Chemical Engineering February 2023 - 12

Newsfront
Digital Tools Help
Optimize Steam Systems
A
lthough widely used
throughout the chemical
process industries (CPI),
steam systems are often
neglected until there is an issue
with safety, reliability or steam
quality. However, as processors
become more concerned with saving
money on utilities and reducing
CO2 emissions, steam-system optimization
is a growing trend, with
more attention being paid to measuring,
monitoring and managing
steam systems and their components.
Optimizing steam systems
in this way not only reduces energy
costs and emissions, but is likely to
improve the availability and safety
of the system, as well as quality of
the steam.
" Chemical plants are very intensive
steam users, " says Patricia
Provot, president of the Americas
with Armstrong International (Three
Rivers, Mich.; www.armstronginternational.com).
" Steam may be used
as a heat source to heat chemical
components that go into chemical
reactions. It may be used for
heat tracing of viscous chemical
components being transported or
pumped from one vessel or location
to another. It may be used in
distillation columns, direct-injection
strippers and spray drying applications.
Steam is also frequently used
in injectors to create a vacuum in a
kettle or vessel and steam has a role
in the creation of electricity at some
chemical facilities. "
Despite its importance, steamsystem
maintenance and management
have traditionally been reactive
with, at best, some preventative
maintenance. " Most steam users
don't
really understand the impact
a poorly maintained steam system
12
has on their overall
operation, " says
Tye Buckley, director
of services with
Spirax Sarco USA
(Blythewood, S.C.;
www.spiraxsarco.
com). " Often, they
are
short-staffed
and the priority is to
get product out the
door, so they are
always in a reactive
maintenance mode
where they move
from problem to
problem, fixing them, with a focus of
getting the system back online. But
due to the current business climate,
where they need to reduce costs,
meet sustainability goals and still
ensure capacity requirements, more
processors are taking a strategic
approach in which they make improvements
to their steam system
in order to increase reliability, safety
and efficiency, while still meeting
production targets. "
Primarily driven by sustainability
goals, this recent interest in optimizing
steam systems is not without
challenges, notes Buckley. " On
top of having to increase production
and manage costs, processors are
now being challenged to improve
their impact on the environment.
Steam-system optimization focused
on efficiency, productivity and reliability
all while meeting sustainability
goals, requires a balance and careful
management, " he says.
" This
is why digital solutions for steamsystem
measuring, monitoring and
management are coming into play.
They provide data and information
that will not only help optimize
steam systems for efficiency, but
Measuring and monitoring tools simplify steam-system management and increase efficiency
Spirax Sarco
FIGURE 1. Digital solutions provide data and information that help optimize
steam systems for efficiency and reveal system issues before they cause a
shutdown, increasing system reliability and productivity
they also reveal issues before they
become a shutdown situation, increasing
system reliability and productivity "
(Figure 1).
Steam-system optimization
" Many facilities deal with poor-quality
steam or poor reliability of the
system and they are often shocked
when we perform a system assessment
that points out how much
money they are losing due to a
poorly managed and maintained
steam system, " says Tucker Jackson,
business systems manager
with Steam Solutions (La Porte,
Texas; www.steamsolutions.com).
Ron Bajon, director of engineering
with Steam Solutions, adds:
" While they may want an assessment
for cost-reduction purposes
or sustainability goals, what we
often point out during the assessment
is that steam systems tend
to suffer a snowball effect. For instance,
not only are they losing
money and efficiency due to lack of
maintenance and management of
components like the steam traps,
but if they aren't checking their
steam traps and replacing those
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
FREBRUARY 2023
http://www.spiraxsarco.com http://www.armstronginternational.com http://www.armstronginternational.com http://www.steamsolutions.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering February 2023
