PLATE AND PACKED COLUMN DESIGN

 PERFORATED PLATE COLUMN

Perforated plate is the least expensive equilibrium contact plate. The vapour flows through the
perforations in the plate and established equilibrium contact with the liquid flowing across the
plate. Perforated or sieve plates have higher capacity at essentially same efficiency than bubble
cap plates. Dumping or excessive weeping becomes its major drawback at low vapour rates (Van
winkle, 1967). However if weeping is controlled, perforated plates may have large holes which
makes it very good in fouling problem and high solids content system (Wankat, 1988).
This is the simplest type of cross-flow plate.

 PLATE COMPONENTS

Downcomers – essential component of all tray or plate columns. They are to provide flow of
liquid from tray above to tray below. The design of the downcomer should provide for adequate
capacity to avoid flooding yet should also provide for maximum plate active area. Segmental
downcomers are the most commonly used in the industry while circular downcomers are only
used for small columns such as for pilot plants. This type of downcomer is inexpensive, easy to
install and can be designed for a wide variety of liquid flowrates (Wankat, 1988). Downcomer
capacity can be expressed in terms of the net average linear velocity of the liquid flow or in
terms of the mean residence time of the liquid in the downcomer.

The downcomer should have enough length to provide for liquid seal against vapour flow up the
downcomer. It is recommended that he height or weir minus the clearance under the
downcomer is maintained between 1.0 and 1.5 inches.

TYPES OF DOWNCOMER
a. Sloped downcomer is used to increase the active area and improve downcomer separation
without wasting the active area on the tray below to increase the tray capacity.

b. Chordal downcomer with recessed pan. The lower end of the downcomer is plunged in
recessed inlet area

c. Truncated chordal downcomer. A bottom plate is mounted in order to achieve dynamic

sealing and ends above the clear liquid height of the tray deck.

d. Envelope downcomer is used in low liquid load application to minimize liquid leakage.

Plate Spacing – should be able to provide for enough distance for the liquid to discharge from
the rising vapour before it reaches the next tray. It should be able to control possible priming
problem. Determination of right plate spacing is a function of many variables. However, for large
 columns, plate spacing is determined by the need for easy maintenance access (Peters et.al.,
1991).

Weirs – outlet weirs are installed to maintain the needed liquid head on the plates. Whereas
inlet weirs or seal pots weirs distributes the liquid evenly over the plate. The height of weir is
responsible for the pressure drop and the separation efficiency of a tray. The height of weir
depends on kind of tray. The weir height is determined by the requirement of the liquid depth
on the tray which is controlled by the depth of seal over the vapor passage.

Operational Failures – Flooding, Priming and Dumping or Excessive Weeping are some of the
possible operational failures in the design of plate columns.

1. FLOODING – takes place when the liquid in the downcomer backs up to the next
plate and overflows to the weir of the upper plate (McCabe et.al., 2001). With
the countercurrent vapour flowrate increasing, flow reversal occurs and the
liquid is carried upward (Perry et.al., 1997). On the other hand, due to
inadequate liquid holding capacity, downcomers may be filled. This increase in
liquid holdup soon causes “choking” and excessive engtrainment begins.
Flooding cause sharp increase in pressure drop and a sharp decline in efficiency
(Smith, 1963).
2. PRIMING – occurs when the foam passes through the holes of an upper
perforated plate. When significant foam mixes with liquid on the plate occurs,
separation efficiency would also decline (Van winkle, 1967).
3. DUMPING (WEEPING) – takes place at low vapour velocity where the pressure
drop is not enough to prevent liquid from flowing down through the
perforations. This is more common to sieve plates columns. Weeping decreases
plate efficiency (McCabe et.al., 2001)

HYDRAULIC PARAMETERS TO CONTROL THE LIMITATIONS

 Maximum Vapor Line - maximum useful capacity line which is a function of the liquid rate or
weir loading and has a slope downward as liquid rate increases.
 Maximum Liquid Line - maximum allowable weir loading or a maximum allowable downcomer
velocity which is a function of aeration going on into the top of the downcomer and is
influenced by the vapor rate.
 Pressure Drop - capacity of tray depend on pressure gradient through the column, otherwise the
vapor would not flow.

Tray have a higher pressure drop than packing, it can be imposed on tray design. Many designs
need to operate at minimum potential pressure drop to:
 (a) Ensure the relative ensure the relative volatility stays high
(b) High temperature does not enhance fouling or polymerization
(c) Pressure limitations (i.e. discharging to atmosphere)
(d) Degradation of desired product.

 Height of Weir
 Downcomer
 Clear Liquid Height – height to which the aerated mass would collapse in the absence of vapor
flow.
 Turndown - ratio of the normal operating vapor through put that usually at the excessive
weeping limit.

GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATION

A tower design is normally divided into two main steps, a process design followed by a mechanical
design. The purpose of the process design is to calculate the number of required theoretical stages,
column diameter and tower height. On the other hand, the mechanical design focuses on the tower
internals and heat exchanger arrangements.

Many factors have to be considered in designing a distillation column such as the safety and
environmental requirements, column performance, economics of the design and other parameters,
which may constrain the work.

1) Direct sequences that remove the components one by one in the distillate are generally favored.

2) Sequences that result in a more equal-molar division of the feed between distillate and bottoms
products should be favored.

3) Separations where the relative volatility of two adjacent components is close to unity should be
performed in the absence of other components; ie, reserve such a separation until the last column in
the sequence.

4) Separations involving high-specified recovery fractions should be reserved until last in the sequence.

Once the separation sequence is decided, engineering calculations follow to determine the number of
theoretical stages, operating parameters and tower dimensions. In general, the steps included in
distillation calculations are summarized into the following:

1) Performing a material balance for the column

2) Determining the tower operating pressure (and/or temperature)

3) Calculating the minimum number of theoretical stages using the Fenske equation

4) Calculating the minimum reflux rate using the Underwood equations

5) Determining the operating reflux rate and number of theoretical stages

6) Selection of column internals (tray or packings)

7) Calculating the tower diameter and height

SELECTION OF COLUMN INTERNALS

There are several choices of column internals and the two major categories are trays and packing. The
choice of which to utilize depends on the

1) Pressure

2) fouling potential

3) liquid to vapor density ratio

4) liquid loading

5) life cycle cost.

PERFORATED TRAY AND COLUMN DESIGN

The basic requirements of a plate contacting stage are that it:

1. Provide good vapor-liquid contact

2. Provide sufficient liquid hold-up for good mass transfer
3. Have sufficiency are and spacing to keep the entrainment and pressure drop within acceptable
limits
4. Have sufficient downcomer area for the liquid to flow freely from plate to plate.

PLATE DESIGN PROCEDURE

FACTORS TO CONSIDER:

PLATE AREAS WEIR LIQUID CREST HYDRAULIC GRADIENT

DIAMETER WEIR DIMENSIONS LIQUID THROW
LIQUID FLOW ARRANGEMENT PERFORATED AREA PRESSURE DROP
ENTRAINMENT HOLE SIZE DOWNCOMER DESIGN
WEEP POINT HOLE PITCH
RECOMMENDED LIMITS: Tray and Column Design

RECOMMENDED LIMITS
COLUMN
1. Diameter 1-24 ft.
Basis: % flood 80-85% NF
70-75% F

2. Tray Spacing 12-36 in.

Column diameter: 2-4 ft.; 12-18 in.
Column diameter: 5-24 ft.; 24-36 in.
Check: Liquid back up, entrainment
TRAY
1. Flow Arrangement See Table
General Crossflow
Medium diameter, 6-12 ft. DP
Large diameter, 12-24 ft. Multiple Pass

2. Tray Layout Hole diameter: 1/8-1/2 in.

Hole area: 6-15% column area.
Spacing: Pitch/Hole diameter 2-4
Tray thickness: 16 gage to ¼ in.
Hole clearance:
Hole-tower wall: 1.5 in.
Hole weir: 2 in., min.
Hole apron: 2 in., min.
Average dynamic seal hdt:
Vacuum: 0.5-0.6 in.
Atmospheric: 0.5-1.5 in.
Pressure: 1.5-3 in.
DOWNCOMERS
1. Type Segmental
2. Apron Vertical
LIQUID RESIDENCE TIME 5 sec., min, F
3 sec., min, NF
LIQUID VELOCITY 0.3-1 fps
APRON CLEARANCE ½ weir height
WEIRS/OUTLET
. 1. Type Segmental
2. Height 1-3 in.
3. Adjustment 1-2 in.
4. Length, % column diameter Cross flow, 60-75%
DP, 50-60%
Center, 8-12 in. wide
5. Inlet Recommended only for low liquid rates
6. Intermediate Not recommended
7. Splash baffles Optional, bottom
8. Anti-jump baffles 2-3 in. above outler weir
 Recommended for DP trays
Extend to elevation of top weir
9. Redistribute baffles Not recommended

MISCELLANEOUS
1. Drainholes Not recommended
2. Leakage
CONSTRUCTION TOLERANCES
1. Tray level ¼ in., maximum
1/8 in., maximum

TRAY-TYPE SELECTION BASED ON LIQUID HANDLING CAPACITY

TOWER DIAMETER REVERSE CROSS DOUBLE PASS CASCADE DOUBLE

(ft.) PASS
3 0-30 30-200 - -
4 0-40 40-300 - -
6 0-50 50-400 400-700 -
8 0-50 50-500 500-800 -
10 0-50 50-500 500-900 900-1400
12 0-50 50-500 500-1000 1000-1600
15 0-50 50-500 500-1000 1100-1800
20 0-50 50-500 500-1000 1100-2000

RECOMMENDED LIMITS FOR SIEVE TRAY

DATA CROSS FLOW DOUBLE PASS

Tray diameter, ft. 1-8 8-12
dn, hole diameter, in. 1/8-3/8 1/8-3/8
p, hole pitch 2.5-3 2.5-3
hw, weir height, in. 1-2 1-2
lw/D, weir length tower 0.68-0.76 0.55-0.63
dia., side - 0.97
lw/Dw, center 0.08-0.12 0.08-0.12
Aa/A 0.06-0.12 0.06-0.12
An/A 0.92-0.88 0.92-0.88
AN/A 0.84-0.76 0.84-0.76
An/A (Splash Baffle) 0.84-0.76 0.84-0.76
AA/A 12-14 12-14
tD gage

RELATION BETWEEN AREA, HOLE DIAMETER, PITCH, AND COLUMN DIAMETER-PERFORATED PLATES

Hole 1/16 1/8 3/16 1/4 5/16 3/8 1/2 3/4 1.0
diameter,
dh, in.
An, sq. 0.0214 0.0867 0.193 0.343 0.534 0.707 1.37 3.08 5.49
in. per
hole

Maximum, FFA=An/A = (Total hole area)/(Cross-sectional area of the column)

STAGE EFFICIENCY

Murphree vapour efficiency – is a ratio expression of the actual change in average composition to the
change that would have occur if the total vapour were in the equilibrium with the liquid actually leaving
the stage. It is expressed as:

Ev = (Yn – Yn+1)/(Yn* - Yn+1)

Where: Yn = vapour composition leaving the stage

Yn* = vapour equilibrium composition with the liquid leaving the stage
Yn+1 = vapour composition entering the stage