Braskem uses Rocky DEM simulations coupled with ANSYS®
Braskem uses coupled Rocky DEM-ANSYS multiphase flow simulations to mitigate Coke build-up issues
To solve build-up issues in their plants, Braskem bet on simulation tools, like Rocky DEM and ANSYS, and won big results: avoiding undesirable operational problems due to coke accumulation in the transfer line, saving money on maintenance costs, and ensuring safer operation of the equipment with greater efficiency.
The petrochemical industry produces millions of tons of products per year that are heavily present in modern life. In the olefins plants, equipment with great importance are the pyrolysis furnaces, which are responsible for thermally cracking naphtha, LPG, ethane, and recycle streams to produce the main products of the petrochemical industry. One of the main problems of the pyrolysis furnaces is the gradual formation of carbon and hydrogen, known commonly as coke, in the coil walls of the furnaces.
The gradual formation of carbon and hydrogen - known commonly as coke - in pyrolysis furnaces and pipelines was resulting in filter obstruction, erosion problems, obstruction of quench oil heat exchangers, and even reduction in the plant capacity.
Braskem used Rocky DEM and ANSYS coupling to numerically evaluate the behavior of multiphase flow (gas and coke) in the transfer line of the pyrolysis furnaces during the decoking process to improve the efficiency with minimal changes to existing geometries.
Rocky DEM and ANSYS simulations helped ensure the accurate prediction of multiphase flow behavior in order to avoid undesirable operational problems, save maintenance costs, and ensure safer operation of the equipment with greater efficiency.
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