AM-01-36 COST-EFFICIENT HYDROGEN PLANT REVAMPS

Description:

Whether oil prices or processing margins are favorable or unfavorable, the pressure to get more hydrogen at lower cost and with fewer resources never seems to go away. Depending on the site and the amount of hydrogen required, the solution can range from a new plant, to hydrogen purchased over the fence, to revamping an existing plant. Where an increase of 10-50% of existing steam reforming capacity is required, revamping is often the cheapest and most cost-effective way to do this. Rather than starting from a particular technology or a particular solution, changes to the plant and the investment cost can be minimized by a thorough knowledge of the plant and its limitations. Hydrogen plants usually contain areas of flexibility or overcapacity which can be used to unload tighter sections of the plant. Overcapacity may have been built into a unit due to uncertainties in design such as variation in equipment performance or the need to process a variety of feedstocks. It may also be available due to changes in technology or to overall economics such as changes in energy cost or product value. As capacity is increased in a hydrogen plant, limitations become apparent which are often due to problems in another area. The high temperature in the methanator may be due to flooding in the CO2 absorber, or a lack of draft in the reformer may be due to poor performance of a combustion air preheater. Identifying the sources of these problems and correcting them can have a large payout.