59

Absorption and

Stripping

59.1 Basic Property Data

59.2 Design Methodology Absorption

59.3 Design Methodology Stripping

59.4 Stage Efciency

59.5 Packed Columns

Absorption and stripping



are two chemical process operations that normally are coupled in order to
remove a minor component, the

solute

, from an incoming process gas stream and then recover that
same component in a more concentrated form (see Figure 59.1). A carefully selected

solvent

, in which
the solute is selectively soluble, is fed to the

absorber

(or scrubber), and the rich solvent is then fed to
the

stripper,

where the solute is recovered. In some cases, absorbers are used



separately



when the

rich
solvent

does not need further processing

.

Likewise, strippers can be used alone for separating a minor
component from a liquid mixture. An example of the coupled system, other than the one shown in Figure
59.1, is the removal of carbon dioxide from natural gas by absorption in an aqueous amine solution,
with subsequent recovery of high purity carbon dioxide by stripping at a lower pressure and a higher
temperature. The gas is puried and a useful product results.
Examples of the separate systems include the absorption of ammonia in water to form ammonium
hydroxide and the stripping of dissolved volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from contaminated ground-
water using air as the stripping gas. A representative ow diagram of a separate stripping system is shown
in Figure 59.2.

59.1 Basic Property Data

If an absorber is to be designed for efcient and economical service, it is critical to select the proper
solvent. Attributes of a good solvent for coupled systems include availability, cost, stability, and volatility.
Further, the solvent should be nonhazardous. But by far the most critical property is the solubility of the
solute in the solvent. This is usually the rst consideration. The equilibrium solubility of component

i

may be expressed in terms of a

Henrys Law coefcient H

i

:

(59.1

)

A related term, used both in absorption and stripping and in distillation, is the

equilibrium ratio



K

i

:
H
p
x
i
i
i
= =
partial pressure of i in gas
mole fraction of i in liquid

James R. Fair

University of Texas, Austin

1586_book.fm Page 1 Friday, May 7, 2004 3:56 PM
2005 by CRC Press LLC

59

-2

The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition

FIGURE 59.1

Coupled absorption-stripping system. Acetone is recovered from air using a water solvent. The
acetonewater solution is then stripped to provide high purity acetone.

FIGURE 59.2

Flow diagram for the steam stripping of contaminants from process water. Since water is the stripped
product, it can be produced

in situ

with a reboiler. Alternately, external steam can be used.
Product
Acetone
Feed
Gas
S
c
r
u
b
b
e
r

D
-
1
Blower
B-1
P-1 P-2
E-4
P-3
Steam
E-2
Still
D-2
E-3
T-1
C.W.
Discharge Gas
Lean Solvent
E-1 C.W.
FEED-BOTTOMS
EXCHANGER
Bottoms
(Stripped water)
Feed
C.W.
DECANTER
STRIPPING COLUMN
CONDENSER
REBOILER
Organics

1586_book.fm Page 2 Friday, May 7, 2004 3:56 PM
2005 by CRC Press LLC

Absorption and Stripping

59

-3

(59.2)
It is important to recognize that these terms are based on thermodynamic equilibrium. Usually, Daltons
Law is applicable, so that

H

i

= K

i

P

(59.3)
where

P

is the total pressure of the system. For the nonideal systems usually encountered in absorption
and stripping, the

K

i



value can be expressed as follows:
(59.4)
where

g

i



is the liquid phase activity coefcient for

i

in the solvent,

p

sat

is the vapor pressure of

i

, and

P

is
the total pressure.
Handbooks usually report solubilities as Henrys Law coefcients. However, design procedures usually
employ the

K

value, easily obtained from

H

by Equation (59.3). When solubility data are not available
for the conditions at hand, there is methodology for estimating values of the activity coefcient, one
summary being in the book by Reid et al. Vapor pressure data are widely available.
Equation (59.1) through Equation (59.4) apply to a single solute. For dilute mixtures, equations for
other solutes, if present, are considered to be independent of each other. For more concentrated mixtures,
thermodynamic interactions must be determined, and effective values of

K

and

H

obtained.

59.2 Design Methodology Absorption

The rst step in design is to establish separation specications. For example, a vent gas containing 2000
parts per million by volume (ppmv) of a pollutant must be scrubbed to a level of 200 ppmv in the exit
gas. Or for a gaseous mixture which is a nonpollutant, the specication may deal with the fractional
recovery (proportion absorbed) of that constituent in the rich solvent. For stripping, an example is the
removal of dissolved contaminants in water to a level compatible with environmental regulations.

Frac-
tional removal



and

limiting composition



are interchangeable in a given process, and the former will be
used in the design equations given here.
In designing an absorber or stripper, one must ascertain some index of difculty of separation. The
index to be used here is the number of required

theoretical stages.

An alternate criterion, often used for
absorbers containing packing, is the required number of

transfer units.

Easy separations require few
theoretical stages or transfer units. Very difcult separations may require many stages, perhaps 20 or more.
Absorption stages may be calculated from the so-called KremserBrown equation:
(59.5)
where

E

ai

= fraction of

i

absorbed;

Y

N

+

1

= moles

i

per mole of solute-free gas entering;

Y

1

= moles

i

per
mole solute-free gas leaving the top of the absorber;

Y

o

*

= moles

i

per mole solute-free gas, determined
as in equilibrium with the entering solvent composition;

N

= number of required theoretical stages;

A

i

= absorption factor for component

i

=

L/

(

V K

i

);

L

= total moles of liquid (solvent + solute) owing
down the column; and

V

= total moles of vapor owing up the column.
Note that in Equation (59.5), superscripts are exponents. If the amount absorbed is relatively low, as
in most environmental applications, heat effects are minimal and the operation may be assumed to be
isothermal. For this case,

L

and

V

are essentially constant.
K
y
x
i
i
i
=
K
p
P
i
i i
sat
=
g
E
Y Y
Y Y
A A
A
Ai
N
N o
i
N
i
i
N
=
-
-
=
-
-
+
+
+
+
1 1
1
1
1
1
*

1586_book.fm Page 3 Friday, May 7, 2004 3:56 PM
2005 by CRC Press LLC

59

-4

The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition

Equation (59.5) is a rating equation; it tells how much recovery can be obtained with a given number
of stages

N

. A more useful equation is a rearrangement explicit in

N

:
(59.6)
The solubility effect is contained in the absorption factor

A

i

. If the entering solvent contains none of
the solute (e.g., completely stripped out), then the term

Y

o

*

drops out of Equation (59.5). Note that the
compositions are in terms of

mole ratios

; for very dilute mixtures, mole fractions

y

can be used. In
Equation (59.5) and Equation (59.6), the stages are numbered down from the top. Figure 59.3 includes
a guide to the nomenclature for both absorption and stripping.

59.3 Design Methodology Stripping

For stripping, a liquid mixture is fed to the column and a stripping gas is used to remove one or more
key components of the mixture. If the feed stream comes from a coupled absorber, then the composition
is known, and the key components are likely to be those that were selectively absorbed. The stripping
gas may be an external stream such as steam or air, or it may be generated by a reboiler as shown in
Figure 59.1. In some respects, a reboiled stripper resembles a conventional distillation column and may
even have a reux stream.
If the stripper stages are numbered up from the bottom, Equation (59.5) and Equation (59.6) have
exact counterparts:
(59.7)

FIGURE 59.3

Nomenclature for use of the equations for absorbers or strippers. In order to maintain similarity of
the design equations, for absorption the stages are numbered down from the top and for stripping the stages are
numbered up from the bottom.
Lean Process Gas Rich Stripping Gas
Lean Stripping Gas
Absorber
Interchanger
Stripper
Cooler
V
N
V
2
V
1
L
O
L
N+1
V
N
N
Lean Solvent
N
L
1
L
N1
V
N1
L
N
L
2
1
L
1
L
N
V
N+1
Rich Process Gas Rich Solvent
V
O
V
1
1
N
E A
E
A
Ai i
Ai
i
=
-
-

-
ln
ln
1
1
E
X X
X X
S S
S
Si
N
N o
i
N
i
i
N
=
-
-
=
-
-
+
+
+
+
1 1
1
1
1
1
*

1586_book.fm Page 4 Friday, May 7, 2004 3:56 PM
2005 by CRC Press LLC

Absorption and Stripping

59

-5

(59.8)
where

E

Si

= fraction of

i

stripped;

X

N

+

1

= moles

i

per mole of solute-free liquid entering;

X

1

= moles

i

per mole solute-free liquid leaving the bottom of the stripper;

X

o

*

= moles

i

per mole solute-free liquid,
determined as in equilibrium with the entering stripping gas composition;

N

= number of required
theoretical stages;

S

i

= absorption factor for component

i

= (

V K

i

)/L

;

L

= total moles of liquid (solvent
+ solute) owing down the column;

V

= total moles of gas (stripping gas + solute) owing up the column.
Superscripts in Equation (59.7) are exponents. If the amount stripped is relatively low,

V

and

L

are
essentially constant. If the stripping gas contains no solute,

X

o

*

drops out of the equation.
For the methodology given here, absorption and stripping are direct counterparts. The absorption
factor A is the reciprocal of the stripping factor S. A short example shows the use of Equation (59.8)
[and Equation (59.6)]:

Example

A plant efuent liquid ows at 295,800 lb/h and contains 15 lb/h benzene. The benzene removal is
to be 99.95%. Steam is to be the stripping gas. The stripping factor is 100. Using Equation (59.8),
Few theoretical stages are required because of the low solubility of benzene in water (high stripping
factor). However, because contacting operations in stripping towers are inefcient, 20 or more actual
stages may be required. This is discussed in the next subsection.

59.4 Stage Efciency

Since gasliquid contacting efciency in absorbers and strippers is relatively inefcient, the required
number of theoretical stages must be corrected to actual, or real, stages (plates, trays) by a stage efciency:
(59.9)
where

E

oc

is an overall column efciency, dependent on the mass transfer characteristics of the system
and the uid mechanics of the counterowing phases. A great deal of theory and practice is available for
the estimation of

E

oc

, as described in Perrys

Chemical Engineers Handbook.

A low solubility invariably
leads to a low efciency. For approximate work, typical values may be used:
Absorbers

E

oc

= 0.30 = 30%
Strippers

E

oc

= 0.20 = 20%.
The required height of the contacting zone is
(59.10)
where TS is the height spacing between actual trays.
N
E S
E
S
Si i
Si
i
=
-
-

-
ln
ln
1
1
N =
-
-

- =
ln
.
.
ln
.
0 9995 100
0 9995 1
100
1 1 65 theoretical stages
No. actual plates (trays)=
No. theoretical stages
Stage efficiency
=
N
E
oc
Z
N TS
E
oc
=

1586_book.fm Page 5 Friday, May 7, 2004 3:56 PM
2005 by CRC Press LLC
59-6 The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition
59.5 Packed Columns
One may infer that the preceding material applies only to absorbers or strippers with trays (valve, sieve,
etc.) but this is not the case. Packed columns do not contain such devices and operate in a continuum
of gas and liquid ows. A more fundamental approach to estimating the required height is through the
use of transfer units. There is a mathematical connection between theoretical stages and transfer units,
expressed approximately as:
(59.11)
where N
og
= number of overall transfer units required (gas phase basis); N = number of theoretical stages
required; S = stripping factor (V K)/L, which apples to absorbers as well as strippers.
The objective is to determine the height of packing required for a given separation. This height is
calculated by:
Z = (HETP)(N) (59.12)
or
Z = (H
og
)(N
og
) (59.12a)
where the height Z is expressed in the same units (ft, m) as HETP and H
og
.
Values of HETP and H
og
differ with the type and size of packing used. Approximate values can be
obtained from vendors, but for more rigor, special mass transfer equations must be used. A discussion
of the values together with the fundamental methods for calculating them may be found in Chapter 14
of Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook, as well as from many other sources.
Dening Terms
Absorption Process for removing a minor component (or solute) from a gas stream using a liquid
solvent.
Absorber (or absorption tower) Usually a metal column containing packing materials or plates and
designed to enhance gasliquid contacting efciency.
Rich solvent Solvent + solute owing from the absorber.
Solute Component to be removed from the gas entering the absorber or from the liquid entering the
stripper.
Solvent Liquid employed for removing solute from the incoming solute-rich gas stream.
Stripper (or stripping tower) Usually, a metal column containing packing materials or plates and
designed to enhance gasliquid contacting efciency.
Stripping Process for removing relatively insoluble solutes from a liquid mixture.
References
Fair, J. R. 1997. Gas absorption and gasliquid system design. In Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook,
7th ed., R. H. Perry and D. W. Green, Eds. McGraw-Hill, New York. Section 14.
Reid, R. C., Prausnitz, J. M., and Poling, B. E. 1987. Fluid phase equilibria in multicomponent systems.
In The Properties of Gases and Liquids, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 314332.
Further Information
Palmer, D. A. 1987. Handbook of Applied Thermodynamics. CRC, Boca Raton, FL.
Sherwood, T. K., Pigford, R. L., and Wilke, C. R. 1975. Mass Transfer. McGraw-Hill, New York.
N N
S
S
og
=
-

ln
1
1586_book.fm Page 6 Friday, May 7, 2004 3:56 PM
2005 by CRC Press LLC