A European Refiner is aggressive in their crude selection, which poses a high degree of difficulty in controlling the overhead corrosion. This challenge demands constant attention, but due to the high degree of variability, corrosion control often struggled historically with frequent low pH excursions (pH less than 5). In response the refinery was considering upgrading the metallurgy of the overheads to address the corrosion concerns.
Innovation Stories
Title - Reducing Overhead Corrosion
Update Continuous analysis online control
BG Section Heading
The Solution
Historically, the crude unit overheads were sampled daily for pH, chlorides, iron and ammonia. To improve corrosion performance, the refinery was interested in the 3D TRASAR™ Technology for Crude Overhead Systems (3DTCOS). If successful, the refinery could avoid a capital project worth $5M to upgrade the system to a more corrosion resistant metallurgy.
"Pull quote of Story Page"
— Source, Title
The Result
Starting in Monitor Mode, the "learning phase" was catching potential upsets as changes were made manually to improve performance. Progressing to Control Mode tightened corrosion performance further. The improvements realized on pH and Fe (controlling neutralizer), grew our data collection to over 17,500 points a year. The performance gain continued with chemical control.
This step-change in performance increased unit reliability and system assurance, while real-time analysis and chemistry control enhanced crude flexibility. With a higher confidence to catch upsets, the $5M metallurgy upgrade project could be avoided.
Annual Savings
Business Outcomes
$ 90
Value Delivered
View definition
- Quality
- Brand
- Delighted Guests
- Water Safety
- Human Safety
- Food Safety
Operational Performance
$ 189
Value Delivered
View definition
- Raw Material Optimization
- Product Optimization
- Location Productivity
- Labor Productivity
- Capacity
- Reliability
- Asset Protection
- Industry Compliance
- Regulator Compliance
Water
123
Energy
789
Waste
567
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