Saudi Arabian Petrochemical Plant Upgrades Vapor Recovery with KAIEN LGV-1100 Dry Screw Vacuum Pump

A major petrochemical complex in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia, operating one of the region's largest ethylene and propylene production facilities, undertook a strategic upgrade of its flare gas and vapor recovery vacuum systems. The plant's existing liquid ring vacuum pumps, which had served for over 18 years, were consuming excessive quantities of seal water and requiring near-continuous maintenance intervention to maintain the vacuum levels necessary for efficient volatile organic compound condensation and recovery. With Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 sustainability targets placing increasing emphasis on emissions reduction and resource efficiency, the plant management authorized a comprehensive vacuum system modernization program.

The facility's vapor recovery unit utilized five vacuum stages operating at progressively lower pressures to condense and recover hydrocarbon vapors from flare header gas, tank farm breathing losses, and process vent streams. The existing liquid ring pumps consumed approximately 12 m³/hour of seal water per pump, which subsequently required treatment as contaminated industrial wastewater before discharge. Annual maintenance costs for the five-pump system exceeded $180,000, primarily driven by impeller erosion from the slightly acidic condensate, mechanical seal failures due to thermal cycling, and motor bearing replacements necessitated by the humid coastal environment of the Arabian Gulf.

During the peak summer months when ambient temperatures routinely exceeded 45°C and cooling water temperatures reached 32-35°C, the liquid ring pumps experienced a 25-30% reduction in effective pumping speed due to elevated vapor pressure of the seal water. This performance degradation forced the plant to reduce feed rates through the recovery unit, resulting in an estimated $2.4 million annually in unrecovered hydrocarbon product that was instead routed to the flare system.

Following a six-month technical evaluation and competitive bidding process, the petrochemical complex selected three KAIEN LGV-1100 Water-Cooled Dry Screw Vacuum Pumps to replace the five aging liquid ring units. The key technical justification included:

• Dry Screw Technology: The absence of seal water eliminated the single largest operational cost driver and environmental compliance burden, removing 12 m³/hour of contaminated wastewater generation per installed pump.
• Corrosion Resistant Construction: Titanium alloy flow path components and SS316 wetted parts provided the chemical resistance necessary to handle the mildly acidic condensate environment without the erosion and pitting that had plagued the previous cast iron impellers.
• High Temperature Capability: Process gas inlet temperature rating from -20°C to +80°C ensured reliable operation even during summer peak conditions when inlet gas temperatures occasionally exceeded 60°C from upstream process heat exchangers operating at reduced efficiency.
• Water-Cooled Design with Gulf Optimization: The closed-loop cooling jacket was specified with enhanced heat exchange surface area to maintain stable pump body temperature with cooling water supply at 35°C, addressing the region's elevated cooling water temperatures without requiring supplemental chilling.

Eighteen months after commissioning, the plant reported that the three LGV-1100 pumps had delivered uninterrupted operation through two complete summer seasons without a single unplanned outage attributed to ambient temperature effects. Wastewater treatment load decreased by approximately 525,000 m³ annually, contributing directly to the facility's environmental performance indicators under the Saudi Green Initiative framework. The improved vacuum consistency during peak summer conditions enabled year-round operation of the vapor recovery unit at design capacity, recovering an estimated $1.8 million in additional hydrocarbon product annually.

Based on the successful deployment, the plant engineering department has standardized on KAIEN dry screw vacuum pumps for all future vacuum system upgrades across the Jubail complex and has recommended the technology to sister facilities within the parent corporation's global operations portfolio.