What Caused Tower Malfunctions in the Last 50 Years?

doi:10.1205/026387603321158159

Chemical Engineering Research and Design

Volume 81, Issue 1, January 2003, Pages 5-26

https://doi.org/10.1205/026387603321158159 Get rights and content

Nine hundred case histories of malfunctioning towers reported over the last 50 years were surveyed and analyzed. Our analysis shows rapid growth in the number of malfunctions with no signs of decline. Plugging, especially of tray active areas, packing and distributors, tops the malfunctions list. Coking (refinery towers only), scale and corrosion, and precipitation were the most common causes. The tower base comes second, where liquid level rising above the reboiler inlet caused premature flood and even internals damage. Attention to level measurement and kettle reboiler pressure balance are key preventive measures. Next follow tower internals damage, abnormal operation incidents (startup, shutdown, commissioning), assembly mishaps, packing liquid distributors, intermediate draws, misleading measurements, reboilers, and explosions. Tray design and tower simulation, two topics that receive much attention in the literature, are not high up on the malfunction list. The survey teaches numerous lessons on each of the malfunctions which are invaluable for achieving trouble-free design and operation of distillation towers.

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What Caused Tower Malfunctions in the Last 50 Years?

Trans IChemE, Part A, Chem Eng Res Des

Hazard of Water

Hazard of Steam

Safe Ups and Downs

A major incident during startup

Loss Prev Bull

Troubleshoot packed towers with radioisotopes

Chem Eng Progr

Diagnosing and preventing tray damage in distillation columns

Troubleshooting distillation columns

Distillation Operation

Can we believe the simulation results?

Chem Eng Progr

Recent trends in distillation tower malfunctions, Paper accepted for presentation at the