Recap

• Pressure drop in packed bed

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4.2 GAS–LIQUID OPERATIONS: LIQUID DISPERSED

4.2.4 Pressure Drop

 Most packed columns consist of cylindrical vertical vessels.
 The column diameter is determined so as to safely avoid flooding and operate
in the preloading region with a pressure drop of no greater than 1.2 kPa/m of
packed height (equivalent to 1.5 in. of water head per foot of packed height).

In addition, for random packings, a nominal packing diameter

not greater than one‐eighth of the diameter of the column is
selected; otherwise, poor distribution of liquid and vapor flow
over the cross‐sectional area of the column can occur, with
liquid tending to migrate to the wall of the column.

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4.2.4 Pressure Drop

 Usually, packed columns are designed based on either of two sizing criteria:

A fractional approach to a maximum allowable gas‐

flooding gas velocity or pressure drop.

1. a fraction of flooding, f, is specified (usually from 0.5 to 0.7),

2. calculation of the tower diameter

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4.2 GAS–LIQUID OPERATIONS: LIQUID DISPERSED

4.2.4 Pressure Drop

 Usually, packed columns are designed based on either of two sizing criteria:

A fractional approach to a maximum allowable gas‐

flooding gas velocity or pressure drop.

absorbers and strippers are usually designed with

• gas‐pressure drops of 200 to 400 Pa/m of packed depth,
• atmospheric‐pressure fractionators from 400 to 600 Pa/m, and
• vacuum stills for 8 to 40 Pa/m

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4.2.4 Pressure Drop

 Usually, packed columns are designed based on either of two sizing criteria:

A fractional approach to a maximum allowable gas‐

flooding gas velocity or pressure drop.

Based on extensive experimental studies using 54 different packing materials,

including structured packings, Billet and Schultes (1991) developed a correlation for
dry‐gas‐pressure drop, ΔPo. Their dimensionally consistent correlating equation is

where Z = packing height and Kw = wall factor.

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4.2.4 Pressure Drop

 sizing criteria: a maximum allowable gas‐
pressure drop.

This wall factor Kw can be important for columns with an inadequate ratio of effective particle
diameter to inside column diameter, and is given by

The effective particle

diameter, dp, is

The dry‐packing resistance coefficient (a modified friction factor), Ψo, is given by

Cp is a packing constant determined

from experimental data and tabulated
for a number of packings
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4.2.4 Pressure Drop

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4.2.4 Pressure Drop

When the packed bed is irrigated, the liquid holdup causes the pressure drop to
increase. The experimental data in the preloading region are reasonably
well correlated by

where “a” must be in units of m2/m3, hL,S is the liquid holdup at loading.
For operation in the preloading region, as usual, the liquid holdup can
be estimated from equations

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4.2.4 Pressure Drop

Example 4.3 Pressure Drop in Beds Packed with First‐ and Third‐Generation Random
Packings
For the two packing materials considered in Example 4.2, Air containing 5 mol% NH3
at a total flow rate of 20 kmol/h enters a packed column operating at 293 K and 1
atm where 90% of the ammonia is scrubbed by a countercurrent flow of 1500 kg/h
of pure liquid water. calculate the column inside diameter and pressure drop of the
gas for operation at 70% of the flooding superficial gas‐velocity.
(a) 25‐mm ceramic Raschig rings
(b) 25‐mm metal Hiflow rings

Given from ex 4.2, vGF=1.361m/s

vGs=0.954m/s
mmavG=28.4, density of gas 1.18kg/m3,L’=0.421kg/s, V’=0.158kg/s
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4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

When packed tower is operated in the usual manner as a countercurrent absorber or

stripper for transfer of solute between the gas and liquid,
 the rate of solute transfer can be computed from measured values of rate of gas
and liquid flow and the bulk concentrations of solute in the entering and leaving
streams.
This is because of the impossibility of measuring solute concentrations at the gas‐
liquid interface.

The resulting rate of mass transfer can be expressed

only as overall coefficients rather as coefficients for
the individual fluids.

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4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

Further since the interfacial area between gas and liquid is not directly measured,
the flux of mass transfer cannot be determined but instead only the rate as the
product of the flux and the total interfacial area.

By dividing these rated by the volume of the packing the results appear as volumetric
overall coefficients Kxa, Kya, KGa, etc.

The individual fluid mass transfer coefficients (kx, ky, FL, FG)
and interfacial area “a” which make ups these overall
volumetric coefficient are differently dependent upon fluid
properties, flow rates and type of packing.

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4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

The overall volumetric coefficients are therefore useful only in the design of towers
filled with the same packing and handling the same chemical system at the same
flowrates and concentration as existed during measurement.

For general design purposes the individual coefficient and the interfacial area are
necessary.
To obtain individual coefficients, the general approach has been to choose
experimental conditions such that the resistance to mass transfer in the gas phase is
negligible in compassion with that in the liquid.
 This is the case fore for the absorption or desorption of very insoluble gases such
as oxygen or hydrogen in water.

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4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

Measurement in such systems then leads to values of kxa, kLa, and FLa which can be
correlated in terms of system variables

There are evidently no systems involving absorption or desorption where the solute
is so soluble in the liquid that liquid phase resistance is entirely negligible.

 But by subtracting the known liquid resistance from the overall resistance it is
possible to arrive at the gas‐phase coefficients kya, kGa, FGa and to correlate
them in terms of system variables.

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4.2 GAS–LIQUID OPERATIONS: LIQUID DISPERSED

4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

In an extensive investigation, Billet and Schultes (1991b) measured and
correlated mass‐transfer coefficients for 31 different binary and ternary
systems with 67 different types and sizes of packings in columns of diameter
ranging from 6 cm to 1.4 m.
 The systems include some for which mass‐transfer resistance resides
mainly in the liquid phase and others for which resistance in the gas
phase predominates.
For the liquid‐phase resistance, the proposed correlation is

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4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

For the liquid‐phase resistance, the proposed correlation is

where CL is an empirical
constant characteristic of the
packing, as shown in Table

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4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

For the gas phase, they proposed

where CV is an empirical
constant included in Table

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4.2.5 Mass‐Transfer Coefficients

Example 4.4 Design of a Packed‐Bed Ethanol Absorber
Alcohol in CO2‐rich vapor will be recovered by countercurrent absorption with water
in a packed‐bed tower. The gas will enter the tower at a rate of 180 kmol/h, at 303 K
and 110 kPa. The molar composition of the gas is 98% CO2 and 2% ethanol. The
required recovery of the alcohol is 97%. Pure liquid water at 303 K will enter the
tower at the rate of 151.5 kmol/h, which is 50% above the minimum rate required for
the specified recovery (Seader and Henley, 1998). The tower will be packed with 50‐
mm metal Hiflow rings and will be designed for a maximum pressure drop of 100
Pa/m of packed height. Given the column diameter for the design conditions to be D
= 0.938 m. Estimate the gas and liquid volumetric mass‐transfer coefficients, kyah and
kLah.
Viscosity of the gas is 1.45x10‐5 Pa.s, of liquid is 0.631cp, liquid density 986kg/m3
DL = 1.91 × 10–5 cm2/s. DG = 0.085 cm2/s.

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