Regarding the reboiler at the bottom of the distillation tower

When designing the reboiler at the bottom of a distillation tower, the basic engineering requirements for such a reboiler are stable operation, easy adjustment, simple structure, ease of manufacturing, convenience in installation and maintenance, a long service life, and safe and reliable operation. At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure that its floor area and required installation height are appropriate. Generally speaking, it is difficult to meet all the above requirements simultaneously; therefore, a comprehensive analysis and thorough consideration are necessary in the design process. The main, decisive requirements should be identified first, and then, taking everything into account, a relatively reasonable type of reboiler should be chosen. The main difference lies in the fact that the heat load of the heat exchanger is calculated using phase-change heat methods, while the heat transfer coefficients inside and outside the shell are determined using formulas appropriate for situations involving phase changes. Furthermore, different structures of the reboiler can lead to some variations in the process design methods. The following factors need to be considered during design: 1) The diameter of the tower bottom should be large to ensure that the reboiler provides uniform heating to the tower bottom. 2) When the load increases or during capacity expansion upgrades, one reboiler may not have sufficient capacity; therefore, the design should take into account the use of two reboilers. 3) It is also necessary to consider that due to the high viscosity of the material and its tendency to form coking, the reboilers in use must be able to have their clogs removed promptly, otherwise it will affect production.