ABSORPTION / STRIPPING

ALVIN R. CAPARANGA, PH.D.

SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND CHEMISTRY

MAPUA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
 Absorption

Contacting phases: GAS and LIQUID

Solute A or several solutes are absorbed from the gas

phase into a liquid phase.
 with or without chemical reaction

Mechanism: molecular and turbulent diffusion of A

through a stagnant non-diffusing gas B into a
stagnant liquid C.
 3

ABSORPTION is a unit operation where

concentrations of some components in the
gas phase are reduced by absorbing them to
the liquid phase.
ABSORPTION is an operation where
mass transfer occurs between gas and
liquid phase.
 Examples:
 removal of a noxious component from the gas phase
 removal of CO2 from flue gas or other waste gas steams
 removal of H2S from natural gas
 manufacture of sulfuric acid: absorption of SO3 in water
or dil. H2SO4 or oleum
 manufacture of ammonia (absorption of NH3 in water)
Desorption or Stripping
 Reverse of absorption (i.e., mass transfer: L G)
 (Same) theories and principles of absorption apply
 Example:
 Stripping of volatile components of nonvolatile oils using steam
 Gas-Liquid Equilibrium

Partial pressure of A in gas versus mole fraction of A

in liquid (pA vs xA)
 Appendix A.3 (Geankoplis)

Henry’s law: pA = HxA

 Other forms: yA = H’xA H’ = H/P
pA = H”cA
 Note: unit of constant depends on the form used
Material Balance

Total balance:

Component balance:
Stage-Stage Equilibrium Contact

Equilibrium: yA1 = H’xA1

For example:
L’ moles inert in water (i.e., water)
Liquid: aqueous solution (water + A)
V’ moles inert in air (i.e., air)
Gas: (air + A)
L’ and V’ are constant and known.
Water does not evaporate.
Air does not dissolve in water.
Data: H = 0.142 x 104 atm/mol frac (Appendix A.3)
Countercurrent Multiple-Contact Stages

OPERATING LINE
Countercurrent Multiple-Contact Stages
(Analytical Solution)

Applies when:
A) Operating line is straight (i.e., L and V are constant).
B) Equilibrium line is a straight over the concentration range.
C) Countercurrent flow

y N 1
xn 1  Axn   Ax N
m

A – absorption factor A = L /mV

Kremser Equations for STRIPPING
Kremser Equations for ABSORPTION
15
16
DESIGN OF PACKED
COLUMNS
FOR
GAS-LIQUID SEPARATION
 18

In order to transfer a component between two

phases, the following conditions must be met:
 The phases must be in contact.
 The phases must not be in equilibrium state.
PLATE AND PACKED COLUMN
19

A packed column is usually favorable when

 only a small pressure drop is allowed in the column;
 the components are corrosive;
 the diameter of the column is small ( < 1 m);
 liquid hold-up must be small;
 liquid foams.
A plate column is usually favorable when
 liquid flows are too large or too small; then the hold-up can be
adjusted with the structure of plates
 liquid flows vary a lot
 a big hold-up is required to lengthen the contact time (for example,
in reactive distillation)
 the designed column is very high (for effective separation); then
packed columns are unfavorable due to channeling and heavy
weight of packing
 cooling coils are needed inside the column
 the column has to be cleaned from time to time due to solids in the
process fluids

20
 CHARACTERISTICS OF TOWER PACKING
MATERIALS
21

 Large wetted surface (for phase contacting) per unit volume

of packed space
 Large void volume to allow reasonable throughput of
phases without excessive -P
 Good wetting characteristics
 Low bulk density (to avoid serious support problems)
 Relatively inexpensive
 RANDOM PACKING STRUCTURED PACKING

a – Raschig ring; b – Berl saddle; c – Pall ring A small element of MellapakTM

(m); d – Pall ring (p); e – Intalox saddle (c); f –
Super Intalox saddle (p).
23
 COMMON (Random) PACKING SHAPES
(See Fig. 16.2 Foust et al. / Fig. 14-45a Perry’s.)

24
 RASCHIG RINGS
 Low cost but may not be as efficient as newer packing materials
 Wall thickness: decrease in wall thickness results to
 decrease in mechanical strength and pressure drop
 increase in lower free space and surface area.
 diameter = height
 Porcelain, clays, carbon, or metals
 INTALOX SADDLES
 Give greater degree of randomness than Raschig rings
 High initial cost
 BERL SADDLES
 High degree of randomness, relatively large surface area per unit
volume
 PALL RINGS
 With stamped and inward-bent sections to give better circulation
of contacting phases
Physical characteristics of dry commercial
packing
 Table 16.1 Foust et al.
 Table 14-13 Perry’s CHE Handbook (8th ed.)
 Table 6.8 Seader and Henley (1st ed.)

 Characteristics specified;
 % void
 Specific surface
 Packing factor (FP)
 Dumped weight
 Etc.

25
Source: Perry’s ChE HB (8th ed.) – pp 14-60 to 14-61

26
27
 CHANNELING
28

 the tendency of the downflowing liquid to select

preferred paths (or channels) for its flow down the
packing
 The fluid tends to move toward the region of greatest
void space, which is the region near the wall.
 a principal contribution toward poor performance
in packed columns
PRINCIPLE OF GAS ABSORPTION
Total balance:
Va La La + V = L + Va
ya xa
Component balance:

L,x Laxa + Vy = Lx + Vaya

Equation of operating line:

L Va y a  L a x a
V,y y x
V V
Vb
Lb Ratio of molal flows of liquid and
yb gas
xb
29
y Operating line
Operating line
(L/V)min

yb

Equilibrium curve

ya

xa xb x

30
Rate of absorption:

r  k ya  y  yi  kxa:

r  k xa xi  x  volumetric mass transfer coefficient

based on the liquid phase

r  K y a  y  y * a:

r  K x a x * x  interfacial area per unit volume of

packed column

Alternately:

r  k G a  p A  p Ai  r  k L a  c Ai  c A 
r  K G a  p A  p A * r  K L a  c A * c A 
31
 y  yi kxa
y 
x  xi k ya

Slope:
-kxa/kya

yi

y*

x xi x* x

See Fig. 14-4 and Eqn. 14-14 Perry’s.

32
Overall driving forces:

1 1 m
 
K ya k ya k x a
y = mx
1 1 1
 
K x a mk y a k x a

Note:
When the solubility of gas is very high, m is very
small and the gas-film resistance controls the
rate of absorption.

33
 Calculation of
PACKED HEIGHT

- PACKED COLUMN DESIGN -

CALCULATION OF TOWER HEIGHT (PACKED HEIGHT)
• The height of the packing (ZT) can be calculated in two
ways:
HETP - height equivalent to a theoretical
1. ZT = (Nt) (HETP) plate; Nt – no. of ideal plates

2. ZT = (HTU) (NTU)
• HTU – height of a transfer unit; NTU – number
of transfer units
• can be designed using any of the four basic
rate equations.
• Kya or kya is often used.
• does not require any assumption about the
controlling phase
• A design based on35Kya or kya is as simple and
 Use of HETP in Absorber Design

o Also valid for distillation and dilute-gas stripping

systems
o For relationship between HETP and HOG, see
equations 14-29 and 14-30 of Perry’s CHE
Handbook (8th ed.)

36
 HTU –NTU Method
of Determining Packed Height

37
Assume change in molar flux is
negligible: -Vdy = Kya (y – y*)SdZ

K y aS ZT dy yb
 dZ  
La
Va
xa V 0 ya y  y *
ya
yb
V 1 dy
L,x
ZT  
S K ya ya y  y *
dZ ZT V
 H Oy [HTU]
V,y
SK y a
yb
dy
Vb
Lb
y y  y *  N Oy [NTU]
a
yb
xb SEE ALSO EQ. 14-5 TO 14-9 of Perry’s
38
ChE HB (8th ed.)
 HTU – height of a transfer unit

o The height of a transfer unit is a measure of the

separation effectiveness of the particular packing
for the chemical species being processed.
o If the rate of interphase mass transfer is high and
the surface area for transfer is large, then the
height of a transfer unit will be small.

39
 NTU – number of transfer units
o NTU is a measure of difficulty of separation. It is the
ratio of the total change in composition for the
particular phase and the available driving force.
o If both OL and EC are straight and parallel:
o NTU = Nt (no. of theoretical or ideal stages)
o If slope of OL > slope of EC:
o NTU > Nt
o If slope of OL < slope of EC:
o NTU < Nt
40
For straight OL and EC:

yb  ya
N Oy 
y  y*

N Oy 
yb  ya
Δy LM 
 y b  y *   y a  y *
Δy LM  yb  y * 
ln 
 ya  y * 
xb  xa
N Ox  Δx LM  ?
Δx LM
41
For dilute solutions with OL and EC both straight
but not parallel: 42

1  mG  y b  mx a  mG 
N OG  ln 1     
mG  L  y a  mx a  L  EQN. 14-23 /
1 14-28 Perry’s
L y*  mx

Equilibrium curve (EC) follows Henry’s law:

Also:
A – absorption factor
A 1
N OG  Nt ln A
L

1 A A
mG
For dilute solutions with OL and EC both straight
but not parallel: 43

A 1
HETP  H OG ln
1 A A
The choice of which combination of
HTU (H) and NTU (N) to use
depends upon the form in which mass
transfer coefficient is available.

44
Four kinds of transfer units:

V dy
GAS FILM Hy  Ny  
k y aS y  yi
L dx
LIQUID FILM Hx  Nx  
k x aS xi  x
V dy
OVERALL GAS H Oy  N Oy  
K y aS y  y*
L dx
OVERALL LIQUID H Ox  N Ox 
K x aS x * x

ZT = HyNy = HxNx = HOyNOy = HOxNOx EQN. 14-15 /

14-16 Perry’s
45
 Important
46

If the principal resistance is in the gas phase, use ZT

= HOGNOG.
If the principal resistance is in the liquid phase, use
ZT = HOLNOL.
Alternate forms of transfer coefficient:

GM
Hy 
k G aP
GyV
Gx /  x GM  
Hx  M S
kLa

GM G = mass velocity
H Oy 
K G aP

Gx /  x
H Ox 
K G aP

47
Recall:

1 1 m 1 1 1
   
K ya k ya kxa K x a k x a mk y a

GM GM mGM LM LM LM LM G M
   
K ya k ya k x a LM K x a k x a mk y a GM

 GM   LM 
H Oy  H y   m H x H Ox  H x   H y
 LM   mG M 
See Eqn. 14-19 Perry’s.
Note: Gx L
LM  
M S
48
 PROBLEM 1
A gas stream containing 3% A is passed through a
packed column to remove 99% of the A by absorption
in water. The absorber will operate at 25oC and 1 atm,
and the gas and liquid rates are to be 20 mole h-1 ft-2
and 100 mole h-1 ft-2, respectively. Mass transfer
coefficient and equilibrium data are as follows:
y* = 3.1 x at 25oC
kxa = 60 mol h-1 ft-3 (mole fraction)-1
kya = 15 mol h-1 ft-3 (mole fraction)-1
A)Evaluate NOy, Hoy and ZT.
B)Calculate ZT using NOx and HOx.
49
PROBLEM 2
A soluble gas is absorbed in water using a packed
tower. The equilibrium relationship may be taken as y =
0.06x. Terminal conditions are as follows:
top bottom
x 0 0.08
y 0.001 0.009
If Hx = 0.24 m and Hy = 0.36 m, what is the height of the
packed column?

50
PROBLEM 3

During the unloading of a tank car into a storage

tank, air containing 0.02 mol fraction of a water-
soluble gas comes out of the storage tank. This air
is to be scrubbed with water in a countercurrent
packed column to reduce the concentration of the
gas to 0.0001 mole fraction. The following data are
available: gas flow rate = 1000 scfm/ft2 tower cross
section; pure water rate = 1500 lb/h·ft2 tower cross
section; equilibrium relationship y* = 1.8x; Kya = 2
lbmol/ft3·h·mol fraction.
A) Determine the packing height.
B) Determine the minimum pure water requirement.

51
PROBLEM 4

It is desired to design a packed tower to scrub ammonia gas

from air by means of ammonia-free water fed to the top of the
column. Under anticipated conditions, the equilibrium
conditions are given by Y = 0.80X. Two gas streams are to be
treated: (a) 16 mol/s of a concentrated gas containing 4.76 mole
percent ammonia to be fed to the bottom of the tower, and (b)
17 mol/s of a dilute gas containing 2.44 mole percent to be
introduced at proper point. The tower is to be tall enough to
have an exit-gas concentration of 0.005 mole of ammonia per
mole of ammonia-free air. Calculate the total packed height
required.

Use water flow rate of 25 mol/s. The maximum velocity of the air
stream at any point is to be 40 mol/s per m2 empty tower. For
the packing used Kya = 7.30(V/S)0.57, with V/S in mol/sm2 and Kya
in mol/sm3.

52
 Calculation of
CAPACITY & PRESSURE DROP

- PACKED COLUMN DESIGN -

 PACKED COLUMN:
CAPACITY AND PRESSURE DROP

• Loading point is the gas flow rate at which the gas starts to
hinder the liquid downflow. The liquid holdup is not
affected by the vapor density.
• Flooding velocity is the upper limit to the rate of gas flow,
above which the tower cannot operate. This applies to a
given type and size of packing.
• 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 1.5 in. of H2O head per
foot of packed height (equivalent to 0.054 psi / ft of
packing).
54
PACKED COLUMN HYDRAULICS
55 *At low L rates, the effective x-
section of the packing is not
appreciably different from that of
dry packing, and -P is due to
flow thru a series of variable
openings in the bed. [-P  (gas
rate)2]

*As L holdup increases:

-If packing consists of extended
surfaces, small change in gas
rate results to great -P
(FLOODING).

-If packing surface is

discontinuous, phase inversion
occurs, and gas bubbles thru the
liquid.
GPDC: GENERALIZED FLOODING-PRESSURE
DROP CORRELATION FOR PACKED COLUMNS
(Leva, 1954; Eckert, 1970)

One significant advantage of a packed

column is its relatively low pressure drop
per unit of packed height, as compared
to trayed tower.

56
 Fig. 14-55 CHE HB

Pressure drop per foot of

packed height

capacity parameter

0.5
L  ρG 
FLG   
G  ρL 
57
58
 0.50
 ρG  0.5 0.05
CP  C F  0.5
S P
0.05
 US   FP ν 14-140 CHE HB
 ρL  ρG 
US superficial gas velocity, ft/s
G, L gas and liquid densities
Fp packing factor, ft-1
 kinematic viscosity of liquid, cS
G gas-phase mass velocity
L liquid-phase mass velocity
CS C-factor, based on tower superficial cross-sectional area, ft2(Eq. 14-77)
CP capacity factor, dimensional (see Eq. 14-140)
0.5
L  ρG 
FLG    14-141 CHE HB
G  ρL 
59
Evaluation of COLUMN DIAMETER (DT)
60
CONTINUITY EQUATION:


π 2
m G  G M M G  ρ G  fU t   D T 
4 
4G M M G
DT 
fU t πρ G

f fraction of flooding velocity

0.50 to 0.70
GM molar flow rate of gas
There is not a specific flood curve; a pressure
of 1.50 in H2O / ft is considered to represent an
incipient flooding condition, although pressure
drops at flooding have been measured in the
range of 2.0 to 2.5 inches H2O / ft.

An empirical equation for limiting pressure drops

is:
Pflood = 0.115 FP0.70 9 < FP < 60

P flood = pressure drop at flooding, inch H2O / ft of packing

61
PROBLEM 5
Air containing 5 mol % NH3 at a total flow rate of 40
lbmol/h, enters a packed column operating at 20oC and 1
atm, where 90% of the ammonia is scrubbed by a
countercurrent flow of 3,000 lb/h of water. Use GPDC to
estimate the superficial gas flooding velocity, the
column inside diameter for operation at 70% of flooding,
and the pressure drop per foot of packing for two
packing materials: (a) 1” ceramic Raschig rings (FP =
179 ft2/ft3) and (b) 1” metal IMTP packing (FP = 41 ft2/ft3).

62
PROBLEM 6
The capacity of a column is to be increased by
55% by replacing the existing 1-in metal Raschig
rings with some other packing without
significantly changing the % flooding. The end
compositions, L/G ratio, pressure, temperature,
etc., remain unchanged. Select the packing.

63
 PROBLEM 7
A tower packed with 1-in ceramic Intalox saddles is
to be built to treat 25,000 ft3 or entering gas per hour.
The ammonia content of the entering gas is 2% by
volume. Ammonia-free water is used as absorbent.
The temperature is 68oF, and the pressure is 1 atm.
The ratio of gas flow to liquid flow is 1 lb of gas per
lb of liquid.
a) If the gas velocity is to be ½ the flooding velocity,
what should be the diameter of the tower?
b) What is the pressure drop if the packed section is 20
ft high?

64
PROBLEM 8
Ammonia is being absorbed in a tower using pure water
at 25oC and 1 atm absolute pressure. The feed rate is
1440 lb/h and contains 3 mol % ammonia in air. The
process design specifies a liquid-to-gas mass flow rate
ratio L/G of 2/1 and the use of 1” metal Pall rings.
Calculate the pressure drop in the packing and gas
mass velocity at flooding. Using 50% of the flooding
velocity, calculate the pressure drop, gas and liquid
flows, and tower diameter.

65