Porvair supplies sintered filters to major South African refinery

Porvair Filtration Group, UK, has announced it has supplied highly efficient and durable sintered metal powder Triple Element Filters (TEFs) to South Africa’s national oil company, PetroSA, through its Johannesburg-based agents, Sagisa Process Engineering (Pty) Ltd.

PetroSA, situated in Mossel Bay, is the world’s third largest gas-to-liquid (GTL) facility and produces some of the cleanest fuels on the market by using leading environmentally friendly processes.

Triple Element Filter

Porvair supplied innovative 2.4 metre-long TEF assemblies, manufactured in the UK, as well as sintered metal mesh fuse assemblies manufactured in tandem at the company’s US factory in Ashland, Virginia. The TEFs and mesh fuses were fitted into tubesheets and installed into five vessels, manufactured and supplied locally by Sagisa.

The complete vessels were then shipped to the PetroSA refinery and are now helping to clean up catalyst fines – very small particles used in the Fluid Catalytic Cracking process (FCC) of most large, modern oil refineries and in the hydrogen process stream at Mossel Bay.

The assemblies were selected by PetroSA for their ability to operate reliably at temperatures in excess of 400°C and at a pressure of around 25 bar. The vessels are located above the Catalyst Reduction Reactor (CRR), enabling the TEF assemblies to be cleanable in situ; therefore operating in a cyclic back flush operation to remove the catalyst cake from the filter surface of the TEFs. The disengaged catalyst then falls into the CRR.

As a consequence, the TEFs are able to operate for a prolonged period in an aggressive environment, only periodically requiring to be removed and chemically cleaned before then being re-installed and operating once more at the same high performance level.

“Porvair is proud to be manufacturing components for one of the world’s most environmentally friendly oil companies. We believe that our filtration expertise can help drive further efficiency and cost reductions at the Mossel Bay refinery, in turn providing sustainable growth,” stated Market Manager, Andrew Fairlie.

“PetroSA already produces some of the cleanest fuels available, and we are certain that the provision of our TEF and mesh fuse assemblies, with their high performance capabilities, will only enhance that reputation by ensuring security and continuity of supply.”

www.porvairfiltration.com