FLARE MINIMIZATION STRATEGY DURING PLANT UPSETS: FREEPORT

摘要

Dow owns and operates an E/P cracker in Freeport, Texas. The cracker was started up in the early 1970's and has a nameplate capacity of 1.3 billion 1bs/year ethylene. During plant startups, shutdowns, and off-spec incidents, hydrocarbon streams within the plant are diverted to the elevated flare. In 2001, a project utilizing Six Sigma methodology was initiated to minimize the amount of hydrocarbons flared during plant startups, shutdowns, and off-spec incidents, in order to reduce the impact to the environment and the local community. The reduction in hydrocarbons flared was achieved by minimizing startup/shutdown times, by utilizing existing recycle lines, and by maximizing recovery of products. Problems which occurred during previous startups and shutdowns were also identified and a plan for overcoming those problems was developed. From the start of the project in 2001 to the end of 2003, the project reduced emissions during startups, shutdowns, and off-spec incidents by 54% and resulted in a documented savings of $2.5 MM. The paper will describe the Six Sigma methodology used to execute the project and the strategies that were implemented in the plant.