Has anyone encountered corrosion and leakage in the tube bundle of the overhead cooler in the light-end stripping tower of an alkylation unit?
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Has anyone encountered corrosion and leakage in the tube bundle of the overhead cooler in the light-end stripping tower of an alkylation unit? Looking at the photos, it seems to be pitting. Have other companies encountered this issue?
Is the alkylation raw material purchased externally, or is it the butane fraction from MTBE ethers? Is the corrosion caused by a high sulfur content?
My distillation column is water-cooled; it leaked recently, and I’ve just finished replacing it!
Check to determine whether the corrosion is caused by external or internal factors. Find out what material the air-cooled tube bundle is made of, and assess the quality of the cooling water; softened water should be used. It is recommended to add corrosion and scale inhibitors
Is there water in the dehydration pack of the reflux tank? What colors are there?
The alkali washing effect with rich propane is poor, and acidic propane gas enters the light-end removal tower.
This situation usually occurs when a wash with methanol is used, as the material contains thiols, thioethers, hydrogen sulfide, etc. In many cases, the water used for this washing is not replaced, which often results in acidic water remaining in the material; over time, this can lead to leaks
It happened once in our company: the entire air cooling system had to be replaced, due to poor process control and too many side reactions!