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During the design of ammonia and urea plants many aspects have to be taken into account besides
process performances. The plant reliability is a factor as important as process performances in
determining the future plant profitability. To design a reliable plant it is necessary to take into
account many aspects, such as the process mechanical design of all parts, instrumentation, process
control, and the plant layout. It is also essential to have a good quality control in every phase of the
project. This paper describes the design choices that are crucial in order to reach the highest standard
of reliability in these plants.
Pasquale Talarico
CASALE GROUP Switzerland
Andrea Scotto
CASALE GROUP Switzerland
Introduction
The probability that a functional unit will
s Reliability is a broad scope, perform its required function for a specified
understanding what it is, comes first. interval under stated conditions.
Exploring the literature, it is possible to The ability of something to "fail well" (to
find many definitions of reliability, like: fail without catastrophic consequences and
The ability of a system or component to is restorable in a reasonable period of time).
perform its required functions under stated In our opinion the more accurate statement is:
conditions for a specified period of time.
The idea that something is fit for a purpose "The high reliability of plants is a choice and
with respect to time; not an accident of fortune".
The capacity of a device or system to
perform as designed; In fact, once a plant is designed and built there
The resistance to faults or failures of a is very little that can be done to reduce
device or system; operating costs, and reliability is a significant
The ability of a device or system to perform part of them, because they are substantially
a required function under stated conditions established during the plant's design. If low
for a specified period of time; operating costs is the target, this chart makes it
clear that they are designed into the plant and
The passive corrosion rate of duplex stainless Usually, detailed standards are developed by the
steel developed for urea application is generally licensor specific for each type of material, to
comparable to that of 25Cr-22Ni-2Mo. guarantee the quality of the actual materials
Carbamate Condenser
ondenser
The same principles for design and materials The same is valid for all component selection: in
selection should be used to guarantee the general, standard components can be selected
reliability of the equipment in all other sections but not all standard components are suitable.
of the plant, although
although fluids are less corrosive
Centrifugal Pumps
umps
Other key points for the pump selection are the Fig. 7. Mechanical seal
following:
For some services the installation of double
Operating point
oint pressurized seals with flushing from an
A pump is properly selected when the external source is required (i.e. HP
operating point will fall into the Preferred Ammonia Pump for urea plants). This type
Operating Region, in other words when it is of seal arrangement is the one that
close to Best Efficiency Point (BEP). guarantee the maximum level of reliability,
This is important not only for the efficiency safety and environmental protection.
but also for the mechanical behavior (i.e.
lower vibration levels, longer
longer life for For those services having fluids that can
bearings and mechanical seals etc.). crystallize but,
but where single mechanical
NPSHa and NPSHr seals (Fig. 7) can be appli
applied
ed (i.e. melt urea,
urea solution,
solution etc.), a proper selection of
Pumps shall be selected with a proper flushing plan is necessary. For these service
margin between NPSHa and NPSHr. Urea CASALE requirement is to apply an
internal recirculation (API Plan 01) in
Pump selection can be affected by an conjunction with steam (or hot water)
extremely low value of NPSHa. Some quench (API Plan 62) to the aatmospheric
tmospheric
service in ammonia and urea plants are side of the seal ((Fig. 8).
).
really sensitive
sensitive to this matter and for them
pump selection shall be carefully evaluated For melt urea a steam jacket is also
(i.e. Semi-lean
Semi lean Solution Pumps, HP required.
Carbamate Pumps).
The operator interface is a very important issue In general for transmitters the attention shall be
to take in consideration. It shall be easy to read made for instruments with diaphragms and
and simple to operate in order to minimize the capillary as they are not simply to bypass in
intervention in case of problems. case malfunctioning. The special care is
required during construction and tests necessary
The redundancy of the control and safety to verify the real conformity with the
systems such as DCS or ESD in va
various
rious aspects requirements.
is the way to balance the availability and the
safety of the plants. Critical instruments are on the area of urea
reactor, stripper, compressor and pumps
The minimum requirements of redundancy on discharge.
DCS are concentrated in the common parts plus
those parts related to critical controls. ESD is The engineering experience on these type of
typically redundant but final safety strategy plants is a must to develop a good detail and a
needs are defined with dedicated SIL study. choice of the dedicated valves and instruments.
7. Conclusions[D1]