Rectifying a Reactive Distillation Column

Reactive Distillation technology is used to produce “Material A” silane. Since the inception of making this material at a commercial scale, the process has been plagued with issues challenging stable operation. Pressure instability has caused flashing of column inventory and an inability to meet product specifications. Steam upsets such as sudden surges in steam flow rates have resulted in column disturbances that have shutdown production. An additional constraint on the process is a limited timeline to start the process and achieve product specification, otherwise the process has to shutdown and then restart, generating unnecessary waste and expense. All of these factors have led to a lower than desired process reliability to make this product.

The author led a team which conducted a thorough investigation of the issues and was able to diagnose the problem and successfully implement solutions. This paper captures the results of the troubleshooting investigation, the diagnosis and the successful results achieved.