(Solved): Troubleshooting. Corrosion of high-nickel stainless steel plates was found to occur in a distillati ...

Troubleshooting. Corrosion of high-nickel stainless steel plates was found to occur in a distillation column used at DuPont to separate HCN and water. Sulfuric acid is always added at the top of the col- umn to prevent polymerization of HCN. Water collects at the bottom of the column and HCN collects at the top. The amount of corrosion on each tray is shown in Figure P3-58 as a function of plate loca- tion in the column. H,SO Top Plate 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 100°C HCN H2SO4 ID Distilation plate # 15 Feed 15% HCN 85% H2O couTON 125°C Bottom Plate Corrosion, mils HO H, SO Figure P3-5, Corrosion in a distillation column. The bottom-most temperature of the column is approximately 125C and the topmost is 100C. The corrosion rate is a function of temperature and the concentration of an a HCNJH2SO4 complex. Suggest an explanation for the observed corrosion-plate profile in the column. What effect would the column operating conditions have on the corrosion-plate profile?