"Switch valve" The heart of Delayed Coking Unit (DCU)!
Mohamed Ibrahim Seddik
Chief of Operations Engineers leading Refinery Operations with expertise in Process Engineering
This is a 4-Way Switch Valve. A special designed ball valve with bellows-seat-purge system for delayed coker unit. If this valve fail the whole unit will fail!
The feed inlet line is from bottom of the valve and the valve can be switched in 2 different directions. Normally one to drum A and one to drum B and one will be used as emergency bypass line.
As Vacuum residue is prone to congeal at low temperature and is prone to coke formation at high temperatures , steam purge is provided to prevent the any foreign particles like coke or Vacuum residue to get accumulate on the valve seat
Each flange has bellow-purge-system which push the seat to the ball and for each bellow-purge-system we have two purge flange connections. One for upper side and one for below side the bellows. Steam purge to bellows and body area ensure the valve cavities kept free of coke buildup!!!
Sources:
- Engineered Valves International, EVI.
- Ali Zandieh Shirazi, Velan Inc.
Chief Strategy Officer
4 年I’m a bit biased but myself and the team at RDS www.RichardIG.com are highly experienced and will bring value to any Delayed Coker project in need of an engineering solution.
Helping process owner / operators reduce operating costs, risks and emissions, whilst also maximizing process reliability, sustainability, efficiency and operating profits.
4 年This is an almost perfect target valve for remote and automated in situ valve condition monitoring. Gain Valve Insights? and see evidence of degradation in performance over time, then use that evidence to complete timely and targeted maintenance in advance of in-service failures. Drop me a message if you are looking for any support or assistance with this. #MIDASValveDiagnostics #ValveReliability #ManagingAgingPlants #DowntimeReduction #RiskManagement #LowerOperatingCosts #MaximiseUptime
Sr. Process Engineer at SATORP looking after Hydrocracker, Delayed Coker, Hydrogen Unit(SMR) and Merox unit
4 年I would say switch valve is one of the key part of DCU, but heart is Coker heater, who decided block run length between two angioplasty (mechanical cleaning). Operator should be very careful on Coked up Rate vs COT and economic impact during mechanical cleaning down time..