Are you attending the 2019 AIChE Spring Meeting in New Orleans April 1- 4th? 

Tracerco will be highlighting case studies on how gamma scans were used to monitor fouling accumulation in packed towers at this year's AIChE 2019 Spring Meeting in New Orleans, LA.

Mark your schedule to sit in on the paper "Utilizing Gamma Scans To Monitor Fouling Accumulation in Packed Towers" presented by William Mixon - Market Manager - Process Diagnostics, Baton Rouge, LA and Lowell Pless -  Consultant for Tracerco. The presentation will provide actual case studies to illustrate how gamma scanning can be a very cost-effective way to monitor the rate of fouling accumulation and to aid in the planning of turnarounds.'

Read more to find out about all the presentation dates and times Tracerco will be presenting this year.  

Topics: Downstream, fouling deposits, Tru-Grid Scan, gamma scanning distillation columns, tower gamma scan, packed bed towers, packed bed performance analytics, trayed tower, manage turnaround costs, Depropanizer scan tray damage, turnaround critical path project, debutanizer, fouling accumulation

Tracerco technology provides our customers a "look" inside their process in real time.

A Tracerco Diagnostics™ Separator study complements other diagnostic tools and techniques available to production engineers. The technology is non-intrusive with preliminary results generated on-site. This allows a rapid understanding of fluid flow and mechanical integrity within a hydrocarbon separation train by essentially making the process transparent. This approach significantly eliminates guess work when trying to resolve process issues and allows accurate process data to be gathered providing information so that engineering decisions on process improvement or repair can be quickly made and implemented. If deemed necessary, immediate changes to a system can be made with further measurements to assess if improvements have resulted.

Read more and watch a short animated video to learn how Tracerco's tracer and scan investigations can help optimize separator performance.

Topics: Upstream, Separator, Damage to vessel internals, separator study, oil in water, Blockages in perforated plates, Flow distribution

Optimizing Desalter Performance is Just One of Tracerco's Specialties We Proudly Provide.

Desalter vessels are a refinery’s first line of defense to reduce the amount of unwanted salts present in the feed inventory. Prior to crude oil entering a refinery processing stream it undergoes a water washing stage where the water used during this process is separated using Desalter vessels. In these vessels the oil and water mixture separate from each other using gravity and high voltage coalescing plates. The water phase contains the washed salts as well as other suspended solids. Desalting and separation prevents water and salts from entering the crude unit furnaces, distillation towers and other downstream equipment. Salts, sediment, and other solids will foul the process and can undergo chemical change to produce corrosive chemicals that cause damage to process metallurgy. It is therefore important to efficiently separate wastewater from crude feedstock within the Desalter vessels.

Tracerco Tru-Scan™ technology provides you detailed data on where the oil/water interface level is, determines if there is a significant “rag” or emulsion layer or detects how many solids are built up in the bottom of the Desalter. In addition to performing these applications our advanced tracer studies are used to provide residence times of the oil and water phases and distribution within the vessel. Further to our scanning and tracer technologies that can aid plant personnel in optimizing your process, our award winning Tracerco Profiler™ HTX instrument provides accurate phase measurement including oil, emulsion (rag), water and solids/sludge in real time. The installation of the Tracerco Profiler™ HTX can eliminate unplanned Desalter shutdowns, reduce chemical usage, increase fluid throughput and provide the capability to handle more challenging crude blends.

Read more to learn how Tracerco helped our customer determine what was actually happening within their Desalter.

Topics: desalting, Flow distribution, desalter optimization, desalter, desalter maldistribution, distribution study

Tracerco Insight Vol. 8 Ed. 2 newsletter is now available.

The Tracerco Insight newsletter featuring some of our latest case studies illustrating how Tracerco was able to provide our customers the necessary data that allowed the operations staff to make informed decisions for troubleshooting and optimising their process. Read more to see what's inside the latest issue.

This issue contains the following articles:

• Optimizing Desalter Performance Is Just One of Tracerco's Specialties We Proudly Provide. 
• Crude Vacuum Tower Wash Bed Optimization.
• Application Note - ThruVision™
• Manage and Control Your Turnaround Costs to Avoid Possible Surprises.
• New Product Announcement: PED-ER and PED-ER+

Read more on how to download the latest issue.

Topics: nucleonic instrumentation, Tru-Scan, process diagnostics technologies, gamma scan, monitor wash bed coking, tracer technology, Tracer Study, catalyst bed wash, desalter optimization, wash bed optimization, manage turnaround costs, Depropanizer scan tray damage, desalter, Tracerco Profiler, crude vacuum tower, turnaround critical path project, pre-turnaround scans

 "Measure the Difficult to Measure"

2019 Innovative Process Diagnostics Symposium

May 21, 2019 in Deer Park, Texas, USA - 8:00 am - 3:30 pm

May 23, 2019 in Gonzales, Louisiana, USA - 8:00 am - 3:30 pm

Reserve your space today.

 

 

Tracerco is happy to announce that we have rescheduled our symposium "Measuring the Difficult to Measure" to be held in Deer Park, Texas and Gonzales, Louisiana. These new dates allow both our refining and petrochemical customers the ability to schedule their time to attend the symposium. Read more to learn about the topics of discussion.

Topics: solids buildup, exchangers, gamma scanning distillation columns, pipeline blockage, flare gas meter, Flow Study, fccu studies, flare flow measurement, fugitive flare flow, verify flow meters, flare flowrate data, flow rate calculations, Process Diagnostics Technology, tray fouling, gamma scan, fcc services, level detection devices, packing mal-distribution, liquid distribution, quantitative analysis pack beds, PackView Analysis, packed bed towers, packed bed scan, monitor wash bed coking, tomography scan, off spec product, online leak detection, chemical leak test, feed/effluent heat exchangers, exchanger bundle leak testing, Tracer Study, packed bed performance analytics, Damage to vessel internals, trayed tower, mass transfer diagnostics

Topics: leaking exchangers, Liquid maldistribution, optimising plant production, Suspected maldistribution in packed beds, Flow Study, fcc diagnostics, flare system tracers, flare flow, excessive flare flow, fcc troubleshooting, fcc unit process, fluid catalytic cracking unit, fugitive flare flow, verify flow meters, flare lines, gas meter proving techniques, fcc services, coke drum, coker optimization, delayed coke drum, liquid distribution, tomography scan, off spec product, online leak detection, chemical leak test, feed/effluent heat exchangers, exchanger bundle leak testing, Tracer Study, density of liquid

Are you planning a scheduled turnaround and want to know the advantages of scanning before  and after your planned turnaround?

A Tru-Scan™ or Tru-Grid™ Scan will assist in defining and developing a turnaround critical path project scope at an early stage ensuring that your turnaround meets your goals. The most common use of gamma scans is to give process engineers and operations an online tool that results in understanding how a column is performing.  This data can be used in advance of a turnaround to identify tray or packing damage and other process problems without having to shut down the column for internal inspections. These results will fully prepare turnaround planners with the knowledge they need for critical path decisions that must be made prior to a shutdown. At other times the results from a Tru-Scan™ or Tru-Grid™ Scan can either justify an unscheduled shutdown or identify options that will enable a plant to continue operating until the next scheduled shutdown.   

Read more on how Tracerco scanning technologies can help to develop a plan for your turnaround planning.

Topics: Gamma Scanning, Liquid maldistribution, packed column, Packed Beds, Tru-Grid Scan, Suspected maldistribution in packed beds, turnaround schedules, turnarounds, turnaround planning, tray fouling, gamma scan, liquid distribution, quantitative analysis pack beds, PackView Analysis, packed bed towers, packed bed scan, packed bed performance analytics, density of liquid, fouling, critical path

Topics: Gamma Scanning, Liquid maldistribution, packed column, Packed Beds, Tru-Grid Scan, Suspected maldistribution in packed beds, tray fouling, gamma scan, liquid distribution, quantitative analysis pack beds, PackView Analysis, packed bed towers, packed bed scan, packed bed performance analytics, density of liquid, fouling

 

Advanced analytics introduce a numerical and easily understood approach to tower gamma scanning

Refinery and chemical plant operations depend heavily on distillation and separation towers. Tower gamma scanning is well established in the process industries as a qualitative tool to help troubleshoot towers. Advances in data analysis have lead to a quantitative approach in expressing gamma scan data in numerical terms easily understood by process and operations engineers. 

In a recent Tracerco article published by Petroleum Quarterly Technology (PTQ) magazine you will be able to read three example case studies of packed towers that will answer questions concerning the state of liquid distribution through the packed bed and illustrate how Tracerco's PackView™ analysis was developed to consistently analyse Tru-Grid™ Scan data to reach a conclusive result.

 CLICK HERE To read the full article (Page 69) published in the Q2 2018 Petroleum Quarterly Technology (PTQ) issue.

Topics: Gamma Scanning, Liquid maldistribution, packed column, Packed Beds, Tru-Grid Scan, Suspected maldistribution in packed beds, gamma scan, liquid distribution, quantitative analysis pack beds, PackView Analysis, packed bed towers, packed bed scan, packed bed performance analytics, density of liquid

Tracerco Diagnostics™ Flow study and meter proving services

Determine the Volume and Value of Material Lost To The Flare

Flare flow measurement is a crucial activity in chemical plants and refineries with loss of process material to the flare costing millions of dollars each year in profits and environmental costs. Tracerco Diagnostics™ Flow studies performed through sections of the flare piping system detect and isolate sources of fugitive flow. Once it is determined which unit(s) are contributing to the flare flow, each valve can be individually tested to determine which is leaking.

This blog will cover a customer case study illustrating how our Tracerco Diagnostics™ Flow studies played a key role in their predictive maintenance and process optimisation and a link to our Tracerco newsletter featuring two additional case studies on our flow study and meter proving services.

 

 

Topics: flare gas flow meter, flare study, flare system tracers, flare gas flow measurement, excessive flare flow, fugitive flare flow, Tracer Study