Over the last few years, there has been an increase in through body leaks on cast HF Alkylation valves. This presentation will review several real life examples of casting failures on valves in HF Alkylation service including cross sections of the failure location. These failures have occurred on both low RE carbon steel and Alloy 400 (M35-1) castings. Some common causes of casting failures will be reviewed including sand inclusions, porosity and varying levels of shrinkage. Common locations of casting quality issues with HF Alkylation valves will be discussed including the bottom bowl area and the body to end flange transition on Alloy 400 plug valves. The presentation will also cover some of the methods that are being implemented in the industry to improve the casting quality of HF Alkylation valves along with efforts to standardize and consolidate requirements for these valves.
The carbon intensity of Reforming Units is inherently one of the higher processes in the refinery due to its energy requirements. This presentation will explore ways to improve carbon intensity with various equipment upgrades, as well as showing the positive impact that optimal catalyst performance can have on reducing Carbon Intensity.
Speakers:
Rhett Finch, Marathon Petroleum
Sujoy Ganguly, UOP
Tyler Krupp, Axens North America
Yaz Seif, Marathon Petroleum Company
The composition of the US passenger car fleet is changing rapidly with the growing adoption of electric vehicles. US gasoline demand will peak at levels lower than pre-pandemic and then decline. The ship that has often kept global refining afloat will start to sink! Not all is lost, as life rafts are available, as gasoline demand in Latin America and Africa will continue to grow, with US refiners being more competitive than Europeans. Global petrochemical demand growth will provide some support to naphtha, but that will likely be in emerging economies. These export opportunities are unlikely to fully counter the decline in US gasoline demand, so how much US capacity is at risk of rationalization if they “do nothing”? What are the technology options that refiners should consider to align with shifting local demand patterns, that add value. What refinery scale is necessary to deliver a sustainable source of competitive advantage?
Facilitator: Rainer Bass, HF Sinclair Corporation
Speakers:
Alan Gelder, Wood Mackenzie
Keith Couch, Honeywell UOP
The panel of reforming SMEs representing operating companies and technology licensors will discuss number of safety and reliability topics including reforming emergency shut down interlocks and actions, philosophy on imposing operating limits by reformer heater skin thermocouples and experience with handling spent Semi-regen reforming catalyst
Panel:
Taylor Fama, Daily Thermetrics
Rhett Finch, Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Matt Hutchinson, Axens North America
Alex Kniuksta, Honeywell UOP
Alex Sabitov, Phillips 66
Russ Wiltse, Valero Energy Corporation
Join this session to hear the latest on API's 5th edition of Recommended Practice (RP) 751, Safe Operation of Hydrofluoric Acid Alkylation Unit. In this session, we're discussing maintenance from the operator perspective, integrity management and other safety programs for hydrofluoric (HF) acid alkylation units.