A challenge to design and fabricate, the largest-known PVDF-lined vessels now successfully serve at PTA plants
When BP, London, decided to expand its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) capabilities in the Far East, the company was faced with the prospect of building two large scrubbers that would be subject to bromine corrosion. BP, working in conjunction with CPF Dualam, Montreal, decided to fabricate these large vessels for bromine service using chemically inert Kynar polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), from Atofina Chemicals, Philadelphia, as a primary corrosion barrier.
BP and Dualam selected Kynar PVDF because it also provides the chemical and permeation resistance necessary at the operating temperatures while being a cost-effective fluoropolymer. Predicting service lives for the vessels is difficult, but they are expected to last as long as titanium vessels, or more than 20 years, depending on service conditions.
Author: Diane Dierking
Posted on: May 2004
Source: Chemical Processing
http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2004/217/
