Troubleshooting the Diameter Transition Zone of a Depropanizer Tower
Southwest Process Technology Conference
2009
1st AIChE Regional Process Technology Conference
General Submissions
Distillation and Separation
Friday, October 2, 2009 - 11:00am to 11:30am
A depropanizer tower with a large diameter top section and smaller diameter bottom section was field tested and studied for its root cause of flooding. In the diameter transition zone, a two-phase feed was being introduced. Gamma scans identified that the trays in the top section were flooding and the liquid accumulation initiated in the transition zone. A neutron backscatter technique was used to investigate downcomer hydraulics and identify the root-cause of flooding in the top section of the column.