The Background: Thermal Kinetics was selected to provide design, engineering, equipment and commissioning services for the Granges Aluminum Rolling Mill Hot Oil Scrubber and Recovery System.

The Challenge: The full execution of the project requires the mechanical and electrical integration with suppliers of the equipment upstream of the Scrubber/Recovery Columns. The unique process challenge for this type of emissions control is to recycle a heavy scrubbing oil and recover the light rolling oil while 1) protecting the quality of the oils, 2) limiting emissions to under 50 ppm, and 3) provide a simple operator interface for control.

The Solution: Thermal Kinetics offered an execution plan that contained the risks associated with the end-user having to manage multiple vendors. The advanced TK CAD modeling capabilities minimized any ‘mis-match’ when installing the Scrubber/Recovery system to the existing and new systems being installed. The process design group at TK engineered a robust design that can manage process upset and any seasonal process changes the client could encounter. The end result is a reliable system that allows the client to operate the production side of the Rolling Mill Facility without having to be concerned with the environmental discharge from the Scrubber Column. The unique challenge was solved by operating the distillation recovery process at ultra-low pressure of 2 mm Hg Absolute (near zero pressure) and 320 F. A degassing pre-processor removes oxygen from the scrubbing oil before heating it to the high distillation temperature. The stack exhaust was totally invisible and emissions fully controlled.