Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Fertilizers Technology
Conference & Exhibition
Mohamed Belghiti
Project Manager – OCP
Morocco
CHOOSING EQUIPMENT for PHOSPHORIC ACID PLANTS
The performance of a phosphoric acid plant depends on several factors. The quality of the
equipment is one of the major factors that influence the performance. It seems apparent that the
choice of the equipment impacts only the reliability and the maintenance cost. In fact, it is an
important factor which impacts practically all the performance aspects of a chemical plant:
Recoveries, production capacity, energy consumption, safety and environment.
The object of this paper is to highlight the importance of equipment choice for the chemical
industries plants, and particularly for a phosphoric acid plant. We will identify the different
impacts of equipment selection through a few concrete examples, and we will present some
recommendations and methodology for the choice of the best equipment.
The first basic parameters for selection of equipment are defined by the conditions of use and
the foreseen performance. For example, for the particular case of a centrifugal pump we should
fix the following data:
These three basic parameters are very important and will have to be defined with the maximum
accuracy.
Other additional constraints should be taken into account for the design of the suitable
equipment:
The knowledge of what is most important for long term plant performance is critical for the
correct selection of equipment. Many times vendors will promote their equipment with
attractive features such as “high efficiency”. A good example are the reactor agitators. High
efficiency i.e. low power consumption is not really beneficial since some in-efficient shearing
action may promote better reaction and dispersion of the acid and phosphate. In fact, the real
priorities for agitator selection may be listed as follows:
• It should never break! The agitator must be designed for many times the normal
mixing stress since a broken agitator shaft does nothing at all.
• It must keep the floors and walls of the reactor clean. Allowing build-up of scale in
the reactor diminishes retention time, lowers performance and greatly increases the
annual maintenance.
• It should do an effective job of dispersing the acid and phosphate. Note that this is
the 3rd priority. Nevertheless, if the first two priorities are followed the system will
do a good job for mixing the reagents. Experience has shown that good mixing of
acid and phosphate are achieved if the reagents are delivered to a zone of high shear
near to the tip of the agitator blade.
The choice of the best available technology during equipment selection is often a subject of
controversy for project managers. The specific experience of each engineer and background
(Process, Mechanic, Electrical…) legitimately can influence the preference for a particular
technology. We believe, in general, that there is no better technology in the absolute. In each
specific case it is necessary to make a comparative study to select the best option. The results of
the choice can vary according to the particular technical conditions (Type of process, Capacity,
Environment.) and according to other parameters such as the cost of energy, safety constraints,
and raw material cost …
The typical case of filter selection for phosphoric acid plant was always a subject of concern and
constitutes a revealing example of the problems of the choice of best technology in the broad
sense. Indeed, three types of filter are most commonly used in the world:
¾ Table filters;
¾ Tilting pan filters;
¾ Belt filters.
Each above mentioned filter has its own advantages and disadvantages and their impacts may
vary according to the situation. We present here after a traditional model table of assistance of
multi criteria choices:
Budget investment
Level of reliability
Ease of maintenance
Total performance
The notation allotted to each criterion depends on the conditions of use of the filter. Some of
these conditions are:
In addition to the notation allotted to each selection criterion there is a weighting coefficient
which does not depend on the technical process conditions but it is linked to the environment
and specific particularities to each user:
The most important in this exercise is the selection of appropriate criteria and to allot a weighting
coefficient representative of the studied case to each one.
The choice of materials of construction is a recurring problem in all the phases of a project. The
same concern is general to all engineering specialties.
Civil engineering: Concerning buildings construction, it is true that in some cases the choices are
trivial but in most of the situations the choice between concrete, steel structure or mixed
structure is not obvious. To select the optimum solution we should take into account some
assumptions:
Piping: For the transport of the same fluid several alternatives are offered. In the particular case
of phosphoric acid the three following materials are most often used:
Stainless steel 316 L or 904 L alloy for high temperatures: It is a simple, the most
reliable but expensive solution.
Rubber lined carbon steel: It is a less expensive and safe solution. However because of
the difficulty of its implementation, its application must be limited to the large
diameters and short pipes. A particular attention must be paid during the application
to avoid the risks of the separation of the coating.
Plastic materials: HDPE, FRP constitutes an interesting alternative in terms of price
and reliability. However and for safety reasons of, they should be avoided in the event
of high mechanical stress.
It is a critical issue to approach. Generally the suppliers confirm that their material or equipment
are the most reliable and can give guarantees for that. We believe that guarantee, though
necessary, is not a sufficient condition to engage the purchase of equipment particularly when
equipment is critical.
The principal criterion to be taken into account is the references of the suppliers for similar
applications. This criterion is more crucial when the equipment is critical or when its performance
depends on the product handled (Mill, Filter, circulation pump, Weigh feeder…). The
performance of the equipment depends on the nature of the product handled.
¾ Delivery schedule
¾ After sale service
¾ Technical Assistance
¾ The availability of the spare parts…
Conclusion
There is no doubt that, in order to achieve good performance for a phosphoric acid plant, we
should choose the best available technology. The issue is how to identify the best available
technology for each specific case. This is what we have tried to approach in this paper.
Methodology and practical experience in the field are the appropriate tools.