The TSR Hendon site operates three distillation plants; S1, S2 and S3. These operate by heating the crude solvent mixture in a batch reactor (known as a kettle). The vapour is condensed in a vertical tubular column and the various components (or fractions) are separated.
The current S2 kettle was installed in 2010 and has seen much use. It is reaching the end of its operational life and a project is currently underway to replace it. The S2 plant is instrumental in processing streams for all of our customers and its contribution forms an important part of the sites operation. After careful consideration a design was finalised and sent out for tender to several specialist manufacturing firms, one of which was selected to carry out the contract.
The kettle is currently in construction at the manufacturers’ workshop. The top, bottom & body are all made from a special grade of stainless steel. This material of construction was selected to prolong the life of the kettle by increasing its resistance to corrosion, which boiling the solvent mixtures incur.
To heat the contents, steam is piped into tubes running around the circumference of the kettle. To ensure even heating these are made to a precise specification and have to be laid up & welded onto the kettle by hand – a time consuming process!
Following completion the kettle will be delivered to site where it will be lagged with an insulating layer so as to improve its heating efficiency. It is currently due to be installed in the latter part of 2015.
