Gerhard Ruffert, Dr. Bausa, and Di Halleneberger. Bayer Technology Services GmbH, Leverkusen, Germany
Hexane distillations seam to be a very common task in chemical and petrochemical industries. Nevertheless, the special behaviour of mixtures to be separated may lead to surprising effects inside the column. The presentation represents a case story of a hexane distillation with a 3 step debottlenecking development. By means of design numbers and Gamma-Scan diagrams the performance of the column is analysed and discussed during the 3 troubleshooting and revamp stages.