IR THERMOGRAPHY ON ABSORBER TOWER

[Monagas]

HELLO FRIENDS

WE ARE PLANNING A TURNAROUND IN ORDER TO PERFORM A MAINTENANCE CLEANING IN THE GAS DEHYDRATION FACILITIES. WE ARE EXPERIENCING A HIGHER DIFFERENCIAL PRESSURE ALONG THE ABSORBERS TOWERS . SO , I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF IT COULD BE ADVANTAGEOUS TO PERFORM AN IR THERMOGRAPHY SCANNING ON STRUCTURED PACKING INTERNALS TOWERS. OR IT IS ONLY WORKS BETTER FOR TRAYED TOWERS?

I WILL APPRECIATE ANY COMMENTS

REGARDS

 

[JoeTank]

Dude, turn off the CAPS LOCK button!!!

Joe Tank

 

[dcasto]

I suppose you could do a scan before you shutdown to see if there is channeling near the edge of the tower. Then after the washing see if you did any good. I don't see how such a scan can see past the walls of the vessel though.

 

[EmmanuelTop]

http://www.tracerco.com/products-processdiagnostics-towerscan.htm

http://www.tracerco.com/products-processdiagnostics-trutec.htm

http://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com...ng-and-Radioactive-Tracing-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

This is a common practice in hydrocarbon processing industry nowadays.

 

[Monagas]

THANKS DCASTO & EMMANUEL

YES, We could plan to perform a scanning before the shutdown. But I woold like to know what could be the best cost-effective technology for this application. Looking to the links provided by Emmanuel, I saw that there is a gamma scanning for that suits very well for packed columns.So a i can compare

Mr Dcasto take a look to this link, and see why Im thinking in thermography.

If you want to add another comments, please do it

Thank you very much

 

[EmmanuelTop]

In refinery where I was working, thermography was used for locating hot spots on process equipment - at those locations where hot spots should not appear, or where they are undesirable: a perfect example is scanning huge fired heaters in search for damaged thermal insulation.

I'm not sure how this can apply for scanning distillation towers, whether they are trayed or packed. Gamma-scanning is proven way for detection of vapor/liquid maldistribution, flooding, channeling etc. - once when all field troubleshooting methods fail.

Download the following article written by Henry Kister, where it has been explained how gamma-scanning was used for troubleshooting gas plant debutanizer:

http://www.fluor.com/about/downloads/Better feed entry ups.pdf

Good luck,

 

[dcasto]

I've done gamma with Tracerco and it predesessors, but not a thermo on a tower. The attached paper was a a unique plant where there is a large temperature change in the solvent contactor. The trayed coulum had totaly stop the solvent from flowing downward and the thermography showed them where. The solvent flow wass many times the gas flow on a mass basis.

In TEG contactors, the TEG is usually 10 degres warmer, but on a mass basis, it is typically a fraction of the gas flow.

As I stated before, you might be able to see a slightly warmer TEG running down the outside and channeling if you walked around the whole tower. I've never heard of a structed packing absorber having mechanical problems with the packing crushing or falling.

My question is, why do you worry about the pressure drop if you are in specification. Is the pressure drop sufficient enough that it costs extra energy in compression? Do you read pressure drop across the packing or the inlet and outlets?

I'd look at asking for demo of the thermography camera on the tower to see if you can see anything. I use a thermo gun to verify proper temps on all the things the person in the article wrote about in lew of a camera.

 

[Monagas]

Mr Dcasto Thank you very much. !

Even tough our system is under specification < 7 lbH2O / MMSCFD, We have a historical asphaltenes depositions in our process equipments, and my question to perform a scanning is to have an idea of where the building up is located and focus the maintenance in that point. If you can ask for the demo with the camera, I'll really appreciate it.

Saludos !

 

[EmmanuelTop]

Scanning the tower or any other piece of equipment which is not malfunctioning is a waste of money - why would anyone think about it? If you are able to deliver on-spec product during the entire period between the two scheduled (planned) turnarounds, there's no need to do it: when you open the tower, everything will be clear and visible.

Simply, it looks like digging a hole for which there's no tree or plant to put them inside.

 

[Monagas]

EMMANUEL, THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY

Every comments with people with great experience like you, dcasto & others, are welcome.

Regards