Publicado en el sitio web de Foster Wheeler, donde pueden consultarse otros artículos sobre temas relacionados. ; Navegadores de Internet ; Adobe Acrobat (PDF)

Whether oil prices or processing margins are favorable or unfavorable, the pressure to get more capacity at lower cost and with fewer resources never seems to go away. Revamping is often the cheapest and most cost-effective way to do this. While increased capacity can sometimes be gained by changes in operating conditions, more often equipment changes and capital cost will be required. These changes can be minimized by a thorough knowledge of the plant and its limitations. Hydrogen, ammonia and methanol plants usually contain flexibility and areas of overcapacity which can be used to unload tighter sections of the plant. Overcapacity may be built into a unit due to uncertainties in design such as variation in equipment performance or the need to process a variety of feedstocks. It may also be available due to changes in technology or to overall economics such as changes in energy cost or product value. As capacity is increased in a syngas plant, limitations become apparent which are often due to problems in another area. The high temperature in the methanator may be due to flooding in the CO2 absorber, or a lack of draft in the reformer may be due to poor performance of a combustion air preheater. Identifying the sources of these problems and correcting them can have a large payout.