What about the treatment of the packing in a packed tower?
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After some time of use, the packing in the packed tower of our company developed significant scaling (distillation of fatty acid methyl esters from gutter oil). I would like to ask my colleagues: are there any better methods for removing scale besides replacing the packing?
For organic scale, ceramic packing can be used along with steam (waste steam is also acceptable), and continuous purging for a period of time is recommended (it is possible to do this for a week if conditions permit). Plastic fillers can be considered for soaking in concentrated ammonia water (fillers treated with coal gas tar have shown some effectiveness). Hire a cleaning company to use high-pressure water for cleaning; it will definitely work. (I need to calculate the cost.)
Our company uses stainless steel corrugated packing
Rinse cyclically using an alkaline cleaner; fats dissolve in alkaline solutions
Pickling (dilute acetic acid), steam cleaning or high pressure
The method for the fourth floor is supported; it is best to add surfactants to the alkali. In fact, this is also a type of cleaning agent.
The heavy components in the distillation towers at our facility are also tar-like substances. We usually carry out a thorough cleaning of all the towers by using laundry detergent along with steam during the annual major maintenance sessions, and this method works quite well; we have been using it for over a decade now.
First, identify the appropriate cleaning method by addressing the specific issue; it’s definitely possible to do this by using a circulation pump for circulation
Dear friends: Could the cleaning method be described in more detail?