Question:
I retubed a butane splitter (iso vs.
normal) reboiler recently. Twenty percent of the tubes were plugged. Yet I lost
reboiler capacity with the retubed bundle. Why did we lose capacity, rather
than increase capacity by twenty percent?
Answer:
The problem is smooth tubes that lack
nucleate boiling sites. This happens all the time. The old tubes were rough and
pitted. Increasing the condensing pressure of the reboiler steam will only make
the problem worse. One possibility is to sand blast the tubes to roughen their
surface. Alternately, you can use “Linde Hi-flux,” sintered metal coating.
Whichever you find most cost effective.
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