Professional Documents
Culture Documents
bly lowered by economies of scale. FIG. 5 illustrates the UCH from 100 MMscfd up to a recent project size of 220 MMscfd H2
reduction from a 50 MMscfd to a 200 MMscfd H2 plant based based upon compacting equipment, advanced equipment design,
on US Gulf Coast economics with $5/MMBtu NG price. For piping modeling and modular construction concepts.
higher energy pricing, as observed in Europe and Asia, the ben-
efits of economy of scale continue to hold true. CAPACITY REVAMP OF EXISTING H2 PLANTS
Though economies of scale favor larger plants, there is a capac- Refiners are often faced with a H2 shortfall when addressing
ity limit above which a single train plant starts becoming cumber- changes in crude mix against the market-based clean fuels prod-
some and requires detailed evaluation to establish the breakpoint uct slate. Such variations can be large enough to impact overall
for two or more trains. Physical size, weight and transportable lim- operation, H2 balance, and refinery profitability, but may not be
its on the equipment, valves and piping, and construction facili- large enough to justify a new dedicated H2 plant.
ties must be considered. Such limits have progressively increased Achieving additional H2 by revamping existing plants can be
an attractive alternative with lower UCH through cost-effective
TABLE 3. H2 generation cost split retrofitting. Actual economics will depend upon the degree
Capacity Small Medium Large of uprate, available design margins, the condition of existing
MMscfd < 15 15-60 > 60 equipment and the level of modifications required. Normally, a
% Variable costs 40–60 50–70 60–80
105
% Fixed costs 40–60 30–50 20–40 CAPEX + OPEX
100
Relative UCH, %
TABLE 4. H2 plant capacity revamp 95
7% Basis: Natural gas @ $ 5/MMBtu
Option Typical incremental H2, %1 Level of investment2 90
Reformer upgrade 5–15 Medium 85
Regenerative reformer 15–30 Medium–High 80
integration 50 100 150 200 250
1
Typical additional H2 between 2 MMscfd and 25 MMscfd
H2 plant capacity, MMscfd
2
Based on the typical range of $0.5–$2 MM per MMscfd H2 depending upon
% increase and design-specific factors FIG. 5. Economy of scale for H2 generation plant.
Today’s Application:
LNG-PROCESSING, HANDLING AND STORAGE
RELIABLE H2 OUTSOURCING
H2 is the lifeblood of modern refineries and is essential to
the production of cleaner-burning transportation fuels. When
refiners need H2 , they typically have two choices: buy a H2
plant design license; pay other parties to build the plant; and
then own, operate, and maintain the plant themselves (known
as the make case) or purchase the H2 requirements from a
third party (known as the buy case, sale of gas model or over-
the-fence supply).
In the buy case, an industrial gas company designs and builds
the H2 plant with its capital and supplies H2 directly to the cus-
tomer over the course of a long-term contract. The buy case has
advantages that the refiner can benefit from: the gas company
uses its H2 experience for the refiner, enabling the refiner to
focus on its core refining business; assumes responsibility for With over 50 independent subsidiar-
operational and maintenance activities; and can provide guar-
ies and more than 220 engineering
anteed on-stream reliability, availability, and efficiency levels.
Another way to secure high reliability of H2 supply is to ob- and sales offices spread across the
tain H2 from a H2 pipeline. Pipeline supply can provide high re- world, SAMSON ensures the safety
liability and, often, the lowest UCH due to economies of scale. and environmental compatibility of
The various solutions described previously are all able to your plants on any continent.
satisfy the focal objective of lowering the net UCH. These op- To offer the full range of high-quality
tions enhance reliability and HSE compliance while providing
control equipment used in industrial
refiners with improved economics and margins. It is imperative
to the success of 21st century refiners that they manage hydro- processes, SAMSON has brought
gen efficiently and diligently. together highly specialized compa-
nies to form the SAMSON GROUP.
REFERENCES Select 171 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
1
Ratan, S., W. Baade and D. Wolfson, “The Large H2 Plant Challenge,” Hydrocarbon
Engineering, July 2005.
2
Ratan, S., N. Patel and W. Baade, “Driving H2 Plant Efficiencies with an Eye on
Environment,” Hydrocarbon Engineering, February 2010. SAMSON AG · MESS- UND REGELTECHNIK
3
Ratan, S. and M. Pagano, “Refinery H2 management is more than a balancing act,”
Weismüllerstraße 3
AIChE Spring Meeting, 2011.
60314 Frankfurt am Main · Germany
Author biographies are available online at HydrocarbonProcessing.com. Phone: +49 69 4009-0 · Fax: +49 69 4009-1507
E-mail: samson@samson.de · www.samson.de
SAMSON GROUP · www.samsongroup.net
A01120EN