Polish refinery to demo new GE fibre-optic technology to tackle fouling

Florence Italy — GE is developing a ’sense-diagnose-remediate’ system to control the build-up of fouling deposits on charge gas compressors in ethylene manufacturing lines. These deposits can significantly reduce manufacturing efficiency and force unplanned shutdowns.

The fibre optic-based system will be installed for demonstration at Polish ethylene manufacturer PKN Orlen until the end of 2012. Thereafter, GE said it intends to commercialise the system throughout the industry.

The system’s fibre optic sensors integrated with machine monitoring and diagnostics technology enable plant managers to operate the unit more smoothly and for a longer time even in the presence of wide fluctuations in production requirements, claims GE. It is also said to enable higher flexibility in feedstock selection – a common requirement in today’s unstable market.

“We have had companies talk to us about bits and pieces of an anti-fouling solution in the past, but GE’s complete solution is the first that offers the consistent, repeatable improvements that we can rely on,” said Wojciech Jakubowski, PKN Orlen ethylene plant manager — commentiing in a GE press release.

“Making ethylene with high efficiency and low energy consumption isn’t easy,” added Ed Boufarah, global general manager, GE Petrochemicals Solutions. “We knew that if we could find a way to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing operation, we could bring tangible benefits to our customers by enabling them to be more competitive. So we assembled a team of engineering, petrochemical and process experts from throughout GE to make it happen.”

The GE team tackled one of the most common problems that vex ethylene manufacturing: compressor fouling. As the gas leaving the cracking section of the plant is pushed through the compressors, the highly reactive by-products that it contains begin to form gum-type deposits.

As the amount of blockage grows, more and more energy is required to process the material. If undetected, this inefficiency will increase manufacturing costs until the fouling eventually forces the shutdown of the entire process.

In a typically sized ethylene production plant, each 1% efficiency gain can save between $300,000 and $500,000 per year or more, depending on local energy costs, according to GE.

The new technology, developed at the GE Global Research Center, uses advanced fibre optic sensor technology to monitor foulant build up, cracked hydrocarbon gas composition and machine-operation conditions.

Then, depending on the nature and composition, the system washes the affected area with the appropriate wash-oil/antipolymerant mix to reduce its size and severity. GE’s engineering team also improved machine design, added preventative coatings to at-risk parts and improved the continuous water injection used to slow product buildup.