plant insites
Effectively Remove Droplets
Various factors affect the choice and operation of liquid/vapor separators
Plants often use separators to remove liquid
droplets from vapor streams. To evaluate the gas
capacity of these vessels, engineers typically rely on
the empirical Souders-Brown correlation:
V = K [(rL rV)/rV]0.5
where V is the superficial vapor velocity, K is a
constant, rL is the density of the liquid phase and rV
Quoted removal is the density of the vapor phase. The same equation
frequently is used to evaluate packing in distillation,
efficiencies often
stripping and absorption towers. As a concept this
reflect best-case makes sense. Tower packing comes into contact with
rising vapor and falling liquid. If the liquid cant fall,
operation.
the tower will flood. For distillation towers, the lim-
iting value for K often is given as 0.45 for systems re-
quiring low entrainment and up to 0.50 for systems
that can tolerate high entrainment. These values are
for high-capacity packings that can operate close to
the system limit. However, a specific packing may
have a much lower capacity.
The Souders-Brown correlation doesnt account for
any effect of separator height. For towers, that isnt a
major issue because most installations have spacings
between internal elements of three feet or less.
Separators, however, often have much more verti-
cal space. This allows for higher capacities in a given
plot area. With V in ft/sec and density in consistent
units, experience-based values of K for separators are:
0 .167 for 5-ft-high vertical vessels with the
stream entering in the middle of the vessel (val-
ues for specific services run from 0.12 to 0.24);
0 .210 for 10-ft-high vertical vessels with entrance
in the middle of the vessel (a range of 0.18 to
0.35 for specific services); and
0 .35 for spherical vessels and vessels with wire-
mesh mist eliminators (a variation of 0.22 to
0.39 for specific services).
For horizontal vessels, you can estimate K via:
K = 0.45 (L/10)0.56
where L is the horizontal vessel length in ft. For such
vessels, V is calculated based on the open area above
the liquid level. This effectively relates the horizontal
travel required for the vapor to give enough time for
a droplet to settle horizontally.
Vertical separators are best in applications where
gas doesnt contain much liquid. Horizontal separa-
tors are more effective for dealing with large liquid
volumes. They also better suit three-phase systems
if the two liquid phases are being separated at the
same time.
April 2013 chemicalprocessing.com  42
The Souders-Brown correlation and K-factor
selected imply a minimum droplet size. Here, the
situation becomes a bit unclear. Stokes Law, Newtons
Law or the Intermediate Law govern droplet settling.
Smaller droplets have lower settling velocities; larger
droplets have higher ones. Without special internals
(e.g., baffles, impingement plates, cyclones or mesh
pads), the maximum size of a droplet that will settle
depends upon its terminal velocity. If this is less than
the velocity of the rising vapor, the droplet will fall
out of the vapor. If the terminal velocity exceeds the
velocity of the rising vapor, the droplet will ascend
with the vapor.
The upper limit for Stokes Law is a droplet
Reynolds number of 2. Newtons Law pertains when
Reynolds numbers lie in the 500200,000 range. Be-
tween 2 and 500 the situation for most industrial
systems the Intermediate Law applies. Droplet
removal efficiency is a complex function of droplet
size, liquid density, vapor density and vapor viscos-
ity. The effective removal limit for vertical separators
varies from a droplet size of 40 to 170 depending
upon the system, vapor velocities and liquid load.
Wire-mesh mist eliminators, by providing both
inertial and impaction droplet-removal mechanisms,
can push limits down into the 310- range. How-
ever, quoted removal efficiencies of 9999.5% for such
droplets often reflect best-case operation. Contamina-
tion of the mesh pad with scale, rust or other solids
may dramatically reduce this. Corrosion damage to
the pad is another major concern.
Mesh pads have a relatively sharp upper limit on
vapor velocity. Operation may alter dramatically with
as little as 10% change in vapor rate as the pad ap-
proaches its upper operating limit.
Finally, mesh pads create liquid/vapor surface area.
Much like with packing, this may promote liquid/va-
por mass transfer. In fact, mesh pads often serve as the
packing in small diameter columns. Liquid composi-
tion in the mesh pad may not be as expected. This can
lead to fouled pads.
Like all equipment, separators without and with
mesh pads have a specific operating envelope for best
performance. Running outside that envelope will
likely lower efficiencies. Respect their limits and both
should work well.
andrew sloley, Contributing Editor
ASloley@putman.net