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Jed Bellen
Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd.
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Abstract:
Among the vital units in a refinery is the Sulfur Recovery Unit, where
elemental sulphur is recovered from gaseous hydrogen sulphide. Part of the Sulfur
Recovery Unit is the Sour Water Stripping Section which would treat sour water
coming from various sources around the refinery.
Sour water is basically waste water which contains H2S and NH3 and
sometimes phenol which can be treated by stripping in a Sour Water Stripper to
remove the H2S and NH3 content (or phenol) so that the water can be reused, further
treated or discarded to sewerage if it met the required quality.
In this paper, the general approach to the design of sour water stripping section
is described which involves process simulation, design and operating conditions map
preparation, material selection diagram preparation, flash drum, feed tank and stripper
sizing, tray and heat exchanger rating, hydraulic calculations and pump design.
As sour water treatment is very important in every refinery, it is therefore
desirable to come up with an optimal design of sour water stripping systems.
Key words: Sulfur Recovery Unit, Sour Water, Sour Water Stripper, Refinery,
Optimal Design
Introduction
Among the most vital units in a refinery is the Sulfur Recovery Unit where
elemental sulphur is recovered from gaseous hydrogen sulphide. Part of the Sulfur
Recovery Unit is the Sour Water Stripping Section which would treat sour water
coming from various sources around the refinery.
The sour water from the flash drum is then fed to the Feed Stabilization Tank.
This stabilization tank is used to increase the residence time of the sour water for
longer mixing and homogenization of the feed composition and for further removal of
hydrocarbons. If this is not done and it happens that sour water composition changes
significantly, the stripper will not operate properly and it could result to inconsistency
in product specification or steam wastage by overstripping leading to the worst
composition. Furthermore, environmental regulations might require vent gases to be
treated for hydrocarbon or H2S (Armstrong et al., 1996).
The sour water from the tank is sent to a heat exchanger where it is pre-heated
through heat exchange with the stripped water. Then it flows to the Sour Water
Stripper where some of it is flashed through a reduction in the pressure across a
control valve. There are varieties of sour water stripping methods employed. Most of
them involve the flow of sour water through trays or packings in a column while the
stripping steam or gas flowing upwards removes H2S and sometimes NH3 (Beychock,
1967). The steam that could be used maybe live steam or steam produced from the
reboiler. The reboiler boils sour water at the minimum tower operating pressure by
utilizing the latent heat of low pressure steam as the heating medium. This has the
advantage of no additional water load in the stripper and the steam condensate can be
recovered and returned to the boiler house. The H2S, NH3 and steam rising to the
tower cooling section are cooled by pumped-around sour water in the middle of the
tower. The temperature is maintained at 1800F. The reason for this is that if the
temperature would be well above this value, there could be carry over of condensates
into the overhead due to high vapour flow. On the other hand, if the temperature is
well below this value there could be no sufficient removal of H2S in the sour water.
The overhead gases flow by pressure control to a lower pressure system like the Sour
Water Gas Flare Knock Out Drum or Sulphur Recovery Unit. The stripped water
collected at the tower bottom flows through a heat exchanger where it is cooled via
heat exchange with sour water feed to the tower. It is then pumped off-site on level
control for further processing. It could be sent to a crude unit desalter; a liquid/liquid
extractor that transfer ninety-five percent (95%) of phenols in water to atmospheric
crude feed. Phenol removal in sour water stripper is minimal (~ 10% reduction) but if
it is sent to the desalter, phenol content is reduced substantially.
The Process Flow Diagram is shown in Figure 1.
Gas to
Flare K.O.
Drum
Vapor to
Flare K.O.
Drum
Gas to Sulfur
Recovery Unit
Drum
PC
Sour Water
Feed
TIC
PIC
LIC
FLASH
DRUM
SOUR WATER
STRIPPING
TOWER
Hydrocarbon
Liquids
LIC
FIC
FIC
LP
STEAM
COND.
FEED
STABILIZATION
TANK
FIC
STRIPPED
WATER TO
DESALTER
acid (H2S).
This salt would undergo hydrolysis in solution to form back H2S and
(Vapor Phase)
(Aqueous Phase)
NH3
P.P.
H2S
P.P.
water. The preheated Feed Sour water is fed to the Sour Water Stripper. The Feed
Tray and the Number of Trays are determined through adjustments so that the
Stripped Water specified quality will be met. The number of trays that is obtained here
is the theoretical number of trays. Since the stripper has pumparound, the steam going
in and out of the condenser can be represented by pseudo-streams for tractable stream
flow rates and properties. If a kettle reboiler is used, the fraction of liquid to be
vaporized needs to be specified. The H2S vapour coming out of the stripper could be
sent to the Sulfur Recovery Unit to recover the sulfur. Finally, the stripped sour water
coming out of the Stripper bottom is cooled through heat exchange with the feed.
In PRO/II there are two (2) methods for use in modelling the system
equilibrium. These are SOUR and GPSWAT methods. The SOUR method is based on
Sour Water Equilibrium (SWEQ) model developed by Grant Wilson for the American
Petroleum Institute (API) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This
method contains four components namely H2O, NH3, H2S and CO2. The correlation is
based on the components partial pressures. Similarly, the GPSWAT method was
developed by Grant Wilson for the GPA. This method contains nineteen components,
including H2O, NH3, H2S and CO2. This is a rigorous model of the reactive equilibria
in the system.
Both these methods can be used for rigorous Vapor-Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium
(VLLE) calculations and can be used with petroleum fractions. The keyword input for
thermodynamic data is provided in the Appendix 1 (Lecture of Dr. Jungho Cho).
See Figure 3 for the sample HYSYS Simulation of Sour Water Stripping
System.
Legend:
DP = Design Pressure
DT = Design Temperature
OP = Operating Pressure
OT = Operating Temperature
Vapour to
Flare K.O.
Drum
Sour Water
Feed
PIC
FLASH
DRUM
LIC
TIC
SOUR WATER
STRIPPING
TOWER
LIC
FIC
LP
STEAM
FIC
FIC
COND.
FEED
STABILIZATION
TANK
Gas to Sulfur
Recovery Unit
Drum
PC
Hydrocarbon
Liquids
DP= Max. Suction
DT= OT + 500F
OP= Pump
Suction
OT= Feed Temp.
Gas to
Flare K.O.
Drum
Material Selection
Basically, the material that can be used for the vessels, tanks, stripper, pumps,
heat exchangers and piping is carbon steel. Higher grade killed carbon steel can also
be used. See the Material Selection Diagram depicted in Figure 5.
STRIPPED
WATER TO
DESALTER
Vapor to
Flare K.O.
Drum
Gas to
Flare K.O.
Drum
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Gas to Sulfur
Recovery Unit
Drum
PC
Sour Water
Feed
Matl: CS with Ti
TIC
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
PIC
FLASH
DRUM
LIC
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Hydrocarbon
Liquids
SOUR WATER
STRIPPING
TOWER
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
LIC
FIC
FIC
LP
STEAM
COND.
FEED
STABILIZATION
TANK
FIC
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Matl: CS
CA: 1/8 in
Stripped
Water to
Desalter
W
S.F. = L V
WV L
( V )
= KH L
0. 5
AV min =
QV
U vapor max
Atotalmin =
AV min
0.2
0.5
L=
FLV
2
D
4
Using this kind of stripper, however, would add steam condensate to the
stripped water, thereby increasing the plants water effluent (Lieberman, 2003).
CW
Steam + H2S + NH3
Sour
Water
Reflux
Steam
Stripped
Water
2003). In addition to that, reboiled strippers involve higher investment cost. Figure 9
shows the configuration of this type of stripper.
Sour Gas
TIC
Sour
Water
FIC
Steam
Stripped
Water
hole area is from 0.08 to 0.12 (Kister, 1990). The downcomer width needs to be
specified and the pressure drop across the tray is closely monitored.
The height of the column would depend on tray spacing. Kister (1990)
recommended a tray space, ranging from 8 to 36 inches, though 24 inches is most
common for columns with diameter 4 feet and larger. The reason for this value is for a
space sufficiently large that a worker can crawl freely between trays.
Heat Exchanger
Feed-Bottoms Exchanger
The rating of this heat exchanger is much simpler as compared to rating
reboilers. The rating could be done using software like HTRI. The most tedious part of
this activity is finding the shell diameter and tube length. However, HTRI offers the
Design Mode which can calculate the shell diameter and tube length. Upon knowing
the shell diameter and tube length, the HTRI design mode is changed to rating mode,
and those values are used as initial input for rating the heat exchanger. The
parameters, which are closely guarded, are shell side and tube side pressure drop, shell
side and tube side velocity, v2 and overdesign. The Overdesign is defined as the
actual overall heat transfer coefficient divided by the design overall heat transfer
coefficient. Its value must be greater than zero (0).
Reboiler
The types of reboiler which can be used are either the once-through
thermosiphon reboiler or the kettle reboiler.
BAFFLE
SEAL PAN
LP Steam
Stripped
Water
LP
Steam
Stripped
Water
The Pumparound
There are two ways to remove heat from a distillation tower. The first one is by
introducing a top reflux and the second one is by using a circulating reflux called
pumparound. The hot liquid is drawn from the pumparound draw tray, cooled in a
condenser or air fin cooler and returned to the tower at a higher elevation. It is best
practice if this pumparound return liquid enters the tray downcomer as shown in
Figure 9.
The purpose of pumparound is to cool and partially condense the upflowing
vapors. The typical number of pumparound trays is a minimum of two (2) and a
maximum of five (5). In the case of steam stripper (See Figure 8), it is employed to
recover heat to a process stream that would otherwise be lost to the cooling water.
Hence, this could lower the cooling water outlet temperature. It is best to keep the
cooling water outlet temperature below 125 0F to retard water hardness deposition.
Pumparound is also used to prevent top-tray flooding by decreasing the vapour
temperature. In so doing, less vapour would reach the top tray resulting to lower
vapour velocity and lower tray pressure differential. In this case the ability of the
vapour to carry entrained liquid will be lessened and the height of the liquid in the
downcomer will be reduced and tray flooding will be avoided. It should be noted that
too much lowering of the vapour velocity can lead to tray weeping which is
undesirable since it does not provide good liquid-vapour contact. Also if vapour
velocity is too low, it may lead to the loss of the downcomer seal, causing vapour to
by-pass the trays via the downcomer.
The temperature difference in the pumparound trays indicates that fractionation
is taking place. The temperature difference is a measure of the amount of fractionation
as expressed in the following equation:
T= temperature of liquid - temperature of vapour
leaving a lower tray
leaving a higher tray
In the equation above, the bigger the temperature difference, the more
fractionation would take place across the trays (Lieberman, 2003).
Pump Design
The type of pump commonly used in this system is centrifugal pump. When
designing a centrifugal pump the horsepower requirement needs to be determined. The
handiest formula for horsepower is
HP=GPM(P)/1751(Eff)
where: HP = Pump Horsepower
GPM = Gallons per Minute
P = Delivered Pressure
Eff = Pump Efficiency
Branan (2005) provided an approximate formula for pump efficiency as below:
Eff = 80 0.2855F + 3.78(10-4 )FG 2.38(10-7)FG2 + 5.39(10-4)F2
6.39(10-7)F2G + 4(10-10 )F2G2
where: F = developed head, ft
G = Flow, GPM
The preceding equation is applicable for F=50 to 30 feet and G = 100 to 1000 GPM.
The result of the equation is within about 7% of the pump curves. For G < 100, a
rough efficiency could be obtained by using the equation for 100 GPM.
Another consideration in pump design is the provision for minimum flow.
Minimum flow is needed to protect the pump from shut-off. At shut-off, all of the
pumps horsepower turns into heat and it can vaporize the liquid and damage the
pump. The minimum flow is constant from discharge to suction. For preliminary
estimation, assume that all the horsepower at blocked-in conditions turns into heat.
Thereafter, provide a minimum flow that could remove 15 0F rise in the minimum
flow stream temperature.
It is also essential to ensure that the fluid flowing in the pump suction line is
not vaporizing. Hence, the pressure along the line must not go below the fluids
vapour pressure. The lowest pressure is at the impeller inlet where a sharp pressure
lowering occurs. The impeller rapidly builds pressure and collapses the vapour
bubbles, causing cavitation and damage. To prevent this, a sufficient net positive
suction head (NPSH) must be maintained. NPSH is the pressure available at the pump
suction after vapour pressure is subtracted. In equation form:
Conclusion
This paper explores on the underlying concepts used in designing an optimal
sour water stripping systems. The sour water stripping process is described and its
simulation using PRO/II and HYSYS software is presented. It also showcased the
preparation of the Design and Operating Conditions Map and the Material Selection
Diagram. Discussions on the design considerations for sizing the flash drum, tank and
stripper and rating of trays and heat exchangers are also provided. Moreover, various
configurations for those equipments are presented. Design considerations for
pumparound and pumps are also discussed with sufficient detail.
APPENDIX 1
Keyword Input for SOUR Method:
THERMODYNAMIC DATA
METHOD KVAL (VLE) = SOUR, ENTH (L) = IDEAL, &
ENTH (V) = SRKM, DENS (L) = IDEAL, &
DENS (V) = SRKM
Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank, Fluor Daniel Inc. Philippines through the Process
Department Manager, Maam Corazon S. Almirez and the Former Department
Manager, Maam Josephine B. Sabay for their unwavering support in this endeavour. I
would also like to thank my Most Loved Mentor Ever, Maam Melody Lee M. Estrada
for showing me how sweet sour water can be with the enormous learning that I had
from her motherly mentoring. My gratitude also goes to Sir Raul L. Bicol, the
indomitable process engineer, for sharing to me his vast refinery experiences and for
being the reviewer of this paper. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Jay R T.
Adolacion, for reviewing and critiquing my paper. Finally, I would also like to thank
Herbie Gino S. Vinluan and Marcial N. Barroga for driving me to bring out the best
that I can be.
References
1. Beychock, Milton R. (1967) Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and
Petrochemical Plants, England: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
2. Branan, Carl (2005) Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers. 4th Ed. USA:
Elsevier.
3. Kister, Henry Z. (1990) Distillation Operation. USA: McGraw-Hill.
4. Lieberman, Norman P. And Elizabeth T. Lieberman (2003) Working Guide
to Process Equipment, 2nd Ed. USA: McGraw-Hill.
5. http://www.cbi.com/services/sour-water-stripping-units.aspx
6. http://www.cheresources.com
7. http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com
8. http://www.insightengineers.com/articles/SourWaterStripping.pdf
9. http://www.jaeger.com/Brochure/steamstripping.pdf
10. http://www.koch-glitsch.com/koch/product_brochures/KGIMTP.pdf