Chemical Technology April 2016

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12 Chemical Technology • April 2016
FOCUS ONPETROCHEMICALS
Endress+Hauser extends production availability
An Endress+Hauser client in the oil & gas
industry has presented a challenge, where
they had to save costs on maintenance
as well as prevent production losses.
Endress+Hauser has assisted the client
minimise maintenance and costs.
Apart from continuous production
processes, an Endress+Hauser oil &
gas client is specialising in customised
batch processes. The flexibility of this
client is apparent in high batch cycles
and medium changes. A batch runs be-
tween a few days and several months.
Between every batch, the vessel has to
be cleaned to avoid contamination and
to avoid safety risks caused by reactions
of different chemicals. Complete cleaning
is also necessary in case of maintenance
work at the plant. The reactor for special
chemicals frequently caused control is-
sues since measurements with capillary
systems did not work properly. Varying
ambient temperatures jeopardised the
reliability of measurements. The oil filling
in the capillaries expanded and created an
increasing output signal independently of
any level change in the distillation column.
Furthermore, the mechanical and thermal
impact destroyed the capillaries every 4
to 6 months. The consequences were not
only an unreliable process control but also
at least one day of production losses due
to maintenance work required every 4 to
6 months to replace the whole capillary
system.
A Deltabar FMD72
electronic dp solution
with metal cells was sug-
gested to replace the
inferior capillary system.
Endress+Hauser also
suggested level calcula-
tion from two values of the
sensor modules within
the transmitter due to the problems men-
tioned. The client decided to use Deltabar
FMD72 electronic dp, which eliminates
all of the typical issues with traditional
differential pressure measurements us-
ing capillaries. Since the installation of
Deltabar FMD72 at the reactor 18months
ago, it has "never been touched again
for maintenance as the reliability of the
system is outstanding". The client was
also pleased with the modular concept
compared to capillary systems because in-
dividual sensor parts and electronics can
be exchanged in case of need. Thanks to
the elimination of production shutdowns
for capillary maintenance, the client has
extended production capacity by at least 3
days per year which results in cost savings.
The client is a privately held chemical
producer for third parties. With batch re-
actor capabilities of up to 32 000 litres,
the client features flexible, multipurpose
continuous production and conventional
catalytic batch slurry autoclaves. The Plant
Operations Manager commented that this
system perfectly suits them as it reduced
their costs and increased reliability of their
processes.
For more information go to:
http/ or
Enquiries: Frans van den Berg
Tel: +27 11 262 8000
ABB, the global leader in power and automa-
tion, has supported Sasol to minimise pro-
cess downtime for routinemaintenance with
a range of medium-voltage solutions. Sasol,
the international chemical and energy com-
pany, has implemented an innovative and
flexible ABB solution utilising the power of
UniGear Digital switchgear, Relion® protec-
tion relays and sensor technology installed
in a lightweight E-House, mounted on a
mobile truck trailer.
At Sasol’s Secunda petrochemical plant
in South Africa, locally mined coal is con-
verted into synthetic fuels. On this site, age-
ing substations needed to be refurbished
and Sasol was looking for a solution to
minimise capital losses due to the produc-
tion downtime required for the switchgear
replacement.
To meet the requirements set, ABB of-
fered a mobile E-House based on the Uni-
Gear Digital solution. The backbone of this
solution is the UniGear ZS1
switchgear equipped with
IEC 61850-embedded Re-
lion 615 series protection
relays and ABB’s advanced
sensor technology.
The switchgear was
placed in a prefabricated
metal enclosure, an E-
House, which was then
installed on a truck trailer.
Installing the solution on
the truck trailer means
that it can be relocated
to wherever it is needed,
swiftly and efficiently. This
mobile E-House provided
the flexible power supply solution required
by Sasol.
ABB delivered the solution within a short
time frame — from concept to design and
implementation — within a year.
For more information contact
Paul Louw, Local Marketing Manager Elec-
trification Products Division, ABB South
Africa, on tel: +27 (0) 10 202 5916; or
email
Sasol selects ABB’s flexible mobile E-House solution