Petrochemicals group Sasol is spending R8,4 billion to double its production of hard wax in South Africa. Sasol Wax manufactures markets and supplies wax, petroleum jellies and liquefied paraffin. According to Sasol, the project will result in increased production of medium waxes, mostly used in the candle industry in southern Africa, as well as liquefied paraffin, which is used in a variety of industrial applications. The expansion is taking place at the Sasolburg site.
Pumps and media
Valves from Schroeder will protect pumps supplied by Sulzer, KSB, SAM Engineering and Turbo Fluid. Media being pumped includes”
• Reaction water @ 35°C.
• Water @ 70°C.
• Boiler feed water @ 136°C.
• Hot oil @ 195°C.
• Hot oil @ 250°C.
• Condensate @ 60°C.
Schroeder automatic recirculation valves provide the protection
Modern pumps, because of their close tolerances, are sensitive to low flow conditions that may result in cavitation, unstable operation, noise problems and temperature increases, all of which can severely damage the pump. Therefore, minimum flow requirements must be maintained through a bypass recirculation (leak-off) valve to prevent costly pump damage. Schroeder has developed a series of such valves to provide automatic bypass.
The valves have a number of functions in the same housing. A built in disc type check valve uses the movement of the flow sensitive disc to control the bypass. This opens only when the main flow is reduced to less than the minimum flow requirement, thereby assuring positive pump protection at all times. No external power is required.
Plant and production benefits
Foster Wheeler managed the project. Its evaluation and final decision to award the order to Valve & Automation for Schroeder valves was based on the benefits to Sasol. Schroeder automatic recirculation valves ensure automatic venting of pumps when they are not in operation. Also, the motor and drive capacity can be significantly lower, which in turn has a positive effect on energy consumption and overall system costs. Benefits include:
• Automatic safeguarding of the required minimum flow rate of the pump.
• Integrated return valves in the main flow and minimum volume pipes.
• Lower energy consumption results in lower operating costs.
• Automatic venting of pumps not in operation.
• Cost efficient pump design (smaller size, no special version required for a low NPSHR value).
• Lower flow rate at the operating point as a result of automatic closure of the minimum volume pipe.
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