4.3.

1 Quench tower design

The mainly purpose of the quencher is to cool the flue gases. There is no
accumulation and consumption in the quencher, so the mass balance will be based on
input equal output.

Cooling by liquid quenching is essentially accomplished simply by spraying water at

the top of the tower a hot gasestravel upwards through the tower. When the water
evaporates, the energy necessary to vaporize the water is obtained at the expense of
the hot gases, resulting in a reduction in the gas temperature (4). The basic design
parameters for spray tower are the diameter and height.

4.3.1.1 Design procedure

The diameter of a spray tower may be calculated from the superficial velocity ( )
(m/sec), which is given below:

Eq. (1)

Where:

: Density of liquid and gas, respectively

The area (m2 ) of the tower is obtained by following equation:

Eq. (2)

Where:

: Volumetric flow rate of the gas.

The diameter (m) is then given by:

Eq. (3)

In order to calculate the tower height (Z) (ft), a volumetric heat transfer
coefficient (U) (Btu/hr-ft3 .oF) is employed. This coefficient is then used to establish
the required contact volume (V) as the following equation:

Eq.(4)

Where:

V (ft3): tower volume

q : heat rate required to vaporized the water to the gas discharge temperature

: log-mean temperature difference driving force across the quencher

If the liquid-side resistance to heat transfer is neglected, U is given by the hot gas
volumetric film heat transfer coefficient (h), as the following:

Eq. (5)

Where:

h : gas-side volumetric heat transfer coefficient.

Gas superficial mass velocity at the bottom of tower.

Liquid superficial mass velocity at the bottom of tower.

The superficial mass velocity of a stream is calculated by dividing the mass flow
rate (at or near the tower bottom) by the cross-sectional area. The mass flow rates are
specified at the bottom of the tower because these quantities change as the streams
move through the tower (due to the exchange of material) and reach their highest
values at the bottom (4). The tower volume is given by:

V = A Z Eq. (6)

Equations (4) through (6) may be solved simultaneously for Z.

4.3.1.2 Design calculation

The mainly purpose of the quencher is to cool the flue gases. There is no
accumulation and consumption in the quencher. The mass and energy balance were
shown on figure 4.1 as the following:

F2 = 3963254 mol/hr

T2= 46 oC

Water

F1w = 45898 mol/hr

T1w = 44 oC

Q - 101

Flue gases

F1= 4488023 mol/hr

T1= 170 oC
F2w = 570776 mol/hr

T2w= 67 oC

Figure 4.1: Quench spray tower

The following table 4.1 shows the composition of the flue gases that enter the tower:

Table 4.1: The molecular weight and the composition of each component

Component Mwt Composition

CO2 44 0.086

N2 28 0.692

O2 32 0.015

H2 O 18 0.207

The diameter of the spray tower is calculated from the superficial velocity (Eq
(1)):

The volumetric flow rate of the gas is calculated as below:

The required area (A) and diameter (D) are then calculated by using Eqs.
(2&3):

Equations 4, 5& 6 were used in order to calculate the tower height (Z) as the
folllowing:

The heat duty was found from energy balance:

The log-mean temperature difference across the quench unit is:

In equation (5), which is :

The terms G and L are superficial mass velocities for the gas and liquid,
respectivily, and they were determind as the following:

Equation (5) is rearranged to solve for hZ0.5:

The design equation for the spray tower volume (V) is given by Eq. (6):

Note: The volumetric heat transfer coefficient (U or h) is

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