Summers D., De Villiers W., Green W., 2018, C2 Splitter Revamp Surpasses Capacity and Efficiency of 4-Pass Trays, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 69, 703-708.
A C2 Splitter in Norco, Louisiana was successfully revamped with Shell HiFi™ Plus trays in 2015 for increased tray capacity. The HiFi Plus tray is a joint development between Sulzer and Shell and is relatively new to the marketplace. These trays are intended for large diameter and high pressure/high liquid loaded applications such as those found in Ethylene Production. Benchmarking the capacity and performance of such trays will be invaluable to the distillation industry. Operating data were taken both before and after the revamp and will be presented in the paper along with tray hydraulic information. This paper will address two main issues, capacity and performance of Shell HiFi™ Plus trays and the very important topic of comparing the new trays against the old 4-Pass tray design. Discussions will include the observed excellent tray efficiency, operational hydraulics and pressure drop of the new trays. In addition, unique features of the HiFi Plus tray will be discussed that enabled this tray efficiency to be achieved.
