Tag: Safety

The continuing spread of alkylation technology and the preference for the sulphuric acid route are leading to increased demand for acid in refineries.

Temperature monitoring and measurement of the Claus thermal reactor in sulphur recovery units is one of the most challenging applications in the oil and gas industry. Recently, market interest in unpurged thermocouples has increased with the introduction of new unpurged thermocouple designs utilising alternative thermowell materials such as monocrystalline sapphire.

In August 2020 the tragic explosion of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the port of Beirut caused many fatalities and injuries. This was a wake-up call for the entire industry to review the design of plants and storage facilities, as well as the procedures for plant operation and the handling of products. The key factor for safe new installations is the process design: the right choice of unit operations, operating temperatures and pressures, the control of process variables and the design of key items of equipment. A modern ammonium nitrate (AN) plant design not only mitigates the environmental impact, but also reduces investment costs and contributes to the key factors mentioned. M. Pieper and P. Kamermann of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions discuss how, by using the right design, safety in ammonium nitrate plants can be easily achieved, while maintaining outstanding product quality.

N. Clark, B. Avancini and V. Sturm of Clark Solutions discuss a novel technology, SAFEHX® , providing a new approach to the cooling of strong sulphuric acid. Prototype results are shown and indicate a safe and stable cost-effective technology. SAFEHX® can be extended to every heat exchanger system where corrosion, mixture risks, fouling, process liquid loss (or contamination) and temperature control are key concerns.

Calgary-based Pieridae Energy Ltd says that it has hired a new Chief Operating Officer as from April 5th. Darcy Reding is a professional engineer with 30 years of experience in small and medium-sized private and public upstream oil and gas companies, 20 years of that in leadership roles. Reding spent the last decade at NAL Resources as VP of Operations and VP Operations & Geoscience. Prior to NAL, Reding held technical and leadership roles with Norcen Energy, Northrock Resources, Samson Exploration and Enterra Energy Trust.

With declining ore grade feed to a metallurgical smelting process comes an increase in impurity load in the gas cleaning/acid process chain. K. Hasselwander, L. Skilling and C. Bartlett of Metso Outotec discuss a range of process solutions and how to maintain high productivity while keeping costs in check.

Several safety risks threaten urea high pressure equipment such as high pressures, high temperatures, various kind of corrosion phenomena, crystallisation risks, and the release of large volumes of toxic ammonia in case of a leak. A significant number of serious incidents with high pressure urea equipment still occur in the industry and, in 50% of cases, a failing leak detection system was one of the main causes. UreaKnowHow’s Risk Register for a 316L urea grade reactor identifies 50+ safety risks of which 75% can be prevented by operating a proper leak detection system. In this article, UreaKnowHow answers some key questions about the importance of an effective active leak detection system.

Ammonia synthesis catalysts have long lives and catalyst replacement is an infrequent activity. Many people will go through their careers in the ammonia industry without ever having to replace a synthesis catalyst and the infrequent nature of catalyst replacement means that many plants may not have direct experience of this activity. Ammonia synthesis catalyst can present a range of hazards throughout the replacement process, from transport through loading, reduction, start-up, shutdown and discharge, but the good practice illustrated in this article, and collaboration between catalyst suppliers and end users can ensure safe and successful catalyst changeouts.

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.

Fertilizer coatings play an integral role in minimising the degradation of fertilizers during transport, handling and storage. Increasingly, customers also want to know if the coatings they buy are sustainable too. But what exactly is a sustainable fertilizer coating – and how can its sustainability be properly defined and measured? Lucas Moore , director of coatings technology at Arkema-ArrMaz, weighs up these thorny questions and provides some clear-cut answers.