Challenge

A large chemical client has two 10,000-gallon batch oil reactors with external steam heaters that take eight hours to heat the oil to temperature, causing process delays. The client was in search of a solution that would increase the process efficiency.

Solution

Valdes Architecture & Engineering (Valdes) met the challenge of designing and sizing two new shell and tube exchangers using hot oil as the heating medium to speed up the heating process. The process team performed transient heating calculations and designed/sized exchangers using Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating (EDR) software. Three piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) redlines, heat and material balances and Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA) data sheets were developed for each exchanger. Piping hydraulics were developed for the hot oil system, as well as both the linseed oil (LSO) and soybean oil (SBO) heating systems for pipe sizing. Controls were designed for the proposed new hot oil heating system.

Impact

The designs and deliverables developed in this project phase will serve as the basis for the detailed design phase at a future date, resulting in a process improvement from eight hours to just two hours to heat the oil to temperature.

Services

Process

Instrumentation & Controls

Pipe Stress Analysis

Piping & Plant Layout