Reboiler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses see Reboiler (disambiguation)
Reboilers are heat exchangers typically used to provide heat to the bottom of
industrial distillation columns. They boil the liquid from the bottom of a distillation
column to generate vapors which are returned to the column to drive the
distillation separation. The heat supplied to the column by the reboiler at the bottom
of the column is removed by the condenser at the top of the column.
Proper reboiler operation is vital to effective distillation. In a typical classical
distillation column, all the vapor driving the separation comes from the reboiler. The
reboiler receives a liquid stream from the column bottom and may partially or
completely vaporize that stream. Steam usually provides the heat required for the
vaporization.
Contents
1 Types of reboilers
o
1.1 Kettle reboilers
1.2 Thermosyphon reboilers
1.3 Fired reboiler
1.4 Forced circulation reboilers
2 See also
3 Further reading
4 External links
Types of reboilers
The most critical element of reboiler design is the selection of the proper type of
reboiler for a specific service. Most reboilers are of the shell and tube heat
exchanger type and normally steam is used as the heat source in such reboilers.
However, other heat transfer fluids like hot oil or Dowtherm (TM) may be used. Fuelfired furnaces may also be used as reboilers in some cases.
Commonly used heat exchanger type reboilers are:
Image 1: Typical steam-heated kettle reboiler for distillation towers
Kettle reboilers
Kettle reboilers (Image 1) are very simple and reliable. They may require pumping of
the column bottoms liquid into the kettle, or there may be sufficient liquid head to
deliver the liquid into the reboiler. In this reboiler type, steam flows through the tube
bundle and exits as condensate. The liquid from the bottom of the tower, commonly
called thebottoms, flows through the shell side. There is a retaining wall or
overflow weir separating the tube bundle from the reboiler section where the residual
reboiled liquid (called the bottoms product) is withdrawn, so that the tube bundle is
kept covered with liquid and reduce the amount of low-boiling compounds in the
bottoms product
Image 2: Typical horizontal thermosyphon reboiler
Thermosyphon reboilers
Thermosyphon reboilers (Image 2) do not require pumping of the column bottoms
liquid into the reboiler. Natural circulation is obtained by using the density difference
between the reboiler inlet column bottoms liquid and the reboiler outlet liquid-vapor
mixture to provide sufficient liquid head to deliver the tower bottoms into the reboiler.
Thermosyphon reboilers (also known as calandrias) are more complex than kettle
reboilers and require more attention from the plant operators. There are many types
of thermosyphon reboilers including vertical, horizontal, once-through or recirculating.
Image 3: A forced recirculating fired heater reboiler
Fired reboiler
Fired heaters (Image 3), also known as furnaces, may be used as a distillation
column reboiler. A pump is required to circulate the column bottoms through the heat
transfer tubes in the furnace's convection and radiant sections. The heat source for
the fired heater reboiler may be either fuel gas or fuel oil.
Image 4: Typical steam-heated forced circulation reboiler for distillation towers
Forced circulation reboilers
A forced circulation reboiler (Image 4) uses a pump to circulate the column bottoms
liquid through the reboilers. This is useful if the reboiler must be located far from the
column, or if the bottoms product is extremely viscous.
Some fluids are temperature sensitive such as those subject to polymerization by
contact with high temperature heat transfer tube walls. High liquid recirculation rates
are used to reduce tube wall temperatures, thereby reducing polymerization on the
tube and associated fouling.
See also
Vaporization
Boiling
Further reading
Kister, Henry Z. (1992). Distillation Design (1st Edition ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 007-034909-6.
Perry, Robert H. and Green, Don W. (1984). Perry's Chemical Engineers'
Handbook (6th Edition ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-049479-7.
External links
Column reboilers
Sketches and discussion of various reboiler types
