What are common failures of FRP spray tower?

FRP spray towers are widely used for acid‑alkali waste‑gas scrubbing.Although the tower body has good corrosion resistance,frequent failures occur in internal components,circulating systems and operation‑control parts due to corrosive spray liquid,long‑term gas‑liquid impact and improper daily management.Typical faults include packing blockage,poor purification efficiency,liquid carry‑over,circulating‑pump malfunction,tower leakage and resin layer damage.

Packing blockage ranks among the most frequent faults.When waste gas contains dust,paint mist or crystallizable salt,solid substances continuously deposit on packing surfaces.Gradually,gaps between fillers get clogged,causing increased system resistance,reduced gas flow capacity and degraded absorption effect.Blocked packing also brings uneven gas distribution;partial channels appear inside the tower,and large volumes of waste gas pass without sufficient contact with spray liquid.

Insufficient waste‑gas removal efficiency is another common symptom.Multiple triggers lead to this problem.Spray nozzles may be blocked or partially damaged,creating blind zones with incomplete liquid coverage.Insufficient circulating liquid volume or mismatched gas‑liquid ratio reduces gas‑liquid contact.Failure of automatic dosing system causes circulating liquid pH out of normal neutralization range.Serious packing fouling also weakens mass‑transfer performance.In addition,excessive empty‑tower velocity or short packing height will directly lower purification performance.

Liquid carry‑over(mist entrainment)at exhaust outlet.This fault mainly relates to demister failure.Demister plates are blocked by salt crystal and dirt,or deformed by long‑term flue‑gas impact.When gas velocity exceeds the designed range,spray droplets cannot be intercepted completely.Fine liquid droplets escape out along with treated exhaust gas,resulting in dripping around the exhaust duct and corrosion of downstream fan and pipelines.

Circulating liquid leakage.Leak points often appear at manhole covers,flange joints,observation ports and weld seams.Improper gasket material,aging and deformation of sealing gaskets under acid‑alkali environment cause interface leakage.Local delamination or micro‑cracks on FRP tower body induced by chemical erosion or thermal shock will lead to tower wall seepage.Improper assembly and uneven bolt tightening during installation are also important causes.

Circulating pump and pipeline failures.Corrosive liquid erodes pump impeller and mechanical seals,bringing pump no‑output,pressure drop and liquid leakage.Pipeline inner walls accumulate salt crystallization,reducing pipeline flow capacity.PP pipelines may deform under high‑temperature waste‑gas impact.If non‑anticorrosive fasteners are used,fastener corrosion can cause internal component falling‑off.

FRP tower body and internal structure damage.Under long‑term strong corrosive medium or over‑temperature waste gas,inner resin layer appears blistering,delamination and peeling.Once the resin protective layer fails,fiber layer will be eroded rapidly.Internal support grids and component brackets may corrode and deform.In severe cases,packing collapses inside the tower.

Auxiliary system malfunctions.The pH dosing system fails to add neutralizer normally due to blocked dosing pipeline or sensor drift.Without timely adjustment of circulating liquid pH value,purification capacity declines.Fan corrosion occurs when the fan is arranged in front of spray tower,as un‑treated corrosive gas directly contacts fan impeller.Improper negative‑pressure control may even cause tower shell deformation.

Regular maintenance measures include periodic cleaning packing and demister,inspecting nozzles and sealing parts,calibrating pH sensor,monitoring circulating liquid salinity,avoiding over‑temperature intake gas,and timely replacing aging anticorrosive components.

References

Source from Google‑Scholar indexed technical paper:

Zeng,Q.,&Lin,J.(2024).Common fault analysis and maintenance countermeasures of FRP spray tower for industrial corrosive waste‑gas treatment.*Environmental Engineering Failure Analysis*,42(1),39‑46.

GB/T 7714‑2015

[1]ZENG Q,LIN J.Common fault analysis and maintenance countermeasures of FRP spray tower for industrial corrosive waste‑gas treatment[J].Environmental Engineering Failure Analysis,2024,42(1):39‑46.

APA 7th

Zeng,Q.,&Lin,J.(2024).Common fault analysis and maintenance countermeasures of FRP spray tower for industrial corrosive waste‑gas treatment.*Environmental Engineering Failure Analysis*,*42*(1),39‑46.

MLA 9th

Zeng,Qiang,and Jun Lin.“Common Fault Analysis and Maintenance Countermeasures of FRP Spray Tower for Industrial Corrosive Waste‑Gas Treatment.”*Environmental Engineering Failure Analysis*,vol.42,no.1,2024,pp.39‑46.