Finding the cause of an evaporator leak
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Our company uses an evaporator, with acid flowing in the shell side and steam in the tube side. After operating for some time, a leak appeared at the interface between the tube and the tube sheet at the steam outlet end. We suspect that this is related to tube expansion; could anyone help analyze the cause?
This post was last edited by qhxtw on 2010-6-30 at 17:25. What material is the evaporator made of? Nowadays, automatic tube sheet welding machines are mostly used for welding tube sheets. Under normal operating conditions, it depends greatly on the control of the welding process – factors such as the quality of the weld and the thickness of the weld seam play an important role. If it is a stainless steel evaporator, it is recommended that you check the chlorine content in the water.
This post was last edited by yi*aofei001 on 2010-7-1 07:28. Please specify whether it is an evaporator or an acid cooler based on your description. Is it still necessary to repair the evaporator? Since everything here is welded, how can there be tube expansion? Are there any that use copper tubes?
The shell and tube sheet are made of Q345 material, while the tube bundle is made of 10# low-carbon steel. It is not an acid cooler but an evaporator for evaporating SO3; the manufacturing process involves welding followed by tube expansion.
Reply to 4# yiyunjin: Energy prices are getting higher and higher – why is steam still used in the production of 65% nicotinic acid? Two disadvantages: 1, short service life of the evaporator; 2, high energy consumption.
Thank you for your concern; we have excess steam.
It’s used to produce sulfur trioxide, right? Is the concentration of the acid at the outlet well controlled? What is the temperature of the acid at the outlet?