Clarification upsets and ion exchange resin symptoms due to design

Abstract: Ion exchange resin (IER) decolorization columns face challenges because of upstream process upsets and certain design choices. Some of these challenges have been caused by excessive amounts of calcium carbonate carried over from press filtration to the IER columns. As a result, the columns experience sudden impacts on performance, which causes a premature shutdown or retention of the calcium carbonate, degrading resin performance over time. In addition, the refinery suffers in terms of overall throughput due to pressure drop in the IER columns or reduced decolorization and higher amount wash syrup in the centrifuges. Fiber glass nozzles installed in the columns have been replaced with stainless steel nozzles. Pros and cons of the replacement are discussed, which resulted in a much longer service life of the nozzles.