What are the methods of evacuating sulfur ponds?
Thread Content
Most current methods for evacuating sulfur tanks involve using steam ejectors to maintain a negative pressure in the tanks, thereby preventing the exhaust gases from escaping. I would like to ask everyone: apart from using steam extractors, are there any other methods to ensure negative pressure in the sulfur tank? (While ensuring that this portion of the exhaust gases can be delivered to the required locations) Is it actually in use, and what are the performance results? I encourage everyone to participate actively, and I will give positive ratings based on the quality of everyone’s responses.
For small quantities, a vacuum pump can be considered; for backflow, burning it off with a flare or recovering it can be an option； For large quantities, a centrifuge can be considered; for the posterior approach, incineration via a flare or recycling can be considered.
The amount is significant; there should be over 1,000 units of exhaust gas per hour. When using engines, there are many more sealing points, and leaks can cause serious problems. Flare treatment is generally not used; instead, a design for recycling and reprocessing is adopted!
Currently, many exhaust gas recovery systems use centrifuge units (with dry gas seals), and there is already a wealth of proven experience available for reference.
The thing is, this amount is neither small nor large; it feels a bit useless! So using a centrifuge is a bit of a waste. Additionally, the sealing method you mentioned applies to the machine units; the exhaust gas from the sulfur tank contains a high amount of hydrogen sulfide gas, as well as a certain amount of water, which leads to corrosion. Not only the machine units themselves are at risk, but also the inlet and outlet pipelines, as well as areas with flanges and connections, can suffer from corrosion and leakage. Moreover, some of these issues cannot be resolved simply by using alternative methods. Solving one problem only to create more problems indicates that the solution to that problem was inappropriate and not comprehensive enough.
You can consider: 1. Using a labyrinth compressor, which offers good sealing performance and is suitable for ethylene glycol systems. What’s rather annoying is that reciprocating machines have many vulnerable parts; Brühlhardt could be a consideration. 2. Consider using screw compressors, which are widely used in flare recovery.
The key issue is that these devices you mentioned are not very suitable for our exhaust gas composition, as they tend to carry solid particles and are also corrosive, which poses a significant risk to your so-called equipment!
The jacketed fans produced by Changsha Blower Group are suitable; Wuhan Petrochemical uses them, and I saw them in operation before – they worked quite well.
It’s the fans equipped with heating elements. Luckily, I know someone there; I’ll go and ask about their actual operating conditions!
We use Changsha blowers as the exhaust fans for the sulfur tanks; they are of the Roots type, and their vibration level is over 20 – this issue has yet to be resolved. Fortunately, we don’t need to use them at the moment