An important activity in the optimization of the HF Alkylation process is the analysis of recirculating acid. This is normally achieved by taking off-line samples and conducting laboratory analyses on a periodic basis. There are, however, a number of problems associated with this approach.
Sample collection and subsequent analysis of the acid is a hazardous process to personnel as exposure to HF acid can cause severe burns and respiratory problems.
- The conventional laboratory methods for HF, ASO and water measurement are traditionally imprecise. This is especially true for ASO measurement. Making process decisions on the basis of these results is therefore difficult.
- The analysis is usually only carried out once or twice a day, which is too infrequent for control purposes.
- The analysis takes a few hours to complete, and so the compositional data is out of date when made available to the process or control engineer. This makes it very difficult to relate process changes to HF catalyst composition.
Instrument: The HF Alkylir
Improve safety and optimize process control with the HF Alkylation Process Analyzer.
The HF Alkyl
ir is an FT-IR based process analyzer that offers a reliable solution to the problems faced by HF Alkylation operators. This is achieved by the on-line analysis of the circulating acid steam every 2 minutes, providing catalyst composition in terms of HF, ASO and water content. This improves personnel safety, process control, corrosion monitoring, and catalyst efficiency. A reliable, fast, on-line measurement of HF Acid has long been sought after by operators of these units.
What can be measured?
The analyzer can be pre-configured for delivery to a customer site with the following measurement capabilities:
- HF 80 - 100wt%
- ASO 0 - 15wt%
- Water 0 - 5wt%
Stream characterization available every two minutes.
What are the benefits of using the HF Alkylir?
- Reduce the need for off-line acid analysis
- Reduce personnel exposure to HF Acid
- Provide essentially real-time characterization of the acid catalyst
- Detect and prevent acid runaway conditions
- Maximize alkylate octane by optimizing water content
- Detect feed impurity problems with on-line ASO measurement
- Optimize acid regeneration using on-line ASO measurement
- Reduces costs associated with lab sampling