KBR, Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) says that Placid Refining Company LLC has successfully started up a grassroots dividing wall column (DWC) reformate splitter at their Port Allen, Louisiana, refinery. KBR’s Distill-Max DWC technology was selected for this application during Placid Refining Company’s “Mobile Source Air Toxic (MSAT) II Reformate Splitter Project”
The reformate splitter column is designed to remove benzene from the gasoline streams and produce a benzene rich stream. KBR’s application of Distill-Max technology to the reformate splitter column design delivers Placid Refining Company better energy efficiency as well as compliance with MSAT II regulations which limit the benzene content of gasoline in the USA. The Distill-Max DWC design realizes a minimum energy saving of 20% and a reduction in the column diameter when compared to the conventional three-product column design, says KBR.
KBR has provided the complete technical solution to Placid Refining Company, comprising the basic design, the supply of column trays/internals and startup support for this project since 2014. This successful application adds to KBR’s expanding Distill-Max DWC portfolio.