Determining the causes of failure of the distillation column for the esterification of n-butanol with acetic acid

Abstract

The aim of the work is to determine the causes of corrosion of the distillation column from material 1.4571 (316Ti) in which acetic acid was produced. The column underwent a rapid and significant wear in a very short time during exploitation. To determine the causes of the failure, samples for testing were cut out of the components of the used distillation column. In the first test chemical analysis of the individual elements was carried out in order to specify the type of steel out of which they were made. The next step was to examine the structure of these elements and to perform microanalysis of the chemical composition of ferrite and austenite. After the completion and analysis of all necessary tests, conclusions were formulated to explain the causes of material consumption.