Procedures to design a sieve tray tower

Design the sieve trays used for the absorption of a given gas by a suitable liquid. Given
Gas Liquid
Molar flow rates Q= 0.1 kmol/s q = 0.25 kmol/s
3
Density 0.679 kg/m 961 kg/m3
Molar mass 18 19.26 kg/kmol
3
Volumetric flow rate 3.02 m /s 5.0x10-3 m3/s
Viscosity 1.24x10-5 kg/m-s 1.0x10-3 kg/m-s

1. Choose an opening (hole) diameter, d0 from Table 1 say 4.5 mm

d0
2. Assume arrangement triangular pitch of distance =p’=12 mm
2
⎛d ⎞
2
Ao hole area ⎛ 4.5 ⎞
3. = = 0.907⎜⎜ 0 ⎟⎟ = 0.907⎜ ⎟ = 0.1275
A a active area ⎝ p' ⎠ ⎝ 12 ⎠

4. Choose tray spacing, t from Table 2 say t=0.5 m

5. Calculate vmax as follows p’

0.5
⎛ ρ − ρG ⎞
Vmax = C F ⎜⎜ L ⎟⎟
⎝ ρG ⎠
0.2
⎛ σ ⎞
C F = (α log[(1 / γ )] + β)⎜ ⎟
⎝ 0.02 ⎠
0.5
L ⎛ρ ⎞
γ = ⎜⎜ G ⎟⎟
G ⎝ ρL ⎠
α=0.0744t + 0.01173
β=0.0304t + 0.015

L and G =mass flow rate of liquid and gas respectively, kg/s or kg/m2-s
σ=surface tension =0.040 N/m.
ρL and ρG are the densities of the liquid and the gas respectively, kg/m3
t = tray spacing, m

substitute data gives

α=0.0744*0.5 + 0.01173=0.0489
β=0.0304*0.5 + 0.015=0.0302

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 0.5
L⎛ρ ⎞
0.5
5x10 −3 ⎛ 961 ⎞
γ = ⎜⎜ L ⎟⎟ = ⎜ ⎟ = 0.0622
G ⎝ ρG ⎠ 3.02 ⎝ .679 ⎠
0.2
⎛ 0.04 ⎞
C F = (0.0489 log[(1 / 0.0622)] + .0302)⎜ ⎟ = 0.1
⎝ 0.02 ⎠

0.5
⎛ 961 − 0.679 ⎞
Vmax = 0.1⎜ ⎟ = 3.76
⎝ 0.679 ⎠

6. Take 80% of the flooding velocity, i.e., V = 0.8Vmax

V=0.8*3.76=3 m/s

7. Calculate net tower cross sectional area, An

Q 3.02
An = = = 1.01 m 2
V 3

8. Choose weir length, W, from table provided, say 0.7*diameter=0.7T

9. Calculate tray area, At,

An 1.01
At = = = 1.11 m 2
1 − A d 1 − 0.088

Ad = Area occupied by one down spout found in Table provided = 0.088.

10. Calculate tower diameter, T

0.5 0.5
⎡ 4A ⎤ ⎡ 4 * 1.11⎤
T=⎢ t⎥ =⎢ = 1.19 m
⎣ π ⎦ ⎣ π ⎥⎦

Therefore the weir length, Ad are now known:

W=0.7*1.19=0.833 m

Ad=0.088*At=0.088*1.11=0.1 m2.

11. Calculate the active area, Aa,

A a = A t − 2A d − area taken by support + other zones

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 Aa = 1.11-2*0.1-0.2*1.11=0.69 m2.

Check: q/W=5x10-3/0.833=5.7x10-3 < 0.032 (see Table. Choice is o.k.)

Note: Typical Aa/At can be found in Tables provided.

12. Calculate weir crest height, hc, from the following 2 equations by trial and error

q
= 1.839h 3c / 2 (11-a)
Weff

⎛ Weff ⎞ ⎛ T ⎞ ⎧⎪⎡⎛ T ⎞ 2h c ⎫⎪
0.5
2 2 2
⎤
⎜ ⎟ = ⎜ ⎟ − ⎨⎢⎜ ⎟ − 1⎥ + ⎬ (11-b)
⎝ W ⎠ ⎝ W ⎠ ⎪⎩⎣⎝ W ⎠ ⎦ W ⎪⎭

Trial and error solution is required. Let hc = 0.02 m. Substitute in Eqn. 11-a gives
Weff=0.961 m. Substitute the value in Eqn. (11-b) to get Weff = 0.799 m. Trial #2: Let hc =
0.025 m then from Eqn. 11-a Weff=0.69 m. Substitute in Eqn. 11-b gives Weff = 0.78 m.
Then hc = (0.02+0.025)/2=0.022 m.

13. Choose weir height, hW = 0.05 m

14. Calculate pressure drop as hG = hL + hD + hR where

2 h D gρ L ⎡ ⎛ A 0 ⎞ 4lf ⎛ A 0 ⎞ ⎤
2

= C 0 ⎢0.4⎜⎜1.25 − ⎟⎟ + + ⎜⎜1 − ⎟⎟ ⎥
v 02 ρ G ⎢⎣ ⎝ A n ⎠ d 0 ⎝ A n ⎠ ⎥ ⎦
0.25 0.25
⎛d ⎞ ⎛ 4.5 ⎞
C 0 = 1.09⎜ 0 ⎟ = 1.09⎜ ⎟ = 1.335
⎝ l ⎠ ⎝ 2 ⎠
ℓ is the plate thickness. Typical ℓ/ is between 0.2 and 2.
To find f (friction coefficient) we need to calculate Re=v0ρGd0/μG where v0 is the velocity
through the holes.

A0=0.1275*0.69=0.083 m2.

v0=Q/A0=3.02/0.083=36 m/s.
W
Re=36*0.679*.0045/1.25e-5=8800.

From the chart of f versus Re read f=0.008.

Substitute the values in the above equation to get hD=0.056 m.

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 L
h L = 6.1x10 −3 + 0.725h W − 0.238h W Va ρ 0G.5 + 1.225
ρL z
6σ
hR =
ρLd 0g

Z=(T+W)/2

Va = gas velocity based on Aa

Va = Q/Aa = 3.02/0.69 = 4.4 m/s

Z = (0.833 + 1.19)/2 = 1.01

Substitute to get hL = 0.011 m

hR = 5.7x10-3 m.

Now hG = 0.07 m

Check: for the choice to be o.k. hw+hc+h3 < t/2 where

h3= backup in down spout=hG+h2
3 ⎛ L ⎞
⎜ ⎟
2g ⎜⎝ ρ L A dA ⎟⎠
h2=pressure loss at liquid entrance=

h2= 8x10-3 m

AdA is the smallest of the two areas: Ad (=0.1) or the area for the liquid flow under the
weir apron = W*hA (hA = fraction of hW say 0.5hW) = 0.833*0.5*0.05=0.021 m2. Since
0.021 < 0.1 it was chosen as AdA.

h3 = 0.008 + 0.07 = 0.078 m

Check: hw+hc+h3 = 0.05 + 0.022 + 0.078 = 0.15 < 0.5/2=0.25 then design o.k.

15. Calculate weeping velocity, vow

0.379 0.293
v ow μ G ⎛ μ G2 ρ L ⎞ ⎛ l ⎞ ⎛ 2A a d 0 ⎞
= 0.0229⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎜⎜ ⎟
3 ⎟
σ σρ
⎝ G 0 G⎠
d ρ ⎝ d0 ⎠ ⎝ 1.7321p' ⎠

Substitute values in the above equation gives vow = 8.71 m/s

Check v0 with v0W. No weeping will take place if v0>vow

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Note that v0 (=36 m/s) > vow (=8.71 m/s) then weeping won’t take place. Hence design
o.k.

16. Check for entrainment by using the figure provided. If E is small then design o.k.
or entrainment is negligible otherwise repeat for the choice of d0.

0.5 0.5
L ⎛ ρG ⎞ q ⎛ρ ⎞
⎜ ⎟⎟ = ⎜⎜ L ⎟⎟ = 0.062
G ⎜⎝ ρ L ⎠ Q ⎝ ρG ⎠

V/VF = 0.8 then from the figure E=~0.06 which is negligible.

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 Calculating a suitable diameter for a packed column

Gas Liquid
Density 1.248 kg/m3 1235 kg/m3
Mass flow rate 0.998 kg/s 3.8 kg/s
Viscosity 1.24x10-5 kg/m-s 1.0x10-3 kg/m-s
Packing is ceramic Intallox saddles 25-mm.

0.5
L ⎛ ρG ⎞
0.5
3.94 ⎛ 1.248 ⎞
⎜ ⎟⎟ = ⎜ ⎟ = 0.125
G ⎜⎝ ρ L
1. Calculate
⎠ 0.998 ⎝ 1235 ⎠
2. Choose a pressure drop/unit height (say 400 N/m2/m)
G ' 2 C f μ 0L.1
3. Read the ordinate from figure provided = 0.061=
ρ G (ρ L − ρ G )
4. Based on the type of packing read the value of CF = 98.
5. Calculate G’2=1.321 kg/m2-s.
6. Tower area, At=0.988 kg/s/1.321 kg/m2-s = 0.756 m2.
7. Calculate tower diameter = (4At/π)1/2 = 0.98 m (1 m)

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