Emerging streams

The purpose of the facilities described in this chapter is to provide for safe handling of various drainage materials and emergency streams, so that they may be safely routed to the sewer, tankage, flare, or other appropriate destination. Drainage systems specified herein ensure that flammable or toxic materials may be disposed of without hazard of fire or injury when equipment is taken out of service. Also described are systems to handle process water drawoffs, cooling water, and other aqueous effluent streams which may be contaminated with hydrocarbons, and which could otherwise create hazardous conditions if they were discharged directly to the sewer. 

In the case of hydrodynamic streaming, flow lines and velocity gradients will be set up in the vicinity of the aperture and the emergent stream will form a pronounced jet. 

As stream segmentation prior to stream splitting was not involved in either of these classical applications, the flow rates of the emergent streams were governed by the aspiration rates of a peristaltic pump. Although the splitting process is a simple concept, its initial development required much effort. After the experience with a two-channel system... 

In this method, a steady stream of inert gas passes over or through the sample held at a constant temperature. The concentration of the sample in the emerging stream is measured. This concentration is then converted to partial pressure, usually by assuming an ideal gas mixture. This partial pressure is the vapor pressure. The method is applicable for solid or liquid samples. 

The second method of experimentally simulating an absorber is to make what might be called an "integral" or "complete" model. Here not only the microscopic scale, but also the macroscopic scale issues are considered. Such a model would have the same mode of operation (for packed columns, countercurrent for instance) into which feeds of gas and liquid at the right composition, pressure and temperature are fed in the right ratio of feed-rates and the compositions of the emerging streams have the same values as would be obtained from the industrial equipment which is being modeled. 

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