Customer : Bitumar Inc.
Petrochemical Industry
City : Montréal-East
Start : 2003
As part of an expansion and reconfiguration project for the reception of bitumen by train, FINTEX had the responsibility to design the new terminal for the reception of 72 bitumen tank cars simultaneously. The project included the preparation of a site layout, design of unloading stations, design of process piping distribution system (steam, condensate return and asphalt). The new system allowed unloading bitumen from the tank cars and pumping it to the main storage tank. The project also included the specifications for pumps, valves, heat exchangers, piping, supervision and equipment start-up.
Bitumar inc mandated FINTEX to carry out an energy analysis of the process in the Montreal East plant. In this study a comprehensive analysis of the natural gas consumption of the plant was carried out including: the thermal fluid heating system, the steam production system and bitumen bulk storage tank. This analysis has identified projects that helped Bitumar to save $750,000 per year in natural gas.
This project was used by the Office of Energy Efficiency of Canada to prepare a case study on Energy Efficiency for the Chemical Industry.
The existing thermal fluid heating and distribution system had regular problems with water contamination causing loss of production and damage to production equipment. To rectify the problems, FINTEX was mandated to carry out a detailed analysis of the thermal oil system, to identify design problems and to provide technical solutions to improve operability of the existing system. Modifications to the piping network and the installation of a new pressurized inert expansion tank were proposed to eliminate risk of oil contamination.
Customer : Bitumar Inc.
Petrochemical Industry
City : Hamilton
Start : 2005
FINTEX carried out an evaluation of the plant's VOCs thermal oxidizer operation to reduce substantially the plants consumption of natural gas. A mass and energy balance on the existing VOCs oxidizer were carried out and technical solutions that reduce the consumption of natural gas were proposed. The analysis indicated that the replacement of the existing oxidizer by a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) results in a reduction of natural gas consumption by $600,000 / year.
Customer : Bitumar Inc.
Petrochemical Industry
City : Baltimore
Start : 2007
As part of a program to reduce energy consumption, FINTEX was mandated to carry out an energy study of the manufacturing operations of the Baltimore bitumen plant. The mandate consisted in the preparation of a plant survey of all gas users, to carry out a mass balance and to identify energy reduction opportunities. The study showed that equipment used for the destruction of VOCs was energetically inefficient and a reduction of more than 70 per cent of natural gas consumption could be obtained by the replacement of this equipment.
