PETROCHEMICAL INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT

Pall provides the Petrochemical Processing Industry a variety of solutions for purifying intermediate products as they are processed, ensuring the purity of final products.

There are various intermediate steps where either water needs to be removed from organics or organics need to be removed from the water. These contaminants can reduce yield, product quality, and reaction rates, as well as foul and erode distribution equipment (e.g., pumps, nozzles, piping, and meters) and other process equipment (e.g., reactors, heat exchangers, contactor towers, distillation columns, engines, and boilers).

The inability to efficiently separate liquid/liquid emulsions can be a very costly problem in the petrochemical industry. Liquid contamination can cause final products to be off-specification, rapid deactivation of downstream catalysts, corrosion of downstream storage facilities, and increased costs for wastewater treatment.

Separating liquid/liquid dispersions can be difficult depending on the physical properties of the two liquid phases. The specific gravity, viscosity, and interfacial tension (IFT) of the two liquid phases are important parameters in determining how easy two liquids can be separated easily. Conventional coalescers begin to lose efficiency when the IFT gets below 20 dyne/cm. In addition, efficient separation is a function of the compatibility of the liquids with the coalescer medium.

PhaseSep® Coalescer filters efficiently separate liquid/liquid emulsions and liquid/liquid dispersions. The filters come both with and without separator stacks, depending on process conditions. The unique stack configuration optimizes flow distribution for smaller size and longer life. The superior liquid and particulate removal efficiency reduces incidents of the off-spec product thereby saving reprocessing, downgrade and transportation costs. Due to the PhaseSep® coalescer’s long life and superior liquid removal efficiency, the overall cost of contaminant removal is low even when compared to other less efficient methods like salt driers, electrostatic separators and sand filters. The long useful life of the PhaseSep cartridges obtained from our specially formulated medium and prefilter results in fewer cartridge changeouts, reducing maintenance and changeout costs and cartridge disposal costs.

The Pall PhaseSep® Y Series Coalescer is the latest member of the PhaseSep coalescer family. It is a high-efficiency separation cartridge constructed entirely of FDA-listed polyolefin material. This allows the PhaseSep Y series coalescer to be used in a wide range of liquid/ liquid separations.

The coalescer media contains a three-layered tapered pore construction. The emulsion first enters at the inside of the cartridge and passes through a coarse pre-filter layer to extend the service life. The fluid then encounters a fine media layer that initiates the coalescing process starting the enlargement of the droplets. The coalescing process is completed by a coarse media layer that maximizes the coalesced drop size before the fluid departs from the outside layer of the coalescer cartridge.

The presence of difficult to separate emulsions can be a costly problem. Liquid contaminants can cause final products to be off-specification, deactivate expensive catalysts, foul contactor and stripping trays, lead to corrosion and delays in downstream storage tanks, and increase the costs for wastewater treatment.

Pall PhasesSep® Series Coalescer Intermediate Product Petrochemical Purification Filters maintain high quality at high capacity for a longer service life for petrochemical intermediate products. For more information on how this system works and can be installed, click here to see purchase information or talk to a Pall expert.