Positive first year for new automated instrument analysing water content in LPG

Globally, refineries are challenged with corrosion, annually costing our industry billions of US dollars.

Substances with corrosive promoting properties have to be monitored and kept to a minimum. Water is one of the most corrosion promoting substances found in refinery process streams and is found in LPG.

ECH Elektrochemie Halle have developed a new analytical procedure, which has now been incorporated within a new ASTM method for water content in LPG by coulometric Karl Fischer titration, the method removes interferences caused by mercaptans and H2S enabling accurate determination of water content in LPG and all gas types down to 1ppm.

Karl Robertson, from ECH, reports a positive first year for their new automated water content in LPG analyser. He says, “The Aquamax KF Pro LPG has been extremely well received by the market, we’ve exceeded expectations for this first year with many leading petroleum refineries and third party inspection companies having now taken delivery of their Aquamax KF Pro LPG.”

The unit is fully automated reducing operator time costs associated with water content in LPG analysis and, thanks to a unique sample loop, the titrator can measure all LPG and gas types without having to manually prepare a mass flow controller.

Mr Robertson advises, “Most refinery and third party laboratories are familiar with Karl Fischer technologies but analysing water content in LPG can be challenging. This year’s successes can be attributed to our automated product’s unique ability to perform rapid, precise and reliable analysis, the instrument can make over 125 measurements within a 24 hour period.

Many labs may need to only make 20-30 measurements a day, it’s the rapid delivery of results, reliably accurate to 1 ppm that has caught so much attention. The ability to handle such a high throughput of samples gives us a clear competitive advantage with contract, third party inspection laboratories and the refineries themselves.”

The light weight and portable design means the instrument can be used at any sample point within the refinery as well as in the laboratory. Karl Robertson adds, “As well as the benchtop unit, the Aquamax KF Pro LPG has been designed to be integrated within the process environment, we anticipate further sales growth from LPG refiners adopting the online system in the near future.”

The Aquamax KF Pro LPG has been designed for a number of applications, as well as “water content in LPG”, ECH are experienced in using this technology for LNG, technical gas, DME, gas mixtures and CNG applications.