HT HP OIL LOOP INSTALLATION
- juhapiippo
- Oct 16
- 3 min read
Cormet has successfully installed a high-temperature, high-pressure oil loop at Shell's R&D facility in Bangalore, India.
As part of the global transition to more sustainable practices, bio-based fats are increasingly being used to replace fossil crude oil as a raw material in oil refining processes. During the refining of vegetable oils such as palm and soybean oil, free fatty acids (FFAs) like stearic acid and palmitic acid are separated from the main product stream to improve oil quality. Although these FFAs are side products, they can pose corrosion risks to refinery equipment, which must be carefully managed.
To support this, Cormet designed and manufactured a specialized instrument for corrosion testing in high-temperature, high-pressure fatty acid environments. This system simulates refinery process conditions where FFAs are extracted from the main stream.
System Overview
The preparation tank operates at 150 °C and 6 bar pressure. The construction material is Alloy C-276. It includes mass flow controller (MFC)-operated gas inlet lines for nitrogen and H₂/H₂S mixtures. Uniquely for this project, the tank was filled with solid fatty acid particles, which melted into a liquid fatty acid mixture as the tank was heated.
The high pressure pump is a constant volume metal membrane pump. The pump head is prevent the formation of any solid particles that would disturb the operation of the pump head check valves.
The testing cell is rated for up to 450 °C and 200 bar. Gases such as hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen can be fed directly into the cell via MFCs. A continuous flow of the FFA mixture is maintained through the testing cell during operation.
After passing through the testing cell, the FFA mixture is cooled, depressurized, and directed into the waste tank, which operates at a maximum of 80 °C and 1 bar. The waste tank has been manufactured of stainless steel AISI 316. Nitrogen is introduced into the waste tank to purge any remaining H₂ or H₂S gases. The tank is heated to prevent the FFAs from solidifying before it is emptied.
Both the tanks have integrated mixers as well as sensors for the temperature, pressure and liquid level sensors. The tanks have been designed and manufactured according to the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) 2014/68/EU regulations.
The instrument fulfilled Customer's requirements related to the stable pressure and temperature in the tanks and the testing cell, stable and wide range mass flow rate of FFAs and testing duration at least for one week.
Unique Challenges with Fatty Acid Operation
Working with FFAs in this system introduced several engineering challenges:
High Melting Points: FFAs are solid at room temperature. This required heating not only in the tanks but also in all tubing, valves, and pumps to ensure smooth flow throughout the loop.
System Cleaning & Contamination Prevention: After testing, residual FFAs tend to remain in system components such as elbows and valves, where they can solidify. This makes restarting the system difficult and may contaminate future tests. To address this, the loop is flushed with clean white oil at the end of each test. The white oil pushes out any remaining FFAs into the waste tank and stays in the system until the next startup, ensuring clean and reliable operation.
This project demonstrates Cormet’s capability to deliver advanced, custom corrosion testing solutions for cutting-edge applications in the evolving bio-based refining industry and in oil refinery environment generally.
