Distillation Column Reboiler

Basis and Assumptions

 The minimum turndown of the SWS Unit is 40% of the design throughput.

 Typically, rated capacity is 110% of normal capacity (From Towler, 2008)

 Design margin for vessel is 5%

 Minimum Design Metal Temperature = 0̊C

 Based from the Aspen Hysys Simulation:

Operating pressure= 361.3 kPa

Operating temperature= 139.9 C

Table of Parameters of Kettle Reboiler

Boil Up Vapor

Pressure P (psig) 37.71 psig

Saturated Temperature Tsat (℉) 283.82 ℉

Enthalpy Hv (kJ/kg) 2166.2 kJ/kg

Density 𝜌 (kg/m3) 1.9413 kg /m3
Heat Capacity Cp (kJ/kg ℃) 4.5226 kJ/kg ℃

Tower Feed

Pressure P (psig) 37.71 psig

Saturated Temperature Tsat (℉) 283.892 ℉

Heat of Vaporization Hv (kJ/kg) 2165.9 kJ/kg
Density 𝜌 (kg/m3) 912.90 kg /m3
Heat Capacity Cp (kJ/kg ℃) 4.5226 kJ/kg ℃

Clean Water

Pressure P (psig) 37.71 psig

 Saturated Temperature Tsat (℉) 283.82 ℉

Enthalpy Hb (kJ/kg) 2165.8 kJ/kg

Density 𝜌 (kg/m3) 912.95 kg /m3
Heat Capacity Cp (kJ/kg ℃) 1.9560 kJ/kg ℃

Assumptions:

o BKU Reboiler will be used

B - Bonnet Integral Cover (Front End)

K - Kettle Type Reboiler (Shell Type)

U - U-Tube Bundle (Rear End Head Type)

Figure 1. Assumed TEMA Type designation for the Reboiler

o Overall Heat Transferred Coefficient U = 875 W / m2 ℃

Materials of Construction

 Stainless steel 430

As per said in the Materials of construction for heat exchangers, SS 430 is the most widely used

ferritic stainless steel. It combines good heat resistance and mechanical properties (see table 3). In

continuous service, this steel may be operated to a maximum temperature of 1500 oF (815oC) and 1600 oF

(870 oC) in intermittent service. And SS 430 can control aqueous sulphide corrosion in heat exchangers or

reboilers.
Detailed Calculations

 Design conditions
Design margin=5%
Operating pressure= 361.3 kPa
Design pressure= 1.05* 361.3 kPa
Design pressure= 379.365 kPa
Design temperature guidelines

Operating Temperature Design Temperature

0-200 ℉ 250 ℉

Over 200 ℉ Operating + 50℉

Reactors Operating + 50 ℉

Operating temperature is 283.82℉, therefore, use design temperature of 333.82℉ =167.68 C

 Rated Heat Flow

Q (Duty) = 6182031 kJ/h
Q(rated) = 1.1 * Q(duty)
Q (rated) =1.1 * 6182031= 6800234.1 kJ/h

 Steam(S) rated flow rate

Q(rated) =S λ
Assume λ= 1933.19 kJ/kg
S = 6800234.1 kJ/h ÷1933.19 kJ/kg
S=3517.623255 kg/h=0.9771175708 kg/s
S(rated) =0.9771175708 kg/s * 1.1= 1.074829328 kg/s

 Area Calculations

Q(rated) = UAΔT

Assumption: U= 875 W/m2*C

 Fluid Inlet Temperature ℃ Outlet Temperature ℃

Clean Water (Cold) (Shell 139.9043 139.9434

Side)
Water (Hot) (Tube Side) 142.8085 141.8787
(Tinlet hot − Toutlet cold ) − (Toutlethot − Tinletcold )
TLMTD =
T − Toutlet cold
ln ( Tinlet hot − T )
outlethot inletcold

(142.8085 − 139.9434) − (141.8787 − 139.9043)

TLMTD =
142.8085 − 139.9434
ln ( )
141.8787 − 139.9043

𝐓𝐋𝐌𝐓𝐃 = 𝟐. 𝟑𝟗𝟐𝟐℃

ΔT= Tsat-Tvap

Tsat =139.9 C (From Aspen Hysys); Tvap= 80.60 C (From Aspen Hysys)

ΔT=59.3 C

 Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient

Figure 2. Overall Coefficients from Chemical Engineering Design by Towler, et.al. (2008)
 Based on figure 2 shown above, the dilute aqueous solution process fluid with boiling water as
𝐽
service fluid would have an overall heat transfer coefficient of 775 to 980 .
𝑠∙𝑚2 ∙𝐶

𝐽
In this case, it is assumed that the overall heat transfer coefficient is equivalent to 875 or
𝑠∙𝑚2 ∙𝐶

𝑘𝐽
3150 ℎ𝑟∙𝑚2 ∙𝐶 .

A=Q/(UΔT)

𝑘𝐽
=6800234.1 kJ/h/( 3150 ℎ𝑟∙𝑚2 ∙𝐶 . )(59.3 C)

A=36.41 m2

 Number of tubes and passes

According to Towler, et.al .(2008), the preferred tube diameters are 5/8 in or 1 in as they will give

more compact and therefore cheaper exchangers while the preferred lengths are 6ft, 8ft, 12 ft, 16ft,

20ft and 24 ft.

o Assuming that the tube will have a diameter of 1’’ BWG 14 (OD=0.0254 m,

thickness=0.002108 m and ID=0.23292 m) and length of 16 ft or m will be used.

The minimum number of tubes required is determined as follows:

𝐴
𝑇𝑢𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 =
𝜋 𝑥 𝑂𝐷 𝑥 𝑙

36.41 𝑚2
𝑇𝑢𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 =
𝜋 ∗ 0.0254 𝑚 ∗ 4.8768 𝑚

𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 = 93.54 =94 tubes

Actual number of tubes= 47 tubes

 To determine the number of tubepass, the velocity of water is determined given the total flow area

through the tubes

𝜋
𝐴𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 = 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 ∗ ∗ (𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 − 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠)2
4

𝜋
𝐴𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 = 47 ∗ ∗ (0.0254 𝑚 − 0.002108 𝑚)2
4

𝑨𝒕𝒖𝒃𝒆 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐 𝒎𝟐

𝑘𝑔
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑠
𝑉𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 =
𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑥 𝐴𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒
𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑠
= 17120 ℎ
= 4.76 𝑘𝑔/𝑠 (From Aspen Hysys)

𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚= 912.9 kg/m3

4.76 𝑘𝑔/𝑠
𝑉𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 =
𝑘𝑔
912.9 3 𝑥 0.02 𝑚2
𝑚

𝑽𝒕𝒖𝒃𝒆 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟔 𝒎/𝒔

The calculated tube side velocity is quite low compared to the preferred velocity for water services.

Therefore, to increase this velocity tube pass is increased to 5. The resulting tube side velocity will now

be

4.76 𝑘𝑔/𝑠
𝑉𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 =
𝑘𝑔 0.02𝑚2
912.9 3 𝑥 ( )
𝑚 5

𝒎
𝑽𝒕𝒖𝒃𝒆 = 𝟏. 𝟑
𝒔

According to Towler, et.al. (2008), the triangular arrangement of tubes would have a recommended pitch

of 0.03175 m or 0.032 m (1.25 OD).

 Tube-Side Heat Transfer Coefficient

𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝜌 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 ∗ 𝐼𝐷 ∗ 𝑣 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒𝑠

𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚

𝑘𝑔 𝑚
912.9 3 ∗ 0.023292 𝑚 ∗ 1.3 𝑠
𝑅𝑒 = 𝑚
1𝑥10−3 𝑃𝑎 − 𝑠
0.1951𝑐𝑃 𝑥
1 𝑐𝑃

𝑅𝑒 = 127514.21

𝑘𝐽 1000 𝐽
𝜇 ∗𝐶𝑝 0.1951 𝑥10−3 𝑃𝑎−𝑠 ∗ 4.065 ∗
𝑘𝑔−𝐶 1 𝑘𝐽
𝑃𝑟 = for cold stream; 𝑃𝑟 = 𝑤
𝑘 0.6878
𝑚−𝐾

𝑃𝑟 = 1.153

𝐿 4.8768 𝑚
𝐼𝐷
= 0.023292 𝑚 = 209.38 ≈ 210

Figure 4. Heat Transfer Factor from

Chemical Engineering Design by Towler, et.al. (2008)

From the Figure 4 shown above, jh = 2.7 x 10-3

1
𝑁𝑢 = (𝑗ℎ)(𝑅𝑒)(𝑃𝑟)3
 1
𝑁𝑢 = (0.0027 )(127514.21 )(1.153 )3

𝑵𝒖 = 𝟑𝟓𝟎. 𝟒𝟕

𝑘
ℎ𝑖 = (𝑁𝑢) ( )
𝐼𝐷

𝑤
0.6878 𝑚 − 𝐾
ℎ𝑖 = (350.47) ( )
0.023292 𝑚

𝒘
𝒉𝒊 = 𝟏𝟎𝟑𝟒𝟗. 𝟏𝟗𝟏
𝒎𝟐 −𝑲

 Shell-Side Heat Transfer Coefficient

𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝐷𝑠 = 500 𝑚𝑚 𝑜𝑟 0.500 𝑚

𝐷𝑠
As a first trial, take the baffle spacing= which is 100 mm. This spacing should give good transfer heat
5

without too high a pressure drop.

𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ − 𝑂𝐷 𝐷𝑠
𝐴𝑠 = ( ) ( 𝑥 𝐷𝑠 )
𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 5

0.032 − 0.0254
𝐴𝑠 = ( ) (0.1 𝑚 𝑥 0.5𝑚 )
0.032

𝑨𝒔 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟑𝟏𝟐𝟓 m2

1.10
𝑑𝑒 = [𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ2 − (𝑂𝐷)2 (0.917)]
𝑂𝐷

1.10
𝑑𝑒 = [0.032 𝑚2 − (0.0254)2 (0.917)]
0.0254 𝑚

𝒅𝒆 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟖𝟕 𝒎
 𝑘𝑔
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑠
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 =
𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦

𝑘𝑔 1 ℎ𝑟
2860 𝑥
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = ℎ𝑟 3600 𝑠
𝑘𝑔
2.091 3
𝑚

𝑚3
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 0.379935
𝑠

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤
𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝐴𝑠

𝑚3
0.00477 𝑠
𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
0.0103125 𝑚2

𝒎
𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 − 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟔𝟐
𝒔

𝑘𝑔 𝑚
912.9 3 ∗0.0187 𝑚∗0.462
𝑚 𝑠
𝑅𝑒 = 1𝑥10−3 𝑃𝑎−𝑠
0.1951 𝑐𝑃 𝑥
1 𝑐𝑃

𝑅𝑒 = 40424.95

𝑘𝐽 1000 𝐽
0.1951 𝑥10−3 𝑃𝑎−𝑠 ∗ 4.065 ∗
𝑘𝑔−𝐶 1 𝑘𝐽
𝑃𝑟 = 𝑤
0.6878
𝑚−𝐾

𝑷𝒓 = 𝟏. 𝟏𝟓𝟑

Use segmental baffles with a 25% cut. This should give a reasonable heat transfer coefficient without too

large a pressure drop.

 Figure 5. Shell-Side Heat Transfer Factors from
Chemical Engineering Design by Towler, et.al. (2008)
From Figure 3 shown above, jh = 2.9 x 10-3

Neglecting the viscosity correction:

𝑘 1
ℎ𝑠 = ( 𝑥 𝑗ℎ ) (𝑅𝑒)(𝑃𝑟)3
𝑑𝑒

𝑤
0.6878 𝑚 − 𝐾 1
ℎ𝑠 = ( 𝑥 0.0029 ) (40424)(1.153)3
0.0187

𝒘
𝒉𝒔 = 𝟒𝟑𝟖𝟗. 𝟑𝟓
𝒎𝟐
−𝑲

Overall Coefficient

Stainless steel: kw =26.1 W/m2-K.

𝑂𝐷
1 1 𝑂𝐷 1 𝑂𝐷 𝑙𝑛( )
𝐼𝐷
Equation 20: 𝑈𝑜
= (ℎ ) ( 𝐼𝐷 ) + ℎ + 2𝑘𝑤
𝑖 𝑠
 0.0254
1 1 0.0254 1 0.0254 𝑙𝑛( )
0.023292
𝑈𝑜
= (10349.191) (0.023292 ) + 4389.35 + 2 𝑥 26.1

𝒘
𝑼𝒐 = 𝟐𝟔𝟔𝟒. 𝟏𝟔 𝒎𝟐 −𝑲

(10) Pressure Drop

Tube Side: 47 tubes, 5 passes, 0.0234 tube ID, velocity of 1.3 m/s

Re= 127514.21 From Figure 6 below, jf=2.7x10-3

Figure 6. Friction Factor from

Chemical Engineering Design by Towler, et.al. (2008)

𝐿 𝜌𝑣𝑡2
𝑃𝑡 = 𝑁𝑝 [8𝑗𝑓 ( ) + 2.5] ( )
𝐼𝐷 2

4.8768 𝑚 912.9 𝑥 1.32

∆𝑃𝑡 = 5 [8𝑥 0.0027 ( ) + 2.5] ( )
0.023292 𝑚 2

∆𝑷𝒕 =27085.93 Pa

𝐷𝑠 𝐿 𝜌𝑣𝑠2
∆𝑃𝑠 = 8𝑗𝑓 ( )( )( )
𝑑𝑒 𝑙𝐵 2
 0.50 𝑚 4.8768 𝑚 912.9 𝑥 0.4622
∆𝑃𝑠 = 8(0.0027) ( )( )( )
0.0187 𝑚 0.1 𝑚 2

∆𝑷𝒔 = 𝟐𝟕𝟒𝟒. 𝟎𝟔 𝑷𝒂

Since the tube pressure drop at the shell and tube is within the specifications, then there will be no

modifications made on the calculation.

Table for the Proposed Design of Reboiler

REBOILER TEMA Type: BKU

One shell pass

5 tube passes

Tube Stainless steel tubes

16 ft long

1” BWG 14

Triangular pitch (pitch of 32 mm)

Shell Shell I.D. of 480 mm

Baffle spacing of 100 mm (25% cut)

Heat Transfer Area 36.41 m2 (based on outside diameter)

Tube-side coefficient w
10349.191
m2 − K

Shell-side coefficient w
4389.35
m2 −K

Pressure Drop Tube-side: 27085.93 Pa

Shell-side: 2744.06 Pa
Design Pressure and Design Pressure- 379.365 kPa
Temperature, based on
Design Temperature- 167.68 ̊C
Towler, et.al. (2008) and on
Design margin

Figure 1. BKU Reboiler for the Sour Water Stripping Unit