The profound demand shock caused by Covid-related lockdowns has had a major impact upon the refining industry. Run rates have been at low levels in North America and Europe, and a new wave of rationalisation is under way, at the same time that capacity continues to grow in Asia. Will this spur diversification into petrochemicals and low carbon options for Atlantic basin refiners?
EcoMax™ tail gas catalysts offer a sustainable and cost effective choice for tail gas catalysts. They are made from spent hydroprocessing catalysts, which reduces the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of sourcing fresh cobalt and molybdenum and therefore supports operators’ sustainability goals. B. Visioli of Porocel (a part of Evonik) discusses the benefits of catalyst reuse from hydroprocessing for tail gas treating.
M. Baerends of Fluor reports on the conception, engineering, construction, commissioning and start-up of a new sulphuric acid plant that replaced an existing acid plant at a European sour gas processing terminal. This highly complex gas processing facility handles sour gas from an off-shore field, containing H2 S that must be removed to meet transmission grid specifications. Various issues encountered, their resolution by the joint owner, Fluor and Topsoe team, and plant operating results are discussed.
Wet sulphuric acid technology when used as tail gas treatment for a Claus unit, or in place of a Claus unit with amine-based tail gas unit, brings many benefits if there is a market for the sulphuric acid and steam. A new alternative is to have a WSA unit in combination with a Claus unit and to recycle the acid to the Claus unit for higher sulphur recovery efficiency.
Sour gas processing presents a number of unique challenges, especially at high levels of hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide content.
Euro Support’s new generation, titania-based low temperature tail gas catalyst shows a marked robustness to the start-up procedure compared to its common alumina-based counterparts. Dr B. Hereijgers of Euro Support discusses the promising lab results.
Demand for nickel sulphate is expected to rise rapidly this decade to feed increased battery production for electric vehicles. At the same time, diminishing sources of high grade nickel ores are leading to a renewed focus on high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) of laterite ores, with a significant impact on sulphur and sulphuric acid demand.
Restrictions and lockdowns across the globe have significantly reduced oil demand, impacting refinery run rates. This has aided in reducing sulphur liquidity, supporting the short term view.
Automatic identification and optimum online monitoring using sonic velocity measurements can now be used to determine the concentration of both sulphuric acid and oleum.C. Kahrmann and T. Knape of SensoTech report on a new user-friendly method of measurement providing a significant step towards automated process control.
All acid towers eventually require replacement. In this article, K. Sirikan, A. Mahecha-Botero et al of NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd discuss two recently executed acid tower replacement projects. The first project involved the replacement of a brick-lined tower by an alloy acid tower for a sulphur burning plant in North America. The second project involved the replacement of a brick-lined acid tower with a NORAM designed brick-lined tower for a smelter off gas acid plant in South America. The impacts of various design considerations on acid tower replacement projects are compared, including in-situ replacement versus a new location; brick-lined versus alloy shell, and selection criteria for mist eliminators.