• Vinyl Chloride Monomer
• Suspending Agents
• Catalysts
• Additives

Documentation is excellent for equipment, operating procedures, and P&IDs.  Most of the documentation is electronic.

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PVC

• Steam
• Electricty
• Fuel Gas
• Water

1995- Plant was modified to include the EVC technology stripping system ($30 MM project)

PVC PLANT HIGHLIGHTS

STATE OF THE ART PROCESS FORESEES "CLOSE LID TECHNOLOGY" TO OPERATE REACTORS WITHOUT OPENING THE LID BETWEEN CONSECUTIVE BATCHES, AVOIDING VCM LEAKAGES AND REDUCING CYCLE TIME.

HIGH EFFICIENCY CONDENSER POLYMERIZATION PROCESS GENERATING ENCOMPASSED PRODUCTION RATE PER CUBIC METER OF INSTALLED REACTOR CAPACITY, AS HIGH AS 600 TONS/M³

LAST DESIGN OF EFFECTIVE STRIPPING SECTION

HIGH FLEIXIBILITY PLANT DESIGN WHICH ENABLES PLANT TO RUN AT DIFFERENT LOADS MAINTAINING LOW PRODUCTION COSTS

Brief Overview

• Suspension PVC Plant producing 220,000 metric tons/year Pipe Grade Resin (K=67).
  
• Six reactors (18,000 gallon, 68m3),  two strippers, six Bird centrifuges, six rotary dryers.
  
• In 1995, the plant was modified to include the EVC technology stripping system ($30 MM project).
  
• The plant is in good condition.  Most of the equipment is stainless steel and has been well maintained.
  
• Equipment could be loaded on flatbed railcars using the rail spur at this location and then shipped by barge to a major port which is located about 100 miles away.
  
• Process control is provided with an “Advanced System” by ABB.  All field instrumentation is electronic.
  
• Closed Lid Reactor: 6 Months Operation without Reactor Opening 
  
• Reactor Condenser can go 6 months without cleaning
  
• Build-Up Suppressant Technology Included
  

This facility produces polyvinyl chloride polymer resin (PVC) by polymerizing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) in water/PVC slurry.  After the polymerization step is completed, residual vinyl chloride is stripped from the polymer slurry (two strippers).  Filters convert the slurry to a wet cake.  Pneumatic conveying systems transfer the dried PVC polymer resin to product silos before it is shipped to the customers. 

Product goes through six Bird centrifuges and then to six natural gas fired rotary kilns to dry the wet cake.  Pneumatic conveying systems transfer the dried PVC polymer resin to product silos before being shipped to the customers.

The raw material VCM arrives by rail and is unloaded into the 5 MM lb capacity storage sphere.  There are also two large bullet tanks for additional VCM storage capacity.  There is no VCM gas holder in this process.

Although it may appear to be six individual lines, the product comes together at two main places in the process so that the resultant end product is completely homogenous.  These common locations are the reactor dump tank and the stripper feed tank.  There are also only two stripper columns; therefore it would be more accurate to describe the plant as having two trains rather than six.

Polymerization
The raw materials (VCM, water, suspension agents, and catalyst) are added to the reactor for each batch.  The reactors typically run at about 135°F and 105 psig with a batch cycle time of about 5 hours, depending on which steps are included.  The 18,000 gallon reactors are 1” thick stainless steel (304L) and are rated for 200 psig at 200°F.  They are jacketed for heating or cooling (800 gpm cooling water flow).  They are agitated with one set of paddles coming up through the bottom of the reactor with 200 hp drives.  Organic peroxide catalysts (front-end and back-end catalysts) are used to initial the polymerization of VCM.  About 80% of the VCM is converted to PVC on each batch in the reactor.  The 20% unreacted VCM is recovered and recycled back to the reaction unit.  The process uses direct steam into the reactor for the initial heat up.  This is more efficient and has also led to much more reliable reactor jacket operation.  The reactors are also cooled by a unique process.  The 2,612 ft 2 condensers are mounted directly on top of the reactors in the vertical position and actually cool the reactor while condensing overhead VCM vapors.  They have 1” diameter by 10’ long tubes made of 304L stainless steel with cooling water on the jacket running at 2,500 gpm per condenser.  AMS (alpha-methyl-styrene) is used as a “kill agent” for stopping any runaway reaction.  The entire process is continuous after the polymerization reactors.

Stripping Process
The stripping process was modified when EVC technology was purchased.  The total project cost $30 MM.  Prior to this, the unreacted VCM was stripped in the reactors, which greatly reduced overall production.  Two spiral exchangers made of Duplex 2205 stainless steel (1,313 ft2 each) are used for the stripping condensers.  The agitated dump drum holds 40,000 gallons and is made of 304L stainless steel.  The agitated stripper feed vessel holds 10,750 gallons and is also made of 304L stainless steel. 

The stripper columns (2) are 64” diameter by 35’ tall with 34 dual-flow trays.  The columns are made of Duplex 2205 stainless steel.  These columns can accommodate 230 gpm of process flow in each stripper.

VCM recovery
The VCM recovery system includes two 60 hp Sulzer-Bingham model 4G vacuum pumps (780 acfm each) and four 150 hp Nash model 1256 compressors (400 acfm each).  All of this equipment is “liquid ring” technology and comes with the liquid ring pumps and condensers.

PVC Slurry Conversion
The PVC slurry proceeds to six Bird 24” X 36” centrifuges.  These units spin at 1,775 rpm and can handle 50,000 lb/hr of slurry each.  They are constructed mainly of 304L stainless steel and better alloys and have 75 hp drive motors.

Drying
The 13,000 lb/hr Bartlett-Snow rotary kilns are direct fired so that the combustion gases are contacting the wet product.  This efficient process removes almost all of the 30% water content from the centrifuge outlet product.  The kilns operate at 400°F inlet and 200°F outlet.  They are approximately 8’ diameter by 38’ long and rotate at about 7 rpm.  Five of them are made of solid 304L stainless steel and one kiln is stainless steel lined.  It is also larger at 9’ diameter by 40’ long.  Filtered air is fed to the burner and dust collectors are used to remove PVC particles from the discharge gases.

Classification-Transfer
The product is classified in vibrating sieves (6) and then a dilute phase pneumatic transfer system is used to transfer the finished PVC powder.  The system uses stainless steel transfer lines.

Storage and Loading
There are four large carbon steel storage silos for the finished PVC.  They each hold 470,000 lbs (density of PVC powder is 50 lb/ft3).  Two of the large storage silos are mounted on weigh cells.  There are six 304L stainless steel railcar loading silos positioned above the railcar loading area so that railcar loading is gravity fed.

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Utilities

There are two instrument air compressors in this facility.  The first is a Cooper-Joy turbo compressor with a 425 hp drive.  The second is a Sullair model 375 with diesel drive for power outage backup capabilities.  There is a very small Kohler generato

Incoming electricity is 12 kV, dropped down to 460 V using three large transformers rated at approximately 2,300 kVA each.  There are two main switchgear rooms.  One facility uses Westinghouse equipment and the other facility uses Siemens and Allen-Bradley equipment.

There are two steam producing boilers in this facility.  The larger unit is a Babcock and Wilcox model producing 60,000 lbs/hr of 250 psig steam at 400°F (typically run at 150 psig).  It is fired by natural gas or landfill gas, which is supplied by pipeline from the local landfill (575 BTU/lb versus 1,000 BTU/lb for typical natural gas).  The national board number on this boiler is #24224, and it has 498 ft2 of surface area on the tubes.  The smaller boiler is a 20,000 lbs/hr Titusville unit with Coen burners.

There is a small, very low-tech thermal oxidizer in this facility and a small caustic scrubber on the system.

There are three electric and three diesel driven fire water pumps in the far corner of this facility.

There is a rail spur on site with six load spots under the stainless steel product silos.  Equipment could also be loaded on flatbed railcars at this location.  Equipment could be shipped by barge to a major port which is located about 100 miles away. 

Process control is provided with an “Advanced System” by ABB.  The system uses the ABB Taylor Mod 300 interface with about 3,000 I/O points.  All field instrumentation is electronic.  Redundant Micromotion flowmeters are used for critical fluid measurements, even on lines up to 6” diameter.