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A Shortcut Method for the Estimation of Structured Packings
HEPT in Distillation
By Francisco Carrillo, Ana Martín and Antonio Roselló*
A shortcut method to calculate HETP for metal structured packings is proposed. The method is a simplification and extension of
Lockett's equation for sheet packings, based on the Bravo, Rocha and Fair model. It is applicable at vacuum or pressure
distillation of organic or aqueous mixtures in columns of sheet and gauze packings. The necessary variables are specific surface of
packing, density of vapor and liquid and flow (when gauze packings are being considered). No estimation of hydrodynamic
conditions is necessary.
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Table 2. Factor for the simplified Lockett's equation (in brackets, number of packings, because of their higher operational cost. The bulk of
experimental points).
the data in the literature has been obtained in columns with
Pressure (bar) 4.14 1.63 0.96 0.33 0.10 Sulzer BX.
Chlorobenzene- 5.69 (11) 5.17 (9) As HETP of gauze packings changes sharply with flow rates,
Ethylbenzene it is necessary to know how this variation behaves in order to
Cyclohexane-Heptane 5.37 (35) 5.40 (28) 5.41 (20) estimate efficiency for any flow. A simple dependence may be
proposed up to the loading point:
Differences are small enough and a unique average ' for all
pressures may be proposed: ' = 5.40 (+/±20 %). HETP = A F
(3)
Fig. 3 is a parity plot where experimental and calculated
HETP are compared, including data of organic and aqueous There is a dependence of ' on pressure, increasing when
mixtures.Themajorityof datahasa deviationsmallerthan25% vacuum increases. Nevertheless, it appears preferable to
maintain a unique power
and to introduce the influence of
pressure, if necessary, through
. A value of 0.42 for
is
suggested, and the following relationship between P and ':
7:12 P
' (4)
33:08 P
Sulzer CY and Goodloe packings show the same tendency
with reference to variations of
with flow, but the power of F
is higher (between 0.50 and 0.77). These changes in
are,
probably, attributable to the growing influence of the liquid
flow rate when significant differences in the vapor-liquid
surface are possible: at vacuum and when involving packings
with high specific surfaces to be wetted.
Also a datum of HETP at a flow F* must be known to
estimate HETP for other flows. F* has to be between the
loading point and a flow rate high enough to avoid the
nonfulfilment of the previous relation. Considering the range
of flows in the data of the literature, F* = 1.5 m/s (Kg/m3)0.5 is
used. The following equation matches experimental effi-
ciences of BX packing acceptably, as can be seen in Fig. 4.
4 Gauze Packings
Chem. Eng. Technol. 23 (2000) 5, Ó WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, D-69469 Weinheim, 2000 0930-7516/00/0505-00427 $ 17.50+.50/0 427
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p
P l Greek symbols
HEPTBX 0:25 !2 F 0:42
v
271282:0 P 11:505 ml [Pa.s] liquid viscosity
l
mw [Pa.s] water viscosity
(5)
v [kg/m3] vapor density
P; in mmHg l [kg/m3] liquid density
' [±] factor in the simplified
Received: June 15, 1999 [CET 1123] Lockett's equation
[±] power of F factor
Symbols used
References
2 3
a [m /m ] specific surface area of packing
[1] Gualito, J. J.; Cerino, F. J.; Cµrdenas, J. C.; Rocha, J. A., Ind. Eng. Chem.
A [m/(m/s.(kg/m3)0.5)
] constant Res. 36 (1997) pp. 1747±1757.
C [m/s] flow parameter [2] Bravo, J. R.; Rocha, J. A.; Fair, J. R., Hydrocar. Proc. 64 (1985) Jan., pp. 91±
D [m] diameter of column 95.
[3] Fair, J. R.; Bravo, J. L., Chem. Eng. Prog. 86 (1990) Jan., pp. 19±29.
F [m/s (kg/m3)0.5] vapor load factor [4] Bravo, J. R.; Rocha, J. A.; Fair, J. R., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 35 (1996) pp.
g [m/s2] gravitational acceleration 1660±1667.
[5] Billet, R.; Schultes, M., Chem. Eng. Technol. 16 (1993) pp. 1±9.
HETP [m] height equivalent to a
[6] Frank, O., Chem. Eng. 84 (1977) March, No. 6, pp. 110±128.
theoretical plate [7] Harrison, M. E.; France, J. J., Chem. Eng. (1989) Apr., pp. 121±128.
HTU [m] height of a transfer unit
P [mmHg] pressure
Z [m] height of column
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