What is the appropriate steam input for the thermal regeneration tower?
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Urgent help: Luchi process – what is the appropriate steam flow rate for the thermal regeneration tower? What will happen when it grows up? What will happen if it’s too small? What is appropriate?
This post was last edited by wgqmqez on 2016-4-14 at 22:35. Excessive steam not only results in waste of steam but also puts excessive strain on the reflux pump at the top of the tower; sometimes, it can lead to problems with the liquid level not being able to rise fast enough. Methanol is sometimes also introduced into the sulfur recovery system. It wastes methanol and affects the proper operation of the sulfur recovery system. If the steam volume is too low, the methanol-depleted stream is not regenerated properly, which ultimately affects the quality of the purified feed gas, resulting in excessive sulfur levels. Strictly control the process parameters and maintain an appropriate temperature for the sensitive plate; this is when the steam volume is optimal
The amount of steam to be added depends mainly on whether the H2S content in the lean methanol is within acceptable limits, as well as on the amount of methanol carried by the acid gas after cooling (which should be kept around 1%). For reference: the amount of methanol used in the refining process is generally around 700–800 tons, the feed volume to the thermal regeneration tower is around 800–900 tons, and the amount of steam used is around 38–42 tons. The tower pressure is controlled at around 0.17–0.19 Mpa.