The meaning of scrubbing in atmospheric pressure towers
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In methanol distillation, why is it necessary to drain the liquid in the atmospheric pressure column as well as the methanol liquid in the reboiler and reflux tank, and then fill the column with steam for flushing, after shutting down the process after long-term operation?
A hot wash should be carried out; this will help remove the rust that forms in the tower due to prolonged shutdowns, ensuring that the color of methanol meets the required standards once operations resume. Or fill it with steam to displace the air inside, while simultaneously raising the temperature! However, we usually apply nitrogen protection after parking, and we don’t perform heat washing or steam treatment as mentioned by the original poster when starting the vehicle!
Sometimes the atmospheric pressure tower gets clogged with wax, so it is sometimes necessary to use steam for cooking. Removing methanol before steaming is done to improve the temperature further. Because mixing methanol and water lowers the boiling point at the same pressure
It is mainly to remove paraffin and other solid impurities from within the steam cooking tower, as the high temperature of the steam facilitates the dissolution of these impurities.
Our factory has also experienced long periods of shutdown, but instead of using steam cleaning, we used nitrogen purging for protection.