Special Report Fluid Flow and Rotating Equipment

o. GARCIA, R. SHIPMAN, C. TONG and R. E. PALMER,

Wood Group Mustang, Houston, Texas

Analyze abnormal operations of an HDS

reactor loop with dynamic simulation
Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) units are While conventional methods for exceeds the set pressure of the pressure
used in a petroleum refinery to process a calculating the settle-out pressure ex- safety valve (PSV) protecting the HDS
variety of feeds to alter composition via ist, if the revamped settle-out pressure reactor loop, then there is generally no
the addition of hydrogen (H2). Process
objectives include reducing the sulfur and
nitrogen content for subsequent down-
stream processing. Often, existing HDS legend
facilities are modified for higher through- Reactor feed
Reactor effluent -
put, feed composition changes and/or in- Recycle/makeup H2 -
Wash water -
creased hydro treating severity. A revamp
process study is typically undertaken to
identify the changes needed to achieve
Product separation
these new process objectives.
For the evaluation of the HDS reactor
loop, two abnormal operating conditions
Sour water
must be considered:
Heatwave to the reactor effluent
equipment and piping caused by
the sudden loss of feed
Settle-out pressure in the reactor
loop after the loss of recycle
gas flow. HDS reactor

Conventional approaches for evalu-

ating the impact on the reactor effluent
system of a heatwave can result in over-
FIG. 1. Typical HDS reactor loop.
conservatism in a revamp or new design.

TABLE. 1 Peak temperatures calculated for feed/effluent exchanger shells

Feed side Feed side Effluent side Effluent side

steady state steady state Peak feed side steady state steady state Peak effluent side
Exchanger inlet temp., OF outlet temp., OF outlet temp., OF inlet temp., OF outlet temp., OF inlet temp., OF

HX Shell 1 448 495 542 550 485 550

HX Shell 2 425 448 524 485 450 538

HX Shell 3 398 425 498 450 426 517

HX Shell 4 365 398 472 426 397 491

HX Shell 5 323 365 448 397 361 465

HX Shell 6 270 323 424 361 315 441

HX Shell 7 203 270 397 315 256 418

HX Shell 8 123 203 350 256 185 389

Air cooler 175 131 325

Hydrocarbon Processing I AUGUST 2016 25

 Fluid Flow and Rotating Equipment
agreed-upon method for calculating the
relieving rate. Dynamic simulation is the
preferred approach for analyzing these
two contingencies.
Key design information is used to
develop the dynamic simulation. This
includes equipment design details such
as tube/shell size, geometry, nozzle loca-
tions and elevations. Centrifugal pumps
and compressors are modeled using the
performance curves. CV data is used to
model control valves, while volumes are
used for piping to model the holdup.
Heatwave caused by loss of feed. In
the HDS unit, a heatwave begins when the
liquid feed flow is lost, resulting in a condi-
tion where the heat content in the reactor
effluent-which normally transfers to the
feed in the feed/effluent exchanger-is
not removed. As a result, equipment and
piping in contact with the reactor effluent
will experience higher-than-normal tem-
peratures. Evaluating the peak tempera-
tures for equipment in the reactor loop
with conventional methods may result
in very conservative design conditions.
A dynamic simulation is used to predict
the transient response of the temperatures
and pressures for this condition.
A dynamic simulation of a typical
HDS reactor loop (FIG. 1) is used to dem-
onstrate the heatwave analysis. The hy-
drocarbon liquid feed is pumped by the
charge pumps to the reactor loop pres-
sure, and the hydrocarbon liquid rate is
regulated by flow control. Liquid hydro-
carbon is combined with the recycle H2
600
SSO I -
\ J
'" :
SOO
4S0
400
en 350
"- ~
.~ ..L.
~- 300
~ 250
-~ ,.
1/
200
I \
150
100 ~ 1\.
SO
o ...
o 4
FIG. 2. Settle-out pressures and relievingrates.
Select 152 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
from the recycle gas compressor. The
combined feed stream goes through a
series of feed/ effluent exchangers, where
the reactor feed absorbs heat from the re-
actor effluent before being heated to the
reactor inlet temperature in the heater.
The reactor feed inlet temperature to
the HDS reactor is controlled by adjust-
ing the fuel gas flow to the heater burn-
ers. The reactor effluent is cooled in the
feed/ effluent exchangers and then mixed
with wash water before entering the re-
actor effluent air cooler. The air cooler
outlet stream enters the separator, which
separates the sour water, liquid hydro-
carbon and recycle gas. The liquid hy-
drocarbon and sour water are pressured
out of the HDS reactor loop. The vapor
stream is split, with some gas purged out
of the HDS reactor loop to maintain H2
purity in the recycle gas. The remain-
ing gas is routed through the recycle gas
compressor and mixed with the hydro-
carbon liquid feed.
The following example is for a heat-
wave resulting from a local power failure
where the reactor feed is lost. It is assumed
that normal control responses stop the H2
makeup and wash water flows. It is also
assumed that fuel gas to the heater is shut
off via safety interlock and that there is
no heat input to the feed. The recycle gas
compressor continues operating and initi-
ates the heatwave. The dynamic model is
run until peak temperatures on the feed/
effluent exchangers are observed and be-
gin to decay. Eight shells are used in series
for the feed/ effluent exchangers (TABLE 1).
60,000
I I I
romu suction - Separator -Aircooler
- Effluent side 1 - Effluent side 2 - HOSreactor
\
- Heater - feed side 2 - feedsidel 50,000
"
- (omp, discharge Relieving rate
\ 40,000
\ =
~
ai
~
\
30,000 ~
:~
\. Q;
0:
20,000
\ ....
10,000
" ....
'... ... -
--. o
8
Time, min.
 Fluid Flow and Rotating Equipment

For a new HDS unit, the peak tem- loss of feed or recycle gas. For loss of
peratures can be incorporated into the feed, the transient temperature response
selection of the design temperatures for predicts the magnitude of the heatwave
both the shell and tube sides of the feed/ needed to evaluate the design tempera-
effluent exchangers and the air cooler. tures of the effluent side of the feed/ ef-
A conservative approach is to set the fluent exchangers. Dynamic simulation
design temperature of the effluent side allows the calculation of a realistic re-
of the feed/ effluent exchangers to the lieving rate from the products separator
same temperature as the HDS reactor. during a settle-out pressure caused by
With the dynamic simulation, the peak the loss of recycle gas.I-P
temperatures can be used to reduce the
design temperature, which may result OSCAR GARCIA is a process
consultant in downstream process
in cost savings for the feed/ effluent ex-
engineering in the process plants
changers.Also, the dynamic simulation is and industrial business of Wood
useful in the design of the reactor effluent Group Mustang. where he has
worked on multiple refining and
air cooler in terms of selecting fin tube
chemical projects. Mr. Garcia has
type based on the design temperature. 17 years of industry experience. He holds a BS
For the examples shown in TABLE 1. degree in chemical engineering from The University
if the peak temperature exceeds the ex- of Texas at Austin and an MS degree from Texas
A&M University-Kingsville.
isting equipment design conditions, it
may be possible to rerate the impacted RAY SHIPMAN is a process
exchangers or consider reusing some of manager in downstream process
the existing exchangers in a different se- engineering within the process
plants and industrial business of
quence. If rerating or reusing the impact-
Wood Group Mustang. He has
ed exchangers is not a viable option, then more than 35 years of industry
the exchangers will need to be replaced. experience, including 20 years
at Wood Group Mustang. where his responsibilities
include feasibility studies, front-end design and
Calculating the relieving rate. Dy- detailed engineering of refinery and petrochemical
namic simulation can be used to calculate Electric actuators for the oil
processing units. Mr. Shipman is a registered
the required relieving rate of a PSV fol- professional engineer in Texas and holds a BS degree and gas industry
in chemical engineering from Rice University.
lowing the loss of recycle gas if the settle-
Safe, explosion-proof,
out pressure is greater than the setpoint CHUNG TONG has more than
of the PSv. For a revamp case, the reactor 35 years of industry experience,
tough. AUMA offer a large
throughput may be increased, resulting in including 20 years at Wood Group portfolio of actuator and
Mustang, where he is the process
a higher operating pressure in parts of the
engineering manager and the gearbox type ranges.
reactor loop. The reactor loop settle-out discipline technical authority in
pressure may increase to a value higher the downstream process Automating all types of
than the PSV setpoint at the separator. engineering department within the process plants industrial valves
and industrial business. His responsibilities include
For the given example, the reactor High corrosion protection
proposal development, feasibility studies, front-end
loop PSV is located on the separator. The design and detailed engineering of refinery and
set pressure is 290 psig, and the normal petrochemical processing units. Mr. Tong is a
Integration into all
operating pressure is 210 psig (FIG. 2). registered professional engineer in Texas and holds commonly used control
a BS degree from National Taiwan University and
When the recycle compressor stops, the an MS degree from the University of Houston, systems
PSV opens and the relieving rate peak both in chemical engineering.
Global certifications and
flowis approximately 56,000 lh/Iir,
The pressure continues to increase R. E. (ED) PALMER is the manager approvals
of downstream process
after the PSV initially opens, but the dy- engineering within the process
namic model does not predict the PSV plants and industrial business
to be fully open since the separator pres- of Wood Group Mustang. He has

sure does not reach 10% overpressure
(319 psig). The pressure peaks at around
302 psig. The results indicate that the
PSV is adequately sized for this settle-
out scenario.
Takeaway. Dynamic simulation is the
best method to predict the transient re-
sponses of the temperatures and pres-
sures in an HDS reactor loop from the
more than 40 years of industry ~ Find 0", more
experience, including 20 years with on our
Wood Group Mustang. He is responsible for directing
all process design activities for downstream projects I!l. . automation solutions
and studies, including selecting the lead process www.auma-usa.com
engineer and supporting team for each engagement.
Mr. Palmer is a registered professional engineer in
Texas and a member of the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers. He holds a BS degree in
chemical engineering from the Missouri University
of Science and Technology and has authored Solutions for a world in motion
numerous technical articles and presentations
for industry publications and meetings.

Select 153 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS