Revamp projects

The systematic methods and the analysis tools of integrated process design can be applied to any type of chemical process industries, from refining to biotechnologies, as well as to new or revamped projects. 

With rising feedstock prices and hard competition in the market, many producers have looked for possibilities to revamp or modernize their older, less efficient plants so that they can stay competitive. Most revamp projects have been combined with a moderate capacity increase because some of the original equipment was oversized and only specific bottlenecks had to be eliminated, not entailing excessive cost. As the market possibilities for a company do not increase in steps of 1000 or 1500 t/d but slowly and continuously, such a moderate capacity addition will involve less risk and will often be more economical than building a new plant. 

The fact that more than 40% of world ammonia plants are older than 20 years suggests that there is a major potential for revamp projects, even in plants which have already made modifications. 

Whenever possible, companies also seek to fund growth projects that can be expected to give high returns on the capital invested. Growth projects include expansions of existing units, often referred to as debottlenecking or revamp projects, as well as construction of entirely new plants in grassroots projects. 

Lentz, R. Garni, A. Recent EB capacity expansion creative approaches to revamp projects. Styrene Conference General Session Prague, Czech Republic, Jun 22-25, 2003. 

A revamping project needs 1000000,- investment. Someone has the idea to put the whole money in a bank account at 10% annual interest rate and ask for a loan at the same rate, but with monthly payments. Examine the feasibility of this proposal. 

This investigation can be applied preferably in revamping projects, where the information about the material balance can be exploited by tuning a rigorous plant simulation model. The approach is recommended also for designing new plants, but a detailed description of the chemical reaction network producing impurities is needed. 

Commercial plants The AVANCORE urea process is a new urea synthesis concept that incorporates all the benefits of Stamicarbon s earlier proven innovations. The AVANCORE urea process combines the advantages of Urea 2000Plus technology, Safurex and innovations and experiences gained from many revamp projects. No AVANCORE Urea plants are yet in operation. 

Stages 3 to 5 in industrial retrofit/revamp projects are similar to those in the engineering, construction and commissioning of new plants. However, activities in these stages (outlined... 

Table 1.1 Stages in retrofit/revamp projects and main activities in each of them.

Conceptual Process Design for Process Retrofit/Revamp Projects... 

Project cost Generally less compared with the grassroots project Generally more compared with the revamp project... 

Figure 2.1 A detailed and systematic methodology for revamp projects.

Project/Process Engineering and Management of Revamp Projects 2.4.1 Revamp Objectives and Pre-Feasibility Study... 

A detailed review of existing equipment s design and construction drawings will also provide insights into various equipment and plot limitations. For example, increased feed rate, improper internals and level controls can adversely affect a separator s efficiency. A review of these details in the existing separators will be very useful for revamp projects. Similarly, careful review of column internal details is required to check possible modification to increase capacity/efficiency and reduce flooding/weeping. 

II. Exploiting Equipment Interactions The designer needs to consider total system interactions before finalizing scope for any equipment. Consider a revamp project with the main objective of increasing the duty of a column s feed pre-heater it will require assessment of the condenser s maximum capacity and top rectifying tray section. Simulation of the whole process is needed to understand system interactions. Lee et al. (2007) and Zhu (2014) described ethylene plant retrofit cases to emphasize the importance of system interactions in revamps. 

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