Emergency! ! ! ! MTBE, experts, please proceed
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There is a large amount of vapor in the reflux tank of the methanol recovery tower; the test results indicate the presence of tetrahydrocarbons along with ether. The liquid level at the bottom of this tower fluctuates greatly – whenever the temperature rises, the liquid level drops sharply, and a large amount of water is carried away by the vapor from the top of the tower. I would like to ask experts what could be causing this phenomenon
Liquefied gas has entered the flash tank; it then goes into the recovery tower. Increase the venting from the methanol reflux tank – though this may cause water to spray out. Once all the C4 has been removed, that’s fine. Increase the material-to-water ratio in the extraction tower; we usually use a ratio of 4-5. Make sure that C4 doesn’t get down there
Verify the level of the extraction tower. Corrosion of the internals in the extraction tower. Use a higher water-to-material ratio.
What is the material-to-water ratio? What is it compared to? What is the formula? Let the experts talk about it
The so-called material-to-water ratio refers to the ratio of the amount of C4 feed to the amount of water feed in the extraction tower
Could you provide the methanol and water content in the feed to the recovery tower, as well as the operating pressure and temperature of the tower? The material-to-water ratio indeed affects the efficiency of extraction. Is there methanol present at the top of the extraction tower? If the material-to-water ratio is insufficient, then its absence is sufficient. If there is ether-containing C4 at the top of the reflux tank, it is basically a problem with the extraction tower; in a normal recovery tower, only water and methanol are separated, and no C4 enters the tower. Focus on checking whether there is a possibility of material cross-contamination in the process; carbon tetrafluoride containing methoxyethane is fed from the bottom of the extraction tower. What is the pressure drop in the extraction tower?
The reason is that there is butane after ether in the tower
The problem has been resolved: coking in the methanol recovery tower had blocked the floating trays, causing an imbalance between gas and liquid
Agreed; basically, it is the extraction of impurities that leads to a high amount of C4 in the methanol recovery tower
Coking in the methanol recovery tower – how does coking occur? Is it the corrosion products in the methanol recovery system that are blocking the gas flow channels? There are indeed some fluctuations in the operation of the methanol recovery tower that are difficult to control. To address these issues, it is important to lower the bottom temperature, control the top temperature, reduce reflux to minimize backmixing, and lower the reflux temperature as well. Additionally, the alcohol-to-olefin ratio should be checked further, along with the methanol content in the feed to the methanol recovery tower.