Chapter 7

PACKED COLUMN DESIGN

INTRODUCTION OF PACKED
COLUMN
packing

Tower shells

Packing supports

Liquid distributor

Packing restrainer
The tower packing should offer the following
characteristics

• Provide for large interfacial surface between liquid and

1 gas

• Possess desirable fluid-flow characteristics

2

• Be chemically inert to fluids being processed

3

• Have structural strength to permit easy handling and

4 installation

5 • Represent low cost

Packing arrangement:

1.Random So usual
2.Regular High gas flow rate and low pressure drop

Packing material:
• Ceramic First choice for corrosion liquids
• Plastic Unsuitable for Organic solvents
Distillation
• Metal Unstable operation
Regular packings:

• Low pressure drop for the

gas
• Greater possible fluid flow
rates
• Usually at the expense of
more costly installation
than random pakings
• Some random • Regular packings:
tower packings:
• Ring Series-R- Ring (Equivalent to
Raschig Ring)
Ring Series-P- Ring (Equivalent to Pall
Ring)
Ring Series-Another types

• C-Ring (Cascade Ring) • Ceramic Cross Partition Ring

Super Mini-Ring (SMR) Saddle Series-Ring Saddle

Packing (Equivalent to IMTP)
packing size

• Column diameter • Packing size: Recommended

<0.3 m <25 mm

0.3 -0.9 m 25 - 38 mm

>0.9 m 50 - 75 mm
Tower shells

• Depending upon the

corrosion condition may
be of wood,chemical
stonware, acidproof
brick,glass,plastic or
glass-lined metal
• For ease of construction
and strength they are
usually circular in cross
section
Packing supports
Every packed bed will need a support. Two critical factors to be
considered in the design of a packing support are:

• It must physically retain and

support the packed bed under
operating conditions in the
column but not limited to
packing type and size, design
temperature, bed depth,
operating liquid holdup,
material of construction,
corrosion allowance.
• It must have a high percentage
of free area to allow
unrestricted countercurrent
flow of downcoming liquid and
upward flowing vapor.
Packing supports
Liquid distribution

An ideal distributor possesses the • Liquid distribution and packing

following attributes: irrigation.(a)inadequate(b)adequate

• Uniform liquid distribution

• Proper operation through its
turn-down range
• Low vapor phase pressure drop
• Resistance to plugging or fouling
• Minimal liquid residence time
• Optimal use of vessel height for
proper performance
Design steps are:

1.Select the type and size of packing

2. Determine the column height required for the specified
separation.
3. Determine the column diameter (capacity), to handle
the liquid and vapour flow
4. Select and design the column internal features:packing
support, liquid distributor, redistributors
Choice of plates or packing

1.Efficiency Plate is predictable than packed

2.Design reliable Plate:Liq dispersion difficults in packed
3.Liquid/Gas ratio ↓↓Plat ↑↑Packed
4.Cleaning Existense of solid particles dispersed in liq Plate
5. Liquid cooling Plate
6.Design informations For plate is more.
7.Size If column diameter <0.6m Packed
8.Corrosion Packed
9.Foaming systems Packed
10.Liquid hold up Is lower in a packed column
11.Pressure drop Vacuum:Packed column
12.Side stream Plate
INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
OF PACKED COLUMN
Unit 102 ‘MEG Regeneration and Injection
Unit 102 ‘MEG Regeneration and Injection

• The main purpose of the MEG Regeneration Units is to reduce the

water content of the Rich MEG so that it is suitable for re-injection
into the offshore sealines.
• glycol solution of 70% wt MEG (Mono Ethylene Glycol) / 30% wt
H2O is injected offshore in the sealines, in order to protect against
the hydrate formation during the transfer to onshore facilities.
Unit 102 ‘MEG generation and Injection’

Packed column
Unit 102 ‘MEG generation and Injection’

Standby
Unit 102 ‘MEG generation and Injection’
Unit 102 ‘MEG generation and Injection’

The reboiler 102-D-102

reboiler 102-D-102
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

• Lean MEG Solution

• The Lean MEG solution has a MEG content of 70 wt%.
• Water to Sour Water Stripper
• The excess water recovered during the MEG solution regeneration
is sent to a Sour Water Stripper.
• The MEG content of the packed Columns overhead water, sent to
the Sour Water Stripper, must be lower than 150 ppm wt.
Unit Equipment

• One Glycol Flash Drum 102-D-101

• Two Rich Glycol Filters 102-F-101 A/B
• One Rich / Lean Glycol Exchanger 102-E-101
• One Glycol Reboiler (LP steam used as heating medium) 102-D-102
• One Still Column (packed column)102-C-101
• One External Reflux Condenser (Air Cooler) 102-A-101
• One Reflux Drum 102-D-103
• One Reflux Pump 102-P-101
• One Glycol export pump 102-P-107
• One charcoal filter 102-F-102 (Location to reviewed by vendor)
• Two drain points for the skid (B and D class drains).
Unit 102 ‘MEG generation and Injection’

Packed column
Unit 102 ‘MEG Regeneration and Injection
REFRENCES:

1.Treybal,R.E.,”Mass
f
f
transfer operations”,third ed.
2.Refrences
Hines,A.H.,ans
i R.N.madox,”mass transfer fundamentral
and application
3.Bennett,c.o.,and J.E.Myers,”Momentum,Heat and mass
Transfer”,Third edition
4. Perry, Robert H. and Green, Don W. (1984). Perry's
Chemical Engineers' Handbook (6th Edition ed.). McGraw-
Hill.
5. Seader, J.D. and Henley, Ernest J. (2006). Separation
Process Principles (2nd Edition ed.). John Wiley & Sons
6. Kister, H.Z. (1992). Distillation Design (1st Edition ed.).
McGraw-Hill.
7.Gavin Towler and R K Sinnott (2007). Chemical
Engineering Design: Principles, Practice and Economics of
Plant and Process Design. Butterworth-Heinemann.
REFRENCES:

8.HATCE CEYLAN, CONTROL AND SIMULATION STUDIES FOR A

MULTICOMPONENT BATCH PACKED DISTILLATION COLUMN
9. Diwekar, U.M., “Batch Distillation: Simulation, Optimal Design and
Control”, Taylor & Francis,Washington (1996)
10. Billet, R. and Schultes, M., “Prediction of Mass Transfer Columnswith
Dumped and ArrangedPackings”, Chemical Engineering Research
and Design, Volume 77, Part A