Case Studies

TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Scan

Deposit Measurement on Oil / Water Knockout Vessel

A major petrochemical facility believed that the exit nozzles at the bottom of an oil / water separation vessel were becoming choked or restricted by deposits, which in turn was affecting the whole production chain.

Due to costs and safety issues, the operator wanted to delay shutting the vessel down until it was necessary and therefore they needed to know the extent of the deposit in the base of the vessel whilst it remained on-line.

As a result, Tracerco were requested to carryout a TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Scan of the vessel, using the neutron backscatter technology.

The TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Scan utilizes sophisticated inspection technology that is capable of determining, on-line and with no preparation, the actual contents of multi-phase production vessels. By measuring the concentration of hydrogen molecules in each phase, the technology can easily determine bulk levels, emulsions, foams and deposits.

To enable Tracerco to accurately determine the extent of coke or tar build up within the vessel, it was decided that 5 “scanlines” would be measured using the TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Scan technique.

The location of each scan line, with respect to the vessel tan line, are shown below.

The results from the TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Scan indicated that the deposit level in the base of the vessel varied between 750mm and 1650mm. The results are shown on the diagram above.

Following this initial study, the customer has commissioned Tracerco to carryout checks every 3 months on the extent of deposit build up within the vessel.

If you would like more information about the TRACERCO Diagnostics™ Separator study or any other Tracerco please contact us.

<< back