04-Apr-23

Unit Operations I
Lecture 8: Column Efficiency
Lecturer: Brosk Frya Ali
BSc Fuel and Energy Eng.
MSc. Environmental and Energy Eng.
Chemical - Petrochemical Eng. Dept., College of Eng., Salahaddin University – Erbil
brosk.ali@su.edu.krd
Academic Year 2022 - 2023

Column Efficiency
The number of ideal stages required for a desired separation may be calculated
by one of the methods discussed previously, although in practice more trays are
required than ideal stages. There are two types of efficiency usually used:

➢ Overall Column Efficiency (Ec):

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➢ Plate or Tray Efficiency (Em):

✓ Plate efficiency models, in order of increasing complexity, have been proposed
by Holland, Murphree, Hausen, and Standart. All four models assume that
vapour and liquid streams entering each tray are of uniform compositions.
✓ The proportion of liquid and vapour, and the physical properties of the
mixtures on the trays, will vary up the column, and conditions on individual
trays must be examined, as suggested by Murphree (1925).
✓ For a single ideal tray, the vapour leaving is in equilibrium with the liquid
leaving, and the ratio of the actual change in composition achieved to that
which would occur if equilibrium between Yn and Xn were attained is known
as the Murphree plate efficiency (Em).
✓ The plate efficiency can be expressed in terms of gas and liquid as given
below:
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Where: Yn* = is the composition of the gas Where: Xn∗ =is the composition of the liquid
that would be in equilibrium with the liquid of that would be in equilibrium with the gas of
composition Xn actually leaving the plate. composition Yn actually leaving the plate.

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Calculation of the Height Equivalent of a Theoretical Plate (HETP):

✓ The height of a theoretical plate (HETP), also called the height of an equivalent
equilibrium stage, is the height of packing that will give the same separation as
an equilibrium stage.
✓ The relationship between transfer units (HOG) and the height of an equivalent
theoretical plate (HETP) is given by:

Where: N= number of plates

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Example: Calculate the height of plate column with tray spacing of 0.51 m and
plate efficiency based on gas phase 40% to reduce the concentration of NH3 from
5.5 mol% to 0.1 mol% in an NH3-Air mixture using fresh water. The gas and
liquid flow rates are 300 and 400 Kg/m².hr, respectively, and the equilibrium
relationship is such that the vapour pressure of NH3 over the liquid is negligible.
Solution: For plate tower: Z = N * tray spacing

❖ Since the vapour pressure of NH3 over the liquid is negligible, then: m = 0

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