Foaming: refers to the degree of expansion of liquid when aerated.

Foam Stability: refers to the rate of collapse of foam after aeration is

stopped.
Some foaming is desirable: high interfacial area for contacting.
Excessive foaming: may cause entrainment and flooding. Also
impurities can concentrate at the interface and act as mass transfer
barriers.
Excessive stability: require high residence times in downcomers (they
should be design with enough capacity.
Flooding: produce a sharp increase in pressure drop and a sharp
decline in efficiency.
!wo types:
Excessive entrainment: the aerated mass reached the tray above.
e L
e
+

where is the fractional entrainment" # is total liquid flowrate in
lbmol$h" and e is entrained liquid in lbmol$h.
( )
1
]
1

1
1
1
mv
mv
a
E
E
E
where
a
E
is the local wet efficiency"
mv
E
is the %urphree vapor
efficiency.
#iquid bac&up: downcomers flooding due to the effect of cho&ing
the tray with foam.
'eeping: excessive flow of liquid through the perforations of the
sieve tray.
Area !erms:
A number of area designations are used in the design of sieve trays.
t
A
: tower internal cross-sectional area.
d
A
: is the cross-sectional area at the top of the downcomer(s). For a
segmental downcomer, it is the area of the segment formed by the overflow
weir and the tower wall.
n
A
: is the area for vapor flow above the tray. n the single crossflow tray,
d t n
A A A
. f a splash baffle is located above the weir, d t n
A A A !
.
a
A
: is the area where aeration occurs. t is not limited entirely to the
perforated "one, since turbulence effects carry aeration several inches past
the perforations. t is ta#en as the total area between inlet and outlet weirs,
and when straight segmental downcomers are used with single crossflow,
d t a
A A A !
.
h
A
is the area open to vapor flow.
%aterial of (onstruction
$ost metals and commercial alloys can be perforated conveniently in the
multiple punch press employed by tray fabricators. %ype &1' (( is widely
used and does not increase the tray cost significantly because of the small
metal thic#ness needed. )owncomers, weirs, support beams, etc. can be
specified of *( if suitable for the material handled.
!ray #ayout )uidelines
+ole diameter of 1,- to . in. are commonly employed in sieve tray service
(larger holes are better if severe fouling is e/pected).
n usual practice, tray thic#ness of 1! or 1& ('.'0- in) 1.(. (tandard gauge
is employed, e/cept for *(, where 1'-gauge ('.1&1 in) thic#ness is used.
*esign Steps
(from )esign of 23uilibrium (tage 4rocesses, *hapter 15, 6. ). (mith, $c7raw +ill, 189:)
1. *alculate Flow 4arameter:
l
v
l
v
v
l
lv
W
w
MW V
MW L
F

where lv
F
is the flow parameter that is the ratio of li3uid,vapor #inetic
energy effects. L is the li3uid flowrate in lbmol,h, V is the vapor flowrate
in lbmol,h, MW is the corresponding molecular weight, and

is density.
!. *hoose tray and spacing.
:. *alculate tower diameter.
From Fig. 15-:, sb
C
for flooding.
*orrect for surface tension.
*alculate flood n
U
, , assume a ; flooding and calculate design n
U
, using:
1'' ;
,
,
flooding n
design n
U
U
flood
*alculate the internal cross-sectional area using the design vapor
velocity and the vapor flowrate and round it off.
&. *alculate all relevant areas: t
A
, d
A
, n
A
, a
A
, h
A
.
5. <ecalculate flow conditions:
( )
) (
sec ,
!
:
,
ft A
ft Q
U
n
v
design n

and calculate the new approach to flooding.
9. *alculate entrainment. 1se Fig 15-& and the ; flood calculated in step 5.
t is recommended that
! . ' 1 . ' < <
.
0. *alculate pressure drop.
*alculate
a
h
A
A
and
diameter hole
thickness tray
, and read the discharge coefficient
from Fig. 15-9.
*alculate a hole velocity,
h
v
h
A
Q
ft U sec) , (
.
*alculate the )ry-tray pressure drop:
( )
!
1-9 . ' .

,
_

vo
h
l
v
h
C
U
li!id in h

%he height of li3uid above the weir is calculated using the Francis
e3uation for straight weirs.
( )
:
!
&- . ' .

,
_

w
ow
l

li!id in h
where

is the li3uid flowrate in gpm and w

l
is the length of the
weir in inches.
*alculate the =et-tray pressure drop:
( )
ow w l
h h h +
where w
h
is the height of the weir in inches and

is the aeration
factor from Fig. 15-0.
Finally, calculate the total tray pressure drop:
l h t
h h h +
-. *alculate weep point.
At steady state, li3uid will not drain through the perforations as long as
surface-tension effects and vapor-pressure drop through the perforations
are present to prevent it. t may be postulated that:
l h
h h h +

%he pressure drop for bubble formation is obtained from:
) ( ) , (
) , ( '& . '
) . (
:
in d ft lb
cm dyne
li!id in h
h l

8. *hec# li3uid-handling capacity.
*alculate downcomer velocity
) ( &5'
sec) , (
!
ft A

ft v
d
d

*alculate residence time for a half full downcomer

sec :
!
) (
(sec) >
d
v
ft s"acing tray
t
*hec# the downcomer bac#up
+ + + +
da ow w t dc
h h h h h
!
1''
': . ' ) (

,
_

da
da
A

in h
1&&
) ( ) (
) (
!
in l in clearance
ft A
w
da

where da
h
is the downcomer apron pressure drop, the distance is the
distance between the tray and the bottom of the downcomer apron.
is the hydraulic gradient which is usually negligible in sieve trays.
!
) (
) (
in s"acing tray
in h
dc

Sieve !ray *esign +roblem
%he problem is to design a sieve tray for a ben"ene-toluene fractionator to
produce &',''' lb,h of ben"ene while operating at atmospheric pressure and
a reflu/ ratio of (reflu/ to net overhead) of 5:1. n the e/ample problem only
the top tray is analy"ed. n an actual design other critical trays should be
analy"ed. %he approach and method, however, are the same.
!he available data on the top tray are as follows:
%aterial: essentially ben"ene
%': 0-.1
,perating +ressure" psia: 1&.0
,perating !emperature" -F: 109
#iquid density" lb$ft
.
: &:.:
/apor density" lb$ft
.
: '.19-
#iquid surface tension" dynes$cm: !1.'
%aximum liquid load: !'',''' lb,h or 500 gpm
%aximum vapor load: !&',''' lb,f or :80 ft
:
,sec