Problem of no steam supply to the reboiler

Is the liquid level in your tower normal? Is the steam valve set at around 50%? Is the steam releasing only its sensible heat and no latent heat? Try reducing the value of the control valve and see what happens Is there also a problem with the positioner of the control valve?

What was said upstairs – we’ve also thought about it; the tower liquid level is normal, and the regulator actuator is in good condition. The opening degree of the control valve was also reduced, but it remains the same

I wonder what the structure of the tower bottom is like? Is there a baffle in the tower bottom? Is the reboiler thermosiphonic or of another type? Should we add a balance wire? A schematic diagram of the tower reactor vessel is needed in order to conduct an analysis

Amitabha. Go and check what the pressure is in the steam pipe, as well as the pressure at the steam inlet of the reboiler. I still don’t understand it; you can contact me

This post was last edited by wu_pb on 2011-11-10 at 19:11. The pressure in the steam main is 0.72, and the temperature is 172 degrees! The pressure in the reboiler is equal to that in the main pipe; the reboiler operates by siphon action, and there is no baffle at the bottom of the tower.

This post was last edited by maplecity on 11/7/2011 at 12:02. When turning on a reboiler, it should generally be done gradually, without increasing the intensity all at once. Adjust a little after it stabilizes, and then adjust again once it’s stable. I wonder if a hydrostatic test was conducted on the reboiler before? Is there any leakage?

Are the tower pressure and feed stable? You can have bypass adjustments for the control valve and the steam trap to see how that works

Hehe, let me answer for the original poster; I’m his colleague. Yesterday I took the reboiler apart and found that almost the entire tube bundle was blocked, with many lump-like substances present. It was sent straight back to the factory for repairs this early morning. The material used by Tari is prone to hydrolysis; the hydrolyzed products are sticky and tend to clump together, suggesting that there may be a leakage.

I’ve encountered situations like yours before; I hope those who are experts won’t share any basic solutions, as most of them have already been thought of. It’s not about those things – after all, every company has a few experienced technicians. Our company is facing the same issue these days; it was discovered during testing. A few days ago everything was fine, but in recent days three out of the four high-pressure steam towers have developed this problem. I think it might be a problem with the reboiler itself – there’s a crack in the tube side, but it’s not very serious; otherwise we would experience water hammer. The leakage of high-pressure steam raises the temperature in the tube side, resulting in a smaller temperature difference and thus a reduced heat exchange efficiency; in other words, the steam cannot get in. It is recommended to empty and cool the tower; the main reason is to ensure that there is no water in the reboiler’s tube side. The vent on the reboiler’s tube side should be opened and steam introduced. If steam escapes from this vent, it indicates that there is a rupture in the reboiler’s tube side. It’s just my personal opinion; I hope it can help you.

Also, just like with your steam and piping systems, the steam transported through these pipelines is superheated in order to prevent the formation of condensate. When the temperature difference decreases, the temperature of the superheated steam drops, but no phase change occurs; thus, the latent heat cannot be released. This allows it to be possible to control the temperature of the steam entering the device’s piping system, and by doing so it can be determined whether there is an improvement in the performance of the reboiler. If there is an improvement, it can be assumed that it is due to a reduction in the temperature difference.