Questions about shutdowns due to MTBE accidents
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If the MTBE plant experiences an emergency shutdown, it might restart soon – does the material in the etherification reactor need to be emptied?
There is no need to empty it. It’s quite troublesome to empty the contents in the etherification reactor completely; there’s no need for that.
There is no need to empty it; it’s sufficient to maintain normal circulation between the stages. If the circulation is stopped, the etherification reaction will continue, leading to the formation of large molecular components that can block the catalyst pores.
There is no need to empty it; close the inlet valve and release gas as appropriate, ensuring that the equipment is not damaged due to excessive temperature or pressure
No need; just turn off the feed. Then pay attention to the pressure and the bed temperature. When stopping operation, don’t close the outlet at the top right away – wait until the pressure drops before doing that. It’s quite simple
The etherification reaction is relatively mild, so there will be no problems – there’s no need to empty it
Our approach for handling this situation is to first turn off the preheating temperature control of the reactor, and even use circulating water to cool down the temperature inside the reactor. After stopping the feed, we open all the valves from the reactor to the catalytic distillation tower, thereby releasing pressure in that tower. This process has been carried out many times without any problems occurring.
Agree with the person above; no need to do anything else, just cut it at the beginning and end. It cannot be cycled for long periods, otherwise side effects will increase!
This is really not necessary. There is a setup that has to stop operating at regular intervals due to a shortage of gas-phase feedstock; no material is returned each time, and the reactor is disconnected from the downstream system. If there is a preheater, it should be turned off in advance. First, stop the C4 feed pump, then add more methanol for a while, and after that stop the methanol pump – that’s all!
Agree with the opinion above; a little more methanol will do