Theory:

The absorption is the process in which soluble component of the gas mixture is
contacted with the liquid to separate a specific gas and remove its impurities. The
solute is transferred to the liquid using the mass transfer process. In this experiment
packed tower is used to complete this process which is one of the widely used
equipment in modern industry for the absorption process. Absorption tower is filled
with small packing which brings contact between the falling liquid and the rising gas
mixture in countercurrent manner.the mixture of co2 and air is used as a gas
mixture and water is used as a liquid.
Calculating Liquid flow rate:
Using Generalize pressure drop correlation(GPDC) chart the liquid flow rate can be
found as a function of gas flow.

Using the following empirical equation the limiting pressure dopp can be found at
flooding.

Pflood =0.115 F 0.7

p
Where,
P is

H2O
height of packingF p is the packing factor of Berlceramic saddlesft1 found
ft

appendix( )

Lets consider Gin is the total moles of the gas entering the tower per unit time and
yco2 and xco2 be the mole fraction of CO2 in gas and liquid phase.
consedering the solute free basis the mass balance of co2 around the packed tower
can be written as

. P packed bed A vessel that is filled with a solid * packing material for the purpose
of enhancing a chemical reaction or a separation by improving the contact area
available for the reaction or separation. The packing material is usually inert and
resistant to the pro-cess materials and is typically made of ceramic, plastic, glass,

or metal. Structured pack-ing consists of corrugated sheets that allow the two
phases such as a liquid and a gas to intimately contact one another through
complicated channels. Unstructured or random packing consists of small objects
that have been designed to provide a high contact area for a minimum volume. *
Raschig rings , * Lessing rings , and * Berl saddles are some of the most commonly
encountered types of packing material and are loaded into vessels such as
distillation columns, adsorption and absorption towers. Catalytic particles also form
packed beds to promote chemical reactions and are loaded into vessels or tubes
depend-ing on the design. Adsorption materials such as * zeolites are loaded into
vessels to form packed beds. packed bed reactor (PBR) A tubular reactor consisting
of one or more tubes within which a solid catalyst is packed to promote a chemical
reaction. They are mainly used in heterogeneous gas-phase reactions and operated
continuously. packed column A cylindrical column used to bring about the intimate
contact between a rising gas or vapour and a descending liquid typically used for a
gasliquid separation such as stripping. The vessel is packed with small objects that
produce a large contact area rela-tive to their size such as * Raschig rings or * Berl
saddles , and are used in * distillation columns and adsorption and absorption
towers . The liquid descends through the packing through a tortuous route and is in
intimate contact with the rising gas or vapour for the purpose of rais-ing the mass
transfer area within a limited volume. The amount of packing is determined from
calculations involving the number of theoretical stages required determined from
vapourliquid equilibria and the * height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP).
packing The small objects that are used in * packed columns and * packed beds .
They pro-vide a high surface area per unit volume allowing intimate contact
between a rising vapour or gas with a descending liquid. There are many types
commonly used, such as saddles and rings, and they are made from plastics, glass,
metals, and ceramics that are inert and unreactive to the substances in which they
are in contact. They may be arranged in packed columns either in a structured form
or randomly, and sit on a support plate designed to take their bulk weight. They are
required to allow good passage of liquid and vapour and offer a low pressure drop
across the entire packing. The packing