LKMT

Industry Academia Workshop on “Design of Refinery Distillation Columns“

October 23rd – 24th 2013

Di till ti Equipment
Distillation E i t Design
D i : Methodology
M th d l and
d Practices
P ti

S.K.
S K Saxena
Saxena, AGM
EIL, New Delhi
Selection of contacting device for Columns

The selection process for tower internals can be

straightforward for some designs, but it could be
difficult for others as It depends on various
factors like whether it’s a Grass root design or a
revamp activity.

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Choices Available (Contacting Devices)

There are two broad categories of contacting devices:

• Trays (Vales/Sieves/Bubble Caps etc.)

• Packed Beds (Structured or Random Packing)

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Contacting Devices:

 Trays  Packing

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Selection of contacting device depends upon

• Operating pressure
• Turndown Ratio
• Foaming Tendency
• Solids present, dirty or polymerized solution handling
• Heat removal requirements
q

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A Typical Tray column :

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Types of Trays

Trays with Down comer

Valve
Sieve
Bubble Cap
Trays without Down comer
Shed Deck
Shed-
Dual Flow
Baffle
Disc & Donut
Ri l
Ripple
High capacity Trays (Proprietary Design)
Multi down comer trays
Pro valve, Triton, Nye, SuperFrac, MVG
Collector/ Chimney Trays
Non Fractionation Trays
Non-

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Valve Trays:

Vapor and Liquid Contacting Mechanism in Valve Trays

A li ti
Applications:

• Offer high capacity & good efficiency

• Good turndown characteristics
• Maximum application-widely used in almost all applications.
• Cheaper and simple in fabrication.

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Sieve Trays:

Vapor and Liquid Contacting Mechanism in Sieves

Applications:

• System where high capacity near design are to be maintained in

continuous service.
• Poor turndown characteristics as compared to valve trays
• Suitable for Liquid-liquid
q q extraction applications
pp

21 October 2013 9
Bubble Caps:

Vapor and Liquid Contacting Mechanism in Bubble

Caps

A li ti
Applications:

• Suitable for all services, except extremely coking, polymer formation

or other high fouling conditions.
conditions
• Used for extremely low flow conditions i.e. good turndown characteristics
& offer maximum flexibility in flow range.

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Advantages of Trays

• Tray columns exhibit wider operating range than

packed columns i.e. having Potential to handle vapor &
liquid loadings

• Very low liquid rates leads to incomplete wetting of

packing as compared to trays thus having higher
contacting efficiency

• High residence time provided for liquid on trays

• If solids are present in the fluid, tray columns can be

designed
g to permit
p easier cleaning.
g

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Comparison of Commonly Used Trays
Parameters Bubble* Sieve Valve
Capacity % 100 120-150 120-150
Efficiency % 100 105 115
105-115 105 115
105-115

Flexibility or 10:1 2:1 4:1

turndown 20:1 (possible) 3:1 ( possible) 6:1 (possible)
Entrainment 300 100 Least

Cost % 100 70-85 70

Fouling service Fair Good (for large Good

suitability holes)

Tray spacing 24”-36” 20”-30” 18”-30”

*With bubble cap trays as base case

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OTHER TYPE OF TRAYS:

1. Baffle Trays / Shed deck

2. Ripple Tray

3 Disc and Donut tray

3.

4. Dual Flow tray

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Applications Other Types of Trays

Type Applications

Dual flow /Ripple •Same as for sieve trays.

trays
trays •Higher capacity but low efficiency
•Poor turndown characteristics

Baffle trays / shed •Good for heat transfer applications

deck/ Disc & Donut •Can handle coke & solids.

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CLASSIFICATION OF TRAYS

Based on Liquid Flow Paths:

Single Pass Two Pass

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CLASSIFICATION OF TRAYS

Three Pass Four Pass

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High Capacity Trays (HCT)

HCT

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Difference in Configuration:

Major difference in Conventional & High capacity

trays are due to modification in the type/
construction of the internals :

• Modification in active area

• Modification in down comer area

• Reduction
R d ti in
i Tray
T Spacing
S i

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Types of HCT :

By modifying Active Area By Modifying Down Comer Area

Bifrac & Superfrac (M/s Koch) Maxfrac (M/s Koch)

Provalve ((M/s Norton)) Triton ((M/s Norton))

MVG (M/s Nutter) MD, ECMD & VGMD (M/s UOP)

Hi Fi (M/s
Hi-Fi (M/ Sulzer)
S l )

Nye (M/s Glitch)

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Claims by HCT Vendors:

Vendor Tray Capacity increase

(Upto)
Koch-Glitsch Nye 15-20%
Norton Bifrac 25%
Maxfrac 25%
Superfrac 30%
Triton 25%
Provalve 20%

UOP ECMD 20%

VGMD 30%

Sulzer MVG 20%

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Various types of High Capacity Valves

MVG (MINI V
V-GRID)
GRID) PROVALVE

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Continuation….

MD Trays by UOP
O Hi Fi Trays
Hi-Fi T by
b Sulzer
S l

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Continuation….

ECMD Trays by UOP

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Comparison between various types of Trays

Tray Type Capacity Efficiency Cost / unit Flexibility Remarks

area
Bubble Cap
p Med. to High except Med. To High High ( almost 3/1 to 4/1 Use for high flexibility
low to med. @ high twice the cost of
liquid rates sieve trays)

Sieves Med. to High High, Equal to or Lowest of all trays 2/1 to 3/1 First choice for most
better than others applications;

Valves Med. to High High, as good as Medium (About High. Not recommended for
sieves 110% of sieve Possibly up to fouling services.
trays) 5/1.

UOP MD,
UOP-MD, Veryy High,
g , estimated Low to Medium Higher
g than valve Low. ((< 2/1)) Consider for revamps
p
UOP-ECMD, to be 30-40% than a trays where no other device
conventional sieve is acceptable. Low
Sulzer Hi-Fi
trays for high liq. Tray Spacing, Non-
rates fouling services

SuperFrac,
SuperFrac Very High
High, estimated Medium More than 105% Medium.
Medium Good alternative to
MVG, to be 10-15 % than a of sieve trays Slightly higher sieve
conventional sieve than sieve trays at low liquid rate
ProValve,
trays for high liq. trays. where higher capacity
Triton rates is needed.

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Packed Column

Liquid Distributor

Packing

Support Plate
Liquid Collector/ Re-distributor
Bed Limiter

S
Support
t Pl
Plate
t

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Applicability of Packed Columns in a Refinery:

• For column < 900 mm I.D: Packing are usually cheaper

than trays.

• Acids & many other corrosive materials can be readily

handled in packed column. Because materials like
ceramic, carbon or other acid resistant material can be
used in packed beds.

• Hold-up
p of liquid
q can be quite
q low in packed
p column,, an
advantage when liquid is thermally sensitive.

• Liquid tending to foam may be handled more readily in

packed column because of relatively low degree of liquid
agitation by gas.

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Contd….
• Potential to handle high throughput at high efficiency.

• Packing itself acts as a foam breaker.

• Extensive use in revamp application. However. acceptable in

grass-root design also

• Offer low  P/ unit theoretical stage.

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Historical Generation of Packing in Industries

Packing
g

1st Generation 2nd Generation 3rd Generation

Raschig Rings Pall Rings
FlexiPak
Lessing Rings HyPak GemPak
Cross Partition Rings IMTP MellaPak
Berl Saddles CMR ParlPak
N tt Ri
Nutter Rings

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Types of Random Packing

IMTP INTALOX SADDLE

PALL RING RASCHIG RING

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Structured Packings

EIL’s Parlpak

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Comparison between various types of Packings

Packing Capacity Efficiency Cost / unit Flexibility Remarks

Type area

Random Medium Medium Medium to Low > 3/1 - Good efficiency per
Packing unit of pressure drop.
(Pall ings, Metal
- Mainly used in
Intalox, etc.) Absorbers where liquid
loads are high

Structured High to Very High High Medium >3/1 Best efficiency per unit
Packing (Varies with of pressure drop.
Metallurgy)
eta u gy)
(FlexiPac
(FlexiPac,
GemPak,
MellaPak etc.)

Grid Very High Good in Medium to High < 2/1 -Good

Good for high vapor &
(FLexiGrid, Entrainment low liquid service .
removal & Heat
Intalox Grid,
Transfer - Used in wash zones
etc.) applications of HC fractionators
only. where Coking formation
predominates

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Criteria for Internal selection:

Following criterions help the designer in selecting the best

internal for a given application
application, depends upon the various
factors but primarily on whether it’s a :

- A Grass Root Design, or

- A Revampp Activity
y

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Internal Selection for New tower (Table-1):

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Internal Selection for New tower (Table-2) :

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Internal Selection for a Revamp service (Table -3):

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Internal Selection for a Revamp service (Table-4):

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Comparison between Trays & Packing
Parameters Trays Packed column
Random Structured
Service -Process with exothermic - HP Absorbers -Vacuum service
reactions - Pump
P Around
A d (HT) -Revamps
R
- Fouled service
- Vacuum services -High no. Of stages.
- High no. of liquid withdrawals
-H.P absorbers
- High turndown & low liquid
rates
rates.

Capacity 1.0-1.15 1.2-1.3

1.0

Pressure Drop 1/3-1/5 1/5-1/10

(P) 1.0

0.9 0.8
Column size 1.0

Cost
 Internals 1.0
1.2 1.5*
 Columns 1.0
0.9 0.9

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Focus on Design of Trays

Before proceeding for the design of a tray tower, the Design

Specialist needs the following data from his process counterpart:

a. Vapor Loads entering the trays and its properties viz. temperature,
pressure, mol. wt. & compressibility factor.
b. Liquid
q Loads leaving g the tray
y and its p
properties
p viz. density,
y,
viscosity, surface tension etc.
c. Allowable pressure drop per tray.
d. Turn down/ turn up requirement
e. Foaming tendency
f. Material of construction
g. Fouling
g g Characteristics
h. Any special requirements like heat transfer etc.

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Tray Geometry: Major Components

Following are the major components of the tray :

• No. of Passes
No
• Active Area
• Down comers
• Number of valves
• Pitch/Layout
• Calming zone
• Inlet & Outlet Weir
• Tray Spacing
• Under Down comer Flow Clearance (UDFC)
• Column Diameter
• Column Height
• Other additional features like chimney tray, distributors etc.

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Typical Tray Layout

Plan View

Elevation View

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Tray design :

Following are the 3 broad categories that influence the

design of the tray:

a. Parameters affecting
g vapor
p capacity
p y
b. Parameters affecting liquid capacity
c. Other Important parameters

The same can be shown clearly from this graph…..

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Typical Performance Diagram

apor Rate

Area of Normal Operation

Va

Moderate Weeping

Heavy Weeping

Liquid Rate

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Tray design : Effect of Vapor Loadings

There are certain limitations on the vapor handling

capacity of the column about which the designer shall
be fully aware of before finalizing the configuration of
the Column:

The main controlling/limiting

/ factors
f are :

• Jet Flood
• Flow Regimes
• Entrainment

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Parameters affecting Vapor Loadings: Jet flood

Jet Flood is the state of entrainment when the down comers can't
handle adequate liquid flow and liquid backs up and fills the trays
& the vapor-liquid
p q contacting g mass of a tray
y reaches the one tray
y
above, resulting in massive entrainment and liquid recycling which
eventually affects the distillation and overloads the down comers.

Effect of Jet Flood on Column performance:

• This can result in loss of bottoms level,

level low tray efficiency
efficiency, high tower pressure
drop, control problems, etc.

• If the down comer is too small or tray pressure drop is too high,
high flooding can be
caused by down comer backup even if entrainment is small.

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Jet Flood Vs Column Efficiency

21 October 2013 45
Parameters affecting Vapor Loadings: Flow Regimes

Different flow regimes can occur on a tray in a column.

Following are the prominent flow regimes that can be encountered in a

column depending on Vapor-liquid flow rates:

•E
Emulsion
l i regime
i operation
ti occurs primarily
i il att llow vapor velocities
l iti andd
high liquid rates i.e. the liquid phase is continuous

• Froth regimes occurs primarily when vapor passes through the liquid
on the tray as discrete bubbles of irregular shape, formed at the tray
perforations and are swept away by the froth

• Spray regime operation occurs primarily at high vapor velocities and

low liquid rates i.e. In the spray regime, the vapor phase is continuous.

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Flow Regime within Normal Operating Range

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Effect on Efficiency:

From the above graph it is clear that:

•Froth regime is the most desirable operating regime for an efficient
performance of a column.

•Operation in the Spray regime can be very detrimental to good tower

performance as tray efficiency dropping sharply
sharply.

21 October 2013 48
Parameters affecting Vapor Loadings: Entrainment

Entrainment occurs because of inadequate vapor space above the

vapor-liquid contacting zone on a tray. Liquid doesn't fully disengage
from the vapor, and is carried to the tray above.

Eff t off E
Effect Entrainment
t i t on a Column
C l Performance:
P f

• Entrainment becomes more pprevalent when tower vapor

p loads increase.
• Massive entrainment leads to jet flooding.

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Entrainment in a Column:

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Tray design : Effect of Liquid Loadings

Similar to vapor loadings, there are certain limitations on

the liquid handling capacity of the column as well:

Liquid loading effect the following parameters :

• Down comer Flood

• Under Down Comer Velocity
• Down Comer Back
Back-Up
Up limits

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Liquid Handling Limitations: Down Comer Flood

Down Comer Flood is the criterion that determines how close a

tower is to flooding as a result of excessive liquid height in the
down comer.

or,

Percent down comer flood represents the ratio of the actual

vapor
p and liquid
q feed rates to the feed rates that would result in
100% down comer froth backup.

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Down Comer Filling in a Column

Down comer filling (Hd) is defined as the clear liquid height in the down comer.

Hd = Ht + Hud + Hi + Hdc

And, Dry Tray Pressure drop (Ht) is given by :

Ht = Hed + Hc

where;
Hd - Down Comer Filling
Ht - Tray pressure drop,
Hud - Head loss under the down comer,
Hi - Inlet head on the tray,
Hdc - Head loss due to flow through the down Comer
Hed - Dry tray pressure drop
Hc - Clear liquid height

Each head is expressed in inches (mm) of hot clear liquid.

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Typical in a down comer

21 October 2013 54
DC Back Up:

This is the measure of the aerated liquid in the down comer,

calculated in terms of clear liquid height.

• Backup is a function of dry and wet tray pressure drop and head loss under the
down comer.

• If the restrictions to flow are too large and/or a foamy system is involved, the
aerated liquid in the down comer can backup to the level of the outlet weir and
cause tower flooding.

• Calculated backup should generally not exceed about half of the tray spacing

• Lower
L backups
b k should
h ld be
b used
d ffor ffoamy systems
t

21 October 2013 55
Other Important Parameters:

There are many other important parameters which shall

be satisfied or shall be taken care of in the design viz.

• Tray Area & Efficiency

• Tray Spacing
• Turn-down Ratio / weeping
• Tray pressure Drop
• Fouling
F li
• Foaming
• Others

21 October 2013 56
Tray Area:

Mainly 2 Components ascertain Tray Area:

1) Calming Area : This is an area preserved for vapor

disengagement prior to liquid entering a down comer. The un-
perforated narrow strip of active area next to the outlet weir is
considered to be calming area.

2) Active
Acti e Area : This is the tray deck area enclosed by the tower
wall, the outlet weirs, and the edges of the inlet areas. Valves or
sieve holes are located in the active area

21 October 2013 57
Tray capacity & Tray efficiency:

Tray capacity and tray efficiency are the two most important
criteria in tray design:

• Diameter of a tower is mainly determined by capacity

considerations,
• Tray efficiency determines the number of actual trays,
trays and
therefore the height, of the tower.
• To achieve g
good efficiency,
y, the designer
g must optimize
p
the weir height, open area, bubble area, liquid flow path
length, number of liquid passes, and other variables.

21 October 2013 58
Tray Spacing:

Tray spacing along with Column Diameter is an important

parameter that set the capacity of the tower.

•As the distance between trays is increased, the tower capacity will
increase and the column diameter could be reduced.
• Low tray spacing can also be used
used, but this increases the column
diameter as to handle a given set of vapor and liquid loadings. Also,
such low spacing may lead to difficult maintenance.
• Typically
T i ll , a ttray spacing
i off 24 iinches
h iis preferred.
f d

Therefore, Selection of optimum tray spacing is a function of

column diameter and service (clean or fouled) and most
importantly depends upon the experience of the equipment
designer/databank
designer/databank.

21 October 2013 59
Turndown Ratio :

Turndown Ratio is the term used to define the range of

loadings over which acceptable tray performance is achieved.
This usually means the range over which the tray efficiency
stays
y at or above the design
g value.

Note : While deciding the turndown ratio, a specialist must check

the weeping efficiency curve that how much design efficiency is
obtained at turn down.

21 October 2013 60
Effect of Weeping:

This is the passage of liquid through the tray deck seams,

and valve or sieve holes.

• It occurs more when vapor rates are low, and is the primary
reason sieve trays lose efficiency at turndown operation.

• When 25% of the liquid load weeps through the tray, one
should expect significant loss of tray efficiency

21 October 2013 61
Effect of weeping on Efficiency:

21 October 2013 62
Foaming Factor:

Foaming can occur in distillation towers via several different

mechanisms including:

• Presence of surface active materials.

• Presence of solids.
• Entrainment of HCs liquids into aqueous systems.
• Condensation of HCs vapors into aqueous systems.

To design for foaming, the tray is usually oversized by using a lower

percent of jet flooding and down comer flood, a low dry tray pressure
drop a low down comer entrance velocity,
drop, velocity and a reduced allowable
down comer filling.

21 October 2013 63
Packed Column Design :

Following are the major parameters that influence the

design of the packed columns :

a. Vapor
p & Liquid
q Capacity
p y limitations
b. Efficiency & Turn down
c. Heat Transfer
d. Other considerations

21 October 2013 64
Packed Column Design: Effect of Vapor/Liq
Vapor/Liq Capacity

Phenomena of Flooding in Packed Beds

(In both Random Packing or Structured
Str ct red Packing)

Flooding occurs when liquid begins to accumulate in the

packing and the pressure drop begins to rise more sharply.
With further increases in vapor
p rate, the p pressure drop p rises
almost vertically and liquid begins to “pile up” on the top of
the packing.

21 October 2013 65
Packed Column Design: Efficiency & Turn Down

• For most applications, random packing should be

considered first because they are lower cost.
cost
• If a low pressure drop per theoretical stage and/or a short
column height g is required,
q , then structured p packingg should
be evaluated as an option.
• To ensure optimum efficiency at all rates, a high quality
li id distributor
liquid di t ib t mustt be
b used. d
• The selection of a liquid distributor is critical in the design of
a packed bed

21 October 2013 66
Packed Column Design: Other Factors

There are various parameters that also influence the

Design of the packed columns, for instance:

a. Heat transfer Requirement

q
b. Vapor & Liquid distribution
c. Fouling , etc.

21 October 2013 67
Future Challenge & Trends

Challenges lying ahead for this industry:

• Lower capital cost & optimized design

• Energy efficient hardware
• Higher continuous run length
• Flexibility to handle wide variations in loads.

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