Temperature Control Unit
Temperature Control Unit
The Challenge
The customer is an API manufacturer and needs to thoroughly and accurately control the temperature of one of their reactions in order to guarantee the reaction performance and efficiency. The temperature in the reactor needs to go from cryogenic temperatures to relatively high temperatures. The customer requires a complete design of the reactor to match their specifications, and wants the reactor to be fully integrated with the temperature control unit. Therefore, they need a detailed engineering study of the case.
Our Solution
- Supply the reactor and the temperature control unit together, in a highly engineered and integrated system.
- Utilize a double loop system with different temperature utilities for better stability and control of the temperature.
- Combine various tank operating modes, including a buffer tank during the cooling phase and an expansion tank during the heating phase.
- Provide cold accumulation capabilities with better efficiency in nitrogen recovery during start-up and phase changes.
- Engineer for better energy efficiency, which allows for partial heating and cooling of the fluid.
Plant Design Data:
- Operating temperature range: -90 °C / +160 °C
- Nominal duty: 75,000 kcal/h
- Heat transfer fluid capacity: 20 m3/h
Main Utilities Consumption:
- Electrical power for pumps: 15 kW
- Instrument air: < 5 Nm3/h
- Liquid nitrogen: 1,100 Nm3/h (at max. duty)
- Glycol/water -5 °C: 15 m3/h
- Cooling water: 15 m3/h
The Results
Superior Performance at an Effective Cost – The integrated system between the reactor and the temperature control unit gave the customer the best solution in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness. To satisfy the increasing requirements by API manufacturers for reactions at low temperatures, Polaris developed cryogenic units to cool reactors up to -100 °C (even lower temperatures can be reached on request). However, such low temperatures will cause solid organic ice to form, which lowers the efficiency of the heat transfer. Many solutions struggle to account for this ice build-up. We mitigate and solve the problem, obtaining the best efficiency, by transferring the heat through our specially designed cryogenic heat exchanger.
Engineered to Last – We build solutions you can trust. Our unique design prevented metal thermal stress and guaranteed a longer life for the unit.
