INTRODUCTION

Gas absorption is a unit operation in which soluble components of a gas mixture are

dissolved in a liquid (Perry et al., 2008). Most gas absorption aims at a separation of acidic

impurities from mixed gas streams. These acidic impurities include carbon dioxide (CO2),

hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and organic sulfur compounds. The most

important of these are CO2 and H2S, which occur at a concentration of five to fifty percent. Gas

absorption at an industrial scale is most commonly practiced in packed towers (Alo, n.d.).

In addition, gas absorption, which is sometimes called scrubbing, is an operation in which

a gas mixture is contacted a liquid to preferentially dissolve one or more components of the gas

mixture and provide a solution of them in the liquid. Thus, the gas absorption process involves

the diffusion of solute from the gas phase through a thick or non-diffusing liquid. Due to it, mass

transfer is evident in the gas from the gas phase to the liquid phase. The solute so transferred is

said to be absorbed by the liquid. In other situations, like gas desorption, which is sometimes

called stripping, the mass transfer is in the opposite direction. An example would be a situation

where there is a transfer from the liquid phase to the gas phase. Despite those differences, the

principles for both systems are the same.

Physical absorption and chemical absorption are the two kinds of absorption processes

that arise when there is some chemical reaction between the absorbed and absorbent (solvent).

Water is used as the absorbent in the experiment. There is no significant chemical reaction in the

process, which is why the experiment is said to be a process of physical absorption.

Neutralization happens in a solid base (liquid) and an acidic gas and is known to be a chemical

absorption method. Gas absorption equipment is designed to achieve the best potential interfacial

area between the gas and the liquid sources, frequently using liquid sprays and gas-bubbling

equipment. A vertical collection of trays is in many cases positioned so that the liquid descends

over a set of perforated trays or spills down over a tower's ceramic packaging. To maximize gas

concentrations and then accelerate reaction speeds, there is pressure applied. Practical concerns

include the organization of catalyst distribution and oil and hydrogen distribution (Earle, 1983).

The columns used are, usually, countercurrent gas-liquid contactors in which gas flows

upward and liquid downward. The columns are filled with packing to provide a large interfacial

area for mass transfer between gas and liquid (Treybal, 1980). The main difficulty lies in the

failure to account for the fundamentally different actions of the tray and packed columns. Packed

columns are used in the chemical industry to absorb gas from a mixture of gases or strip a

volatile substance from a liquid. A packed column may be used instead of a tray (plate) column

for different unit operations, such as continuous or batch distillation for gas absorption. The

vapors leaving an ideal plate in the more volatile part would be more affluent than the vapor

entering the scale by one equilibrium' phase' with a tray column. If these containers (or wrapping

materials) are used instead of trays, the same vapor enrichment can occur over a certain packing

height. This packing height is referred to as the height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP). It

is assumed that one equilibrium (theoretical) plate is defined by a given height of packings since

all parts of the packings are mechanically the same. Thus, HETP multiplies the necessary

packing height for any desired separation by the number of ideal trays required.
 A packed tower or a cylindrical column with a gas flow inlet located at the bottom; a

liquid flow inlet located at the top; and a mass of packing material are in the experiment's

equipment. Ultimately, this suggests that the gases flow in the same direction, in which the liquid

goes out, and the gas rises. Limits occur in every packed tower, and the limit is entitled to flood

velocity in the absorption of steam. The speed of flooding is the rate of gas flow at which the

column cannot run entirely functionally at a rate greater than this. In the case of a low gas flow

rate, the gas flow rate does not change the flow rate of the liquid downwards. The pressure drop

also increases as we increase the gas flow rate, ensuring a similar relationship between the gas

flow rate and the pressure drop. If the gas flow rate is at the level of flood velocity, the liquid

cannot flow down the column for a long time, and the gas is blown out.