CHAPTER 2:

GAS ABSORPTION
Based on McCabe, Smith, Harriott 7th ed.
DEFINITION
A method of separating one or more
selected components from a gas mixtures
in which the gas mixtures is contacted with
a suitable liquid
whereby the solute(s) is absorbed from
the gas phase into the liquid phase (mass
transfer from gas stream to liquid stream).
Gas Liquid Liquid + gas
mixture A
(A,B,C,D)
Gas
B,C,D
Figure 1 : Absorption
Process

The reverse process of absorption is called

stripping or desorption.
 L1 Raffinate, G1
X1 Y1

Extract, L2 Feed, G2
X2 Y2
EXAMPLES OF ABSORPTION
PROCESS
ammonia may be removed from an
ammoniaair mixture by absorption in
water.
acetone can be recovered from an
acetoneair mixture by passing the gas
stream into water in which the acetone
dissolves
Gas
while the air passes
Liquid
out.
Liquid + gas
mixture A
(A,B,C,D)
Gas
B,C,D
Figure 1 : Absorption
Process
GAS-LIQUID EQUILIBRIUM
When the gas phase in contact with the
liquid phase, after sometimes it will
reached an equilibrium stage.
OUTLINE
2.1 PACKINGS AND PACKED TOWER DESIGN
2.2 PRINCIPLES OF ABSORPTION
2.3 MASS TRANSFER CORRELATIONS
2.1 PACKINGS AND PACKED TOWER
DESIGN
PACKED TOWER
most frequently used to remove
contaminants from a gas stream
can also be used to remove volatile
components from a liquid stream by
contacting it with an inert gas
(stripping)
Inlet liquid Inlet gas
Pure solvent or dilute Solute-containing gas
solution of solute in the Rich gas
solvent
Weak liquor

Outlet liquid Outlet gas

Liquid that is enriched in
solute as it flows down
the tower
Concentrated liquid
Strong liquor
Solute in the rich gas
absorbed by the fresh
liquid entering the tower
Dilute/lean gas
 Clean gas out

Mist
Liquid in Eliminator
Liquid
Spray
Packing

Dirty gas in

Liquid outlet
TOWER PACKINGS
What?
A supported mass of inert solid shapes
Why?
The packing provides a large area of contact
between the fluid and gas and
Encourages intimate contact between the phases
EXAMPLES OF TOWER
PACKINGS
TYPES OF PACKING

Random Structured
packing packing
May come in bales or
intricate designs that
are stacked in specific
Comes in a sack patterns

Used in very low

pressure drop
applications

Simply dumped into

the column For increasing the
capacity of an existing
column
Structured
packing
DESIGN OF PACKED TOWER
I) CONTACT BETWEEN LIQUID AND GAS
In gas absorption, a good contact between the
liquid and gas is needed.
But it is hard to meet.
Why:
Uneven distribution of the liquid that cause channeling
What is channeling?
itis the unequal wetting of the packings in the
tower.
the liquid flows in little streams down through the
tower without wetting the entire packing area
Channeling is the reason for the poor
performance of large packed towers and
therefore, less efficiency of the tower happens.
CHANNELING
The films tend to grow
Ideally when the liquid
thicker in some places
distributed over the top
and thinner in others, so
of the packing it will
that the liquid collects
flows in thin films over
into small rivulets and
all the packing surface
flows along localized
all the way down the
paths through the
tower.
packing.

At low liquid rates

much of the
This effect is packing surface
known as may be dry or
covered by a
channeling stagnant film or
liquid.
 II) LIMITING FLOW RATES

Liquid hold up Flooding velocity

When a liquid flows through a In a tower having a packing

bed, a part of the open space and being irrigated with a
is occupied by the liquid, this is definite flow of liquid, there is
called liquid hold-up. an upper limit to the rate of
gas flow.
The gas velocity corresponding
to this limit is called flooding
velocity
TOWER LIQUID MECHANICS
To understand these concept of channeling,
loading and flooding imagine this case.

You have a tall glass filled with ice. You

blow air into the bottom of the glass
through a straw and you pour cola at the
same time.

What will happened?

Channeling
If you pour the cola at a very slow rate, it wont flow evenly
downward throught he ice but will run down in only a few places.
Such flow is called CHANNELING, where it occurs when the gas or
liquid flow is much greater at some point than others.
Loading
If now you pour the cola faster, remember to keep blowing, you will
get the case where the cola flows through all the ice more evenly,
with your breath bubbling up through it.
The conditions where these relatively even flows begin is called
LOADING
Flooding
If now you begin blowing harder, you will push in so much air that
the cola cant flow into the column, but splashes backward, out of
the top of the glass.
This condition is called FLOODING
2.2 PRINCIPLES OF GAS ABSORPTION
I) MATERIAL BALANCE
Material balance for portion of the column
Totalmaterial balance : La + V = L + Va
(a)
Component balance on A : Laxa + Vy = Lx + Vaya
(b)
Where
V = molal flow rate of the gas phase
L = molal flow rate of the liquid phase
x = in the liquid phase conc.
y = in the gas phase conc.
 Overall Material balance for the system
La + V b = L b + Va (c)
Laxa + V b y b = L b x b + V a ya (d)

Rearranging equation (b)

L Va ya La xa
y x
V V
operating line
equation
 L Va ya La xa
y x
V V

II) LIMITING GAS-LIQUID RATIO

Refer to the operating line equation, the slope
of the equation is L/V, which is the ratio of the
molal flows of liquid and gas.
In absorber design, usually these variables are
fixed by the process requirement:
the quantity of gas to be treated,
terminal concentrations and
the composition of liquid
But the quantity of liquid to be used is subject
to choice.