Sustitución de una columna

corroída con elementos internos de

embalaje
Una columna corroída fue reemplazada por una nueva columna
equipada con embalaje de alta capacidad. El área de la sección
transversal es menos que la mitad del original.

Yang Quan, Markus Duss y Dong Jiao-Jiao Sulzer

Chemtech

A
na columna de Cooled air
contacto,directo
después de enfriador New column Old column
(DCAC) equipada con bandejas Height (T/T), m 14 14
Chilled water Inner diameter, m 2.7 4.0
de tamiz en una unidad de Packing type MellapakPlus Sieve tray
separación de aire (ASU) fue 252.Y
severamente corroída y tuvo
Table 1
que ser reemplazada. En lugar
de optar por un reemplazo uno
a uno, se seleccionó una laden with water in preference to
Cooling water
solución de empaque moderna CO2. If CO2 is not removed from
basada en una caída de presión compressed air, it can preferen-
menor y una capacidad mucho tially freeze and cause plugging of
mayor. Durante la etapa de Hot air downstream equipment. A simple
diseño del proceso, se confirmó sketch of a DCAC column is
que la altura de empaque shown in Figure 1.
especificada era adecuada para Water An operator in the Asia Pacific
cumplir con el requisito de region approached Sulzer to
transferencia de calor. replace a severely corroded DCAC
Durante la fase de ingeniería column. The existing column was
detallada, se utilizaron simulaci
ones de dinámica de fluidos Figure 1 Sketch of a DCAC 4 m in diameter and 14 m T/T, and
computacionales (CFD) para column was equipped with 10 sieve trays.
evaluar la aceptabilidad de la
disposición de entrada
existente. Las pruebas se
realizaron poco después de que
se erigiera la nueva columna
La temperatura medida del
aire desde la parte superior de
la nueva columna DCAC
coincidía muy bien con el valor
del diseño
tact with chilled and cooling water in the DCAC.
Background The primary function of the DCAC column is to
In an ASU, compressed air is brought into con- cool the hot air and reduce moisture. 1 As the
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PTQ Q2 2018
 water vapour content in compressed air is linked
directly to temperature, the compressed air
must be cooled to 8°C~15°C. Otherwise, the
downstream molecular sieve adsorbers may be
2 PTQ Q2
The dimensions of the new column were specified
as in Table 1.
Besides, a detailed design of the air inlet was
provided in the specification sheet: an open pipe
type with a disk beneath the downward opening
to direct the incoming vapour upwards.
The proposed operating conditions and
process flows for the new column were
unchanged. Based on the stream data and
packing type, the capacity and the pressure drop
were evaluated, with the results listed in Table
2. It can be seen from the packing hydraulics
that the new column was not highly loaded.
The key function of the DCAC column is to
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 Packing Operating conditions of the
hydraulics tray column (the critical
case)
Upper Lower section Column top pressure, bar_a 7.03
section Top Bott Top Hot air temperature,°C 95
Capacity, % 51.0 om Chilled water temperature, °C 14
Cooling water temperature, °C 28
P, mbar/m 1.2 51.9 Bottom
1.2 65.3 71.5
Table 2 Table 3

achieve the required temperature specification of

the cooled air stream. A temperature outside this
range will negatively impact the vital downstream
molecular sieve adsorbers’ ability to condition the
incoming air stream. Table 3 summarises the top
pressure of the DCAC column and the tempera-
tures of various feeds. Based on past operation of
the old column, the best ever achieved tempera-
ture of cooled air from the top of the DCAC was
15.5°C. Sulzer was asked to evaluate the specifi-
cations and guarantee an approach temperature
(the temperature difference between the cooled
air and the chilled water) of less than 1.5 °C.
To guarantee the temperature of the cooled air,
heat transfer calculations must be carried out to
evaluate the process risks.
Heat transfer calculations
In the DCAC column, as the temperature of the
compressed air is higher than that of the water,
sensible heat is transferred from the hot air to
the
water. Meanwhile, due to condensation of water
vapour, the latent heat of the hot air is also trans-
ferred. It should be highlighted that condensa- ! = 𝑘𝑘! ×(ℎ! − ℎ! )×𝑀𝑀!"# ×∆𝐻𝐻!"
tion is essentially a mass transfer matter. Figure
2 illustrates the concentration
and temperature profiles of water
in the aircolumn.
a DCAC and water phases
From for
this fig-
Process simulations provide useful insights,
such as the driving force for respective heat
transfers as well as the thermal properties of the
two phases. However, they can not predict how
fast heat will be transferred over a specific type
of packing.
Specifically, for sensible heat transfer, the heat
transfer coefficient in the gas phase should be
known. This, apart from the thermal properties
of the gas, is also related to gas turbulence inside
the packing. Subsequently, the required packing
area2 can be calculated as follows:
𝑄𝑄!
𝐴𝐴! = (1)
𝑈𝑈×(𝑇𝑇! − 𝑇𝑇! )
where QS (W) is sensible heat, U (W · m-2 · K-1) is
gas heat transfer coefficient, and TG and Ti (K)
are temperature of bulk gas and temperature of
the
interface respectively.
As for latent heat, the required packing area 3
can be determined by:
𝑄𝑄! (2)
𝐴𝐴
where QL (W) is latent heat, kG
(kmol· m-2 · s-1) is mass transfer
Interface
Air filmLiquid H2O film coefficient, hG and hi (mol · mol
1
-

) are humidity in gas bulk and

H2O concentration
ure, it can be easily understood the interface respectively, Mair
HG humidity
that resistance to sensible heat (g· mol-1) is molecular weight
transfer exists dominantly in the of air and ∆HLV (J/kg) is latent
gas phase while for latent heat T heat of water.
H
transfer or mass transfer there is G
i
Similarly, the mass transfer
no resistance in the liquid phase Latent coefficient is also related to gas
T T
due to a nearly zero concentra- heat turbulence inside the packing.
in gas Sensible
i L
tion difference of water between Sensible heatin Depending on the appli-
water in gas heat
the water phase and a water cation and specific customer
lam- inar film. Therefore, for requirements, the packing sur-
sensible heat transfer and latent face area can be adapted to fit
heat transfer in the DCAC Figure 2 Concentration and the purposes best. It should
column, only the gas phase temperature profiles of water in be noted that the packing area
needs to be looked at closely. air and water phases described above refers to the
effective area available for heat transfer, which may or may not be the same as the geometri- cal
surface area of the packing. 4
Nevertheless, Sulzer’s proprie-
tary packing correlations pre-
dict packing effective area as
well as mass transfer and heat
transfer coefficients at specific
operating conditions.
Based on the specified pack-
ing type and height, and the
flow rates and conditions of
feeds, we calculated the cooled
air out- let temperature to be
14.5°C with an approach
temperature of 0.5°C. The
impact of possi- ble variations
in water flow rate (±10%) was
also investigated. Eventually, Figure 3 CFD model of the DCAC column and its external inlet pipes
Sulzer guaranteed that 1.5°C of
approach tempera- ture could
be achieved.

Inlet piping
For this ASU plant, one of the
two feeds was supplied by a
compressor; the other feed
came from a nearby plant. The
feeds were combined in front of
the DCAC column, and the
distance between the joint of
the two inlet pipes and the
DCAC col- umn was about four
times that of the diameter of the
air inlet to the column.
Common practice in industry is
that, in order to avoid
Figure 4 Vapour flow trajectories in the DCAC column and its external inlet
maldistribution of vapour inside pipes
a column, any unavoid- able
upstream piping distur- bance
should be at least 10 times that Column pressure drop and approach temperature
of the inlet size in distance from
Old column New column New column
the column. In the exist- ing (guaranteed)
tray design, maldistribu- tion of (commissioning
P (mbar) 80 14.1 data)
vapour would likely be 12
T (°C) 1.5 (Best) 1.5 0.5

Table 4
mitigated by the high pressure drop of the tray.
However, given the much lower pressure drop
for the selected packing, maldistribution became
a potential issue in the stable operation of the
column. While the operator planned to revamp
the external inlet piping, Sulzer suggested using
an advanced inlet device, Shell Schoepentoeter,
instead of the specified simple pipe inlet device.
A CFD study was subsequently carried out to
understand vapour distribution inside the new
column. Figure 3 shows the CFD model built
for the DCAC column and its front inlet pipes.
The simulated vapour flow trajectories are illus-
trated in Figure 4. It was evident from Figure 4
that vapour distribution was perfectly fine if
Schoepentoeter was used as the air inlet device.
The operator agreed to leave the external inlet
piping untouched.
Results
Shortly after the new DCAC column was erected
on site, commissioning started. The operating
data during commissioning were collected and
they are listed in Table 4.
As expected, the pressure drop of the new
packed column was 85% lower than that of the
old tray column, and more importantly it was
below the guaranteed value. The approach tem-
perature was consistently at 0.5°C, a degree
below the guaranteed value and matching very
well the calculated figure of 0.5°C. The commis-
sioning data demonstrate that Sulzer
proprietary packing correlations are very
accurate in heat transfer calculations.
Conclusions
A corroded DCAC column was replaced with a
new packed column. Due to the high capacity of
packing, the cross sectional area of the new col-
umn was reduced by more than 50%. Revamp
of the external inlet piping was eliminated after
using an advanced gas inlet device. The
operating temperature of the cooled air matches
prediction.
References
1 Gorak A, Schoenmakers H, Distillation: Operation and
Applications, Ch. 6, Elsevier B.V., 2014.
2 Spiegel L, Bomio P, Hunkeler R, Direct heat and mass
transfer in structured packings, Chemical Engineering &
Processing, Vol. 35, 1996.
3 Geankoplis C J, Transport Process and Separation
Process Principles, 4th Ed., Ch. 9 & 10, Prentice Hall, 2003.
4 Duss M, Meierhofer H, Nutter D, Effective interfacial area
and liquid hold-up of Nutter rings at high liquid loads,
Chemical Engineering and Technology, Vol. 24, 2001.
Yang Quan is a Sulzer Senior Technical Expert, specialising
in mass transfer components, such as trays, packing, column
internals and separators. He is also responsible for air
separation knowledge management within Sulzer Chemtech.
He holds a PhD in environmental engineering from the
National University of Singapore.
Markus Duss is a Sulzer Senior Technical Consultant,
responsible for the development of in-house tools for
designing heat and mass transfer applications for rings and
structured packing. He is also the technical focal point for
post combustion carbon capture projects. He graduated
from the Polytechnical School Winterthur, and has been
working with Sulzer Chemtech for more than 30 years.
Dong Jiao-Jiao is a Sulzer Senior Application Engineer from
the Separation Technology business unit of Sulzer Chemtech
China. In her 10 years with Sulzer, her main responsibilities
have included monitoring the changing needs of the air
separation market, and driving for the best design and
optimisation of column internals in tune with times. She
holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from East
China University of Science and Technology.
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