5/11/2015

WehaveaproblemwithourHydrocrackerVGOfeedfiltersresultinginfrequentbackwashoperationsduetohighDelP.Canyoupleaseascertaint

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WehaveaproblemwithourHydrocrackerVGOfeedfilters
resultinginfrequentbackwashoperationsduetohighDelP.Can
youpleaseascertainthereasonforthesameaswedonotgetany
FeSorsuspendedsolidsinthebackwashstreamanalysis.Isit
becauseoftheasphaltenesasweprocessdeepcutVGO(360580+
degC)alongwithHeavygasoil?

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15/12/2010 A: MarkWillingham,PurolatorAdvancedFiltration,
mark.willingham@purolatorafg.com
Whattypeoffiltersareyouusingwedgewire,wirecloth,sinteredpowdermetal,or
other?
Thisisafairlycommonoccurrenceintheindustry,andistypicallythoughttobe
becauseofstickyasphaltenesbindingthemselvestothefiltermedia.Wehavehad
verygoodsuccessinretrofittingexistingfilterelementswithourhighpermeability
sinteredwireclothfilters.Theopenporestructureallowsforbetterbackwashfluid
flowtoreachtheparticlesandfreethemfromthemediasurface.
Ourelementsaretypicallydesignedtoremoveparticlesinthe25micronrange,
althoughotherratingsarealsoavailable.
11/08/2010 A: BalasubramanianIyer,NexenCNOOCLimited,balasubramanian.n@aol.in
IfyouaretakingVGOatambienttemperaturethenpluggingofFeedFiltersResulting
inhighDPandfrequentbackwashingareenvisaged.TrytoPreHeattheVGObefore
takingittotheFeedFilters.
23/03/2010 A: NielsvanderHorst,TechnischBureauDahlmanBV,
n.vanderhorst@dahlman.nl
Wehaveseenthisphenomenonmoreoften.Youcouldcheckthequalityofyourfeed
(notbackflushliquid)withrespecttoTSSvaluesovertimeinordertosaysomething
onpluggingofyourfilters.Dahlmancanperformonsitepilotfiltrationtestswith
varioustypesoffiltermediawithanindustrialtestrig.Atthistimeweareperforming
identicaltestsfor(imported)VGOfiltration.Thistestfilterpackagecanbeusedto
testthebehaviourofdifferenttypesoffilterelementsbeforehandusingdifferent
pressureforbackwashing.Thepackage,equippedfortheinstallationofone(1)
singlefilterelement,allowsyoutodeterminetherightfilterelementtypeandmodus
ofoperationthatisrequired.Notalltypesoffilteringmediaaredestinedtobeused
inthisfiltrationapplication.

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14/03/2008 A: CharlesCameron,Axens,charles.cameron@axens.net
Feeddeposits,suchasrust,ironscale,cokeorsedimentwilltendtobecaptured,at
leastinpart,onthefilteringsystemleadingtoincreasedpressuredropandthus
increasedbackwashfrequency.
Thefirstitemtocheckisthedetailedanalysisoffeedcontaminants.Specifically,the
cokeandsedimentcontentshouldbewithinspecifiedlimits.Similarly,theasphaltene
contentshouldbelow,typicallylessthan500ppm.Higherasphaltenecontentwill
increaseriskofasphalteneprecipitationleadingtofiltersplugging.Thefeedcoloris
alsoagoodindicationaboutfeedstability.ThetypicalASTMD1500coloristobe
strictlylowerthan8.
Anotherreasonforfeedfilterpluggingarisesfromnonnitrogenblanketedtank
storage.ForthecaseofimportedVGOfeeds,unblanketedstoragecanleadtosmall
amountsofoxidationproducts,whichproduceunstablegumsformingcompounds,
suchasolefins,diolefins,andoxygenates.Theseproductscantheninducepoly
condensationproductsuponheatingintheheatexchangertrain.Theformedsolids
arethenpartiallyfilteredoutbythefiltersandpartiallybythetopsectionofthe
catalystsbed.
06/03/2008 A: MarcelloFerrara,ITWSrL,mferrara@itw.it
Wedevelopedachemicalwhichcanpreventasphaltenefromprecipitating,thereby
reducingthepossibilitypluggingcanhappen.
06/03/2008 A: SimoneRobinson,TubeTechInternationalLtd,simone@tubetech.com
Highlylikelytobeasphaltenesasitisagoodbindertootherdepositionlikecokeor
otherscaletypeformationhenceathoroughcleaningregimeisrequired.Thiscould
alsobeanOnlinesolutionaswellasoffline.Contactmeifyouneedanythingfurther.
06/03/2008 A: LindsayMcRae,PallCorporation,Lindsay_McRae@ap.pall.com
FrequentHCUbackwashingcanbeduetoanumberoffactors.
1)Reversepluggingoffilterelementsisacommoncausewhenliquidbackwashwith
reverseflowtypebackwashandwedgewiretypebackwashfiltersareused.Insome
casesupto10%ofHCUfeedcanbesenttobackwashreceiverduetofrequent
backwashing!Dirtybackwashfluidcancontributetothis.Wehavemeasuredthe
solidsloadinginmanyliquidbackwashfluidsanditcanvaryquitealot.WhatI'dask
iswhereisthebackwashfluidiscomingfrom?Isitfilteredfeedorfrombottomof
reactor?Thismayneedtobefilteredseparatelytoreducereversefouling.Best
practiceistoavoidliquidbackwashfiltersaltogetherandusegasassistedtype
backwashinthefirstinstanceasbackwashfluidgenerationistypically5to7times
lessthanwithliquidbackwashtypeHCUfeedfilters.
2)Otherpossibilityisasphalteneprecipitation.Whatthefeedfilteroperating
temperature?Iftoolow,thiscanbeveryproblematic.PallCorporationdevelopeda
solventsoakstepasapartofregularbackwashcycletoassistindissolving
asphaltenesbutfeedtempneedstobeintherightrangetoo.Nottoocoldtohave
asphaltenesprecipitate,andnottoohottohavecokingorpolymerisationoccur.
Relatedtothisisfeedcompatibility.IfthefeedtoHCUisfrommorethan1source,
anOilCompatibilityTestanddienetestshouldbeconducted.Iffeedsare
incompatible,a3rdviscous(asphaltene)phasecanprecipitateandthisisexcellent
forblockingfiltersupandcausingshortcycletime.
3)Anotherpossibilityisgums.Thisoccursespeciallyincaseoffeedcomingfrom
tankswithoutadequatenitrogenblanketing.Gumscan'tbedissolvedwithonline
solventsoakandonlyfrequentexternalfilterelementcleaningcanremedythat
situation.We'dsuggesttoalsolookatN2blanketstomakesuretheyareworkingOK
andyoudon'thavealeakyroof.
Weoffertroubleshooting/consultingservicestoaddresssuchissuesasyou
describe.Itwouldlikelytakesomedetailedanalysisworktodeterminewhatthe

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5/11/2015

WehaveaproblemwithourHydrocrackerVGOfeedfiltersresultinginfrequentbackwashoperationsduetohighDelP.Canyoupleaseascertaint
problemisandthendefinetherightsolution.
05/03/2008 A: KengChung,LiaoningHuajinTongdaChemicals,kengchung@hotmail.com
Yes,verylikely.Ihaveseenthis,doneacomprehensiveanalysisincludingsplit
streamfilterskidtestinthefieldtest,andsolvedtheproblem.Theculpritsare
asphaltenesandnonbasicnitrogencompounds.Deepcutdoesnothelp,butthereal
problemisentrainmentofheavyend.Asmallamountofheavyendisbadenoughto
causeallsortsofproblem.Seeifyoucanminimizetheentrainmentasthefirststep.
Ifyougivemeyouremailaddress,Iwillsendyousomepaperswepublishedon
whatwedid.

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