Title : Driving net zero through operational excellence in sulfur recovery: Innovations in acid gas processing, energy efficiency, and reliability optimization
Abstract:
This paper aims to demonstrate the operational excellences in Sulfur recovery unit for maximization of acid gas processing and innovative solution to overcome the challenges. The paper highlights the strategies, constraints and limitations that were addressed to increase the acid gas and sour gas processing in sulfur recovery unit. The paper discusses the strategies implemented to optimize the unit's performance, improve its efficiency, and ensure its long-term operability. Paper emphasis on the various challenges in sulfur recovery unit and brainstorming to maximized the sulfur recovery unit feed rate while maintaining its operational integrity.
This paper gives insight on the various best practices implemented in the Sulfur recovery unit:
- Paper focus the damage of the refractory, damage of checker walls and high maintenance due to increased susceptibility to wall refractory damage at high temperature. Paper also focus on the improving reliability of thermal reactor by installing vector wall in the DHDS SRU thermal reactors in place of choker ring.
- Paper focus the condenser tube plugging due to formation of Sulfcrete and innovative method applied to overcome the challenges,
- Paper focus on the contra trace steam tracing benefit over the conventional steam tracing and how the contra tracing helps to overcome the plugging issues in tail gas lines.
- Paper focus various reliability related aspects like corrosion in the Sulfur recovery unit.
- Paper also compared the best design practices evolved in the sulfur recovery unit to improve the reliability of unit. Paper compare the best design practices of new sulfur recovery unit over the old sulfur recovery unit and way forwards for improvement in the old suflur units.
- Paper include the case studies on a commonly encountered problem in sulfur plants is a flow restriction due to high-pressure drop. High-pressure drop is typically caused by a restriction at one point in the equipment or piping due to: Accumulation of liquid (sulfur, etc.) in equipment or piping Partial plugging of a catalyst bed (soot, carbon, polymers, etc.) Partial plugging of a mist eliminator (sulfur, soot, catalyst, etc.), and Plugging of Condenser and WHB Tubes.
Paper also focus on various past failures of Suflur recovery unit and learning from past failure to improve the reliability of sulfur recovery unit. Operation best practices to sustain the sulfur recovery unit operation, maximization of acid gas and sour gas processing to protect the environment.
The successful maximization of the acid gas processing of the Sulfur recovery unit faced several challenges that had to be addressed to sustain the unit's operation. Some of the challenges include “High back pressure, Hydraulic seal plugging, rundown line plugging, Clause reactor plugging/coke deposition, jacket leak, plugging challenges while processing sour gases due to lower thermal reactor temperature, plugging due to improper steam tracing, failures of checker walls, condenser tube leak and plugging, Sulfur pit coil leak” etc. The paper describes all the challenges and the steps to overcome those challenges in detail.
