Revised emergency vacuum relief device sizing for atmospheric distillation systems

Conventional vacuum relief methodologies are usually protective responses; that is, they accomplish their purpose by substitution of an inert gas (usually nitrogen) for the process gases removed by an external vacuum source, or for condensable vapour collapsed by an internal process mechanism (e.g. condensation). While this approach is theoretically possible for all potential vacuum scenarios, it becomes practically impossible to implement for installations where a rapid phase change can impart near-instantaneous system pressure reductions. The procedure outlined in this paper takes a preventive approach: eliminate the source of vacuum generation before the safe lower system pressure limit is reached. For distillation and other refluxing systems, this vacuum source is usually the main overhead condenser, which is designed to collapse large volumes of condensable vapour. To eliminate the vacuum source requires elimination of the system's ability to rapidly condense vapour. This goal is accomplished by introduction of inert gas directly into the condensing system to ‘blanket’ the heat transfer surface and stop condensation. The procedure determines the rate, amount and location for introduction of inert gas. The required design data include: (i) system starting pressure, (ii) maximum allowable system vacuum, (iii) volume of the condensing system, and (iv) normal system condensing rate. By determining the rate at which the condenser removes vapour volume from the system, and designing an inert gas delivery system to meet or exceed this rate, the vacuum generation potential of the system is effectively eliminated using a much smaller quantity of inert gas than with the more traditional volume substitution methods.