INTERCOMPANYMEMORANDUM

CALCHEMCORPORATION

To:
From:

6
Date: FallQuarter
File: CHE322L

CHESophomore
CHEfaculty
LaboratoryManagers

Subject:COLUMNOPERATINGCHARACTERISTICS
Youaretostudyproprietarypackingsinthelaboratory2"IDglasstowertestapparatus.
Wehavehadthelabtechniciansetupthreecolumns(a2"columnpackedwith7mm
Raschigrings,a2"columnpackedwith1/4"BerlSaddles,anda2"columnfittedwith
sievetrays)foryourstudy.
Runthesametypeofteststhatwewouldrunonanewpacking.Besuretoconsiderthe
followingitems:
Loadingandflooding.
Channeling.
Pressuredropacrosscolumn.
Liquidholdupincolumn.
Minimumliquidflow.
Plotofpressuredropperunitheightofpackedbed,superficialgasandliquid
massflowratesonrectangularandloglogcoordinates.
Hysteresiseffectoncecolumnisflooded.
Youshouldexplainwhyitisdifficulttorecovercolumnoperationoncefloodingtakes
place.Itisprobablybesttousevariouswaterratesandvarytheairflowforeachwater
rate.
We have included an apparatus diagram and some information from the following
references:

Co.

McCabe&Smith,"UnitOperationsofChemicalEngineering"
Foust,"PrinciplesofUnitOperations"
Leva,"TowerPackingsandPackedTowerDesign",UnitedStatesStoneware

YouwillfindagooddiscussiononpackedcolumncharacteristicsinthetextbyHenley
andSeader(1).
49

1.Seader,J.D.andHenleyE.J.,SeparationProcessPrinciples,Wiley,1998,pg.325

50

ColumnOperatingCharacteristics
Dischargegas

Packed
Tower

Waterinlet
FeedGas

Effluent
Manometer

Fig.1Schematicrepresentationofthepackedcolumninthelab.
Inapacked column usedforgasliquidcontact, theliquid flowsdownwardoverthe
surface of the packing and the gas flows upward in the void space of the packing
material.Alowpressuredropand,hence,lowenergyconsumptionisveryimportantin
theperformanceofpackedtowers.Thepackingmaterialprovidesaverylargesurface
areaformasstransfer,butitalsoresultsinapressuredropbecauseoffriction.
Theperformanceofpackedtowersdependsuponthehydraulicoperatingcharacteristics
ofwetanddrypacking.Indrypacking,thereisonlytheflowofasinglefluidphase
throughacolumnofstationarysolidparticles.Suchflowoccursinfixedbedcatalytic
reactorandsorptionoperations(includingadsorption,ionexchange,ionexclusion,etc.)
Inwetpacking,twophaseflowisencountered.Thephaseswillbeagasandaliquidin
distillation,absorption,orstripping.Whentheliquidflowsoverthepackingitoccupies
some of the void volume in the packing normally filled by the gas, therefore the
performanceofwetpackingisdifferentfromthatofdrypacking.

51

Fordrypacking,thepressuredropmaybecorrelatedbyErgunequation
P

D p g c

2
f vs

3
1

=150

1
+1.75
N Re

(1)

where
P
h
Dp
f
vs
conditions

=pressuredropthroughthepackedbed
=bedheight
=particlediameter
=fluiddensity
= superficial velocity at a density averaged between inlet and outlet
=bedporosity

NRe =averageReynoldsnumberbaseduponsuperficialvelocity

D p vs f

Whenthepackinghasashapedifferentfromspherical,aneffectiveparticlediameteris
defined
Dp=

6V p
6(1 )
=
Ap
As

As

=interfacialareaofpackingperunitofpackingvolume,ft2/ft3orm2/m3

(2)

where
Theeffectiveparticlediameter Dp inEq.(1)canbereplacedby sDp where Dp now
representstheparticlesizeofaspherehavingthesamevolumeastheparticleand sthe
shapefactor.Thebedporosity, ,whichisthefractionoftotalvolumethatisvoidis
definedas

volume

volume of
volume of

R 2 h

voids

entire bed

entire bed volume of

volume of entire bed

weight of all particles

particle density
2
R h

52

particles

(3)

where R = inside radius of column, As and are characteristics of the packing.

ExperimentalvaluesofcaneasilybedeterminedfromEq.(3)butAsfornonspherical
particles isusuallymoredifficult toobtain.Values of As and areavailable forthe
commoncommercialpackinginthevariousreferences(Ref.2,4).Asforspherescanbe
computedfromthevolumeandsurfaceareaofasphere.
Forwetpacking,thepressuredropcorrelationisgivenbyLeva(Ref.7)

P
L / L

= 10
h

Gv2

(4)

wherePisthepressuredrop(psf),histhepackingheight(ft),Listheliquidmassflow
rateperunitarea(lb/hrft2),Gvisthegasmassflowrateperunitarea(lb/hrft2),Listhe
liquiddensity(lb/ft3),Visthegasdensity(lb/ft3),andandarepackingparameters
(Ref.5,7).
Foreachcolumnstudied,determinethepressuredropatvariousairflowrates(correct
rotametersforpressureandtemperature).Keeptheliquidflowrateconstantatdifferent
gasratesandkeeptheairrateconstantatdifferentliquidrates.
Table1.PackingInformation
R:RaschigRings,B:BerlSaddle

Norminal
Approximate Approximate Approximate
Effective
Size,
Numberper Weightper
Surfacearea PercentFree Diameter
Inch
Cu.Ft.
Cu.Ft.,lb
Sq.Ft./Cu.Ft. GasSpace Dp,Inch

R:1/4
88000
46
240
73
0.22
R:5/16
40000
56
145
64
0.31
R:3/8
24000
51
134
68
0.35
B:1/4
113000
56
274
60
0.23
B:1/2
16200
54
142
63
0.42
B:3/4
5000
48
82
66
0.58

IftherotameteriscalibratedatTrefandPrefandthemeasuredflowrateQmeasuredistakenat
TmandPm thenthecorrectedairflowrateQcorrectedcanbedeterminedfromthefollowing
formula:

53

Qcorrected=Qmeasured

Pref Tm

Pm Tref

1/ 2

ThecorrectedairrateQcorrectedisatTmandPm..

54

Example
Arotameterisusedtomeasureairflowrate.Thereadingis2.3ft 3/sforairat100oFand
720mmHg.However,themeteriscalibratedwithairat60 oFand760mmHg.Determine
thecorrectedairflowrate.
2 .5
F lo a t
ft 3/s 2 .0
3 .5

F lo w
Thecorrectedreadingis

Qcorrected=Qmeasured

Pref Tm

Pm Tref

1/ 2

760 100 460

=2.3 720 60 460

1/ 2

=2.45ft3/s

At100oFand720mmHgtheairflowrateis2.45ft3/s.

DataAnalysis
1.PlotagraphofP/hversusGvforeachcolumnandcomparewithpublisheddata.
2.FortherunswithdrypackingplottheexperimentalandcalculatedleftsideofEq.(1)
versus[(1)/NRe].
3.FortherunswithwetpackingcorrelateyourdatabyEq.(4).Determineyourmeasured
valuesofand.
References
1.Middleman,Stanley,AnIntroductiontoFluidDynamics,Wiley,1998,pg.411
2.McCabeW.L.etal,UnitOperationsofChemicalEngineering,McGrawHill,1993,
pg.689
3.Hanesian,D.andPernaA.J.,ALaboratoryManualforFundamentalsofEngineering
Design,NJIT.
4.Perry,J.H.,ChemicalEngineersHandbook,McGrawHill,1984,pg.1823

55

5.Wankat,P.C.,EquilibriumStagedSeparations,Elsevier,1988,pg.420
6.LevaM.,Chem.Eng.Prog.Symp.Ser.50(10):51(1954).
7.MaxS.PetersandKlausD.Timmerhaus,PlantDesignandEconomicsForChemical
Engineers,McGrawHill,1991,pg.694.

56

57