A leading palm oil manufacturer in Thailand has been a long-time partner of Thermax since it first procured an exhaust fired chiller in 2006 for olefin extraction process. Over the years, Thermax has commissioned two different cooling solutions with the changing availability of heat sources at the plant, enabling energy savings for the oil refinery.
COOLING FOR OLEFIN EXTRACTION
Palmolein is the liquid fraction obtained during fractionation of palm oil, which involves crystallisation under controlled temperature and removal of crystals by filtration. It is the variant of palm oil that is suitable for cooking and hence is much-sought. When palm oil is subjected to fractionating in a crystalliser, chilled water is required to remove the heat of crystallisation from crystallisers. In order to optimise the energy consumed in the process, the palm oil company partnered with Thermax for an energy-efficient cooling solution.
MAKING ENERGY EFFICIENCY POSSIBLE
Thermax’s initial partnership with the palm oil manufacturer in 2006 was for an exhaust fired chiller for cooling the crystallisers. Following the commissioning of the chiller, the oil company was overwhelmingly satisfied with its performance and the aftersales service offered by Thermax. Added with operational and service excellence, Thermax’s local presence and effective energy-saving techniques led the oil company collaborate again with Thermax to reduce its energy costs for cooling.
ASSESSING POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVED EFFICIENCY
Thermax’s steam fired chiller was working in tandem with the oil refinery’s cogen power plant (1.4MW engine) to deliver chilled water for the olefin extraction. A latest addition to the cogen plant was a 1.5 MW engine driven by biogas from the digestion process of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), essentially incurring zero cost to the company for power generation. For better utilisation of the engine, Thermax experts suggested Jacket water heat recovery from it. A jacket water absorption chiller has been commissioned at the oil plant following a feasibility study. Hot water generated from engine jacket drives the chiller and delivers chilled water at optimal temperature for the olefin extraction. With the installation of the hot water chiller, the previous steam chiller has been placed on standby mode.
The immediate results with the commissioning include,
Recovery of waste heat
Cooling at zero cost
Complete utilisation of engine efficiency
Lower emissions
While the oil giant also enjoys long-term benefits such as,
Reliable production
Lower maintenance requirements
Flexibility of chiller operation
Energy Independence
Thermax’s comprehensive and innovative ways of cooling has contributed to energy optimisation and hence profitability for the palm oil company. Trusted for its technical expertise and adaptability for efficiency enhancement, Thermax has offered solutions that deliver exceptional performance and significant savings.
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