UNIVERSITY OF TRIPOLI

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTEMENT
Dr. Sabri Mrayed
Mass Transfer II (CHE 422)

SPRING 2012
Assignment # 2

1.

(Homework) The exit gas from an alcohol fermenter consists of an air-C02 mixture containing
15 mol% CO2 that is to be absorbed in a 5.0-N solution of triethanolamine (free of CO2). If the
column operates isothermally at 25C, if the exit liquid contains 78.4% of the C02 in the feed
gas to the absorber, calculate:
a. Minimum gas to liquid ratio.
b. Number of stages required if (L/V) = 1.5 (L/V)min
Y

0.003

0.008

0.015

0.023

0.032

0.043

0.055

0.068

0.083

0.099

0.12

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

0.11

2.

Solute A is to be removed from in inert gas B in a multi-stage countercurrent absorption tower.

The gas enters the tower at a rate of 200 kgmol/h and contains 25 mol % A. The solvent enters
the tower at a rate of 800 kgmol/h and is initially free of solute. Determine (a) the
concentration of the exiting gas stream and (b) the number of stages, if the exiting liquid
stream contains 5 mol% of A. the equilibrium data is yA = 4 xA.

3.

Solute A is to stripped from a liquid stream by contacting the liquid with a pure gas. The
liquid enters the stripping tower at an A-free rate of 150 kgmol/h and contains 30 mol% A.
The gas enters the tower at a rate of 500 kgmol/h. Determine the number of stages required to
reduce the concentration of A in the exiting liquid stream to 1 mol %. Equilibrium data is
given by yA = 0.4 xA .

4.

A physical solvent is to be used to remove H2S and CO2 from a natural gas stream that contains 10 %
H2S, 5% CO2,, 80% C1, 4.5% C2, and 0.5% nC5. For this process 85% of the H2S in the gas is to be
removed by the solvent. The absorption process will be carried out at 60F and 1000 psia in an absorber
that contains 10 theoretical stages. After leaving the absorber the solvent will flow to a flash tank that
operates at 60F and 250 psia. The total flow rate of the feed gas is 100 MMSCFD (@ 60F and 14.7
psia).
a. Determine the moles of solvent required per mole of gas fed to the absorber.
b. Calculate the composition of the gas exiting the absorption column.
c. Calculate the H2S content of the flash gas that leaves the 250-psia flash separator.
Equilibrium constants at 60F for the natural gas components in the solvent
Component
K(10 pasia)
K(10 0pasia)
K(1000pasia)
C1
2200
250
30
C2
550
55
6
nC5
32
4.5
0.65
H2S
47
3.1
0.2
CO2
105
10
1

5.

A packed tower is to be used absorb sulphur dioxide from air by contacting the gas
mixture with pure water. The entering gas containing 10 mol% SO2 and the exiting

gas is to contain no more than 0.8 mol% SO2. The tower is operating at 30C and 2
atm absolute. Water is to enter the absorber at a flow rate equal to 1.2 ime the
minimum value. The gas mixture enters at a rate of 80 kgmol/(m2 h). Calculate the
height of the absorption tower if the gas and liquid mass transfer coefficients are kya
= 50 kgmol/(h.m3) and kxa = 1000 kgmol/(h m3), respectively.
Equilibrium data for SO2-water at 30C
Mass of SO2 per 100 Partial pressure of SO2 in
masses of H2O
vapour (mmHg)
7.5
5
2.5
1.5
1
0.7
0.5
0.3
0.1
0.05
0.02
6.

688
452
216
125
79
52
36
19.7
4.7
1.7
0.6

(Homework) Ammonia is to be absorbed from a mixture of air and ammonia by

contacting the gas with water in a packed column. The gas mixture, which contains 5
mol% ammonia, enters the column at a flow rate of 100 kgmol/(h. m2) and the water
flow rate is to be 1.5 times the minimum value. The gas and liquid mass transfer
coefficients can be expressed as
k ' y a 0.2 1 y A V

0.8

L0.2

k 'x a 0.35L0.8

Where V, and L represent the molar flow rates of the gas and liquid, respectively, in
units of kgmol/(h.m2). the tower operates at a constant temperature of 20C and a
pressure of 1 atm absolute. Calculate the height of the absorber if the concentration of
ammonia in the exiting gas stream is to be 0.5 mol%
Equilibrium data for NH3-water at 20C
Mass of NH3 per
Partial pressure of NH3 in
100 masses of H2O
vapour (mmHg)
50
40
30
25
20
15
10
7.5
5
4
3

686
470
298
227
166
114
69.6
50
31.7
24.9
18.2

2
7.

12

A gas mixture containing 2 % A and 98 % B is to be contacted by a pure liquid in a

packed absorption tower. The concentration of species A in the gas stream is to be
reduced to 0.5%. The gas and liquid flow rates are 100 and 2000 kgmol/(h.m2)
respectively. The overall mass transfer coefficient for the gas phase is Kya = 100
kgmol/(h.m3). Using the equilibrium data given below, determine the tower height.
yA
xA

0.003
0

0.023
0.002

0.043
0.004

0.0627
0.006

0.0826
0.008

8.

An absorber which is packed with 1-in ceramic Rasching rings to a height of 10 ft, is
to be used to absorb CO2 from air by contacting the air-CO2 mixture with water. The
water is to enter the absorber at a rate of 2000 lb/(h.ft2). Assume that the gas mixture
is very dilute and the absorption process is to be carried out at 20C and 1 atm. (a)
determine the height of the liquid phase transfer unit (HL) if the column operates at
70% of flooding, and (b) calculate the height of the liquid phase transfer unit if 1-in
Berl saddles are used as the packing.

9.

(Homework) Sulphur dioxide is to be removed from air by contacting the gas with
water in a column packed with -in ceramic Berl saddles. The entering gas contains
10 mol% SO2. Water enters at a rate of 2.03 102 kgmol/h and the gas enters at a rate
of 2.26 10-1 kgmol per kgmol of water. (a) determine the diameter of the tower at 70%
flooding, and (b) calculate the pressure drop through the column if the packing is
dumped into the column and the height is 100 ft. Operating conditions are 30C and 2
atm.

10. (Homework) A system for recovering methanol from a solid product wet with methanol

involves evaporation of the alcohol into a stream of inert gas, essentially nitrogen. In order to
recover the methanol from the nitrogen, an absorption scheme involving washing the gas
countercurrently with water in a packed tower is being considered. The resulting watermethanol solution is then to be distilled to recover the methanol. The absorption tower will be
filled with 50-mm ceramic Raschin rings. Design for a gas-pressure drop not to exceed 0.5
(inch water/ft of packed depth). Assume isothermal operation at 300 K. The gas will enter the
column at the rate of 35.3 ft3/s at 300 K and 1 atm. The partial pressure of methanol in the
inlet gas is 200 mmHg (ScV = 0.783). The partial pressure of methanol in the outlet gas should
not exceed 15 mm Hg. Pure water enters the tower at the rate of 1.0 lb/s at 300 K. Neglecting
evaporation of water, calculate the diameter and packed depth of the absorber. Solutions of
methanol and water follow the Wilson equation. The corresponding parameters can be found
in Smith et al. (1996)1.

Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, J. M. Smith, H. C. Van Ness, and M. M. Abbott, 6th edition.