Case Study:
Decontamination of Sulfuric Alkylation Units - North America
EnvTech Inc. has a developed a state-of-the-art single step neutralization and cleaning process for Sulfuric Alkylation Units. Most refineries use a three-step process to prepare their Sulfuric Alkylation unit for Turnaround. First, they will flush their Sulfuric Alkylation Unit with highly corrosive and dangerous caustic to neutralize any remaining Sulfuric Acid. Second, they will flush out the caustic material with water to prepare for the final step. The third and final step is to steam out the unit to remove any possible hydrocarbon.
EnvTech Inc. offers a single step process to neutralize the Sulfuric acid and remove hydrocarbons/sludge from the process equipment. By performing the chemical cleaning in a single step, the refinery will observe a safer and faster preparation of process equipment for turnaround.
Unnecessary Exposure to Personnel and Equipment:
Using high strength caustic to neutralize the Sulfuric Acid in the unit is very dangerous to people if they come in contact with caustic where EnvTech’s buffer is safe for people and the environment. In addition, the elimination of high strength caustic and steam will eliminate the chance of caustic cracking in the stainless-steel piping and equipment.
Time savings
EnvTech’s process will neutralize and clean all process equipment in the Sulfuric Alkylation Unit in a single step requiring less than 36 hours to complete. This will bring significant time savings to the client that can help reduce overall turnaround costs.
Effluent Generation
The effluent generation from EnvTech’s process is safe for waste water and has historically been drained to waste water at most refineries. The pH is near neutral and contains no hazardous materials. The volume of effluent generation is less than the typical, multi-step method described above.
References available upon request.