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You are a member of a group of design engineers designing equipment for the
recovery of SO2 from stack gases.
The group leader has asked you to determine the optimum size of the SO 2
absorption tower. Specifically, he has asked you to determine the height and cross-
sectional area of the optimum absorption tower and to present your
recommendations in the form of a formal report.
Your group has held several meetings to discuss the proposed overall design.
Following is a list of conditions, assumptions, and data on which the group has
decided to base the design:
100,000 ft3 of gas per minute at 300F and 1 atm are to be treated.
The entering gas contains 0.3 percent by volume SO 2 and 11.0 percent CO 2 with the
balance being N2, O2, and H2O.
The average molecular weight of the entering gas = 29.4
The mole percent SO2 in the exit gas is to be 0.01 percent.
The entering and exit pressures of the absorption column may be assumed to be 1
atm for purposes of calculating the SO2 pressures.
The zinc oxide process will be used for recovering the SO 2. In this process, a
solution of H2O, NaHSO3m and Na2SO3 is circulated through the absorption tower to
absorb the SO2. This mixture is then treated with ZnO, and the ZnSO 3 formed is
filtered off, dried, and calcined to yield practically pure SO 2. The ZnO from the
calciner is reused, and the sulfite-bisulfite liquor from the filter is recycled.
The absorption tower will contain non-staggered wood grids of the following
dimensions:
The average density of the gas at the tower entrance can be assumed to be
0.054 lb/ft3. The sulfite-bisulfite liquid has a density of 70 lb/ft 3 and can be considered
as having a zero equilibrium SO, vapor pressure at both the inlet and outlet of the
tower.
The following simplified equations are applicable for grids of the dimensions to
be used:
K g =0.00222 ( Go )0.8
hw 1.8
=0.23 x 107 ( Go )
L
The liquid is put into the absorption tower by means of a nozzle at the top of the
tower. The pressure just before the nozzle is 35 psig. Assume the pump for the liquid
must supply power to lift the liquid to the top of the tower and compress the liquid to
35 psig. Use a 10 percent safety factor on the above pumping-power requirements to
take care of the friction in the lines and other minor losses.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
1. The absorption tower will contain non-staggered wood grids of the following
dimensions:
Clearance = 1.5 in.
Height = 4 in.
Thickness = in.
Free cross-sectional area = 85.8%
Active absorption area per cubic foot of volume = a = 13.7 ft 2/ft3
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
1. Gas Mass Velocity
2. Inner Diameter of the Column
3. Packing Height
4. Column Height
5. Power Requirement
6. Total Cost
7. Design of Parts of Column
Design Calculations:
hw
=0.23 x 107 G1.8
o
L
1/ 1.8
0.5 lb
(
Go , flooding=
0.23107 ) =11,919.1600
h . ft 2
lb lb
Go=0.65 x 11,919.1600 2
=7,747.4540 2
h . ft h . ft
100,000 ft 3
( )( 0.54ft lb )( 60hmin ) =41.8202 ft
3
v , g min 2
A= =
Go lb
7,747.4540
h . ft 2
D=
4 ( 41.8202 ft 2 )
=7.2971 ft
It was calculated from the overall mass balance that the total amount of SO 2 absorbed is
31.96lbmol/h. The reaction stoichiometry between the sodium sulphite, SO 2, and water
system is
Therefore,
Table 4. Molalities of the inlet and outlet liquid streams
After evaluating the integral, the column height can now be determined.
Finally,
It is shown in Table 6 that the minimum height at any gas mass velocity is obtained
when the sulphite-bisulphite liquor concentration is at 53 mol/kg. Therefore, the
operating point at x1, y1 should be (53, 0.003). It was stated previously that the
optimum design would be the one that has the minimum diameter and minimum
height. In this design, the optimum diameter, which is the minimum diameter, is
obtained when the gas mass velocity is 75% of that of flooding and has a value of
Dopt =6.7932 ft
The minimum height is also obtained at 75% of flooding velocity and is equal to
H min =35.8286 ft
5. Calculating the power requirements for the pump and the compressor and
power costs
5.1 Pump Power Requirements and Power Costs
The power requirement of the pump is dependent upon the cross-sectional area of the
column. Minimum pumping cost is obtained when the diameter is the smallest possible
diameter. At 75% of flooding velocity,
Basis of 1 hour:
where:
hp = ideal power, hp
QG = volumetric flowrate of the gas, ft3/min
p = inlet pressure, in.H2O = 407.55
Basis of 1 hour:
Fixed charges, which include depreciation, local taxes, and insurance (Timmerhaus,
1991) is assumed to be 15% of the total power cost. The total cost per hour of operation
is then,
The following are other important factors that need to be considered in designing an
absorption column:
The function of the support plate is to carry the weight of the wet packing, whilst
allowing free passage of the gas and liquid. The best design of packing support is one in
which gas inlets are provided above the level where the liquid flows from the bed like
the gas-injection packing support. It has a low pressure drop and no tendency of
flooding. (Sinnott, 1999)
6.2 Liquid distributors
Redistributors are used to collect the liquid that has migrated to the column walls and
redistributes it evenly over the packing. They will also even out any maldistribution that
has occurred within the packing. According to Walas(2002), liquid distributors are
needed at least every 20ft of packing. For the design, the total packing height is 45.19ft.
45.19 ft
N packed beds= =2.2595 packed beds 3
20 ft
It was stated in the design problem that non-staggered grids are to be used with the
following specifications:
Clearance = 1.5 in
Height = 4 in
Thickness = 0.25 in
The number of grids per packed bed is calculated by dividing the total height of the
packed bed by the height plus the clearance of (n-1) grids plus the height of the
topmost grid.
An estimate of the amount of liquid held up in the packing under operating conditions is
needed to calculate the total load carried by the packing support.
Walas (2002) suggests that 6 feet should be added to the bottom for liquid level and 4
feet above the tower for vapor disengagement.
6.7 Distance of gas inlet to the bottom of the last packing support
The distance between the gas inlet to the bottom of the first packing support (bottom to
top) should be at least 1m or one column diameter.
An allowance of 1.5 feet is allotted for the liquid redistributor and the space between the
packings.
The packing wetting rate should be checked to make sure it is above the minimum
recommended by the packing manufacturer. For structured packing, the minimum
wetting rate is from 0.07x10-5 to 0.14 x 10-3 m3s-1/m2. To check if the liquid flow rate in
the problem is above the minimum wetting rate, the following equation is used: