The CONTACTOR

Published Monthly by Optimized Gas Treating, Inc.

Volume 12, Issue 1, January, 2018

Sulphur Condenser Turndown Operations

With crude oil prices remaining low and the presently Table 1. Conditions of Sour Gas Inlets
large amount of low sulphur shale oil, refineries are being Flow Rate H2S CO2 NH3
pushed into processing lower sulphur crudes. This significantly Stream
(lbmol/hr) mol% mol% mol%
reduces the overall sulphur available for processing in the SRU
and forces the unit to operate at turndown conditions. Another Amine AG 386 91.9 6.7 ---
scenario that all too often happens is that a sulphur unit is de- SWAG 68 44.75 --- 55.25
signed and built based on a specified feed gas rate and compo-
sition; however, upon starting the unit, the original design basis
is no longer valid and the unit is severely under-loaded. These Figure 1. Flowsheet for Case Study
are just two of the many reasons that a Sulphur Recovery Unit
(SRU) might be operating at turndown. This issue of The Con-
tactor focuses on the operation of the final Sulphur Condenser,
specifically its pressure drop, mass velocity, sulphur conversion
and recovery, and it shows how these variables change as the
throughput is reduced.
The primary purpose of a Sulphur Condenser is to re-
move the sulphur being produced upstream. This is a critical
step for furthering the Claus reaction (Le Chatelier’s principle).
Without this step, the reaction would only proceed as far as the
first occurrence of equilibrium. The exchangers, which include the WHB and the four (4) con-
Mass velocity plays an important role in the operation densers, are all calculated in rating mode. Here the tube count,
of a Sulphur Condenser. If the mass velocity is too low, exces- tube diameter, and tube length are obtained from the equipment
sive cooling of the process gas occurs, and the sulphur being data sheets and are used to calculate the outlet temperature as
condensed may tend to remain suspended in the gas as there well as the mass velocity and pressure drop for the final con-
is not enough force to cause the smaller liquid sulphur mole- denser. Having the ability to rigorously rate exchangers allows
cules to collide and coalesce out of the gas; this is often referred for studies, such as turndown effects, to be much more reliable
to as fogging. At the other extreme, if the mass velocity is too and closer to reality than ever before. Table 2 shows the base
high, the velocity of the gas is high enough that the liquid sulphur case operations for the exchangers, and lists the outlet temper-
running out of the condenser tubes can entrain with the gas; this atures and the mass velocities of the WHB as well as the four
is often referred to as misting. In either of these two cases, ex- condensers. Table 3 shows the calculated conversion and sul-
cessive sulphur entrainment can be expected which may lead phur recovery. When discussing things such as sulphur recov-
to increased emissions (if it occurs at the final condenser), liquid ery, it is always best to define the calculations. In this study, re-
sulphur on the catalyst which may lead to deactivation of the covery is defined as the liquid sulphur atoms leaving an ex-
catalyst, elevated sulphur dew point temperatures in the catalyst changer (specifically S2, S6, and S8) over the sulphur atoms en-
beds, and reduced conversion in the converter beds. tering the system (H2S in the acid gas).
Case Study: An SRU on 28% Oxygen Enrichment Table 2. Base Line at Original Operating Capacity
The sulphur unit is a three (3) bed Claus unit under low Parameter WHB Cond 1 Cond 2 Cond 3 Cond 4
level oxygen enrichment processing both sour water gas and
amine acid gas operating at a rate of 125 LTPD. The acid gas T Out Calc 512.6 333.5 333.9 313.2 260.8
(F)
inlet stream flow rate and key component dry basis composi- Meas 512 329 332 317 261
tions can be seen in Table 1 while Figure 1 shows flowsheet Mass Velocity
2.0 3.0 3.0 2.7 2.8
details. (lb/s-ft2)

© 2018 by Optimized Gas Treating, Inc., 12337 Jones Rd., Suite 432, Houston, TX 77070, USA, Phone/Fax +1 281 970 2700, Web www.protreat.com
 The turndown limit for a sulphur condenser really
depends on the mass velocity as well as a number design
Table 3. Recovery at Original Operating Capacity
specific variables. These can be accounted for in Protreat®
Thermal Stage 1st Stage 2nd Stage 3rd Stage through the entrainment specification. For this study,
WHB Cond 1 Cond 2 Cond 3 Cond 4 entrainment was considered constant. Table 6 shows how the
mass velocity through the final condenser changes as the
Recovery 17.89 37.58 30.92 9.02 2.28 throughput to the SRU is reduced.
Cumula-
17.89 55.47 86.38 95.40 97.69
tive Table 6. Mass velocity through Final Condenser at
Turndown Conditions
Results % of Original Operating Case 100% 75% 50%

In this study, the SRU was placed in a turndown state Calculated Mass Velocity (lb/ft2-s) 2.80 2.08 1.39
at 75% and 50% of the original operating capacity. This reduced
the throughput from 125 LTPD to 93.75 LTPD and 62.5 LTPD The final parameter that is highly important in an SRU
respectively. Normally, oxygen would be removed during turn- is pressure drop. ProTreat® is able to calculate the pressure
down operations due to cost; however, for this study, the enrich- drop through the exchangers allowing this parameter to be
ment level was held constant for simplicity. Focusing on the cu- studied. If we look at the pressure drop, specifically through the
mulative sulphur recovery, we can see from Table 4 and Table final condenser, we can see from Table 7 that as throughput is
5 that with the exception of the WHB and Condenser 1, the over- decreased, pressure drop through the exchanger also
all unit did not recover all that much more, or less, sulphur. decreases.

Table 4. Recovery at 75% Capacity Table 7. Conditions of Sour Gas Inlets

% of Operating Rate 100% 75% 50%
Thermal Stage 1st Stage 2nd Stage 3rd Stage
Calculated Pressure Drop (psi) 0.52 0.30 0.14
WHB Cond 1 Cond 2 Cond 3 Cond 4

Recovery 28.71 26.43 31.17 9.15 2.28

Cumula-
Conclusions
28.71 55.14 86.31 95.46 97.74
tive There are many reasons that an SRU may be
operating in a turndown state; partial loss of feed gas due to
Table 5. Recovery at 50% Capacity problems in the unit upstream, changes in feed gas rate after
Thermal Stage 1st Stage 2nd Stage 3rd Stage the unit was built, adding oxygen enrichment, etc. However,
being able to know and understand the limitations and
WHB Cond 1 Cond 2 Cond 3 Cond 4 capabilities of the SRU is crutial to reliable operations. Through
Recovery 37.00 17.51 31.83 9.15 2.25
the use of a true kinetic rate and heat transfer based sulphur
simulator, the turndown conditions and impact on the recovery,
Cumula-
tive
37.00 54.51 86.35 95.50 97.75 pressure drop, and mass velocity can be studied. A newly
developed spreadsheeting tool is available on ProTreat’s
As the throughput to the unit is reduced, the majority of downloads page for calculating the sulphur conversion and
the sulphur being condensed in the thermal stage shifts from the recovery. It was found that the recovery does not change
first condenser to the WHB. This can be attributed to the fact dramatically as the unit is turned down and pressure drop
that because of the decreased throughput, the operating becomes almost negligable. For this case, practical
temperature of the WHB is noticibly lower than in the original considerations, such as heat loss to the environment and
operating temperatures. This leads to more sulphur being fogging in the condenser tubes would probably be the deciding
removed in the WHB at both 75% and 50% capacity leaving less factor as to just how far the throughput can be reduced.
to be condensed in the first condenser as can be seen from However, there are many other factors that affect the turndown
Tables 3, 4, and 5 above. However, in both turndown cases, the causing the devil to be in the details.
overall sulphur recovery does not have a significant shift one
way or the other. Looking at this purely from a process chemistry ~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~~·~·~·~·~·~
perspective, for this particular unit, the performance of the unit To learn more about this and other aspects of gas treating and
does not depend as heavily on rate as one might expect. In this sulphur recovery, plan to attend one of our training seminars.
case, performance of the unit in turndown conditions would be Visit www.protreat.com/seminars for details.
dominated by other factors such as heat loss, due to a lower ProTreat and The Contactor™ are trademarks of Optimized
thermal mass of the process gas, and fogging due to lower mass Gas Treating, Inc. Any other trademark is the property of its
velocities. owner.

© 2018 by Optimized Gas Treating, Inc., 12337 Jones Rd., Suite 432, Houston, TX 77070, USA, Phone/Fax +1 281 970 2700, Web www.protreat.com