Gopal Akilla - Wood
Several considerations are typically evaluated while revamping an existing SDA unit and discussed, such as conversion to a supercritical solvent recovery scheme to enhance energy savings for a higher capacity, revamping only a few pieces of equipment for smaller capacity increment, revamping the Rotating Disc Columns with the new state of art packed beds, etc. Many other operational issues are also discussed with successful solutions such as foaming in the flash towers, fouling in thermosyphon reboiler, loss of solvent into the product.
A fast-tracked project that was driven by economics was discussed including all the above considerations. Overall, the refiner is very pleased with the revamp modifications made on their existing unit and was able to achieve their project objectives with the eliminating of the unit bottlenecks. In this presentation, we will provide further information on the modifications made to the SDA that helped refiner achieve their objectives.