2 Types of packing

Column packing for industrial separation processes is produced from various materials and is supplied in multifarious shapes and sizes. It may be dumped at random or stacked in regular geometric patterns, and it must ensure a large area of contact between the gas and the liquid phases and a uniform phase distribution. The current economic situation favours the adoption of packed columns in rectification, absorption, and liquid-liquid extraction processes. Consequently, the demand for packing in mass transfer equipment for the chemical and allied industries has greatly increased and has triggered off many new developments in the last few years. As has already been mentioned, packed columns have also become widely accepted in ecological engineering, e. g. in air and gas scrubbing processes and in water treatment. The main unit operation involved is mass transfer, but heat transfer by direct contact is also a significant factor. The only new high-performance packings to which consideration has been given in this book are those for which process engineering performance data are available. Hence, certain gaps may exist in the information presented. Nevertheless, the theoretical fundamentals and the fluid dynamics and mass transfer models that have been derived from the results obtained on all packings investigated are sufficiently accurate for application in industrial practice. The main applications dealt with here are systems in which the phases are in countercurrent flow. The analysis and design of packed columns for thermal separation processes can be difficult in many cases. This applies not only to the actual scale-up of laboratory and pilot plant results but also to the uncertainty involved in many cases by the procedures adopted. Most hydrodynamic calculations for packed columns are uncomplicated and lead to results that can be satisfactorily applied in practice. However, results obtained by mass transfer calculations, e. g. for the determination of column height, are often associated with a degree of uncertainty, and dubiety can thus arise. An example arises in applying the data derived from special absorption tests to solve rectification problems. Despite the valuable contributions made by some research workers, this task was still considered to be insoluble until a few years ago. Since the physical laws relating to mass transfer are fundamentally the same in all cases, it ought to be possible to describe thermal separation processes in terms that are valid for all systems. To this aim, the author has performed comprehensive experiments on numerous individual types of packing of various shapes and sizes. The results obtained with different systems and in columns of different dimensions have been systematically analyzed. They have been compared with those obtained in a previous model developed by the author about ten years ago for predicting the mass transfer efficiency of packed columns by means of a relationship of general validity. The model necessitates prior determination of the liquid holdup. It has been verified by measurements performed by the author or cited in the literature, and it allows all test results obtained with various rectification systems, including data from absorption studies, to be brought to a common denominator. A model for liquid-liquid systems in packed columns has also been checked against experimental results.

Packed Towers in Processing and Environmental Technology. Reinhard Billet Copyright 1995 VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Weinheim ISBN: 3-527-28616-0

24

Types of packing

The trend in thermal separation techniques decidedly favours high-performance packing with the outstanding process engineering characteristics specified by the chemical and allied industries. The packing systems selected for consideration here can be regarded as representative of the progress made in this field. The scientific studies required to determine the packing characteristics and to derive data for industrial-scale columns were performed in the author's laboratories and external pilot plants.

2.1 Packing dumped at random

Many conventional beds of random packing have caused difficulties and problems in large-diameter columns, and their shortcomings account for the reservations that are still held against them. A frequent difficulty has been to attain uniform distribution of the liquid over the entire cross-section at the feed inlet or the head of the column, i.e. to ensure that the packing is adequately wetted. The risk of maldistribution also exists in the layer of packing close to the column shell. Thus the likelihood of channelling in many beds of random packing introduces an uncontrollable and fortuitous element in the separation of mixtures with certain physical properties and poses the threat of poor efficiency in columns of large diameter. Consequently, special plates and, in some cases, geometrically arranged beds of packing were formerly given preference over random packing in an attempt to realize high capacities and efficiencies. However, great changes in the design of random packing have largely altered this situation in recent industrial practice. Modern types of random packing merit particular attention from the economic aspects of optimizing performance and minimizing materials consumption and production costs. They feature a low pressure drop per theoretical stage, which is an absolutely essential asset for saving energy and avoiding thermal decomposition of the product stream in separation processes. The examples presented in Fig. 2.1 have been restricted to types for which process engineering performance data were available from studies in the author's research facilities. The plastics Nor-Pac ring was the first modern type of high-performance packing to be introduced in industrial practice. It was followed by other latticework types, e.g. Hiflow rings and saddles and Hackette, Din-Pac, Envi-Pac, and VSP rings. They have one feature in common, viz. their latticework structure, but differ from one another in their basic geometry and the associated characteristic data, i.e. the effective void fraction, the surface area per unit volume, the packing density, and the bulk density. In the subsequent stages of widespread acceptance in practice, latticework packing set the pace. Systematic studies had shown that it represented an optimum, and it was accordingly recommended for a number of applications. Close runners-up were the plastics and metal cascade mini-rings, known under the tradename CMR. New designs of saddles include the Super-Torus. Characteristic examples of packing that were investigated in the author's laboratories are illustrated in Fig. 2.1 together with the relevant geometrical data, i.e. the nominal size d, the number N per unit volume, the surface area per unit volume a, and the void fraction e. The studies embraced a relatively wide range of metallic, ceramic and plastics packing of various geometries and dimensions, and the results allow the optimum packing to be selected for a given separation task.

2.2

Packing stacked in geometric patterns

25

Nominal packing size 50 mm

Fig. 2.1. Examples of packing for random beds including data on the number per unit volume, the area per unit volume, and the relative void fraction

2.2 Packing stacked in geometric patterns

Packing stacked in a regular pattern permits the realization of a minimum pressure drop per theoretical stage, and is therefore most suitable for minimizing energy consumption in separation processes that necessitate many stages. It also permits the lowest possible column bottom temperature in the separation of heat-sensitive mixtures. The capital investment costs for geometrically arranged packing is normally higher than that for dumped. However, studies on separation process economics have shown that the greatest contribution towards the

26

Types of packing

total costs is made by energy, in which case preference would be given to arranged packing. In fact, the demand for energy-saving separation equipment has even diverted trends from mass-transfer trays towards columns with systematically arranged packing. The benefits offered by low-pressure-drop packing are by no means confined to rectification and are now widely recognized in absorption processes - for the removal of pollutants and recoverable products from off-gas streams - and in desorption. One of the factors that has initiated this trend has been the increased severity of the legislation imposed in industrial countries on the prevention of air and water pollution. The design aim of all new types of stacked packing has been to minimize the pressure drop per unit efficiency at high loads. The predecessors of most modern designs are Sulzer Chemtech gauze and sheet-metal packings. Various reports have confirmed the successful performance in practice of stacked packing, even in columns of comparatively large diameter. The provisos are that the beds have been carefully installed and that the liquid phase has been uniformly distributed. Maldistribution, which is often observed in conventional beds of packing and which greatly impairs the efficiency, can be largely avoided by devices for redistributing any liquid that may channel down the walls of the column. Normally, specialized knowledge on how best to distribute the liquid is part and parcel of manufacturing knowhow. The wide variety of thermal separation tasks in the process industries acts as an incentive for manufacturers of stacked packing to further modify existing designs (cf. Fig. 2.2). High-performance structured gauze packing has proved successful in many fields of the chemical and allied industries, e. g. the production of heavy water and the distillation of amines and glycols, higher fatty acids and alcohols, and methanol. A factor that restricts their widespread acceptance is their capital investment costs. For instance, they are uneconomical at pressure drops higher than 10 mm WG per theoretical stage. This costs factor entails a gap between the applications for stacked beds of packing and those for dumped beds. New and cheaper, yet more effective arranged packing had to be developed to close this gap. Again the first step towards meeting the requirements was made by Sulzer. The prototype that they introduced on the market was the Mellapak, which has since been succesfully used for many years in industrial columns with diameters of up to eight metres. Other companies followed suit with designs of outstanding merit, e.g. Glitsch structured sheet-metal packing, Montz Bl-type metal and Cl-type plastics packings, and Raschig Ralu Pak 250 VC metal packing. It is beyond the scope of this book to go into full details on all the developments that have been made in the last few years. The aim is more to outline the current state of the art and the direction of present trends and to illustrate these in the light of some examples of modern, high-performance, randomly dumped and systematically arranged beds of packing. Fig. 2.2 illustrates the geometry of some modern stacked packing and includes data on the geometry, e. g. the surface area per unit volume a and the void fraction 8. The corresponding process engineering data presented in Chapter 3 were derived from experiments in the author's pilot plants and were supplemented by manufacturers' data. Obviously, the list given in Fig. 2.2 is by no means complete; examples of packings with excellent process engineering characteristics that have not been included are the Rombopak and Norton types.

2.3

Geometric packing parameters

27

Mellapok 250 Y

Nontz C 1^300

a-250. e = 0.96 Nontz packing Bl - 300

a = 250
3

a^ 202

e=0,978
3

-7m ], [m /m ]
Fig. 2.2. Examples of geometrically arranged packing including data on the area per unit volume and relative void fraction

2.3 Geometric packing parameters

The examples shown in Figs. 2.1 and 2.2 represent a mere cross-section of the multifarious packings offered for process and ecological engineering. It can be seen that each packing has its own peculiar geometry and surface structure. Each must be subjected to comprehensive experiment in order to determine the performance characteristics upon which reliable fluid-dynamics and mass-transfer models can be based.

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Types of packing

Column packing with a high volumetric efficiency obviously necessitates excellent hydrodynamic design and surfaces that greatly promote separation. A quantity to which the performance parameters are usually related is the ratio a of the surface area of the packing to the volume of the column, i.e. (2-1) The effective void fraction or porosity 8 in a bed of packing depends on the surface area Ap of the packing and the thickness s of the basic material, which is usually in the form of sheet metal, metal foil, or plastics film. The volume of material required for the bed is given by
V < sA

(2-2)

and the effective void fraction of the bed, by

vc-vP
Vr

(2-3)

A simple relationship between 8, a, and s can be obtained by combining Eqns (2-1) to (2-3). Thus 8 > 1 - as (2-4)

20

60

100

140

180

220

260

300

340

380

420

460

500

Area per unit volume a [ m 2 /m 3 ] Fig. 2.3. The relationship between the relative void fraction, the area per unit volume, and the average wall thickness of packing

2.3

Geometric packing parameters

29

In principle, Eqns (2-1) to (2-4) are valid for all beds of packing, but the information that they yield on the efficiency, capacity, and pressure drop is purely qualitative. Other parameters are required to evaluate the performance, and they must allow for the geometry and texture of the packing. Together with 8 and a, they govern the phase distribution and the area of contact between phases. Eqn (2-4) reveals the limits within which the effective void fraction 8 for a desired surface area per unit volume a can be altered by appropriate selection of the practically realizable thickness s of the material. It can be seen from the nomogram presented in Fig. 2.3 that the effective void fraction increases as the thickness of the material decreases. The packing density T V and thus the area a per unit volume in random beds may be somewhat greater in large-diameter columns (subscript T) than in pilot columns (subscript P)

Fig. 2.4. Flue gas desulfurization plant in one of BASF AG's power stations. It consists of two absorption columns of 9.4 m diameter and 35 m total height. The beds of 50-mm plastic Hiflow rings are packed to an effective height of c. 8 m

30

Types of packing

of comparatively small diameter. The differences in the area per unit volume and the relative void fraction can be obtained from the following equations: (2-5) ET = 1 - (1 - EP) ^~
J\p

(2-6)

A photograph of a twin-line absorption plant is shown in Fig. 2.4. This example clearly demonstrates that columns with random beds of modern packing can also give good results in plants of large capacity.