international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

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Experimental analysis of ammoniawater rectification in

absorption systems with the 10 mm metal Pall ring packing
Jaime Sieres, Jose Fernandez-Seara*, Francisco J. Uha
Area de Maquinas y Motores Termicos, E.T.S. de Ingenieros Industriales, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende N 9,
36310 Vigo, Spain

article info

abstract

Article history:

In this paper, the mass transfer performance of the 10 mm metal Pall ring packing for am-

Received 2 February 2007

monia rectification in ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems (AARS) is investi-

Received in revised form

gated. The experimental setup is described and the experimental procedure and data

15 May 2007

reduction method are explained. Experimental results of the top vapour temperature, con-

Published online 10 July 2007

centration and mass flow rate are presented for different operating conditions, including
reflux ratio values from 0.4 to 1 (total reflux conditions). Vapour phase mass transfer coef-

Keywords:

ficients are calculated from the measured data and the results are compared with different

Absorption system

mass transfer correlations found in the open literature. In this paper, a correlation is pro-

Ammoniawater

posed for the packing analysed which was fitted from the experimental data. Finally,

Rectification

a comparison is made between the actual packing height used in the experimental setup

Aqueous solution

and the height required to obtain the same ammonia rectification in AARS with the first

Experiment

generation packings: 12

Packing

Novalox saddles. It was found that a packing height reduction between a factor of 2.5 and

Packed column

3 is attained with 10 mm metal Pall rings.

00

ceramic Berl saddles, 15 mm glass Raschig rings and 12

00

ceramic

2007 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.

Mass transfer

Analyse experimentale de la rectification dammoniac-eau

dans les syste`mes a` absorption avec un remplissage sous
forme danneaux metalliques de Pall dun diame`tre de 10 mm
Mots cles : Syste`me a` absorption ; Ammoniac-eau ; Rectification ; Solution aqueuse ; Experimentation ; Remplissage ; Matelas dispersant ;
Transfert de masse

1.

Introduction

Nowadays, ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems

(AARS) are gaining popularity due to the increase in electricity

costs as well as the environmental problems associated to the

CFC and HCFC refrigerants used in compression systems.
AARS demand very little electricity and can be powered by
thermal energy at moderate temperature levels. In the branch

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 34 986 812605; fax: 34 986 811995.

E-mail address: jseara@uvigo.es (J. Fernandez-Seara).
0140-7007/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2007.05.009

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

Nomenclature
aef
ap
Cpk, Cv
dc
D
F
Fc
h
H
k
_
m
M
n_
p
Q
r
T
u
V_
x

effective transfer area (m2 m3)

packing surface area (m2 m3)
packing constants
column diameter (m)
diffusion coefficient (m2 s1)
mass transfer coefficient (kmol m2 s1)
vapour flow factor (m s1) (kg m3)0.5
liquid holdup (m3 m3)
height of the packed section (m)
mass transfer coefficient (m s1)
mass flow (kg s1)
molecular weight (kg kmol1)
molar flux (kmol m2 s1)
pressure (bar)
electrical heat power (kW)
reflux ratio
temperature (K)
superficial velocity (m s1)
vapour superficial molar flow (kmol m2 s1)
ammonia mass concentration (kg kg1)

of high power machines, the applications are related to high

cooling plants powered by cheap or waste heat as well as to
its integration within cogeneration systems (Colonna and
Gabrielli, 2003; Bassols et al., 2002; Fernandez-Seara et al.,
2005). In the branch of small cooling powers, the commercially
available machines are used for air conditioning and heat
pump applications powered by direct gas fired (Horuz and
Callander, 2004). However, at present, there is a lack of small
machines for air conditioning and refrigeration that could be
powered by waste heat or solar energy. Therefore, in order
to develop and promote the use of small power AARS, it is necessary to improve the present day technology to obtain more
efficient and reliable components and to reduce the size and
the cost of these systems as much as possible.
In the field of absorption refrigeration, ammoniawater has
been the most widely used mixture from its beginning. However, since water has a vapour pressure that is not negligible
compared with that of ammonia, the vapour produced in the
generator always contains a certain amount of water. Therefore, an ammonia purification process is required. The
effectiveness of the purification process largely affects the absorption system performance and efficiency, as pointed out by
Bogart (1982) and quantified by Fernandez-Seara and Sieres
(2006a,b). The current methods of reducing the water content
in the vapour leaving the generator are by means of a liquid
vapour counterflow contacting device in a distillation column,
by partial condensation in a rectifier or by combining both
methods. Theoretical analyses of these processes have been
carried out by several researchers (Kang et al., 1996; Anand
and Erickson, 1999; Fernandez-Seara et al., 2002, 2003a,b; Sieres
and Fernandez-Seara, 2006), though experimental studies are
quite scarce (Mortal and Roriz, 2002; Sieres and FernandezSeara, 2007a,b).
In a distillation column, an intimate contact between the
vapour and the liquid phases is required for an efficient heat
and mass transfer process. Various devices such as plates

x~
y
z

271

ammonia molar concentration (kmol kmol1)

vertical position in the packed column (m)
ratio of ammonia molar flux to total molar flux
transferred

Greek symbols
DT
temperature deviation, Tv;out  TNH3 (K)
Dx~v;lm
logarithmic mean driving force in vapour phase
3
r
F
c

void fraction of packing (m3 m3)

density (kg m3)
enhancement factor
characteristic length (m)

Subscripts
i
interface
l
liquid
o
overall
sat
saturation conditions
v
vapour
Superscripts
*
vapour in equilibrium with liquid

or trays and different types of packings can be used. Packed

columns are not commonly used in AARS up to date. However,
this type of column could be an interesting option for small
power machines. Packings can consist either of dumped elements or of a regular packing unit which could be of the
same size as the column (Mersmann and Deixler, 1986). The
former are usually known as random packings and the latter
as structured packings.
The design of a packed column involves mass and heat
transfer processes and fluid mechanics. The column diameter
and packing height are the design parameters. The packed
column diameter is determined from pressure drop models
to avoid flooding (Stichlmair et al., 1989; Billet and Schultes,
1999). The packed bed height must be determined to obtain
the desired separation at design conditions. For a given application and operating conditions, the required packing height
will be primarily influenced by the efficiency of the packing
type used. Therefore, the use of high efficiency packings in
AARS will allow the development of more compact columns.
The ammonia purification process in packed columns for
AARS has been studied theoretically by Fernandez-Seara
et al. (2002). They showed that the mass transfer coefficient
in the vapour phase Fv has a dominant effect on the column
performance. Therefore, knowledge of this coefficient is of
great importance for a correct column design in AARS. Several
models and correlations to predict mass transfer performance
of packed columns are available. Recently, Wang et al. (2005)
reviewed mass transfer correlations for packed columns.
According to Wang et al. (2005), the first and still widely
used correlations for mass transfer were developed by Onda
et al. (1968). Bravo and Fair (1982) used the model of Onda
for the estimation of mass transfer coefficients for distillation
but proposed an alternative relation for the effective transfer
area. Billet and Schultes (1999) developed an advanced
empirical/theoretical model, based on the penetration theory
of Higbie (1935), for mass transfer in gas/liquid countercurrent

272

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

columns filled with random or structured packings. They adjusted the vapour and liquid mass transfer coefficients by specific parameters depending on the packing type, material and
dimensions. Wagner et al. (1997) developed a new model for
the prediction and correlation of mass transfer in distillation
columns containing modern, high efficiency random packings
of the high-void-fraction and through-flow type. This model is
also based on the penetration theory and the only packing parameter needed is a packing characteristic Cpk which must be
determined from experimental results. They found that 95%
of the predicted values were within 25% of 326 experimental
data points at total reflux. Finally, Piche et al. (2002) proposed
a set of artificial neural network correlations for the vapour
and liquid mass transfer coefficients and interfacial area in
randomly packed towers. They gathered data of interfacial
area and volumetric mass transfer coefficients from the literature to generate a working database including over 3780
measurements; however, mass transfer coefficients relevant
to distillation were not processed.
A number of mass transfer models for packed columns
have been published in the literature. However, quite different
results are obtained when these models are applied at the normal operating conditions found in AARS. Therefore, some experimental validation of the current mass transfer models for
being applied to the ammonia purification process in AARS is
needed. In a recent paper, Sieres and Fernandez-Seara (2007b)
investigated the mass transfer performance of 15 mm glass
Raschig rings, 12 00 ceramic Berl saddles and 12 00 ceramic Novalox saddles random packings for the ammonia rectification in

AARS. They showed that experimental mass transfer coefficients in the vapour phase were well represented by the
Onda et al. (1968) correlation. In a similar work, the same authors (Sieres and Fernandez-Seara, 2007a) tested the Sulzer BX
packing and found discrepancies with available mass transfer
models for structured packings.
In this paper, the mass transfer performance of the 10 mm
metal Pall ring random packing is examined. Experimental
data are obtained from several tests carried out in an experimental facility designed and built at our laboratory. The facility operates at the typical operating conditions found in AARS.
Experimental results of the top vapour temperature, ammonia
concentration and mass flow rate at variable and total reflux
conditions are presented. Mass transfer coefficients are
reported and compared with different correlations proposed
in the literature. Finally, a comparison between the performance of the tested packing and the first generation random
packings previously tested (Sieres and Fernandez-Seara,
2007b) for the ammoniawater rectification in AARS is made.

2.

Experimental setup

The schematic diagram of the experimental setup is shown in

Fig. 1. It consists of a rectification device coupled to a cooling
water and thermal oil control loops. The thermal oil control
loop is used to simulate the required heat power in the generator by means of a small electrical heater. Heat power is
controlled by switching on/off the electric resistances. The

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the experimental facility.

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

cooling water loop is used to control the operating pressure in

the rectification device by varying the cooling water flow rate
to the condenser. Tap water was used as the cooling medium
in the condenser for the low pressure experiments, whereas
tower water was used for the high-pressure ones.
The rectification device consists of the same components
used in the high-pressure stage of AARS. All components
and sensors are adequate to work with ammonia. Vapour is
produced in the generator and rises through the column flowing countercurrently with a liquid reflux introduced at the top
of the column. The vapour leaving the column is condensed in
a shell and tubes heat exchanger. The liquid is drained to a receiver that feeds a Coriolis flow meter M1 where the liquid
mass flow, density and temperature are measured. On the
other hand, the mass flow, density and temperature of the liquid at the bottom of the column are measured with a Coriolis
flow meter M2 and returned to the generator. The liquid
reflux to the column is controlled manipulating the manual
valve v1 in Fig. 1, which is totally closed for total reflux conditions. The fraction of the condensed liquid not returned to
the column is measured in the Coriolis flow meter M3.
The test column consists of an 80 mm inner diameter and
238 mm height tube filled with 10 mm metal Pall ring packing.
The packing characteristics are given in Table 1. Specific
precautions were considered in the design of the column to
ensure that the liquidvapour contact is restricted to the
packed section. Detailed dimensions of the test column and
distributors are given in Sieres and Fernandez-Seara (2007a)
and Sieres Atienza (2005).
The experimental setup is equipped with a data acquisition
system based on a PC. Twelve calibrated Pt100 sensors type A
are installed on different points of the test facility (T1T12), as
shown in Fig. 1. Temperature at point 13 is measured with
a calibrated type B 1/10 sensor with an accuracy of 0.1%. The
pressure is measured by using a pressure transducer with an
accuracy of 0.5% of the full scale. The mass flow, density
and temperature of the liquid from the condenser M1 are
measured with a Coriolis flow meter with an accuracy of
0.1% in mass flow, 0.5 kg m3 in density and 1  C in temperature. The liquid mass flow, density and temperature of
bottom product M2 and the conditions of the liquid returned
directly to the generator M3 are measured with Coriolis flow
meters with accuracies of 0.2% in mass flow, 2.0 kg m3 in
density and 1  C in temperature. The cooling water flow rate
in the condenser is measured by means of a turbine type flow
meter V1 with an accuracy of 2% of the actual flow rate. All
sensors are scanned with an acquisition data card of 12 bits
for analogical to digital conversion. The data acquisition

Table 1 Packing features

Column diameter (m)
Packing height (m)
Type
Material
Nominal size (mm)
Surface area, ap (m2 m3)
Void fraction, 3 (m3 m3)

0.08
0.238
Pall ring
Stainless steel
10
515
0.94

273

card contains four lines of digital outputs that are used to control the electrical power in the electric heater.
The experimental facility was charged with a mixture of
ammonia and water to obtain the desired mixture concentration. Previously, the installation was purged with a vacuum
pump to avoid the presence of air.

3.
Experimental procedure and
data reduction
3.1.

Experimental procedure

Experiments were conducted by varying the heat power in the

generator, the operating pressure and the reflux ratio. The
heat power in the generator was fixed at the desired value
by switching on/off several heating elements in the boiler.
The operating pressure was controlled by manipulating the
water valve to modify the cooling water flow rate in the condenser. The manual valve v4 was adjusted to keep a constant
level in the condensate tank and a stable reading in the flow
meter M1. Thus, the top vapour mass flow leaving the column equals the liquid mass flow measured in the flow meter
M1. Similarly, the manual valve v3 was adjusted to keep
a constant level in the bottom tank and a stable reading in
the flow meter M2. During experiments at total reflux conditions, the manual valve v1 was totally closed, whereas for
other experiments it was progressively opened to reduce the
reflux ratio which was monitored from the mass flow values
measured in the meters M1 and M3. All variables were
scanned and recorded within a time interval of 10 s.

3.2.

Data reduction

From the measured data, the ammonia concentrations of the

top vapour and bottom liquid currents can be obtained. The
top vapour concentration is calculated from the system pressure, the top vapour temperature (T13) and assuming saturation conditions, according to Eq. (1).
xl;in xv;out fv;sat p; T13

(1)

The bottom liquid concentration is obtained from the density and temperature measured by the Coriolis flow meter
M2, according to Eq. (2).
xl;out fl;sat TM2 ; rM2

(2)

The Coriolis flow meter M2 is also used to determine the

_ l;out , whereas the liquid con_ M2 m
bottom liquid mass flow m
_ M1 m
_ v;out is measured in the Coriolis
densate mass flow m
flow meter M1. The fraction of liquid not returned to the col_ v;out  m
_ l;in is measured in the Coriolis flow meter
_ M3 m
umn m
M3. State equations used for the ammoniawater equilibrium
and thermodynamic properties have been obtained from
Ziegler and Trepp (1984).
In steady state conditions, from the measured mass flow
rates in the Coriolis flow meters, Eqs. (3) and (4) give the liquid
reflux and inlet vapour mass flow rates, respectively.
_ M1  m
_ M3
_ l;in m
m

(3)

_ M2 m
_ M3
_ v;in m
m

(4)

274

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

The ammonia mass concentration of the vapour entering

the column can be determined from an ammonia mass balance over the test column, according to Eq. (5).
xv;in

_ M3 xv;out
_ M2 xl;out m
m
_ M3
_ M2 m
m

(5)

The reflux ratio (r) is defined as the ratio of the liquid mass
flow entering the column to the vapour mass flow leaving the
column, as stated in Eq. (6).
r

_ l;in
m
_ v;out
m

dV_ V_

dy

_ M2
_ v;in m
m

(8)

xv;in xl;out

(9)

The molar flux of ammonia transferred from the liquid to

the vapour phase can be obtained from Eq. (10) (FernandezSeara et al., 2002). It can be expressed either as a function
of the vapour phase mass transfer coefficient Fv and the interface vapour concentration x~vi or as a function of the overall
vapour phase mass transfer coefficient Fov and the ammonia
concentration of a vapour that would be in equilibrium with
the bulk liquid x~v . However, at the typical operating conditions found in a rectifying column of AARS, the heat transfer
resistance in the vapour phase is much larger than in the
liquid phase, thus Ti zTl is obtained (Fernandez-Seara et al.,
2002). Moreover the slope of the equilibrium curve dx~v =dx~l
is very low. Therefore, it can be assumed that the overall
vapour mass transfer coefficient equals the single phase coefficient Fov zFv (Sieres Atienza, 2005; Taylor and Krishna,
1993), and the approximation of the right side of Eq. (10) can
be adopted.
!
!
!
z  x~v
z  x~v
z  x~v
_nNH3 Fv z ln
Fov z ln
zFv z ln
(10)
z  x~vi
z  x~v
z  x~v
In Eq. (10), z is the ratio of the ammonia molar flux to the net
molar flux, as stated in Eq. (11).
(11)

_ is obtained from
where the vapour superficial molar flow V
_ v and the column diameter dc ,
the vapour mass flow m
according to Eq. (12).


4
xv
1  xv
_v
(12)

V_
m
2
pdc
MNH3
MH2 O
A mass and species balance over a differential cross-section
of the packed column yields Eqs. (13) and (14).
_ ef dy
dV_ na

(13)



d V_ x~v V_ dx~v dV_ x~v n_ NH3 aef dy

(14)

where y is the vertical position in the packed column and aef is

the effective transfer area.
After substitution of these equations into Eq. (11), Eq. (15) is
derived.

dx~v
Dx~
dx~v
V_

 v;lm  

!
Fv $aef z  x~v x~  x~v
z  x~v
z  x~v
v
ln
z  x~v
1

(16)

where Dx~v;lm is the logarithmic mean driving force, defined in

Eq. (17).
Dx~v;lm

(7)

n_ NH3
n_

V_
Fv aef

(6)

_ M1
_ l;in m
m

(15)

Combining Eqs. (15) and (10) yields Eq. (16).

At total reflux conditions, these equations are simplified

and Eqs. (7)(9) are obtained.

dx~v
z  x~v

x~v  x~v
z  x~v
ln
z  x~v

(17)

Eq. (16) can be used to determine an average value of the

volumetric mass transfer coefficient Fv aef in the packed column from the inlet and outlet vapour and liquid conditions
measured in the experimental facility. Numerical integration
of Eq. (16) is explained in detail in Sieres and Fernandez-Seara
(2007b) and Sieres Atienza (2005).

4.

Results and discussion

4.1.

Analysis of experimental results

Experiments were carried out with heat powers of 3.6, 4.8, 6.0
and 7.2 kW. For each one of the heating powers, different operating pressures and reflux ratios were tested. Table 2 summarizes the range of values for different variables of interest
measured during all the experiments. For test runs with
heat powers of 3.6 kW, only total reflux conditions were tested
because of the difficulties to measure low mass flow rates in
the flow meter M3. In contrast, for test runs with heat powers
of 7.2 kW, it was not possible to operate the column at total
reflux conditions, because the high values of vapour and liquid mass flow rates caused flooding of the column.
For each set of experimental data, the top vapour ammonia
concentration and different mass transfer performance parameters were determined. A detailed analysis of the experimental uncertainties was carried out and the typical
uncertainty bands are included in the results. The uncertainties have been determined from the analysis of the experimental measurements and the accuracy specifications of the
different sensors, as indicated in ISO (1995).

Table 2 Operating conditions during the experimental

tests
Variable

Min

Max

Absolute pressure (bar)

Top vapour temperature ( C)
_ M1 (kg h1)
Condensate mass flow, m
_ M2 (kg h1)
Bottom liquid mass flow, m

11.2
29.1
6.0
2.5
29.5
635
0
5.2
0.4

15.5
79.0
20.4
10.6
70.1
839
11.3
16.5
1

Bottom liquid temperature in M2 ( C)

Bottom liquid density in M2 (kg m3)
_ M3 (kg h1)
Mass flow in flow meter M3, m
Liquid reflux flow (calculated) (kg h1)
Reflux ratio (calculated)

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

Fig. 2a shows the difference between the top vapour temperature and the saturation temperature of pure ammonia
as a function of the reflux ratio for a set of experimental tests
carried out for a constant operating pressure of 11.3 bar and
heat powers of 3.6, 4.8 and 6.0 kW. This temperature difference has been denominated in the following as temperature
deviation DT Tv;out  TNH3 . The top vapour water content
and mass flow rate for the same experiments are shown in
Fig. 2b and c, respectively. The reflux ratio tested ranges
from total reflux (r 1) down to r 0.5.
It can be seen in Fig. 2a that when decreasing the reflux ratio the temperature deviation increases slightly, but below
a reflux ratio of rz0:6 a sharp increase of DT is obtained, which
indicates an increase of the vapour water content, as confirmed in Fig. 2b. Fig. 2c shows that the vapour flow rate

increases slightly when increasing the reflux ratio, but remains nearly constant for reflux ratio values higher than
rz0:6. This behaviour is reasonable because when increasing
the reflux ratio the column performs better and the ammonia
vapour concentration in the vapour phase is higher. Since the
heat of vaporization for water is greater than for ammonia,
the condensation of a certain amount of water from the vapour to the liquid phase implies that a greater amount of ammonia can be transferred to the vapour phase, thus increasing
the vapour mass flow rate. However, for high values of the
reflux ratio, an increase of the liquid reflux may cause a very
small variation of the top ammonia concentration or even
obtaining pure ammonia, thus no significant variations in
the vapour mass flow are observed.
On the other hand, Fig. 2c shows the behaviour of an increasing top vapour mass flow rate with increasing heat
power. Moreover, the experimental results indicate that the
column performs better as the vapour mass flow rate increases, since the temperature deviations in Fig. 2a decrease
with Q. This means that lower water contents are obtained
in the vapour phase, as it can be seen in Fig. 2b.
It should be noted that during some experiments (especially those at total reflux), the top vapour temperature is
very close to the ammonia saturation temperature. As an example, in the case of the 6.0 kW test at total reflux, the temperature deviation DT is within the typical uncertainty of the
experimental measurements. Therefore, the ammonia
concentration of the top vapour is very high, but the experimental procedure does not allow the determination of
the concentration with precision for water contents below
10 ppm, as can be confirmed from the uncertainty bands
shown in Fig. 2b.
In Fig. 3 results of experiments carried out at a constant
heat power of 4.8 kW and operating pressures of 11.3, 13.4
and 14.4 bar as a function of the reflux ratio are presented.
Fig. 3a shows that the top vapour temperature deviation DT increases when reducing the reflux ratio, thus deviating from
pure ammonia conditions, as confirmed in Fig. 3b. The temperature deviation increases sharply for reflux ratio values
lower than 0.6. On the other hand, it can also be seen that
for total reflux or high reflux ratio values, the top vapour water
content increases with decreasing values of the operating
pressure. Fig. 3c also shows that the vapour mass flow increases slightly for low reflux ratios, but remains nearly constant for reflux ratios greater than 0.6.

4.2.

Fig. 2 Top vapour (a) temperature deviation, (b) water

content and (c) mass flow, as a function of the reflux ratio
for a set of experiments carried out for a constant operating
pressure of 11.3 bar and heat powers of 3.6, 4.8 and 6.0 kW.

275

Mass transfer coefficients

Similar results as those presented in the previous section were

obtained for all the experiments. From the measured experimental data, the values of the volumetric vapour mass transfer coefficient Fv aef were calculated according to Eq. (16). The
uncertainties in Fv aef are very sensitive to the determination
of the vapour outlet concentration. Therefore, those experiments with pure ammonia or very high ammonia concentrations (water contents below 10 ppm) in the top vapour have
been excluded from the following analysis. It should be noted
that no experimental data have been found in the open literature for the packing analysed. Larger sizes of the same type
of packing have been tested by other researchers, but no

276

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

Fig. 4 Experimental values of the volumetric mass

transfer coefficients Fv aef and predicted values with the
correlations of Billet and Schultes, Onda et al., Piche et al.
and Wagner et al.

Fig. 3 Top vapour (a) temperature deviation, (b) water

content and (c) mass flow, as a function of the reflux ratio
for a set of experiments carried out for constant heat power
of 4.8 kW and operating pressures of 11.3, 13.4 and
14.3 bar.

information was found for the ammoniawater mixture at the

typical operating conditions found in AARS. Therefore, these
results can only be compared with those predicted from general correlations.
Fig. 4 compares the experimental values of the volumetric
mass transfer coefficient Fv aef of 10 mm metal Pall rings with
those calculated from the correlations of Onda et al. (1968),
Billet and Schultes (1999), Piche et al. (2002) and Wagner
et al. (1997) evaluated at the average phase conditions in the
column. The vapour mass transfer coefficient calculated
with the Billet and Schultes and with the Wagner et al. correlations is based on an adjusted parameter that must be determined experimentally. Unfortunately, no such parameter was
reported by these authors for 10 mm metal Pall rings. Billet

and Schultes report a value of Cv 0:336 for 25 mm metal

Pall rings and Wagner et al. report a value of Cpk 0:057 for
15 mm Pall rings. Therefore, due to the lack of information
about the packing analysed, the previous values of the parameters Cv and Cpk have been used tentatively in this work as the
best possible initial estimations. It is clear from Fig. 4 that the
first three correlations predict lower values of the volumetric
mass transfer coefficients than the experimental ones; however, the last correlation predicts reasonably well the experimental results. The mean deviations with the experimental
data provided by this correlation oscillate between 30%.
As mentioned before, the vapour mass transfer equation of
Billet and Schultes requires a packing-specific parameter,
which in this case was obtained for a larger packing size. However, the trends observed in the published parameters (Billet
and Schultes, 1999) when varying the size of a packing cannot
explain that the large discrepancies between this correlation
and our own results are due to a bad selection of the parameter. In a previous paper, Sieres and Fernandez-Seara (2007b)
reported experimental results of the vapour mass transfer
coefficient for three different first generation packings: 12 00 ceramic Berl saddles, 12 00 ceramic Novalox saddles and 15 mm
glass Raschig rings. In this work, it was obtained that the
Onda correlation predicted quite well the mass transfer performance in AARS at total reflux conditions. However, the
Pall ring is a high-void-fraction and through-flow type packing, consequently it presents a different liquid and vapour hydraulic behaviour from those packings considered in the work
of Onda et al. (1968).
Wagner et al. (1997) developed a model for the prediction
and correlation of mass transfer rates in distillation columns
of modern, high efficiency random packings. They proposed
Eq. (18) to obtain the vapour mass transfer coefficient.

kv

4Fv Dv uv
p3  hc

0:5
(18)

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

277

In this equation, Fv is an enhancement factor to account for

turbulent diffusion and multiple surface renewals and that
can be set approximately to unity (Wagner et al., 1997); h is
the liquid holdup which is determined by the correlation of
Stichlmair et al. (1989); and c is a characteristic length defined
in Eq. (19).
c C2pk H

(19)

where H is the packing height and Cpk is a dimensionless packing constant which must be determined from experimental
results.
The effective area for mass transfer is obtained from
Eq. (20).
aef 1  3 h
1

13
ap

(20)

According to the results shown in Fig. 4, the Wagner et al.

correlation was chosen to predict the experimental data.
The constant Cpk was determined by means of a linear regression analysis of the experimental data and the value of 0.061
was obtained. Fig. 5 compares the experimental results with
the proposed correlation. The correlation fits most of the
data within 25%. An exception is found for some points at
low Fv aef values which are overpredicted by the correlation.
These points were obtained at low reflux ratio and low liquid
reflux mass flow values; therefore these discrepancies could
be due to a bad irrigation or a poor liquidvapour contacting,
which leads to a worse column performance.

4.3.

Comparison with other packings

Finally, in this section a comparison is made between the performance of the 10 mm metal Pall ring packing and the three
different random packings: 12 00 ceramic Berl saddles, 15 mm
glass Raschig rings and 12 00 ceramic Novalox saddles, previously tested (Sieres and Fernandez-Seara, 2007b) for the ammoniawater rectification in AARS.

Fig. 5 Comparison between the volumetric mass transfer

coefficient Fv aef with the adjusted Wagner et al. correlation
and the experimental values.

Fig. 6 Ratio of packing height required with different

packings to packing height used with 10 mm metal Pall
rings as a function of the vapour flow factor.

Fig. 6 compares of the packing height used in the experimental setup with 10 mm metal Pall rings with the height required to obtain the same ammonia rectification in AARS with
the three different first generation packings indicated above.
The packing heights were calculated from the correlations
reported in Sieres and Fernandez-Seara (2007b) for AARS. Results show that with the three first generation packings larger
heights are required than with the 10 mm metal Pal ring packing in order to obtain the same ammonia concentration. Moreover, the differences increase with the column load factor
p
Fc uv rv . Therefore, results in Fig. 6 point out that the column height in AARS could be reduced in a factor between 2.5
and 3 if 10 mm metal Pall rings are used instead of the first
generation packings considered in this analysis.

5.

Conclusions

The mass transfer performance of the 10 mm metal Pall ring

packing for the ammonia rectification in ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems (AARS) has been analysed. No
previous experimental results for this application were found
in the open literature. Experimental tests of the ammonia rectification process were performed in an experimental facility
that operates at the normal operating conditions found in
the high-pressure stage of AARS. Results of the top vapour
temperature, concentration and mass flow rate have been
presented for different operating conditions, including reflux
ratio values from r 0.4 to total reflux (r 1).
From the measured data, experimental values of the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the vapour phase have
been determined. The results have been compared with different mass transfer correlations proposed in the literature
for similar packings; it was found that the discrepancies
were appreciable with the exception of the Wagner et al. correlation. This correlation is based on a specific constant Cpk
which must be determined experimentally. This constant
was determined by means of a linear regression analysis of
the experimental data. A value of Cpk 0:061 was obtained.
The proposed correlation fits most of the experimental data
within 25% bands. Finally, it was found that the column

278

international journal of refrigeration 31 (2008) 270278

height could be reduced by a factor between 2.5 and 3 in AARS

using 10 mm metal Pall rings instead of the first generation
packings 12 00 ceramic Berl saddles, 15 mm glass Raschig rings
or 12 00 ceramic Novalox saddles.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support
from the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologa (project DPI
2002-04536-C02-02).

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