QuickTOCpurity, the money maker in refineries

The use of steam and hot water is vital for the operation of many types of installations and facilities in crude oil refinement. Significant cost savings can be attained through the reuse of the return condensate or steam condensate. However, the purity of this return condensate is of vital importance. Contaminated steam or water, leads to corrosion in e.g. pipes, boilers and heat exchangers. If a heat exchanger corrodes and is no longer impervious, then mineral oils can leak into and contaminate the return condensate. Therefore, an oil-in-water analyser is required and in this case a TOC analyser is an excellent choice, measuring any oil type in a range from 10 ppb to over 100 ppm, as well as organics that do not belong to oil groups. At refineries the levels that need to be monitored and their alarm thresholds are about forty times cleaner than drinking water (100..1,000 ppb region). Therefore, the analytical performance of the TOC analyser must be outstanding meeting tough requirements by the industry regarding accuracy, response times and traceability.

The LAR QuickTOC_purity analyser consists of sample transfer and injection system, reactor, carrier gas circuit, gas detector and calibration system. At the heart of the TOC analyser is the well designed multi-loop injection system as the pre-eminent methodology for sample transference and injection of oily samples. This loop injection system is constructed of inert material to avoid absorption and memory effects and can resist temperatures of up to 90ºC.

The second important analyser building block is the ultra high temperature reactor at 1,200°C. The sample, containing hydrocarbon molecules, is injected into the reactor tube. Without exception, all hydrocarbon compounds are completely oxidised, forming carbon dioxide gas. A carrier gas flows through the reactor and transfers this CO2 gas to a non-dispersive infrared detector (NDIR detector). The amount of carbon dioxide that is measured, is linearly proportional to the amount of organic carbon molecules (TOC) in the sample. At 1,200°C it is physically impossible for compounds to survive. Experience demonstrates a full recovery rate even for very hard to oxidise compounds e.g. fluorocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, amines.

The third important analyser building block is the calibration and validation system. The QuickTOCpurity offers a unique patented gas validation feature. Whenever needed, the operator can easily and immediately calibrate/ validate the analyser by using a cylinder filled with a certified gas mixture. This certified gas mixture is very stable and can be stored over a period of several years, making it readily available and always ready for use. The injection loop is filled with the calibration gas, such as a methane and nitrogen mixture, and the content is injected into the reactor. There the gas is oxidised to CO2 which is then measured by the NDIR detector. Within minutes the gas calibration routine is complete. It is simple, fast and accurate.

Another important feature of the LAR QuickTOCpurity is the possibility to analyse grab samples from individual heat exchangers. This can save a lot of time in identifying which specific heat exchanger is leaking.

The quick and reliable QuickTOCpurity analyser offers operators the assurance that their analysers are giving accurate results and that they are not pouring expensive condensate down the drain.

At a glance:

• ULTRA high temperature oxidation at 1,200°C
• Catalyst-free technique
• Combination of TOC, COD, TNb and TP available
• Easy and always ready for calibration and validation technique
• No memory-effects
• Multi-stream option
• Low maintenance and servicing requirements