Multistage Operations - 2023

Student name:  Student Number

 Teliyah Durgiah  22107247

Submitted: 30/05/2023

Lecturer: M. Chollom

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Chemical Multistage Operations 101 in the Department of
Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Question 1....................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Question 2....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Question 3..................................................................................................................................................................... 11

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Introduction
For the following assignment, it is required to state the disadvantages and advantages of tray and packed towers for
distillation and absorption. As well as provide different examples from industry to show how and why a packed or
tray column would be better suited.

It is also required to calculate the real number of trays using the Mccabe theory, using a graphical method, for an
absorption tower that is to separate an ammonia-air gas stream by absorbing ammonia from the gas stream to the
pure water stream. A 98% absorption is required.

For the last problem, we are required to calculate the minimum reflux ratio, Rm. This is done using a graphical
method with the given information being that the feed enters as a saturated vapour at dew point.

It is also required to calculate the theoretical number of trays at total reflux. This is demonstrated/answered
graphically.

Finally, it is required to calculate the theoretical number of trays at an operating reflux ratio of 1.5Rm. This is
answered graphically.

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Question 1
Tray Towers Vs Packed Towers

Advantages of tray tower:

- High efficiency:

Tray towers have multiple trays or plates for excellent separation efficiency. Liquid and vapour phases interact on
these trays to facilitate mass transfer and separation.

- Flexibility:

Tray towers facilitate customization and control of operating conditions such as flow rates and temperatures, which
are critical to achieving desired separation performance.

- Improved heat transfer:

Trays allow the incorporation of additional heat transfer devices such as bell jars or perforated trays to enhance heat
transfer between the vapor and liquid phases.

- Easy maintenance:

The easily accessible trays in the tray tower are relatively easy to inspect, clean and maintain.

Disadvantages of tray tower:

- Pressure drop:

Tray towers typically have more than one tray, resulting in higher pressure drop compared to packed towers. This can
lead to increased energy consumption and higher operating costs.

- Capacity limit:

Compared to random packed columns, tray columns may have limited capacity to handle large liquid or vapor loads.

- Susceptible to contamination:

The presence of trays can cause fouling problems, especially in processes that use feed streams containing impurities
and high viscosity, which can affect tray efficiency and require regular maintenance.

- High cost:

Tray towers are typically more expensive to manufacture, design and maintain than pack towers.

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Advantages of packed tower:

- Reduced pressure loss:

Packed columns generally have a lower pressure drop compared to tray columns due to the continuous packed bed
structure, resulting in lower energy requirements and operating costs.

- Large capacity:

Packed columns have the advantage of being able to handle large liquid or vapor loads and are suitable for
applications requiring high throughput.

- Resistance to contamination:

Packed towers are less prone to fouling than tray towers as they do not have a complicated tray design and are
suitable for processes with contaminants and viscous feed streams.

- Simplicity:

Random-filled towers are much simpler in design and have fewer internal parts than tray towers, which simplifies the
construction and maintenance of random-filled towers.

Disadvantages of packed towers:

- Reduced efficiency:

Packed columns typically have lower separation efficiencies than tray columns. Gas and liquid phases have limited
contact time and surface area for mass transfer, which can affect separation performance.

- Limited control:

Packed columns offer less flexibility to customize and control operating conditions, making it difficult to optimize
separation performance.

- Limited heat transfer:

Packed columns typically do not contain additional heat transfer equipment, resulting in less heat transfer between
the vapor and liquid phases compared to tray columns.

- Pressure drop:

Packed towers have a higher pressure drop than tray towers and may require more energy to operate.

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Examples where either a tray column or packed column is suitable:

Vacuum distillation:

In vacuum distillation, the pressure inside the column is lowered to lower the boiling points of the components to be
separated. Plate towers are generally suitable for vacuum distillation for the following reasons:

Packed columns tend to have lower pressure drop than tray columns. This advantage becomes especially important
in vacuum distillation. Vacuum distillation often separates components with very close boiling points. Tray towers
offer superior separation efficiency and precise control of liquid-vapor interactions, enabling better separation of
these high-boiling components. Tray towers have multiple floors to allow liquid and vapor streams to interact and
exchange heat and mass. Improved separation efficiency. Vacuum distillation often requires precise temperature
control to prevent thermal degradation of heat sensitive components. A tray tower with better liquid-vapor contact
and heat transfer capabilities will better maintain the desired temperature. Pack towers typically have lower cutting
forces than Horde towers. In vacuum distillation, it can be difficult to achieve the required separation efficiency in
packed columns due to the small difference in boiling points between the components.

Gas absorption:

For gas absorption processes where gas components are absorbed in the liquid phase, packed columns are often
preferred over tray columns. Packed columns provide a larger surface area for the packing material, allowing efficient
contact between the gas and liquid phases. This promotes weight transfer and increases absorption efficiency. Floor
towers have a relatively low carbon footprint compared to packed towers and may not provide sufficient contact area
for efficient gas-liquid mass transfer during absorption. The tower packing provides many small channels or voids
that allow intimate gas-liquid contact and efficient mass transfer. This is particularly advantageous when the solubility
of the gas in the liquid is relatively low. Tray towers can have limitations in achieving complete gas-liquid contact,
especially at high gas flow rates or when there is a large density difference between the gas and liquid phases.

High pressure and high viscosity systems:

In processes involving high pressure and high viscosity systems, packed columns are often preferred over tray
columns. This is because tray columns can face operational challenges as it is difficult to achieve pressure drop and
uniform liquid distribution across the tray. High pressure drop can lead to liquid leakage and entrainment, reducing
separation efficiency. Additionally, high viscosity fluids can exacerbate these problems. Packed columns, on the other
hand, have lower pressure drop and can handle higher viscosity liquids more effectively. Packing materials provide a
large interface for mass transfer, allowing efficient separation even under difficult conditions.

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Question 2
A tray tower is to be used to remove 98% of the ammonia from an entering air stream containing 9% ammonia at 293
K and 1.013 x 105 Pa. The entering pure-water flow rate is 221 kg H2O/h.m2 and the inert air flow is 150 kg air/h.m2.
Calculate the number of real trays needed by taking the efficiency of the trays as 47%. Plot a diagram to step off the
number of trays accurately.

Answer:

V1 = 5.183 kgmol/hr.m2 L1 = 221 kg/hr.m2 = 12.278 kgmol/hr.m2

Y1= 0.00212 X0 = 0

98% removed

Vn = 150 kg/hr.m2 = 5.684 kgmol/hr.m2 Ln = 12.779 kgmol/hr.m2

Yn+1 = 0.09 Xn = 0.0357

kg 2 150 kgmol 2
V ' =150 .m = =5.172 .m
hr 29 hr
Where 29 is the molar mass of air and V’ is the flowrate of inert gas entering the column.

' kg 2 221 kgmol 2

L =221 .m = =12.278 .m
hr 18 hr
Where 18 is the molar mass of water and L’ is the flowrate of pure water entering the column.

V ' =V ( 1− y )
5.172=V ( 1−0.09 )
V = 5.684 kgmol/hr.m2. This is the total air-ammonia gas mixture entering the column.

Amount of ammonia entering the column:

V ∗y n+1=( 5.684 )( 0.09 )=0.512kgmol/hr.m2

Amount of ammonia absorbed:

(0.98)(0.512) = 0.501 kgmol/hr.m2

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Therefore, V1 (the flowrate of air leaving) can be calculated as:

V1 = 5.684 – 0.501 = 5.183 kgmol/hr.m2

Amount of ammonia leaving as gas (ammonia that was not absorbed) (y1):

( 0.512−0.501 )
=0.002122
5.183

Ln, the liquid mixture leaving:

Ln = 12.278 + 0.501 = 12.779 kgmol/hr.m2

Then, the amount of ammonia leaving as liquid (Xn):

L'
( X0
1−X 0 ) (
+V '
y n+1
1− y n+1 ) (
=L'
Xn
1−Xn
+V ' () y1
1− y 1
)

0+ ( 5.172 ) ( 1−0.09
0.09
)=( 12.278 ) ( 1−XnXn )+( 5.172 ) ( 1−0.002122
0.002122
)
Xn = 0.039

Operating line co-ordinates:

Y = 0.09, X = 0.039

Y = 0.002122, X = 0

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Equilibrium line:

Using the following data:

Table 1: equilibrium data for ammonia.

By interpolating, using the max y value, 0.09, we can find the max x value:

0.0915−0.0657 0.0915−0.09
=
0.0960−0.0737 0.0960− Xn
Xn = 0.095

Equilibrium line max co-ordinates:

Y = 0.09, X = 0.095

Using the table above, we can plot the graph shown below

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Graph showing the number of stages:

Graph 1: graph showing the number of trays needed for this absorption column.

From this graph, we can calculate the real number of trays using a tray efficiency of 47%:

Real number of trays = theoretical trays/tray efficiency

N = 3.25/47% = 6.915 = 7 trays.

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Question 3
A rectification column is fed 100 kg mol/h of a mixture of 50 mol % benzene and 50 mol %toluene at 101.32 kPa abs
pressure. The feed is saturated vapour at the dew point. The distillate is to contain 90 mol % benzene and the
bottoms 10 mol % benzene. Calculate the following:

a) Minimum reflux ratio Rm

F = Feed rate = 100 kg mol/hr

Xf = mole fraction of benzene in the feed = 0.50

Xd = mole fraction of benzene in the distillate = 0.9

Xw = mole fraction of benzene in the bottoms = 0.1

Material balance:

F=D+W

W=F–D

Where:

F = flowrate of Feed

D = flowrate of distillate

W = flowrate of bottoms

Component balance:

F x f =D x D +W x w

F x f =D x D +(F−D) x w
(100) (0.50) = (D) (0.9) + (100-D) (0.1)

D = 50 kg mol/hr

Therefore, the flowrate of the bottoms is:

F–D=W

W = 100 – 50

W = 50 kg mol/hr

Q = 0, since feed enters as saturated vapour at dew point.

The q-line is plotted as a straight horizontal line since q = 0, from Xf on the 45-degree line.

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Graph 2: graph showing the q-line, the Xf, Xd and Xw points on the 45-degree line.

Minimum reflux (Rm) can be found using the following:

Rm ( X D− y' ) 0.9−0.50
= =
R m +1 X D −x ' 0.9−0.30

Rm = 2

Where:

Y’ and x’ = the point of intersection of the q-line and the operating line found in graph 2.

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b) Minimum number of theoretical plates at total reflux

Graph 3: minimum number of theoretical plates for total reflux

Number of plates = 5 – 1 (reboiler) = 4 trays

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c) Theoretical number of trays at an operating reflux ratio of 1.5(Rm)

R = (1.5) (Rm) = (1.5) (2) = 3

Enriching line:

R XD
y= Xn+
R+1 R+1
3 0.9
y= Xn+
3+1 3+1
y=0.75 Xn+ 0.225
Enriching line co-ordinates:

X = 0.5, y = 0.75(0.5) + 0.225 = 0.6

The graph below shows the enriching line, q-line and stripping line.

The q-line is plotted as a straight horizontal line since q = 0, from Xf on the 45-degree line.

The enriching line is plotted starting from Xd on the 45-degree line to the above co-ordinate, to the q-line.

The stripping line is plotted from the point of intersection of the enriching line and q-line, to Xw on the 45-degree
line.

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Graph 4: graph showing the enriching line, q-line, stripping line and number of theoretical stages at a reflux ratio of
1.5Rm.

Number of theoretical trays:

8 – 1 (reboiler) = 7 trays.

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