COURSE OVERVIEW

This practical and highly-interactive course includes real-life case studies where participants will be engaged in a series of interactive small groups and class workshops.

This course is designed to provide participants with a detailed and up-to-date overview of Universal Oil Products Sulfolane Technology (Advanced). It covers the sulfolane technology including process purpose and applications in aromatics extraction, key features of UOP’s sulfolane process and integration into refinery and petrochemical complexes; the physical and chemical properties of sulfolane, solubility of aromatics and non-aromatics, partition coefficient behavior and temperature and pressure dependency; the extraction column operation, stripping and solvent recovery sections, contaminants and degradation mechanisms and process chemistry; and the detailed process flow diagram (PFD), process and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) and major equipment design and operation.

Further, the course will also discuss the heat integration and energy optimization, solvent circulation and makeup system including advanced process control (APC) and automation; the startup and shutdown procedures covering step-by-step startup process, solvent preheating and loading, shutdown strategies for planned/unplanned stops and purging and equipment isolation; the operational troubleshooting, solvent quality and reclamation; and the hydraulic and flow distribution control, process optimization techniques and corrosion and material selection.

During this interactive course, participants will learn the key performance indicators (KPIs), simulation and modeling and operational data analysis; the benchmarking and global best practices covering UOP plant performance benchmarks, comparative review of licensed facilities and upgrades and modernization trends; the process safety, HAZOP methodology and critical nodes, fire and explosion prevention and emergency shutdown system design; the VOC emission control, wastewater and solvent recovery, regulatory requirements and monitoring and reporting best practices; the reliability and maintenance strategy covering maintenance criticality analysis, reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), spare part standardization and turnaround planning for sulfolane units; and the standard operating procedure development and operator qualification matrix.