For triple-column distillation, during maintenance, who has any clever methods for pressure testing the three reboilers to check for leaks?
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For triple-column distillation, is there any clever method for performing pressure testing to check for leaks without removing the three reboilers during maintenance?
It’s just a personal suggestion; I’m not sure if it will work, haha. Shut off all the inlet and outlet valves for the methanol liquid in the three towers, as well as the steam inlet valve and the outlet condensate valve of the reboiler. Then, introduce nitrogen through the backflow valve on the shell side of the reboiler, and monitor any changes in the pressure at the top of the tower. If the pressure rises, it indicates that there is an internal leak in the tubes of the reboiler.
Well, if the pipes in the tower leak, that would be a problem. Could we seal the connections between the reboiler and the tower, as well as the steam inlet and condensate outlet, using blind flanges? We could attach a pressure gauge to one of these blind flanges, and then introduce nitrogen through the drain port of the reboiler. Once the pressure reaches a certain level, we could stop supplying nitrogen for a while to see if there is any change in the pressure indicated by the gauge.