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Abstract: A phenomenological model for froth structure is proposed based on the analysis of
froth images of an active sieve tray taken from a 0.153 m distillation column. Froth is defined
as a combination of bubbles and continuous jets that break the surface of froth projecting
liquid splashes and drops above the surface. To estimate the fraction of small bubbles in
froth, a fundamentally sound theoretical expression is derived from turbulent break-up theory.
A new model for predicting point efficiency of cross-flow sieve trays has been developed
based on the hydrodynamics of an operating sieve tray represented by the proposed froth struc-
ture model. This efficiency model is applicable for both froth and spray regime. Fraction of
by-passed or uninterrupted gas jet is considered as the determining factor for froth to spray tran-
sition. The net efficiency is estimated by adding up the contributions of both bubbles and jets
present in the dispersion. The model is tested against the efficiency data of cyclo-hexane/
n-heptane and i-butane/n-butane mixtures.
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269– 277
FUNDAMENTAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF SIEVE TRAY EFFICIENCY 271
MODEL DEVELOPMENT
In the following sections a method to estimate point effi-
ciency EOG from equations (1) and (2) has been discussed.
Bubbling Zone
Bubbling zone is considered to have bimodal size distri-
bution of bubbles as reported in many studies (Porter et al.,
1967; Ashley and Haselden, 1972; Lockett et al., 1979;
Kaltenbacher, 1982; Hofer, 1983; Klug and Vogelpohl, 1983).
The small bubbles are the secondary bubbles formed by the
turbulent break-up of the primary bubbles originated from the
orifice. The large bubbles are the unbroken primary bubbles
that remain in the froth due to incomplete break-up.
The specific interfacial area, aiG and residence time, tGLB
for the large bubbles in froth can be estimated from the
Figure 4. Froth structure model on an operating sieve tray. following equations, respectively:
6
aiG ¼ (7)
d32L
the contributions from both bubbling and jetting zones that
hf
exist on a tray. tGLB ¼ (8)
ULB
EOG ¼ (1 fi )EB þ fi Ej (1)
Due to complex nature of the process, there are few analytical
where fj is the volume fraction of the gas that bypasses the expressions for any design in distillation literature. The gen-
bubbles as continuous jets, EB and Ej are contributions of bub- eral trend is to use correlations, which are supported by
bling and jetting zone, respectively, to the net point efficiency. reliable experimental data. The following equations are
Due to incomplete break up of the large (primary) bubbles both used to estimate the Sauter mean diameter and raise velocity
large (primary) and small (secondary) bubbles coexist in bub- of the large bubbles formed at the orifice.
bling zone. Thus EB has contributions from both large and
small bubbles, d32L ¼ 0:887D0:846
H u0:21
H (9)
1=6
ULB ¼ 2:5(VLB ) þ ua (10)
EB ¼ (1 FSB)ELB þ FSB ESB (2)
Where DH and uH are the hole diameter and velocity; VLB is
where FSB is the fraction of small bubbles. the large bubble volume and ua is the gas velocity based
on the tray active (bubbling) area. Equation (9) based on
the bubble size data measured by electronic probes just
above the sieve tray (Prado et al., 1987). Thus the equation
THEORY OF MASS TRANSFER estimates the unbroken primary bubbles in froth. Three differ-
ent liquid systems with nine different tray geometries were
Following expressions can be obtained from two-film
used to generate the bubble size data. This is by far the
theory,
only correlation for primary bubbles on a sieve tray. Equation
NG ¼ aiG kG tG (3) (10) was originally developed for estimating rise velocity of
bubble swarms through a porous bed (Nicklin, 1962). Later
NL ¼ aiL kL tL (4)
Burgess and Calderbank (1975) showed that this equation
adequately predicts rise velocity of large bubbles in froth on
where
sieve trays. This is again the only study done on this topic.
rL Gf The mass transfer coefficient for the liquid phase, kLLB, is
aiL tL ¼ aiG tG (5) modelled with Higbie penetration theory (Higbie, 1935),
rG Lf
0:5
Here aiG and aiL represent the geometrical interfacial area per DL
kLLB ¼ 1:13 (11)
unit volume of gas and liquid phases, respectively. Assuming tGLB
that the liquid composition does not change vertically and
vapour passes as plug flow without mixing, the overall This is a well-established model used previously by numer-
mass transfer unit can be related to point efficiency as fol- ous studies. The mass transfer coefficient for gas phase,
lows: kGLB, of the large bubbles is estimated from the numerical
solution presented by Zaritzky and Calvelo (Zaritsky and
EOG ¼ 1 exp ( NOG ) (6) Calveio, 1979). This solution was developed for mass trans-
port models in distillation. It was tested against experimental
In the present study, EOG is obtained from the published Mur- data and was applied in efficiency models such as those by
phree efficiency, Emv, data as outlined by Garcia and Fair Prado and Fair (1990) and Garcia and Fair (2000b). The
(2000a). solution is presented as a plot of Peclet number (PeG) of
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269–277
272 SYEDA et al.
the gas phase versus the asymptotic Sherwood number used this concept for bubble break-up in pipelines. The
(Sh/). Within the range 40 , PeG , 200 the following poly- same approach is applied here for sieve tray analysis,
nomial provides an excellent fit for the experimental data: where a first order bubble breakage rate is assumed. The
breakage rate of large bubbles in froth is given by
Sh/ ¼ 11:878 þ 25:879( log PeG )
dN
5:64( log PeG )2 (12) ¼ kN (17)
dt
For the range PeG . 200, It was founf that Sh1 had an Here k is the breakage rate constant and N is the number of
essentially constant value of 17.9. large bubbles. Two additional assumptions are made to keep
Froth height, hf, is estimated from Bennett et al.’s (1983) the calculation simple.
correlation for effective froth height,
(1) All large bubbles are bigger than the maximum stable
0:67 bubble size and are equally susceptible to the break-up
QL
hf ¼ hw þ C (13) process.
W ae
(2) The number of large and small bubbles at any particular
cross section of the froth is constant.
where
2 3 Let us consider that the number of large bubbles entering the
0:5 !0:91 froth at t ¼ 0 is Ni. Due to turbulent break-up, Ni reduces to Nf
rG
ae ¼ exp412:55 us 5 (14) at t ¼ Dt. Here Dt is the residence time of large bubbles in the
rL rG
flow field. Therefore, by integrating equation (17) from Ni at
t ¼ 0 to Nf at t ¼ Dt, the following expression is obtained:
and
Nf ¼ Ni ekDt (18)
C ¼ 0:5 þ 0:438 exp ( 137:8 hw ) (15)
There are a number of correlations available in literature to Let us consider that the fractions of large and small bubbles
estimate the froth height on a sieve tray. The unique charac- at t ¼ Dt represent the average fraction of large and small
teristic of equation (13), proposed by Bennett et al. (1983), is bubbles in the froth. The number of unbroken large bubbles
that unlike any other correlations it gives effective froth height at t ¼ Dt is given by
i.e., the height of the liquid continuous region. Since in the
present model, froth height is used to estimate the residence Nf ¼ Ni ekDt (19)
time of bubbles in froth, the height of liquid continuous region
calculated by equation (13) gives the appropriate value. For binary breakage,
Other correlations, which give total froth height i.e., the com-
bined height of liquid and vapour continuous region, would Ns ¼ 2(Ni Nf ) (20)
over estimate the residence time of bubbles.
Using the above information, NGLB and NLLB can be calcu- where Ns is the number of small bubbles formed at t ¼ Dt.
lated from equations (3) and (4). Equation (4) is then used to Thus the volume fraction of small bubbles in froth can be
get the overall mass transfer unit, NOGLB, from which the con- estimated as follows:
tribution of the large bubbles, ELB, to the net efficiency is
obtained by using the equation (6). Ns Vs 2(Ni Nf )
The portion of small bubbles in froth is considered to reach FSB ¼ ¼ (21)
Ns Vs þ Nf VL 2(Ni Nf ) þ Nf ðVL =Vs Þ
equilibrium when mass transfer rate is high (Lockett and
Plaka, 1983). Kaltenbacher (1982) also suggested that the Here VS and VL are the volumes of small and large bubbles,
small bubbles get trapped in the froth and leave the froth respectively. Assuming bubbles have spherical shapes, we
practically saturated. In this case, because equilibrium pre- get the following expression for FSB from equations (19)
vails between the vapour and the liquid phase of small and (21):
bubbles, the efficiency of small bubbles becomes unity, i.e.,
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269– 277
FUNDAMENTAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF SIEVE TRAY EFFICIENCY 273
Table 1. Reported bubble size distribution on an operating sieve tray. small tray by using free trajectory model. However, Raper
Source Small bubble Large bubble Ratio et al. (1979) showed that Fane et al.’s model under-predicts
the tray efficiency when applied for industrial size tray.
Hofer (1983) 5 mm 25 mm 5 Another important attempt to predict mass transfer efficiency
Ashley and Haselden 5 –10 mm 40–80 mm 8
in spray regime was made by Zuiderweg (1982). His semi-
(1972)
Kaltenbacher (1982) 4 mm 25 mm 6 empirical model is based on the FRI experimental data.
Porter et al. (1967) 5 mm 20 mm 4 This is the only model so far that is not case sensitive and
Lockett et al. (1979) 5 mm 25 mm 5 is readily applicable for spray regime. In this study, we have
chosen Zuiderweg’s spray regime model [equations
(29 –34)] to estimate the contribution of jetting zone to the
total mass transfer efficiency in froth regime;
3:8 r0:1 0:3 0:6
L rG v 0:13 0:065
k¼ (23) kGj ¼ 2 (1 , rG , 80 kg m3 ) (29)
We0:9
cr s0:4 rG rG
Here, v is the rate of energy dissipation in unit mass; Wecr is 2:6 105
kLj ¼ (30)
the critical Weber number given as m0:25
L
ahf KOGj
ru2 dmax Ej ¼ 1 exp (31)
Wecr ¼ (24) us
s 2 0:37
40 F hL FP
ahf ¼ 0:3 bba (32)
where u2 is the mean square velocity of turbulent flow field and F s
dmax is the maximum stable bubble size against turbulent
break-up; r and s are the density and surface tension of the where, Fbba is vapour rate based on active area, F is the ratio
liquid phase, respectively. The values of reported Wecr range of hole area to active area, hL is the clear liquid height and
over an order of magnitude depending on the flow pattern expressed as
responsible for the deformation of the bubble. In distillation, p 0:25
there is no reported value for Wecr. The rate of energy dissipa- hL ¼ 0:6 hW FP (33)
tion, however, is approximately estimated by v ¼ us g (Kawase b
and Moo-Young, 1990); thus the rate constant becomes
and at total reflux
3:8 r0:1
L rG
0:3
0:5
k¼ (us g)0:6 (25) rG
We0:9
cr s 0:4 FP ¼ (34)
rL
The breakage time Dt can be expressed as
The experimental data obtained by Raper et al. (1982) are
Dt ¼ ntGLB (26) used to evaluate the volume fraction of gas that bypasses
the bubbles formation and forms jets, fj and to estimate the
here, n is any value between 0 and 1. Since both n and Wecr net contribution of jetting zone. Following equation is an
are unknowns, we can combine them into single constant: excellent fit for the average value of jetting fraction, fj as a
function of F-factor, Fbba.
n
C00 ¼ (27)
We0:9
cr fj ¼ 0:1786 þ 0:9857(1 e1:43Fbba ) (35)
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269–277
274 SYEDA et al.
Figure 5. Effect of constant C00 on point efficiency; expressed as Figure 7. Comparison of measured and predicted point efficiencies
average absolute error. for the cyclo-hexane/n-heptane system at 165 kPa (open hole-area
14%).
Figure 6. Comparison of measured and predicted point efficiencies Figure 9. Comparison of measured and predicted point efficiencies
for the cyclo-hexane/n-heptane system at 34 kPa (open hole-area for the iso-butane/n-butane system at 1138 kPa (open hole-area
14%). 8.3%).
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269– 277
FUNDAMENTAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF SIEVE TRAY EFFICIENCY 275
Figure 10. Comparison of measured and predicted point efficiencies Figure 12. Comparison of measured and predicted point efficiencies
for the iso-butane/n-butane system at 2068 kPa (open hole-area for cyclo-hexane/n-heptane system at 165 kPa (open hole-area
8.3%). 8.3%).
Figure 11. Comparison of measured and predicted point efficiencies for Figure 13. Overall comparison of the proposed model with two other
the iso-butane/n-butane system at 2758 kPa (open hole-area 8.3%). existing models.
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269–277
276 SYEDA et al.
the effect of change of the dispersion structure (AICHE, 1958; dmax maximum stable bubble diameter in turbulent flow
field, m
Chan and Fair, 1984; Chen and Chuang, 1993) The other
d32L sauter mean bubble diameter of large bubbles, m
approach is to use two completely different models for froth d32S sauter mean bubble diameter of small bubbles, m
and spray regime (Zuiderweg, 1982). Since the dispersion DG molecular diffusion coefficient for gas, m2 s21
structure in froth regime is just inverse to that of spray DH orifice diameter, m
regime, applying the same efficiency model for both regimes DL molecular diffusion coefficient for liquid, m2 s21
EB overall point efficiency for bubbling zone
without considering the change in the dispersion structure is Ej overall point efficiency for jetting zone
the incorrect way to estimate the tray efficiency. On the other ELB overall point efficiency for large bubbles
hand, when two separate models are used for the two EOG overall point efficiency (gas composition basis)
regimes difficulties arise in identifying the exact transition ESB overall point efficiency for small bubbles
point. By including the fraction of jetting, dependent on gas fj volume fraction of gas bypasses the froth bubbles as
continuous jet
flow rate, the new model takes into account the difference F ratio of hole to active (bubbling) area
in dispersion structure between the coexisting froth and pffiffiffiffiffiffi
Fbba vapour rate based on active area (ua rG ),
spray regimes. Thus the model provides a logical solution (kg m23)0.5m s21
that can be applied continuously over the range of flow FP flow parameter, (rG =rL )0:5 at total reflux
FSB fraction of small bubbles
rates, without resorting to an arbitrary selection of the use g gravitational constant, 9.8 m s22
of the same or separate models for both the forth and Gf gas mass flow rate, kg s21
spray regimes, and thereby fully describes the smooth hf froth height, m
transition between the regimes. hL clear liquid height, m
The inclusion of physical properties considered in the esti- hW weir height, m
k first order bubble breakage rate constant, s21
mation of fraction of small bubbles FSB [equation (28)] kG gas-phase mass transfer coefficient, m s21
makes the model applicable to systems with wide range of kGj kG for jetting zone
physical properties and under different pressure levels, kGLB kG for large bubbles
where physical properties of the same systems can vary sig- kL liquid-phase mass transfer coefficient, m s21
kLLB kL for large bubbles
nificantly. Moreover, the calculation steps of the proposed kLj kL for jetting zone
model are much simpler and less rigorous than those of KOGj KOG for jetting zone
other similar models (Garcia and Fair, 2000a, b). Lf liquid mass flow rate, kg s21
The present model fully incorporates the jetting fraction of N the number of large bubbles
the dispersion as spray. Due to lack of definitive data on the Ni the number of large bubbles formed at the orifice at any
instant
structure of the spray regime, this study utilized the semi- Nf the number of unbroken large bubbles leaving the froth at
empirical spray regime model of Zuiderweg to estimate the jet- any instant
ting contribution. Thus the current level accuracy of predicting Nf number of unbroken large bubbles remained from Ni at
using the proposed model is limited by the semi-empirical t ¼ Dt
NG number of gas-phase mass-transfer units
nature from Zuiderweg’s model and is not applicable for sys- NGLB NG for large bubbles
tems with vapour density less than unity. More fundamental NL number of liquid-phase mass-transfer units
studies of drop dynamics and quantification of point efficiency NLLB NL for large bubbles
in spray regime will improve the model and enhance the corre- NOG number of overall gas-phase mass-transfer units
NOGLB NOG for large bubbles
lation between the model and experimental data.
Ns number of secondary bubbles formed from Ni at t ¼ Dt
p pitch of holes on sieve plate, m
PeG Peclet number (d32LULB/DG)
CONCLUSIONS QL liquid flow rate, m3 s21
A fundamental model to predict point efficiency has been Sh/ asymptotic Sherwood number (kGLBd32L/DG)
tG mean residence time of gas in dispersion, s
proposed based on the hydrodynamics of an operating tGLB mean residence time of large bubbles in dispersion, s
sieve tray. The new model predicts the FRI efficiency data tL mean residence time of liquid in dispersion, s
of hydrocarbon systems within +10%. It is also able to pre- Dt the time when half of the total secondary bubbles are
dict the trend of tray efficiency from weeping to the flooding formed in froth from the initial Ni number of bubbles, s
point more closely than any other model. The present ua gas velocity based on active(bubbling) area, m s21
uH gas velocity based on total open hole area, m s21
model is based on the analysis of real froth, and so is us gas velocity based on total column cross-sectional
based on sound empirical data, and so the model is more area, m s21
adoptable to the diversified conditions than any other existing ULB rise velocity of large bubbles, m s21
models. u2 mean square velocity of turbulent flow field, (vdmax)2/3, m
The model can be used throughout the froth and spray VLB volume of large bubbles, m3
W weir height, m
regimes and the transition between them, and so will be Wecr critical Weber number
more applicable for the prediction of distillation tray efficiency.
Further fundamental research on point efficiency in spray
regime, however, would make the model more universal.
NOMENCLATURE
Greek symbols
a interfacial area per volume of two-phase mixture, m2 m23 ae froth density defined by equation (14)
aiG geometrical interfacial area per volume of gas, m2 m23 mL liquid viscosity, Pa s21
aiL geometrical interfacial area per volume of liquid, m2 m23 rG gas density, kg m23
b weir length per unit bubbling area, m21 rL liquid density, kg m23
C constant defined by equation (13) s surface tension, N m21
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269– 277
FUNDAMENTAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF SIEVE TRAY EFFICIENCY 277
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2007, 85(A2): 269–277