Ethylene cracking steam
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Can a million-ton ethylene cracking unit operate without 9.8 MPa ultra-high pressure steam during startup? Is it possible to drive the compressor using 3.6 MPa?
The pipes can be heated with 3.6 MPa steam
Hello, the design institute replied that 1 million tons of ethylene at 3.6 MPa isn’t sufficient to drive the steam turbine. They also said it wouldn’t be possible to first run the furnace and then the compressor in time.
Can 36 kilograms of steam not drive a cracking gas compressor on a million-ton scale? Is this thing still around?
Hello, in that case, wouldn’t the loss be quite high?
Your compressor is designed to start operating at the pressure for which it was intended; if the pressure is too low, it won’t start at all. Even if it manages to start, it will have a significant impact on the performance of the equipment, and in severe cases, it can cause excessive axial force at the ends, leading to damage to the equipment.
Of course it is, that’s why I said we can use 3.6 to warm the pipes. Manufacturers specify requirements for steam pressure and temperature at startup; some manufacturers have interlocks that cause the machine to shut down if the steam temperature and pressure are too low
The steam grade used for the compressor is designed based on the steam provided by the owner; if it is designed to use SS steam, then HS steam certainly will not work. If the design is steam-driven at 3.6 MPA, it can be used; however, the amount of steam required for ethylene production on a million-ton scale is very large, and the size of the turbine will also increase.