Paper 431w

Siphon Jet Pumps

Author: Jo Meessen

June 2004
Table of Contents

Page:
1. Preface.............................................................................................................................. 2
2. Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 3
3. Introduction........................................................................................................................ 4
4. Reaction kinetics ............................................................................................................... 6
5. Siphon Jet Pumps ............................................................................................................. 8
5.1 Layout and functioning................................................................................................. 8
5.2 Reactor selection criteria.............................................................................................. 9
5.3 Material of construction ................................................................................................ 9
5.4 Installation and inspection.......................................................................................... 10
5.5 References ................................................................................................................ 11
6. Experiences..................................................................................................................... 12
6.1 First Siphon Jet Pumps in operation........................................................................... 12
6.2 Performance of Siphon Jet Pumps at SKW................................................................ 12
7. Conclusions..................................................................................................................... 14

All technical and other information contained herein is based on general Stamicarbon
experience and within this limit is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, no liability
is accepted therefore and no warranty or guarantee is to be inferred. Copyright Stamicarbon
BV. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any
means without the permission of Stamicarbon BV. You will access its contents solely for your
own private use and will comply with all applicable laws and regulatory requirements relating
to your use of this information.

1.
1. Preface

Established in 1947, Stamicarbon licenses proprietary processes, know-how and expertise

developed and commercially proven.

Stamicarbon’s address is:

STAMICARBON BV
Office address : Mercator 2, Sittard
Mail address : P.O. Box 53
6160 AB GELEEN
The Netherlands
Telephone : (+31) 46 4237000
Telefax : (+31) 46 4237001
E-mail : [email protected]
Website : www.stamicarbon.com

2.
2. Abstract

While revamping a Stamicarbon Urea plant, in most of the cases, the specific reaction
volume is decreased with the revamp. As a result the residence time of the urea solution in
the reactor will decrease and thus the efficiency of the reactor will go down.
However, by changing the internals of the reactor (using a different type of trays) the
efficiency in the reactor can be improved. In the past two types of trays were used in
Stamicarbon Urea plants: the conventional trays and the high efficiency trays.

Now a new type of trays is introduced, which improves the efficiency of the reactor and thus
results in savings of the high-pressure steam consumption.
These trays are called the Siphon Jet Pumps. The first trays have successfully been installed
in SKW Piesteritz.

In this paper the Siphon Jet Pumps are introduced and several aspects around these trays
are discussed.

3.
3. Introduction

“Producing urea without any costs……….

That is of course not possible, but we can help you to reduce the cost price of urea.”

The urea business is always changing. In the early years, the urea plants had a lot of
margins and the overall efficiency of the process was not so good.
Nowadays, we design to capacity and that reduces the equipment prices considerably.
Furthermore, due to stricter environmental laws, the emissions of the plants are reduced and
the overall conversion is thus improved.

The next step in improving your plant is to reduce as much as possible the raw materials of
the plant: ammonia, carbon dioxide, steam and electricity. By eliminating the emissions in the
plant, the carbon dioxide and ammonia are kept inside the system and can be used to
produce urea. However, high-pressure steam consumptions can still be improved.

One of the steps in lowering the high-pressure steam consumption is by increasing the
reactor efficiency to its limits (the chemical equilibrium). To reach high reactor efficiencies,
two aspects are important:
Software
Hardware

Off course the optimum software configuration (items like N/C ratio, temperature, water
content in the synthesis) are necessary to get as close as possible to the chemical
equilibrium. Besides that the hardware, the urea reactor, should perform in an optimum way.
The urea reactor is equipped with trays, which make sure that a good mixing behavior takes
place in the reactor.

Figure 1: Siphon Jet Pump

4.
When you look back in the history, the reactor trays have developed significantly. The first
trays caused sometimes channeling and back mixing and thus negatively influenced the
performance of the urea reactor. The latest development in reactor trays is the Siphon Jet
Pump (figure 1).

These trays influence the mixing behavior in such a way that the reactor efficiency is
increased significantly. As a result less high-pressure steam is used in the high-pressure
stripper.

Siphon Jet Pumps can be installed in the reactor for the following reasons:
Increasing the efficiency of a reactor when during a revamp the specific reaction
volume is very low.
Creating a smoother operation and lowering the high-pressure steam
consumption.
For the future low investment plant: installing the trays in new plants and reduce
the specific reaction volume and thus reduce the equipment costs.

5.
4. Reaction kinetics

The urea formation takes place in the high-pressure synthesis section. In the reaction part
(pool condenser and reactor) ammonia and carbon dioxide are converted in urea and water
according the following two equations:

2 NH 3 CO2 NH 2 COO NH 4 heat (1)

NH 2 COO NH 4 NH 2CONH 2 H 2O heat (2)

The first reaction is exothermic and takes place in the high-pressure carbamate condenser
and is a relatively quick reaction. The produced heat is used for the generation of low-
pressure steam. The second reaction is endothermic and is an equilibrium reaction and is
relatively slow. For this reaction residence time is needed to complete the reaction as far as
possible and therefore a large reaction volume is needed.
In the older urea plants were a HPCC is present, the reaction only takes place in the vertical
urea reactor. In the most recent plants this reactor is combined with a pool condenser. In the
pool condenser heat is exchanged like in the HPCC, however in this horizontal vessel,
already 2/3 of the reaction takes place. The reactor is therefore much smaller than in the
HPCC plants and only has five trays instead of ten/eleven.

Because the second reaction is an equilibrium reaction, not all the ammonia and carbon
dioxide can be converted in urea. At a certain point an equilibrium will be reached. This
equilibrium is influenced by several parameters e.g. N/C ratio, temperature of the process,
amount of water in the process.
So when the reaction gets enough time, the equilibrium will almost be reached. However, a
very large reactor is needed to create this residence time. The approach to chemical
equilibrium is presented in figure 2.

Figure 2: Fraction approach to equilibrium

CO2 eq.

F.A.E

Retention

6.
To optimize the fraction approach to equilibrium (FAE) as much as possible, a plug flow
reactor should be used. To simulate a plug flow reactor, continuously ideal stirred tank
reactors (CISTR) should be placed in series. When enough CISTR’s are placed in series, a
plug flow regime is reached.
The vertical urea reactor is divided in compartments by trays. Each compartment should
now be ideally stirred. Of course no stirrers can be placed in the reactor and mixing should
be induced by the design of the trays. In the conventional trays, the surface of the trays was
perforated to get a good gas distribution in the liquid above the tray. However back mixing
and bypassing occurred often in these reactors, which caused a bad reactor performance.
The performance of this reactor can be improved by centering the holes in the tray.

Now the gas cushion underneath the trays is enlarged and due to the density difference of
the mixture in the center part of the tray, a torus shape circulation is formed, which improves
the mixing behavior. In the new plants normally high efficiency trays are installed, which
have besides the central gas holes an alternating liquid riser for further mixing improvement.

Now a new development is presented, which improves the mixing behavior even more, and
thus resulting in a better plug flow reactor. This new type is called the Siphon Jet Pump.
These reactor trays result in a better approach to equilibrium as shown in
figure 3.

Figure 3: Comparison of trays

CO2 eq.

c.

b.
F.A.E
a.

a. Conventional trays
b. High efficiency trays
c. Siphon jet pumps

Retention

7.
5. Siphon Jet Pumps

5.1 Layout and functioning

The gases in the urea reactor are the reason for the mixing behavior in a compartment. By
centering the gas holes in the trays, the gas in the compartment will be mainly located in the
center. The effect of centering the gas in a compartment is a density difference between the
mixture in the center part and the surrounding area. The density difference is the driving
force for the circulation and by achieving a high circulation rate the average two-phase
density in a compartment could become considerably low compared to liquid density of urea.
A high circulation rate will improve the contact between the gas and the liquid and results in
higher reactor efficiency.
In the Siphon Jet Pumps a skirt improves this circulation as presented in figure 4.

Figure 4: Siphon Jet Pump principle Figure 5: Example of Siphon Jet Pump

The principle of the siphon effect is not unknown to Stamicarbon. The flow deflector plates in
the pool condenser operate at the same principle. Inside the flow deflector plates the gas
sparger releases the gas and a circulation flow is induced by the difference in density.

The Siphon Jet Pump consists of several parts. The tray itself is a normal tray and in the
center gas holes are drilled. Around this hole area a support brim is located to lead the gas
inside the skirt. Above the tray a skirt is installed which assures the rise of gas in the center
of the compartment. A circulation will be aroused and the mixture is coming back through the
space between the tray and the skirt.

The performance of the Siphon Jet Pumps has also being simulated with a computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The simulation showed that the upward liquid velocities in
the center of the column were up to 25% higher.
Furthermore the liquid down flow near the column wall was more homogeneous in the case
with the Siphon Jet Pumps. Therefore it can be concluded that inserting a draft tube in a
compartment improves the mixing in the compartment.
8.
Figure 6: CFD conventional tray Figure 7: CFD Siphon Jet pump

5.2 Reactor selection criteria

Siphon jet Pumps cannot be installed in all type of reactors. The distance between reactor
wall and skirt should be large enough to enable sufficient space for inspections of the reactor
wall (lining). This fact in combination with the dimensions of the hole area results in a
minimum reactor diameter that can be equipped with these trays. A reactor diameter of 2500
mm still fulfills all these requirements. When the diameter of the reactor is smaller, the
reactor has to be checked on a case-to-case basis.

When the reactor trays in an existing plant are replaced by Siphon Jet Pumps, it would be
desirable if the trays can be located at the same places as the original trays. Especially when
the tray clips are in a good shape and don’t need to be replaced, reuse of the clips is desired.
In most of the cases (depending of the present layout of the reactor) it is possible to place
the trays at the same position.

5.3 Material of construction

All manufactured Siphon Jet Pumps so far are constructed in the material Safurex . The
main advantages of Safurex application for Siphon Jet Pumps are:

Erosion/corrosion resistance: due to the high erosion/corrosion resistance of Safurex ,

the performance of the Siphon Jet Pumps is much longer according design (e.g. the
holes in the plates remain the same dimensions for a much longer time).
Life time: the overall life time of the Siphon Jet Pumps is much longer due to the low
corrosion grade.
Light construction: because of the high strength of Safurex , less material is required for
manufacturing of Siphon Jet Pumps. The thickness of several parts can be reduced.

9.
5.4 Installation and inspection
Up till now the installed Siphon Jet Pumps are all replacement projects or modification
projects of existing reactor trays. This means that the installation of the trays should be
carried out during a plant shut down. The Siphon Jet Pumps are constructed in such a way
that the trays consist out of several parts, which can go through the manhole. Inside the
reactor the trays are assembled.

The trays are delivered in boxes and ordered in a logical way that installation per tray is
rather easy. The parts of each tray are numbered, so mixing up of tray parts is avoided.
Installation of the Siphon Jet Pumps is the easiest when the position of the trays remain the
same and no clips have to be replaced. However, in most of the cases the first tray (in the
bottom of the reactor) will cause some modifications to the bottom part of the reactor as the
lowest compartment is a little bit smaller than the other compartments. The first tray is
sometimes lowered and the umbrella-shaped gas inlet of the reactor is adapted.

Figure 8: Inspection hatch

The accessibility of the reactor is very important. During inspections for instance the liner of
the reactor wall has to be checked. Therefore a minimum distance of 500 mm between the
reactor wall and the skirt is secured. This allows an inspector to do all work necessary in the
reactor. The trays can be reached via hatches in the center of the perforated plate
(see figure 8).
For inspections, part of the skirt can be removed inside the reactor. Via a ladder through the
hatches all compartments can be reached.

Installation of the Siphon Jet Pumps can be carried out during a normal shut down. In case
installation of new clips and modifications to the bottom side of the reactor are required
installation of the complete Siphon Jet Pumps can be carried out even within two weeks.

10.
5.5 References
The first Siphon Jet Pumps were installed in one of the plants of SKW Piesteritz. Because
the trays were operating very satisfactory, two other reactors of SKW Piesteritz are now also
operating with Siphon Jet Pumps.
In the following table the current references for Siphon Jet Pumps are presented.

Table 1: Reference list

Client Capacity Year in Number of New/Modified trays

(MTPD) operation trays
SKW Piesteritz 3 1050 2001 11 New
SKW Piesteritz 1 1050 2002 11 New
SKW Piesteritz 2 1050 2003 11 New
Fauji Pakistan 1670 Expected 2004 10 Modified
ABF Malaysia 2250 Expected 2004 11 New
Qafco II 1400 Expected 2005 11 New
Daqing 2300 Expected 2005 11 New
Qafco III 3000 PDP-phase 11 New

11.
6. Experiences

6.1 First Siphon Jet Pumps in operation

Three sets of Siphon Jet Pumps are already in operation and the first set is originating from
2001. SKW Piesteritz installed the first set and the results were so satisfactory that the other
two plants are now also equipped with Siphon Jet Pumps. The main advantages of the
Siphon Jet Pumps at Piesteritz are steam consumption reduction on the stripper together
with a capacity increase.

6.2 Performance of Siphon Jet Pumps at SKW

Before deciding if Siphon Jet Pumps should be installed it is important to know, what the
objectives are for installing the trays.
The following considerations should be taken into account:

The current reactor efficiency and the possible efficiency after a revamp.
The high-pressure steam consumption
The operation of the synthesis
The economical feasibility

However, besides the capacity increase and the lower high-pressure steam consumption, the
financial status of the project should also be considered. Typically the Siphon Jet Pumps
have a Pay Out Time (POT) of about 1-2 years, based on steam savings only. Furthermore,
the plant should not be stopped longer than necessary and installation can be done during a
normal periodical shut-down.

At SKW Piesteritz, the current performance of the plants in February 2004 is compared with
the performance before installing the Siphon Jet Pumps. The high pressure steam
consumption on the stripper is monitored as a function of the plant capacity.
This steam consumption is compared with the steam consumption before installing the
Siphon Jet Pumps. In figure 9 the results of this comparison are presented.

12.
Figure 9: Performance of Siphon Jet Pumps
Perform ance Siphon Jet Pum ps at SKW Piesteritz

30
20
10
Delta steam consumptionm on Stripper

Without
0
-10 95 100 105 110 115 120

-20
(kg/ton)

-30

-40
-50
-60
With SJP
-70
-80
-90
-100

Without SJP With SJP Plant capacity (%)

In Table 2 the performance as indicated in figure 1 are summarized:

Table 2 Performance of Siphon Jet Pumps

Plant capacity (%) Delta HP steam consumption Stripper (kg/ton)

112.7 -41.9
113.7 -64.2
115.2 -40.9
114.9 -88.4

Table 2 shows that the Siphon Jet Pumps were very successfully installed in SKW Piesteritz.
For all the three plants a capacity increase between 10 and 15 percent is reached. Even with
this capacity increase a significant high pressure steam consumption on the stripper is
obtained

It can be concluded that installation of the three Siphon Jet Pumps at SKW Piesteritz
resulted in:
A capacity increase of 10 – 15 %.
A high pressure steam consumption of around 60 kg/ton urea.

13.
7. Conclusions

When a plant is revamped and the specific reaction volume becomes a critical factor,
improving the reactor efficiency is an important item. The reactor efficiency can be improved
by installing Siphon Jet Pumps. These new trays replace the older, existing, trays, improve
the mixing efficiency by avoiding dead zones and eliminate the negative consequences like
back mixing and bypassing of liquid.

The first trays were installed in SKW Piesteritz and the result was so satisfactory, that at this
moment in all three plants Siphon Jet Pumps are in operation. Besides the fact that
operations are now very smoothly, and higher capacities can be reached in the existing
plants, high-pressure steam savings are achieved.
Fauji Pakistan, ABF Malaysia and Qafco Qatar will follow SKW and install Siphon Jet Pumps
in 2004/2005.

Depending on the type of trays installed in the existing reactor and depending on the
mechanical condition of the trays, complete replacement is not necessary. Existing trays can
easily adapted to Siphon Jet Pumps and the performance of the reactor can be considerably
increased. However, installing Siphon Jet Pumps is not always possible. Due to the
accessibility of the reactor liner, a certain space is required between the reactor wall and the
skirt. Furthermore, modifications may be necessary to the reactor to install the trays.
Maintaining the position of the trays, comparing to the old position, is aimed for.

At SKW Piesteritz an increase in capacity of about 10 – 15 % is realized after installation of

Siphon Jet Pumps. Furthermore, the HP steam consumption reduction of the stripper was
about 60 kg/ton.

In case you are interested, Stamicarbon is willing to evaluate the performance of your
synthesis and determine the potential improvements of your plant.

14.