Black Powder Solutions Inc.
4344 12th Street SE, Calgary, AB Canada T2H 2L7 Calgary, AB, Canada

Black powder contamination in rich amine. Black powder contamination, including various iron-based compounds, is one of the main forms of particulate contamination that plugs up conventional filter elements on the rich side of amine processes. There is often a mismatch between filter ratings (ex. 10 micron filters for particulates largely under 5 microns), which can cause plugging issues in heat exchangers, regenerators and reboilers. Cleanable magnetic separators remove contaminants efficiently down below 0.5 microns. When placed upstream of conventional filter systems, they are far more economic than replacing convention filters. Magnetic separators don’t create any filter waste and they significantly reduce personnel exposure.

This study explains how a Brazilian refinery deployed a magnetic separator to prevent black powder contamination from plugging off the heat exchanger in their crude distillation process unit. Problem Contaminated crude feedstock was causing the heat exchanger in the crude unit to operate at low efficiency due to black powder deposits and flow restriction. Managing the system required frequent, costly cleaning and maintenance.... Solution Install a magnetic separator on 1 of the 2 low-pressure outlet lines from the raw crude tankage to the heat exchanger. Results Cleaning of the magnetic separator is scheduled weekly after ~15,000 barrels of crude have been processed through it, with typical loading of 10 to 12 pounds removed each cleaning cycle (ie. 2 milligrams/litre). Check out the case study - #refineryoperations #cleanenergy https://blackpowdersolutions.com/how-dax-oil-used-magnetic/

Pump seals can leak and require frequent replacement when black powder particulates enter the seal flush. Screens and strainers are typically ineffective in removing black powder, which can occur in large quantities under 10 microns in size. We recently shipped this high pressure magnetic separator (class 1500#) for a condensate seal flush application in which iron sulfides were driving the frequent replacement of the pump seal. #pipelines #pipelinemanagement #pipelineintegrity #pumps #condensate #processengineer #reliability #reliabilityengineering #refining #refinery

Particle size analysis (SEM PSD) of a rich sulfinol sample after being run through a magnetic separator, with a resulting median particle size of 0.14 microns & 75% of contamination at or under 0.23 microns. Just requires cleaning of the magnetic array - no disposable filters involved. #gasprocessing #amine #gasindustry #gasnatural #processengineer #refinery #refining #refineries #oilandgas

When we initiate a project with one of our clients, we start by discussing the challenges they’re facing with contaminated product. This almost always leads to their more immediate challenges of managing filter costs: 1) running tighter-micron filters to have a cleaner product stream which means accepting the costs of excessive filter changeouts because they constantly plug off; or, 2) running higher-micron-rated filters that flow the product & don’t require as many changeou...ts but also leave the product contaminated, causing a myriad of operational issues downstream. If this sounds familiar, we’re here to help. We compiled a list of the most common filtration issues our clients were dealing with, then wrote an article about why they exist & how they can be minimized using magnetic separation. Click to read the article, as well as tryout a calculator that compares the costs of operating with just conventional filters vs. the costs of operating with the addition of a magnetic separator. #filtration #sustainability #cleanenergyfuture https://blackpowdersolutions.com/how-magnetic-separators-w/?