Zone 1 Ethylene Loading System case study

October 10, 2009

Zone 1 Ethylene Loading System case study

Extronics was asked to assist in the design & provision of a control panel to facilitate an Ethylene batch loading system from a plant’s production process to a ship’s cargo hold.

The control panel supplied by Extronics was a replacement for an ageing pneumatic system which was no longer serviceable.

Ethylene is a colorless gas having a faint, slightly sweet odor and has a boiling point of minus 104ºC which means that it has to be transported as a compressed gas or cryogenic liquid. The safe loading of Ethylene is crucial and requires continuous and accurate analysis of pressure, temperature, level and flow, to ensure that the transfer of product into a ship’s cargo is conducted safely and the volume of Ethylene transferred maximized.

Extronics provided a 316 stainless steel control panel which included five Intrinsically Safe CTR210i PID controllers, two Intrinsically Safe Extrend200i loggers & one Intrinsically Safe LN1000 Annunciator. An Ex’d’ enclosure was also supplied which contained the power supplies & barriers for the control panel.

The low maintenance design provided the client with an effective and safe automated solution to accurately and reliably capture important trend data. This key aspect of the design dramatically reduced the overall process costs and increased the efficiency of Ethylene loading into a ships cargo hold.

Automated Ethylene loading system provides a safe and cost effective solution for Ethylene transfer from a batch process into a ship’s cargo hold.