Tower packing

The reactors were thick-waked stainless steel towers packed with a catalyst containing copper and bismuth oxides on a skiceous carrier. This was activated by formaldehyde and acetylene to give the copper acetyUde complex that functioned as the tme catalyst. Acetylene and an aqueous solution of formaldehyde were passed together through one or more reactors at about 90—100°C and an acetylene partial pressure of about 500—600 kPa (5—6 atm) with recycling as required. Yields of butynediol were over 90%, in addition to 4—5% propargyl alcohol. 

Types of air strippers include packed towers, tray towers, and spray towers. Packed towers are packed or filled with small forms made of polyethylene [9002-88-4] stainless steel, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) [9002-86-2] or ceramic that provide large surface area to volume ratios which increase transfer rates into the air stream. Packed towers operate in countercurrent mode, that is, the aqueous stream enters at the top of the tower while air is blown in from the bottom. An example of this type of unit is shown in Figure 1. Channeling or short circuiting of the aqueous stream is minimized by... 

Cupric chloride or copper(II) chloride [7447-39 ], CUCI2, is usually prepared by dehydration of the dihydrate at 120°C. The anhydrous product is a dehquescent, monoclinic yellow crystal that forms the blue-green orthohombic, bipyramidal dihydrate in moist air. Both products are available commercially. The dihydrate can be prepared by reaction of copper carbonate, hydroxide, or oxide and hydrochloric acid followed by crystallization. The commercial preparation uses a tower packed with copper. An aqueous solution of copper(II) chloride is circulated through the tower and chlorine gas is sparged into the bottom of the tower to effect oxidation of the copper metal. Hydrochloric acid or hydrogen chloride is used to prevent hydrolysis of the copper(II) (11,12). Copper(II) chloride is very soluble in water and soluble in methanol, ethanol, and acetone. 

Packed vs Plate Columns. Relative to plate towers, packed towers are more useful for multipurpose distillations, usually in small (under 0.5 m) towers or for the following specific appHcations severe corrosion environment where some corrosion-resistant materials, such as plastics, ceramics, and certain metaUics, can easily be fabricated into packing but may be difficult to fabricate into plates vacuum operation where a low pressure drop per theoretical plate is a critical requirement high (eg, above 49,000 kg/(hm ) (- 10, 000 lb/(hft )) Hquid rates foaming systems or debottlenecking plate towers having plate spacings that are relatively close, under 0.3 m. 

Investigators of tower packings normally report kcCi values measured at very low inlet-gas concentrations, so that yBM = 1, and at total pressures close to 100 kPa (1 atm). Thus, the correct rate coefficient For use in packed-tower designs involving the use of the driving force y — y /yBM is obtained by multiplying the reported k co values oy the value of pf employed in the actual test unit (e.g., 100 kPa) and not the total pressure of the system to be designed. 

Use of HETP Data for Absorber Design Distillation design methods (see Sec. 13) normally involve determination of the number of theoretical equihbrium stages or plates N. Thus, when packed towers are employed in distillation appRcations, it is common practice to rate the efficiency of tower packings in terms of the height of packing equivalent to one theoretical plate (HETP). 

The estimated height of tower packing by assuming Hqq = 0.70 m and a design safety factor of 1.5 is... 

The traditional design method normally makes use of overall values even when resistance to transfer lies predominantly in the liquid phase. For example, the COg-NaOH system most commonly used for comparing the Kg< values of various tower packings is a liqiiid-phase-controlled system. When the liqiiid phase is controlling, extrapolation to different concentration ranges or operating conditions is not recommended since changes in the reaction mechanism can cause /cl to vary unexpectedly and the overall values do not explicitly show such effects. 

In using Eq. (14-66), therefore, it should be understood that the numerical values of will be a complex function of the pressure, the temperature, the type and size of tower packing employed, the hq-uid and gas mass flow rates, and the system composition (for example, the degree of conversion of the liquid-phase reactant). 

If it is assumed that the values of fcc,. nd a have been measured for the commercial tower packing to be employed, the procedure for using the laboratory stirred-ceU reactor is as follows ... 

It would be desirable to reinterpret existing data for commercial tower packings to extract the individual values of the interfacial area a and the mass-transfer coefficients fcc and /c in order to facilitate a more general usage of methods for scaling up from laboratory experiments. Some progress in this direction has afready been made, as discussed later in this section. In the absence of such data, it is necessary to operate a pilot plant or a commercial absorber to obtain kc, /c , and a as described by Ouwerkerk (op. cit.). 

Inspection of Eqs. (14-71) and (14-78) reveals that for fast chemical reactions which are liquid-phase mass-transfer limited the only unknown quantity is the mass-transfer coefficient /cl. The problem of rigorous absorber design therefore is reduced to one of defining the influence of chemical reactions upon k. Since the physical mass-transfer coefficient /c is already known for many tower packings, it... 

FIG. 15-35 Extraction of diethylamine from water into toluene (dispersed) in towers packed with unglazed porcelain Raschig rings, To convert feet to meters, multiply hy 0,3048 to convert inches to centimeters, multiply hy 2,54, [Leihson and Beckman, Chem, Eng, Prog, 49, 405 (1953), with permission.)... 

TABLE 23-6 Typical Values of Kgo for Absorption in Towers Packed with 1.5-in Intalox Saddles at 25% Completion of Reaction ... 

TABLE 23-7 Selected Absorption Coefficients for CO in Various Solvents in Towers Packed with Raschig Rings ... 

Consider mass transfer in a countercurrent tower, packed or spray or bubble. Let... 

Chlorotrifluoromethane [75-72-9] M 104.5, m -180 , b -81.5 . Main impurities were CO2, O2, and N2. The CO2 was removed by passage through saturated aqueous KOH, followed by cone H2SO4. The O2 was removed using a tower packed with activated copper on Kieselguhr at 200°, and the gas dried over P2O5. 

Dicblorodifluoromethane (Freon 12) 175-71-8] M 120.9, m -158", b -29.8"/atm, 42.5"/10atm. Passage through saturated aqueous KOH then cone H2SO4, and a tower packed with activated copper on Kielselguhr at 200° removed CO2 and O2. A trap cooled to -29° removed a trace of high boiling material. It is a non-flammable propellant. 

Bed limiters commonly are used with metal or plastic tower packings. The primary function of these devices is to prevent expansion of the packed bed, as well as to maintain the bed top surface level. In large diameter columns, the packed bed will not fluidize over the entire surface. Vapor surges fluidize random spots on the top of the bed so that after return to normal operation the bed top surface is quite irregular. Thus the liquid distribution can be effected by such an occurrence. 

Figure 18. Intalox Metal Tower Packing. (By permission, Norton Chemical Process Products Corporation.)...

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