A 6″ ATCS-Industrial installed on a critical heat exchanger at ASHDOD’S PAZ REFINERY maintains clean tubes to optimize the MEA Amine gas cleaning process. The system recirculates rubber balls through the heat exchanger tubes at set intervals and maintains them free of scale, maintaining the heat transfer capacity.

Application:

Amine Unit heat exchanger used to condense the residual water vapor in the H2S gas.

Equipment:

ATCS-Industrial

Description:

The heat exchanger would get clogged by scale and silt and the heat exchange capacity diminished to the point where external cooling, in the form of water spray over the condenser case, had to be used. The external water was only a partial remedy and caused corrosion to the shell’s exterior.
The inadequacy of the condensation phase caused many malfunctions in the Sulfur recovery plant that is installed after the Amine Unit, and in extreme cases caused disruption of the process.

When the heat exchanger clogged, the effluent gas temperature climbed to above 70°C and some water penetrated the Sulfur recovery plant – an unacceptable situation which causes still more clogging by corrosion particles and discontinuation of the process. Cleaning the heat exchanger twice yearly did not correct the situation, as it would get clogged again soon after each cleaning.

Disruption of the Sulfur retrieval Plant costs tens of thousands of US $ per day. This cost is amplified when the crude oil is of high sulfur content.

Results:

Since C.Q.Ms ATCS was installed in October 2003, no additional cleaning was required, nor any external cooling by spray water. No more malfunctions were registered in the Sulfur Recovery plant.