compression of corrosives - not pratical..

[jamesbanda]

dear all,

has anyone used a compressor on corrosive material. as far as i am aware it is pratically not possible for large flows ie above 10000m3/hr+...

is this true..

 

[dcasto]

Give us details of corrosive materials. I've compressed a lot of water saturated CO2, O2 and H2S at high rates.

 

[jamesbanda]

say wet HCl gas..

i am trying to evaluate if there is any milage on reducing capital cost by removing a cooling drying step..

 

[dcasto]

My experience says that making the compressor cylinder out of mild carbon steel, then having the valves, rods, and other material made out of 316 (?) is ok because during the compression cycle there is no free water to allow corrosion. All the interstage piping and coolers will be 316. You can then do a cost analysis with that kind of specification versus all carbon steel and a dryer system. I'd look at doing the first stage compression as described above and then dry the HCl before the final stages. So a combination may be the best solution.