TOWERS AND COLUMNS Troubleshooting

EFFECT IN TOWERS AND COLUMNS
enggyd.blogspot.com/2009/09/effect-in-towers_09.html
Towers or columns are the equipments which are used in the industrial operation for
the separation and purification process. All most every chemical industries contain
these columns varying in different sizes, and even in analytical operations, instruments
such as HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography-columns )which are used for
the separation of mixed components in the samples depends on the column design.
Tray towers offer more pressure drop than packed towers. so, for simple separation
tray towers which consists of trays or sieves are preferred than packed towers where a
packing material is used instead of trays.
Overview of the Effects in a Column and Terminology :
All mechanical aspects which occur in a column are referred as Effects in Tower, these
mechanical problems caused by the physical properties and the mechanism by which
column is operated by the control valves and inlet and outlet streams flow rates, even
the structure and internal design also considered in this concept, we see some of the
important and very well faced problem for every column, which is as shown with
comparison of ideal condition of sieve tray column:
Blue colour indicates= liquid flow pattern
Green colour indicates= vapor flow pattern
Red colour indicates= forth
Ideal column operation
Flooding in a column
It occurs in a packed column due to high-pressure drop. At the same gas flow rate, the
pressure drop in a packed tower being irrigated with liquid is greater than the dry
packed tower. Operating velocity in a packed tower is usually equal to the flooding
velocity. This effect can be well understood as simple as liquid filling up from the
bottom of the column to the top and exhausted out from the top inlet of the column.
The point at which this effect occurs the velocities of which a column is operated is
called as flooding velocities. Downcomer and space between the trays are completely
1/4
filled up by the liquid than the tower is said to be flooded, due to high-pressure drop due
to increased flow rates of the streams.
Effects due to flooding:
1. Tray efficiency falls
2. The liquid may force out of the exit pipe at
the tower top
Overall tray efficiency is defined as the

ratio of a number of real trays required to the
number of ideal trays required.
Channelling is most severe in towers
packed with stacked packing. Wetted wall
tower experiment are used to determine the
volumetric coefficient of two interacting
Flooding condition of the sieve column
phases.
Priming in a distillation column is desirable
from point efficiency considerations. Priming is an exaggerated condition of liquid
entrainment. The packed column provides substantially smaller liquid hold-up as
compared to plate column. Outlet weirs (provided on the plate in a plate column)
maintain a desired liquid level on the plate. Inadequately large weir height may cause all
of the foregoing; a common weir height for absorbers and strippers is 3 to 4 inch. The
binary liquid-liquid system has two degrees of freedom.
Due to high gas velocity, liquid from the bottom

trays is carried away along with the vapor to the
top trays.
Priming condition of sieve column
Coning is a Tray Tower
occurs due to low liquids flow velocities when compared to gas which results in pushing
of the liquid away from the tray openings.
2/4
Coning condition in Sieve Tray Column
Weeping in a Sieve Tray Column
is due to at low gas velocity which is not equal to liquid flow velocity, and the liquid is
not enough resisted to hold on the tray pass from the downcomers, the complete liquid
will flow through the openings in the tray itself. so, weeping occurs when gas velocities
(in a plate column) are too low. Most of the liquid is rained down from tray openings
and some through the downcomer.
In the event of severe weeping, no

liquid reaches the downspouts.
Complete liquid drops down by the
tray opening only. This
phenomenon is known as
dumping.
The gas hold up is defined as the
fraction of the liquid-gas mixture
occupied by the gas.
Weber number is defined as ratio
of shear forces to inertial forces and The weeping condition of the Sieve Tray Column
ratio of inertial forces to surface
forces. Absorption factors is defined
as mE/R.
Stripping factor is defined as R/ mE.
Maragoni effect is also known as interfacial
turbulence.
The "capillary number" is (K L/ g)
(g/gC) where K: permeability; : liquid
surface tension; L: liquid density. Large
depths on trays (reasonable gas velocities)
in a tray column lead to high-pressure drop
but high tray efficiencies. Recommended
plate spacing for tower diameter of 12 to 24 Dumping condition in Sieve Tray Column
ft is 36 inch.
3/4
A ternary liquid-liquid system has three
degrees of freedom. In a countercurrent liquid-liquid extractor, slip velocity [Ud/
+UC/(1- )] where Ud and Uc are, respectively, dispersed and continuous phase
superficial velocities and  is the fractional dispersed phase hold-up) is Us. In a packed
countercurrent extractor, slip velocity is Us'. The relations is Us' / Us >1. In a binary
distillation column, if the feed contains 40 mol% vapours, the q line will have a slope
of -1.5.
4/4

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EFFECT IN TOWERS AND COLUMNS

Overview of the Effects in a Column and Terminology :

Ideal column operation

Overall tray efficiency is defined as the

Due to high gas velocity, liquid from the bottom

Priming condition of sieve column

Coning is a Tray Tower

Weeping in a Sieve Tray Column

In the event of severe weeping, no

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