Unusual Cooling Solution
An unusual solution to a cooling problem
- The Challenge
Cool rising diesel temperatures after the usual fixes had failed
- The Solution
400-tonne chiller with water discharge sent back to the cooling water tower
- The Impact
Diesel was cooled, shutdown avoided and an ongoing problem solved
Client:Southern US refinery
Location:USA
Sectors:Petrochemical and refining
The challenge
Diagnose and reduce rising fuel temperatures
A US refinery found one of their diesel products was not being adequately cooled, and their initial assumption was that the last heat exchanger was fouled. They wanted to avoid shutting down the entire plant to swap out the exchanger and they didn’t want to reduce the amount of diesel going through the exchanger, as that would affect their production schedules.
They reasoned that extra cooling power would help and asked us to bring in a 400-tonne closed-loop chiller. However, even that couldn’t solve the problem.
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The solution
A 400-tonne chiller and once-through cooling
When the 400-tonne chiller didn't work, we asked if we could bring in our experts to assess the situation. After reviewing the data, we recommended an unconventional arrangement: passing the water discharge back to the cooling water tower.
It was unconventional because, in 95% of cases, a closed-loop chiller is the most efficient way to go. But in this case, our calculations showed a different option was needed. Our recommendation was accepted and the system was configured for once-through cooling (OTC). It worked, and diesel temperatures dropped to safe levels.