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PAGE
TITLE
Abstract
Introduction
Aims
Theory
5-6
7-8
Methodology
-9
Results
10-13
Calculations
14
Discussion
15
Conclusion
16
Recommendations
17
Referemces
ABSTRACT
air pressure drop to certain limit, the phenomena known as flooding will
occur in which the system can no longer operate as it is. Hence the flooding
point is to be determined as to make sure that the process should be made
.to operate under the flooding point
INTRODUCTION
Gas absorption is a process in which the soluble parts of a gas mixture are
transferred to or dissolved in a liquid. The reverse process, called desorption
or stripping, is used to transfer volatile parts from a liquid mixture to a gas
[1] . Therefore there will be mass transfer of the component of the gas from
the gas phase to the liquid phase. The solute transferred is said to be
absorbed by the liquid. In gas desorption (or stripping), the mass transfer is
in the opposite direction, of which the transfer is from the liquid phase to the
gas phase. The principles for both systems are the same. But from here and
on, we are only interested in gas absorption . There are 2 types of absorption
processes: physical absorption and chemical absorption,depending on
whether there is any chemical reaction between the solute and the
.solvent(absorbent)
When water and hydrocarbon oils are used as absorbents, no significant
chemical reactions occur between the absorbent and the solute, and the
process is commonly referred to as physical absorption. When aqueous
sodium hydroxide (a strong base) is used as the absorbent to dissolve an
acid gas, absorption is accompanied by a rapid and irreversible neutralization
reaction in the liquid phase and the process is referred to as chemical
.absorption or reactive absorption
AIMS
To examine the air pressure drop across the column as a function of air flow
.rate for different water flow rates through the column
THEORY
Another definition of gas absorption/desorption is ,a process in which a
gaseous mixture is brought into contact with a liquid and during this contact
a component is transferred between the gas stream and the liquid stream.
The gas may be bubbled through the liquid, or it may be passed over
streams of the liquid, arranged to provide a large surface through which the
mass transfer can occur. The liquid film in this latter case can flow down the
sides of columns or over packing, or it can cascade from one tray to another
3
with the liquid falling and the gas rising in the counter flow. The gas, or
components of it, either dissolves in the liquid (absorption) or extracts a
volatile component from the liquid (desorption). [2]
In every packed tower with a given size of packing and type , has an upper
limit to the rate of gas flow known as flooding velocity of which the tower
cannot operate above the velocity mentioned earlier. At low gas velocities
the liquid flows downward through the packing uninfluenced by the upward
gas flow. As the gas flow rate increases at low gas velocities the pressure
drop starts to rise at higher rate. The liquid accumulation increases as the
gas flow rate is increased . At the flooding point, the liquid will no longer
have the ability to flow down through the pack column and later is blown out
with or by the gas. [3]
APPARATUS
:The apparatus used in this experiment are
SOLTEQ-QVF Absorption column (Model: BP 751-B)
METHODOLOGY / PROCEDURES
A) General start-up
1. All vavlves are closed except the ventilation valve V13.
2. All gas connections are ensured of properly fitted.
3. The valve on the compressed air supply line is opened. The supply
pressure is setted up in between 2 to 3 bar by turning the regulator knob
clockwise.
4. The shut-off valve on CO2 gas cylinder is opened. The CO2 gas cylinder
pressure is ensured to be sufficient.
5. The power for the control panel is turned on.
6. Valve 11 is opened and and adjusted to give a water fow rate of 0.5 L/min
into column K1.
7. Valve V1 is opened and adjusted to give an air flow rate of 40L/min into
column K1.
8. The liquid and gas flow in the column 1 are observed , the pressure drop
across the column at dPT-201 is recorded.
9. Steps 6 to 7 are repeated with different values of air flow rate, where each
time is increased by 40L/min while the same water flow rate is
maintained.
10. Steps 5 to 8 are repeated with different values of water flow rate, of
which each time is increased by 0.5L/min by adjusting valve 11.
Flow rate
(L/min)
18
16
14 120 100
58
21
18
10 9
53
30
80
60
40
20
Air
water
1.0
2.0
3.0
39 13
Sample Calculations
:Data
Density of air = 1.175kg/m3
Density of water= 996kg/m3
Column diameter = 80mm
Area of packed column diameter = 0.005027m2
Packing Factor = 900 m1
Water viscosity = 0.001Ns/m2
: Theoretical Flooding Point
GG, gas flow rate (kg/m2s)
GG = GyXp / A
=
0.0779kg/m2s=
0.0154=
=
x 10-3 kg/m2 3.896 =
Flow parameter , x- axis
= x-axis
10
3.032=
GL (kg/m2s)
x 10-3 3.896
1.0
6.6004
2.0
9.9006
3.0
Table 2 : Water Flowrate and GL , Liquid Flowrate per Unit Column CrossFlow parameter (x-axis) Capac
GG
Air
sectional Area
ity
flow
kg/m2)
Param
eter
rate
(L/min)
(y-
axis)
(kg/m2s) abrv. GG
,capacity parameter
(s
3.0LPM
2.0LPM
LPM 1.0
0.015 0.0779
20
2.9102
3.032
0.061 0.1557
40
4
2.1840
1.4560
1.4560
0.138 0.2336
60
3
1.4557
0.009705
0.9705
0.245 0.3115
80
9
Figure 2 :
1.0917
0.5823
0.7278
Theoretical Pressure
Drop Correlation
100
1
0.8735
0.4854 0.00582
3
0.384 0.3893
0.7279
0.4160
0.7531
0.553 0.4672
120
2
0.753 0.6229
140
1
0.5459
0.3639
0.9832
0.983 0.6229
2
160
11
(%) Error
Experimental
Theoretical
Water Flow
Flooding Air
Flooding Air
Rate
Flowrate
Flowrate
(L/min)
(L/min)
11.1
160
180
1.0
14.28
120
140
2.0
20
80
100
3.0
(L/min)
DISCUSSION
In this experiment, the interest is to examine the air pressure drop across the
column as a function of air flow rate for different water flow rates through the
column. The experiment based on the flow rate of liquid and gas in the
.packed
Firstly the water flow rate is kept constant to 1 L/min and the air flow rate is
then recorded after a 1 minute interval. Air flow rate is kept rising at constant
by 20 L/min by each 5 minutes. All reading of pressure drop are then
recorded until the flooding point is reached. The pressure drop for flow rate of
air are 0,2,6,7,9,10,13,21,58 mm H20 respectively to
.20,40,60,80,100,120,140,160 and 180 L/min of air
The flow rate of water is then adjusted to 2 L/min, the data recorded are
12
unexpected instrumental error as the pump suddenly shut off in the middle
of the experiment. Hence, all instruments must be checked before any
.experiment is conducted to ensure the accuracy of the outcomes
RECOMMENDATIONS
Some suggestion in improving the safety are to always check and rectify any
leak and all operating instructions supplied with the unit must be carefully
read and understood before attempting to operate the unit. Next, be
extremely careful when handling hazardous, flammable or polluting materials
such as CO2. Make sure the system is sufficiently ventilated when working at
.atmospheric pressure
14
REFERENCES
[1] Perry, Robert H., and Green. Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook. New
York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. (1984), pp14-6,18-22-2
[2] Retrieved on 12th March,2015 from
http://www.nzifst.org.nz/unitoperations/conteqseparation8.htm
[3] Geankoplis, C.J. (2003). Transport Processes and Separation Process
Principle, 4th Edition. New York: Prentice Hall,pp657-660
[4] Retrieved on 12th March,2015 from
http://www.separationprocesses.com)
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