Design of prilling tower

Why Prilling tower[1]

Following are some reasons behind prilling tower selection:
• Product is in form of prills
• Particles have uniform size

[1] Industrial Crystallization of Melts: Book by C. M. van't Land

 Properties of Ammonium nitrate
Property Value Unit
Inlet temperature 186 °C
Outlet temperature 80 °C
Average temperature 133 °C
Density(solid)[1] 1740 Kg/m3
Heat Capacity (sol)[2] 1.74 kJ/kg-K
Heat Capacity (liq)[3] 1.79 kJ/kg-K
Viscosity [4] 0.00174 N-sec/m2
Conductivity (liq)[5] 0.6415 W/m-K
Latent heat of solidification 2225 kJ/kg

[1] : https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/ammonium_nitrate#section=General-Manufacturing-Information
[2] : THERMAL STABILITY STUDIES OF AMMONIUM NITRATE by ZHE HAN
[3] : https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Thermal-decomposition-of-ammonium-nitrate-based-Oxley-Kaushik/a531457a58126f2cdfe636a3da536739529dc103
[4] : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jctb.5010170307
[5] : https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/je201390r?src=recsys&journalCode=jceaax
 Properties of air
Property Value Unit
Inlet Temperature 25
°C
Outlet Temperature 50 °C

Average Temperature[1] 37.5 °C

Thermal conductivity[2] 0.02625

W/m-K
Density[3] 1.225
kg/m3
Heat capacity[4] 1.013
kJ/kg-K
Viscosity[5]
0.0000185 N-sec/m2
Operating conditions

Air Feed
Inlet pressure 1.01 1.01

Outlet pressure 0.98 1.01

Inlet Temperature 25 °C 186 °C

Outlet temperature 50 °C 80 °C
Design Methodology

• Diameter of tower
• Terminal velocity
• Heat transfer coefficient
• Solidification time
• Cooling time
• Height of tower
Diameter of Tower

Diameter of prilling tower=D

where
o Vsf =Superficial velocity of air= 0.58 m/sec
o V =Amount of Air= 174667.45 m3/hr
After replacing these values
D= 10.30 m
Terminal Velocity

Where
o Vp= terminal velocity of particle=?
o dр= dia. of spherical prills= 0.002 m
o ρs= density of solid=1740 kg/m3
o ρg= density of air= 1.225 kg/m3
o Cw=0.6 from graph against Re(701) value
After putting these values
Vp=7.86 m/sec
Heat Transfer Coefficient
The heat transfer coefficient 𝜶 ˳ is calculated as:
𝜶˳

1 1
3 2
𝑁𝑢=2 +0.552 𝑃𝑟 𝑅𝑒
o Nu= nusselt nbr=15.06
o 𝜆g= thermal conductivity of air=0.2625 W/m-K
o dp= diameter of particle= 0.002 m

After solving above equations:

𝜶 ˳=197.69 W/m2-K
Solidification Time

Where
Fo= Fourier number=36.59

dp= dia. of particle=0.002 m

a= 0.00021

Using these values in given formula, Solidification times comes

=86.35 sec
Tower Solidification Height
h= ts*Vr=9.15 m
Cooling Time
tcelog

= density of solid= 1740 kg/m3

Cs= specific heat capacity of solid=1.74 kJ/kg-K
dp= dia. of particle= 0.002m
kc=heat transfer coefficient=39.68 W/m2-K
T=60 °C
To= 170 °C
Tc= 25 °C
tc=
Cooling Height
Specification sheet
Parameter Value

Diameter

Solidification Time

Solidification height

Cooling Time

Cooling height

Total Height