Has any coker seen an effective Coker Furnace higher run length by Chemical injection.

If yes what were your observations?

With more emphasis on a CO₂ tonnage per dollar investment basis, which metrics matter in pursuing opportunities in petrochemicals or low-carbon fuels?

What opportunities do you see for the integration of biorefineries with steam crackers?

What options are available for increasing the number of higher octane gasoline components?

A TGT that uses a steam heater to raise the temperature is experiencing a drop in quencher pH after shutdown maintenance and startup. In this TGT, passivation was done at shutdown for shutdown maintenance, and pre-sulfurization was done at startup and startup. The TGT reactor has thermometers at the top, middle, and bottom, and since startup, the temperatures at the middle and bottom have been the same, indicating that the catalyst in the lower layer is losing activity. The operation to raise the pH of the quencher with caustic soda had to be repeated two to three times a day, and by raising the H2S/SO2 of the SRU upstream to 5, the SO2 leak from the reactor was reduced, and the quencher pH drop is now only once a week. No unusual operations have been performed. The catalyst has been in use for 10 years, which is not a short period of time, but we do not believe it is a period of use during which a rapid decline in activity occurs. If anyone has experienced similar problems or has knowledge of the possible causes of the problems, it would be helpful.

In the event of an emergency shutdown of the FCCU, coke in the reactor and reactor cyclone may be peeled off. On the other hand, a significant period of time will be required to remove the coke. In the event of an emergency shutdown, how should we determine whether or not coke removal is necessary?

Why should water boot be vertical? We want to implement water wash of overhead condenser, but 3 phase separator is bottleneck, esspecially water boot. We can not extend it verticaly, to get more residence time for water (space limitations). Potential option is to extend boot horizontaly - to increase its DIA to bi as wide as vessels, or to change boot with another smaller vessel, to provide residence time. Are this options even applicable or must hold on to already proven solution, like vertical boot?

What is the typical particle size for HCGO Backwash filters? The frequency of the HCGO backwash filter has increased significantly when the wash oil amount is decreased in the unit. I have checked the data sheet which states that coke particle size>20 microns. Have you encountered any issues with HCGO backwash filters before? If the problem is not related to the filter size, what other factors might be causing it?

What are the positive and negative implications on coker operation associated with the introduction of FCC slurry oil into the feed?

In a hydrogen production unit designed by Haldor topsoe, we have a latent heat exchanger, that vaporizes natural gas by HPsteam, and a condensate pot. The effluent entering the heat exchanger is HP Steam and the exit of the heat exchanger is steam condensate enters the condensate pot from the middle. Between the top of the pot and the heat exchanger there is a line connecting them together. Steam pressure is 70.5 kg/cm2. The operating pressure of the pot is also 70.5kg/cm2. What is the the purpose of the line connecting the condensate pot to the heat exchanger? By the way, there is a PSV installed at the top of the condensate pot The PSV pressure is set 79.5 Kg/cm2.

How are technology suppliers dealing with attracting young professionals to the industry?

What heat and mass transfer technologies are helping the industry lower Opex?

Under what conditions do you see opportunities for blending petrochemical byproducts with refinery fuel feedstocks to lower conversion costs?

What role does artificial intelligence (AI) play in revamping downstream facilities that are scaling back on conventional fuels production while upgrading to capture value from new products?

What technology and strategies can resolve the huge gaps between ethylene and propylene production in certain markets?

What technologies do you see dominating the long-term development of alternative fuels like ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen?

Lean Amine (MDEA) from Amine Regenerator bottom pre-heats the feed to regenerator and then is pumped to users while passing through Air Fin cooler (AFC). A slip stream is sent to pre-coat filter and filtered MDEA joins the rundown. We are facing high MDEA rundown temp (>75 degC) due to internal fouling of the rundown Air fin cooler (AFC) which is designed to reduce MDEA temp from 104 degC to 60 degC. MDEA rundown results is as follows: Fe (5-6 ppmw), HSS (1.5-2.0), Na (400-500 ppmw), TSS (200-400 ppmw). There is no trim cooler at downstream of AFC. There is a HSS removal  from MDEA skid which was recently commissioned in Mar'23. What could be the reason for fouing of AFCs? Is there any reference of online cleaning of Lean Amine AFC without impacting the quality?

 How can cycle time be optimised in needle coke production while refurbishing a fuel grade coker?

How to prevent fouling in feed / effluent exchanger of hydrotreatement unit in refinery?

In a crude processing unit we have two stages of separation (gas, oil & water) and two stages of desalter. I need to know if we should heat the crude between two separators or before the first desalter? and why?

In our plant, DSN tank exists for cold feeding to CCR unit in case of interruption in u/s hot feed from NHT unit or during total power failure start-up of Refinery. Cold DSN is fed to NHT stripper and thereby to CCR unit via Depentanizer and Re-run columns to produce Hydrogen for NHT start-up. Once Hydrogen is produced, NHT feed in is done. Stripper bottom is recycled back to FSD till DSN is on spec. When DSN is on-spec, feed from DSN tank is isolated. How to avoid poisoning of CCR catalyst while keeping NHT running with off-spec DSN? Further, can DSN from Tank be sent directly to Depentanizer bypassing Stripper in absence HP nitrogen input in Stripper? What are the precautions to be taken for operation of CCR unit?

A CO2 removal unit with MDEA solvent has experienced severe foaming issue in the regenerator which has lead to solvent loss to the regenerator vent. When foaming happens in the regenerator, observed high/ fluctuating DP across the packed bed and wash water tray (bubble cap trays) on the regenerator section. On the absorber side, the DP maintain stable and no solvent carry over to downstream vessel during foaming incident. However, the foaming in regenrator has led to inefficient solvent regeneration and caused high CO2 breakthrough at the absorber overhead (treated gas).

The process gas to the absorber is mainly coming from the syngas produced from upstream Steam Methane Reformer unit with Natural Gas feed. The Process Gas to absorber mainly composed of CH4, CO, CO2 (7-8 mol%) and H2.

Analysis on the cause of the foaming incident in the MDEA regenerator is suspected due to solvent contamination with particulate matters as contamination due to long chain hydrocarbon is not possible in this process. MDEA solvent has been analyzed with the TSS has been observed between 3 - 10 mg/mL. The solvent appearance remains clear without any coloration which would indicate solvent degradation. Lab analysis has also shown low HSS and no signs of solvent degradation.

Hence, the way forward to avoid the foaming in the regenerator is to replace the filter element of the side stream filter from 10 micron nominal to 5 micron absolute. This is to ensure small particulate matters are sufficiently filtered during normal operation with 5 micron absolute filter.

However, would like to check if following parameters can also cause amine foaming inside the regenerator:
* Can over stripping from the regenerator reboiler caused turbulence and foaming especially at the rich amine inlet to the regenerator feed gallery?
* Rich amine at inlet of regenerator is located below of the wash water trays (bubble cap trays). Some amine would expected to be entrained with CO2 to the bubble cap trays. Should the antifoam be injected at the regenerator reflux line to break down the foam which could build up at the bubble cap tray section?

Appreciate your feedback/ thoughts on this.

What are the best practices in degassing the recycle gas circuit of a hydrotreater in preparation for major works or turnaround? 

Industry sources project FCC market expansion to more than $8.75 billion by 2030 (vs $6.78 billion today). To what extent is this due to new reactor and catalyst formulations?

With the most profitable refiners focusing on the production of basic chemicals such as aromatics, olefins, and polyolefins, what catalyst and reactor technology is key to this focus?