{"id":2645,"date":"2019-03-01T00:01:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T06:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jmcampbell.com\/tip-of-the-month\/?p=2645"},"modified":"2019-02-28T10:17:56","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:17:56","slug":"design-and-operation-of-unconventional-surface-facilities-process-safety-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jmcampbell.com\/tip-of-the-month\/2019\/03\/design-and-operation-of-unconventional-surface-facilities-process-safety-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Design and Operation of Unconventional Surface Facilities: Process Safety Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing the Aug 2018 Tip of the Month (TOTM) 1<\/sup> on design and operation of unconventional surface facilities, this TOTM presents process safety tips for four case – studies:<\/p>\n

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  1. Direct Fired Heater Treater Burn Through Failures<\/li>\n
  2. Tank Blanket Gas \/ Flame Arrestors<\/li>\n
  3. Pocketing Vent \/ Relief Piping<\/li>\n
  4. Hot Oiling of Oil Storage Tanks to meet TVP \/ RVP<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    We start this tip with a quote from a colleague, James A Britch: \u201cI never regretted buying quality.\u201d<\/em> There is a lesson in there for unconventional batteries. There is tremendous pressure to reduce capital costs, but you should be focused on life cycle cost.<\/p>\n

    If you install equipment, and then burn down the battery\u2026you haven\u2019t saved much.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    There\u2019s the loss of capital, and loss of revenue from shut-in production.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

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     <\/p>\n

    PROCESS SAFETY CASE STUDY 1: DIRECT FIRED HEATER TREATER BURN THROUGH FAILURES
    \n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Direct fired burners are failing due to internal flame impingement directly on the steel, and salt build up on the outside of the firetube in the process fluids. The salts build up, act as an insulator, and then steel temperature increases until a burn through occurs. Since the process side of the burner operates at a higher pressure than the natural draft burner, the process fluids enter the burner, and ignite. In many instances this has resulted in massive damage to the entire battery.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"
    Figure 1 – Heater Treater Firetube Failure<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Figure 1 illustrates the location of burn through failure that occurs in the 12 o\u2019clock portion of the burner firetube (combustion leg).<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Solutions to this issue are to use:<\/p>\n

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    1. Indirect fired heater where the process fluid flows through coils in a larger shell surrounded by a heat transfer fluid. The firetube burner is immersed in the heat transfer fluid within the same shell.\n