Novel Approach to Ammonia Plant Revamps with ZoneFlow Reactor - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Novel Approach to Ammonia Plant Revamps with ZoneFlow Reactor - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jan 13, 2023 207 likes •505 views

ZoneFlow TM Reactor Technologies, LLC Novel Approach to Ammonia Plant Revamps with ZoneFlow Reactor Technology SANJIV RATAN & Michael Ralston ZoneFlow Reactor Technologies, LLC (ZFRT), USA Prof. Juray de Wilde, Universite Catholique De

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SLIDE 1

Novel Approach to Ammonia Plant Revamps with ZoneFlow™ Reactor Technology

SANJIV RATAN

& Michael Ralston

ZoneFlow Reactor Technologies, LLC (ZFRT), USA

  • Prof. Juray de Wilde,

Universite Catholique De Louvain (UCL), Belgium

ZoneFlowTM Reactor Technologies, LLC

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SLIDE 2

Presentation Outline

  • Introduction
  • Steam Reforming “pellet” catalyst - Status quo
  • ZoneFlowTM (ZF) Reactor Technology - an innovative

breakthrough

  • ZF development status and validation programs
  • Application of ZF Reactor Technology in ammonia plants
  • ZF Single-Pass Reactors (ZF-SP)
  • ZF Convective Pre-Reforming Reactors (ZF-CPR)
  • ZF for Post Reforming (ZF-PR)

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 2

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SLIDE 3

Introduction

  • Projected global growth for nitrogen fertilizers: 2% per year
  • Ammonia plant revamp / expansion is the potential driver
  • Expansion often constrained by primary reformer / SMR

(dP, TSM, firing)

  • Proven solutions in place for typical 20-30% additional

capacity but often constrained by existing SMR (mainly catalyst ) limitations

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 3

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SLIDE 4

Ammonia Plant Syngas Generation Front-end

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SLIDE 5

Steam Reforming Pellet Catalyst - Status Quo

  • Inherent deficiencies of the conventional "pellet" steam

reforming catalyst, limiting reformer capacity increase:

  • high pressure drop
  • catalyst attrition / breakage from thermal cycling
  • limited heat transfer and associated higher tube

temperatures

  • flow / temperature non-uniformity due to random packing
  • very low catalyst effectiveness

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 5

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SLIDE 6

ZoneFlow Reactor Technology

– an Innovative Breakthrough

  • Advanced high-performance structured catalyst
  • Step improvement of key performance

parameters

  • up to 2 times higher heat transfer (along with

internal radiative transfer)

  • up to 70% lower pressure drop
  • up to 10 times higher catalyst effectiveness
  • high strength metal substrate; longer stable life
  • annular flexible casing; near-wall flow jets
  • adaptive structure for Convective pre-reforming

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 6

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SLIDE 7
  • from random packing to engineered foil

structure; also non-acidic and steam stable

  • from strength-limited voidage of ~ 50 %

to ~ 90% voidage with robust substrate

  • from limited surface (GSA) enhancement

to high GSA fin structure

Conventional SMR Catalyst v/s ZF Reactors

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  • ZF offers step reduction in dP combined

with multifold increase in heat transfer

ZoneFlowTM structured Catalyst Conventional pellet catalyst

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SLIDE 8

Conventional SMR Catalyst v/s ZF Reactors

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ZoneFlowTM structured Catalyst Conventional pellet catalyst

  • Increased catalyst effectiveness ; higher

resistance to coking and upsets ; longer life

  • from random packing tube wall contact to

flexible casing for uniform proximity to wall

  • from limited crush strength against thermal

cycling to durable metal substrate

  • from diffusion-limited active site access to

micro-layered full surface access

  • No attrition from thermal cycling; stable dP

and flow uniformity over full operating life

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SLIDE 9

ZF CFD Modeling (dP and Heat Transfer)

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0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250% 0% 50% 100% 150% 200%

Relative ΔP

New SMRs

Revamps

1.E-03 1.E-02 1.E-01 1.E+00 1.E+01 1.E+02 5.E+01 5.E+02 5.E+03 5.E+04 5.E+05 5.E+06

hf / dP/dz dP/dz

Empty tube Different ZF Casing Designs Relative Heat Transfer Coefficient

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SLIDE 10

ZF Kinetic Modeling and FEA Analysis

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 10

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SLIDE 11

ZF Commercial Demonstration

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Installation Operation Extraction

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Demonstrated Results Compared to Pellet Tubes

  • 80o C lower TMT
  • 24% lower pressure drop
  • No hot spots
  • ZF operation >15,000 hrs with several thermal cycles
  • Lower S/C ratio operation was not available

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 12

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SLIDE 13

ZFRT Pilot Plant

  • At Materials and Process Engineering (IMAP) Division in

Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Belgium

  • Facilities and campaigns for extensive testing of ZF reactors

under various commercial conditions and beyond

  • In collaboration with Professor Gilbert Froment
  • Operational 2Q 2018

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 13

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SLIDE 14

ZFRT Pilot Plant Installation

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 14

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SLIDE 15

Ammonia Plant Revamps

  • Revamp approaches
  • ZF-SP reactors replacing pellets to allow capacity increase

without added dP or increase in tube temperatures

  • Adding ZF-CPR Reactors in primary reformer convection zone

to utilize high grade convective heat for producing additional hydrogen instead of steam

  • Use of ZF-PR reactors in post-reformers or heat-exchange

reformers for step capacity increase , which are inherently heat-transfer limited and capital intensive

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 15

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SLIDE 16

Typical Reforming Section of a Ammonia plant

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500-550 oC 780-820 oC 10-13% CH4 0.3-0.5% CH4 450-500 oC 950-1000 oC

H2/N2 vol. ratio ~3

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ZF-SP Reactors for Stressed SMRs

  • Stressed SMR Indicators / Attributes
  • Pressure drop (and build up) limiting throughput
  • Loss of catalyst activity and related heat transfer or

Shorter EOR activity

  • Hotter tubes / Hot spots
  • Carbon formation at inlet
  • Catalyst bridging / settling from thermal cycling
  • Shorter (remaining) tube life
  • Replacing (pellet) catalyst in these SMRs with ZF-SP

Reactors can overcome these deficiencies

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 17

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SLIDE 18

ZF-SP for De-Stressing of SMR

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 18

SMR De-Stressing SMR Design Stressed Operation ZF-SP replacing pellets Relative Capacity, % 100 95 100 Capacity limitations

  • dP, TSM

removed S/C Ratio 3.3 3.5 3.2 Outlet temp, C 800 793 804 Approach to Equilibrium EOR C

  • 10
  • 12
  • 7

CH4 slip, vol % 12 12 12 Radiant Pressure drop, bar 2.8 2.8 2.3 Relative Radiant duty % 100 97 99

  • Avg. Heat flux kW/m2

75 72 75 Bridgwall temp, C 950 950 948

  • Max. Tube Skin temperature C

860 860 857

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SLIDE 19

ZF-SP Reactors for Debottlenecking

  • Achieve capacity in excess of nameplate (~ 105 %), while

utilizing design margins in SMR burners and fans

  • Higher average heat flux without exceeding tube design

temperature

  • Improved temperature uniformity
  • Extended tube life and improved reliability and availability
  • Better catalyst performance and “life cycle” costs
  • Extended EOR
  • Optimized operation and reforming severity

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 19

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SLIDE 20

ZF-SP for Debottlenecking

Reference ZF-Radiant Relative Capacity, % 100 105 Capacity limitations dP, TSM removed S/C Ratio 3.3 3.1 Outlet temp, C 800 810 Approach to Equilibrium C

  • 10
  • 7

CH4 slip, vol % 12 12 Radiant Pressure drop, bar 2.8 2.5 Relative Radiant duty % 100 103

  • Avg. Heat flux kW/m2

75 77 Bridgwall temp, C 950 950

  • Max. Tube Skin temperature C

860 860

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 20

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SLIDE 21

Pre-reforming

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In-situ efficient use of higher grade convective heat using existing process coils

Syngas Steam Methane Mixed feed

Convective zone

Flue gas to stack

Radiant Zone

Adiabatic Pre- reformer

Adiabatic pre-reforming (APR)

ZoneFlowTM

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SLIDE 22

ZF Convective Pre-reforming (ZF-CPR)

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  • Non-adiabatic convective pre-reforming using ZF-CPR inserts
  • In-situ horizontal loading in the mixed feed superheat coils
  • Avoids major modifications around the primary reformer and

also the related extended downtime

  • Tailored structured packing for very low dP, high GSA and (low

temp reforming) activity

  • Further optimization of dP in combination with ZF-SP in SMR

radiant tubes

  • For revamps, up to 15% additional reforming without increasing

SMR firing duty.

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SLIDE 23

ZF-CPR based Revamping

Existing ZF + CPR Relative Capacity, % 100 115 S/C Ratio 3.4 2.8 SMR inlet temp, C 550 550 / 575 1) SMR outlet temp, C 804 804 / 821 2) Approach to Equilibrium C

  • 10
  • 7

CH4 slip, vol % 12 13.2 / 12 Radiant Pressure drop, bar 2.5 2.3 Avg heat flux kW/m2 75 75-77 Relative Radiant duty 100 100 / 103 Bridgewall temp, C 950 < 960 TSM C 860 845/ 865 1) 2)

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 23

* Exploiting of existing plant design margins, tube skin and bridgewall temps increase are minimum with lower ATE and enhanced heat transfer

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SLIDE 24

Post Reforming integration with Secondary reformer

24 Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

Courtesy KBR

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Expansion Revamp Using Post-Reforming

  • Post-reforming is a proven solution for 25-30%

additional H2 without increasing SMR radiant duty.

  • Proportionate N2 from process air circuit revamping
  • Post-reformer is a heat transfer-limited convective heat

exchange reformer

  • ZF-PR can significantly lower the size and cost of post-

reformer because of its heat transfer and dP advantages

  • When combined with CPR, can provide upto 40%

additional equivalent H2

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 25

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SLIDE 26

ZF Post-Reforming + CPR based Revamp

Existing ZF-PR + CPR Relative Capacity, % 100 135 S/C Ratio SMR / PR 3.4 3.0 Inlet temp SMR / PR C 550 550 / 575 Outlet temp, SMR / PR tube C 804 804-820* / 915 CH4 slip SMR / PR vol % 12 12 / 3.5 Seco Reformer outlet temp, C 980 1020 H2/N2 ratio in MUG 3.0 2.9 -3.1 Total inerts in MUG vol % 1.5 ~ 2.5 Relative SMR radiant duty 100 100

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 26

* Exploiting of existing plant design margins, tube skin and bridgewall temps increase are minimum; with lower ATE and enhanced heat transfer

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SLIDE 27

Conclusions

  • SMR performance governed mainly by its catalyst
  • Current pellet-catalysts carry inherent deficiencies, especially

for uprating

  • ZoneFlowTM Reactor Technologies (ZFRT) innovative structured

catalyst offers exceptional solutions for cost-effective reformer capacity increase for ammonia plant revamps, with OPEX and CAPEX benefits.

  • Successful demonstrations and pilot plant for testing under

commercial / client-specific conditions

  • ZoneFlowTM reactors carry unmatched merits and benefits for

cost-effective revamping of ammonia plant front ends .

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 27

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SLIDE 28

ZoneFlow Reactor Technologies, LLC

Confidential information of ZONEFLOW REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 28

For additional information, contact:

Sanjiv Ratan Director of Marketing and Prod Dev sratan@zoneflowtech.com +1-951-538-5501

Thank You !