QUESTIONS & ANSW
Previous successes: revamping the unit to DMHC mode
exchanger/reflux condenser can be seen prior to connecting the piping and adding insulation. A typical RSV2 retrofit would require extra residue com - pression for the additional recycle gas flow. However, the Comanche III plant already had surplus residue compres - sion that was available. It is also important to note that the ethane recovery level at this facility must be maintained above approximately 55% in ethane rejection mode due to pipeline specifications requiring a minimum amount of ethane in the NGL product. The upgraded plant was started up in November 2021. Table 2 summarises the performance before the retrofit, the predicted retrofit performance, and the actual perfor - mance after the retrofit. The main objective of the Comanche III retrofit was to improve propane recovery in all operating modes. Application of the RSV2 process has always provided essentially 100% propane recovery, maximising product revenue. Although the ability of RSV2 to increase through - put is available, the operator has not yet pursued that option due to capacity limitations in other units. Conclusions Today’s constantly changing market conditions have left many owners/operators seeking ways to provide additional flexibility and improve margins with their existing assets. Process retrofits can provide an attractive option with min - imal downtime and expense. Although selecting the appro - priate retrofit technology requires consideration of several factors, enhanced technologies allow retrofits to improve product recoveries, increase throughput, and provide addi - tional operating flexibility. suboptimal catalyst utilisation and poor vapour–liquid dis- tribution throughout the cracking bed, which would reduce diesel yield and threaten cycle length. Standout performance has been delivered as a result of the new reactor internals and a leading-edge catalyst system. Tüpraş reports enhanced gas–liquid distribution over the catalyst beds. With lower operating temperatures and reduced radial temperature spreads, it has been able to: • Increase throughput by 5% • Process heavier feeds • Extend the cycle length from three to four years. Crucially, increasing the cycle length has enabled the planned distillate hydroprocessing catalyst changeout to fall within a major inspection turnaround, thereby saving Tüpraş the trouble and cost of a catalyst swap outside this period. Ortloff is a registered trademark. Retro-Flex, Retro-Flex Plus, GSP2, RSV, and RSV2 are marks of Honeywell UOP. References 1 Campbell R E, Wilkinson J D, US Patent No. 4,157,904. 2 Campbell R E, Wilkinson J D, US Patent No. 4,278,457. CatCheck is a mark of Shell Catalysts and Technologies. 3 Campbell R E, Wilkinson J D, Hudson H M, US Patent No. 5,568,737. 4 Lynch J T, Wilkinson J D, Hudson H M, Pitman R N, Process Retrofits Maximize the Value of Existing NGL and LPG Recovery Plants, presented at the 82nd Annual Convention of the Gas Processors Association, March 10, 2003, San Antonio, Texas. 5 Pierce M C, Cuellar K T, Lynch J T, Hudson H M, Peyton J A, Miller S A, 5th Generation NGL/LPG Recovery Technologies for Retrofits, presented at the 96th Annual Convention of the Gas Processors Association, April 11, 2017, San Antonio, Texas. 6 Hudson H M, Wilkinson J D, Lynch J T, Miller S A, Cuellar K T, Johnke A F, Lewis W L, US Patent No. 9,637,428. 7 Miller S A, Wilkinson J D, Lynch J T, Hudson H M, Cuellar K T, Johnke A F, Lewis W L, US Patent No. 10,551,119. 8 Anguiano J A, Wilkinson J D, Lynch J T, Hudson H M, US Patent Pending, Appl. No. 14/828,093. 9 Anguiano J A, Wilkinson J D, Lynch J T, Hudson H M, US Patent Pending, Appl. No. 16/815,829. Michael Pierce is Senior Engineering Manager for Ortloff Cryogenic Gas Processing Technologies at Honeywell UOP in Midland, Texas. He has almost 30 years of design experience in cryogenic NGL Enes Cındır is Chief Process Engineer in the hydroprocessing team at Tüpraş Kırıkkale Refinery, where he is responsible for hydrocracking units, hydrogen manufacturing units, sour water stripping, and sulphur recovery units. He has operational experience in refinery operation, dis - tributed control systems, staff management, process products quality monitoring, and catalyst performance monitoring. He holds a bach- elor’s degree in chemical engineering from Ankara University, Turkey. Ersev Dağ is Process Control Superintendent at Tüpraş Kırıkkale Re - finery, where he is responsible for the distributed control system and advanced process control environment. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Gazi University, Turkey. Elif Kızlap is Process Superintendent at Tüpraş Kırıkkale Refinery and responsible for hydroprocessing units. Her role involves increasing unit profitability, adopting new technologies and optimisation. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Hacettepe University, Turkey. She has published an article in the Jour- nal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine (2019) and authored a Turkish patent related to her master’s degree topic. This is not the first time Tüpraş has demonstrated a will - ingness to think outside the box with this unit. Several years ago, when it was running as a high-pressure distil- late dewaxing unit, Tüpraş revamped it to run as a distil - late mild hydrocracker (DMHC) and became one of only a few refiners worldwide to benefit from this mode of operation. The objective was principally to enable the upgrading of two high-margin streams that are particu- larly challenging, namely the heavy gas oil (HGO) and light vacuum gas oil (LVGO) fractions. In distillate dewaxing service, the unit was process- ing HGO and meeting the T95 ultra-low-sulphur-diesel specification of 360°C. A DMHC can handle much greater quantities of HGO, and LVGO can also be added up to cold-flow property limits. Compared with a conventional distillate dewaxing unit, a DMHC delivers a step change in T90+ shift with benefits to density, cetane, and distil - late recovery. Cracking the heavy tail in a DMHC requires a highly customised catalyst solution that promotes ring
Mbugua Gitau is Senior Technical Service Engineer – Hydroprocessing at Shell Catalysts & Technologies, where he engages with refining cus - tomers, helping to unlock potential from their hydroprocessing units with a focus on value-adding catalyst solutions. He holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bath, UK. Email: mbugua.gitau@shell.com The revamp achieved a significant increase in T95 shift of 16°C, compared to the average of the origi - nal cycle when the unit was just in distillate dewaxing service. Additional benefits included a large density improvement, and therefore volume gain, and high die- sel recovery. opening, an advanced chemical upgrading technique. Such a solution, capturing a substantial margin, does not come off the shelf. To evaluate revamping the unit into a DMHC, Tüpraş worked with Shell Catalysts & Technologies. This work included dedicated pilot plant testing and thermal stabil- ity reviews. The solution they devised was a customised catalyst system. No hardware changes were necessary. It fea- tured a latest-generation, high-activity NiMo catalyst and a zeolite cracking catalyst to crack the heavy tail. As the latter catalyst also had a tendency for dewaxing, the win- ter diesel specifications were also met. John Wilkinson is a Senior Fellow and General Manager for Ortloff Cryogenic Gas Processing Technologies at Honeywell UOP in Midland, Texas. He has more than 48 years of design experience in cryogenic NGL recovery projects and is co-author of more than 80 US patents in hydrocarbon processing. He holds both a BA degree in chemical engineering/chemistry and a Master’s in chemical engineering from Rice University. upgrading process for the oil refining industry, producing vast quantities of transportation fuels. It is also expected that it will gain importance as supplier of propylene worldwide and occasionally ethylene. The FCC process and the products it produces will have to meet strict emission standards. With respect to the processing of residual feedstock in FCC, perhaps the most important change in modern FCC catalyst design is the quantification and subsequent optimisation of catalyst accessibility. Data from about 20 commercial experiences show that when contaminants like iron, vanadium, calcium and sodium increase, cata- lyst accessibility decreases rapidly. When catalysts with high accessibility (as measured by the AAI – Akzo Acces- sibility Index) are used, very marked improvements in activity and selectivity are achieved. recovery projects and is co-author of more than 10 US patents in hydrocarbon processing. He holds degrees in both chemical & petro - leum refining engineering and computer science from the Colorado School of Mines. Scott Miller is a Principal Engineer for Ortloff Cryogenic Gas Processing Technologies at Honeywell UOP in Midland, Texas. He has more than 22 years of experience in oil and gas, of which 15 years are in the design of cryogenic NGL recovery projects. He is co-author of more than 10 US patents in hydrocarbon processing and holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University. High accessibility and accessibility retention are required the make the processing of even more contam- inated residual feedstock possible. Akzo Nobel has intro- duced the Opal, Sapphire and Coral catalysts line featuring enhanced accessibility. To enhance the production of light olefins, especially propylene, in the FCCU stable narrow pore zeolites, eg ZSM-5, are required. This has to be combined with a host FCC catalyst featuring high propensity to produce olefinic precursors, which are subsequently cracked to light olefins. Increased ability of the FCC catalysts system to make lower sulphur-containing products is necessary for an overall more profitable refining operation. Reduced NO x and SO x emissions from the FCC stack are also required. The introduction of new FCC catalyst additives as Rajnish (Raj) Patel is a Process Engineering Manager at Brazos Midstream. He has more than 12 years of engineering design experi - ence, of which six years are supporting the design of cryogenic NGL recovery projects. He holds an MBA from the University of Texas Dallas and BS degree in chemical engineering from Drexel University. S. Allen Ericksonis a Principal Process Engineer formerly with Honeywell UOP who supported Ortloff Cryogenic Gas Processing Technologies. Gerry Wooten is the Engineering and Projects Manager at Mustang Gas Products. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering with Special Distinction from the University of Oklahoma.
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