The issue of liquid in gasoline hydrogenation compressors, especially in winter
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For gasoline hydrogenation units, the process flow is: light fraction – desulfurization tower – liquid separation tank at the compressor inlet – reciprocating compressor with single-stage compression. Liquid carryover in the compressor is quite severe; a further liquid separation tank was added as part of technical upgrades, but the problem of liquid carryover persists. Are there any effective solutions?
It depends on whether it is liquid hydrocarbons or lubricating oil injected into the compressor cylinders via an oil injector; based on your description of the problems in winter, it seems that the low temperature at the compressor inlet causes the light hydrocarbons to condense into a liquid state, so electric heat tracing should be installed on the inlet pipelines
Adding a set of cryogenic cooler in front of the liquid separation tank solves the problem :)
If the process permits, a light hydrocarbon recovery line can be installed to the adjacent unit
The cooling effect is too strong; it lowers the temperature
Check whether the content of light hydrocarbons in the low-pressure gas coming out of the low-pressure desulfurization tower is too high; a low-pressure gas separation unit can be installed to separate hydrogen and light hydrocarbons from this gas before it is fed into the compressor.