It is common in many oil refineries, chemical, ethanol and ammonia plants, for critical process equipment to experience problems. Issues in trayed towers such as internal tray damage, missing trays, plugged downcomers and tray foaming can all lead to off-spec production and in some cases, un-anticipated shutdowns. Scanning technology can help you avoid these scenarios by providing you with an assessment of your operating conditions, whilst your process equipment remains online. In this blog post we will feature the top three questions we are asked with regard to Trayed Towers and our Tru-Scan™ technology.
Read More
Topics:
Process Diagnostics,
Gamma Scanning,
Tru-Scan,
Tray Damage,
FrothView,
tower scan,
tower scanning,
tower gamma scan,
flooded trays,
process equipment,
Tray weeping,
tray fouling,
mechanical integrity
This post is the first of the "Diagnosing liquid maldistribution inside packed beds" series.
A challenge to process engineers is diagnosing liquid maldistribution problems inside packed beds that can cause severe mass transfer efficiency loss. In industrial distillation columns, common examples of the cause of liquid maldistribution are design, manufacture or installation defects of distributors as well as damage, plugging and process disturbance of packed beds.
In this latest blog, we will explain using a case study approach how Tracerco's scanning technologies can be used to diagnose suspected maldistribution in packed beds.
The first step to determine liquid maldistribution in a packed column is to perform a Tracerco Tru-Grid™ Scan to provide an initial look at the liquid distribution in the packing. A Tru-Grid™ scan consists of four equal-distant chords, one through each quadrant of the tower. Under ideal conditions and uniform liquid loadings, each scan plot will overlay closely with all others.
Read More
Topics:
optimising plant processing,
process systems,
plant processing,
scanning technology,
Process Diagnostics,
Gamma Scanning,
Distillation Column Performance,
packed column performance,
distillation tower scanning,
annular liquid distribution,
Liquid maldistribution,
packed column,
Tru-Grid Scan,
distillation column maintenance,
Tracerco technologies,
optimising plant production,
Suspected maldistribution in packed beds
Detecting and identifying small leaks in heat exchangers can be an extremely difficult and time consuming task for many operators and plant personnel. Product quality, process efficiency and the time and cost associated with maintenance and potential shutdowns caused by a leaking vessel can have a significant and detrimental impact on production and process operating margins.
Read More
Topics:
optimising plant processing,
chemical tracers,
Process Diagnostics,
exchanger,
Gamma Scanning,
Tru-Scan,
leak testing,
plant performance,
heat exchangers,
leaking exchangers,
small leaks
There are a number of problems that can cause a loss of efficiency and lead to loss of production in a distillation column, including tray damage, flooding, weeping, and foaming. Gamma scan technology available from Tracerco can be utilised to locate the origin and/or severity of these problems. A Tru-Scan™ across the active area of a fractionation tray can provide hydraulic conditions and/or mechanical status of the active area, such as weeping and tray froth heights. FrothView™, a new methodology developed by Tracerco, provides a quantitative analysis of tray capacity as the total froth height on a tray that is measured using Tracerco's new detector technology and software interpretation.
In this latest blog post we will discuss how a Tru-Scan™ and FrothView™ technology was used to provide the % tray space to show the amount or percentage of available tray spacing that is occupied by froth or aerated liquid. Knowledge of the actual process conditions inside a vessel, provides engineers with the ability to make process adjustments accordingly.
Read More
Topics:
Process Diagnostics,
Gamma Scanning,
Tray Capacity,
Tru-Scan,
Column Performance,
FrothView
Improving process operating margins can be achieved by maximising production of higher value products and/or minimising production costs. It is important for plant engineers to know how much capacity is available in the trays in a distillation tower. Gamma scanning is an established method used by many in the process industries as a qualitative tool to help troubleshoot distillation towers. Gamma scanning can be used to diagnose virtually any operating malfunction that can be identified by an observable change in density. This includes most mechanical, process or rate related problems such as tray damage, foaming, weeping and entrainment. By deploying new measurement detector technology and incorporating innovative analysis of gamma scanning data, plant engineers can now acc ss the all-important quantitative data about the capacity of distillation towers.
Read More
Topics:
Process Diagnostics,
Gamma Scanning,
Tray Capacity,
Distillation Column Performance,
Carryover,
Weeping,
Entrainment,
Tru-Scan,
Column Flooding,
Tray Damage,
FrothView
