Our topic this month is to recap all the previous articles. Below is a list of each article and a brief description. If you would like the complete article please feel free to contact us and we will be glad to send it.
Question of the Month
A service agreement includes services, typically a baseline survey, training, troubleshooting survey as needed, and review of trends, within an agreed amount of time, typically a year or between turnarounds.
This topic was about wet steam or poor steam quality and its impact on ejectors and their operation. Ejectors utilize motive steam to generate vacuum. Understanding how steam quality impacts ejectors is important for both the performance and mechanical reliability.
June 2018 – Air leakage and Vacuum Systems
This topic was about air leakage and how that air leakage impacts an ejector system.
July 2018 – Ejector Inspection
This topic was about ejector inspections. The article covered how to inspect an ejector and what to look for to verify that the ejector is in proper working condition. It covered what damage or problems you might uncover during an inspection and the associated causes of these issues.
August 2018 – Cooling Water Supply Temperature
This topic was about cooling water supply temperature and its impact on ejector vacuum system performance. Hot cooling water supply is a common problem during the warm summer months and often the cause of seasonal surging and vacuum instability.
September 2018 – Cavitation and Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps
This topic was about Cavitation. Cavitation is one of the leading causes of damage to liquid ring pumps. Understanding what cavitation is, under what conditions it forms, and how to prevent it are important concepts to anyone that works with this type of pump.
October 2018 – Vacuum Condensers Vs. Heat Exchangers
Vacuum condensers and heat exchangers are different, which can be a point of confusion and misunderstanding. This article aimed to help differentiate the two and allow for better understanding why they are not interchangeable.
November 2018 – Condenser Condensate Drain Lines
This topic was about condensate drain lines and how to properly pipe them so that they do not cause performance problems.
December 2018 – Ejector Icing and Steam Jackets
This topic was about ejector icing and steam jackets. Some ejectors are supplied with a steam jacket and the article aimed to explain why those ejectors require a steam jacket while others don’t.
January 2019 – Proper Use of Hogging Ejectors
This topic was about “Hogging” ejector, which is often used to describe a specific ejector application where a dedicated ejector is being used to quickly evacuate a system at start up. A hogging ejector is used in this scenario to assist the vacuum system in removing that air, which in turn helps the system start up faster.
February 2019 – Low Cooling Water Flow in Ejector Systems
This topic was about low cooling water flow. Low cooling water flow is an issue that that impacts a vacuum system in multiple ways and can cause vacuum instability.
March 2019 – Ejector Vacuum Control
This topic was about ejector system vacuum control. There are multiple ways to control an ejector’s suction pressure. This article aimed to cover all of the primary ways to control an ejector’s suction pressure and provide some insight into the pros and cons of each configuration.
April 2019 – Proper Installation and Set up for Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps
This topic was about liquid ring vacuum pumps and their proper installation and set-up. While liquid ring vacuum pumps tend to be fairly resilient and robust, they do require some knowledge to properly install and set up. Often many of the issues associated with liquid ring vacuum pumps can be attributed to errors made in the initial installation and control arrangement.
May 2019 – Condenser Inspection
This topic was about condenser inspections. This article covered how to inspect a condenser and what to look for to verify that the condenser is in proper working condition. It also covered what damage or problems you might uncover during an inspection and the associated causes of these issues.
June 2019 – Ejector Backstreaming
This topic reviewed the phenomenon of backstreaming of motive steam in an ejector system. In addition to a loss of vacuum, backstreaming can result in lost product quality due to contamination in the process vessel. This topic explained why ejectors backstream and how backstreaming can be identified and therefore better understood.
July 2019 – Vacuum Distillation Ejector System Turnaround Preparation
This topic discussed the maintenance activities that need to be planned in preparation for a turnaround. The article focused specifically on vacuum distillation ejector systems, although much of the article was pertinent to any vacuum ejector system that runs continuously with infrequent down time.
August 2019 – Starting Up and Shutting Down Vacuum Systems
This topic was about the proper way to start up and shut down an ejector vacuum system. There are many different configurations for vacuum systems. This article covered the basics that will apply to most systems.
September 2019 – Wet Steam and Ejector Operation
This topic was about wet steam or poor steam quality and its impact on ejectors and their operation. Ejectors utilize motive steam to generate vacuum. Understanding how steam quality impacts ejectors is important for both the performance and mechanical reliability.
October 2019 – Ejector Performance Curves
This topic focused on ejector performance curves. All info in the article pertains to critical compression ejectors or ejectors that operate at a compression ratio of (1.8:1) or greater. It also covered how to read an ejector curve, explain how the different loading factors impact an ejector’s suction pressure, and talked about what conditions are needed for an ejector curve to be valid.
November 2019 – Steam Turbine Exhaust Condenser Venting Systems
This topic was about steam ejector air removal venting systems. Correct operation of these systems is critical for achieving proper condenser performance and maximizing turbine efficiency. There are different configurations of air removal venting systems but they all serve the same purpose of removing air from the system. The most common type of air removal system in this application is comprised of steam jet ejectors, which come in multiple configurations and where discussed in this article. Other types of air removal systems are liquid ring vacuum pumps or a hybrid system including both ejectors and liquid ring pumps, both of which will be discussed in later articles as this article focuses on ejector air removal systems.
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