Why is thorough heating and drying necessary before starting up an air separation unit?
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This post was last edited by you*n*nyou on 2011-9-1 20:42. Why is thorough heating and drying necessary before starting up the air separation unit, and what is the purpose of this?
Purpose: Air separation equipment operates at ultra-low temperatures, and dry air is used for heating in order to remove any residual free water or moist air from the system. This prevents these free waters from freezing during operation, which could otherwise affect the normal functioning of the system and even lead to serious accidents such as damage to the equipment’s pipelines. Another issue is that if it is not blown out, the dry ice particles frozen within the system end up in the main cooler; as liquid oxygen is boiling, these dry ice particles collide and rub against each other, generating static electricity that can lead to an explosion. (The static charge generated by dry ice friction can reach 3000V)
Thorough drying prevents water in the air from freezing and blocking the equipment at low temperatures