Condensers and vaporizers can have levels. Exchangers are rarely fitted with level bridles. But levels can give you valuable information. The dilemma is how to find the level. Field temperature measurements can identify levels in exchangers. Field temperature measurements do not need to be precise to help identify many problems. Even a hot versus cold comparison can do the job. At proper temperature levels, the naked hand is sufficient. At elevated and depressed temperatures, either an temperature gun or surface thermocouple is sufficient. Two case studies are shown. The first is a stabilizer condenser with a level detected by hand. This identified an inert blanking problem. The second is a stabilizer reboiler with steam blow-by through. Often, simple methods are cheap, rapid and reliable methods of determining field problems.
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