ETHYLENE PLANT COOLING TOWER MONITORING AND HEAT EXCHANGER REPAIR METHODS

摘要

This paper will begin with a discussion of cooling water monitoring for an ethylene plant cooling tower that has been stringently regulated since 1998 by a Texas Commission On Environmental Quality (TCEQ) air permit. The air permit contains cooling tower monitoring requirements similar to the heat exchange systems section of the Ethylene MACT. Details will be presented for heat exchanger leak episodes, including extraordinary measures that have been taken over the past five years to keep the ethylene plant online and reduce the shutdown flaring emissions associated with the exchanger repairs.