Gamma Scanning of FRI Reboiler Vapor Return Lines

FRI's distillation unit includes two columns and two reboilers. Those reboilers are virtually identical and can be linked together. Liquid entrainment issuing from the tops of those reboilers is difficult to calculate due to the presence of simple knock-down baffles just beneath the vapor product nozzles. A window directly opposite the low-pressure column reboiler vapor return nozzle is supposed to allow easy visual observation of the reboiler entrainment. During November 2009 testing, a rain of condensate inside that column made it very difficult to see the entrainment level. Gamma scanning, in the form of monitoring with nucleonic density gauges, of the two reboiler vapor lines revealed that entrainment from the two reboilers was lower than expected, even at very high heat duties.

KEYWORDS

distillation reboiler scanning entrainment