Abstract:

The cracking gas dryer of a 700 kt/a ethylene plant used 4.0 MPaG steam to heat the methane for dryer regeneration. During the operation of the vapor phase dryer, the excessive water content at the outlet of dryer led to production capacity constraints and the emergency shutdown of the plant. By analyzing the reasons for the excessive water content of the dryer, leaks in the heater were eliminated. The blockage locations were determined base on the change in pressure difference across equipment during operation. The ice build-up in equipment and pipelines was eliminated by taking some measures to defrost the cryogenic equipment frozen and blocked, and normal production was resumed.

Key words: dryer, excessive water content, measure