If water is carried back by the recooler at the top of the stripping tower, it can easily cause the safety valve at the top of the tower to activate. Why?
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I have no experience working with reformation units, so I have a question for everyone: if water is carried back by the reflux stream from the top cooler of the stripping tower, it can easily cause the safety valve at the top of the tower to activate. Why is that? Is the vent from the tower top safety valve connected to the atmosphere or to a flare?
Primarily, the heat at the top of the tower is relatively high; the vapor pressure of oil is lower than that of water. As a result, water vaporizes in large quantities, and its volume increases more than that of the oil vaporized. Therefore, the vaporization of water leads to a significant rise in pressure at the top of the tower, causing the safety valve to activate； The outlet of the safety valve is generally connected to the flare tank; after the residual liquid is recovered, it is sent out of the facility to the flare for further recovery.
The return flow of water causes it to vaporize rapidly, leading to a sudden increase in pressure and the activation of the safety valve； The outlet of the tower top safety valve definitely leads to the flare.
The vaporization ratio of water, at 1300:1, can be understood fairly easily; generally, the material at the top of the tower is sent to a flare, rather than being released directly into the atmosphere! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !