Methods for dealing with frozen blockages in the bottom drain pipe of a fractionation tower
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Water entered the molecular sieve, which in turn caused water to enter the fractionation tower. After shutting down the system for heating and purging, it was restarted. After one cycle of operation, the liquid level in the lower part of the tower became high, and attempts were made to drain this liquid; however, the drainage pipe at the bottom of the tower was found to be frozen and blocked, preventing drainage. The system is still running and cannot be stopped. I was wondering if any of the experienced technicians and experts have any methods to unblock the frozen pipes without shutting down the system. Thank you!
This is too cutting-edge; it’s better to leave it to your supervisor to figure out a solution. It’s impressive of you to be able to bring water into the tower. There’s not much to do; I thought I’d let your supervisor know that if water accumulates and freezes, it can cause the pipes to crack and leak. At that time, you can take a look at that mirror from Yima.
If possible, insert a Φ6 hose into the drain pipe all the way to the bottom and connect nitrogen to blow continuously. What I’m thinking is about the impact that cryogenic liquids will have on this tube once it’s opened. It should also be noted that once flow is established and liquid starts to flow out, the valve must be closed promptly.
Now even those in the air separation industry are feeling anxious~~
Before 7.19, it was estimated that using warm nitrogen gas to melt ice was feasible; now it’s difficult~~
1. Conduct careful operation and maintenance to reduce accidents. 2. Handling accidents relies on science, not on administrative orders or leadership decisions. Since water was already brought along and heating was chosen, what resulted was a pot of undercooked rice.
I’ve encountered situations where the discharge pipe of the oxygen subcooler became blocked; in such cases, a hose was used to insert it and nitrogen was blown in, which resolved the issue. But this is a cryogenic liquid; I can’t even think about it
This post was last edited by Ameba on 2019-8-20 at 16:07. Try to make a connection at the vent port, continuously supply nitrogen gas, and then vent it again – just to see if nitrogen can effectively thaw it out~~
I’m not aware of your specific procedures, but if the drain valve at the bottom of the tower freezes up, will it affect normal production? If it has no effect, wait until the next heating cycle. It’s really hard to blow out the water when it seems to have gotten inside