GasLiquidSeparationProcesses

(GasAbsorption)

GasAbsorption
Ingasabsorptionasolublevapourisabsorbedfromits
mixturewithaninertgasbymeansofliquidinwhich
thesolutegasismoreorlesssoluble.
Applications:
i) RemovalofCO2andH2Sfromnaturalgasorsynthesis
gasbyabsorptioninsolutionsofaminesoralkaline
salts,
ii) Washingofammoniafromamixtureofammoniaand
airbymeansofliquidwater.
Thesoluteissubsequentlyrecoveredfromtheliquidby
distillation.

PackedTowerConfigurations

PackingandPackedTowerDesign
Apackedtoweriscommonlyusedingas
absorptionwhichconsistsofacylindrical
column/tower.
Theliquiddistributorisusetowetsthesurfaceof
packing.
Thepackingprovidesalargercontactarea
betweentheliquidandgasandencourages
intimatecontactbetweenthephases.
Theliquidenrichedinsoluteflowsdownthe
tower,leavesthebottomoftowerthroughthe
liquidoutlet.

 Towerpackingaredividedinto3differenttypes:
i)Thosedumpedintothetower
ii)Structuredororderingpacking
iii)Stackedpacking

Dumpedtowerpackingsarecheaper,madefromclay,porcelainorvarious
plastic.
Highvoidspacesandlargepassagesforfluidcanbeachievedbymaking
thepackingunitsirregularorhollowwithvoidfraction60to90%.
Themodernstructuredpackingmadeofsheetsofperforatedcorrugated
metalwiththeadjacentsheetsarrangedsothatliquidspreadsovertheir
surfaceswhilevapourflowsthroughchannelsformedbythecorrugations.
Thechannelingeffectisnormallyencounteredforstackedpackingthat
causespoorperformanceoflargepackedtowers.
Channelingoccurwhenliquidcollectsintosmallrivuletsandflowsalong
localizedpathsthroughthepacking.

DesignofPlate
AbsorptionTowers

Forabsorptionofacetone(A)fromair
(B)bywater:
Vkgmolinertair/s
Lkgmolinertsolventwater/s

Themolesofinertairandinertwater
remainconstantthroughouttheentire
tower.

An overall material balance on component A gives

 Todeterminethenumberofidealstages
requiredtobringaboutagivenseparationor
reductionofconcentrationAfromyN+1toy1,
thecalculationisdonegraphically.
Startingatstage1(y1,x0)thevapoury1leaving
isinequilibriumwiththeleavingx1.
Eachstageisrepresentedbyastepand
continuedonthegraphuntilyN+1isreached.

Ifxandyareverydilute,thedenominators1x

and1ywillbecloseto1,andthelinewillbe
approximatelystraight,withaslope=L/V.

TheoreticalnumberoftraysforabsorptionofSO2

DESIGNOFPACKEDTOWERS
FORABSORPTION

LIMITINGANDOPTIMUML/VRATIOS

LargerLrequirelargediametertower
Inadditionthecostofrecoveringthesolutefromtheliquidby
distillationwillbehigh.
SmallLresultsinhightowerthatisalsocostly.
OptimumLiquidflowratecanbetakenas1.21.5timeslimitingLmin

Usually,Loptimum=1.5XLmin

AnalyticalequationforCountercurrentStageContact

PROBLEMBASEDLEARNING(PBL)
GROUPA

GROUPB

DESIGNOFPACKEDABSORPTION
TOWERSUSINGTRANSFERUNITS

where