Andrew Worley - Flowserve
Most decoking installations today have controls located on the cutting deck, where refinery personnel manually operate the cutting equipment to remove the coke from the drums. Flowserve has developed Remote & Automated systems to improve the safety and consistency of the coke cutting process.
The Flowserve Remote Cutting Systems moves the operator to a safe location while providing the necessary information to make a consistent cut using audio, visual, & direct drum vibration readings. These systems replicate the senses that the operator currently uses to cut coke and adds additional information to turn the art of cutting into an information driven cutting process for the operator.
The Flowserve Automated Decoking systems combines the drum monitoring system with the necessary cutting equipment and expertise to automate the decoking process, which can result in:
- Improved cutting personnel safety
- Optimized process efficiency and consistency
- Improved equipment reliability
- Data acquisition for real-time equipment monitoring and process optimization or troubleshooting
Automated decoking removes some of the art from the cutting process, resulting in consistent, optimum cutting times. The proprietary cutting algorithm is optimized for each site and can handle multiple types of coke, exceptions that are seen during the normal cutting process and is based on the best cutting practices learned at multiple locations with the best practices from the local site incorporated into the algorithm.