Distillation Troubleshooting

THE FIRST BOOK OF ITS KIND ON DISTILLATION TECHNOLOGY

The last half-century of research on distillation has tremendously improved our understanding and design of industrial distillation equipment and systems. High-speed computers have taken over the design, control, and operation of towers. Invention and innovation in tower internals have greatly enhanced tower capacity and efficiency. With all these advances, one would expect the failure rate in distillation towers to be on the decline. In fact, the opposite is the case: the tower failure rate is on the rise and accelerating.

Distillation Troubleshooting collects invaluable hands-on experiences acquired in dealing with distillation and absorption malfunctions, making them readily accessible for those engaged in solving today's problems and avoiding tomorrow's. The first book of its kind on the distillation industry, the practical lessons it offers are a must for those seeking the elusive path to trouble-free distillation.

Distillation Troubleshooting covers over 1,200 case histories of problems, diagnoses, solutions, and key lessons. Coverage includes:
* Successful and unsuccessful struggles with plugging, fouling, and coking
* Histories and prevention of tray, packing, and internals damage
* Lessons taught by incidents and accidents during shutdowns, commissioning, and abnormal operation
* Troubleshooting distillation simulations to match the real world
* Making packing liquid distributors work
* Plant bottlenecks from intermediate draws, chimney trays, and feed points
* Histories of and key lessons from explosions and fires in distillation towers
* Prevention of flaws that impair reboiler and condenser performance
* Destabilization of tower control systems and how to correct it
* Discoveries from shutdown inspections
* Suppression of foam and accumulation incidents

A unique resource for improving the foremost industrial separation process, Distillation Troubleshooting transforms decades of hands-on experiences into a handy reference for professionals and students involved in the operation, design, study, improvement, and management of large-scale distillation.

Preface
Acknowledgments
How to Use this Book
Abbreviations

Chapter 1 : Troubleshooting Distillation Simulations
Chapter 2 : Where Fractionation Goes Wrong
Chapter 3 : Energy Savings and Thermal Effects
Chapter 4 : Tower Sizing and Material Selection Affect Performance
Chapter 5 : Feed Entry Pitfalls in Tray Towers
Chapter 6 : Packed-Tower Liquid Distributors: Number 6 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 7 : Vapor Maldistr5ibution in Trays and Packings
Chapter 8 : Tower Base Level and Reboiler Return: Number 2 on the top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 9 : Chimney Tray Malfunctions: Part of Number 7 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 10 : Draw-Off Malfunctions (Non-Chimney Tray) Part of Number 7 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 11 : Tower Assembly Mishaps: Number 5 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 12 : Difficulties During Start-Up, Shutdown, Commissioning, and Abnormal Operation: Number 4 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 13 : Water-Induced Pressure Surges: Part of Number 3 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 14 : Explosions, Fires, and Chemical Releases: Number 10 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 15 : Undesired Reactions in Towers
Chapter 16 : Foaming
Chapter 17 : The Tower as a Filter: Part A. Causes of Plugging-Number 1 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 18 : The Tower as a Filter: Part B. Location of Plugging-Number 1 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 19 : Coking: Number 1 on the Top Malfunctions
Chapter 20 : Leaks
Chapter 21 : Relief and Failure
Chapter 22 : Tray, Packing, and Tower Damage: Part of Number 3 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 23 : Reboilers That Did Not Work: Number 9 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 24 : Condensers That Did Not Work
Chapter 25 : Misleading Measurements: Number 8 on the Top 10 Malfunctions
Chapter 26 : Control System Assembly Difficulties
Chapter 27 : Where Do Temperature and Composition Controls Go Wrong?
Chapter 28 : Misbehaved Pressure, Condenser, Reboiler, and Preheater Controls
Chapter 29 : Miscellaneous Control Problems

References
Index