Marelli BB3 Multi Stage Pumps Gaining Momentum in Green Refining and Carbon Capture Applications

For many years, Marelli API BB3 Pumps have been used in a wide range of oil & gas applications, such as crude oil & gasoline pipelines, propane transfer, NGL pipelines and high-pressure condensate applications.

Marelli’s precision-engineered API/ISO 13709 process pumps are specifically designed for heavy duty, high pressure services. They provide a perfect high-flow, high-head complement to Sundyne’s low-flow, high-head integrally geared LMV and BMP centrifugal pumps.  

In recent months, Marelli BB3 multi-stage pumps are becoming a popular choice for large scale Green Refining applications, such as Renewable Diesel, and for Carbon Capture applications, such as Amine Scrubbing and CO₂ injection applications.

Marelli pumps are appropriate for these applications because they meet rigorous engineering requirements for heavy duty, high temperature applications while receding the total life cycle cost and improving mean time between repairs. Below are two examples where Marelli Pumps are increasingly being considered for Green Applications: 

Flue emissions that come out of the smokestacks of power plants or refineries contain about 10% carbon dioxide (CO₂).  Much of this CO₂ can be removed from Flue gas via Amine Scrubbing.  Amines are aqueous chemical solvents (such as Monoethanolamine (MEA) or Diethanolamine (DEA)) that bond with H₂S and CO2 in a way that absorbs & removes them from gas streams. 

 

The “scrubbing” process works as follows:

Multi-Stage Sundyne Compressors move gas into a vapor-liquid separator, or knockout (KO) drum, which removes water and liquid hydrocarbons from the gas stream. The untreated “sour” gas enters an amine absorber, where Marelli pumps inject aqueous amine solutions containing molecules that bind onto CO₂ and H₂S_. Once the amine binds onto the CO₂ it settles at the bottom of the absorber, where it enters a multi-phase separator.  At this point, light hydrocarbons are flashed out of the amine; heavy hydrocarbons are separated; and the rich amine is heated and fed to a regenerator column via booster pumps.

 

A key requirement (and one of the reasons that Marelli Pumps are preferred) is the ability to handle extremely high temperatures and high suction pressures. Safety & reliability are important, because amines are corrosive and dangerous to plant personnel.     

Approximately 50% of crude oil used around the globe is refined into transportation fuels, which contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. During the pandemic, dozens of refineries around the globe were shuddered. In recent months, several refineries have restarted operations with an eco-friendly approach by incorporating renewable diesel units. 

 

Much like the way Ethanol is mixed with crude to make unleaded gasoline, there’s a wide range of renewable materials that can be used as feedstocks for diesel. These include plant-derived oils such as soybean and palm oil, or other feedstocks such as jatropha and algal oils. 

 

The refining process mixes renewable feedstocks with traditional crude oil and hydrogen – and the blended feedstocks are pumped at high pressures into multi-stage catalytic reactors. In many ways, renewable diesel refining is similar to traditional refining – however the feedstocks blended into the process have different viscosities, and the equipment moving these materials must operate at different flows & pressures. This is one of the reasons why Marelli API multi-stage pumps are a preferred choice. 

 

Marelli pumps are also a popular choice for these applications because they offer: 

 

• Lower Operating costs: via efficiency that minimizes vibration and reduces energy costs.
• Lower Maintenance costs: via highly reliable components that extend maintenance intervals.
• Quick Availability & Delivery: Customers in Europe appreciate how engineering, manufacturing and testing are managed by Marelli’s team in Spain, and how Sundyne’s global team of channel partners provide prompt local support in any corner of the world.
• Increased Plant Uptime: Many refineries run operations around the clock, and plant uptime is the true measure of all optimization efforts. Marelli pumps are designed to run for decades and have a proven track record for reliability.     

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