Location of the cooler after the air cooler, and the return tank
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In a retrofit project, for the vapor from the top of the distillation tower – heat exchanger – air cooling – aftercooler (water cooler) – reflux tank, must the pipelines through the heat exchanger, air cooling unit, aftercooler, and reflux tank be in sequence with progressively lower pressures?
In the condensation process, the equipment should be placed at increasingly lower levels along the direction in which the phase change occurs; this facilitates the collection of the material and eliminates the need for equipment such as pumps for transferring the material.
It’s not necessarily the case in all situations. It depends on the medium of the material and the operating pressure. In my unit, both the stabilizer tower and the propane tower use water coolers at the bottom; the reflux tank is located above the water coolers. Thermal bypass control valves are used to regulate the pressure as well as the liquid level in the reflux tank.