InQu 4002

October 20, 2014

Chapter 5

InQu 4002
Chapter 5
Absorption and stripping

5.1Introduction283
5.2Countercurrentmultistageequipment284
5.3Countercurrentcontinuouscontactequipment292
5.4Thermaleffectsduringabsorptionandstripping301

L.AntonioEstvez,PhD
Professor
antonio.estevez@upr.edu
1

Introduction

5.1 Introduction

Ingasabsorption,agasmixtureiscontactedwithaliquidforthe
purposesofpreferentiallydissolvingoneormorecomponentsof
thegasintotheliquid
Forexample,thegasfrombyproductcokeovensiswashedwith
watertoremoveammonia,andagainwithanoiltoremove
benzeneandtoluenevapors

Indesorptionorstripping,avolatilesoluteisremovedfromaliquid
bycontactwithagas
Forexample,volatileorganiccontaminants(VOCs)suchas
trihalomethanes (THMs)canberemovedfromwaterbycontacting
itwithair

Introduction

Introduction

Absorptionandstrippingareusuallyconductedinpackedcolumns
orintraytowers
Ifthereisnooverridingconsideration(e.g.,environmental,social,
etc.),costisthemajorfactortobetakenintoaccountwhen
choosingbetweenpackedcolumnsandtraytowersforabsorption
orstripping

Packedcolumnsarepreferredwhen:

Traytowersarepreferredwhen:

Dr.L.AntonioEstvez

Therequiredcolumndiameterislessthan60cm
Thepressuredropmustbelow,asforoperationundervacuum
Corrosionconsiderationsfavortheuseofceramicorpolymericmaterials
Lowliquidholdupisdesirable
Theliquid/gasratioisverylow
Frequentcleaningisrequired
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October 20, 2014

5.2 Countercurrent multistage equipment

5.2.1 Graphical Determination of Nid

5.2.1GraphicalDeterminationoftheNumberofIdealTrays284
5.2.2TrayEfficienciesandRealTraysbyGraphicalMethods285
5.2.3DiluteMixtures286

Approachalreadydescribedinsection3.5
(p.196):

Ingeneral,agraphicaldeterminationcanbemadeasillustratedin
Fig.3.24(p.198)
Notethatthisapproachisvalidevenifbothlines(OLandEL)are
curved
IfOLandELarebothstraight,Kremser equationcanbeused

Graphical Determination of Nid

Stripping

5.2.2 Tray efficiencies and real trays

L0, X0

V1, Y1

Simplestapproach(andleastprecise):useofoverallefficiencyEo
definedas:

1
n
N

LN, XN

VN+1, YN+1

where:

Figure 3.24 Countercurrent

cascade of ideal stages,
transfer from phase L to V

Eo

Nid
N

thus:

10

Tray efficiencies and real trays

MostcommonapproachistheusedofthesocalledMurphree tray
efficiency
Thereareseveralformsdependingontheconcentrationsused
Whenvaporphasemolefractionsareused,EMG definedas:

E MG

Nid
Eo

N istheactualnumberoftrays(whatwewant)
Nid istheidealnumberoftrays(asin5.2.1 orbyKremser)
Eo isgivenorcalculatedfrom,e.g.,eq (55),p. 287

Tray efficiencies and real trays

yn yn 1
y * yn 1

TheMurphree trayefficiencyvariesfromtraytotray
Insomecases,theproblemcanbesimplifiedbyassumingEMG is
thesameforalltrays
Ineithercase,agraphicalapproachcanbeusedtodetermineN as
describedinFig.5.1onp.285

MethodstoestimateEMG aredescribedinsection4.3.6(p.260)

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Dr.L.AntonioEstvez

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October 20, 2014

Tray efficiencies
and real trays

E MG ,1

V1, Y1
1
n

yn+1

yn

n 1

E MG ,n

yn 1 yn
yn1 yn*

E MG ,1

y A yB
y A yC

Ln

y1 y2
y* y
1

L0, X0

Absorption

Vn

y yn 1
E MG ,n n
y* y
n

Tray efficiencies and real trays

Ln1

Vn+1

y*n

n+1

Ln+1

Vn+2

xn

LN, XN

VN+1, YN+1

Figure 5.1 Use of Murphree

efficiencies for an absorber

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Kremser equations

5.2.3 Dilute mixtures

Inthiscase,theoperating lineandtheequilibrium linecanbe

consideredstraight,andtheabsorptionfactorA (orthestripping
factorS)isapproximatelyconstantthroughthecascade
Also:
A

Ls
L

mVs mV

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y mx0
1 1
ln N 1
1
y1 mx0
A A

Nid
ln A
Nid

mVs mV

Ls
L

yN 1 y1
y1 mx0

A1

A1

Absorption

x0
ln
xN
Nid

Nid

y N 1

m 1 1 1

y N 1
S S

m
ln S
x0 x N
y N 1
m

Stripping

16

5.3 Countercurrent continuous-contact equipment

5.3.0Basicequationsand
approach292
5.3.1Dilutesolutions;
Henryslaw298

WhentheMurphreeplateefficiencyisconstant,theoverall
efficiencycanbecalculatedby(eqn.55):

ln 1 E MGE 1
A

1
ln
A
Exercise:FindexpressionforEo forA =1
Eo

S 1

xN

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Efficiency

S 1

A1

Use of a packed tower for

stripping a contaminant from
water

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Dr.L.AntonioEstvez

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October 20, 2014

Basic equations and approach

5.3.0 Basic equations and approach

ApproachsimilartoExample2.12(p.
132):differentialmassbalanceinthe
vaporphase
Massbalanceisintegratedtoobtained
anexpressionforthepackingheightZ
Theexpressioniswrittenas:

L
xA

TheproblemreducestothecomputationofHtG andNtG

NtG iscalledthenumberoftransferunits
HtG iscalledtheheightofatransferunit

Inthemostgeneralcase:
HtG

L
xA

Z HtG NtG

GMy

NtG

FG ah

y1
y2

1 y i ,ln
dy
1 y y yi

NotethatHtG hasunitsoflength([m]or[ft])andNtG is
dimensionless

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Calculation of NtG

Basic equations and approach

Interestingly,HtG istypicallyintherangebetween1[ft]and1[m]
ThereareanumberofformulasforNtG dependingonthedegreeof
approximation:

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Generalcase
Logmeanapproximatelyequaltothearithmeticmean
Dilutesolutions

1 y i ,ln

Notethat:

Logmeanarithmeticmean
NtG

1 y 1 yi
1 y
ln
1 yi

y1
y2

dy

y yi

1 1 y2
ln
2 1 y1

Dilutesolutions:
NtG

y1
y2

dy

y yi

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Numerical calculation of NtG

NtG

Notethat:

y1
y2

dy

Calculation of NtG Dilute solutions

y1

y yi y

dy

StraightELandOL:

y yi

NtG

Simpsonrule,twointervals:
NtG av y1 y2

22

av

1
top 4mid bottom
6

y1 y2
y yi ln

y yi ln

y yi top y yi bottom
y yi top
ln
y yi bottom

Simpsonrule,fourintervals:
av

1
top 4mid ,1 2mid ,2 4mid ,3 bottom
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Dr.L.AntonioEstvez

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October 20, 2014

Numerical calculation of NtOG

NtOG

Notethat:

y1
y2

dy

Calculation of NtOG Dilute solutions

y1

y y * y

dy

StraightELandOL:

y y *

NtOG

Simpsonrule,twointervals:
NtG av y1 y2

av

1
top 4mid bottom
6

y y * ln

Eqn.(524):

Simpsonrule,fourintervals:
av

y1 y2
y y * ln

NtOG

1
top 4mid ,1 2mid ,2 4mid ,3 bottom
12

y y * top y y * bottom
y y * top
ln
y y * bottom

y mx2
1 1 ln y1
ln 1
1
y
mx
A
A

2
y2
2
1
1
A

y2*
1 1
1
A A
y2*

1
A

Note that for absorption with pure solvent, x2=y2*=0

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Calculation of NtOL Dilute solutions

StraightELandOL:
NtOL

x2 x1
x x * ln

x x * ln

Eqn.(527):

NtOL

x2
ln
x1

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Other driving forces

x x * top x x * bottom
x x * top
ln
x x * bottom

DrivingforceforNtG is(yyi) (absorption)or(yiy) (stripping)

Otherpossibledrivingforcesare:

y1

m 1 1 1
x x*
1 1

y1
S S ln 2 1 1
*
S S

x1 x1

m
1
1
1
1
S
S

(y y*) or (y* y) use NtOG

(xi x) or (x xi) use NtL

(x* x) or (x x*) use NtOL
ForNtOG indilutesolutions,usealsoequation(524)onp.299(also
intwoslidesback)

Note that for desorption with pure solvent, y1=x1*=0

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Comments on design

Comments on design (cont.)

Designvariablesare:
Columndiameter(seeChapter4)
Either:

Numberofplates(traytowers):5.2
Packingheight(packedcolumns):5.3

Packingheightisdeterminedbytheproductofthenumberof
transferunits(NTU)bytheheightofatransferunit(HTU)
29

Dr.L.AntonioEstvez

NTU,here,refersgenericallytoanyofthefollowing:NtG, NtOG, NtL, or

NtOL
Similarly,HTUrefersgenericallytoanyofthefollowing:HtG, HtOG, HtL,
or HtOL
TheoverallNTUsaredeterminedwhentheOLandELaredefined
ForNtG and NtL,theratioofcoefficientskx/ky mustalsobeknown
TheHTUdependsonflowratesandmasstransfercoefficients

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Definitions of HTUs

Basedonvaporphasedrivingforces:
HtG

HETP

GMy
FG ah

GMy

HtOG

k y ah

GMy
K y ah

HtG

HtL
A

Basedonliquidphasedrivingforces:
HtL

GMx
G
Mx
FLah k x ah

HtOL

GMx
HtL AHtG
K x ah

A simple method for designing packed towers, introduced many years ago,
ignores the differences between stagewise and continuous contact
In this method the number of theoretical trays or plates required for a given
change in concentration is computed by the methods of the previous section
This is then multiplied by a quantity, the height equivalent to a theoretical
plate (HETP) to give the required height of packing to do the same job
The HETP must be an experimentally determined quantity characteristic for
each packing

RelationshipsbetweenHTUsarereadilyobtainedfrom
equations(321)and(323),p.168,ofthetextbook

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HETP

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5.4 Thermal effects during absorption and stripping

Unfortunately it is found that the HETP varies, not only with the type and size
of the packing but also with flow rates of each fluid and for every system with
concentration as well, so that an enormous amount of experimental data
would have to be accumulated to permit utilization of the method
The difficulty lies in the failure to account for the fundamentally different
action of tray and packed towers, and the method has now largely been
abandoned
Exercise: Compare Kremser equation to equation (5-24) to show that:

HETP

A ln A
HtOG
A 1
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Dr.L.AntonioEstvez

5.4.1Adiabaticoperationofatrayabsorber301
5.4.2Adiabaticoperationofapackedbedabsorber304

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