Chemical Engineering

A 600 psig, 3" steam line is experiencing "passing" or internal leakage. If you order to replace the valve, the process would have to be taken offline. A temporary solution to the problem is sought to get the plant to their next scheduled shut down ANSWER Research on-stream leak sealing services. This problem is quite common. What they would do in this case is drill a hole into the bypass valve on the upstream side but not completely into the line. They would then tap the hole and install one of your injection fittings, which is like a small plug valve. They would then take a long 1/8" drill bit and drill through the open injection fitting and into the pressurized line. The drill bit is then removed and our injection equipment is then attached. Sealant (heavy fibers and grease) is pumped into the line and caught in the flow, which will bind up against the leaking seat on the bypass valve. If done properly, this technique can be both effective and safe.

Check / consider the following:

► The upper pressure range and /or the smaller pipe diameters prompts me to investigate the possibility that the gas is reaching critical flow somewhere downstream within the pipe. When a gas gets to critical flow, sonic booms (producing vibration) are expected. In fact, one of the main means by which the additional pressure in the pipe is lost.

► If the source is a compressor, look for surging.

► If the source is a tower, look for pressure cycling in the tower

► Look at critical flow through any control valve that may be in the line.

► Are there any vapors in the line, which can condense and produce two-phase flow? Two-phase flow can cause vibration.

In chemical plant design, if we suspect two-phase flow, we instruct the piping designers to provide special anchoring.

It is unclear as to whether or not you know the total steam consumption. If you do not, one way to get it is to take the nominal capacity of the boiler in terms of heat, i.e. the total rated Btu/hr. This is usually available either through the documentation you have for the boiler or even on the nameplate. You also must know the steam pressure you are producing. Using the steam tables, get the enthalpy of the steam and divide it into the nominal boiler capacity to get the total rate. I hope that you also know how much of the capacity you are using, 50%, 75% etc. Multiply this by the total lb/hr to get your rate. Another way to get the capacity is by using the amount of boiler feed water you are sending to the boiler and the known level of steam you are producing. Do not forget to include the blow down in your heat & mass balance. Getting the rate to each plant is more difficult if you are lacking in instrumentation. Use as much plant instrumentation as possible; flow meters, pressure and temperature indicators. If you do not have a meter in each header to each plant, then see if you have them in sections or to pieces of equipment using the steam. Another way is to measure the amount of condensate you are returning to the boiler. If you are dumping the condensate, you may be able to collect and measure the amount in a pail from each source. Another way is to use the process instrumentation and do some mass and energy balances around the steam users.

There are various traditional methods to employ waste steam in an operating plant:

1. You can generate electricity through a steam turbine-generator set. The electricity is usually put back in the line; this is the idea behind the "Co-Gen" concept used today in many USA plants. Steam turbines can effectively use saturated steam supply down to 75 - 100 psig. In special conditions, they have used down to 50 psig as a turbine steam supply. I have used steam as low as 100 psig.

2. You can pre-heat process streams that require pre-heating; this is done by applying heat exchangers.

3. You can employ the waste steam as a refrigeration source by employing it in vacuum jet ejectors and producing 50 of cooling water.

You have to consider these as viable options if you can identify the heating, cooling and energy conservation requirements. An economic analysis is required to identify the most attractive option. You usually utilize a Discounted Cash Flow analysis to base your decision and that means you must study each case as to savings generated. A fourth method might be that you can use the steam for environmental heating (if you live in a cold climate).

Changing the color of copper by means of chemical reactions is a dangerous Endeavour that I really do not recommend. However, there is something you can do to get a green color, if fact if you are familiar with the Statue of Liberty here in America, this would explain why it is green. You see, the outside of the statue is coated with copper and being in New York City, it is subjected to acid rain. This causes the formation of another chemical that coats the copper and gives the statue its green color. The two acids that you can use are nitric acid (which works best) or sulfuric acid (which will probably require some gentle heating along with the acid). I am not sure if there were a good way to get nitric acid out of something you may have around the house, you would probably have to buy it.

Sulfuric acid can be obtained from car batteries (the liquid inside). You will want to boil the mixture (to concentrate it by evaporating the water), until you see white fumes (which are very dangerous). Then put your copper is while the acid is hot and leave it there until you get the color you would like. If you are going to do this, please do it outside or in a well ventilated area and make sure you have some baking soda handy is case you get some of the acid on your skin. If you are looking for a different color or more colors...

Four (4) main factors to consider include moisture content, temperature, particle size (and shape), and time at rest.

1) An increase in moisture content will generally make solids more "sticky". Some solids will absorb moisture from the air, which is why nitrogen is often used as a carrier gas (among other reasons).

2) For some solids, their ability to flow can be adversely impacted by temperature or even the length of time that the particles are exposed to a specific temperature. For example, soybean meal flows nicely at 90 °F but start to form large bridges at 100 °F.

3) Generally, the finer a bulk solid becomes, the more cohesive the particles. Round particles are generally easier to handle than "stringy" or oddly shaped particles.

As particles rest in a bin, they can compact together from their own weight. This can create strong bonds between the particles.

4) Often times, re-initiating flow can break these bonds and the solids will flow as normal, but this can depend on the load at given locations in the bin.