Hydrogen production by methanol cracking
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Hydrogen is produced by methanol cracking, and vacuum distillation is used in the PSA stage. Recently, the vent pipe caught fire automatically – what could be the reason? Does the flange on the flame arrester also need to be electrically bonded?
Too fast an exhaust flow rate, lack of grounding, lightning strikes – any of these can cause a fire
The main issue is to add lightning protection devices; these devices need to be supported separately, and the vent pipes cannot be used as a support
Why is venting necessary? Can’t we replace venting with flare discharge?
Electrostatic bonding should be installed in all cases, but for venting, it is necessary to have a temperature sensor and a flame arrester at the top, as well as steam purging at the bottom; steam can be used in case of a fire.
The purpose of static bonding for flame arresters is not significant; vent pipes are generally quite large, with at least 8 bolts or more. It is recommended to ensure proper grounding of the vent pipes, and it would be best to use a separate lightning rod
The torch backpressure is too high, preventing the vacuum purge gas from escaping
Large petrochemical units have a unified flare system with larger pipe diameters, which are suitable for the venting of hydrogen production units.