(691e) Noise Abatement That Substantiated to be Fiscal for Ammonia Complex

Engro Fertilizers Limited, one of the leading fertilizers company in Pakistan, commissioned one of the largest single train Urea manufacturing site with a capacity of 3835 MTPD of urea. At its early operational age, it faced a number of startups and shut downs due to gas curtailments but finally sustained them after two and half years. This document explicates one of the major persistent issues faced by our site i.e. higher noise index as compared to the anticipated index. Engro, a company known for its HSE standards, concerned after receiving several complaints from neighborhood, then launched a study to overcome this adamant concern. During RCA of this problem, it was noticed that the top contributor to high noise index is the Primary Reformer’s Induced draft fan. A separate study then started to look into the high noise generated by the fan. It was noticed that during normal operation ID fan speed varies by ~10 RPM translating to speed variation in primary driver i.e. steam turbine by ~70 RPM. Moreover, it was detected that ID fan had been operating very close to its surge line with 80% (Pareto rule) of the points falling within 15% of the surge line in unstable zone. The issue was then taken up with the vendor with some probable solutions. The paper encompasses the detailed RCA of the issue, proposed solutions and the implemented change that not only resulted in reducing site noise index but also saved millions for the company