Chapter 4: Absorbers Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers, 5th Edition by Stephen Hall

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Problem Statement Calculate the height of a transfer unit, the number of transfer units, and the required packing depth for a packed-bed absorber. Inputs General Column operating pressure Temperature Excess L to G ratio Gas Stream In Name Flow Primary component Molecular weight Solute component Molecular weight Concentration (volume fraction), y1 Gas Stream Out Desired solute concentration, y2 Liquid Stream Primary component Molecular weight Solute component Concentration (mole fraction), x2 Density Temperature Column Parameters Diameter Packing type Volume coefficient, gas KGA atm F 1.00 70.00 0.75

lb/h

Mix Tank Vent 7,540.00 Air 28.96 CH3COCH3, acetone 58.08 0.01500

0.00015

lb/ft3 F

water 18.02 CH3COCH3, acetone 62.30 70.00

ft

3.28 Intalox Saddles, ceramic lb-mol/(h-ft3-atm) 20.00

Data Henry's Law constant Pressure Column cross sectional area (empty) Gas molar rate, G1 atm atm ft2 lb-mol/h 1.59 1.00 8.45 258.40

Calculations Equilibrium concentration, solute in liquid x1* Step 1 Slope of equilibrium curve, (L/G)min Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Liquid rate, L2 Exit rate, gas, G2 Moles lb-mol/h lb-mol/h

0.00943 1.5744 711.95 254.56 3.84

Liquid effluent concentration, x1 Liquid effluent molar flow rate, L1 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10 Step 11 Gas molar velocity, Gm Vapor equil at bottom, y1* Vapor equil at top, y2* LM Driving Force, (y - y*)LM LM Driving Force, (1 - y)*LM Number of gas phase units, NOG Height gas phase unit, HOG Packed height, Z ft ft lb-mol/ft2-h

0.0014 715.79 30.34 0.0022 0.00284 0.99137 5.23 1.53 8.00 2.44 0.0749 3.31 3.04 0.11 3.04 12,829.35 25.67 84.22 Result

Other calculations Gas density Superficial gas velocity, UG Superficial liquid velocity, UL Gas capacity factor, CV Liquid capacity factor, CL Liquid flow rate Liquid molar velocity, Lm

lb/ft3 ft/s gpm/ft2 ft/s gpm/ft2 lb/h gpm lb-mol/ft2-h

3.56

Absorber Performance
0.016 0.014 0.012 Concentration in Gas 0.01
Operating Line

0.008
0.006 0.004 0.002 0 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 Concentration of Solute in Liquid

Minimum L/G Line Equilibrium Line

Material Balance L2 x2

711.95 -

G2 y2

254.56 0.0002

y2*

Result

G1 y1 y1*

258.40 0.0150 0.0022

L1 x1 x1*

715.79 0.0014 0.0094

Equilibrium Line x y 0.001179014 0.00188 0.002358028 0.00375 0.003537042 0.00563 0.004716056 0.00750 0.005895070 0.00938 0.007074084 0.01125 0.008253099 0.01313 0.009432113 0.01500

Operating Line x y 0 0.00015 0.001404592 0.015

Minimum Flow Line x 0.00943

Operating Line Minimum L/G Line Equilibrium Line

Minimum Flow Line y 0.00015 0.01500

Conversion Factors Pressure Units Convert to atm atm 1 bar(a) 0.986923 in Hg(g) 0.033421 in H2O(g) 0.00246 kPa(g) 0.009869 mm Hg(g) 0.001316 Pa(g) 9.87E-06 psig 0.068046 torr(g) 0.001316

Relative K GA for Various Packings Super Intalox, plastic 1.00 Intalox Saddles, ceramic 0.94 Hy-Pak, metal 1.11 Pall Rings, metal1.06 Pall Rings, plastic 0.97 Maspac, plastic 1.00 Tellerettes, plastic 1.19 Raschig Rings, ceramic 0.78

Data Solute Temperature Henry's Law constant Temperature factor Base Temperature Calculations Temperature Henry's Law constant, temp adj C atm K CH3COCH3, acetone 21.11 1.95000 4,600.00 298.15

K atm

294.26 1.59

Henry's Law constant, KH x ca = pg where KH = Henry's law constant at 298.15 K, atm per mole fraction ca = concentration in liquid phase pg = partial pressure in gas phase DeltaH/R = temperature dependence of KH

Source: R. Sander(1999) Compilation of Henry's Law Constants for Inorganic and Organic Species of Potential Importance in Environmental Chemistry ( http://www.henrys-law.org Substance NH3, ammonia HBr, hydrogen bromide HCl, hydrogen chloride H2S, hydrogen sulfide SO2, sulfur dioxide C2H5OH, ethanol CH3COOH, acetic acid CH3COCH3, acetone C3H3N, acrylonitrile Cl2, chlorine HCHO, formaldehyde Example 1 KH 0.937 77.9 0.03 553 46.1 0.3 0.011 1.95 5 608 0.017 1.75 DeltaH/R 4100 6100 0 2100 3100 6500 6300 4600 2800 2500 6800 0

mportance in Environmental Chemistry (Version 3)

MW 17 80.91 36.5 34.08 64.06 46.07 60.05 58.08 53.1 70.9 30.03 32