During a capacity expansion project at  its Gas Cracking Unit, an ethylene producer in India found that the Water Quench Tower, downstream of the cracker furnace, was a significant bottleneck. It was discovered that damaged ripple trays and support beams in the tower needed to be replaced, but there was very little time to prepare the vessel for safe entry by plant personnel to do the work.
The quench tower handles cracked gas from the furnace  containing polymers,  asphaltenes, and tar.  Over time, these fouling materials had built up,  sticking to the  tower internals and  piping. Before plant personnel could begin work inside the vessel, these hydrocarbons needed to be removed and the tower degassed of dangerous vapors. The producer stipulated that the  degassing process had  to be completed within  a very compressed time-frame, after the initial oil flushing to dissolve and remove the bulk of the fouling.
Typically,  a  time-intensive,  steam-out  process would have been initiated at this point; however, given  the   limited timeframe,  SUEZ  offered a faster,  more  effective   and   safer   chemical alternative, Custom Clean CC13, to degrease and degas the tower.
Custom Clean CC13 is a unique extractant and surfactant chemistry that is totally biodegradable and compatible with all metallurgies, as well as with   the   wastewater   treatment  system.  The Custom   Clean    treatment   program  involves circulating a water/chemical mixture throughout the tower for several hours. This unique chemistry not  only  adsorbs dangerous vapors  into  the circulating mixture but also breaks down and emulsifies liquid and semi-solid hydrocarbons that were not removed earlier by the oil flushing.
Personnel were ale to safely enter the vessel in less than half the typical time required, and an inspection of the inside of the quench tower revealed that it was exceptionally clean.
The Custom Clean CC13 treatment program helped reduce downtime and energy costs, by eliminating the need for the typical time consuming steam-out. The Custom Clean solution also provided a cleaner,safer working environment for maintenance personnel.
Because its components are biodegradable and compatible with all metals and downstream processes, Custom Clean CC13 is an excellent choice for this type of application.