185- Discussion on Schoepentoeter design for the special vane separation inlet assembly of the reboiler in the stripping section of the EO unit at a petrochemical company
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This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2024-4-8 at 16:02. This technical discussion focuses on the design of the Schoepentoeter inlet assembly specifically intended for separating high-flow vapor-liquid mixtures at the outlet of the reboiler in the stripping section of distillation columns. It takes the Schoepentoeter inlet assembly designed for handling high-flow vapor-liquid mixtures from the reboiler in the stripping section of an EO ethylene oxide distillation column as an example to help people understand the actual design of such dynamic separation inlet assemblies, thereby preventing unqualified suppliers from misleading clients with inferior products.
This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2021-7-21 at 16:28. In 2019, a petrochemical company launched a project for the comprehensive processing of 3.2 million tons per year of light hydrocarbons; in the EO ethylene oxide plant, the reboiler in the distillation column’s C-3003 stripping section, with a diameter of 2400 mm, required a system for separating high-flow vapor-liquid mixtures. According to SHELL’s design standards, a specialized Schoepentoeter baffle separation inlet assembly was needed for this purpose. The feather-leaf separation inlet assembly Schoepentoeter belongs to the category of equipment based on dynamic gas-liquid separation technology; however, many non-specialized suppliers of Schoepentoeter-type separation equipment are involved in this field, and they provide owners with devices that are simply ridiculous. This post uses image comparisons to explain the design differences in the true dynamic separation technology: the Schoepentoeter vane separation inlet assembly technology.
This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2021-7-21 at 16:30. First, take a look at the actual photos of the Schoepentoeter reboiler designed specifically for the stripping section of C-3003 in the distillation tower of the EO ethylene oxide plant operated by that petrochemical company, with a diameter of 2400 mm. Although colleagues may not have a deep understanding of Schoepentoeter’s specialized dynamic separation design, I believe they have surely seen what an actual airfoil separation inlet assembly designed by Schoepentoeter looks like. What are your thoughts after seeing the actual photos of the Schoepentoeter reboiler designed specifically for the stripping section of the distillation tower in that petrochemical company’s EO ethylene oxide plant, with a diameter of 2400 mm, provided by a certain supplier?
This inlet separation assembly, installed in a tower with a diameter of 2400, consists of only 4 sets of blade fins; the total size of these 4 sets of fins accounts for roughly half of the overall volume, with the remaining space being occupied by a long section of I-beam support. Professionals can tell just by looking at the proportions of its image structure that this product was definitely not designed and manufactured by a professional company.
This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2021-7-21 at 16:44. With such a strange entrance separation assembly, there are corresponding drawings, although they were not designed and manufactured by a professional company. The diagram below is one of its drawings.
Take a look at its corresponding top view:
It’s hard to believe that this type of inlet separation assembly, installed in a distillation tower with a diameter of 2400 mm, constitutes a genuine innovation by a company listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board
Here, we also show you its installation diagram, so that everyone can see that its installation location is at the bottom inlet of the stripping section, where the reboiler of the tower bottom is located.
By comparing the above actual product photos with the drawings, it can be seen that although the actual product image also shows only 4 sets of blade fin components just like the drawing, they are not actually the same. On the one hand, it shows that the supplier is truly unprofessional; on the other hand, it can be felt that the designer themselves is not confident in their own work. Take a look: in the actual product image, the long I-beam supports account for about half of the length, while the 4 sets of blade fin components are arranged on the other half ； However, the 4 sets of blade fin internals shown in its drawings are evenly distributed across the entire radial cross-section of the tower. The designer also assumed that the long I-beam supports on the drawings, which account for about half of the total length, along with the 4 sets of blade fin components located on the other half, would be the first to come under scrutiny by the owner’s technical staff.
This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2021-7-21 at 19:15. Since this EO distillation process utilizes Shell’s relevant technologies, relevant documents from Shell regarding the equipment for this project have been obtained; please see the image below:
This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2023-9-26 at 15:10. The above documents provided by Shell regarding the equipment for this project clearly show information such as the project name, scale of the project, and equipment identifiers. It is also evident from SHELL’s design documents that the number of fin sets is specified as 21 pairs, or 42 sets in total. Since the shell file clearly states that the number of \"fin sets\" for the Schoepentoeter inlet assembly is 21 pairs, or 42 sets, how did the aforementioned supplier manage to deceive everyone?