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Monitoring of Refinery Wastewater in Sour Water Strippers

Performance and availability of the entire plant often depend on pH measurements - accurate, reliable and durable solutions are required.

pH Measurement in Sour Water

Sour water stripping is used to remove ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from sour water streams to condition it for discharge or reuse within the refinery. The streams, coming from distillation, fluid catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming, coker and acid gas removal units, are collected in a surge tank for centralized processing via a heat exchanger and a single stripper column, or two in series. A combination of pH control and heat, from direct injection steam or reboiler drives off the ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. The presence of solids and hydrocarbons (“oils”) are the major contaminants causing fouling of heat exchangers, stripper columns and reboilers. The impact, a loss of sour stripper capacity and the associated impairment of refinery performance, is to be avoided by appropriate measurements. 

Challenges

  • Installation in a hazardous area (Ex) in ventilated cabinet
  • Possible exposure of plant technicians to toxic/corrosive gases during sensor maintenance
  • Corrosive conditions

Why Knick ?
The safety functions and the sophisticated design of the SensoGate retractable fitting convinced the customer. The safe separation from the process avoids a health risk for employees during maintenance. The robust design ensures maximum reliability of the measuring loop.

Related Industries and Applications

With automatic maintenance systems to longer sensor life, even with sticky hydrocarbons and in explosive environments.
pH Measurement in Contaminated Wastewater. Purification, neutralization and reuse - treatment of wastewater is as diverse as its impurities. 
pH Measurement in the reprocessing of mineral oil products
pH, ORP and conductivity measurements in condensate
pH measurement in transesterification

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