DESIGN OF THE DISTILLATION COLUMN : STRIPPING SECTION

From the flow sheet of Distillation Column (C-521), we have the following data:
Average Liquid Flow rate, L
w
= 8112 kg/hr
Average Vapour Flow rate, V
w
= 4056 kg/hr
Assuming max. and min. flow rates to be 15% of the operating flow rates, we have,

= 8112 x 1.15 = 9328.8 kg/hr ;

= 8112 x 0.85 = 6895.2 kg/hr.

= 4056 x 1.15 = 4664.4 kg/hr ;

= 4056 x 0.85 = 3447.6 kg/hr.

Also,

at an avg. temperature of 214

0
and pressure 20 atm = 847.784 kg/m
3

And

can be obtained from the ideal gas equation as:

= 9 kg/m
3
.
Max. Volumetric Flow rate of Liquid =

= 3.056x10
-3
m
3
/s
And Min. Volumetric Flow rate = 2.259x10
-3
m
3
/s



Calculating Column Diameter:

= 2

= 2

= 0.2061
For an assumed tray spacing of 0.5m ,and

= 0.2061, we have,
K
1, bot
= 0.07067

Also, we know that,

= K
bot

= 0.07067

= 0.682 m/s
For 85% flooding, u
v
= 0.85 x u
f
= 0.58 m/s.
Now, A
n
=


=

= 0.248212 m
2
.
Let Downcomer area A
d
= 12%(Column Area) = 12%(A
c
)
A
c
= A
n
+ A
d

0.88A
c
= A
n

A
c
=

= 0.282059 m
2

Diameter of Stripping Section, D
c,bot
=

= 0.59927 m
Taking a standard 26 pipe (thickness = 9.53 mm),
Internal Diameter, ID = 640.94 mm.
Provisional Plate Design:
D
c
= 640.53 mm
A
c
=

= 0.322645 m
2

A
d
= 0.12A
c
= 0.03872 m
2

A
n
= 0.88 A
c
= 0.284 m
2

A
a
= Active area = A
c
2A
d
= 0.2452 m
2

A
h
= 10%(A
a
) = 0.02452 m
2

Wier length (l
w
) = 76%(Column Diameter) = 0.76 x 640.94 = 0.487 m

To calculate the Plate pressure drop, weeping check , Downcomer Liquid backup, residence time and the
entrainment, we assume standard values of plate thickness, wier height and hole diameter and iterate
them till we get satisfactory values.
i.e., Wier height = 50 mm ; Plate thickness = 5 mm ; Hole Diameter = 5 mm
In the following report, the iterated values for which we get satisfactory results are shown :
Wier Height (h
w
) = 90 mm ; Hole Diameter = 5 mm ; Plate thickness = 6 mm.
Weeping Check:
Max. Liquid Flow rate = 8112 x 1.15 kg/hr = 2.59133 kg/s
Min. Liquid Flow rate = 8112 x 0.85 kg/hr = 1.19533 kg/s

= 750 [

]
2/3
= 750 [

] = 25.52 mm liq.
Similarly,

= 20.86 mm liq.
Max.( h
w
+ h
ow
) = 90 + 25.52 = 115.52 mm
And Min.( h
w
+ h
ow
) = 90 +20.86 = 110.86 mm
From fig. 11.30 (Coulson Richardson vol.2), we get,
K
2
= 31.1

We know that, (u
h
)
min
=

; where K
2
= 31.1 , D
h
= 5 mm ,
v
= 9 kg/m
3

(u
h
)
min
= 4.246 m/s
Min. Vapour velocity =

= 4.3 m/s
U
h
< Min. Vap. Velocity
Hence, conditions for weeping are satisfied.
Plate Pressure drop:
Max. Vapour velocity through holes = u
h
=


=

= 5.873 m/s
From fig.11.34 (Coulson Richardson Vol.2),
for


= 1.2; and

= 0.1;
we get, C
o
= 0.88

h
d
= 51 [

]
2

= 51 [

]
2

= 24.115 mm liq.
and residual head = h
r
=

= 14.744 mm liq.
Total plate pressure drop = h
t
= h
d
+ (h
w
+ h
ow
) + h
r

= 24.115 + (90+25.52) + 14.744
h
t
= 154.38 mm liq.
This amount of plate pressure drop is allowable for a 6mm thick plate made of carbon steel.
So Plate pressure drop condition is achieved.
Downcomer Backup:
h
ap
= h
w
10 = 80mm
A
ap
= l
w
x h
ap
= 0.487 x 0.080 = 0.03986 m
2

Also, A
d
= 0.03872 m
2

Since A
d
< A
ap
, A
m
= A
d
h
dc
= 166

= 166

= 1.034 mm
Taking the next closest integer,
h
dc
= 2mm (where h
d
is the head loss in the downcomer)
Now,
h
b
= (h
w
+ h
ow
)
max
+ h
t
+ h
dc

Where h
b
: downcomer back-up, measured from plate surface.
Thus, h
b
= (90 + 25.52) + 154.38 + 2 = 271.9 mm
The condition h
b
< {0.5( Plate spacing(500mm) + wier height(90mm) )}= 290 is satisfied.
Residence Time :
A residence time of at least 3 seconds is recommended.
The downcomer residence time is given by:
t
r
=

= 3.44sec > 3sec.

So the residence time condition is satisfied.
Entrainment:
Entrainment should not exceed 0.1.
u
v
= (0.144 m
3
/s)/(0.284 m
2
) = 0.507 m/s.
% flooding = (u
v
/bot u
f
) x 100 = (0.507/0.682) x 100 = 74.35 %
F
LV bot
= 0.2061

From fig 11.29, = 10
-2
< 0.1
Hence, the condition is satisfied.

Plate Specifications:
No. of holes in the plate = A
h
/Area of each hole =

= 1248 holes.
Also, since all other conditions were satisfied, we have,
Wier height = 90 mm
Plate thickness = 6 mm
Hole Diameter = 5 mm

The above figure tells us that the liquid flow arrangement is Cross flow(single pass).