Case Study: Material transition to aerogel insulation leads to energy efficiency and improved thermal management

Introduction

Historically, insulation was considered less critical compared to other equipment in an oil and gas plant. In the recent decade, that traditional mindset is fast changing, as facility operators who persistently use conventional insulation materials are witnessing rampant corrosion and rising annual energy demand affecting the operational efficiency of their assets. On the other hand, operators that invested in superior aerogel insulation have witnessed vast benefits in energy savings and improved asset reliability over time.

Downstream Asset Struggling with Thermal Management

One such case happened on a tropical coast of Southeast Asia, where a major petrochemical complex was met with persistent issues in achieving a temperature level critical for their production efficiency. If left unattended, the below-optimum temperature of gas streams flowing to the Continuous Catalytic Regenerator (CCR) can impact their production yield.

They reached out to Aspen Aerogels, and a team of Technical Services engineers were deployed to help investigate the root cause. Insights from data, discussions, and simulation were not conclusive, but indicated a few weak spots in their CCR insulation. Thermal imaging scans further confirmed the problem areas. Subsequently, they decided to reinsulate with Pyrogel® insulation from Aspen Aerogels.

Challenges

Due to the critical nature of this unit, the customer only agreed to 6 days shutdown for rectification work. Adding to the challenge, the identified piping route to the CCR was located 20 meters above ground, with limited space to maneuver.

The simple nature of high-performing Pyrogel® insulation blankets made for easy and fast work even with minimal supervision of the unexperienced contractors. The versatile and lightweight Pyrogel® insulation also enabled contractors to pre-cut the materials and install them faster and more safely at height.

Results

Re-insulation work was completed on day 5 without jacketing. The unique characteristics of Pyrogel® insulation allows for no-wait performance, and the customer was able to proceed to startup while jacketing was being completed, providing a 24-hour schedule advantage with early return to service. After startup, inspection with thermal imaging found that the heat loss areas were now meeting the expected standard and the issue was remedied. More importantly, the CCR unit achieved its required temperatures, and the electrical heater ran at lower load, subsequently saving 53% of energy that would be wasted via heat loss.

Before

After (a 56.7°C temperature difference shows a significant energy wastage is mitigated)

During the project close-out, the customer expressed their gratitude to Aspen Aerogels Technical Services team for its commitment and effort to resolve the issue. The customer’s satisfaction in achieving the desired thermal performance resulted in aerogel insulation becoming their new guideline.

Aspen Aerogels was invited back to the customer’s next major turnaround and the project is recognized as one of the customer’s operational excellence best practices.