Measurement & Monitoring
SABIC UK Petrochemicals
phases out R22 refrigeration
plant with natural ammonia
Azanechiller
S
ABIC UK Petrochemicals,
Europe’s leading producer
of petrochemicals
commissioned Star
Refrigeration to secure their RBS
Butadiene Plant in Wilton against
future environmental legislation.
The 35 year old refrigeration plant
upgrade brought SABIC’s world class
petrochemical production site into line
with the R22 phase out, which came
into force last January 2015-.
Star Refrigeration, the UK’s largest
independent industrial refrigeration
company produced a competitive
solution using modular package design
chillers to meet the company’s process
cooling requirements.
Although an initial plan to install a
bespoke system to completely replace
the existing R22 plant was evaluated,
a fully bespoke scheme proved
expensive.
Jon Hetherington, SABIC Project
Group Manager said, “After reviewing
the initial total replacement plan, we
decided that the costs were simply too
high. We started to look for alternative
solutions and Star’s modular package
project looked attractive. As well as
using premium quality equipment the
company enjoys a strong industry
reputation which gave us confidence
that we were working with one of the
most reliable suppliers in the business”.
As part of the upgrade, Star installed
3 off 193KW Ammonia Azanechillers
to cool 40% w/w Ethylene Glycol
from -9C to -14C. The air-cooled
Azanechillers are configured to operate
in series for maximum efficiency,
actively cooling the glycol supplied
to the butadiene process heat
exchangers.
David Laws, Sales Manager-Process
Industries at Star Refrigeration said,
“One of the major benefits to SABIC
UK is the significantly lower cost
compared to initial quotes for a fully
customised system. The new modular
design of the Azanechiller offers
improved efficiency and reliability while
the first rate equipment immediately
boosts the longevity of the plant
as does the low charge ammonia
technology employed.”
“The use of natural refrigerant
ammonia has also future proofed
the Wilton RBS Butadiene Plant and
brought it into line with governmental
law. The conscientious decision of
using natural refrigerants cements
the company’s status as a responsible
manufacturer of “the chemistry that
makes things possible”