MECHANICAL DESIGN OF DISTILLATION COLUMN

Given data:
Working pressure = 84 kPa = 0.084 N/mm
2

Inside Diameter (D
i
) = 649 mm
Material of construction: Stainless Steel
Allowable Stress (f) = 1350 MPa
Top chamber and bottom chamber height = 0.5 m
Density of material = 8030 kg/m
3

Number of trays = 9
Plate spacing = 24 inches = 0.6 m
Hole pitch (rectangular) Diameter = 15 mm
Tray thickness = 5 mm
Design Pressure (P) = 0.084 x 1.1 = 0.0924 N/mm
2

1. Shell design
(

( )


( )

()
(

)
Hence D
o
= 361 mm

2. Head design
A hemispherical head is selected:
(

)
Hence

= 6 mm

3. Shell thickness at different heights
The thickness of the shell calculated as above is satisfactory up to a certain
distance from the top of the shell. In order to determine the distance x, different
types of stresses acting on the shell are taken into consideration.
a) Axial stress due to pressure:

)


( )

b) Stresses due to dead loads:
i. Compressive stress due to weight of shell up to a distance x

) ()

()
()

ii. Compressive stress due to weight of insulation at height x

()

()

()

( )

()
( )

iii. Compressive stress due to weight of the liquid in the column up to a height x
(


)
( )
(

)
(

)
(

)




iv. Stress due to weight of attachments

( ) ( )

()

v. Total compressive dead weight stress upto height x:

()

()

c) Stress due to wind load(f
w
)

( )

(Assuming P
w
= 1300 N/mm
2
)
Determination of value of x:
We have,

()

()

Where,
()

( )

Hence the thickness of 6 mm will be same for the entire height.
Design of supports:
Columns of diameters greater than 600 mm are usually mounted on the skirt support.
Hence, we require skirt support.
A. Skirt Design
The cylindrical shell of the skirt is designed for the combination of the stresses due to
vessel dead weight, wind load and seismic load. The skirt thickness is uniform and is
designed to withstand the maximum values of tensile or compressive stresses.
( )



() ( )



W
(

( )
( )
sk
2
o w
t 2
2
H
D H p k |
.
|

\
|


(

3.82
t
SK

) (

)
3.51
t
SK

() ()

We use a thickness of 2 mm + CA.

B. Nozzle design:
The nozzles provided are as follows:
Nozzle Number Size in mm
Liquid inlet at top 1 200
Liquid outlet at bottom 1 200
Vapor Outlet at top 1 200
Manhole 5 500

The design procedure for all nozzles is the same
For nozzle on torispherical head
Consider the 200 mm diameter nozzle
()
P - 2fJ
d P i

0.0949 200
2 1350 0.85- 0.0949

Actual thickness taken = 6 mm

Area available for compensation
i) (

) ( )
Where,





ii) (

)
( )




s
Compensation need not be provided.



C. Tray design:
A column of this type used in the industry, is made up of a shell, fabricated from sheets
by welding. It has no flanged joints. This requires a special design of trays, which can
be easily dismantled and removed. Such trays are sectional trays. These trays are
made if stainless steel, with a thickness of 2 mm and with holes of 5 mm diameter.
Downtakes and weirs are bolted at the appropriate positions. The downcomers on the
even number of trays are located at the ends. The shape of the downcomer is
segmental with a size of 60 mm x 350 mm. The downcomers on the odd number trays
are at the centre. The shape of the downcomer is rectangular with a size 60 mm x 520
mm.