Liquid chlorine unloading issues solved with Micro Motion Coriolis flowmeter

CHEMICAL

RESULTS•Accuratemeasurementunderbiphasicprocessconditions

•Costeffectivecomparedtoweighbridge

•Easiertoinstallandmaintainorre-calibrate

•Morereliabledeterminationofthe“empty”statebasedonthedensitydrop

APPLICATIONSolvayBelgium,aninternationalchemicalgrouplocatedinAntwerp,unloadsliquidchlorinefromatraintobesuppliedtosomemajorchemicalcustomers.Theunloadingprocessiscriticalbecausecompanieshavetofollowstrictenvironmentallawsandsafetyregulationsregardingmanualoperations.

CHALLENGEIntheunloadingprocess,SolvayBelgiumplacesthewagonfullofliquidchlorineontheweighingbridgewheretotalweightismeasured.TheloadedliquidchlorinecontentiscalculatedwhenthetrainarrivesattheplantthroughtheBOL(Billofloading)figures.Theliquidchlorineispushedoutofthetrainwagonbyoverpressurizingthecompartmentwithnitrogen.

Todetermineifthewagonisalmostempty,theoperationsworkersstandnexttothetrainandlistentothe“biphasicflownoise”generatedbytheunloading.Oncethewagonisdeterminedempty,theremainingliquidchlorinehastoberemoved(atanotherlocation)safely.Thisalwaysoccuredattheendofanunloadingaction.

Afteryearsofuse,theweighingbridgehadtoberevisedandSolvayBelgiumgottheopportunitytoevaluateanewsolution.

SOLUTIONSolvayBelgiumchosetoinstallEmerson’sMicroMotion®ELITE®Coriolisflowmeters(modelCMF200HwithAlloyC22wettedparts)withanenhancedcoreprocessorand2700MVDTMtransmitter.ThemeterwasinstalledfollowingEmerson’sbestpracticesguidelinesforbiphasicflow(verticalflowupwardswithflowvelocitiesover0.5m/sec)togetareliablemeasurement.

AN-001529,Rev.A/©2012MicroMotion,Inc.Allrightsreserved.

Formoreinformation:www.MicroMotion.com/chemicalwww.MicroMotion.com

Installationtrainunloadingbay

AddnitrogenatunloadingCl2gasatdegassing

Cl2flowupwards

Cl2unloading

CHEMICAL

SolvayBelgiummonitoredtheflowcountdowntotalizerwherethesetpointwaspredefinedviatheBOLfigures.

Theywerealsoabletomeasureandmonitormassflowanddensity.Thesemeasurementsmadeiteasierforthecompanytodetermineifthewagonwascompletelyunloaded.Sincethemeter’smeasurementaccuracyandrepeatablehasincreased,theavailabilityoftheloadingbayhasbeenincreasedbecausetheoperatordoesnotneedtomonitortheoperationascloselytodeterminetheendofunloading.Themeterhasbeensuccessfullyoperatingsince2007.

Also,duetothesuccessofthisapplication,theentrainedgasproblemsinthepipelinetransferatSolvayBelgiumhavebeensolvedusingaMicroMotionCoriolismeter.

AN-001529,Rev.A/©2012MicroMotion,Inc.Allrightsreserved.

Trendingmassflow,densityandcountdowntotalizer

Result: Totalizer=“0”anddensitydropstolow(almostzero)value WeighingbridgesuccessfullyreplacedbyMicroMotionCoriolistechnology