【Equipment Reliability Improvement】Using the skin effect electric heating in place of steam heating to reduce benzene vapor leakage

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Original title: Electric heat tracing in petrochemical processing helps eliminate benzene odor 2016-12-21 Source: Petrochemical News “There’s no smell of benzene at the site, making the work safer!” ”Recently, when visiting the vehicle loading site at the Shijiazhuang Refining, Chemicals, Storage and Transportation Operations Department, customers noticed that the occasional odor of benzene was no longer present. Upon inquiry, they learned that the electric heating renovation project for the benzene vehicle loading pipelines at Shijiazhuang Refinery had been put into use. “The deployment of this project not only saves steam, but more importantly, it significantly reduces the benzene level in the working environment at automobile loading sites during winter, thus ensuring our health! ”The employees did not forget to introduce it to the customers. It turns out that the freezing point of benzene is around 5 degrees Celsius; to prevent freezing, heating systems need to be installed in the pipelines used for transporting benzene during winter. The heat tracing for the benzene pipeline produced by stone cracking uses 10 kilograms of steam, with a steam temperature of around 200 degrees Celsius. The boiling point of benzene is 80 degrees Celsius; when heat tracing is activated in winter, the high temperature causes benzene to vaporize within the pipeline. Once the loading valve is opened, large amounts of benzene vapor escape, which can lead to excessive benzene concentrations at the loading site and in the surrounding areas. Before the commissioning of the 8-million-ton oil quality improvement project, the production volume of benzene derived from petroleum refining was extremely low; very little benzene was exported during winter, and the issue of using steam for heating in the benzene processing lines was not significant. With the completion and operation of the 8-million-ton project, the amount of petroleum refined increased steadily, with 5–6 trucks worth of benzene being exported almost every day. This led to an increased impact of steam heating on the working environment and the occupational health of workers. To change this situation, the Oil Refining, Storage and Transportation Operations Department organized research and proposed replacing the steam tracing for the benzene pipeline with hot water or temperature-regulable electric tracing. After specialized discussions by departments such as Production Technology, the retrofit plan using surface heating was finally adopted. In order to have it operational this winter, the Storage and Transportation Department coordinated and supervised all aspects such as procurement, construction, and project management. With the full cooperation of various departments at the refinery, the project was connected to the power supply for trial operation on November 4, and it met the requirements for operation on November 9.