A Sulfur Master Plan

“There's no master plan! I'm just gonna be me and hope it all works out!” -- Britney Spears (American Singer. b.1981, Kentwood, Louisiana, USA)

I ran across this eye opening article and thought that some of my readers might be interested.  I’ve quoted a few paragraphs here … you can read the whole thing at http://www.shell.com/global/products-services/solutions-for-businesses/globalsolutions/special-supplements/co-create-integrate-innovate/sulphur-master-plan.html

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Developing A Sulphur Master Plan.
By: Sathish Balasubramanian, Senior Engineer, Shell India Markets Pvt. Ltd
Despite having a strong track record of applying innovative solutions to meet environmental legislation, a South-East Asian refinery faced a particularly severe challenge in 2006. The regulator that sets the environmental emissions limits for the country’s industrial facilities had indicated that the refinery’s emission limits were going to be acutely curtailed. The regulator had been reducing SO2 emissions limits by 15% every three years, but now it was warning of a step change. It was going to adopt the World Bank guidelines of 500 mg/Nm3 for fuel burning equipment and 150 mg/Nm3 for SRUs. As the SO2 emissions from the SRUs were, at the time, substantially higher at about 30,000 mg/Nm3, this would require a change in operating philosophy.
The refinery was already operating close to its current limits, so much so that it had to process more expensive, low-sulphur crudes to avoid exceeding its limit.
The challenge was exacerbated because the refinery had plans to install a new hydrodesulphurisation unit to produce ULSD, as even better sulphur recovery capabilities would be required.
Moreover, sulphur was not the only challenge. Although the plant’s carbon monoxide (CO) emission limit was unlikely to change, the plant had difficulty meeting its existing CO emissions limit because of the gas treating configuration at that time. Any solution would have to factor this in as well.
The refinery’s response was to commission a sulphur master plan study. This involved site technologists, and gas processing specialists and process engineers from Shell Global Solutions. Working closely as an integrated on-site team, they conducted brainstorming sessions and technology selection studies before delivering detailed proposals for how the refinery could reduce its sulphur emissions. The team also spearheaded the implementation of these proposals, including the installation of new units.
Free Full Text Source: http://www.shell.com/global/products-services/solutions-for-businesses/globalsolutions/special-supplements/co-create-integrate-innovate/sulphur-master-plan.html
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Mr. Balasubramanian has a LinkedIn presence at http://in.linkedin.com/pub/sathish-balasubramanian/40/73a/2b4