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GEST 80/84
6th Edition
Euro Chlor
Euro Chlor is the European federation which represents the producers of chlorine
and its primary derivatives.
Euro Chlor is working to:
or scientific debate and provides balanced and objective sciencebased information to help answer questions about chlorine and its
derivatives;
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This document has been produced by the members of Euro Chlor and should not be reproduced in
whole or in part without the prior written consent of Euro Chlor.
It is intended to give only guidelines and recommendations. The information is provided in good
faith and was based on the best information available at the time of publication. The
information is to be relied upon at the users own risk. Euro Chlor and its members make no
guarantee and assume no liability whatsoever for the use and the interpretation of or the
reliance on any of the information provided.
This document was originally prepared in English by our technical experts. For our members
convenience, it may have been translated into other EU languages by translators / Euro Chlor
members. Although every effort was made to ensure that the translations were accurate, Euro
Chlor shall not be liable for any losses of accuracy or information due to the translation process.
Prior to 1990, Euro Chlors technical activities took place under the name BITC (Bureau
International Technique du Chlore). References to BITC documents may be assumed to be to
Euro Chlor documents.
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Nature
3.
3.1.
3.2.
3.
4.
5.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
DEFINITION
2.
GENERAL COMMENTS
3.
4.
4.1. Inspection
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4.2.1.
10
4.2.2.
Testing on Chlorine
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4.3.1.
11
4.3.2.
Procedure
11
6.
12
12
5.1.3.
Reduction of Pressure
12
5.1.4.
12
5.1.5.
12
5.1.6.
13
5.1.7.
13
5.1.8.
13
5.1.9.
14
5.2. Preparation
14
REFERENCES
14
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1. DEFINITION
Practical experience has shown that the commissioning of installations which will
later be used for dry gaseous or liquid chlorine requires specific precautions
before they are put into service if one is to avoid all forms of deterioration and
to maintain them in a state compatible with the normal safety requirements.
This recommendation has as an objective the setting of a certain number of
rules which should be applied before:
2. GENERAL COMMENTS
The behaviour of dry chlorine (see GEST 10/362 Corrosion Behaviour of
Carbon Steel in Wet and Dry Chlorine) in contact with certain materials of
construction is modified by the surface state of these materials. For example,
the presence of an oxide layer on steel favours the local absorption of moisture
or can reduce considerably the temperature at which reaction occurs with dry
chlorine. See GEST 79/82 - Materials of Construction for Use in Contact with
Chlorine.
The aim therefore is to avoid an excessive surface layer of oxide, the presence
of greases or solvents which may be present inside certain equipment or new
pipework, or equipment being put back into service, as well as to eliminate all
sources of moisture which may lead to reactive conditions. The precautions to
be taken are more and more important if the equipment under consideration
includes an internal packing (such as rings, metallic packing, mist filters).
Storage vessels
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Transport containers (see GEST 79/78 Code of Good Practice for the
Operations to be Carried out before and after Maintenance on Road
and Rail Tankers and ISO-Containers of Liquid Chlorine)
Smaller vessels such as: tubular heat exchangers, columns, receiving tanks
associated with columns
Pipework
Valves and control equipment (for valves see GEST 80/85 Code of Good
Practice for Installation Removal and Maintenance of Manually
Operated Chlorine Valves).
A further visual check should then be carried out to confirm the absence
of water pools, dust and any foreign bodies. This check should be carried
out by a suitably qualified person. As soon as possible after this, the
vessels should be closed up by the use of blank flanges, or blank flanges
equipped with valves, with a suitable joint ring/gasket for use with liquid
chlorine.
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Another alternative method for piping systems is to vacuum dry. The vacuum
must be as low as the water vapour pressure at the actual temperature.
In all circumstances, this should be followed by purging with dry air or nitrogen,
after replacement of the gaskets until a dew point of less than minus 40C at
atmospheric pressure is obtained on the gas purged from the equipment (see
Appendix); an on-line analyser (e.g. based on P2O5) could help in checking the
dryness of the gas. The purge gas should be allowed to bleed from all
connections to ensure that there are no dead spots.
Afterwards, the equipment or pipework should be thoroughly sealed off and if
possible be maintained at a positive pressure, for example 0.2 barg.
Dried in a vacuum oven, if it has not already been dried by the supplier
and then been kept in a vapour tight package with internal drying agents
(dessicants).
The components that could come in contact with chlorine and which require to
be greased, must exclusively be treated with a grease compatible with chlorine
(special chloro-fluorinated grease).
They should not be installed until after completion of the operations described
in sections 3.1 and 3.2.
Before installation, remove drying agents (dessicants).
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Particular care should be taken to confirm that the gaskets are all of a
type suitable for chlorine (see GEST 94/216 - Experience of Gaskets on
Liquid and Dry Chlorine Gas Service), and that any temporary additions
have been removed.
Dry air or nitrogen connections which are not necessary have been
disconnected.
The absorption installation for any effluent gas is in a state ready for
operation and that connections to this system have been properly
connected without any restriction.
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5.2. Preparation
After completion of the previous work, the preparation to put the installation
back into chlorine service can start. The various operations described above in
section 3 should then be carried out.
6. REFERENCES
GEST 76/52 Equipment for the Treatment of Gaseous Effluents
Containing Chlorine
GEST 76/55 Maximum Levels of Nitrogen Trichloride in Liquid Chlorine
GEST 79/78 Code of Good Practice for the Operations to be Carried out
before and after Maintenance on Road and Rail Tankers and ISOContainers of Liquid Chlorine
GEST 79/82 - Materials of Construction for Use in Contact with Chlorine
GEST 80/85 Code of Good Practice for Installation Removal and
Maintenance of Manually Operated Chlorine Valves
GEST 88/134 - Stud Bolts , Hexagon Head Bolts and Nuts for Liquid
Chlorine
GEST 88/138 Small Chlorine Containers Construction, Filling and
Handling
GEST 94/216 - Experience of Gaskets on Liquid and Dry Chlorine Gas
Service
GEST 10/362 Corrosion Behaviour of Carbon Steel in Wet and Dry
Chlorine
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the
air
temperature at
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4,868
6 m * 0,117
0,702
Total
5,570
0,7957
6 m * 0,117
0,702
Total
1,4977
0,2129
6 m * 0,117
0,702
Total
0,9149
That is: 0,9149 / 7 = 0,1307 g/m corresponding to a dew point of minus 39C.
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2nd Example: air at 20C saturated with moisture contained in the equipment
Pressure supplied by a compressor at 7 bars absolute
1st purge
For 1 m of air at 20C, with a water content of 17,148 g/m contained in the
equipment. 6 Nm of dry air (in effect 0,86 m at 7 bar pressure), with a dew
point of minus 40C, temperature 30C, containing 0,117g of water per Nm is
added. The water content of the mixture is:
1 m * 17,148
17,148
6 m * 0,117
0,702
Total
17,850
2,55
6 m * 0,117
0,702
Total
3,252
The water content of the mixture is: 3,252 /7 = 0,464 corresponding to a dew
point of minus 27C.
3rd purge
1 m * 0,464
0,464
6 m * 0,117
0,702
Total
1,166
The water content of the mixture is: 1,166 /7 = 0,165 corresponding to a dew
point of minus 37C.
It can be seen that in the two cases the approach to a dew point of minus 40C
is almost the same with three purges, even if one assumes that the air at the
beginning of the operation was saturated with water vapour, which is very
conservative.
After the 3rd purge, it is necessary to maintain the equipment under a pressure
of air for a minimum of one hour and then, by further venting down, to confirm,
by dew point measurement, that the drying operation has been sufficiently well
carried out.
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