Sulphuric acid plant optimization and troubleshooting

Abstract

In an ideal world in which sulphuric acid plant operators could have anything they wish for, many would request an acid plant that never experiences corrosion, never has gas leaks, and never needs catalyst screening. And yet that is not the reality. All sulphuric acid plant operators experience acid mist carryover from sulphuric acid towers at some stage. If this is not detected and corrected quickly, extensive damage can be caused to downstream equipment. Not all mist carryover issues arc related to poorly performing mist eliminators. This paper presents a review of the entire tower as a unit and discusses how process conditions, packing, acid distribution, mechanical factors, or mist eliminators affect the performance of the tower, a? well as early detection and troubleshooting tools and methods.