as KBR’s constructability technology
chief and lean program manager worldwide. Dr. Patty has personally led implementa-
countermeasures.
tions on major capital projects in the US, Canada, Venezuela and Nigeria. Reach by
• Mastering rapid improvement techniques as a first step is later linked to [email protected].
overall system improvement via value chain diagnostics and redesign.
• We give you a heavy dose of supply-chain management including contract-
ing. Even if your processes are fine tuned and operating well, your supply chain Michael A. Denton holds MS degrees in petroleum engineer-
will still be subject to the natural chaos that occurs in logistics and human nature. ing and economics. Currently, he is senior appraisal reservoir engi-
• To achieve quick wins, it is not necessary to implement sweeping changes neer for $5 billion Knotty Head deepwater Gulf of Mexico project
all at once. Create and sustain market-dominating excellence short- and long-term for Nexen Petroleum. He developed skills and gained experience
in petroleum engineering, lean project management and leader-
by taking time to understand these concepts and implementing the pieces that will ship working for Mobil E&P, Amoco, BP, Chevron and Nexen Petroleum Oil and Gas
improve performance. Eventually, examine every system, sub-system, and process companies in asset development and delivering major capital projects in Alaska,
in the business to achieve “system harmony.” Kuwait, Korea, Europe, Africa, South America, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

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HYDROCARBON PROCESSING TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011
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TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

What are the ‘magnificent seven’

Headline
elements
(2 lines) to successfully pick a contractor?
M. McMAHON, Coating Systems, Inc., Savannah, Georgia

Valuable pointers help industrial plant managers the contractor to provide a list of the potential workers and request their job his-
minimize downtime, maintain quality and safety tory. If not available, think twice.
to improve operations
3. Right equipment for the job. Often underestimated, the
At some point in time, every industrial plant must bring in an outside contractor painful truth is that inappropriate or underperforming equipment can greatly
to do specialized work such as boiler blasting, concrete waterproofing and ceiling increase the time to complete a project. Conversely, a contractor can actually bring
painting that in-house manpower cannot perform on a cost-effective basis. Such about a cost savings for plant management, and return the plant to full operation
an option makes sense, in that many industrial operations do not enjoy the luxury quicker, if proper equipment is selected with forethought and applicability to the
of reassigning staff to do labor-intensive work that requires additional training. specific project.
Nor does facility management have at their ready disposal the unique equipment When tackling a critical project such as applying a coating of epoxy novolac to
required to perform major maintenance or upgrade projects. the inside of a 300-ft diameter storage tank, contractors should be willing to go
However, the greater challenge lies not in deciding whether or not to call in through the trouble of bringing in portable air conditioners, or heaters depending
outside help, but rather, determining which contractor is best able to do the job on the time of year, to manage the environment within the tank. This controls the
Two line caption
on time, within budget, with the best outcome and the least lapses in safety. With humidity and prevents premature rusting of exposed metal before the coating goes
the right selection, an outside contractor can act as an ongoing partner to help on. Without such precaution, unanticipated coating failure could develop. At the
plant managers and facility engineers lower costs and add value over the long run. same time, the controlled environment allows workers to continue spraying 24
hours a day instead of just 8. The job gets finished in one-third of the time, so, the
1. Precise planning. The need to run at 100% production levels at all tank can get put back online sooner.
times heads the priority list at most every processing facilities. Downtime for main- Even something as simple as ready access to the equipment and tools can
tenance or upgrades equates with an interruption in revenue stream. In defense, make a difference in the timeline. For example, one informal time/motion study
the best way to avoid having any outside work halt the process is to ensure that the revealed that the average mechanic spends an hour and five minutes each day
contractor provides a precise, highly detailed plan of the project work in advance. looking for tools. Ask to see photographs of the contractor’s equipment and tool
If a contractor can’t tell you how he’s going to do that job, and lay it out in an trucks. If you see a gang box filled with a bunch of tools that guys have to dig
organized, detailed, step-by-step fashion, then you shouldn’t hire him. through to find what they need, then that disorganization can lead to cost overruns.
If you can’t build it on paper, then you can’t build it in reality. For example,
by using “critical path method scheduling” (which incorporates close to 30 items 4. Safe work practices. Safety can never be compromised for the
and covers the scope of work, the crew, specifications, safety checks, tasks broken sake of speed. If anything, a serious accident can stop a project in its tracks and
down by each different craft and a complete timeline from start to finish) a project immediately place a project budget in peril. Checking a contractor’s commitment
schedule should be provided to the plant manager well in advance of any work. to safety begins at the top.

2. A qualified workforce. Given the present scholastic environment

where far more students study computer science as opposed to metalworking,
the pool of skilled craftsmen continues to dwindle. After soliciting RFQs, the
down-selection process must include a careful evaluation of the contractor’s
complement of tradesmen. The importance of having a job go smoothly rests, in
great part, on the skill of the people actually twisting the wrenches. They must
possess a basic aptitude for the job, as well as a good work ethic.
Advance determination of such qualities is not as difficult as it seems.
Recognized training programs can vouch for satisfactory performance levels
from a given craftsman. Additionally, most every technical discipline has cre-
dentialing bodies, which evaluate respective contractors and their employees
for competency.
The Society for Protective Coatings, for one, offers its SSPC QP1 certification to
contractors that meet a set level of performance in key areas such as management
procedures, technical ability and quality control. Such certification provides facility
owners and specifiers a means to determine whether the painting contractor has
the capability to do surface preparations and coating applications on storage
tanks, pipelines, flooring, process equipment and other plant infrastructure. FIG. 1. SSPC QP1 certification provides facility owners a means to
Judging work ethic takes more effort. Look for a contractor who features a determine whether a painting contractor has the capability to perform surface
dedicated, long-term team of workers vs. hiring a local crew “off the street.” Ask treatment and coating applications on storage tanks and pipelines.
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 TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

Headline
The mechanics will do whatever the supervisor lets them do. If the foreman
allows the workers to stand on a ladder without a safety belt, they will do it. So,
supervisors should attend process safety management training classes so that they
customer is crucial. The customer should receive three separate reports at the end
of each day, each one covering construction overview, safety and quality.

(2 lines)
will set the right tone. Once a project begins, conditions should be constantly moni-
tored, and safety inspections are conducted weekly by the operations manager.
A contractor’s membership in the American Society of Safety Engineers
7. A willingness to partner for the long run. An index of
suspicion should rise when a contractor appears anxious to take the money and run.
Some eventually declare bankruptcy, leaving plant management with no recourse
also indicates a commitment to reducing injuries. Additionally, the prospective if anything goes wrong. Look for a contractor who is willing to maintain an onsite
contractor should be able to demonstrate site-specific training of its employees. presence well after completion of the scheduled work. Even beyond that, added
Examples include training in fall protection, respiratory protection, hazard- value stems from a contractor who is willing to act as a resource for long-term
ous waste handling, Mine Safety and Health Administration procedures, and a maintenance planning. Such partnerships actually free up the plant’s workforce to
confined-space program. concentrate on more immediate needs.
Plant foreman can benefit from permanently delegating some of their technical
5. Access to spare parts and equipment for unfore- services to a contractor with expertise in their respective fields. A supplemental
seen circumstances. Every product manufacturer understands the need part of some contractors’ businesses is to develop specifications and procedures
for a “second-source” supplier. It should be no different for contractors who show to reduce rework and extend service life. Many foremen stay on at a given site
up to do critical work at a plant. The contractor must outline a systematic process to provide such services as corrosion surveys, failure analyses, computerized
to acquire spare parts on an urgent basis when the “inevitable” emergency occurs. maintenance painting programs, industrial cleaning, fireproofing and OSHA pipe
You have to have “Plan B” as well as “Plan C”. To be on the safe side, the labeling and safety-sign surveys, which can prove to be very valuable services for
contractor should have duplicate pieces of machinery at the ready so if a part most plants. Ultimately, enlisting the help of a proven contractor on a year-round
breaks, it won’t halt the work. For example, when working on a tight timeline for basis allows processors and manufacturers to keep their own staff focused on the
a project, it’s a good idea to ship backup equipment to the site. It may just sit there core competency of the organization. HP
as a backup and never be used, but the expense is well worth the peace of mind. Two line caption
Michael McMahon is president of Coating Systems, Inc. (CSI), Savannah,
6. Constant communication with plant management. Georgia. CSI is a SSPC QP1-certified specialty maintenance contractor that provides
a full range of industrial painting and protective coating services for power plants,
Upon completion of a project, few plant managers like surprises such as unex- transmission pipeline companies, petrochemical plants and chemical processing
pected, expensive change orders or up-scoping. A conscientious contractor must companies. Its clients include Shell, DuPont, Proctor & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Olin
be willing to provide project reports up-front and on a daily basis. Clarity with the Chemical, and Colonial Pipeline Co.

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TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011
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 CORPORATE PROFILE: ALTAIRSTRICKLAND
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

Mastering FCCU constructability issues

ALTAIRSTRICKLAND has been managing and executing turnarounds and
revamps since its inception in 1976. Meanwhile, refineries have become more con-
gested and more complex but footprints remain about the same. This complicates
project execution and raises multiple constructability issues. Concerns for quality,
safety, schedule and budget add to the multidimensional scope.
AltairStrickland stresses that preplanning is a key to the door of success. Here
are just three examples of how they have addressed tough constructability issues.

FCCU Revamp, Case Study #1:

This air grid installation revamp scope was extensive and included:
• Installation of regenerator lower cone section
• Replacement of regenerator air grid
• Replacement of reactor trickle valves
• Flue gas line repairs
• Knife gate valves repairs
• Extensive refractory work
• Miscellaneous maintenance work
AltairStrickland did a 3-D survey of the construction area before
The main constructability issues concerned the installation of the regenerator modeling it in AutoCAD™. This process revealed a better way to
in the lower cone section and replacing the riser’s feed section. The FCCU still had lift the 690,000-pound FCC reactor.
the original plate type air grid. The original scope called for installing the trunk of
the grid into the existing cone section, however, there was no access for welding or
for weld inspection if the trunk grid was to be installed in this way. FCCU Crane Considerations, Case Study #3:
That’s when AltairStrickland went the extra mile and constructed a mock-up of When AltairStrickland was hired, this client already had selected a crane they
the equipment so they could demonstrate the problem. This prompted the owner wanted to use to lift the 600,000-pound reactor. The crane they had in mind
to procure a new cone section. Still, installation was difficult. required that a major freeway be shut down during the heavy lifts. AltairStrickland
The structural steel came up to the tangent line, there were several big beams studied all aspects of the lift and suggested that a 660-ton crawler crane could
that could not be removed, and there was an upper constraint layer of dip leg brac- perform the job without the hassle and expense of shutting down the freeway. The
ing and some trickle valves that had to be removed. The beams were redesigned client agreed and the lift came off without a hitch.
with notches to allow as much height as possible. Two air hoists on trolleys were AltairStrickland has mastered both the science and the art of constructability.
used as part of the rigging so the equipment could be taken from the crane and
led through the door sheet.
Beams were needed to support the door sheet and rigging devices. The cone
section was installed with the lower part of the trunk. The air grid was brought in
so the two back lateral arms could be installed first then followed by installation
of the two front lateral arms. Each piece of air grid weighed about 26,000 pounds
and the cone section weighed in at 28,000 pounds, still the job was completed on
time and within budget.

FCCU Revamp, Case Study #2:

A new client approached AltairStrickland for an FCCU revamp.
In this case, the scope included:
• New head and cyclones in the regenerator
• Installation of a new reactor Contact information
• Tie-ins to the FCC for a new scrubber 1605 S. Battleground Road
• Flue gas cooler work La Porte, TX 77571
• Major structure work Phone: 281-478-6200
For this major equipment installation, the client envisioned installing the com- Fax: 281-478-6206
bustor riser distributor cap before installing the head and cyclone assemblies. E-mail: [email protected]
AltairStrickland presented preliminary drawings showing that the concept would Website: www.altairstrickland.com
not work with the secondary trickle valves on. Instead, they proposed that the cap
be installed with the head and cyclone assembly. The client agreed. This satisfied
client has since awarded AltairStrickland other jobs.
KPE
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 CORPORATE PROFILE: CURTISS-WRIGHT FLOW CONTROL
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

CWFC offers comprehensive products

and services for the oil and gas industry
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control’s (CWFC’s) Oil & Gas Systems Division supplies
a diverse portfolio of products and services to the oil and gas industry, including
reactors, fractionating towers, separator, orifice chambers, diverter and butterfly
valves, fully automated coke drum unheading systems, as well as integrated control
systems, engineered valves, safety relief valves, and service and repair, and more. As
demand for global fuel requirements grow, processing capacity must also increase
and CWFC’s products provide the oil and gas industry with significant savings while
providing technology solutions that foster plant flexibility, reliability, enhanced
production and compliance with safety and environmental regulations.
The business units and their brands which comprise CWFC Oil & Gas Systems
provide critical technology for severe service processing. Each business unit with
its brand has its own focus and market niche, and when combined with the other
business units offer an extremely diversified range of products and service for the
oil and gas industry.
DeltaValve is the world leader in full automated coke drum unheading solutions.
Their systems are available for the bottom and top of the coke drum, and completely Farris Engineering Services provides patented, web-based iPRSM® software, a
isolate personnel and equipment from coke drum fallout and other hazards associ- powerful engineering calculation and documentation repository tool, assists pro-
ated with the unheading process. Other innovative products include DeltaValve’s cessing plants in meeting the pressure related requirements for PSM compliance.
drum top blowout diverter/ drill stem guide, auto-switch coke cutting tool, and a Together with iPRSM, our Farris Engineering Services team provides comprehensive
complete line of isolation valves designed specifically for the dirty service associated pressure system design and audit services, providing processing facilities with a safe
with the delayed coker. and hazard-free work environment.
TapcoEnpro International (TEI) provides products and services to improve the Sprague Products includes air driven hydraulic pumps, gas boosters, and power
safety, reliability and efficiency of your Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU). units supported with a complete line of valves and pump accessories. The Sprague
With 14 active patents and the largest installed base of single source FCCU valves S-216 and PowerStar line of pumps offer various liquid pressures up to 33,500 psi
and actuators worldwide, TapcoEnpro technology and innovation provides a com- (2311 bar). Sprague’s pneumatic gas boosters are a cost effective way to compress
plete package of state of the art, critical service, high temperature valves; fast acting air/gas to meet high pressure requirements. The pneumatic gas amplifier design
hydraulic actuators; digitally controlled hydraulic power units; heavy wall reactors offers greater efficiency as well as being modular for increased versatility.
and pressure vessels and other FCCU components.. Solent & Pratt is based in Bridport, Dorset, United Kingdom, and is a world
Total Automation Solutions (TAS) is a turnkey supplier and manufacturer of leader in the manufacture of high performance triple offset butterfly valves for
integrated automation and controls technology, products and services. TAS inte- severe service applications. These valves are used within the petroleum, petrochemi-
grates quality OEM automation and control products with the optimum team of cal, chemical and process industries.
automation and control engineering resources to supply custom manufacturing,
automation management and maintenance services, automation systems design,
and PLC Programming Services
Valve Systems and Controls (VSC) can manage the entire front end of your proj-
ect, from conceptual thinking to product specifications, from budgets to timelines,
and can supply any or all of the products and services required. VSC can also provide
highly skilled service technicians for repair, retrofitting, preventive maintenance and
training on valve systems anywhere in the world, regardless of manufacturers or
systems integrators.
GroQuip has, since 1972, been safely delivering quality as a supplier of engi- Contact information
neering information, products Safety Relief Devices, and services to customers with 16315 Market Street
pressure processes. Their customers have strict regulatory compliance mandates Channelview, Texas 77530
(OSHA-PSM; EPA-RMP; BOEMRE; etc.). Largely, the customers are in Chemical Website: www.cwfc.com
Processing Industry (CPI); Hydrocarbon Processing Industry (HPI); Upstream Explo-
ration and Production; Midstream Gas Processing, Fractionating, Pipelining; and
Downstream Refining.
Farris Engineering has been a leader in the design and manufacture of a wide
range of spring-loaded and pilot-operated pressure relief valves for more than 60
years. Used as safety devices, they prevent over pressurization of vessels, pipelines,
and processing equipment. Farris Engineering is a recognized leader in the hydro-
carbon processing, refinery, petrochemical, gas production and processing markets.
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I T-65
 410 21st Street South
P.O. Box 3028
Texas City, TX 77592-3028
Houston: (281) 337-1222 (24 Hrs)
Texas City: (409) 948-1704 (24 Hrs)
Fax: (409) 945-9873
Dunn Heat Exchangers specializes in the cleaning, repair, testing, design, and fabrication of shell and tube
type heat exchangers and unfired pressure vessels. Serving clients throughout the U.S., Dunn works with
some of the largest refining and petrochemical complexes in the world.
Safe Transportation High Pressure Hydro Cleaning

Dunn operates its own fleet of specially designed tractor- Dunn’s 5 shell side cleaning bays and 7 tube side
trailers to provide fully covered, drip-pan containment of cleaning bays allows our hydro cleaning facility to
equipment for safe transportation. simultaneously clean 12 heat exchangers.

Thermal Cleaning & Wastewater Treatment Decommissioning and Disposal

Dunn’s licensed
l d Bake-Out-Oven
k thermally
h ll decomposes
d Dunn offers a service to help you with decommission
product residue while maintaining equipment integrity. and disposal of your “out of service” obsolete
Dunn meets or exceeds all EPA standards for liquid and equipment. This turnkey service includes safe transport,
solid waste treatment & disposal. dismantling and cleaning of equipment that is no longer
required for plant operations.

New Fabrication ASME U Certified Repair Certified ASME R Stamp

Dunn is a fully
f ll certified
fi d ASME code
d ffacility
l offering
ff both
b h repair and
d new fabrication
f b services.

Contact Dunn today to discuss your plant requirements and how you can benefit by using the many services provided
by Dunn Heat Exchangers. Visit us at www.dunnheat.com.

281-337-1222 409-948-1704
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 CORPORATE PROFILE: DUNN HEAT EXCHANGERS, INC.
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

Critical Path
Performance = Success

In the early 60’s Dunn recognized a need for off-site Heat Exchanger Service
for the local Petro-Chemical plants. That idea that has grown from a shop of just
over 6,000 square feet serving 2 to 3 local plants, to a thriving business serving
more than 120 customers in 3 countries.
Since 1968, Dunn Heat Exchangers, Inc. has worked hard to become one of operations.
the largest Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Service companies. Serving clients Dunn owns and operates a fleet of tractor trailers for pickup and delivery of
needs throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Dunn specializes in your equipment. These trucks are specifically designed, totally enclosed flatbed
cleaning, repair, design, and fabrication of Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers and trailers, for safe transit of your equipment.
unfired pressure vessels. Dunn’s on site waste water treatment facility meets or exceeds all EPA stan-
With better than 150,000 square feet of covered workspace in Texas City, dards and guidelines for liquid and solid waste treatment and disposal.
Texas, Dunn is capable of handling your largest shutdowns meeting your plan- For additional information contact Dunn Heat Exchangers.
ning requirements, while alleviating turnaround congestion in your plant. Dunn
is available for operation twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.
Dunn’s service facility along with our cleaning capabilities enable us to clean
in excess of 80 tube bundles per week utilizing a variety of processes including
high pressure hydro blasting, sandblast, and thermal baking. Complimented by
an equally capable service facility, your heat exchangers receive the priority treat-
ment when serviced at Dunn Heat Exchangers.
Dunn has built a reputation on prompt service of your heat exchangers. While
unexpected discovery work, seems to expand work scope all too often we are
prepared and equipped to handle that emergency retube, replacement bundle,
component or full replacement exchanger that your needs may dictate.
Dunn’s custom designed Band Saw has a maximum cut of 96 inches and plays
a vital part in our exchanger repair and metal recycling services.
Dunn is a certified “U” and “R” stamp ASME and National Board shop.
Backed by a full machine shop and a qualified staff of welders and machinist we Contact information
are ready to meet you fabrication needs. 410 21st Street South
Dunn now manufactures a full line of tapered tube plugs, stocking carbon Texas City, TX 77590
steel, stainless steel and brass. Special material requirements are manufactured Phone: 409-948-1704
as requested. 281-337-1222
Dunn offers a service to help you with decommission and disposal of your Fax: 409-945-9873
“out of service” obsolete equipment. This turnkey service includes safe transport, Email: [email protected]
dismantling and cleaning of equipment that is no longer required for plant Website: www.dunnheat.com
KPE
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When space is limited . . . Microtherm - Truly the Best Performance at High Temperatures

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• 127 °F Cold Face (11 °F lower) • 187 °F Cold Face
• 228 BTU/ft•hr Heat Loss (51% less) • 451 BTU/ft•hr Heat Loss (3% less)
• Save Space, Weight, & Energy! • Minimize Space and Weight!

www.microthermgroup.com
Microtherm Inc. +1 865 681 0155
Microtherm NV +32 3 760 19 80
Nippon Microtherm +81 3 3377KPE
2821
Select 100 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
 CORPORATE PROFILE: MICROTHERM
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

The world leader in

high performance insulation
Microtherm is the world’s leading producer of microporous insulation, which
offers the lowest thermal conductivity of any insulation at high temperatures.
Microtherm has been producing this high performance insulation for more than
forty years and offers the best thermal performance in a variety of product forms.
The offering of many product forms allows Microtherm to meet the needs of many
different applications in a variety of different markets.
Microtherm is a microporous insulation, which basically means that the insu-
lation consists of a series of microscopic pores that compartmentalize air. These
tiny pockets of air are so small, they almost completely prevent air molecules
from coming into contact with one another and therefore they prevent most heat
transfer from gas conduction and convection. Added to this pore structure is a
precise mineral oxide opacifier that works to stop heat transfer through radia-
tion. This combination works together to stop heat transfer through all modes
and the net result is a thermal conductivity lower than that of still air and also a
thermal conductivity that does not change much across the temperature scale.
The “k” value of Microtherm is thus better than all other insulations at elevated
temperatures because other insulations have a dramatic increase in their ther-
Microtherm Slatted Panels installed on a vessel.
mal conductivity as their mean temperature increases. The thermal conductivity
of Microtherm is always very low, but the higher the mean temperature of an products mentioned above can qualify for fire protection credits with a single
application, the more benefit Microtherm will have over other insulations as layer application if certain other criteria are met. The result can be a much thinner
their thermal conductivities increase with temperature. In addition to this great and easier to handle removable fire blanket. This provides yet another benefit for
thermal performance is the fact that Microtherm contains no organics or binders using Microtherm products in certain applications.
and no respirable fibers. The lack of organics makes Microtherm noncombustible In addition to these most common Microtherm products used in the petro-
and the lack of respirable fibers means that Microtherm is a safe, environmentally chemical industry, Microtherm offers many other products as well. Microtherm
friendly material to work with. offers rigid panels and boards, bare blocks of Microtherm insulation, vacuum
As the thermal conductivity of other insulations increase with temperature, insulated panels (VIPs), and even a granulated formula of Microtherm for filling
the fact is that only a fraction of the thickness of these conventional insulations voids in complex geometry. With such a wide variety of offerings, Microtherm
would be required if Microtherm is utilized. This is often taken advantage of is able to meet the needs of practically any application that may benefit from
in applications where space is at a premium or if the weight of the insulation using this high performance insulation. Evidence of this is the wide spread use
could have an adverse effect. Microtherm insulation products can be used to of Microtherm in fields as diverse as fuel cells, concentrated solar power, nuclear,
achieve equivalent cold face temperatures or equivalent heat loss in a much steel and non–ferrous, glass, aerospace, marine, automotive, rail, military, passive
thinner insulation package than convention insulations would require, or fire protection, dataloggers and many others.
Microtherm can be used in an equivalent thickness to provide a much lower Please take the time to contact Microtherm today to learn more about the
cold face temperature and thus heat loss savings as well. The yield of a process high performance insulation products they offer. An Application Engineer with
can also be increased with Microtherm by utilizing a larger diameter pipe or Microtherm will be happy to work towards finding the best product solution for
vessel insulated with Microtherm in the same space where a previously designed any given application. Take this time to learn about Microtherm products and
system required a greater insulation thickness using conventional insulations. optimize the potential of your process.
Applications where precise temperature control is important can also make
good use of Microtherm because no other insulation can retain heat as well as
this excellent insulation.
Microtherm offers many different product forms of insulation to suit a wide
variety of needs. In the petrochemical industry, the most common products are
Molded Pipe Sections (MPS), Slatted panels, and Quilted products. Microtherm
MPS products are sized to fit nominal pipe sizes from ½” up to 28” pipe. Micro-
therm Slatted panels are segmented panels made to roll around a large pipe or Contact information
vessel and can be utilized on any diameter 24” or greater. Microtherm Quilted 3269 Regal Drive
products are available as rolls (Microtherm SlimFlex) or as distinct quilts (Micro- Alcoa, TN 37701
therm Quilted panels). Both of these Microtherm Quilted products are flexible and Microtherm Inc. +1 865 681 0155
able to conform to nearly any geometry that is necessary. All of these Microtherm Microtherm NV +32 3 760 19 80
products are suitable for use up to 1832° F (1000° C). Nippon Microtherm +81 3 3377 2821
The combination of low thermal conductivity and noncombustible properties E-mail: [email protected]
allows Microtherm to also be utilized in fire protection roles. The Microtherm Website: www.microthermgroup.com
KPE
SPONSORED CONTENT HYDROCARBON PROCESSING TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011
I T-69
O U R E N G I N E E R I N G AT R E N T E C H C R E AT E S

RENTECH Boiler Services specializes in engineered repairs, rebuilds and

upgrades of industrial boilers using headered membrane waterwall design.
We retrofit any style of boiler, making RENTECH your one-source boiler company.
Our work meets NBIC and ASME standards. To reduce operating costs, eliminate
shutdowns, allow faster start-up and cool-down, and reduce emissions, call for
personal service from RENTECH Boiler Services.

RENTECH
Boiler Services, Inc.

For more information, email us at [email protected]

visit us online at WWW.RENTECHSERVICES.COM
or call us at 325.672.2900 KPE
Select 83 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
 CORPORATE PROFILE: RENTECH BOILER SERVICES
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

Not all boilers are rebuilt equally

An efficient rebuilt boiler is the combined result of its redesign, engineering

and fabrication. Our engineering at RENTECH Boiler Services creates reliable boiler
upgrades. RENTECH is your one-source, full-service boiler company because we
provide reliable upgrades for many types of industrial boilers. We specialize in
engineered repairs, rebuilds and retrofits of boilers using headered membrane
waterwall design that eliminates refractory walls and seals.
You’ll find satisfied customers of RENTECH in a variety of industries – including
refining, petro-chemical, manufacturing and power generation – across the U.S. and
in several other countries. Our engineers along with our service and manufacturing Our employees at RENTECH Boiler Services have accumulated more than 1,000
technicians work together in our state-of-the-art plant and in the field. RENTECH years of combined service. Our plant covers 12 acres at RENTECH headquarters in
is proud of its reputation and record of service. We work diligently to help our Abilene, Texas.
customers operate their boilers more efficiently and safely, and our work is backed In recent years our customers have included 3M, Alon Chemical, ChevronTexaco,
by the best warranty in the industry. Dallas Independent School District, Entergy, Sinclair, Sunoco, Texas Tech University,
Our people make the difference because of their experience, knowledge and University of Texas, and Valero. One Valero project engineer said, “I was very
dedication to customer service. Our qualified engineers understand all process impressed with the level of service and quality of work that Rentech Boiler Services
conditions, and they can optimize your system and improve its performance in a was able to provide. I awarded a fast-track job to Rentech for fabrication of a boiler
cost-effective manner on your original footprint. We offer fully integrated solutions tube bundle on a critical piece of equipment. Rentech was able to deliver a great
that comply with all performance criteria. Boilers upgraded or repaired by RENTECH quality product to the refinery on schedule.”
provide: We realize that an efficient boiler contributes to your profitability. So if a boiler
• faster start-up and cool-down is crucial to your plant’s operations, and your outdated boiler is costing you time and
• cooler furnace environment money, call or email today to discover a solution that’s right for you from RENTECH
• minimize unscheduled outages Boiler Services. RENTECH is building a reputation, not resting on one.
• improved combustion control
Since 1997 RENTECH has provided quality products and services, including
superheaters, economizers, sulfur condensers, burner and CO/SCR system retro-
fits, seal-welded furnaces, watertube and firetube boilers, heat recovery boilers,
and solid fuel fired boilers. We strictly abide by National Board Inspection Code
(NBIC) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards. Our
engineering knowledge, advanced technology and commitment to customer ser- Contact information
vice combine to produce value for each customer by reducing operating costs, 5025-C Highway 80
eliminating shutdowns, reducing emissions and extending boiler life. Customers Abilene, TX 79601
with boilers upgraded by RENTECH spend less on maintenance, allowing them Phone: 325-672-2900
to redirect those funds for other needs in their budgets for daily operations and E-mail: [email protected]
capital improvements. Website: WWW.RENTECHSERVICES.COM
KPE
SPONSORED CONTENT HYDROCARBON PROCESSING TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011
I T-71
Filtering Everything
that Flows through Industry

Since 1921 Dollinger has stood at the forefront of filtration technology, serving a vast range of industries
around the world with a wide breadth of service and scope of products.

t
Air Intake Filter Systems t
High Efficiency Filter Panels & Cartridges
- Multistage
t
Oil Mist Eliminators
- Pulse Jet [self-cleaning]
- Inertial spin [maintenance free] t
Lube Oil Filter Systems

SPX Flow Technology

Tel: | 800 | 344 | 2611
Email: [email protected]
www.dollinger-spx.com
www.spxft.com

KPE
Select 99 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
 CORPORATE PROFILE: DOLLINGER FILTRATION
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

Filtering everything…
…that flows through industry
In 1921 Dollinger laid its foundation with the development of the world’s first
air intake filter for the automotive industry. Dollinger built on this success to become
a leader in process filtration technology, serving a diverse range of industries with
contaminant removal for air, gas, and liquid processes.
Today Dollinger is an SPX company and a global provider of engineered prod-
ucts and service solutions. These solutions provide technological advancements to
the process industries striving to achieve higher efficiencies and output, reduce
downtime, energy consumption, and environmental impacts.
Headquartered in Ocala, FL, U.S.A., Dollinger ensures business leaders will
achieve better operational capabilities by tailoring filtration solutions to their
individual needs.
Our leadership in filtration technology is supported by renowned global exper-
tise with engineering offices in Europe, North America, India, Asia, and beyond. Our
customers benefit from international engineering knowledge with a local focus.
Our philosophy began with dedication to supply high-quality products and
continues today with innovation through engineering.

Serving Markets Worldwide. For decades, Dollinger has been

designing and manufacturing filtration and separation equipment for a broad range
of industries and applications around the globe.
The markets we serve include Oil and Gas (Offshore and Production, Process-
ing and Refining, Storage, Transportation & Distribution), Power Generation, Air
Separation, Petrochemical, Chemical, Nitric Acid/Fertilizer Production, Waste Gas
and Biofuels and Glass Container Manufacturing. Dollinger service technician installing Pulse Jet filters into a
By implementing Dollinger’s premium industrial filtration products and systems, new installation. Replacing elements is necessary for optimal
many industries have been able to implement complete solutions engineered to performance and operation of your compressed air systems.
specific needs. These support systems keep their operations running reliably—with 0.3 micron and larger, thus removing virtually 100% of visible oil mist emissions.
uptime assurance for their total peace of mind. This performance places Dollinger at the very forefront of oil mist elimination
However extreme the condition Dollinger maintains mission-critical operations technology. The extracted oil mist droplets can be returned back to the lube oil
all around the world with innovative technology engineered to handle the most system removing health, safety and environmental concerns as well as making
aggressive contaminants. significant cost savings
Keeping fluids clean and free from contaminant and moisture, is an essential
Scope of Products, Breadth of Service. Dollinger special- requirement for maintaining efficiency. Partnered with Vokes filters and filtration
izes in fluid and air management, leveraging unmatched capabilities to make your systems, Dollinger can also provide Liquid Coalescers, Fuel Filtration, Lubricating Oil
operation more successful. With a wide range of filtration products and services, Filtration and Stream-Line Systems for insulating fluid treatment.
Dollinger will help you improve fluid and air quality therefore increasing profitability
by optimizing the performance of processing equipment.
Process Pipeline Filters. Dollinger offers Process Filtration Equipment for
the Oil & Gas, Petrochemical and Power Generation Industries around the globe.
This product range includes both gas and liquid fabricated pressure vessel filters.
Custom designs can be incorporated and there are options available to package
filter vessels onto a skid arrangement with any required instrumentation or control
equipment with ensured compliance to all relevant codes. Contact information
Air Intake Filter Systems. Our technical development facilities are 4647 SW 40th Avenue
located throughout Europe, North America, South America and Asia, and are used to Ocala, FL 34474-5788
simulate a diverse range of environmental conditions, in order to provide you with a Phone: 800-344-2611
detailed technical assessment of your current and desired filter system. Whether pro- Fax: 800-263-4788
ducing a small retrofit weather hood, through to a large air intake system with full E-mail: [email protected]
enclosure, our engineers have decades of experience and are dedicated to designing Websites: www.dollinger-spx.com or www.spxft.com
and delivering a system which will ensure maximum output from your machine.
Fuel and Lubricating Oil Filters. The Dollinger Oil Mist Eliminators
(OME) is a filtration system of superior efficiency–it collects 99.97% of oil droplets
KPE
SPONSORED CONTENT HYDROCARBON PROCESSING TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011
I T-73
CORPORATE PROFILE: VOITH
TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011

World-class in turbo gears and service

Voith Turbo BHS Getriebe GmbH, Germany has been one of the world’s leading Turbo is the specialist for hydrodynamic drive, coupling and braking systems for
manufacturers of Turbo Gears for over 75 years. road, rail and industrial applications, as well as for ship propulsion systems.
More than 20,000 references and over 100,000 MW installed capacity are Voith sets standards in the markets energy, oil and gas, paper, raw materials
impressive evidence of the very high level of customer confidence in the products and transportation and automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs almost 40 000
and services. people, generates €5.2 billion in sales, operates in about 50 countries around the
Due to the highly qualified workforce and the latest manufacturing techniques, world and is today one of the biggest family-owned companies in Europe.
BHS is capable of providing optimized gearbox solutions even to surpass the strin-
gent demands of every OEM, engineering company or plant operator.
BHS offers a broad spectrum of power transmission products to meet the needs
of the Oil & Gas industry for upstream, midstream and downstream applications.
The designs have achieved pitchline velocities of over 200m/sec (660 ft/sec) and
pinion speeds of 100,000 rpm. Up to 80 MW can be tramitted by the gearboxes. Contact information
All customers are fully supported through a first class global sales and service Hans-Boeckler Strasse 7, 87527 Sonthofen, Germany
network. This applies for their own units, supplied under the trademarks BHS, New business +49 (0)8321 802-502
BHS Sonthofen, BHS-Voith, BHS-Cincinnati, BHS Getriebe, Krupp, Voith and Voith Service +49 (0)8321 802-555
Turbo BHS Getriebe, but also other manufactureres. As a recognized world leader Fax: New business +49 (0)8321 802-685
in providing reliable, efficient, high quality gear units they successfully meet the Fax: Service +49 (0)8321 802-545
challenges of today’s high speed turbomachinery applications. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Voith Turbo BHS Getriebe GmbH is part of Voith Turbo’s industry division. Voith Website: www.bhs-getriebe.com or www.bhs-gearbox-service.com
ai_BHS_60.2_en aio

Service Technician Herbert Kuisle

Reach our new Houston Service Center

at (281) 453-5500

Service for Unparalleled Gearbox Performance

Professional services offered from a single source are:
Field Service | Customer Training | Condition Monitoring | Original Spares
Maintenance | Repairs | Service Agreements | Consultation | Commissioning

We are available anytime, in emergencies 24 hours, 7 days a week. Via our worldwide service network we are always only a
few steps away. Call us at +49 (0)8321 802-555 on our service portfolio or check at www.bhs-gearbox-service.com
Voith Turbo BHS Getriebe GmbH
Sonthofen / Germany
www.bhs-getriebe.com

KPE
T-74
I TURNAROUND AND MAINTENANCE 2011 Select 166 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS SPONSORED CONTENT
 PLANT SAFETY BONUSREPORT

Process safety: Blind spots

and red flags
Improving safety for organizations involve more than technological
solutions; understanding processes and plant interactions are a must
T. SHEPHARD, Mustang Engineering, LP, Houston, Texas

T
he Process Safety Management if an IPL is inadequate, degraded or fails. effective if performed at the wrong time or
(PSM) regulation 29 CFR 1910.119 Undefined hazards also exist and the asso- under stress; thus, errors can be missed. A
was developed in response to a series ciated hazard consequence and likelihood purchase order with a single digit error in a
of major accidents. These same events led are unknown. lengthy model number procures the wrong
to the creation of the safety instrumented material. A person with essential techni-
system (SIS) standard, ANSI/ISA-84.00.01- Project execution. Today’s typical cal knowledge misses a key meeting. An
2004 Part 1 (IEC 61511-1 Mod). Both pro- large-scale engineering projects have major inspector misses an important detail at a
vide a wholistic, lifecycle approach to the teams that interact with many organiza- factory check. Undetected errors can occur
design, operation and maintenance of SIS tions and companies. In a relatively short in the engineering data exchange between
and facilities. Plant safety improves when time, they generate thousands of docu- companies if the data exchange protocols
these programs are implemented, although ments and a thousand-fold increase in are not well defined or managed.
accidents can still occur. project data that resides in many forms, Construction projects have a higher
From studies of major accidents, most formats and systems. This information is number of personnel who work within a
result from the simultaneous occurrence of communicated through many different physically more hazardous environment.
multiple and seemingly minor errors and media. Being a human endeavor, quality Onsite decisions are constant. Items don’t
“incidents” that interact in complex and checkpoints are added at key points. Sched- fit, material cannot be located or a key per-
unforeseen ways. 1 PSM and ANSI/ISA ule compression tends to increase error son in the communication channel is taken
84.00.01 are similar in that both have inter- rates and challenge the quality-check pro- ill. A missed or inaccurate positive material
dependent elements that work together to cess. Compression is common to fast-track check on a case of bulk alloy fittings is not
reduce the likelihood of errors and hazards projects, and can occur with late design detected. If detected, the installed locations
that can contribute to an accident. A failure changes, delayed decisions and extended may be unknown. The transition from
or error in any element becomes the weak approval cycles. Quality checks become less construction to pre-commissioning and
link. This article explores some of the hid-
den errors and conditions that can occur
Ops/maint.
during the SIS or facility life cycle, and req’mts. Fn safety
plan
refers to them as “blind spots.” Examples
of their varied modes and risks are high- LOPA Bypass,
SIS
schematic
report & reset, Standards
lighted. “Red flags” are a common prelude F/U SIF manual definitions
diagrams
to a major accident. As an aid to revealing requirements ESD
SIL & STR targets SIS
blind spots, an awareness of common red architecture
Test & diagnostic & interfaces
flags may be helpful. Examples from major Target SIL & STR req’mts, SIF change
P&IDs,
process
SIL calcs.
accidents are listed. Target test intervals
Vendor reliability data
& studies
to meet SIL
SRS Valve failure mode engr.
“Blind spots” are often recognized as SIS Process response
Equipment, architecture time, trip settings
a significant contributor to a major acci- diagnostics, & loop Validation
standard design
dent. Those discussed here have hid- architecture results Validation SIL calculations
test & inspection
den or unforeseen mechanisms that can Approved vendor list
SIS & SIF
Make &
results
loop Action list, validation status
degrade an SIS or a safety management project design standards design model
SIF design & status, required
program. Independent protection layers Reports diagnostics minimum test
Instr. frequency, auto-generated
(IPLs) applied to reduce risk are methodi- data Design test procedures
cally selected and implemented to reduce sheets req’mts. Application software SRS,
detailed design definition
the probability of hazard occurrence to a
tolerable risk. Typical IPLs include relief FIG. 1 Safety requirements specification (SRS).
valves, alarms and SIS. Accidents can result
KPE
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 75
BONUSREPORT PLANT SAFETY

startup involves handoffs of many docu- upgrades often have subtle and undocu- as experienced by a stressed individual
ments and status reports—all opportunities mented technical and performance differ- may be significantly longer than perceived.
for missed information. ences. Implementing a change before it is When presented with a problem, humans
fully tested introduces an unknown risk. tend to develop a mental model of what is
Safety assessments. Safety assess- If a facility’s software backup and recov- happening and select data that supports
ments such as hazard and operability ery procedures are inadequate or not fol- that model. Data that does not support
studies (HAZOPS) identify hazards and lowed, then the wrong program or an out- the model is often ignored—a condition
quantify their respective risks. A hidden dated version may be loaded in response that has contributed to major accidents.
deficiency in this process can result in risks to an unplanned emergency repair. Inad- On the positive side, humans are essential
that are underestimated so that the applied equate physical and administrative control because they provide the only means avail-
IPLs are inadequate. A hazard can be missed of an engineering work station connected able to mitigate or manage a hazard that
or incorrectly assessed if the team is missing to a safety system can compromise system was previously unknown and has no other
key technical, operating or maintenance integrity. Sensitive process control net- safeguards.
expertise.2 Combustion and process experts works, thought to be isolated, may, in fact,
are needed to assess the complex impact of connect to a business network or unpro- Organization. High-performance
a major fuel gas drum swing on multiple tected Internet connection and become organizations of the type needed to man-
fired vessels across the facility. Perhaps the a tempting target for computer hackers age high-integrity safety systems and
burner data sheets no longer exist so it is worldwide. Cross-connection of a process- successfully merge PSM and ANSI/
not possible to verify if the burners can control system network to a business enter- ISA S84.00.01 are not at a natural state;
operate safely with the current fuel-gas prise network opens the opportunity for a the laws of entropy apply. Organizations
composition range. Expertise needed to control system interruption or upset that undergo continuous change, whether desired
identify and accurately assess hazards that may be caused by a routine business net- or not. The organization affects the other
are unique to rotating equipment, exother- work administrative change or update. listed modes in positive and negative ways,
mal reactors and high-pressure equipment High-integrity pressure protective sys- which means it contributes to blind spots.
may also be missing. The assessment may tems (HIPPS) are increasingly being used A seemingly subtle change in priorities,
fail to consider all modes of operation, to reduce project cost or increase produc- staffing, training, work processes, safety
common mode failures, process response tion. A well-designed and managed HIPPS culture, age, technical expertise or tools can
time or the complex scenarios that can offers safety benefits, but is also a “high- significantly affect process safety as it inter-
result when a major upset occurs in a tech” solution that replaces a low-tech solu- acts with other listed modes.
shared utility system, e.g., steam, instru- tion that is well understood. Management When SIS progresses through its life
ment air or cooling water. of HIPPS and other SIL 3, high-integrity cycle, the safety requirements specification
A safety related alarm applied as an IPL safety systems require a mature, disciplined (SRS) provides the essential foundation
may be invalid. This can occur if an opera- and technically talented organization for document needed to define and maintain
tor cannot reliably respond to the alarm the duration of the system’s life cycle. Most system integrity. Fig. 1 summarizes the
within the process response time (pref- of the blind-spot failures discussed here can information included in this document. An
erable half the time). Further, the alarm degrade this system. Because a SIL 3 system inadvertent change in any item can degrade
IPL is invalid if a common event generates is typically implemented to mitigate a high- or disable one or more safety instru-
multiple alarms that exceed the generally consequence safety hazard, its failure or mented functions residing in that safety
recognized operator alarm response limit degradation can result in a major accident. system. Mapping each datum element to
of 10 alarms in a 10 minute period.3 The the department, technical discipline or
assessment may fail to explore this possibil- Human factors. Humans will always organization charged with its creation or
ity. Finally, if the alarm is invalid, then the make mistakes regardless of age, training management provides an indication of the
SIL assigned to an associated safety instru- and level of experience. A well-designed potential challenge. The opportunity for
mented function may be insufficient. system, organization or procedure inte- hidden errors and changes increases when
grates humans into activities and processes elements are distributed across organiza-
Technology. New technology and new where they are known to perform well, tional boundaries.
designs often create unforeseen “challenges.” and it avoids or minimizes activities that If the group charged with managing a
When the industry embraced open sys- humans are known to perform less reli- PSM program operates like a regulatory
tems, the Microsoft Operating System ably. If this is not the case, the expected organization, then the expected safety man-
became a standard component in many error rate will be higher, and the resulting agement culture and practices are probably
control systems. The unforeseen risk was errors may be overt, hidden or unforeseen. not being fully realized, although “full com-
an ongoing urgency to install frequent soft- Human error in any type of process or pliance” may be what’s listed in company
ware “patches” to correct security holes and activity increases when humans are under reports. Current organizational structures
software stability problems. Another is the tasked, over tasked or placed under stress.5 may be an impediment when attempting
increased exposure to destructive viruses Human error is not random, but it is to merge the requirements of ANSI/ISA
of the type recently revealed as the Stuxnet now understood to be systematic. The S84.00.01 into the existing organization.
virus.4 Computer servers require frequent error is biased by the systems, culture and How organizations integrate this standard
replacement due to early obsolescence. environments in which humans oper- with their PSM program appears to be
Control-system vendors press users to ate. 5 Under high stress, the perception an early work in progress for many. Until
upgrade application software and hardware of time can become distorted. During a this process is complete and the “bugs” are
to ensure future product support. These plant emergency, the actual elapsed time worked out, mistakes will happen.
KPE
76
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 PLANT SAFETY BONUSREPORT

Operations and maintenance. slightly different form, can occur during Red flags. Several blind spot modes have
Operating modes may exist that are “below the engineering phase of a project when been discussed. Many others exist, includ-
the radar” and, therefore, not assessed from a tight schedule conflicts with the time ing training, standards and procedures,
a safety and risk perspective. A facility may needed to finish a safety-critical assess- physical environment and regulatory envi-
regularly have a manual bypass valve open ment or quality check. ronment, to name a few. A complete listing
around a control valve to increase through- of possible blind spots within each mode
put. Others may operate a fired process Accident investigations. Analyzing can fill volumes. To limit their accident
heater when a forced draft fan has failed. and identifying the root cause of a near contributions, an awareness and accep-
A damper is opened and the heater is oper- miss or an accident is an essential element tance that blind spots exist are essential.
ated in a natural draft mode that was not in a safety management program. Past Another important element in a safety
considered in its original design. An opera- theory and practices for accident investi- management program should include an
tor tweaks a mechanical stop on a fuel-gas gations took an approach that often cited awareness of the red flags that often pre-
valve, changing a process heater’s minimum “operator error” as the root cause. The new cede a catastrophic accident. Management
firing rate. Use of safety system bypasses theory, which takes a much wider view, will and safety leaders should give pause when
may become a common and casual act. The often trace the root cause to a management they hear several important listed words;
duration that a safety function is bypassed failure or a failure of the organization or they may have just arrived at “that point,
may be increasing, but it is not tracked and system in which humans function.5 Those that last chance” when a critical failure can
goes unnoticed. applying the old approach (still common- be prevented:
On the maintenance side, off-the- place) are not aware of where the true weak- • Experience says that will never hap-
books repairs and undocumented soft- ness in their systems exists, so similar acci- pen (most catastrophic accidents)6, 7
ware changes may be implemented in dents may reoccur. • We need to reduce maintenance,
response to a problem that occurs during staffing and training to cut costs (Bhopal
an unscheduled event, holiday weekend Management and leadership. MIC release)7
maintenance callout. Spare parts used may All organizations, whether they are proj- • “So we are all in agreement, RIGHT”
not actually meet the “replacement in kind” ect teams or operating facilities, face the (Shuttle Challenger and Columbia Disas-
requirement of PSM or the more rigorous dichotomy of balancing process safety ters)6
requirements in ANSI/ISA S84.00.01. with production, cost and schedule • We don’t have time for that (most
Changes may be made without applying demands. By words, actions and exam- catastrophic accidents)6, 7
the “Management of Change” process ples, management and safety leaders • Prove to me that it is not safe (Shuttle
(from PSM), or perhaps the process is not demonstrate their expectations. Subordi- Challenger and Columbia Disaster).6 HP
sufficiently controlled or transparent. nates interpret this message and bias their
actions and attitudes accordingly. Given LITERATURE CITED
1 Perrow, C., Normal Accidents: Living with High-
Risk acceptance creep. Individual the challenges of communications in large
Risk Technologies, New York, Basic Books Inc.,
risk tolerances can shift when the person and complex organizations, a few misun- 1999.
is faced with an immediate decision on derstood words or an ambiguous or con- 2 Shephard, T. and D. Hansen, “IEC 61511
whether to proceed (e.g., maintain pro- flicting message may degrade the process Implementation—The Execution Challenge,”
duction) or revert to a known safe state safety attitude of employees. Control, May 2010.
3 Bullemer, P. and D. Metzger, “CCPS Process
(e.g., shutdown). Risk acceptance appears For example, the appearance of an Safety Metric Review: Considerations from an
to increase or perhaps, risk denial occurs. overriding priority on production may ASM Perspective, ” ASM Consortium Metrics
For example, a difficult new unit startup is bias an operator’s belief that a unit- Work Group, May 23, 2008.
4 Bartels, N., “Worst Fears Realized,” Control
nearing completion. A safety event occurs, shutdown button should only be used if
Engineering, September 24, 2010.
forcing the person in charge to decide on the hazard is certain and imminent. The 5 Decker, S., The Field Guide to Understanding
whether to proceed or shut down. The systematic bias may be to delay a safety Human Error, Surrey UK, Ashgate Publishing
risk associated with proceeding is not response when it conflicts with produc- Ltd., Reprint 2010.
6 Brigadier Gen. Duane W. Deal, USAF, “Beyond
immediately clear or understood. The tion. A downsizing that lays off a key tech-
the Widget: Columbia Accidents Lesson Learned
time-sensitive decision increases stress nical expert who provides maintenance Affirmed,” Air & Space Power Journal, Summer
and may offer little time to consult others support for a highly technical safety sys- 2004.
who may understand the risk. (Perhaps the tem, places that system at risk. Manage- 7 Joseph, G., M. Kaszniak and L. Long, “Lessons
person who understands the risk is not in ment and safety leaders may not be aware After Bhopal: CSB a Catalyst for Change,” Journal o
f Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, Vol. 18,
a position to affect critical decisions.) The of the possible limitations in their safety Issues 4–6, July–November 2005.
decision to proceed or shut down reflects management program. Many companies
the attributes of the decision-makers and are implementing behavior-based safety
how they have internalized their under- programs that have been very effective
standing of the company’s management at reducing injuries and accidents. These
Tom Shephard is an automa-
expectations, safety culture, priorities and same programs may be less effective at tion project manager at Mustang
training. The decision to proceed is made, revealing or mitigating errors caused by Engineering. He has 28 years of con-
and the situation improves, worsens or technology or project execution blind trol and safety system experience in
remains unclear. This may be followed by spots. An assumption that a given safety the oil and gas, refining, marketing
and chemical industries. Mr. Shepherd is a Certified
another decision to proceed and it fol- program sufficiently encompasses the full Automation Professional (ISA) and a certified Project
lows the well-worn adage, “in for a penny, breadth of the safety management chal- Management Professional (PMI). He holds a BS degree
in for a pound.” This phenomenon, in a lenge may be a serious blind spot. in chemical engineering from Notre Dame University.
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Consider new design criteria

equipment modules
Construction offers cost-effective protection of critical systems
D. COLE and D. AUSTIN, Lectrus, Chattanooga, Tennessee

T
he January 2011 HP article, “Considerations for blast- accidents involving the release of potentially dangerous materials,
resistant electrical equipment centers,” focused on the his- energy releases (such as fires and explosions), or both. Process
tory, background and key considerations of blast-resistant safety incidents can have catastrophic effects and can result in
modules (BRMs) and blast-resistant electrical equipment centers multiple injuries and fatalities, as well as substantial economic,
(BRECs), designed to protect personnel and vital electrical con- property and environmental damage. Process safety refinery
trols, respectively. The article outlined the benefits of utilizing pro- incidents can affect workers inside the refinery and members of
tective shelters at hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) plants. the public who reside nearby. Process safety in a refinery involves
The premise for greater concern with regard to both personnel preventing leaks, spills, equipment malfunctions, over-pressures,
and process safety was established. Whereas the discussion gave excessive temperatures, corrosion, metal fatigue and other similar
light to both shelter types, this article focuses specifically on the conditions. Process safety programs focus on the design and engi-
detailed aspects of BRECs: design, construction, analysis, blast neering of facilities, hazard assessments, management of change,
load testing, test results and conclusions. inspection, testing and maintenance of equipment, effective
Following the Texas City, Texas, incident of March 23, 2005, a alarms, effective process control, procedures, training of person-
special panel headed by former Secretary of State James Baker was nel and human factors. The Texas City tragedy in March 2005
convened. The panel findings are documented in what became was a process safety accident (Fig. 1).”
known as the “Baker Report” of January 2007. One of the most This underscores the need for risk managers, planners and
notable sets of statements made in the report places process safety engineers at HPI plants to put as much emphasis on providing
on par with personnel safety: process safety as they do on personnel safety. It naturally follows
“Not all refining hazards are caused by the same factors or that implementing and utilizing BRECs at refineries directly
involve the same degree of potential damage. Personal or occupa- impact process safety. In addition to maintaining critical process
tional safety hazards give rise to incidents—such as slips, falls and operations during and after an overpressure incident, blast-resis-
vehicle accidents—that primarily affect one individual worker tant equipment shelters can limit extensive downtime and prevent
for each occurrence. Process safety hazards can give rise to major ever having to replace critical equipment rendered inoperable or
destroyed due to the effects of a blast event.

Demonstrating BREC technology. With respect to the

current response to market demand for BRECs, the most impor-
tant challenges are industry awareness and acceptance. Owners
and engineers in the HPI and chemical industries are identifying
the need for blast-rated protection of essential and critical equip-
ment, especially in light of recent refinery overpressure incidents
such as those cited here and in the January 2011 article.
The precedent and need for BRECs are without argument, and
this formed the basis of an extensive research and development
program that established three specific equipment-center con-
struction types—two being of interlocking steel-panel construc-
tion and the third utilizing fully welded, crimped steel plate. Now
a verifiable revolution in the industry, the use of interlocking steel-
panel construction for BRECs addresses both cost-effectiveness
and critical-protection factors.

First considerations. As discussed previously, the most desir-

FIG. 1 The Texas City tragedy in March 2005 was a process safety able location for electrical equipment centers at HPI plants is as
accident. Source: Chemical Safety Board. close to the processing operation and maintenance personnel as
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possible. Therefore, in establishing baseline criteria for BREC nearly 1,000 feet from the blast-area center sustained damage to
performance and system design, the first step taken is typically a varying degrees.
siting analysis. Table 1 describes three levels of blast pressure damage on build-
ings in HPI facilities subject to blast loads. As information, the
Siting analyses. Site maps of refining facilities containing terms damage level and response level are often used interchange-
concentric rings that depict various explosive potential levels are ably, as shown in Table 2.
used in required siting analyses. The rings indicate overpressure
levels in psi, with the higher pressures appearing at the potential Optimal blast-resistance and affordability. Recently,
blast sources or positions between blast potentials. Blast sources a highly advanced team of designers and engineering managers
and reflective convergences appear in much the same manner as with decades of experience in blast-resistant structures made a
do the peaks on a topographical map. The site map of the Texas decision that is significantly impacting the HPI: A thorough
City refinery is shown in Fig. 2. research, analysis and testing program would be undertaken to
rate the performance limits of existing electrical equipment cen-
Standoff distances. The best way to protect a building from ter designs. It was also understood that test results would, at the
blast loads is to ensure that it is kept as far from the blast load same time, provide needed feedback leading to improvements
origin as possible. By contrast, the structures that shelter equip- in blast-resistant structure construction, and also determine the
ment required to maintain essential or critical systems are often best possible material and design technology combinations for
required to be inside the potential blast zone. Close proximity for the most advanced equipment shelters.
equipment is also often a function of cost due to power losses and
equipment derating, as well as the heavy power cables connected Analysis phase: complete BREC and components.
to the equipment. Computer analysis began, using a single-degree-of-freedom
(SDOF) approach, analyzing the maximum BREC compo-
Blast loads. The load on a structure from a nearby explosion nent response at various blast loadings. The SDOF approach
takes the form of an almost instantaneous pressure increase to was used to determine the blast-load capacities for various
a maximum value, followed by a brief period during which the pressure-impulse (P-i) combinations. P-i diagrams (Fig. 3) are
pressure decays back to its ambient value. Pressures are measured commonly used in protective-structure preliminary designs to
in psi and kPa. establish safe response limits for given blast-loading scenarios.
A free-field blast load is the measurement of a blast pressure Considered here was the potential peak pressure experienced by
that radiates equally in all directions with no reflections. The side- wall panels in the blast-facing wall. The impulse was the blast
on pressure is equivalent to the unreflected wave pressure at the duration in milliseconds times the peak pressure in psi (or kPa).
point where it reaches the structure. This is the “rating” pressure This value is measured in psi-msec.
used to map the site and to position the blast-rated structures.
A free-field blast is the usual result of a vapor-cloud explosion TABLE 1. Building damage level/response level
(VCE). The pressure wave generated by the VCE impacts the descriptions
structure on the facing wall, creating a peak reflected pressure due
to the Doppler effect (change in the observed frequency of a wave) Building
of the pressure reflecting off the structure’s wall. damage level Component consequence
1 (low) Localized building damage. Building can be used; however,
Blast pressure effects. The VCE experienced during the repairs are required to restore structural-integrity envelope.
Texas City incident in 2005 produced a 2.49-psi (17.2-kPa)
Total repair cost is moderate.
free-field blast, which, in turn, produced an equivalent side-on
pressure. This pressure level was sufficient to destroy construc- 2 (medium) Widespread building damage. Building cannot be used until
tion trailers positioned within the blast zone, and, in fact, trailers repaired. Total repair cost is significant.
3 (high) Building has lost structural integrity and may collapse due
to environmental conditions (i.e., wind, snow, rain).
Total repair cost approaches building replacement cost.

TABLE 2. Component response levels and deflection

range

Component Stiffened wall and roof panels

Damage level 1 (low) Less than 2.1 in. Onset of visible damage;
component can be repaired.
Damage level 2 (medium) 2.1 in. to 4.2 in. Permanent deformation of
components requiring replacement.
Damage level 3 (high) 4.2 in. to 8.4 in. Substantial plastic deformation
approaching incipient collapse. Replacement is
FIG. 2 Site map of the Texas City, Texas blast-zone, showing areas required. Component failure is possible,
of greatest over-pressure. although not probable.
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TABLE 3. Shock tube test results

Peak applied Equivalent right Peak applied Peak dynamic
test pressure triangular peak impulse Duration deflection Observed
Specimen Test Panel type Screw size 1.2 (psi) pressure (psi) (psi-ms) (ms) (in.) damage level
A 1A 16 in. wide, 3 in. deep, 16Ga G90 #10 0.9 0.8 26 58 None visible Low
A 1B 16 in. wide, 3 in. deep, 16Ga G90 #10 2.8 2.4 97 69 5.5 High
B 1B 12 in. wide, 4 in. deep, 12Ga G90 #10 3.4 2.6 167 98 0.75 Low
B 2B 12 in. wide, 4 in. deep, 12Ga G90 #10 5.3 4.3 213 80 1.5 Low
B 3B 12 in. wide, 4 in. deep, 12Ga G90 #10 6.8 5.4 290 85 4 Medium
C 1C 12 in. wide, 4 in. deep, 11Ga G90 .25 in. 7.6 5.9 314 83 2 Low
C 2C 12 in. wide, 4 in. deep, 11Ga G90 .25 in. 8.5 6.2 462 109 4 Medium
D 1D .25 in. crimped plate N/A 6.8 5 277 81 2.5 Medium
D 2D .25 in. crimped plate N/A 12 8.7 755 126 7 High
E 1E 3 equipmet n doors N/A 4.4 4 114 52 N/A Doors remained
attached

Using the SDOF approach, engineers conducted a series of

5 single-panel evaluations on a 3-m-long, 81-cm-wide steel wall
panel section at the maximum deflection point; the measured
4 results were critical in modeling the BREC using FEA.
An entire BREC structure half-symmetry model (Fig. 4) was
3 also used, and it measured the walls’ blast resistance and integrity,
as well as the global response of the entire structure. Although
the front wall must resist the reflected load, the side-wall panels
2
also play an important role; they are essential in the transfer of
the roof loads to the foundation. Both the roof and ceiling were
1
modeled as double-panel systems as described for the wall, and
material properties were identical to those used in the analyses
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
validation phase.
The reflected load, as tested, used a peak pressure of 36.5 kPa
(5.29 psi) at 200 milliseconds applied to the exterior panel of
FIG. 3 Side-on pressure-impulse diagram for 2.7-mm wall panels.
the front wall. The side wall, back wall and roof were subjected
to side-on pressures, with a time lag included to the back wall in
the analysis to effectively capture the blast wave surrounding the
building. The highest stresses tended to occur at either the panel
mid-span or at its end connections with the roof and base steel.
Testing and recording results for these FEA building models
effectively completed the computer analysis phase.

Physical test specimen preparation. Subsequent to the

engineering team’s completion of the SDOF and FEA phases, a
risk consulting company was contracted to evaluate a series of
wall panel units by subjecting them to actual physical blast pres-
sures using a powerful device known as a shock tube. It may be
said that the shock tube is to blast-resistant design research and
testing what actual wind-tunnel testing is to the aeronautical and
automotive industries.
Fifteen tests were conducted on six different wall panel designs
using seven different wall specimens and combinations of 16-,
FIG. 4 Half-symmetry building model. 12- and 11-gauge steel. Multiple units were built for the 16-in.
wide by 3-in.-deep, 12-gauge G90 wall panel, and single speci-
mens were provided for the five remaining panel designs. Three
The complete electrical equipment center as an assembly was equipment access doors using three different gauges (14, 16 and
also evaluated using finite-element analysis (FEA). Using FEA, 18) and construction methods were installed on one panel to test
a BREC computer model was generated to verify resistance to a their performance limits.
2.5-psi blast load at 200 milliseconds (equivalent to the destruc-
tive Texas City blast load). Validations were performed to com- Test specimen construction. The physical test phase
pare the FEA results to the SDOF model’s results and verify the involved the wall, roof and floor systems, and equipment doors.
SDOF calculations. Cross-section drawings of the floor, wall and roof systems are
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TABLE 4. Effective side-on pressure ratings

Low response Low response Medium response Medium response High response High response
Specimen/ limiting limiting limiting limiting limiting limiting
Construction applied load side-on load applied load side-on load applied load side-on load
type Panel type (psi, psi-msec) (psi, psi-msec) (psi, psi-msec) (psi, psi-msec) (psi, psi-msec) (psi, psi-msec)
A/Type I 16 in. wide, 3 in. deep, 0.8, 26 0.4, 13 — — 2.4, 97 1.2, 47
16 Ga G90
B/Type II 12 in. wide, 4 in. deep, 4.3, 213 2.0, 101 5.4, 290 2.5, 136 — —
12 Ga G90
C/Type II 12 in. wide, 4 in. deep, 5.9, 314 2.8, 147 6.2, 462 2.9, 215 — —
11 Ga G90
D/Type III .25 in. crimped plate — — 5.0, 277 2.4, 131 8.7, 755 4.0, 344
E/Type I, II 3 equipment doors — — — — 4.0, 114 1.9, 54

shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Included in the analyses and testing was Interior wall
an optional inner wall comprising a series of 50-mm studs with a
1.2-mm steel liner panel. Other options for equipment support
include unistruts and structural tube steel. The ceiling has a set- 3 in.
up similar to the walls, but without the insulation and inner-liner
panel. The floor system consists of 6.3- to 9.5-mm metal plate
fastened above various hot-rolled steel beams and angles. Exterior interlocking wall panels 3 in. fiberglass insulation
Wall panels used in the analysis and testing were modeled as FIG. 5 Typical interlocking wall panel section.
ASTM A36 steel. It should be noted that BRECs are actually con-
structed of A653CQ Grade 38 steel; therefore, the material cited
in the analyses is on the conservative side. Most panels were wall
panels of interlocking steel construction (Figs. 5 and 7); one panel 2 in. x 1 in. formed channel
Interior panel
was constructed to validate 6.3-mm seam-welded, crimped-plate
1 in. – 4 in. 21⁄8 in.
(SWCP) construction (Figs. 6 and 8). 315⁄16 in.

Test procedure. Actual structural-system physical response

to simulated blast loads was the next step. Full-scale blast tests 45° 3 in.
were conducted by subjecting complete wall/roof sections and
3 in. fiberglass insulation
equipment doors to known, controlled blast pressures. Actual 43⁄8 in.
Exterior crimped
pressures of up to 8 psi were applied. The physical test program plate wall panels
served a dual purpose: 7 in. 10 in.
• To evaluate each wall panel unit under three blast loadings: FIG. 6 Typical crimped plate, seam-welded wall section.
near the low-damage level threshold, near the medium-damage
level threshold, and at or near the specimen failure limit, and to
follow up with documented test results. Panel damage level. Support rotations were also used in
• To provide a basis for comparison to SDOF and FEA analy- determining the panel damage/response levels. The maximum
ses validations, thereby allowing for a computer modeling and dynamic deflection of each component was calculated provid-
blast-load analysis program of this nature to serve as the sole ing the ranges used in the three damage/response levels shown
criterion for blast-resistant electrical equipment center testing. in Table 2.
The risk consultant designed its shock tube to provide an Each component was also analyzed for various P-i combina-
applied blast load to a structural specimen without the use of tions to determine an overall P-i diagram for the entire BREC
explosives. A significant advantage of the shock tube over open-air in terms of building-response level. The building-response level
blast testing with high explosives is its ability to deliver long-dura- definitions are provided in Table 2. Results for the FEA model,
tion blast loads typical of industrial explosions without requiring using 12-gauge wall and roof panels, are also indexed in Table 2
explosives or the use of an open-land area. for side-on or free-field blast loads.
To simulate the blast pressure of a free-field VCE, the shock Test configurations and results are shown in Table 3.
tube applied pressure to the test panel. The tests were con- The test results establish effective side-on pressure ratings for
ducted on 3-m by 3-m wall and roof sections. Each test section the tested panel configurations. Table 4 shows the side-on ratings
was fixed to the shock tube front where a controlled release of for each BREC construction type, as well.
pressurized air impacts the wall surface. The test samples were Based on the actual test results, it can be confidently stated that
subjected to increasing blast pressures for varying duration and an interlocking-panel design can be used to resist blasts up to 4
impulse levels. Tests were gauged to precipitate low-, medium- psi in side-on pressure. It was also learned that the screw type and
or high-damage responses. Component damage response levels spacing are critical. Thirdly, equipment doors, such as the ones
(Table 3) follow the same pattern as the building-level responses. built for this testing program, can be used.
The test panel configurations represent those used in current The primary differences between the standard equipment
BREC designs. center and a BREC using construction types I or II are the gauge
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and amount of material, screw spacing, door construction and they were able to conclude that a proper program of computer
equipment door configuration. A key difference in a BREC layout analyses can be used to accurately predict equipment-center
is the addition of a deflection space between the outer blast wall response to known blast loads. That knowledge and testing have
and any interior equipment supports or interior walls. For pres- effectively extended BREC performance limits from less than
sures above 1.0 psi, the use of special blast-rated doors and HVAC 0.5 psi to 4.0 psi.
units with blast dampers is required. It is also assumed that these What this means for HPI companies is that there are now
designs will be installed on foundations adequate to support the specific design and build parameters for BRECs that can be used
structures and anchor systems effective in holding the BRECs in to optimize their integration into a program of process safety at
place during a blast event. With this in mind, power and control every facility. In short, the state of the industry in equipment
cables can be configured to enter the structure through penetra- centers now allows for the best combination of protection and
tion points, preferably in the floor. Penetration points for power cost-effectiveness.
cables and wiring should be sealed using glands or other readily These factors, combined with the features list found in
available cable sealing systems. today’s BREC construction, result in benefits that can be directly
translated to the client’s bottom line: low cost, weather-tight,
Wrapping it all up. With a vast amount of design and build contaminant-proof buildings that are flexible, easily retrofit-
experience using both interlocking-panel and welded-steel con- ted and repaired, and ductile in response to applied loads. The
struction in blast-resistant equipment centers, an expert team technology, effectiveness and availability of BRECs can provide
of engineers has developed computer-based blast-loading and every refinery with a higher level of safety and security for the
damage profiles. Its ambitious program of evaluations began process system. HP
with SDOF analyses for wall and door components. The team
then developed computer models of both a complete and half- BIBLIOGRAPHY
symmetry building, using FEA. The purpose was to further Cole, D., R. H. Bennett and D. Austin, “Protecting Essential Refining
evaluate and verify the SDOF calculations that showed the limits Operations Using Blast-Resistant Electrical Equipment Shelters,” IEEE-
PCIC-AN-22, 2008.
of blast loadings on the wall panels and other BREC compo- “The Report of the BP US Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel,” The
nents. Armed with the results of these analyses, actual physical Baker Report, January 2007.
test specimens were prepared using 12-gauge steel sections, after Schmidt, J. A. and B. B. Brettmann, “Protective Structural Design: Resisting
which a battery of physical blast load testing regimes was run on Blast Loads,” March 2002.
“Management of Hazards Associated with Location of Process Plant Portable
built-up steel-wall and door components. Team members then Buildings,” API RP 753, First Edition, American Petroleum Institute,
compared the results of the physical tests with those of their Washington, D.C., June 2007.
computer analyses. After they developed a strong correlation “Fatal Accident Investigation Report: Isomerization Unit Explosion—Final
between the analyses with the results of the shock tube testing, Report,” Texas City, Texas, incident date: March 23, 2005, report date:
December 9, 2005.
“Design of Blast-Resistant Buildings in Petrochemical Facilities,” American
Society of Civil Engineers, Task Committee on Blast Resistant Design, New
York, New York, 1997.
“Single Degree of Freedom Structural Response Limits for Antiterrorism
Design,” US Army Corps of Engineers Protective Design Center Technical
Report PDC-TR- 06-08, October 20, 2006.
Edel, M., J. Florek, K. Sriboonma and J. R. Montoya, “Blast Assessment of
Modular Metal Building, final report,” BakerRisk Project No. 01-1958-001-
07, Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants, February 19, 2008.
Montoya, J. R. and M. J. Lowak, “Blast Performance Testing of Wall Panels,”
draft report, BakerRisk Project No. 01-02385-001-08, Baker Engineering
FIG. 7 Interior and exterior wall panels used in physical test and Risk Consultants, January 28, 2009.
phase.

David Cole is the vice president of corporate engineering for

Lectrus Corp. His current responsibilities include product design,
research and development, and code compliance for the company’s
complete line of custom, walk-in metal electrical equipment enclo-
sures. Mr. Cole also represents Lectrus on various technical and
industry associations, including IEEE. He graduated from North Carolina State Uni-
versity with a BS degree in mechanical engineering in 1985 and from the University
of Phoenix with an MBA in 1995. Mr. Cole has had a diverse career in medical R&D,
computer-peripheral manufacturing, and electrical control and enclosure design.

Deron Austin is the vice president of marketing for Lectrus

Corp. Mr. Austin has over 20 years of experience in the sales and
marketing of engineered products, and is a licensed professional
engineer in the State of Tennessee. Prior to joining Lectrus in June
2008, he was employed by Propex, where he helped increase the
global demand for the company’s civil engineering products. As marketing director
for Lectrus, Mr. Austin is responsible for the company’s strategic marketing initiatives,
marketing communication tactics, lead development, branding and new market,
channel, product and service commercialization efforts. He is a member of the Insti-
FIG. 8 Wall panel of SWCP construction used in the physical test tute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and holds a BS degree in civil engineering
phase. from Bucknell University.
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Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism

Standard turns four: What’s next?
An in-depth look at the standard
R. LOUGHIN, ADT Advanced Integration, Greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

W
e hear it all the time—after a Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA). After a company or facility gets its final
9/11, everything having to do Facilities were placed into categories tier assignment from the DHS, it has 120
with security changed. It forced after the top screen analyzed the type, days to develop a site security plan (SSP)
us to take a second look at many things quantity, storage, manufacturing and han- using the 18 RBPSs as guidelines. This
in our lives and it was natural to look at dling of each COI. The SVA then took a means laying out a comprehensive plan that
the security of our critical infrastructure more in-depth look at each facility and its takes into account the facility’s tier level. For
including roads, waterways, airports and existing security and vulnerabilities to come example, the first RBPS addresses perimeter
bridges. Of course, chemical security had up with a final ranking based on four tiers. security. The expected security level for a
to be part of that. Lawmakers wanted to Facilities with the highest level of COIs Tier 1 facility is going to be much higher
make sure that companies using, making and vulnerability combined, were placed than a Tier 3 or Tier 4. Putting together an
and storing chemicals were taking the steps into Tier 1. Those with the lowest levels of SSP takes a team approach. It cannot fall to
to secure their facilities and contents. chemicals and threats were put into Tier 4. one person in the facility. The RBPS man-
According to the Department of Home- The DHS considers its criteria for tier date covers a wide range of areas including
land Security (DHS), the Chemical Facility rankings to be classified and does not dis- personnel, security, safety, compliance and
Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) was cre- close what elements make a facility a tier legal issues. All of these departments need to
ated in 2006 to establish security standards one. The rankings appear to be based on a have a seat at the table in putting together
for facilities considered to be at high risk. combination of factors from the top screen this type of plan.
CFATS defines security requirements based to SVA submissions. Characteristics obvi- After the SSP is submitted, it is reviewed
on a list of about 323 chemicals, called ously change from site to site, but tier rat- by the DHS and then implemented by the
chemicals of interest (COI). CFATS does ings appear to be based on a combination company. The final step is an authoriza-
not just affect the chemical or petrochemi- of COI type and amount, proximity to a tion inspection by the DHS. This inspec-
cal industries. It also includes sectors such population center and the recognition of tion usually takes about a week as the DHS
as chemical manufacturing, storage and dis- the COI by the general public. examines the entire plan and looks at it, not
tribution, energy and utilities, agriculture CFATS is a risked-based mandate. At only on paper but also in practice.
and food, paints and coatings, explosives, the heart of it are 18 published Risk-Based So what is the real reason for the CFATS
mining, electronics, plastics universities, Performance Standards (RBPSs) and each mandate? What are the concerns and what
and healthcare facilities. tier has a specific level of security within is the DHS looking to secure? The specific
At this time, CFATS does not apply to those standards to be met. The DHS does concerns about chemical production, use
facilities under the jurisdiction of the Mari- not mandate specific technologies and and storage fall into three main categories:
time Transportation Security Act (MTSA), procedures for facilities. Instead, it sets • Release of dangerous chemicals
facilities owned or operated by the US security goals based on a number of factors • Theft and diversion of chemicals
Department of Defense or those regulated and the facilities are given the flexibility to • Sabotage or contamination.
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. develop their own processes and solutions. The release of dangerous chemicals and
Public water systems and wastewater treat- This allows for the vast differences in facil- the threat this poses to the health and safety
ment facilities currently fall under the US ities. You might think that the larger the of the surrounding public is pretty obvious.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) facility the higher the risk level, but often Toxic, flammable or explosive chemicals
regulations. that is not the case. For example, a large can be very dangerous and cause extensive
The DHS set thresholds for each of the facility may have perimeter and access damage to people and property. Release is
COIs. The facilities that use or store chemi- security in place that makes it very secure. a matter of keeping unwanted people out
cals above those thresholds were required to A small facility, like a university research of your facility and screening your person-
submit a “top screen” to the department. center, probably does not have the ability nel to make sure that they are who they
So far, the DHS has indicated that about to put in place the same perimeter security, appear to be.
32,000 facilities submitted top screens. Of so it has to take extra precautions to make Theft and diversion gets a little murkier.
those, about 7,000 were notified that they sure access to certain chemicals is limited Here we are talking about stealing chemi-
were required to move to the second step— to very few authorized people. cals to create chemical weapons including
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BONUSREPORT PLANT SAFETY

homemade bombs, explosives, gas bombs CFATS just celebrated its fourth birth- for smaller facilities and businesses. The
and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). day. Those four years have been a learn- Collins amendment removes this provi-
Again, stealing is pretty straightforward and ing process and, as the DHS has acknowl- sion from the bill and adds several other
that threat affects almost all CFATS facili- edged, the department is learning with the elements, including:
ties. Both big and small facilities have to industry. It has been a strong collaborative • Creating voluntary exercise and train-
protect their chemical inventory and assets process with the usual snags and disagree- ing programs
against someone going in and taking them. ments. Overall, the legislation has gotten • Establishing a voluntary technical
Diversion is a different story. Chemicals off to a good start and is beginning to hit assistance program
can be stolen at the facility or in route, but its stride. At this point, almost all facilities • Creating a chemical facility security
chemicals can also be diverted in a number should have been given a final tier assign- best practices clearing house
of different ways. According to the DHS, ment and most initial inspections for Tier • Establishing an advisory board to
diversion is the criminal act of acquiring 1 facilities completed. advise the DHS on implementation and
a product (or service) by means of decep- The DHS has reached out to the the voluntary technical assistance program.
tion. Deception can include purchasing chemical industry and is trying to work In general, the industry has been very
or paying for chemicals. The crime here with facilities to facilitate compliance. The supportive of this legislation with the Col-
is the acquisition of the chemicals even if department started working with compa- lins amendment included. The National
they are purchased. Diversion includes the nies by making preauthorization inspec- Association of Chemical Distributors
following tactics: tions. These allow companies and facilities (NACD), the Society of Chemical Manu-
Hijacking—Placing an order that puts to meet with DHS inspectors to discuss facturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) and oth-
the goods in motion and then stealing them what they are doing and get feedback. This ers have come out in its support.
in route. seems to be a process that is working well Still, the bill has to make it to the Sen-
Dummy company—Setting up a fake and is giving many companies the direc- ate floor for a vote. The chairman of the
company and placing an order. Once the tion and advice they need. The DHS also Senate Homeland Security Committee,
order is delivered, the company disappears. provides a lot of information online for Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, has said
Breakout scheme—Variation of a facilities, as well as lists of frequently asked the bill will need significant modifications
dummy company, but a real company is questions and a help line for additional to get through the Senate. Some senators
purchased, usually on credit, and orders are assistance. have already said that they will make an
placed through that company. The com- The department has also initiated an effort to reintroduce an IST-type provision
pany operates until the credit runs out. open dialogue for some of the tougher in the bill.
Co-opted customer—An existing cus- issues, like personnel surety, which deals With a shift after the November elec-
tomer is co-opted by a terrorist group and with background checks and certifications tions in the makeup of both the House
is either coerced, infiltrated or bribed into for employees, vendors and delivery peo- and, to a lesser extent, the Senate, CFATS
ordering materials. ple. Another area is material modification. did not get much attention at the end of
False flag—Terrorists place an order as The DHS has acknowledged that com- last year. The program will continue for
an existing customer but steal the goods panies are constantly changing processes another year through a rider on the DHS
once they are delivered or the order is sent and the chemicals used in those processes. appropriations bill. This will allow facili-
to a new false address. Handling these modifications and the ties that use, store and process chemicals to
Pretext purchase—For example, some- impact they may have on tiering, SSPs and continue their current work with the DHS.
one pretending to be a professor at a uni- compliance is a difficult task. And again, We may see a different approach to
versity or college chemistry department in this instance, the DHS is looking to the CFATS with a new Congress. But, as Sue
places an order. industry for input and discussion. Armstrong of the DHS recently reminded
Cyber attack on business manage- The biggest issue facing CFATS at this everyone at a security conference, terrorism
ment system—The network or computer time is legislative. The initial bill expired is a real threat that we all need to take seri-
system is hacked into and a reoccurring in October 2009 and was renewed for ously. The CFATS mandate is not meant
delivery is scheduled and hidden. one year. Since then, legislation has been to be an additional burden to business, but
Sabotage or contamination of materi- introduced in the US Senate and the to ensure that we are protecting our com-
als is another concern driving the CFATS House of Representatives. In July, the Sen- munities and our businesses. HP
mandate. Chemicals that release toxic gases ate Homeland Security Committee voted
when exposed to water, fall into this cat- unanimously to extend the CFATS for
egory. So businesses have to not only be three years to 2013. The 13-0 bipartisan
Ryan Loughin is the director of
concerned about someone stealing or tak- vote was for HR 2868 with an amend- Petrochemical and Energy Solutions
ing COIs out of the facility, but they must ment from Senator Susan Collins, Repub- for the Advanced Integration division
also be very concerned with what is coming lican-Maine. of ADT (www.adtbusiness.com/petro-
into those facilities. HR 2868 was introduced by Repre- chem). He provides security education
to CFATS and MTSA-affected companies and is a member
All of these scenarios have to be sentative Bennie Thompson, Democrat- of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association
addressed in a facility’s SSP and security Mississippi and was passed by the House in (NPRA), Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Associ-
measures must be put into place to limit November. That version of the bill included ates (SOCMA), American Chemistry Council (ACC), the
the possibility of these situations happen- an inherently safer technology (IST) provi- Energy Security Council (ESC) and the American Society
for Industrial Security (ASIS). Mr. Loughin has also com-
ing. It takes a careful review of your facil- sion. The chemical industry is opposed to pleted multiple levels of Chemical-Terrorism Vulnerability
ity and its business processes, along with this provision because it is open to inter- Information (CVI) which was authored by the US Depart-
knowledge of the security options available. pretation and it could be costly, especially ment of Homeland Security.
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 INSTRUMENTATION

Avoid these top-10

instrumentation headaches
Visual engineering program solves designer
and engineer issues across the industry
D. GIBSON, AVEVA, Cambridge, England

C
ontrol systems play a vital role in most instrumentation software systems cur- and designers naturally work. As an exam-
all aspects of modern living, from rently work. For too long, software ven- ple, Fig. 1 shows how a simple graphical
helping us drive our cars, to safely dors have denied engineers and designers user interface in a wiring manager module
running large petrochemical complexes the simple practicality of a graphical visual enables the user to route and reroute wir-
and power stations. According to recent engineering interface with “drag and drop” ing—and manage all associated changes—
industry research, instrumentation is the capability and inbuilt intelligence, ensuring in a few clicks of the mouse. Straightfor-
biggest spend item in plants. In 2010, changes are automatically replicated into all ward customization enables configuration
capital expenditure for buying new instru- the associated data and databases. by users without any need for program-
ments was estimated at $5 billion, with All too often, the time taken to learn ming skills. In short, this is a complete
maintenance and operation costs projected the currently available systems is prohibi- change to the way in which instrumenta-
to reach $4.9 billion. However, much of tive. Configuring them is a major spe- tion and control data is created and edited,
this cost is unnecessary. It arises because cialist undertaking, and their operation and it has led to design savings of 30% and
the technology used to plan and design constrains engineers to work in ways that more among current users.
instrumentation and control systems has are counter-intuitive and labor-intensive. Simplicity of use equates to less need
often been developed with little regard for Wasted time and money, and lost produc- for configuration and training, reduced
engineers’ and designers’ natural working tivity, are the results. administration and support overheads,
methods. Procedures that can be perfectly This new program delivers simplicity, and a design and engineering team whose
straightforward if represented graphically— to fit closely with the way that engineers time to productivity is greatly reduced. The
rerouting a wire, for example, or segregat-
ing cables—are all too often dependent on
manual, tabular data input, which is time-
consuming, expensive and prone to error.
Instrumentation and control experts
were interviewed across the industry, and
they identified no less than 10 key areas
where instrumentation design technolo-
gies fail to meet engineers’ and design-
ers’ requirements. These are the top-10
headaches that the engineers and design-
ers face on a daily basis. The good news is
that companies can avoid these headaches
entirely by deploying the “visual engineer-
ing” approach—a field-proven instrumen-
tation solution.

TOP-10 HEADACHES

No. 1.—Wasted time and lost pro-

ductivity. Engineers and designers are
highly skilled individuals. Forcing them
to enter design changes using tables, forms
and spreadsheets is unproductive and FIG. 1 A straightforward, graphical approach, combined with drag-and-drop functionality,
uneconomical, and it increases the likeli- enables wiring projects to be designed and change-managed in the simplest way
hood of human error—this is the way that possible.
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graphical views are role-based, so each user tion. The wiring designer has to coordinate accurately reflected across the whole proj-
sees and interacts with those elements that design data manually between several dif- ect—which they rarely are. This can neces-
are of most use to them. ferent applications—an open invitation to sitate massive rework later in the process.
error, as well as a seriously inefficient use of The instrumentation program provides
No. 2.—Lack of change manage- a technically skilled individual’s time. dynamic catalog management as standard.
ment. While the creation of data is abso- To make things worse, input of data Vendor details and component references
lutely key to the early momentum of a proj- into the wiring design is usually via table can be changed any time throughout the
ect, the ongoing challenge is in managing and spreadsheet—there is no means of project with no need for manual rework.
changes to the design and ensuring that the visualizing the relationships and using If a pressure gauge supplied by vendor X
changes are properly reflected throughout those visualizations as the logical starting is changed in the catalog to a similar prod-
the dataset. Often, more cables and con- point for the creation and editing of the uct from vendor Y, identified by a differ-
nections are added to the plan than were wiring design. This instrumentation pro- ent part or tag number, these changes will
originally envisaged, swelling the data gram, by contrast, requires only one click be updated (or will simply show where
considerably and producing a significantly to enable the user to see a current graphical updates need to be made). This happens
altered design. This complicates the rela- representation (Fig. 3). There is no need automatically across all mentions and
tionships between existing and new infor- to request an output plot from a designer, instances of the original gauge—in cable
mation, forcing a time-consuming and which can take many hours of unnecessary block diagrams, loop diagrams, instrument
costly estimate revision process. work. Within a single application, loop dia- indexes, datasheets, hookup diagrams, ter-
The instrumentation program comprises grams, schedules and terminations can all mination diagrams, cable schedules, bill of
three integrated modules that share a com- be created and edited from the same visual materials, etc. Mismatches between cata-
mon, multi-user database for both design engineering environment. logue data and project execution data, as
and as-built data. This integrated data envi- well as the many expensive hours needed to
ronment enables extensive validation pro- No. 4.—Catalog of errors. Catalog rectify them, are a thing of the past.
cesses, automatic cross-referencing and link- changes are one of the biggest causes of
ing of associated information, and rigorous design data mismatches in the instrumenta- No. 5.—Lack of visualization and
change control. Change of all kinds can be tion and control universe. Yet they are often reporting clarity. The ability to report
easily tracked, highlighted and reported on, an essential way of managing and reducing on a design at will is fundamental both to
and its impact automatically flagged (Fig. 2). procurement costs, and so can heavily influ- progress management and design quality
ence the economic viability of a project. control. Yet with many software packages,
No. 3.—Wiring limitations. Wiring For example, the purchasing depart- reports can only be generated by the use of
design is a multi-phase process, involving ment might decide on a different supplier programming scripts that have to be spe-
loop diagrams, schedules and termina- for a particular component, causing a cially requested and produced—an unnec-
tions—yet many technologies currently change in the nomenclature of that compo- essary overhead in time and labor. There is
available on the market are unable to inte- nent and the associated vendor details. The no easy way, in most of the instrumentation
grate these procedures into one applica- problem comes when these changes are not software currently available on the market,
to quickly build up a picture of the interre-
lationships in the project dataset. Likewise,
no other vendor currently enables instant
reporting on the database revisions to give
an understanding of change history.
This instrumentation program is built
around user-defined reporting—across
schedules, lists, bill of materials, and other
data. The simple interface puts the report-
ing process back into the engineer’s hands
and enables all items, data and documents
that share the same tag to be instantly listed.
This graphically shows how changes to one
item might have impacts elsewhere in the
design. A full audit log of database changes
can also be instantly generated—vital for
root-cause analysis and risk management.

No. 6.—Scalability price. Database

technology is key to effective instrumenta-
tion design—the application’s scalability is
directly related to the efficiency of the data-
base. Unfortunately, some vendors have
taken excessive advantage of this depen-
FIG. 2 Information is fully auditable and reportable, enabling change to be effectively and dency. While their application upgrades
safely managed. are usually delivered at no further cost, the
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 INSTRUMENTATION

upgrades to the database that underpins ments with customers’ existing third-party work with multiple applications that are
them are often an expensive service. This applications and data types. not integrated. Instead, it enables the cre-
means that ongoing support and scalability The company does not force users to ation of datasheet templates within the
can only be achieved at a very high cost—
the exact opposite of what flexible scalabil-
ity should deliver.

No. 7.—Vendor data breakdown.

Like all engineering processes, instrumen-
tation and control are dependent on com-
ponents provided by a range of suppliers.
Approaching vendors for datasheets on the
components they provide is often a hit-and-
miss process—the information returned
can be incomplete and is typically sup-
plied in a number of disparate formats/file
types. Designing a prescribed template for
the datasheets is not nearly as effective as it
might be, as it usually has to be carried out
in an unintegrated, third-party application.
This, in turn, means that the responses
have to be manually received and adminis-
trated, manually followed up when neces-
sary, and manually linked to the data in the
main design system. Any two or more indi-
viduals, equally skilled and experienced, will
inevitably perform this task very differently,
leading to mismatches and inconsistencies. FIG. 3 The reporting capability is powerful and flexible, producing instant results on screen,
as well as in print-friendly format.
Needless to say, these manual processes are
also time-consuming and expensive—not
what a project manager wants to hear. Asset Longevity
No. 8.—Inability to view instru-
Plant & Pipeline Performance
mentation data in 3D. In many
instrumentation and control technologies,
there is no integration of the data with the
3D model of the plant. This makes it dif-
ficult for engineers and designers to make
judgements on spacing, tolerances, buffer
zones, clashes and so forth, as well as on
quantities and dimensions.
For example, cables come in many dif-
ferent types and need to be routed in a way Quest Integrity Group is a dynamic company built on a founda-
that effectively segregates them by voltage, tion of leading edge science and technology that has innovated
function, flux, heat dissipation, etc., while and shaped industries for nearly 40 years.
economizing on the cable length. This
combined requirement is virtually impossi- Our asset integrity and reliability management solutions are
ble to meet if the user cannot visually model comprised of technology-enabled advanced inspection and
the deployment. This program works with
engineering assessment services and products that help com-
industry-standard Microsoft databases such
as SQL Server and (for smaller projects) panies in the refining and chemical, pipeline, syngas and power
MS Access. Updates to both the application industries increase profitability, reduce operational and safety
and the databases are received as a normal risks and improve operational planning.
part of the licensing process. There is no
additional cost. The emphasis is on protect- (888) 557-3363
ing a customer’s investment in data, rather (888) 893-7030
than exploiting it. There is no charge for
updates and upgrades with customers on an www.QuestIntegrity.com
active maintenance contract, and it has also [email protected]
made massive investments to ensure that
the technology works in mixed IT environ-
KPE
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87
INSTRUMENTATION

application itself, in a way that is totally ate a huge amount of related information located. In a single click, an engineer or
integrated with the rest of the project including data sheets, documents, etc. designer can view the object and see exactly
workflow. These templates can be partially Many isolated systems completely fail to where all the information that relates to
populated by the engineer or designer with link this information together, as it typi- a specific component or design element
information that is already known. This cally comes from both internal and external resides. This reduces not only the direct
gives vendors a much clearer indication of sources. Engineers and designers, therefore, costs of manually searching for informa-
what information is needed, making their have to second guess both the nature of the tion (estimated in recent studies to take up
task easier and increasing the likelihood information and its location. Apart from as much as 60% of an engineer’s time), but
that the datasheet will be completed to the being terrifically time consuming, this also the less obvious expense, such as when
required standard. The content of the data- also perpetuates the problem of “unknown the designer or engineer approaches a col-
sheet is easily searchable and reportable. It unknowns” and this is clearly an unsatisfac- league to help him find information, thus
can be extracted and viewed in seconds, tory basis for making informed design and wasting two people’s time instead of one!
rather than having valuable minutes and engineering decisions. The majority of safety related incidents
hours wasted in attempts to search for it. The problem is often at its most acute have also ultimately been related to poor
3D models are fully integrated with other with external documents such as vendor information accessibility, so the ability to
providers to enable instrumentation data to datasheets. With internal documents, the diminish this risk substantially is a big part
be viewed in full 3D context. This means designer or engineer can bring pressure to of the benefit that this program brings.
that cable data can be integrated into the bear on the situation; he is organizationally
3D model straight from the instrumentation connected to the document producers and No. 10.—Fragmented bulk data
program and automated cable measurement, is regarded internally as a key customer. upload. The ability to bulk-upload data at
routing and segregation can then be gener- With external documents, this dynamic is the beginning of a project is key to achiev-
ated instantaneously. Greater control, less less relational—and so designers or engi- ing initial traction. However, the data typi-
rework and enhanced safety and compli- neers need a different way of bringing cally comes from many different sources
ance, without risky and time-consuming authority to their requests for information. and in many different formats, and this
guesswork, can save millions of dollars in The instrumentation program provides fragmentation often necessitates the use of
design time and material procurement. object-based navigation through hyper- several different applications. Piping and
links. Related items of data are linked instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), for
No. 9.—Incomplete associations. together automatically, no matter what for- example, are an absolutely integral part of
Instruments and wiring activities gener- mat they are in or where they are physically the instrumentation and control design pro-
cess, but they are often not an integral part
of the data upload, having to be sourced and
integrated independently.
This reliance on a multi-application
approach consumes time, effort and
money, and increases the likelihood that
critical data will be missed or incompletely
The Fundamentals of Piping Design
captured. The program enables complete
By Peter Smith integration of all data types, including
262 pages t
Hardcover t
Pub date: April 2007 t
Price: $175 P&IDs. An initial bulk upload creates links
ISBN: 978-1-933762-043
and associations between these different
Written for the piping engineer and designer in the field, this first part of the types of information. The project benefits
two-part series helps to fill a void in piping literature, since the Rip Weaver books
of the ‘90s were taken out of print. from much more rapid traction and the
engineers and designers have all the infor-
mation at their fingertips in a way that is
dynamically managed and updated across
Advanced Piping Design the life of the project. HP
By Rutger Botermans and Peter Smith
250 pages t Hardcover t
Pub date: May 2008 t
Price: $175
ISBN: 978-1-933762-18-0

An intermediate-level handbook covering guidelines and procedures on David JS Gibson is the head of
process plants and interconnecting piping systems. product strategy for instrumentation
and electrical systems for AVEVA. He
joined AVEVA business development
in December 1999 after serving 25
The Planning Guide to Piping Design years working for a major engineering, production
By Richard Beale, Paul Bowers and Peter Smith and construction company, formally in the engineer-
300 pages t Hardcover t Pub date: September 2010 t Price: $175 ing design and then as development project manager
ISBN: 978-1-933762-37-1 for engineering data management systems. He has
worked on a variety of engineering projects for various
The Planning Guide to Piping Design covers the entire process of planning a plant model
project from conceptual to mechanical completion, and explains where the piping lead falls clients in the oil and gas and pharmaceutical industries.
in the process along with his roles and responsibilities. Projects covered a wide range of processes for oil and
gas, pharmaceutical, chemicals and polymers and food
processing, and he has had experience in all aspects of
engineering design. Mr. Gibson attained his manage-
To place an order, visit www.gulfpub.com or call +1 (713) 520-4426.
ment qualifications from the Open University.
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I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES

Case 61: Pressure loss in a reactor

Much information is available from a simple analysis
T. SOFRONAS, Consulting Engineer, Houston, Texas

T
here are times in one’s career when a This simple CFD model produces inter- the production reactor. This would allow
quick decision is needed so a design esting results. In Fig. 2, the velocity is going evaluating parameters that could increase
will proceed in the correct direction. up the reactor main tube (15 ft/sec) and dis- production. HP
This may be in a design review meeting tribution to the three coolant tubes is very
where different views are being presented high in the 1-in. gap (c) region (red). It is
on a systems modification. high in the outer tube and low in the inner
tube (blue). Fig. 3 shows the redistribution
Case history. In this example, the draw- with a 3-in. gap. With the curved head and a
ings for a pilot reactor were being reviewed. larger gap, the flow was more evenly distrib-
The design had been modified from an orig- uted, and the pressure drop from the main
inally proposed rounded-head design, which tube to the tube outlets was low.
had been feared to create a “dead space.” It The 1-in. gap would not only have raised
now included a flat plate to eliminate the the horsepower requirement of the axial
“dead space” in the reactor head so that foul- flow pump but would also have resulted in
ing would not occur in that region. Fig. 1 uneven cooling from the tubes and raised
illustrates a simplified view of the reactor. the potential for frequent fouling.
Since the design with the plate looked
problematic, a simple analysis was done, Proving decisions. This is an example
FIG. 2 Velocity in reactor 1-in. gap.
which showed that a large pressure drop where a sophisticated analysis tool, used
would occur with this modification. In the on a simple 2D model, can produce useful
proposed flat-head design, the curved head results. The 2D models can be a real benefit
volume had been reduced to a 1–in. gap in developing a 3D model for scale-up of
flow. The resulting additional pressure drop
would have caused the axial-flow propel- Dead space
ler pump to exceed its horsepower rating. Head
Therefore, the proposed flat-head design
was not used, and the original large-volume C
head was successfully implemented. Flow
up
Recheck the decision. At a later date, D
a detailed analysis was performed that veri-
fied the simple analysis. Computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) is an analysis tool
that can analyze laminar and turbulent
flows. While three-dimensional analy-
ses with swirl are possible, a simple two-
dimensional analysis is applied here to add Main
information not available from the analyti- tube
FIG. 3 Velocity in reactor 3-in. gap.
cal analysis. Three reactor tubes, much like
heat exchanger tubes, are shown in addition
to the central tube.
Fig. 2 illustrates the flow velocity from Dr. Anthony (Tony) Sofro-
an axis-symmetric model, starting at the n a s , PE, was worldwide lead
pump discharge with the flat plate and 1-in. mechanical engineer for ExxonMobil
Pump before his retirement. Information on
gap. The simplification is that the three his books, seminars and consulting, as
tubes are really concentric channels with the FIG. 1 Reactor flow with head installed. well as comments to this article, are available at http://
same flow area as the corresponding tubes. mechanicalengineeringhelp.com.
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I 89
HPI MARKETPLACE

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 HPI MARKETPLACE
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Flexware ®
Hydrocarbon Processing
® Turbomachinery Engineers
seeks Process Editor
Flexware® Live Analysis Gulf Publishing Company (Houston, Texas) is seeking an
Turbomachinery Performance Monitoring editor for its industry-leading publication, Hydrocarbon
Processing. The ideal candidate should have a BS degree
in engineering or similar discipline and five to ten years
of experience working in the HPI (refining, petrochemical/
chemical and gas processing), or extensive experience
working as an editor in the refining and petrochemical
industries with extensive experience with technical
information. Experience in process design and/or facility
maintenance is a bonus. Excellent written and verbal
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The process editor will be responsible for researching and

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ADVERTISERS in this issue of HYDROCARBON PROCESSING

Company Page RS# Company Page RS# Company Page RS#
Website Website Website

ABV Energy S.p.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 (152) GE Power & Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 (72) Quest Integrity Group LLC . . . . . . 87 (164)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-152 www.info.hotims.com/35901-72 www.info.hotims.com/35901-164
Altair Strickland. . . . . . . . . . . . . T-62 (97) Greene, Tweed & Co. . . . . . . . . . . 20 (153) Rentech Boiler Services . . . . . . . T-70 (83)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-97 www.info.hotims.com/35901-153 www.info.hotims.com/35901-83
Axens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 (53) Gulf Publishing Company Samson GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 (161)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-53 www.info.hotims.com/35901-161
Construction Boxscore . . . . . . . . 26 (156)
Bryan Research & Engineering . . . 42 (113) www.info.hotims.com/35901-156 Siemens Ag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 (52)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-113 www.info.hotims.com/35901-52
Events - Save The Date . . . . . . . 95
Cameron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 (55) Silcotek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 (157)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-55
GPC Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 88 www.info.hotims.com/35901-157
Cashco, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 (155) HPI Marketplace . . . . . . . . . 90–91 Socap Srl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 (159)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-155 HPI Market DataBook . . . . . . . T-61 www.info.hotims.com/35901-159
Cooper Crouse-Hinds GmbH . . . T-56 (165) Site License Program . . . . . . . . . 48 Spraying Systems Co . . . . . . . . . . 16 (62)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-165 Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 www.info.hotims.com/35901-62
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control ITT Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 (86) Swagelok Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 (63)
Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T-64 (95) www.info.hotims.com/35901-63
www.info.hotims.com/35901-86
www.info.hotims.com/35901-95 Team Industrial Services . . . . . . . 25 (73)
Linde Process Plants . . . . . . . . . . 14 (81)
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control www.info.hotims.com/35901-73
www.info.hotims.com/35901-81
Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 (76) Trachte USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 (162)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-76
Merichem Company . . . . . . . . . . 33 (79)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-162
www.info.hotims.com/35901-79
Dollinger Filtration, Unifrax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 (68)
An SPX Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . T-72 (99) Merichem Company . . . . . . . . . . 35 (78) www.info.hotims.com/35901-68
www.info.hotims.com/35901-99 www.info.hotims.com/35901-78
United Laboratories International,
Dunn Heat Exchangers . . . . . . . T-66 (59) Merichem Company . . . . . . . . . . 37 (158) Llc/Zyme-Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 (154)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-59 www.info.hotims.com/35901-158 www.info.hotims.com/35901-154
Emerson Process Management . . . 6 Microtherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T-68 (100) UOP LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
www.info.hotims.com/35901-100
Emerson Process Management Vega Americas, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . 18 (92)
(Fisher Controls) . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 (69) Neptune Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 (151) www.info.hotims.com/35901-92
www.info.hotims.com/35901-69 www.info.hotims.com/35901-151 VOITH TURBO GmbH &
Flexitallic LP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 (93) Paharpur Cooling Towers, Ltd. . . . 27 (97) CO. KG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T-74 (166)
www.info.hotims.com/35901-93 www.info.hotims.com/35901-97 www.info.hotims.com/35901-166

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HYDROCARBON PROCESSING MARCH 2011
I 93
 HPIN WATER MANAGEMENT
LORAINE A. HUCHLER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

[email protected]

Passivation in cooling water circuits

Passivation—the formation of a corrosion-resistant oxide on heat exchangers may have residual metal-working fluids from
a clean metal surface—is the key to optimizing system reliability the manufacturing process or an oil-based coating to protect
on the waterside of heat exchangers. Most plant personnel are against corrosion during shipping and storage. Passivation of
aware of the risks of corrosion. However, they are not aware of the cooling water circuits following a turnaround will reduce the risk
importance of passivation. of under-deposit corrosion from solubalized iron oxides formed
during idle periods due to stagnant water and/or exposure of
Passivation primer. During passivation, metal oxides convert water-wetted carbon steel surfaces to air.
from a porous, nonprotective form to a tight, adherent, protective
form. For carbon steel, the nonprotective oxide, iron hydroxide Procedures. There are several key issues for the design of pre-
(FeOH) converts to a moderately protective oxide, hematite cleaning and passivation procedures:
(Fe2O3) to the most protective form, magnetite (Fe3O4). Under • Most plants hire a contractor to conduct the pre-cleaning
the right conditions, this conversion reaction is spontaneous. But and passivation processes. Yet, plant personnel are responsible for
it is not necessarily a fast reaction. Optimizing the kinetics of confirming the optimal procedures.
the passivation reaction requires optimizing water chemistry and • Heating the chemical solutions will accelerate the cleaning
operating conditions. and passivation processes, reducing the project time by as much
The optimal conditions for carbon steel passivation are: low as 50%. However, there should be minimal or no heat load from
dissolved oxygen concentration in the water, high tempera- the process until the passivation process is complete.
ture and high pH. In cooling water circuits, passivation is not • Plant personnel may choose to treat the spent cleaning solu-
spontaneous because cooling water is oxygenated (7 mg/l < O2 tions in their wastewater plant to avoid offsite disposal costs.
< 13 mg/l) at ambient or moderate temperatures—70°F–100°F • Plant personnel should never reuse spent pre-cleaning
(15°C–38°C)—and neutral to mildly alkaline pH (6.5 < pH < solution for the passivation process. There is a large risk of re-
9). High-alloy steels, admiralty and other copper alloys, form deposition of the contaminants removed during the pre-cleaning
highly protective oxides more rapidly than carbon steel and under process.
a wider range of conditions. However, high concentrations of • Passivation and commissioning should immediately follow
chlorides and sulfates in the cooling water will compromise the the pre-cleaning process to eliminate any corrosion that will occur
passivation process, thus resulting in an oxide that is not protec- on clean steel surfaces in idled, drained or stagnant cooling water
tive against corrosion. systems.
• Under no circumstances should plant personnel initiate
Passivation decisions. Passivation of newly fabricated car- passivation procedures until the iron concentration is less than
bon steel heat exchangers is so important that it should be a non- 3 ppm. High iron concentrations indicate inadequate flushing
negotiable part of start-up. Plants may choose to conduct passiv- and/or insufficient control of corrosion.
ation procedures by isolating a single heat exchanger or circulating • Typical control parameters for pre-cleaning are: pH, tem-
chemicals in the entire cooling water circuit, depending on the perature, foam and soluble iron concentration1
number of new heat exchangers or the number of new tubes. • Storage of new heat exchangers requires special consider-
Pre-cleaning procedures are also non-negotiable since passiv- ations to minimize in-situ corrosion.
ation procedures are only effective on clean metal surfaces. New
In summary. Proper pre-cleaning and passivation procedures
do increase the reliability of heat exchangers and should be a
Does passivation matter? A refinery installed two new mandatory part of start up procedures. Ideally, plants will create
carbon steel heat exchangers in a key unit. The plant had and validate internal procedures for pre-cleaning and passivation
procedures based on industry standards, experience and site-
wrapped the heat exchangers in plastic and stored them
specific limitations. HP
outside, in the laydown yard, for one year. Plant personnel
installed and commissioned these two exchangers without
implementing any pre-cleaning or pre-passivation proce-
dures. The cooling water exceeded the recommended maxi-
mum concentration of iron during start up. Both exchangers
The author is president of MarTech Systems, Inc., an engineering consulting
failed within one year of commissioning. The root cause for firm that provides technical services to optimize water-related systems (steam,
the failure was under-deposit corrosion from deposits that cooling and wastewater) in refineries and petrochemical plants. She holds a BS
degree in chemical engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in New
formed from in-situ corrosion during commissioning.
Jersey and Maryland. She can be reached at: [email protected].
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94
I MARCH 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com
 20
GULF PUBLISHING COMPANY EVENTS

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PROCESS CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION CONFERENCE
9–10 March 2011 • Moody Gardens, Galveston, Texas
11
Hosted by World Oil and Hydrocarbon Processing, the Process Control and Instrumentation Conference will be devoted
to advancing process control and instrumentation in the oil and gas industry. www.GulfPub.com/PCI

INTERNATIONAL REFINING AND PETROCHEMICAL CONFERENCE

Summer 2011
The International Refining and Petrochemical Conference is a market-leading program for technical and operating management
in the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI). This conference will offer you an effective means to market to engineering and
operations management in the HPI. Like Hydrocarbon Processing, the International Refining and Petrochemical Conference focuses
on providing the industry the very best technical content. www.GulfPub.com/IRPC

MARKETING IN THE OILFIELD CONFERENCE

August 2011 • Houston, Texas
The Marketing in the Oilfield Conference provides an environment to learn new ideas and strategies, in addition to numerous
opportunities to network with fellow upstream and downstream marketing peers. This conference focuses on industry hot topics
related to marketing, social media and communication issues and includes featured keynote experts and presentations relevant to
the topic in focus. www.GulfPub.com/MITO

WORLD OIL SHALEENERGY™ TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE

24–25 August 2011 • Westin Memorial City, Houston, Texas
With the discovery of numerous shale gas plays throughout the world over the last decade that have the potential to produce
trillions of cubic feet of gas over the coming years, many industry professionals, leaders, academics and regulators have dubbed
this abundant energy source the “world’s bridge fuel.” World Oil’s ShaleEnergy™ Technology Conference connects the public
with up-to-the-minute information on the operations, regulations, technology and activity reports about the natural gas plays
throughout the United States and Europe. www.GulfPub.com/ShaleEnergyConference

WORLD OIL HPHT DRILLING & COMPLETIONS CONFERENCE

28–29 Septmeber 2011 • Houston, Texas
In pursuit of reservoirs more than 15,000 feet below the earth’s surface in conditions with temperatures reaching beyond 350° F and
unprecedented pressure levels, operators are confronted with unforeseen drilling and completion challenges. The World Oil HPHT
Drilling & Completions Conference will be a forum to discuss and share these experiences and case histories when drilling for gas
in high temperatures and oil in high pressure. www.GulfPub.com/HPHT

WORLD OIL AWARDS

13 October 2011 • Houston, Texas
The World Oil Awards recognizes and celebrates the industry’s best in categories covering the entire spectrum of the upstream
oil and gas industry. Innovative technologies, companies and individuals are nominated in categories ranging from drilling to
intervention to recognizing the next generation of leaders in the petroleum industry. Companies are given four months to submit
nominations for innovative ideas over the previous year. www.Awards.WorldOil.com

WOMEN’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

IN ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
November 2011 • Houston, Texas
Hosted by both World Oil and Hydrocarbon Processing, the Women’s Global Leadership Conference in Energy and Technology is
the largest women’s event in the industry, and the only one that focuses on discussing the industry’s key environmental, economic,
professional development and human capital issues in one setting. Attendees leave the conference with an increased understanding
of the full range of current issues pertinent to the industry today and an increased ability to be change agents in their careers.
www.WGLNetwork.com
For more information about Gulf Publishing Company events, or to work with us to create a new event,
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(Event topics and dates are subject to change.)

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