Fluor Achieves Significant Time Savings in SRU Simulation

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Process Analytics
Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Chemicals
Oil & Gas

Applicable Functions

Process Manufacturing
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance
Process Control & Optimization

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

The Challenge

Fluor, a leading engineering and construction company, faced a challenge in modeling sulfur recovery units (SRUs) with both liquid elemental sulfur and vapor allotropes. The process typically required several simulation files which were iterated manually to balance material and energy recycle loops required in the COPE II process. Multiple files were generally required because of an inability to use multiple property packages in a single simulation. This manual adjustment of the recycle streams was time-consuming and introduced room for error. Fluor needed a solution that could integrate multiple property packages into a single simulation and offer several other benefits for their SRU COPE II modeling.

About The Customer

Fluor is one of the world’s largest publicly traded engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction and maintenance companies. It is experienced in and licenses a whole portfolio of sulfur technologies to help their clients’ meet environmental requirements with a cost-effective solution. Fluor/GAA has developed their own patented COPE II process, which uses high levels of oxygen enrichment to increase processing capacity of a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) or tail gas treating unit (TGTU) and utilizes a recycle stream to moderate the temperature in the furnace. The company is always on the lookout for ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs for their clients.

The Solution

Fluor implemented Aspen HYSYS V10, a solution that allowed them to simulate the entire sulfur recovery unit, including recycle streams, in a single file. This solution integrated multiple property packages into a single simulation, offering several benefits for Fluor/GAA’s SRU COPE II modeling. It provided several empirical models for prediction of the reaction furnace temperature, based on feedstock composition, configuration and level of oxygen enrichment. It also offered unit operation blocks for critical specialized equipment such as sulfur condensers and updated estimations for dissolved H2S and H2Sx, for better prediction of the sulfur degassing system, especially for O2-enriched SRU. The solution also allowed easy incorporation of multiple recycle streams and integration of the SRU with upstream and downstream processing steps or units in one simulation.

Operational Impact

Fluor was able to save a week’s worth of simulation effort, which they could pass on to their client.
The savings come from being able to converge more rapidly than if they were manually converging multiple recycle streams across simulations, while also reducing errors from the manual operation.
Fluor was able to evaluate different configurations of oxygen enrichment in the reactor model, with empirical correlations built in for more accurate modeling.

Quantitative Benefit