The gas in the main outlet pipe for acetylene at the neutralization tower in the wet calcium carbide process for acetylene production is acidic
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The gas in the main pipe of acetylene at the outlet of the neutralization tower in the wet calcium carbide process for acetylene production is acidic. When replacing the alkali in the neutralization tower, it is necessary to flush the tower several times with clean water; our company performs this flushing three times before adding more alkali. The time required for flushing the tower and replacing the alkali is about 1 hour. The packing in the neutralization tower is Bauler rings made of reinforced polypropylene; corrugated plate packing is also recommended. I’m not sure about the usage practices in different factories, so I hope everyone can share their experiences :)
If the acidity at the outlet of the neutralization tower is high, it indicates that there may be more S and P impurities in the calcium carbide. It also suggests that there could be issues such as uneven flow within the tower, insufficient circulation volume, or an undersized tower design
Thank you for your reply. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, the choice of packing and its installation height also play a role. Our company uses 50 Pall rings at the bottom and 30 Pall rings at the top. Some people suggest that corrugated plate packing yields better results; I was wondering if any other companies have used it
Try controlling the alkali concentration and increasing the alkali flow rate (increase its spraying volume)
The most fundamental reason is likely the insufficient thoroughness of the S and P removal process in the upstream purification stage of crude acetylene gas; as a result, the levels of acidic gases such as hydrogen sulfide and phosphine remain high. Even when these gases enter the neutralization tower, they may not be removed to acceptable levels, which means that the acetylene gas emerging from the neutralization tower still contains trace amounts of acidic gases.