Regarding the issues with the stripping unit, GGJJ members, please help
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We are now planning to build a stripping unit with a capacity of 60 t/h. The design institute recommended a pressurized single-tower stripping process, while our current unit operates at normal pressure with a capacity of 40 t/h. We’re not sure which of these two processes is better. In the future, we will need to carry out sulfur recovery and solvent regeneration; the acidic water contains ammonia. Could you help us compare the advantages and disadvantages of these two processes? Which process should we choose? Thank you. )
In the single-tower pressurized gas process, acidic water is mainly recovered via side streams for ammonia extraction; this ammonia is then processed in an ammonia purification system to produce liquid ammonia for reuse or ammonium hydroxide. This setup requires relatively high energy consumption, but the hydrogen sulfide concentration drawn from the tower top is high, which is advantageous for the production and operation of sulfur-related facilities. At atmospheric pressure, gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide should be removed completely from the top of the tower; this approach results in lower energy consumption and simpler operation, but it has a significant impact on the production of sulfur recovery units.
Our capacity is 140 t/h of sulfur production; it depends on your production process. Is it crude oil processing wastewater (also known as acidic water)? As mentioned above, the hydrogen sulfide concentration extracted from the top of the tower is high, which is beneficial for the production and operation of sulfur production facilities. At atmospheric pressure, the gases should be completely removed from the top of the tower (ammonia, hydrogen sulfide); in that case, they will also be burned during sulfur recovery, with only differences in temperature requirements
A single tower at atmospheric pressure is sufficient to meet your requirements. Atmospheric pressure facilitates the release of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, results in lower energy consumption, and the process is simple – all that’s needed is to control the temperature and pressure at the bottom of the tower. The purified water obtained meets all the required standards; you might want to consider this option. I don’t think it’s necessary to use pressure
Thank you all. After stripping, there is no further ammonia purification; the ammonia obtained through extraction is also sent to the flue gas furnace in the sulfur unit for combustion. In addition, the crude oil that will be processed in the future will mainly be medium and light crude oils, so it is expected that the hydrogen sulfide content will decrease. We will compare the advantages and disadvantages of pressure stripping and atmospheric stripping. Thank you
However, I’ve heard that burning ammonia with sulfur can lead to ammonia deposition, which has a serious impact on production. But it’s not very clear exactly how many ammonia bonds there are and in which locations!
Reply to 5# Junior Pollution Control Engineer: It is recommended to use a single-tower, atmospheric-pressure full-extraction stripping process; furthermore, the burners used for sulfur recovery should be forced-ammonia burners.