5 replies to this topic

[rahul_che]

I am working on a stripper column with liquid load of 261 m3/m2hr. Can anyone help me out in selectin the liquid distributor for my column.
Any help would be very kind and i am thankful for that.

[katmar]

It would be unusual for a chemical engineer to get involved in the design of a liquid distributor, so detailed knowledge of their operating principles is not widespread. I realize that you are looking to select, rather than design, the distributor but most engineers would leave this selection to the supplier. I suspect that this is why there have not been any other answers to your query yet.

Please note that I am not in any way suggesting that you should not get involved in the engineering of the distributor. In my opinion this is the right way to get to the best design - engineers should understand what they are buying, even if they do not do the complete design themselves. But it is not the quickest or most economic and mostly this sort of selection gets passed on to another party.

Perry has always had a reasonable section on liquid distributors and this is even better in the 8th edition. Henry Kister contributed to this section in Perry 8 and it is probably the most complete discussion that I have seen. It is also covered in Kister's book "Distillation Operation". Coulson and Richardson Volume 6 also has a good discussion of distributors.

[rahul_che]

thank you sir for your concern. but since i am a college student and i am designing a pilot plant, so before submitting the report i have to have all the knowledge regarding the column internals. so that would be nice if you suggest me a liquid distributor that can operate at high liquid load i.e. more that 250 m3/m2hr.

[katmar]

Hopefully because you are a student you will have access to a good library. Try to get the article "Don't Neglect Liquid Distributors" by JA Bonilla of Glitsch Inc that was published in Chemical Engineering Progress, March 1993, pgs 47 - 61.

I am by no means an expert on distributor design, but I would think that for a high liquid load like you have an orifice type distributor would be the best. This a flat plate with a weir around the edge and chimney type risers for the gas. The weir and chimneys allow a head of liquid to build up on the tray. The number and size of the orifices in the flat plate can be varied over a wide range, so this makes it suitable for all liquid loadings but the vapor pressure drop would be higher than for a pipe (ladder) type distributor - which in turn is not suitable for high liquid loadings.

[breizh]

http://www.sulzerche...1652_read-2680/

You may be able to consult Sulzer .

Breizh

Note : attached a document from GEA

Edited by breizh, 24 May 2012 - 05:59 AM.

[Dipankarc84]

Rahul
You would have to provide some more details before a selection of liquid distributor can be made.
First of all, there is no mention of whether your column is a packed column or a trayed column.
In case of trayed columns, you would have a pipe distributor with holes or slots. The arrangement would depend on the Tray Geometry (i.e., No. of passes, downcomer width etc.)
Secondly, the type of service for which you need this distributor should be known. Specially, if there are chances of fouling. If I assume that the stripper is a packed column, then, for a clean service, it would generally be preferred to use a gravity flow distributor (trough with holes or raised pipes). If it is highly fouling in nature, it might be necessary to use a spray distributor (to avoid sedimentation fouling).
Thirdly, in case it is a packed column (because of the use of the term "m3/m2hr" I am assuming that it is a packed column), the selection of the type of distributor would depend on whether it is a structured packing or dumped packing.
As already suggested in the previous posts, I would suggest that you go through "Distillation Operation" by H.Z.Kister and also browse through some brochures of Sulzer/Koch Glitsch or any other column internal supplier.