Mass transfer analysis packed columns

In packed columns, it is conceptually incorrect to use the staged model even though it works if the correct height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP) is used. In this chapter we will develop a physically more realistic model for packed columns that is based on mass transfer between the phases. After developing the model for distillation, we will discuss mass transfer correlations that allow us to predict the required coefficients for common packings. Next, we will repeat the analysis for both dilute and concentrated absorbers and strippers and analyze cocurrent absorbers. A simple model for mass transfer on a stage will be developed for distillation, and the estimation of stage efficiency will be considered. After a mass transfer analysis of mixer-setder extractors. Section 16.8 and the appendix to Chapter 16 will develop the rate model for distillation. 

Models with varying degrees of complexity have been employed to analyze the experimental results by a variety of techniques. The most comprehensive models include terms to account for axial dispersion in the packed bed, external mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion in both macropore and micropore regions of the pellet and a finite rate of adsorption. Of the several methods of analysis, the most popular ones are based on the moments of the response curve. The first moment of the chromatogram is defined by Equation 5.25 in which the concentration now is taken at the outlet of the column. The second central moment is calculated from equation... 

Most recently. Kirillov and Nasamanyan15 carried out a very interesting unsteady-state analysis of liquid-solid mass transfer for cocurrent upflow in a fixed-bed reactor. The analysis was compared and verified by the steady-state measurements of liquid-solid mass-transfer coefficients in a 10-cm x 10-cm square column with a height of 50 cm. Three types of packings, 30-mm and 8-mm... 

End Effects Analysis of the mass-transfer efficiency of a packed column should take into account that transfer which takes place outside the bed, i.e., at the ends of the packed sections. Inlet gas may very well contact exit liquid below the bottom support plate, and exit gas can contact liquid from some types of distributors (e.g., spray nozzles). The bottom of the column is the more likely place for transfer, and Sil-vey and Keller [Chem. Eng. Prog., 62(1), 68 (1966)] found that the... 

Vapor-liquid mass-transfer operations, such as absorption, stripping and distillation, are carried out in packed and plate columns. The key difference is that counterflowing vapor and liquid are contacted continuously with packings, and discretely with plates. The equilibrium and operating lines of packed and plate columns are identical under the same operating conditions—feed and product flowrates and compositions, temperature and pressure. Models for the design and analysis of packed columns are based on their close analogy to plate devices. 

The drawback of this approach compared with that described in Section 6.5.2 is that all errors are lumped into the isotherm parameters rather than the effective mass transfer coefficient, because either the wrong column or isotherm model is chosen. This approach is thus recommended to get a quick first idea of system behavior using only little amounts of sample, and not for a complete analysis, especially if binary mixtures with component interactions are investigated. The significance of the results decreases even further if some plant and packing parameters are only guessed or even neglected. 

An alternative approach to the HETP method for calculating the column packing height, also discussed in this chapter, is based on the height of a transfer unit (HTU) and the number of transfer units (NTU). In this approach the packing height is calculated by a theoretical analysis of mass transfer phenomena across the liquid and vapor phases. 

The development of the design equation for a countercurrent packed tower absorber or stripper begins with a differential mass balance of component A in the gas phase, in a manner similar to that of Example 2.12. However, this time we do not restrict the analysis to dilute solutions or to constant molar velocity. If only component A is transferred (4 G = VA[ = 1.0), considering the fact that the gas-phase molar velocity will change along the column, and that F-type mass-transfer coefficients are required for concentrated solutions, the mass balance is... 

At higher concentrations of pentane in air, the Shilov dependence [10.3] is no longer linear. Analysis of the obtained data leads to the conclusion that the rate of propagation of the mass transfer zone gradually slows down with bed depth. Obviously the adsorption efficiency of the column packing s lower layers increases, compared to that of the first... 

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