When the main cooling system leaks severely, a large amount of nitrogen with high pressure leaks into the low-pressure oxygen side, causing significant changes in the upper and lower tower pressures and product purity until normal production cannot be maintained and the system is shut down.
When the main cooling system leaks slightly, it often does not cause significant changes in the pressure of the upper and lower towers, nor does it cause a significant decrease in the purity of liquid oxygen in the main cooling system. The common phenomenon is that there is a significant difference in purity between the main cold air oxygen and liquid oxygen, and the gas phase concentration is lower than the concentration value that is in equilibrium with liquid oxygen.
There are several reasons for leakage:
1) The pipes are worn and leaked from each other due to vibration. During operation, due to the impact and vibration of the airflow, it is easy to deform and rub against each other in the middle of the pipe, which may cause wear and leakage over time.
2) The water inside the pipe freezes and cracks. When the heating is not thorough, especially when the small pipe is blocked, which creates opportunities for accumulated water and cannot be blown away during heating, the water freezes into ice at low temperatures, causing volume expansion, which may cause the small pipe to freeze and crack.
3) The main cooling system experienced a slight local explosion. When a local area in the main cooling system accumulates acetylene or hydrocarbons, an explosion may occur under certain conditions. When such a minor explosion occurs, there is no external response or sound, and it is often imperceptible at first. This situation is only possible when the oxygen purity automatically changes but cannot be adjusted.
DEAR Air Separation attaches great importance to every project, meticulously crafted every detail, and spares no effort in production and manufacturing, only capable of air separation and high-quality air separation. Multiple individual equipment has also achieved patent results.
