Views: 6 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-01-23 Origin: Site
Dry Coolers in the Petrochemical Field
Process Cooling
Fractionation Tower Top Cooling: In the fractionation process of petroleum refining, high temperature oil and gas will be discharged from the top of the fractionation tower. The dry cooler can cool these high temperature oil and gas, so that part of the oil and gas condenses into liquid for subsequent separation and collection. For example, in the crude oil atmospheric decompression distillation device, through the dry cooler on the top of the tower oil and gas preliminary cooling, can effectively reduce the temperature of oil and gas, for the follow-up into the condensing cooler for further cooling and separation to create the conditions to improve the efficiency of fractionation.
Reaction product cooling: In many chemical reactions in petrochemical industry, such as catalytic cracking, hydrogenation reaction, etc., the reaction products are usually in a high temperature state. Dry coolers can be used to cool these reaction products to the temperature conditions required for subsequent processing. Taking catalytic cracking unit as an example, dry cooler cools the oil and gas after the reaction, which helps to prevent the recombined components in the oil and gas from further reacting at high temperatures and affecting the product quality, and at the same time facilitates the subsequent gas-liquid separation and product recovery.
Compressor interstage cooling: In petrochemical production, gas compressors are commonly used to transport and pressurize gases. In multi-stage compressors, dry coolers can be installed between stages to cool the compressed gas, reduce the gas temperature and improve the efficiency and stability of the compressor. Because the temperature of the gas rises during compression, cooling between stages allows the gas to shrink in volume, reducing the power consumption of the next stage of compression, and also prevents damage to the compressor equipment caused by high gas temperatures.
Condensation Recovery
Recovery of light hydrocarbons: In petrochemical enterprises, it is often necessary to recover light hydrocarbons from various process gases, such as ethane, propane, butane and so on. The dry cooler can cool the process gas containing light hydrocarbons, so that the light hydrocarbons condense into liquid, which is easy to be recovered and utilized. For example, in the natural gas treatment plant, the dry cooler cools the pre-treated natural gas to condense the light hydrocarbons, and then separates the light hydrocarbons from the other gases through the separation equipment, realizing the recovery of light hydrocarbons and improving the utilization rate of resources.
Solvent recovery: In some petrochemical production processes, various organic solvents are used, such as benzene, toluene, xylene and so on. The dry cooler can be used to cool the exhaust gas or tail gas containing solvents, so that the solvent vapors can be condensed into liquid, thus realizing the recovery and reuse of solvents. This not only reduces production costs, but also reduces pollution of the environment. For example, in some fine chemical production plant, through the dry cooler on the emission of organic waste gas cooling condensation, recovery of organic solvents, to achieve the purpose of energy saving and emission reduction.
Circulating Water Cooling Alternative
Circulating water system bypass cooling: In the circulating water system of petrochemical enterprises, dry cooler can be used as bypass cooling equipment. A portion of the hot water in the circulating water system is introduced into the dry cooler for cooling and then returned to the circulating water system, thus reducing the overall temperature of the circulating water. This can reduce the dependence on traditional water cooling towers, especially in areas where water resources are scarce or water quality is poor, the use of dry coolers for bypass cooling can improve the operational efficiency and stability of the circulating water system and reduce problems such as equipment corrosion and scaling due to water quality issues.
Part of the cooling needs of independent cooling: for some of the cooling water temperature requirements of higher or sensitive to the water quality of the process equipment, such as some high-precision analytical instruments, special chemical reactors, etc., can be used to dry cooler for independent cooling. Dry cooler can provide stable and clean cooling medium for these equipments to meet the strict requirements on cooling conditions and ensure the normal operation of equipments and product quality.
Waste Heat Recovery
Low Temperature Waste Heat Recovery: Petrochemical production processes generate a large amount of low temperature waste heat, which is usually difficult to be effectively recovered and utilized by traditional means. Dry cooler can be combined with other waste heat recovery equipment (such as heat pipe heat exchanger, absorption heat pumps, etc.) to transfer low-temperature waste heat to other processes or systems that need heat. For example, a dry cooler is utilized to transfer low-temperature waste heat to a preheater for heating raw materials or air, improving energy efficiency and reducing overall energy consumption.
Waste Heat Driven Refrigeration: In some petrochemical companies, the waste heat recovered from the dry cooler can be utilized to drive an absorption refrigeration system. The waste heat is transferred to the generator in the absorption refrigeration machine through the dry cooler, so that the desorption process occurs at high temperature of the work solution, producing high temperature and high pressure refrigerant vapors, and then passing through the condenser, throttle valve and evaporator and other components to achieve the refrigeration effect. In this way, waste heat can be converted into cold for process cooling or air-conditioning systems, etc., further improving the comprehensive utilization efficiency of energy.
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