【Equipment Reliability Improvement】Changing from self-circulating flushing to forced-circulation flushing to reduce the temperature of the seal body

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Zhenhai Refining & Chemical’s technical team uses minor improvements to solve major problems 2016-12-15 Source: Petrochemical News On December 14, the temperature of the seal body of the reflux pump in the propylene distillation unit at Zhenhai Refining & Chemical returned to normal. The One-Stability-Four-Optimization task force addressed the \"inherent deficiencies\" of the pump body, ensuring the stable operation of the device. The medium for the reflux pump in the second propylene distillation column is liquid propylene at 1.7 Mpa, with a rated flow rate of up to 2000 m3/h; it provides reflux for the propylene distillation column, and its stable operation has a significant impact on the safe production of the facility. Due to the reasons associated with the original design, the circulation of the primary and secondary seals of this pump is poor, which results in the seal components reaching temperatures of over 75°C. This temperature exceeds the vaporization temperature of propylene at such pressure, severely affecting the operational reliability of the pump. To address this challenge, technicians from the Olefins Department and the Mechanical Equipment Team worked together to develop feasible solutions, attempting to convert the pump from self-circulating flushing to forced-circulation flushing and optimizing the circulation piping. Ultimately, the desired goal was achieved by re-piping the 6 sealed pipelines, without incurring any additional costs. Currently, the primary and secondary seals of this pump are operating properly; the temperature of the seal components has dropped from over 75°C to below 60°C, demonstrating significant improvement as a result of the modifications. (Mei Liaoying, Wang Xu)