Is there oil in the hydrogen sent out from the reformation pretreatment section?
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We carried out a reformation process a few days ago. In our process, the reformed hydrogen is sent out after being pre-treated in one go. Three days ago, we noticed that the hydrogen contained oil; its concentration was 82%, while the levels of carbon four and carbon five compounds were around 1.5% to 2%. Now, the problem of oil in the hydrogen has become more severe – oil can be discharged from the liquid separation tanks between several reciprocating compressors. It’s worrying, as we’re afraid that the presence of oil will severely affect the compressors and catalysts. Do any of you who work in reformation processes at other refineries face similar issues? Please help us solve this problem. Thank you
The biggest concern is that the reciprocating machine might break down; perhaps trying to use pure hydrogen as an alternative? What is the purity of the reformed hydrogen? This is definitely a serious issue. Alternatively, maybe increase the emission of some tail hydrogen to control the purity of the circulating hydrogen. Also, could the reaction depth be set too high? Is the impurity content in the raw materials much higher than before? It’s important to pay attention to your upstream facilities, especially whether there have been significant changes in the crude oil you process. It feels like if you don’t take action right away, something serious will definitely happen. We can’t wait; according to the design, the purity of the recycled hydrogen should be around 90. It’s already that low now, so you need to raise it as soon as possible. There must be no liquid present – I’m really worried about you.
Is the delivery temperature a bit too high? Something can be done to lower it, so that the light hydrocarbons inside can condense.
One reason is that the temperature of the hydrogen being delivered is high, preventing some light hydrocarbons from cooling down, which results in hydrogen containing oil; it is therefore necessary to control the temperature after cooling. Another possible reason could be an issue with the hydrogen wash oil (that is, the recontact section). The purity of the hydrogen we deliver is roughly 88-90%. But it can be guaranteed that it contains virtually no C3/C4 components. Oil in hydrogen has a significant impact on reciprocating compression molding machines. If there is excessive oil, it can cause significant vibration in the compressor, leading to a cascading shutdown. Based on my personal views; feel free to give feedback.
The concentration of hydrogen gas after reformation is around 86%, and the temperature after cooling is not high either, at only 32 degrees. Could this be due to poor separation performance in my high-pressure tank? I’ve been suspecting that it’s a problem with the high-pressure separation process
What is the liquid level set at in your high-pressure separation tank? Try to lower it a bit; an excessively high liquid level can also cause the hydrogen gas being discharged to contain liquid
Analyze the comparison between the components in the circulating hydrogen and the design; please have the design institute check whether the separator is suitable for the current operating conditions. If it’s not for this reason, then maybe the foam-breaking net is broken; in any case, it needs to be fixed quickly.