What are the hazards of a lighter feed composition in a stripping tower or distillation column? How to handle it?
Thread Content
What are the hazards of a lighter feed composition in a stripping tower or distillation column? How to handle it? What are the hazards and mitigation methods if the tower feed composition suddenly becomes very light?
It directly causes an increase in the pressure inside the tower, leading to the activation of the safety valve. Excessive vapor load may lead to tower flooding, disc flooding, and the product containing black oil. Pressure buildup and leakage may occur in various heat exchangers. The distillation effect inside the tower is poor. Treatment: Increase the reflux rate, raise the top temperature, and appropriately increase the load on the heating furnace. Increase the extraction from each side line. Reduce bottom blowing. Reduce the dosage appropriately.
The answer above is quite comprehensive, but if the composition of the material fed into the tower suddenly becomes very light, it is necessary to reduce the flow rate first to ensure safe operation; increasing the reflux pressure will not be sufficient to address this issue.