Reformed ammonium salt accumulation
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Generally, ammonium reformation accumulation occurs in the pre-hydrogenation section and the reformation stabilizer section. After the reformation reaction, the temperature remains low, and ammonium salts also precipitate and flow along with the oil. Is there any accumulation as it passes through components such as heat exchangers?
In pre-hydrogenation, water is usually injected at the tube side of the feed and product heat exchangers to prevent ammonium salt crystallization. It seems that there won’t be too much ammonium salt in the reforming unit, after all, there are standards regarding nitrogen compounds in the reforming feed. As for accumulation, it might only occur over the long term, leading to an increase in pressure difference
Ammonium salt pre-hydrogenation is used quite frequently, and water injection is also employed; the reforming step is minimal. High requirements are placed on the impurities in the feedstock, otherwise pre-hydrogenation would not be used to remove those impurities
One of the functions of pre-hydrogenation is to remove chlorine from the reforming feed; the risk of ammonium salt clogging is low in the reforming section, and it mainly occurs in the pre-hydrogenation section. The pre-hydrogenation feed/product heat exchanger is equipped with water injection, so the possibility of ammonium salt crystallization there is also low. The ammonium salt crystallization blockage is more likely to occur in the pre-hydrogenation cycle hydrogen pipeline.