Revamp of hydrogen plant for increased efficiency and/or capacity

The development in recent years of more severe environmental restrictions and the requirements of treating more complex crudes has increased the demand of hydrogen for hydrotreating processes. Further, the increasing cost of energy has increased the interest in building new, low-energy consuming plants and in reducing the energy consumption in existing hydrogen units. This paper discusses the Topsoe approach to revamps illustrated by hydrogen plant projects undertaken by Topsoe. The energy savings and capacity increase as well as the related capital investment are presented. The objective in revamping existing hydrogen plants to reduce the specific energy consumption and/or to increase capacity is to approach the techniques used in new plants to the extent possible. The extent to which one can achieve this objective varies, however, from situation to situation. Therefore, revamp projects must be tailor-made from case to case, and normally extensive studies are required before an optimum revamp project can be developed in detail.