Refinery Saves $100K Per Year With Electric Heating Solution

Challenge


A local refinery was injecting a catalyst into their process stream to strip out the propane-impregnated HF gas (mixed gas is a by-product of the FCC process), but the catalyst would only work at temperatures above 385° F. The presence of elevated HF gas downstream of the reactor was causing reduced life in the valves and instrumentation and they were having to replace these elements often.


Solution


Valin’s process team analyzed the situation and recommended inserting an electric in-line heater upstream of the catalyst injection along with a control panel.  The customer agreed and Valin’s team began working on the solution.


Benefits


After installation of the new system, the customer has not had to replace any of the valves or instrumentation. The refinery’s cost to replace these elements was approximately $100K per year. Not only did Valin save them the cost of replacing the elements, but the cost of down-time and man hours to replace the elements.


Leslie Kovach || Valin Corp.


Challenge

The refinery presented Valin with a need to raise the temperature of heat transfer fluid to 490°F to strip out the solid catalyst. The existing gas-fired system was corroded and replacement. Steam could only get the process to 380°F. In addition, the gas fired system required a 50’ clearance so isolation valves could be shut down without getting close to the boiler. Stripping is done by means of a heat exchanger, with hot oil heated to 490° F via an electric in-line heater. Zeolite, a commercial adsorbent, goes through thermal regeneration to strip the catalyst out of the refined process for reuse and can be significantly expensive.


Solution

Valin replaced the old gas fired system with an electric in-line unit along with a SCR Panel.

 

Benefits

Valin’s solution was not only more energy-efficient and cost saving, but also provided more space. This solution heated the transfer fluid to the required temperature to properly strip out the solid catalyst.