Reboilers capacity, loss

Operators who have problems with loss of reboiler capacity often attribute these problems to condensate backup. This is usually true. To drop the level of water out of channel head, either the steam trap or the... 

Figure 13.4 Elevating a condensate drum above the reboiler, regardless of the steam supply pressure, will result in loss of reboiler capacity.

We can see, then, that either condensate backup, or blowing the condensate seal, will cause a steam reboiler to lose capacity. If you think either of these two problems could cause a loss in reboiler duty, try opening the bypass around the steam trap. If the reboiler duty goes up, the problem was condensate backup. If the reboiler duty goes down, then the problem might be a blown condensate seal. If it looks like a blown condensate seal problem, close the steam trap bypass. Then, partially close the valve downstream of the steam trap. If this increases the reboiler duty, a blown condensate seal failure is proved. 

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