A major municipality in Southern Florida was experiencing significant problems with several odor control scrubbers. Heightened levels of Hydrogen Sulfide gas had resulted in major odor issues. In addition to the significant odor issues they were experiencing due to high levels of Hydrogen Sulfide there was also a problem with corrosion. The high levels of Hydrogen Sulfide gas was also greatly accelerating the rate of corrosion of the scrubber equipment. After a through inspection of the scrubber units the maintenance supervisor discovered that the plastic random packing had become brittle and was breaking into small pieces. The broken pieces of plastic random packing were collecting at the bottom of the scrubber restricting the liquid and gas flow. The flow restriction or plugging of the unit prevented the scrubbers from functioning properly resulting in increased odor and corrosion.
The facility maintenance supervisor wanted to find a plastic random packing that was more efficient and less prone to plugging so he reached out to KemFlo for assistance. We discussed the potential options which included the Tri-Pack, Pall Ring and saddle style plastic random packing. While all of Kemflo’s plastic random packing styles would have performed better than their existing random packing, he selected the Tri-Pack for a variety of reasons. The Tri-Pack’s efficiency, durability and resin quality were among the reasons it was selected to replace their under performing plastic random packing. The Tri-Pack has a spherical shape which makes it easy to install and prevents void areas within the packing bed unlike irregular shaped packing or random packing with excessive pins and appurtenances. Because of this there is no need to make allowances for nesting and settling. The Tri-Pack has a unique design made up of ribs, struts and drop rods which provide significant surface area for liquid and gas contact but still allows plenty of open area for liquid and gas flow. The Tri-Pack offers consistent loading which means reliable and predictable performance. It’s superior geometric shape and active surface area are vital to mass transfer. While some plastic random packing manufacturers claim to have more surface area, surface area alone is not an indication of performance. In fact excessive surface area can result in improper gas flow, improper liquid contact and always results in higher pressure drop which increases operating cost.
Another reason KemFlo’s Tri-Pack style plastic random packing was selected for this application was the high quality of the raw material used to make it. KemFlo uses only high grade plastic resins to manufacturer all styles of random packing including the Tri-Pack. For quality control all of the resin that KemFlo uses in their manufacturing process can be traced back to the resin manufactures specific resin batch. This ensures that KemFlo’s customers are receiving random packing made from high quality raw material.
Since installing KemFlo’s Tri-Pack style packing their scrubber has performed above expectations and they have had no further problems with odor or equipment corrosion. KemFlo manufacturers the Tri-Pack in 1”, 2” and 3.5” sizes and it is available is a variety of resins. In addition to the Tri-Pack, KemFlo also manufactures a Pall Ring and plastic Saddle style random packing. For more information on the Tri-Pack, Pall Ring and plastic Saddle style packing please visit our website at kempac-packing.com.