Pre-turnaround scans are very useful tools for facilities to utilise for planning turnaround projects. They can indicate some damage within a vessel, allowing for parts to be ordered and onsite ahead of time. They can also indicate an operational issue, which can be corrected without an entry into the vessel. If required they can indicate that the vessel is healthy and no work is needed on it at this time.
Pre-turnaround scans enable better critical path planning
Mar 1, 2021 7:49:02 AM
Topics: distillation column, Distillation Column Performance, Column Performance, packed column performance, packed column, distillation column maintenance, gamma scanning distillation columns, trayed columns, turnaround schedules, turnarounds, distillation column scan, distillation column scanning, turnaround planning, packed bed towers, trayed tower, manage turnaround costs, turnaround critical path project, pre-turnaround scans, baseline scan, column troubleshooting, pre-turnaround planning, critical path planning
Tracerco presentations at AIChE Spring Meeting
Mar 27, 2019 7:47:22 PM
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
Save The Date to Attend The "Measuring the Difficult to Measure Symposium"
Feb 25, 2019 2:44:06 PM
"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
Advantages of PreTurnaround and Baseline Scans
Jul 12, 2018 10:25:22 PM
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
Remove any doubt about fouling issues found in trayed and packed towers.
Jun 4, 2018 5:37:55 PM
Diagnose and take control of fouling issues.
In some processes a common problem that towers experience over a period of time is fouling of trays and packing with solid deposits. Fouling can cause conditions such as liquid maldistribution in packed columns or premature entrainment/flooding in trayed columns resulting in a loss of efficiency and an increase in operating pressure drop. Fouling may result from foreign material entering a column or from polymerization or decomposition occurring inside the column. The fouling may start under normal conditions or begin to build due to abnormal operating conditions.
Read more on how Tracerco scanning technologies can help to develop a plan to implement a routine maintenance programme for assets with fouling issues.
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
Packed bed performance analytics
Apr 25, 2018 8:44:15 PM
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
Are you looking for a way to detect fouled or damaged packing before entering a tower?
Apr 13, 2017 4:20:42 PM
Tru-Grid™ Scans reveal vital process information that helps solve operating problems.
A Tru-Grid™ Scan of packed towers is a reliable and widely used field measurement used for evaluating the hydraulic performance in packed beds, including the results from plugging / fouling or damage. When experiencing problems there are two important questions you would like answered:
1. Where is the fouling / plugging or damage?
2. What is the extent of the hydraulic problem due to fouling or damage to the packing?
Gamma scanning has proven to be an essential measurement tool to supplement operating history data analysis. Process engineers and operations personnel need to know what is happening inside their process equipment so they can take corrective action. A Tru-Grid™ Scan provides a density profile of the internal process to diagnose hydraulic operating conditions such as damage to internals, flooding, liquid levels on trays and distributors, and liquid distribution through packed beds.
Performing Tru-Grid™ Scans before a scheduled shutdown can help capture real-time data to optimize your turnaround and reduce cost over-runs. Scan results will prepare those planning the turnaround activities with the knowledge needed for critical path decisions. Scans performed five to six weeks prior to a scheduled shutdown usually provides enough time to order new equipment without expediting charges and to schedule the required manpower.
In this latest blog, Tracerco, part of Johnson Matthey Plc, discusses how an unexpected pressure surge affected the performance of an acid solvent recovery column.
Topics: Gamma Scanning, Tru-Grid Scan, gamma scan, packing mal-distribution, liquid distribution, quantitative analysis pack beds, PackView Analysis, packed bed towers, packed bed scan