Chemical Technology April 2016

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.

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//bit.ly/21ETgEF or www.za.endress.com Enquiries: Frans van den Berg Tel: +27 11 262 8000

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

FOCUS ON

PETROCHEMICALS

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

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

Sasol selects ABB’s flexible mobile E-House solution

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

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

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 Paul.louw@za.abb.com.

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Chemical Technology • April 2016