19th AFA Int’l Fertilizer Technical

Conference & Exhibition

18- 20 April 2006
Four Seasons Hotel
Doha- Qatar

High Pressure stripper replacement in urea plant

Mr. Basheer Al-AWAMI – Process Review Team Leader

Mr. Praveen GARG – Cost Contral Team
Albayroni

S. Arabia
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INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
HISTORY OF HP STRIPPER
DESIGN & SIZING HIGHLIGHTS
PROJECT MILESTONES
PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS & CHALLENGES
OPERATION BENEFITS
PROJECT COST
CONCLUSION

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Al-Jubail Fertilizer Co. «ALBAYRONI» was established in 1979 in Al-
Jubail Industrial City; K.S.A.
A joint venture between SABIC and TFC.
It produces four major products namely Ammonia, Urea, 2-Ethyl
Hexanol “2-EH” & Di-Octyl Phthalate “DOP”.
Commercial production of Ammonia and Urea Plants was started in
1983 and for 2-EH & DOP was in 1995 & 1996 respectively.
Urea Plant is a Stamicarbon based technology with a design capacity
of 1600 MTPD. Actual production is +1900 MTPD.

HP Stripper material of construction in Urea plant was BC.05 with a

corrosion rate of 0.06 mm/y
In operation from 1983 to 2005
Due to tube thinning, about 3.1% of total area was plugged
In 2003, it was decided to replace it with a new modified one.
In July 2005, HP Stripper failed due to tube rupture.
The new one was installed during T/A 2005.

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Year Event
1991 Manhole liner showed 1-2 mm pitting due to lack of passivation.
First inspection by Stamicarbon B.V. Eddy current inspection carried out for all the tubes &
1993
used as the base line data. Wall thickness was 2.52-mm max. & 1.2-mm min.

1995 Wall thickness remained 2.44-mm max. and 1.95-mm min.

Inlet box found severely corroded. Liquid dividers were changed due to mal-distribution of
1997
liquid. The corrosion rate was 0.06 mm/year.
The wall thickness remained at 2.35-mm max. & 1.35-mm min. 23 tubes were plugged due
2002
low thickness.
The wall thickness remains 2.35-mm max. and 1.30-mm min. 58 tubes were plugged due to
2003
low thickness.
HP Stripper failed during operation. This happened 8 days before the scheduled T/A in July
2005
2005. Plant was S/D and new one was installed.

Three options were considered, namely:

Replacement in kind.
Similar capacity replacement with upgraded metallurgy
Higher capacity replacement with upgraded metallurgy.

SAFUREX Material Selected:

First use in Urea plants was in 1997.

Lowest corrosion rate when compared to BC.05.
Lower tube thickness due to high mechanical strength.
Passivation air can be reduced and hence more CO2 feed is
possible.
Low susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking

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 DESCRIPTION DURATION
Issue of Letter of intent by SABIC 15 Feb ‘04
KOM at SBN shop. ALBAYRONI, Stamicarbon and TUV participated 22-24 Mar ‘04

Approval of design and fabrication drawings 15 June ‘04

Sourcing of major components Jun - Sep ‘04

Fabrication July ‘04 to Jan ‘05

Hydro test - Shell side (51 barg) & Tube side (265 barg) 25-27 Jan ‘05
Final inspection and release for dispatch 15 Feb ‘05
Delivery to site 13 May ‘05
Installation July - August ‘05
Commissioning 14 August ‘05
Total Project Period 18 Months

Equipment Performance Old Stripper New Stripper

Design Capacity, MT/D 1600 2150
Actual Production, MT/D 1850 - 1900 1880 – 1940
Number of Tubes 2650 2780
Stripping Efficiency, % 78 ~ 80 82 ~ 83
Bottom Temperature, C 165 161
Steam Consumption, MT/MT Urea 0.871 0.853

Outlet Composition, wt %

Ammonia 8.00 6.60

CO2 9.90 9.36
Urea 55.55 57.2
H2O 26.25 26.5
Re-circulation Pressure, Bar 1.9 1.4

Desorber & Hydrolyser Inlet, wt%

Ammonia 6.5 3.5

CO2 4.5 2.5

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Achievements:
Engineering, Procurement, and Construction was completed within the time
frame of the project.
Performance Test Run was successful and met all the guarantee figures.
Equipment was installed without any change in the existing piping or
structure.
Plant production could be increased by 30 MT/D.
Specific consumption of NH3 / Urea dropped from 0.591 to 0.580.

Challenges:
Higher weight of the new stripper.
Changing the material of construction to SAFUREX.
Installation of equipment in limited time and space.

DESCRIPTION COST % of TOTAL

US $ COST
Design & Engineering 230,000 8

Material & Fabrication 2,000,000 72

Transportation ex-works to job site 270,000 9

Installation at site 300,000 11

Total Project Cost 2,800,000 100

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Regular inspection may minimize the chances of sudden equipment failures.
SAFUREX is a proven material for Urea HP equipment.
Prior to any equipment replacement, future plant upgrades and expansion
requirements should be considered, if possible.
Installation of the new HP Stripper in Al-Bayroni was successful as several
operational benefits were realized:
Higher Production.
Lower Ammonia & steam consumption.
Recycle of NH3 & CO2 reduced.
Venting of NH3 & CO2 reduced.

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