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Introduction
Chemical processors and petroleum refiners around the world are familiar
with the name INTALOX®. INTALOX is a "family" of tower packing
designs that sets the standard wherever process towers are equipped with
random or structured packing to effect heat or mass transfer. At the heart
of these designs is the INTALOX® Metal Tower Packing or IMTP® High
Performance Random Packing family. INTALOX Metal Tower Packing is the
first random packing designed especially for use in distillation operations.
The advantages realized in distillation have been abundantly applied in
absorption, stripping, liquid-liquid extraction and direct contact heat trans-
fer operations as well. Since its introduction in the late 1970’s, IMTP pack-
ing has been successfully used in thousands of mass transfer towers with
diameters ranging from 6 inches to 40 feet [150 mm–12m]. Simultaneously,
a line of high performance tower internals was developed to ensure the
maximum performance of each packed tower is achieved. Koch-Glitsch
engineers have extensive experience applying these technologies to a vari-
ety of processes, providing the best solution for each situation.
This booklet provides information for quick sizing of packed columns using
INTALOX Metal Tower Packing. The following charts provide information
for hydraulic ratings and relative packing efficiencies in terms of HETP based
on a standard hydrocarbon test system as well as KGa values for the absorp-
tion of CO2. In addition, Koch-Glitsch offers the hydraulic rating program,
KG-TOWER™ Software, that may be downloaded from the website.
www.koch-glitsch.com
Emergency Delivery
1
IMTP High Performance Random Packing ®
questions:
Flood • What is the System Base HETP of a packing in
Point a given system? (See page 4).
• How much does liquid distribution quality affect
Maximum HETP? (See page 5)
Efficient Capacity • Which liquid distributors should be chosen to
make a tower perform near its System Base
HETP? (Consult the Tower Internals Guide
KGMTIG-1.)
System Base HETP
Material of Construction
Vapor Rate INTALOX Metal Tower Packings are offered in various
materials of construction.
• Carbon Steel
Koch-Glitsch defines two packing properties from a per- • Stainless Steels, including Austenitic, Ferritic,
formance curve: Martensitic; types 409/410/430, 304 and 316 are
1. The System Base HETP is the constant HETP value readily available
produced by uniform distribution. • Duplex Stainless Steel
2. The Maximum Efficient Capacity is at the highest • Nickel and nickel alloys
vapor rate where the packing maintains the • Aluminum
System Base HETP. • Copper and copper alloys
• Titanium and zirconium
2
Packing Capacity
The Maximum Efficient Capacity of IMTP packing in a non-foaming system can be estimated as:
σ 0.16 µ -0.11
Maximum Efficient Capacity, Csc = Co 20 0.2
σ 0.16 µ -0.11
Csc = Co 1.03 for 20 0.2 > 1.03
Capacity Correlation
IMTP #70
IMTP 60 #
3
Packing Efficiency
The efficiency of packing in most distillation towers In these systems, the System Base HETP of IMTP pack-
is expressed as HETP or height equivalent to a theoret- ing for distillation and reboiled stripping services can
ical plate. be estimated by:
Values of A and B
IMTP Packing Size No.15 No. 25 No. 40 No. 50 No. 60 No. 70
A-mm 272 330 401 526 616 758
A-in. 10.7 13.0 15.8 20.7 24.2 29.9
B-mm 296 366 439 579 678 827
B-in. 11.7 14.4 17.3 22.8 26.7 32.6
4
INTALOX Packed Tower Systems
®
The
Theeffect of of
effect liquid distribution
liquid quality
distribution on tower
quality performance
on tower
Koch-Glitsch INTALOX® Packed Tower Systems are isperformance is shown by these actual results:
illustrated below:
predictable and reliable separation columns containing
well-matched high performance packing and state-of-the 20
art liquid and vapor distributors. Koch-Glitsch’s global 20
experience is second to none and includes thousands of 18 Stages Per Bed With
Stages perBase
System Bed with
HETP
columns in distillation, absorption, stripping, liquid-liquid 20
of Packing
16 System Base HETP
extraction and heat transfer applications. 16
14 16
Bedbed
The combination of INTALOX high performance internals
and IMTP high performance random packing provides the 12
Per per
12
highest random packing performance available in the 12
stages
industry. 10
Stages
88
Actual
Koch-Glitsch has developed a series of liquid distributors 8
with attributes to maximize packed tower performance.
Actual
6
These attributes are well understood and have been
incorporated into INTALOX high performance distribu- 4
4
tors. Koch-Glitsch introduced a distributor rating system
for quantifying distribution quality and performance. 2
Distribution uniformity is rated as a percentage, where
100% indicates ideal uniform distribution. A low percent- 0
age rating indicates a high variation of liquid flow over the 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
cross sectional area of the tower. In addition, the distrib- DistributionQuality
Quality(%)
(%)
Distribution
utor must provide a sufficient gas passage area to avoid a
high pressure drop or liquid entrainment. A tower containing deep beds of IMTP high efficiency ran-
dom packing, designed to achieve many theoretical stages
INTALOX distributors aim towards 100% distribution or transfer units, is very sensitive to liquid distribution
quality by applying the following criteria: quality.
A) Drip points are preferable on a uniform triangular
pattern, or alternatively on a square pattern Feed devices are critical to the performance of the
B) Drip points are uninterrupted by gas chimneys or liquid distributor and the packed column. Depending on
mechanical supports the specific service, Koch-Glitsch offers a wide range of
C) Drip points are properly spaced to the vessel wall INTALOX liquid, vapor, mixed phase and flashing feed
D) Equal liquid flow from each drip point devices.
The significance of the Koch-Glitsch distribution quality • INTALOX liquid phase feed pipes are designed to
rating system is the accurate prediction of tower prevent excessive liquid velocity in the distributor
performance. to minimize liquid gradients and momentum effects.
• INTALOX vapor phase feed devices are designed to
INTALOX distributors are applied in: reduce the kinetic energy of the vapor feed before
• Distillation services with high stage counts per bed entering the packed bed.
• Distillation services with low relative volatility • INTALOX mixed phase feed devices are designed to
• High purity product distillation services provide sufficient disengagement of vapor from the
• Distillation services operating near the minimum liquid prior to feeding the distributor.
reflux or close to a pinch point • INTALOX suppressed flashing feed devices are
• Absorption and stripping applications with close designed to avoid vaporization inside the pipe system
approach to equilibrium and to provide sufficient disengagement of vapor from
• Heat transfer services with close approach the liquid prior to feeding the distributor.
temperatures
5
Vapor distribution is an important part of INTALOX For more detailed information and descriptions regarding
Packed Tower Systems. A tower with poor vapor distri- Koch-Glitsch INTALOX high performance distributors as
bution will experience an unequal liquid-to-vapor ratio well as all other tower internals, please refer to our
over the tower cross sectional area, resulting in a reduc- brochure KGMTIG-1.
tion of tower performance. Koch-Glitsch can supply
a variety of vapor distributors to ensure that the high effi- Koch-Glitsch goes a step further by offering single suppli-
ciency packing meets its separation performance objec- er/installer benefits of turnkey solutions. At your request,
tives. the Koch-Glitsch Field Service team is always available to
provide faster, safer revamps with minimum down time.
Void Fraction % 96 97 98 98 99 98
IMTP #70
IMTP #60
HETP, inches
HETP, mm
IMTP #50
IMTP #40
IMTP #25
IMTP #15 HETP IMTP
System: i-octane/toluene at 740 torr
Diameter: 15.2 inches [386mm]
Packed Depth: 10 feet [3.05m]
Total Reflux Operation
Cs, ft/sec
6
IMTP Packing Performance ®
#25
IMTP
K a, lb-mol/(h ft atm)
#40
K a, kg-mol/(h m atm)
IMTP
•
3
•
3
#50
IMTP
•
•
#60
IMTP
70
P#
IMT
G
KGa IMTP
CONDITIONS:
Liquid Concentrations: 4% NaOH
Conversion to Carbonate: 25%
Inlet Gas Concentration: 1% CO2
Temperature: 75 ºF [24 ºC]
Gas rate: 900 lb /(ft 2 hr) [1.22 kg/(m 2 s)]
Tower Diameter: 30in [0.76m]
Bed Height: 10ft [3.05m]
3 1/2
Fs, m/s (kg/m ) Fs, m/s (kg/m ) 3 1/2
•
•
wc/ft)
∆p, in wc/ft
∆p, mbar/m
∆p/Zin(inwc/ft
∆p, mbar/m
∆p,
3 1/2
Fs, ft/s (lb/ft ) 3 1/2
Fs, ft/s (lb/ft )
•
7
3 1/2
Fs, m/s (kg/m )
•
3 1/2
Fs, m/s (kg/m )
•
wc/ft)
wc/ft)
(inwc/ft
wc/ft)
∆p, mbar/m
wc/ft)
∆p, mbar/m
(inwc/ft
(in
∆p/Zin
(in
∆p/Zin
∆p/Z
∆p,
∆p/Z
∆p,
IMTP #40 IMTP #50
Liquid Loading Liquid Loading
Top Curve to Bottom Top Curve to Bottom
gpm/ft 2 m3/m 2 h gpm/ft 2 m3/m 2 h
60 147 147
122 60
50 50 122
40 98 98
73 40
30 30 73
20 49 49
24 20
10 10 24
4 10 10
0 4
0 0 0
System Air-Water, Ambient System Air-Water, Ambient
Tower: 30in. Diameter Tower: 30in. Diameter
3 1/2
Fs, ft/s (lb/ft ) 3 1/2
•
•
3 1/2
Fs, m/s (kg/m ) Fs, m/s (kg/m ) 3 1/2
•
•
wc/ft)
(in wc/ft)
wc/ft)
wc/ft)
(inwc/ft
∆p/Zin(inwc/ft
∆p, mbar/m
∆p, mbar/m
∆p/Z
∆p, (in
∆p/Zin
∆p/Z
∆p,
3 1/2
Fs, ft/s (lb/ft ) 3 1/2
Fs, ft/s (lb/ft )
•
8
Applications
IMTP tower packing has been used in a wide range of increases the amount of foam generation due to the
applications from very low liquid rate services, such as resistance of the vapor on the liquid phase. Therefore, it
DMT purification and glycol separation, to high liquid rate is desirable to design the packed bed with low pressure
applications, such as hot carbonate absorbers and demeth- drop in foaming systems. IMTP tower packing offers the
anizers. IMTP tower packing’s lower pressure drop, com- lowest pressure drop per theoretical stage of any random
bined with high mass transfer efficiency, provides superior packing available.
performance in low liquid rate vacuum systems.
IMTP tower packing has a high void fraction compared to
The low pressure drop provided by IMTP tower packing other random packings of similar size. Large void fractions
makes it a good choice for foaming systems. The presence provide superior high liquid rate capacity as well as a
of foam in a packed bed results in a significant pressure lower pressure drop. Lower pressure drop in combination
drop increase.The foam represents a very low density liq- with the unique, self-draining shape reduces liquid holdup
uid phase that significantly reduces the void fraction and on the packing, which in turn, reduces the areas where
capacity within the packed bed. High pressure drop solids could deposit.
9
Overhead
Demethanizer Product
Bottom
Product
Sour Water
10
Koch-Glitsch Corporate Offices
Worldwide Headquarters European Offices Asia Offices
INTALOX® , IMTP®, FLEXIRING®, HY-PAK®, CASCADE MINI RINGS® and β-ETA RING®
are registered trademarks of Koch-Glitsch.
NOTE:The information contained in this bulletin is believed to be accurate and reliable but is
not to be construed as implying any warranty or guarantee of performance.