GAS ABSORPTION AND

STRIPPING
WHITMANN’S TWO-FILM THEORY
Overall Mass Transfer Coefficient

1 1 m 1 1 1
   
KG kg k KL k mkg

1
Note: Resistance due to mass transfer is
K
 Packed Absorbers/Strippers
• Absorber(or Scrubber) – solute is from gas
phase to liquid phase.

• Stripper- solute is from liquid phase to gas

phase.
 Henry’s Constant
To determine the value of m of the equilibrium
curve from the Henry’s constant KH,
 PAg 
KH  lim  
C 0  C A 

KH 
PAg
, hence KH 
 PAg PT   PT  m  KH
CT
CA (CA CT ) CT PT
ABSORPTION/STRIPPING OF DILUTE
SOLUTIONS
G ' y 2 dy ' G' y 2 dy '
kg aP 1 y i ' y ' KG aP y1 y i ' y '

z 
y

L' x2 dx ' L' x2 dx '

z
kl aCT x1 
x ' xi ' K L aCT x1 x ' x *

Operating Line: L '  x1 ' x '   G '  y ' y1 ' 

Equlibrium Line: y *  mx *

L'
Absorption factor: A
mG '
 SUMMARY OF EQUATIONS (PHB, 14-12 to 15)
1  1   y  mx2  1 
NOG  ln  1    1  
Absorption 1  A 
1 A   y 2  mx2  A 
Packed Column
Z  HOG NOG
1   x  y1 / m  
NOL  ln 1  A   2   A 
Stripping 1  A  x 
 1 1 y / m  
Z  HOL NOL

1  1   y  mx2  1 
Absorption NG  ln  1    1  
ln( A)  A   y 2  mx2  A 

Z  HETP  NG

Tray Column
Stripping 1   x  y1 / m  
NL  ln 1  A   2   A 
ln(1/ A)  x 
 1 1 y / m  
Z  HETP  NL
 HETP, (PHB, Eq. 14-29)
-Height equivalent of a theoretical plate.

ln(1/ A)
HETPg  HOG 
A 1
ln( A)
HETPs  HOL 
1/ A  1
Minimum Solvent/Gas Requirement

Absorption: L 'min (m / y 2 ' x1 ')  G '( y 2 ' y1 ')

L  1.2 to 1.5  Lmin

L '( x1 ' x2 ')  G 'min ( y1 ' mx2 ')

Stripping:
G '  1.2 to 1.5  Lmin '
 PROBLEM 1
Gaseous ammonia is absorbed from an ammonia-air stream by water in a wetted-wall column.
Pure water enters the top of the column where the ammonia partial pressure is 2000 Pa. The
OMTC in terms of the partial pressure driving force is 9.2 x 10-3mol/h-m2-Pa. 70% of the total
resistance to mass transfer is found in the gas phase. Equilibrium data is given:

Partial Pressure of
NH3 (Pa) 1533 2039 2572 3252 3945
g NH3/100 g water 1.2 1.60 2.00 2.50 3.00

8. The Henry’s law constant for ammonia in water is most nearly:

a. 1.17 x 10^5 Pa b. 1.24 x 10^5 Pa
c. 1.21 x 10^5 Pa d. 1.28 x 10^5 Pa

9. The individual gas-phase MTC is most nearly:

a. 9.20 x 10-3 mol/h-m2-Pa b. 1.31 x 10-2 mol/h-m2-Pa
c. 6.44 x 10-3 mol/h-m2-Pa d. 1.16 x 10-2 mol/h-m2-Pa

10. The individual liquid-phase MTC is most nearly:

a. 233 mol/h-m2 b. 3620 mol/h-m2
c. 2600 mol/h-m2 d. 3740 mol/h-m2
 PROBLEM 2
Gas, from a petroleum distillation column, has a concentration of H2S
reduced from 0.03 (kmol H2S/kmol of inert hydrocarbon gas) to 1 per
cent of this value by scrubbing with a triethanolamine–water solvent in
a counter-current tower, operating at 300 K and atmospheric pressure.
The equilibrium relation for the solution may be taken as Y = 2X. The
solvent enters the tower free of H2S and leaves containing 0.013 kmol
of H2S/kmol of solvent. If the flow of inert gas is 0.015 kmol/s m2 of
tower cross-section,. The individual mass transfer coefficients may be
taken as 0.04 kmol/s-m3 on the gas phase and 2.43 kmol/s-m3 in the
liquid phase.
the number of transfer units required.
a. 17 b. 21 c. 34 d. 12
the height of the absorber necessary,
a. 5.3 m b. 7.6 m c. 13 m d. 17 m
 PROBLEM 3
Fifty cubic feet/s of flue gas at 80F and 14.7 psia containing 2% by mole CO2 is
scrubbed using optimum water(1.5 times the minimum) in a column containing 25mm
ceramic Pall rings. The overall mass transfer coefficient is 0.15 ft/s in the gas phase.
The equilibria between gas/liquid phases is given by
Y = 3.16X

n designing a 2-feet diameter tower for the 99% absorption of CO2 in the flue gas,
the height of a transfer unit, in feet, is nearly,
a. 1.6 b. 7.3 c. 4.4 d. 0.32

the HETP, in feet, of the packed tower:

a. 0.5 b. 2.3 c. 1.3 d. 0.7

the amount of scrubbing water, in ft3/h required is nearly,

a. 600 b. 300 c. 200 d. 100

the amount of packing, in ft required is nearly,

a. 44 ft b. 30ft c. 26 ft d. 17 ft
 PROBLEM 4
Naptha oil is 99.9% stripped with phenol using superheated recycle
steam at 350K and 1 atm containing no phenol. The oil contains 5.2%
phenol and fed at 20 kmol/h. The column provision is 78 cm in
diameter containing 13 mm Raschig rings (ceramic). The steam to be
used is 1.3 times the minimum value and the Henrys contant is 2.3,

Individual gas phase MTC = 0.077 kmol/h-m2

Individual liquid phase MTC = 0.590 kmol/h-m2

The m3/h steam required is approximately

A. 309 B. 165 C. 409 D. 570

The height of packing needed

A. 6.2 m B. 8.9 m C. 1.32 m D. 2.3 m
 PROBLEM 5
A mixture of ammonia and air is scrubbed in a plate
column with water containing 0.005% ammonia. If
the ammonia concentration is reduced from 5 per
cent to 0.01 per cent, and the water and air rates
are 0.65 and 0.40 lb/m-2s, respectively, how many
theoretical plates are required? The equilibrium
relationship may be written as Y = X, where X is the
mole ratio in the liquid phase

A. 12 B. 9 C. 6 D. 14
 PROBLEM 6
A bubble-cap column with 30 plates is to be used to remove n-
pentane from a solvent oil by means of steam stripping. The inlet
oil contains 6 kmol of n-pentane per 100 kmol of pure oil and it is
desired to reduce the solute content to 0.1 kmol per 100 kmol of
solvent. Assuming isothermal operation and an overall plate
efficiency of 30 per cent, find the specific steam consumption,
that is the kmol of steam required per kmol of solvent oil
treated, and the ratio of the specific and minimum steam
consumptions. The equilibrium relation for the system may be
taken as Y = 3.0X,
a. 1.2 b. 1.4 c. 2.1 d. 2.7