Column Steam-out

[tariq81]

There is a proposal to increase the steam out duration of an NGL Fractionation column from 12 - 24 hours during preparation for turnaround. The idea is that will reduce the amount of hand cleaning required as the steam would strip off the accumulating material. Any concerns? Would extended steaming cook the material into the trays?

Thanks

 

[Duwe6]

Depends on the volatility of the crud left in the trays. You might want to either just try it and see what happens, or run a small test. Test could be a sample of one to three dirty trays [or at least the tray doors pulled from your column] and steam them for 24 hours and see what happens.