Improvement in Steam Stripping of Sour Water through an Industrial-Scale Simulation

Sour water containing hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, and ammonia is mainlypurified by steam stripping. Increased concern in recent times over effluent water quality and energy saving has causedsour water striping to atract considerable attention. However, the development of the operation methodology andstructure of this process has not ben systemic, leading to inefficiencies in the systems commonly used. In this paper,the characteristics of a sour water stripping column are investigated by using an industrial-scale simulation. From theseresults, we propose several guidelines (high fed temperature, low composition of CO2 in the feed, need of rectifyingsection, low mass flow rate of the second recycle stream, high reflux ratio, and modified structure using a pump-aroundside cooler) for improving stripper performance through changes in the operating condition and process structure. Theproposed structure and guidelines can be applied not only to reduce steam consumption and lower the ammonia con-centration in the effluent water but also to operate the system stably. KCI Citation Count: 7