Paula Henry

Chemical Engineering
Introduction
 The purpose of the equipment used for mass transfer
operations is to provide intimate contact of the
immiscible phases in order to permit interphase
diffusion of the constituents.
Such operations include:
 Humidification and dehumidification
 Absorption and desorption
 Distillation
Types of Gas-Liquid Equipment
 Such equipment can be broadly classified according to
whether its principal action is to:
 Disperse the gas, or
 Disperse the liquid
 Note: Both phases can become dispersed in many
devices.
Types of Gas-Liquid Equipment
 Disperse of liquid phase:
 Wetted-wall tower
 Spray tower
 Packed column
Types of Gas-Liquid Equipment
 Wetted-wall tower
• A thin film of liquid flowing down
inside of a vertical pipe, with gas
flowing co-currently or counter-
currently.
• Used for the theoretical studies
of mass transfer coefficients
• Industrially, they are used as
absorbers for hydrochloric acid
Gas-Liquid Equipment ...
 Spray Tower
• Liquid is sprayed into a gas
stream by means of a nozzle.
• Flow maybe parallel, horizontal
or countercurrent
• Low pressure drop for the gas but
not the liquid
• Low efficiency
• Low cost except for pumping of the liquid
• D/L ratio must be small
Gas-Liquid Equipment ...
 Packed Tower
 Vertical column filled with packings
or devices with large surface area.
 Liquid is distributed over, and
trickles down through the packed bed.
 Used for highly corrosive materials.
 Small diameters <70-80 cm
 Not easy to clean.
Types of Packings
 Packings serve to provide large interfacial surface
between liquid and gas per unit volume of packed
space.
 The packing should be chemically inert.
 They should possess structural strength to permit easy
handling and installation.
 Two types: Random and Structured
Random Packings
 These are simply dumped into the tower during
installation.
 The Raschig ring was the first standardized packing.
It was patented in 1907 by Dr. Fritz Raschig from
Germany.
Random Packing
Structured Packing
 Structured packings typically consist of thin corrugated
metal plates or gauzes arranged in a way that they force
fluids to take complicated paths through the column,
thereby creating a large surface area for contact between
different phases.
 More costly than random due to installation.
 Offer advantage of low pressure drop
Structured Packing
 Intalox high performance structured packings
Packed Column
Gas-liquid Equipment ...
 Gas dispersed:
 Bubble Column
 Tray Tower
Gas-liquid Equipment...
 Bubble column
 It consists of vertically arranged
cylindrical columns.
 The gas is introduced at the bottom
of the column using a sparger.
 The sparger serves to contact the
gas with the liquid, or simply used
for mixing.
 The liquid can be in parallel flow or counter-current.
Gas-Liquid Equipment...
 Tray Tower
 Tray towers are vertical cylinders in
which the liquid and gas are contacted
in stepwise fashion on trays or plates.
 The liquid flows downward while the
gas passes upwards.
 The overall effect is a multiple
countercurrent contact of gas and liquid.
Types of Trays
 Sieve trays
Sieve Tray
 Holes size range from 3 to 12mm in diameter with 5mm a
common size.
 Vapour area of the holes varies between 5 to 15% of the tray
area
 The liquid is held on the tray surface and prevented from
flowing down through the holes by the kinetic energy of
the gas/vapour.
 The depth of the liquid is maintained by an overflow,
outlet weir.
 The overflow liquid flows into the downspout or
downcomer to the next tray.
Types of Trays
 Bubble Cap
Bubble-cap Tray
 Have been in operation over 100 years.
 The cost is almost double that of a sieve tray.
 Have been superseded by both sieve tray and valve
tray.
 The vapour rises through the opening in the tray into
the bubble caps.
 The gas then flows through slots in the periphery of
each cap and bubbles through the flowing liquid.
Types of Trays
 Valve Tray
Valve Tray
 A modification of the sieve tray.
 Consists of an opening in the tray and a lift-valve cover with
guides to keep the cover positioned over the opening.
 This arrangement provides a variable open area which is
varied by vapour flow inhibiting leakage of liquid down the
opening at low vapour rates.
 Hence, these trays can operate over a greater range of flow
than sieve tray.
 Cost 20% more than a sieve tray