Absorption packed columns

Whitt, F. R., A Correlation For Absorption Column Pack-rings, British Chem. ng., July, p. 395 (1959). 

Absorption column packed column, diameter 0.5 m, height 6.0 m, packing height 4.5 m, packing 25 mm ceramic saddles, design pressure 2 bar, material carbon steel. 

An absorption column packed with 1-in. Raschig rings is operated at a water rate of 3500 Ib/ft -h. From published correlations, the hold up of water is about 0.06 ft liquid per cubic foot of packed column. Compare this with an estimate based on the... 

FIG. 14-61 Liq uid distribution in a 6-in column packed with 1/4-in broken-stone packing. Increments of radius represent equal-annual-area segments of tower cross section. Central-point inlet. Water rate = 500 lb/(b-fr). Air rate = 810 lb/(b-ft ). To convert pounds per bour-square foot to kilograms per second-square meter, multiply by 0.00L356 to convert inches to centimeters, multiply by 2.54. (Data from Baker, Chilton, and Vernon, in Shetxuood and Pigford, Absorption and Extraction, 2d ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1952. )... 

TABLE 25-18 Advantages and Disadvantages of Absorption Systems (Packed and Plate Columns)... 

The installed cost,, of the absorption column (including auxiliaries, but excluding packing) is given by... 

The combined acetone extracts were extracted six times with one-fourth volume of ethylene dichloride and the ethylene dichloride extract was evaporated under vacuum to leave the steroid residue. This steroid residue was taken up in a minimum of methylene chloride and applied to the top of a column packed with 30 grams of silica which had been previously triturated with 21 ml of ethylene glycol. Then various developing mixtures, saturated with ethylene glycol, were passed over the column. Cuts were made as each steroid was eluted as determined by the lowering of the absorption of light at 240 mp on the automatic chromatographic fraction cutter. 

The absorption of reactants (or desorption of products) in trickle-bed operation is a process step identical to that occurring in a packed-bed absorption process unaccompanied by chemical reaction in the liquid phase. The information on mass-transfer rates in such systems that is available in standard texts (N2, S6) is applicable to calculations regarding trickle beds. This information will not be reviewed in this paper, but it should be noted that it has been obtained almost exclusively for the more efficient types of packing material usually employed in absorption columns, such as rings, saddles, and spirals, and that there is an apparent lack of similar information for the particles of the shapes normally used in gas-liquid-particle operations, such as spheres and cylinders. 

Danckwerts et al. (D6, R4, R5) recently used the absorption of COz in carbonate-bicarbonate buffer solutions containing arsenate as a catalyst in the study of absorption in packed column. The C02 undergoes a pseudo first-order reaction and the reaction rate constant is well defined. Consequently this reaction could prove to be a useful method for determining mass-transfer rates and evaluating the reliability of analytical approaches proposed for the prediction of mass transfer with simultaneous chemical reaction in gas-liquid dispersions. 

In a packed absorption column, the flow pattern is similar to that in a packed distillation column but the vapour stream is replaced by a mixture of carrier gas and solute gas. The solute diffuses through the gas phase to the liquid surface where it dissolves and is then transferred to the bulk of the liquid. In this case there is no mass transfer of the carrier fluid and the transfer rate of solute is supplemented by bulk flow. 

Reactors with a packed bed of catalyst are identical to those for gas-liquid reactions filled with inert packing. Trickle-bed reactors are probably the most commonly used reactors with a fixed bed of catalyst. A draft-tube reactor (loop reactor) can contain a catalytic packing (see Fig. 5.4-9) inside the central tube. Stmctured catalysts similar to structural packings in distillation and absorption columns or in static mixers, which are characterized by a low pressure drop, can also be inserted into the draft tube. Recently, a monolithic reactor (Fig. 5.4-11) has been developed, which is an alternative to the trickle-bed reactor. The monolith catalyst has the shape of a block with straight narrow channels on the walls of which catalytic species are deposited. The already extremely low pressure drop by friction is compensated by gravity forces. Consequently, the pressure in the gas phase is constant over the whole height of the reactor. If needed, the gas can be recirculated internally without the necessity of using an external pump. 

Fig. 1.27 shows a differential type of contactor as in, say a countercurrent flow packed gas absorption column, together with the resulting approximate continuous concentration profiles. 

Fig. 4.18 represents a countercurrent-flow, packed gas absorption column, in which the absorption of solute is accompanied by the evolution of heat. In order to treat the case of concentrated gas and liquid streams, in which the total flow rates of both gas and liquid vary throughout the column, the solute concentrations in the gas and liquid are defined in terms of mole ratio units and related to the molar flow rates of solute free gas and liquid respectively, as discussed previously in Sec. 3.3.2. By convention, the mass transfer rate equation is however expressed in terms of mole fraction units. In Fig. 4.18, Gm is the molar flow of solute free gas (kmol/m s), is the molar flow of solute free liquid (kmol/m s), where both and Gm remain constant throughout the column. Y is the mole ratio of solute in the gas phase (kmol of solute/kmol of solute free gas), X is the mole ratio of solute in the liquid phase (kmol of...

Fig 18. Experimental trickle-bed system A, tube bundle for liquid flow distribution B, flow distribution packing of glass helices C, activated carbon trickle bed 1, mass flow controllers 2, gas or liquid rotameters, 3, reactor (indicating point of gas phase introduction) 4, overflow tank for the liquid phase feed 5, liquid phase hold-up tank 6, absorber pump 7, packed absorption column for saturation of the liquid phase 8, gas-liquid disengager in the liquid phase saturation circuit. (Figure from Haure et ai, 1989, with permission, 1989 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.)... 

Absorption column diameter 1 m, vessel overall height 15 m, packed height 12 m, packing 25 mm ceramic intalox saddles, vessel carbon steel, operating pressure 5 bar. 

A packed absorption column 0.5 m diameter, 3 m high, absorbing gaseous hydrochloric acid into water. The column will operate at essentially atmospheric pressure. 

The gas liquid contact in a packed bed column is continuous, not stage-wise, as in a plate column. The liquid flows down the column over the packing surface and the gas or vapour, counter-currently, up the column. In some gas-absorption columns co-current flow is used. The performance of a packed column is very dependent on the maintenance of good liquid and gas distribution throughout the packed bed, and this is an important consideration in packed-column design. 

A schematic diagram, showing the main features of a packed absorption column, is given in Figure 11.36. A packed distillation column will be similar to the plate columns shown in Figure 11.1, with the plates replaced by packed sections. 

Random packings are also used they are the same as those used in packed distillation and absorption columns. The properties of random packings are given in Table 11.3. Proprietary structured packing are also used. 

Other types of atmospheric pressure ionisation detectors are available including APPI (photon ionisation) and MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation). More conventional detection systems for LC include UV absorption, fluorescence and evaporative light scattering. Developments in column packings,... 

Absorption columns can be modeled in a plate-to-plate fashion (even if it is a packed bed) or as a packed bed. The former model is a set of nonlinear algebraic equations, and the latter model is an ordinary differential equation. Since streams enter at both ends, the differential equation is a two-point boundary value problem, and numerical methods are used (see Numerical Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations as Initial-Value Problems ). 

A packed absorption column removes an impurity from a gas stream by contact with a liquid solvent. The column is 3 ft in diameter and contains 25 ft of No. 2 plastic Super Intalox packing. The gas has an MW of 28, enters the column at 120°F, and leaves at 10 psig at a rate of 5000 scfm. The liquid has an SG of 1.15 and a viscosity of 0.8 cP. Determine ... 

A method described by Hirata and Honda [618] uses a flow injection analysis manifold for pH adjustment of a seawater sample, followed by concentration of zinc on a column packed with Chelex 100 resin. The zinc was eluted with nitric acid and determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The detection limit is 0.5 p,g/l and the relative standard deviation is 2.7% at the 10 ig/l level. 

Chang et al. [952] used a miniature column packed with a chelating resin and an automatic online preconcentration system for electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry to determine cadmium, cobalt, and nickel in seawater. Detection limits of 0.12,7 and 35 ng/1 were achieved for cadmium, cobalt, and nickel, respectively, with very small sample volume required (400-1800 xl). 

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