Steam trap maintenance at Petrobras results in energy savings Overview Since 1999 Spirax Sarco has had a steam trap maintenance contract set up with Petrobras RLAM. Petrobras RLAM is located in São Francisco do Conde, Bahia, and is the oldest refinery in Brazil. The main products produced at the refinery include propane, propene, isobutane, domestic gas, gasoline, naphtha petrochemical, kerosene, jet fuel, paraffin, fuel oils and asphalt. “Improved product quality, enabling compliance to specification, and savings of $4.5 million. Achieved by eliminating problems related to the solidification of process fluids.” The survey Of the 25 steam system units at Petrobras RLAM, which Spirax Sarco maintains, most of the steam is destined for the steam tracing lines. During our surveys, we have frequently found problems heating several of the products used and produced by RLAM. Following a survey of the ‘Unit 32’ steam system (an atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit), we uncovered a number of problems with a turnkey system supplied by one of our competitors, which were as follows: Components were not within specification and low quality, causing inefficiency of the heating system in the lines. This was due to a large amount of accumulated condensate, reducing heat transfer between the steam tracing line and the product in the pipeline, which further led to the product being ‘frozen’). Purged systems using collective draining (Group trapping) contributed to the accumulation of condensate in the system. A large and increasing number of leaking steam traps which were passing steam was causing pressurisation of the condensate return lines. From the 116 tonnes / month of steam consumed, only 10% was returned as condensate to the boiler. A large number of steam traps in the steam tracing lines were installed in a vertical position, causing leakage. Low pressure (3.5 bar) and medium pressure (12 bar) condensate return lines were linked, thereby locking the low-pressure line steam traps. This problem was linked to pressurisation caused by the leaking steam traps on the medium-pressure line. According to the consultant technician, Petrobras RLAM had lost approximately US$20m during 2004, due to the cumulative effect of all these problems. Case study: Oil and petrochemicals 1 of 2