Watch Out for Trapped Components in Towers

摘要

KEEPING A chemical process running smoothly is one of the top priorities of plant management and operations. Process upsets and unplanned shutdowns interrupt production, lead to additional maintenance and extra costs, and generally cause headaches for everyone involved. As a result, a unit operation that experiences repeated upsets culminating in its shutdown and curtailed product output quickly becomes the focus of attention for plant personnel. This was the case in a cellulosics production unit atDow's Midland, Mich., site - a steam stripper for removal of low levels of methanol and other lights from a process Wastewater stream was suffering sudden unexplained pressure drop and level fluctuations that required shutdowns and restarts to resolve the towers erratic performance.