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2
L
/D
A
)> 3 where:- K = the reaction constant.
C
Bo
= liquid concentration
2
L
= liquid film thickness
D
A
= diffusivity of solute A
At the other extreme, for very slow chemical processes occurs in
the liquid bulk no reaction occurs in the film and mass transfer
is used to keep the bulk concentration of component (A) close
to the saturation value ( CA = CA*). These reactions are
characterized by Ha<< 1 such as oxidation, hydrogenation.
Notice that chemical reaction affect the equilibrium curve.
Effect of temperature on the absorption tower:-
Many absorbers and strippers deal with dilute gas mixtures and
liquids, in these cases its assumed that the operation is
isothermal. But actually absorption operations are usually
exothermic, and when large quantities of solute gas are
absorbed to form concentrated solutions, the temperature
effects cannot be ignored. If by absorption the temperature of
the liquid is raised to a considerable extent, the equilibrium
solubility of the solute will be appreciably reduced. Cooling
must be done to over come the increase in liquid temperature.
Consider the tray tower shown in the figure. If Q
c
is the heat
removed per unit time from the tower by any means.
Enthalpy balance :-
For non-adiabatic operation:-
G ( Y
in
Y
out
) q = L cp ( T
out
- T
in
) + Q
c
.
For adiabatic operation.
G (Y
in
Y
out
) q = L cp (T
out
-T
in
)
Where q = heat of absorption (J/mole)
By studying the adiabatic operation there
will be some assumptions must be
considered:-
1-No heat is removed inside the tower,
Q
c
= zero.
2-All the amount of heat due to absorption
increase the liquid temperature only.
3-No evaporation in the liquid solvent
(no losses).
To estimate the temperatures inside the
absorber, the heat balance equation to
compute the temperature of the liquid
leaving each plate from the top to the
bottom ,is as shown in the opposite figure:-
Plate(1):-
L ( X
1
- X
in
) q = L Cp
liq
(T
out 1
-T
in
)
X
1
X
in
= [Cp
liq
/q ] ( T
out 1
- T
in
)
Plate(2):-
L ( X
2
X
in
) q = L Cp
liq
( T
out 2
T
in
)
X
2
X
in
= [Cp
liq
/ q] ( T
out 2
T
in
)
After calculating X
1
, X
2
, X
3
,., we must
plot new equilibrium curve differ than
the case of isothermal absorption.
Multi- component absorption:-
(A) Graphical method:-
The procedures for multicomponent absorption are identical for
binary mixtures. Instead of having a single equilibrium curve and
operating line, there are now an equilibrium curve and operating
line for each absorbed component of the gas. Gas flow rate(G)
and liquid flow rate(L) are approximately constant through the
column. The operating line is located with the point (xin,yout)
and the slope (L/G) for the key component(the component which
has more data),and because the feed composition is known we
can locate the terminal point of the operating line (xout,yin). Now
the number of stages required for specified recovery can be
determined by stepping-off stages from the other end . Exactly
the same number of stages are available for the other
components. Also the operating lines must have the same slope.
Thus we can calculate the recovery for each entering component.
Equilibrium relations may be based on the mole fraction as follows:-
i i i
*
A A A
A B c A B c S
*
A A S A T
A T B T c T A S B S c S S S
Equilibrium relations of multi-component system:-
P = H x
n m n
=
n +n +n +....... n +n +n +......+n
m (n /n ) n /n
=
n /n +n /n +n /n +....... n /n +n /n +n /n +......+n /n
' * '
A A A
'
i
'
i
' * '
A A A
Y m X
y 1 X
:- y 1 and X
Y = m X
Thus we can use mole fraction in calculations of multi-component absorptio
i
i
where zero
n
(B) Analytical method:-
Kremser equation represents an
analytical solution to a classical
separation problem of N ideal
equilibrium stages concerned with
countercurrent gas and liquid flow.
The equilibrium and operating
relations are assumed to be linear.
By using the data of the key
component and by calculating the
absorption factor (A=L/m*G) we
can calculate number of stages
from the following chart. After
calculating N we can calculate the
recovery for each other
component.
Stripping (desorption):-
Stripping is the opposite of
absorption and involves the
removal of dissolved gases
in liquid by stripping agent.
Purpose of stripping:-
1- recover the dissolved solute.
2- recover the solvent.
3-to recover both solute and
solvent.
Usually absorption is followed
by stripping or desorption.
The most commonly used
stripping agent is steam.
Good stripping agent must be:-
1- easily condensed.
2- easily separated from the material stripped.
Equilibrium relations:-
(As absorption)
The following points must be
taken into consideration:- 1-
Operating line is under the
equilibrium curve.
2- slope of the operating line
= L/G= (Y
in
-Y
out
/ X
out
-X
in
)
3- As (L/G) decreases, G
increases , operating line goes
down, driving force increases,
N decreases and NTU
decreases.
4-As (L/G) increases, G
decreases, operating line goes
up, driving force decreases, N
increases and NTU increases,
till we reach pinch point.
Special types of absorbers:-
(1) Absorber with reboiler
(combined absorber/stripper)
When wet gas( C
2
H
6
/ C
3
H
8
/C
4
H
10
) is
contacted with oil solvent it dissolve
small amount of C
2
H
6
.
C
2
H
6
can be concentrated in the gas
stream leaving the column by heating
the rich liquid oil stream to strip out
C
2
H
6
.
(2)Absorption with two solvents
Recovery of highly volatile solvent
e.g. recovery of C
5
from C
3
and C
4
.
Solvent should have low vapor
pressure to minimize losses in its
amount. A second less volatile
solvent (Kerosene)can be used to
recover the evaporated portion
of the first solvent (Benzene).