Is a change to the process feasible?
Thread Content
Recently, there was a leak in the tube bundle of the steam generator at the outlet for the reaction products on this unit. It was decided to remove this steam generator and connect the inlet and outlet pipelines directly. However, as a result, the temperature of the reaction products entering the hot high-pressure separator became too high, which in turn caused the temperature entering the high-pressure pump to be too high. I would appreciate it if experts could assess whether this approach is feasible. This unit operates in a hydrocracking process: reaction products → heat exchanger with feedstock → steam generator → hot high-pressure separator → high-pressure pump (high inlet pressure, high outlet pressure); one stream goes back into the circulation system while the other flows to the cracking section
It is possible to reduce the processing volume to its minimum, adjust the production plan, lower the reaction depth in the reactor, and reduce the temperature at the reactor outlet. Full use should be made of air cooling for high-pressure fractions; if the temperature remains acceptable, then there’s nothing else that can be done. After technical modifications, it’s possible to gradually reduce the temperature. If the temperature becomes too high, that’s not acceptable – it’s sufficient to keep the temperature at the designed level. Additionally, it’s important to ensure that the circulating gas does not contain light hydrocarbons, as high temperatures in high-pressure fractions can easily lead to the presence of such hydrocarbons, which in turn can affect the turbine
Is your high-pressure pump used for circulating oil, as cooling oil for the reactor, to control the bed temperature of the reactor?
It definitely won’t work if it exceeds the design temperature; the equipment doesn’t allow that either
It’s very troublesome when the circulating hydrogen compressor has liquid in it.
Adjust the dosage and temperature accordingly; if that doesn’t work, shutdown for maintenance is necessary.