By Russell Hillenburg, President/CEO
With nearly six decades of expertise, our team at Woven Metal Products (WMP) has worked with countless refineries, chemical/petrochemical plants, and renewable energy operations to maximize production in their axial and radial reactors.
With that breadth of experience, we’ve become not only a renowned metal fabrication company, but also a solutions provider and partner to our customers.
Our customers know us for helping them get their capital projects off the ground and supporting their maintenance needs.
What they may not know is that we’ve worked with top licensors to create patented technology that can optimize functionality and address common damage issues. And we also coach customers through preparation for turnarounds and outages.
Read on for our expert tips and proven strategies that can enhance your reactor’s performance and reduce maintenance downtime.
1. Every reactor is unique. Your recommended solution should be too.
I got my start in this industry working on turnarounds, and I’ve worked on hundreds of reactors. I’ve seen firsthand how every situation is unique and requires a custom approach.
That’s why when we’re helping customers troubleshoot concerns like thermal expansion, hot spots or catalyst containment issues, what we recommend is custom to the unit, design and process. We’ve designed and even patented technology alongside licensors to help maximize flow and distribution, increase catalyst utilization / ensure containment, and enhance reliability.
When you work with us, we help you determine what optimization opportunities are best for your unit to debottleneck and increase throughput.
2. Pre-inspection for maintenance shouldn’t be optional.
When you’re planning for turnarounds, revamps or providing replacement equipment for maintenance and repairs, coordinating a pre-inspection with our team makes the process smoother.
We can identify internals that need attention through photos, video or an on-site inspection if needed. Providing maintenance records helps us identify trends in equipment issues, allowing us to plan for specific internal replacements or repairs.
We can handle replacement-in-kind internals or upgrades, as well as do your take-offs, ensuring accurate counts on hardware needs and other critical components.
3. Work with a fabrication partner that is constantly innovating.
When my grandfather started WMP in 1967, he likely couldn’t imagine the technological advancements we now use to fabricate internals to the degree of accuracy we can today.
The industry has come to rely on the WMP team for feedback on the tightest tolerances achievable from a manufacturability perspective and for recommending custom tolerances tailored to each reactor.
Using our in-house software and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools, our engineering team designs process internals with incredible precision. Combined with our state-of-the-art processing equipment, we can fabricate to the tightest tolerances in the industry — all in-house and manufactured in the U.S.
Additionally, through our strong relationships with some of the top licensors in the business, we’ve developed innovative technology that maximizes production through mechanical upgrades.
Some examples:
- For Axial Reactors, Patented Outlet Support Grid (OSG). Each OSG is custom-made (fabrication time is as little as six weeks) and can be installed in sections through the existing manway, with no welding required. The average installation time for a single reactor is typically two shifts (within a 24-hour timeframe).
As far as performance, our OSG design, developed with Topsoe, can achieve a decrease in pressure of up to 75% over a conventional system, giving a boost in production capacity, as well as energy savings. It also sits at a lower position in the base of the reactor, increasing the catalyst bed depth, which boosts throughput.
- For Radial Reactors, Patented Scallop / Center Pipe Optimization System. Developed with Axens, this technology uses CFD modeling to fine tune the open area across the scallop and / or center pipe to meet the flows to optimize your process.
- Also, for Radial Reactors, our Proprietary Scallop Support Distributor. Patented in 2020, our scallop support distributor options improve strength and reduce crushing throughout a scallop’s lifetime. Based on your mechanical needs, we insert a support distributor along the entire length of the scallop to substantially strengthen it from within.
When looking at these improvement opportunities, we consider the best scenario for prolonging reactor and catalyst life without impacting your process. Let us put our experience and industry relationships to work for you to determine the best options for your reactor internals.
Contact our team to get started on a plan for your reactor internals repair or replacement today: https://wovenmetal.com/contact/