| Recent Projects
The professionals of Francoeur Engineering have extensive experience in the design and construction of process systems. They have successfully completed numerous engineering projects, ranging from
specialty chemicals plants to landfill gas processing plants, both in and out of California. The following list describes recent related projects on which they have worked:
GENERAL ENGINEERING PROJECTS
1. Resins Manufacturing
Air Products & Chemicals' Los Angeles’ plant is a batch resins plant manufacturing curing agents and related products for the specialty chemicals market. Francoeur Engineering provides much of their process and mechanical engineering on an as-needed basis for capital projects, process upgrades, and process documentation. Recently completed projects include: replacement of
a large hot-oil reactor with a newer, larger reactor; removal and close-out of 7 underground tanks and the installation of 4 new, double-wall underground tanks; the design and startup of a condensate recovery and treatment system; mechanical specifications and piping design for a new wastewater neutralization system; plant-wide review and sizing of pressure relief devices; complete overhaul and creation of over 60 plant P&ID's; design and specification of various instrumentation and controls for increasing productivity, automation and safety; review, documentation and testing of process interlocks; and miscellaneous piping design projects.
2. Emulsions Manufacturing
Air Products and Chemicals' Polymer Chemicals Division operates a small emulsions plant in the City of Industry. Francoeur Engineering has been retained to provide miscellaneous process engineering for both minor plant changes and capital improvements. Most recently, Francoeur Engineering designed a wastewater collection and metering system to meet new and stringent discharge requirements. Francoeur Engineering was also responsible for permitting and certifying the design and accuracy of the flow metering system. Francoeur Engineering is currently handling all permitting for plant expansion as well as miscellaneous process and piping engineering projects.
3. Powdered Epoxies Processing
Air Products and Chemicals' Huntington Beach plant sizes and blends various powdered epoxies and related materials. Francoeur Engineering has provided all of their process and mechanical engineering needs for the last several years. Recent projects include replacement of old
baghouses; design of a new, plant-wide dust control system; design of a bulk-bag unloading system; air permitting; preparation of all plant P&ID’s and electrical schematics; and miscellaneous piping and safety-related projects.
4. Specialty Chemicals
Huntsman Advanced Materials, Inc.(formerly Ciba Specialty Chemicals)operates a batch plant in Los Angeles manufacturing products for the aerospace and specialty chemicals market. To accommodate increased demand for some of their products, Ciba decided to expand their operations at the L.A. plant by adding a new batch reactor and associated condensers, charge tanks, pumps, etc.;
accommodation for up to 3 additional reactors; 2 new batch mixers and related charging and packaging equipment; and new utilities, including a boiler, cooling tower, and chiller. Francoeur Engineering was contracted to perform all process and mechanical designs, prepare detailed specifications, and identify and select qualified equipment vendors for the project.
5. Reactor Relief System
Huntsman Advanced Materials, Inc. (formerly Ciba Specialty Chemicals) contracted with Francoeur Engineering to review the sizing of all of their relief valves on their batch reactors and associated vessels. Francoeur Engineering completed a detailed review of their system and determined that many of their valves were substantially oversized, even for runaway reaction conditions. Installing smaller valves will save on overall maintenance costs as well as simplify the process of physically removing the large valves for annual testing.
6. Permitting
Public Service Marine, Inc. operates a petroleum barge with an extremely efficient
vapor recovery system. Francoeur Engineering was contracted to assist PSMI in procuring all necessary environmental permits to operate in the SCAQMD (Los Angeles) area. After successfully securing these permits, Francoeur Engineering has begun on permits for the Bay Area. Francoeur Engineering also provides process expertise on issues relating to the operation of the barge and its many systems.
7. Urethane Manufacturing
Arnco, Inc. is a urethane manufacturer based in South Gate, CA. They are best known for the foam fill for tires used on heavy construction mining equipment as well as wheelbarrow and golf carts. Arnco operates an older facility with a dozen batch reactors of varying design. Francoeur Engineering recently designed and oversaw the installation of two new
reactors in their plant. The project also included the installation of a new
MCC, controls, and new raw material feed lines to improve efficiency and plant safety.
Francoeur Engineering is also designing a new, grass-roots plant for Arnco to replace their undersized plant in Cleveland, Ohio. The new plant will have more than 5 times the capacity of their existing facility.
8. Calcium Carbonate Processing
Nutri-Granulations is a new, wholly-owned subsidiary of E.T. Horn
Co., a major chemicals distributor. Nutri-West was formed to expand
E.T. Horn’s businesses into manufacturing. Nutri-West processes calcium carbonate for purchase by vitamin manufacturers as a dietary supplement. Francoeur Engineering was contracted by
E.T. Horn to be their review engineer of the process package supplied by the main equipment manufacturer. Francoeur Engineering was closely involved in the detailed engineering required to construct the system so that it would function as needed in a practical and maintainable way. Francoeur Engineering also designed, specified, and worked closely with the contractors for the installation of the utilities required to support the process operations.
9. Boiler & Steam System Evaluation
The Orange County Sanitation District operates several wastewater treatment facilities throughout Orange County. They contracted Francoeur Engineering to help identify and correct problems in their steam and turbine systems caused by solids deposition in the piping and turbine. Following a study of operational data and water treatment practices, we prepared a technical report detailing our findings. We determined that there are several possible causes contributing to the solids deposition and are currently narrowing the possibilities so that corrective action can be taken.
10. Bulk Chemical Transfer Station
SoCal Transport is a trucking company supplying bulk transportation needs for industrial water and inorganic chemicals. To expand their local operations, SoCal decided to construct a rail spur at their Wilmington site to accept rail shipments of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, caustic, and other chemicals used in area refineries and water treatment facilities. Francoeur Engineering provided the basic site and process engineering for transferring the chemicals from rail cars to trucks in an environmentally acceptable manner. Francoeur Engineering then procured all required permits to construct and operate facility. These include the
SCAQMD, fire dept., building dept., and water control board. Under a separate contract, Francoeur Engineering completed detailed mechanical and civil engineering.
LANDFILL GAS PROJECTS
1. Gas Compression Stations
Waste Management has municipal contracts with several Chinese landfills to use the landfill gas generated in the landfills for power generation in gas engine generators. Francoeur Engineering was subcontracted to provide process design for the gas compression facilities for 3 sites. For the Hong Kong design, there were three potential gas users - the engine generators, a thermal oxidizer, and a landfill flare with minimum flow requirements. Francoeur Engineering specified multiple positive displacement blowers with variable speed drives to meet the wide range of gas flowrates that were anticipated. Field instrumentation, custody-transfer flow metering, and a PLC were utilized to control and meter the operation. For the other two sites in China, a standardized design similar to the Hong Kong design was adopted so that it might also be applied at other landfills in the future. The Hong Kong system was started up in 1997; Guangzhou and Hangzhou were started up in 1998.
2. LFG Condensate Injection
Santiago Canyon Landfill is a closed site in the city of Orange, CA operated by the County of Orange
IWMD. Francoeur Engineering provided all process and mechanical design and specifications for a system to dispose of landfill gas condensate and contaminated groundwater collected on the landfill via controlled injection into the existing landfill gas flares. The system as designed will work unattended with no net impact on the flare station emissions. Construction has not begun yet.
3. LFG Compression Station
The capacity of an existing landfill gas chilling system at Waste Management’s Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley, CA has been limiting potential across-the-fence gas sales. Francoeur Engineering was contracted to determine if the system could be modified and/or optimized to process more gas than is currently handled. Francoeur Engineering determined that a third stage of cooling and a second chilled glycol unit would greatly increase throughput and recommended the installation of the equipment.
4. H2S Control
In order to comply with SCAQMD's Rule 431.1 governing sulfur concentrations in gaseous fuels, Francoeur Engineering designed and specified a
triazine-based absorption system upstream of an existing gas plant and flare station at Waste Management’s Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley, CA. The system included a packed tower for sulfur removal, a circulation system, batch control system for blowdown and chemical addition, chemical storage and preparation system, and auto tie-in with the gas plant and flare station controls. The system was never installed due to changes in the SCAQMD rule.
5. Flare Station O&M Manual
Francoeur Engineering wrote the startup, operating, and shutdown procedures for the Chiquita Canyon Landfill gas flare station. Francoeur Engineering also prepared as-built P&ID’s, equipment and instrumentation documentation, and recommended maintenance practices for training, reference and use by site personnel.
6. H2S Control
Pacific Energy receives gas from three different landfills in the area for use as fuel in gas engines generating electrical power. To control sulfur in the landfill gas, Francoeur Engineering designed and specified a sulfur absorption system based on an aqueous triazine solution. The system is based around a packed column with makeup and blowdown equipment, automated instrumentation and controls, and a tie-in to the power plant control system. The system was never installed due to changes in the environmental regulations that would have mandated its use.
7. LFG Condensate Injection
The County of San Diego owns and operates several landfills within the County, of which San Marcos is the largest. The County recently installed a new gas collection system and flare station. Francoeur Engineering designed and specified a condensate injection system as a means of incinerating all gas condensate collected by injecting directly into the flare itself. Although the system is capable of higher
flowrates, the County only permitted for a 2 gpm flow.
8. LFG Flare Skid Design
Ameron and Linklater Corporation are providing a turnkey landfill gas flare station to the Capitol Regional District, Hartland Avenue Landfill in British Columbia. Francoeur Engineering was contracted to design and layout the blower skid and site plan so that the equipment could be completed piped, wired and tested on a skid in the shop prior to shipment. The skid contain inlet and outlet piping and
valving, knockout drums, blowers, control panels, and MCC.
9. H2S Control
Francoeur Engineering conducted numerous tests at L.A. County Sanitation District’s Puente Hills Landfill to test the sulfur removal efficiency of Quaker Chemical’s
Enviro-Scrub. Tests were performed upstream of the PERG power plant. Francoeur Engineering worked closely with the District to develop a system and set of specifications for a packaged system to control entering particulate and condensate followed by sulfur control with
Enviro-Scrub. The final design incorporated two parallel systems of an ejector-type venturi system for particulate and condensate control, followed by a packed tower with circulating
Enviro-Scrub. The total capacity is 40,000 scfm with a maximum pressure drop of 8"
w.c. Spent Enviro-Scrub will be sewered along with the large volume of leachate and gas condensate already leaving the landfill.
11. LFG Treatment & Compression
The Scholl Canyon Compression Station receives 10 MMSCFD of landfill gas from an existing flare station and compresses,
desulfurizes, and dehydrates the gas for pipeline transport to the Glendale Public Service Department for boiler fuel. The gas is compressed in two reciprocating compressors; desulfurized in an
Enviro-Scrub packed tower absorption
system; and dehydrated with a liquid chiller refrigeration system.
Francoeur Engineering personnel were responsible for the complete engineering, permitting, and management of the project. Engineering involved not only the selection and specification of all equipment and instrumentation, but also a lifecycle cost justification for the purchase of all major equipment. Project management was responsible for maintaining the project within a very tight contractual schedule, as well as procuring all permits, including
SCAQMD.
12. High-BTU Gas Plant
This was a complete EPC contract to supply a 5 MMSCFD Selexol high-BTU gas plant to Fuel Resources Development Co.
(Fuelco) for the Templeton Gap Landfill. Francoeur Engineering personnel were responsible for project and startup management, as well as making changes to the original process design. A used and decommissioned plant was located and refurbished both on-site and at various fabrication shops. After successful completion of the EPC contract and plant startup, Fuelco ceased plant operation due to inadequate gas quality and quantity from their landfill.
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