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Separation of mixtures and distribution of a liquid on a structured packing in a large-scale model of a distillation column

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Abstract

A large-scale experimental setup is designed to study the hydrodynamic parameters and the mass-transfer efficiency in a countercurrent flow of mixtures of Freon R21 and Freon R114 on structured packings in a column 0.9 m in diameter. The study deals with the local and integral parameters of separation of the mixture, the degrees of nonuniformity of the flow rates and concentration distributions of the liquid and vapor phases over a cross section and on the column wall, and the pressure difference while varying the number of packing layers and their rotation angle. The mass-transfer processes while independently varying the liquid and vapor flow rates over wide ranges are also investigated. Experimental data are presented to illustrate the effect of the operating parameters on the height of an equivalent theoretical plate, the relative pressure difference, and the distributions of the local parameters of the flows.

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Abbreviations

H:

total packing height, m

\(K_v = U_v \sqrt {\rho _v } /\sqrt {\rho _l - \rho _v } \) :

vapor-phase load factor, m/s

L/V:

ratio of the liquid and vapor molar flow rates

N:

number of packing layers

Ñ:

spray point density, m−2

P:

pressure, Pa

ΔP :

pressure difference, Pa

q:

total liquid flow rate at the column inlet, l/s

q w :

local liquid flow rate density on the column wall under the packing, m2/s

\(\tilde q_w^{tot} \) :

total relative liquid flow rate on the column wall under the packing, %

S:

volumetric surface area, m2/m3

U v :

reduced vapor velocity, m/s

ρl :

liquid density, kg/m3

ρv :

vapor density, kg/m3

σ:

standard deviation, %

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. akademika Lavrent’eva 1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    A. N. Pavlenko, N. I. Pecherkin, V. Yu. Chekhovich, V. E. Zhukov, A. F. Serov & A. D. Nazarov

  2. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., 7201 Hamilton Blvd., Allentown, PA, 18195-1501, USA

    S. Sunder & P. Houghton

Authors
  1. A. N. Pavlenko
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  2. N. I. Pecherkin
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  3. V. Yu. Chekhovich
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  4. V. E. Zhukov
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  5. S. Sunder
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  6. P. Houghton
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  7. A. F. Serov
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  8. A. D. Nazarov
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Additional information

Original Russian Text © A.N. Pavlenko, N.I. Pecherkin, V.Yu. Chekhovich, V.E. Zhukov, S. Sunder, P. Houghton, A.F. Serov, A.D. Nazarov, 2006, published in Teoreticheskie Osnovy Khimicheskoi Tekhnologii, 2006, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 355–365.

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Pavlenko, A.N., Pecherkin, N.I., Chekhovich, V.Y. et al. Separation of mixtures and distribution of a liquid on a structured packing in a large-scale model of a distillation column. Theor Found Chem Eng 40, 329–338 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040579506040014

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040579506040014

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