Can paralleling a plate and frame filter press on the tower tank of a gas cooling tower alleviate blockage on the acid side of the plate exchanger?
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Not long ago, I visited a site where an acid production facility was under maintenance. What was puzzling was that the users reported severe blockages on the side of the gas cooling tower where acid was exchanged; therefore, they installed a plate and frame filter press in parallel with the gas cooling tower, with the aim of reducing the solid content in the acid circulating in the gas cooling tower, thereby addressing the issue of blockages on that side. It is evident that the aforementioned plate and frame filter press and the plate exchanger are connected in parallel; therefore, it can be inferred that if the plate and frame filter press is able to remove the sludge, it indicates a high solid content in the circulating acid, and as a result, the plate exchanger will also become clogged. I wonder if there are any manufacturers in this industry that offer similar applications; everyone’s opinion is welcome.
Since I am not familiar with the entire process flow of the purification section, based on a brief analysis, I believe that addressing the root cause is necessary first. It is likely that there is a problem with the dust removal equipment located in front of the gas cooling tower; this causes dust to be carried along with the flue gas, leading to an accumulation of acidic dust in the scrubber tower and consequently blocking the plate exchangers. It is necessary to check whether the electrostatic dust collector is operating properly Check again what the solid-liquid separation efficiency of the dilute acid filter in the primary scrubber is If these two points are addressed properly, I think that filter press will be nothing more than a decorative item.
It is estimated that the acid solution after filtration has returned to the circulation tank
Consider adding a set of dust removal equipment.
Parallel operation is no problem; switching the filter press does not affect the operation of the plate exchanger, which enables control of the slurry solid content in real time! If a series design is used, it is necessary to install a bypass for the filter press or design a backup system!
Gas cooling towers already have a low solid content in the circulating acid, and since no filter aids are used, it is not so easy for the filter press to produce sludge.
If slag can be removed easily in this way, then there is no need for a sedimentation tank in the open-circuit sour acid system of the primary washing equipment. Or, there may be many large particles of dust in the acid circulating in the gas cooling tower, which can also cause blockages in the plate exchangers.
If the slag discharge frequency is very low or within an acceptable range, a series connection with a maintenance bypass might be better.
The plate exchanger is also a kind of \"filter press\"; it operates in parallel with the plate and frame filter, and the latter serves as an indicator – when slag is discharged from the plate and frame filter, the plate exchanger will definitely get clogged!