INTRODUCTION

Unit Operation: Steps intended primarily to perform physical

transformation (opposed to chemical transformation) of the input .
Examples of unit operations:
Heat exchanger (change of temperature)
Fluid flow (transportation)
Distillation ( Separation of mixture into multiple streams)
Evaporation (Remove water from liquid)
Gas absorption (Remove one component of a gas mixture)
Classification (Divide mixture of particles into diff. classes based on
size)

Absorption and Stripping

Absorption (or scrubbing) is the removal of a component
(the solute) from a gas stream by contact with liquid (the
solvent or absorbent).
Desorption (or stripping) is the removal of a component
from a liquid stream by contact with gas.
Thus, absorption and stripping are opposite unit
operations, and are often used together as a cycle.

Absorption Systems

Absorption can occur in two ways:

Physical No chemical reaction
Absorption With Chemical reaction

In physical absorption, chemical reaction has no effect

In absorption with chemical reaction, rate of

absorption depends on nature of reaction.

 The choice of a liquid absorbent depends on the

concentrations in the feed gas mixture and on the
percent removal desired.
If the impurity concentration in the feed gas is high, ~1050%, we can often dissolve most of the impurity in a
nonvolatile, nonreactive liquid. Such a nonreactive liquid
is called a physical solvent.
If the impurity concentration is lower, around 1-10%, we
will tend to use a liquid capable of fast, reversible
chemical reaction with the impurity. Such a reversibly
reactive liquid is referred to as a "chemical solvent.
If the impurity concentration in the feed is lower still, we
may be forced to use a liquid that reacts irreversibly, an
expensive alternative that may produce solid waste.
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Absorption Systems Physical

Examples:
CO2 and water - CO2 is separated from air
NH3 and water NH3 is separated from air
Physical absorption relies on the solubility of a particular
gas in a liquid.
This solubility is often quite low;Relatively large amount of
liquid solvent is needed.
Because of the low solubility and large solvent amounts
required in physical absorption, chemical absorption is also
used.

Absorption Systems Chemical

Chemical absorption relies on reaction of a particular gas with a reagent in a

liquid.

Examples:
HCN and aqueous NaOH
HCl / HF and aqueos NaOH
NH3 and H2SO4

This absorption can often be quite high; consequently, a smaller amount of

liquid solvent/reagent is needed to obtain the required separation.

However, the reagent may be relatively expensive, and it is often desirable

to regenerate when possible.

Scrubbing Examples
In
NFC, some plants use ammonia gas,
chlorine gas etc. These gases are vented to
atmosphere through stacks.
APPCB limits for release of these gases into
atmosphere to prevent pollution.
Hence, to reduce the concentration of these
gases to the limits, these gases are absorbed
into a liquid. This is called scrubbing.

Solubility of gas
Absorption is based on the solubility of
gas in a liquid
With the increase in temperature, solubility
of a gas in liquid decreases
Absorption is done at lower temperature
Desorption/Stripping is done at higher
temperature
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Absorber/Stripper Cycle

Selection of solvent
Gas Solubility
High solubility of a gas in the solvent is preferred,
utilizing low quantity of solvent.
Absorbent should not dissolve carrier gas.
Similar chemical nature of solute and absorbent
(solvent) gives a good solubility.
If chemical reaction takes place between solute and
solvent, rate of absorption is extremely high. But the
reaction should be reversible to recover solvent
during desorption
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Selection of solvent
Volatility
Low volatility or low vapor pressure of the solvent
enhances the adsorption operation as solvent loss with
carrier gas is very small
Viscosity
For better absorption, a solvent of low viscosity is
required. In mechanically agitated absorber, greater
amount of power is required for high viscous solvent and
flooding is also caused at lower liquid and gas flow rates

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Selection of solvent
Corrosiveness
Non-corrosive or less corrosive solvent reduces
equipment construction cost as well as maintenance cost
Cost
The solvent should be cheap so that losses will be
insignificant and should be easily available.
Toxicity and Hazard
Solvent should be non-toxic, nonflammable, nonhazardous and should be chemically stable.
Steam is generally used in desorption as stripped solute can be
recovered very easily by condensing steam leaving desorption tower

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Absorbers
To achieve gas absorption, main requirement is
that gas should be brought in intimate contact
with the liquid.
Feed (i.e. gas mixture) is introduced at the
bottom and the solvent (i.e. liquid) is given at the
top.
The absorbed gas with the solvent leave at the
bottom and unabsorbed gas leaves at top.

Equipment for scrubbing

Two types of columns are used for scrubbing (gas

absorption):

Packed columns
Plate/tray columns
Other absorption equipments are, spray column,
agitated contactor, venture scrubber, etc
Plate columns have less efficiency.
Hence,most commonly used are Packed
Columns.

Tray columns

Packed Columns
A packed tower is a
pipe/column filled with
some packing.
Suited to applications
where high gas removal
efficiency is required
Exhaust gas is relatively
free
from
particulate
matter

Packings
Packing materials are utilized to provide large interfacial
area of contact between two phases.
These are made from either of ceramics, metals or
plastics.
A number of packing materials with various size, shape
and performance are available
Design depends on corrosiveness of gas & scrubbing
liquid, size of absorber, static pressure drop and cost

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Types of packings
Random or dumped Raschig rings, lessig rings,
berl saddles, intalox saddle & pall rings
Structured - low gas pressure drop and improved
efficiency. Corrugated metal sheet packing and Wire
mesh packing
Grid - used for high gas or vapor capacities at low
pressure drop. Mellagrid series; Flexigrid series;
Snap grid series

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Random Packings

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Structured & Grid Packing

Mellagrid

F-grid

Nuttergrid

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Packing characteristics

Cost Low cost

Surface area: A large interfacial area of contact
Void volume:high void volume low Press. drop
Fouling resistance: should not trap suspended solids
present in liquid.
Mechanical strength: Good mechanical
Uniform flow of streams: Stack of packing materials should
have uniform void spaces through which both the streams
(gas &liquid) can flow uniformly. Non-uniform flow of
streams leads to stagnant liquid pool which in turn gives low
mass transfer.
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Liquid Distributors

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Gas Distributors

Factors affecting performance

Gas velocity - The rate of exhaust gas from the process

determines the scrubber size to be used. The scrubber should be
designed so that the gas velocity through it will promote good mixing
between the gas and liquid phases. However, the velocity should
not be too fast to cause flooding.
Liquid-injection rate - Generally, removal efficiency is increased
by an increase in the liquid-injection rate to the vessel. The amount
of liquid that can be injected is limited by the dimensions of the
scrubber. Increasing liquid-injection rates will also increase the
operating costs. The optimum amount of liquid injected is based on
the exhaust gas flow rate.

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Factors affecting performance

Packing size - Smaller packing sizes offer a larger surface
area, thus enhancing absorption. However, smaller packing
fits more tightly, which decreases the open area between
packing, thus increasing the pressure drop across the packing
bed.
Packing height - As packing height increases, total
surface area and residence time increases, enhancing
absorption. However, more packing necessitates a larger
absorption system, which increases capital cost.

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Problems in packed bed flow

Channeling: Gas or liquid flow is much greater at
some points than at others
Flooding: Liquid stops flowing altogether and
collects in the top of the column due to very high
gas flow
Liquid flow should be high enough to avoid
channeling and achieve loading.
Gas flow should be low enough to avoid flooding

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Equilibrium curve
When two phases are brought into contact they
eventually reach equilibrium.
For ex., water in contact with air evaporates until the air
is saturated with water vapour, and the air is absorbed
by the water until it becomes saturated with the
individual gases.
In a mixture of gases, the degree to which gas is
absorbed depends on solubility of gas in liquid.

The equilibrium concentrations are shown on

equilibrium curve

McCabe-Thiele Plot Absorber

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Notes on Absorbers
Note that the operating line for an absorber is above
the equilibrium curve. For a given solute concentration
in the liquid, the solute concentration in the gas is
always greater than the equilibrium value, which
provides the driving force for the separation.
Also note that the OL is linear. This results because of
the form of the operating line where L/G is a constant.
L and G are based upon the nonvolatile solvent and
insoluble carrier gas, respectively, which do not
change.
If we had used mole fractions and total gas and liquid
rates, the OL would be curved.
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McCabe-Thiele Plot Stripper

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Notes on Strippers
The OL will be the same as that used for absorbers.
The difference, compared to an absorber, is that the
equilibrium curve will be above the operating line.
Otherwise, the design approach for strippers is the
same as that for absorbers.

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