The simulation of the absorption process of To achieve a higher amount of acetone on the

acetone from air into water was simulated with
Aspen plus. The inlet gas mixture has an
acetone mole fraction of 0,32, a flux of 100
kmol/h and a feed temperature of 30°C,
whereas the liquid feed is 200 kmol/h of pure
water at 20°C. Both the feeds and the column
have got the same pressure of 1 atm.
The acetone mole fraction on the liquid outlet
stream turns out to be very low in comparison
to the acetone mole fraction on the vapor outlet
liquid current, the water flow is reduced to half
its original value, i.e. 100 kmol/h. The main
objective is to concentrate the liquid outlet
stream by reducing the amount of water on it,
and increasing the acetone amount as well.
Applying this water flow reduction, the liquid
outlet stream turns out to be more
concentrated, as shown on the results table.
Mole flow Mole frac. Mole frac. Mole frac.

stream, as shown on the results table 1.1. T (°C) (kmol/h) Acetone Water Air

L 37,39 106,75 0,15 0,85 0,001

Mole flow Mole frac. Mole frac. Mole frac.
V 46,37 93,25 0,17 0,09 0,73
T (°C) (kmol/h) Acetone Water Air
Figure 1.2. Results for the simulation carried with reduced water flux.
L 41,35 21,2 0,095 0,9 0,00095

V 45,68 87,99 0,13 0,095 0,77

Even though the liquid current gets more
Figure 1.1. Results for first simulation. concentrated, the absorbed amount decreases.
This is shown as follows
This behavior is understood by looking at the
mathematical definition of the acetone mole 𝑥𝐴𝑐,𝐿 ∗ 𝐿 0,15 ∗ 106,75
= = 0,5
fraction and reviewing the composition of the 𝑥𝐴𝑐,𝐹 ∗ 𝐹 0,32 ∗ 100
outlet liquid stream. The overall liquid flow is
composed by water and air in addition to Thus, reducing the water flows leads to a less
acetone. The 90% of the liquid outlet stream effective absorption.
corresponds to water, which makes this Since the interaction between acetone and
current highly diluted. Thus, the fraction is low water limits to dissolution instead of chemical
because it expresses the total amount of reaction, the rate of absorption is slow.
acetone absorbed by the water relative to the (NPTEL). Thus, more solvent per hour is
amount of water on the current. Hence, the required to absorb larger amounts of acetone,
mole fraction of acetone on the liquid outlet and reducing the water flux will result in a
stream is not an indirect parameter of the smaller absorption.
absorption performance. This is proven as
follows, by quantifying the amount of acetone Moving forwards to finding the optimum
that was absorbed by the pure water. conditions, the next controlled variable is the
plates number. The number of plates is
𝑥𝐴𝑐,𝐿 ∗ 𝐿 0,095 ∗ 212 switched from 6 to 12, causing an increase on
= = 0,63
𝑥𝐴𝑐,𝐹 ∗ 𝐹 0,32 ∗ 100 the outlet vapor acetone mole fraction.
The amount of acetone that exits on the liquid T Mole flow Mole frac. Mole frac. Mole frac.
stream represents the 63% of the entering (°C) (kmol/h) Acetone Water Air
acetone, which implies that the acetone that L 37,14 106,85 0,15 0,85 0,001
exits on the vapor stream represents a 37%.
V 47,27 93,15 0,17 0,1 0,73

This percentages satisfy the relationship that Figure 1.2. Results for the simulation carried with 12 stages.

states that for a successful absorption

operation, the amount of solute absorbed by
the liquid should by higher than the amount of
solute remaining on the vapor stream.
Nevertheless, a higher amount of absorbed
acetone is desired.
Thus, regardless of the number of equilibrium
contacts, as long as the solvent flux doesn’t fit
the required value, the operation won’t be
more effective. This is observed by analyzing
the operating line of any absorber. The slope
S/G is intended to be a straight line, with a
positive slope greater than one, because the
line y=x doesn’t have any sense by the means
of this operation. Thus, the solvent must be
greater than the gas by a factor greater than
one. This later criterion, which is valid when
the entering solvent is pure (i.e. x0=0), isn’t
accomplished by setting the values of the gas
and the solvent as equal.
The next variable which effect on the
absorption performance is measured is the
temperature. For this, the inlet temperatures
are both changed into 10°C. The outlet vapor
stream has a lower acetone fraction, which
implies that the acetone fraction on the liquid
stream has got higher, which is the main
objective as mentioned earlier.
Finally, an increase on the pressure was set by
doubling the initial pressure. This simulation
showed the best results among all the trials that
were held, mainly because it was held at low
temperature and moderately high pressure, and
different authors recommend that the
operating pressure for an absorber should be
high and temperature should be low to
minimize stage requirements.