Seeking help with distillation tower design issues
Thread Content
We currently have a set of distillation equipment, but no reflux equipment. The site drawings (in black and white) and the design drawings (in color) are shown below. Since there is no space on the second-floor platform, the reflux tank and pumps need to be located on the first floor. These pumps are required to handle both reflux and feeding to the storage tank; therefore, I would like to ask a few questions: 1. Is this design reasonable? 2. What type of pump is generally used for distillation reflux? I’ve seen that magnetic centrifugal pumps and canned motors are used for this purpose. 3. How should pressure balance be achieved in the reflux tank? Pumping liquid may cause negative pressure in the tank; to which point should the pressure balance line be connected in such a situation? Is it at the outlet of the primary condensation?
The magnetism and shielding used in our company
Maintain a high liquid level in the reflux tank; to establish equilibrium, keep the level high to meet the reflux volume, and the production rate can be adjusted.
I believe the design is generally reasonable; the key lies in the operating procedures as well as the control of moving equipment and instruments. For normal-pressure systems, a centrifugal pump is sufficient. There is no issue with pressure balance; under normal operating conditions, the liquid level in the reflux tank hardly changes, so the pressure balance problem can be ignored. The size of the reflux tank should be determined based on the processing capacity, with an appropriate volume selected.
Centrifugal pumps work well for controlling pressure at the top of the tower; if budget permits, add a control valve for pressure regulation