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Please contact us to determine if a steam stripper makes sense for your application. Fill out an on-line inquiry here or call and ask to speak with Tom Schafer or Heskel Baher at (201) 368-8670. We would be pleased to discuss your requirements in detail.

KMPS also provides process studies, laboratory and pilot testing, VLE development and complete process design engineering packages.

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Full Range of Services
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Process Expertise
  Distillation
  Liquid-Liquid Extraction
  Steam Stripping
  Absorption

What is Steam Stripping and How Does it Work?

It is easy to strip VOC's by this method if they have lower boiling points than water or have limited solubility in water. The concentrated organic product generated by the steam stripping operation is a distillate stream. It is not uncommon for this stream to be a mixture of many compounds. Furthermore, it is usually desirable to minimize the volume of this distillate because it is often sent off-site for disposal or incineration. 

Typically, waste minimization is accomplished by first condensing and then decanting the overhead product from the column to separate water insoluble organics, with subsequent refluxing of the water phase from the decanter to the top of the stripping column. If the stripped organics are soluble in water, then it is typical to add several rectification stages and reflux to the stripping column to reduce the water content of the distillate. The distillate can be drawn off as a liquid product for recycle or disposal, or as a vapor product that is then fed to a thermal oxidizer.

Past Experience with Steam Strippers

Below is a partial list of compounds that KMPS has successfully removed with steam strippers:

• Alcohols - methanol, ethanol, propanols, butanols, amyl alcohol.

• Ketones - MEK, acetone, MIBK.

• Aromatics - benzene, toluene, xylenes, styrene, cumene, alpha methyl styrene, ethylbenzene, naphthalenes.

• Aliphatics - hexane, heptane, cyclohexane, iso-octane.

• Acetates - methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl and butyl acetates, amyl acetate.

• Chlorinated Hydrocarbons - methylene chloride (dichloromethane), chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, ethylene dichloride, TCE's.

• Others - acetaldehyde, acetonitrile, ammonia, dioxane, formaldehyde, H2S, HCN, isopropyl ether, TEA, THF.

Steam Stripping Modular System