How should operations be carried out during phenol recovery to reduce blockage in heat exchangers?
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I am currently working in the phenol recovery department. The most time-consuming task here is cleaning the heat exchangers on a daily basis. Clogging of the heat exchangers is a common issue during phenol recovery. I believe that by controlling various parameters and adjusting the operating conditions regularly to prevent them from deteriorating, it is possible to reduce the frequency of cleaning. However, as I am new to this position, my understanding of it is not very thorough; I hope that those with more experience can offer me some guidance.
This is indeed a tricky problem with this device! This is because the gas-water separation units ahead often fail to meet the design requirements, resulting in a large amount of contaminated wastewater reaching the phenol recovery unit! In fact, the source is upstream! Hehe
I don’t know which organization you work for upstairs; do you also have positions related to gas and water separation, as well as phenol and ammonia recovery?
I’ve encountered the same issue as well; it needs further resolution
Hello, I would like to ask if your phenol recovery uses the Ruchi extraction process, and what is the extraction temperature for it? Have you analyzed, through those multiple purging attempts, whether the substance causing blockage in the heat exchanger is tar or a large amount of coal powder carried over by the gas washing process? If it is a tar-like substance, it is recommended to increase the extraction temperature ； If it is a coal powder-like substance, it is recommended to use an air flotation unit for pre-treatment. I wonder if this will help with the discussion! ! ! ! ! !
Which specific unit is responsible for phenol recovery? It seems that heat exchangers are only used in the purification of sodium phenolate and the dehydration of crude phenol.
If carbon dioxide is used to resolve sodium phenolate, an excess of carbon dioxide generally leads to the formation of inorganic salt particles; in addition, the alkaline solution used in the regeneration of sodium phenolate can have an impact. Moreover, if the content of heavy components in the medium oil used for extraction is high, these components will end up in the crude phenol, and after dehydration, they can cause blockages in the heat exchanger at the bottom of the tower!
The key is to properly control the quality of the water fed into the phenol recovery process. We previously faced severe clogging issues; by installing additional filters and other measures, it’s crucial to reduce the amount of dust in the water supplied to the phenol recovery system. Once the dust problem is resolved, the operational cycle can be **extended**.