Process Solution Offers Refineries Unparalleled Corrosion Control for Crude Unit Overhead Systems
GE’s New TrueSense minimizes variations with optimized chemical feed, core element of a suite of complementary technologies, and is skid-mounted with a ground-level unit that makes installation and maintenance easy.
GE’s TrueSense for Process, an online Crude Overhead Monitoring System (COMS) continuously monitors, applies, and optimizes the delivery of chemicals into the crude process stream to control corrosion. Fouling and corrosion can threaten the reliability and safety of critical atmospheric fractionator overhead condensing systems.
These problems often can impair production, raise maintenance costs and reduce profits. In addition, corrosion control is becoming more challenging as refiners around the world turn to lower-cost "opportunity" crude oil feedstocks and aim to maximize middle distillate production.
Episodic pH variations in the overhead of the crude unit that are measured in the condensate water are often missed. This is mainly because spot testing is performed manually due to the lack of online, reliable data-gathering devices that can make adjustments to corrosion control chemistry in real time. TrueSense for Process-COMS detects these pH variations quickly and rapidly minimizes their effects. Because undetected events can produce very high short-term corrosion, such a fast response helps to avoid unscheduled shutdowns, reduce maintenance expenses and improve profitability and operational flexibility.
“Not only can we help to achieve lower corrosion rates with this technology, from an operational perspective, it’s at a cost point that is a fraction of alternative approaches,” says Adnan Mansour, monitoring solutions global product management leader—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.