Stripping MEA with "Live" steam

[oxotx]

We have a MEA stripping column in our CO2 removal unit with an extremely undersized kettle reboiler, a problem that should be fixed in our next turnaround but that is 18 months away and we are looking for ways to get enough heat into the column to operate at reasonable rates until then.

One idea that has been proposed is to inject "live" steam from the boilers directly into the column there is a nozzle that we could connect a steam pipe to on the vapor outlet line coming from the reboiler. The problem is that even though we can break down 60psig steam through a valve it will still be much hotter then the vapor coming from the reboiler (~300 F vs. ~250 F).

Has anyone tried something similar? Any thoughts on what could go wrong and how to prevent it?

 

[ash9144]

It is an effective method for "adding" heat to a stripping tower. It also gives the benefit of adding a stripping gas into the tower.

A couple of things to check would be the overhead system and a thorough hazard analysis. You need to determine how much additional vapor would go overhead and whether your system can handle. You also want to make sure that the sparger isn't creating potential design failure, such as on high pressure.

I don't know how your unit handles condensate but sometimes condensate has a fairly high value. This can be a result of difficulty getting enough water to feed boilers or just the value of the treated bfw.

 

[maddocks]

You can certainly do this and it will work fine. The steam temp shouldn't be too hot and you really don't want to use superheated. Other than that, go for it.