We have a carry over of ferrous particles from Amine Stripper to its downstream. The top portion of the column is SS 316L while the bottom is C.S. We suspect that the particles are coming from the CS portion due to corrosion where liquid amine level is maintained. Does anybody has an experience in this type of corrosion damage?? Pls let me know.

Amine Stripper - Corrosion Problem at the bottom Quite possibly the trays in the column are dislocated at the middle . This is a frequent problem in stirppers. This can result in uneven distribution of gas / liquid mixture on one side of the stripper. At areas where tray dislocatins had occurred (maximum distrubance in tray and the tray support collapse) you could expect corrosinon of Carbon steel base shell material. Strippers will get first corrosion pitting . Later if it is allowed for a long period of run, severe erosion- corrosion will occur in Amine strippers. Please check at the earliest available opportunitey of the plant to shut down and check for tray dislocations . Also check if severe erorsion - corrosion damage had taken place at the bottom carbon steel portion fo the shell. I have seen erorsion - corrosion to the exten of 10 mm of shell being eaten away due to such disturbance in tray collapse and uneven distribution of gas / liquid impingement on one portion of the bottom carbon steel. Repair becomes prolonged and difficult if you operate the plant with known tray disturbance and uneve gas / liwuid flow in the stripper. Trust this is of help for yoru problem C.V.Srinivasan Tech Director Nishi Engineers Pvt Ltd Chennai India March 29, 2004

M. Hachicha We can't advise on minimum wall thickness as that is specific to your tower materials spec and design conditions. Typically, you don't want the wall loss to exceed the corrosion allowance. Regarding the corrosion, corrosion in amine strippers is a complicated function of the amine chemistry, i.e., type of amine, amine degradation, amine loading, heat stable salt (HSA) types and amounts, whether you are operating a rich amine purge, amine temperatures, etc. The first thing you need to do is to understand the rich amine solution composition. Corrosion control measures can range from adding caustic, inhibitors, upgrading the tower metallurgy, etc. Hope this helps! David Hendrix The Hendrix Group Inc.