The main component content in the distillate is within specification, but the heavy components exceed the limit?
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You can scan the code to access information on this distillation tower product. When performing vacuum distillation of this product, the product emerges from the top while tar comes out from the bottom; as a result, material balance is maintained, and the main component content in the product can be stabilized at around 99.8%. The appearance color also meets the requirements. However, when used by customers, an oily substance is produced upon dissolution with alkali, and subsequent reactions proceed at a slow rate along with higher consumption of extractants. After analysis, it was found that the content of heavy components in the product is high. My question is: since the main components meet the required standards, there should be no major issues with things like the theoretical number of theoretical plates or the packing material, and the operation process is also stable. So why is there a high level of heavy components?
Increasing the reflux ratio has little effect; instead, there is a phenomenon of column flooding.
It can be determined that there is a problem with the hardware inside the tower; the pressure difference must have increased compared to before, as well as the pressure at the bottom of the tower.
How about reducing the heat load on the bottom reboiler to lower the bottom temperature?
The internal components of the tower were taken apart for inspection, and there were no problems