Lesson Learned during First Years of Operation of CaMau Ammonia Plant

摘要

Despite the fact that the plant was able to reach design capacity, it was operating at conditions deviating from design in a number of places during the first years of operation. As part of the recent turnaround, a task force was formed with the objective to identify the root causes for such deviations and to investigate whether this operating mode posed any safety risk to the plant personnel and equipment. Furthermore, various operational issues encountered over the first years of operation will be covered in the paper. The reformer in particular performed differently than expected, and post combustion was taking place in the top of the reformer section; the side effect of this turned out to be quite significant for plant operation in general. With assistance from the licensor, the different observations were assessed and a plan was developed to address the deviations, both during the turnaround and during the subsequent start-up. The start-up after turnaround was carried out with assistance from the licensor. After start-up and subsequent trimming of the plant, optimal performance was achieved, and a plant capacity of 107% was demonstrated.