Comaprison of Mass-Transfer Efficiencies of Scc and Structured Packing

Abstract

In a previous paper, pressure drop, flooding and mass-transfer characteristics of a novel pilot-scale distillation column called spinning cone column (SCC) were presented. Here, we present the result of comparison of mass-transfer efficiencies of SCC and structured packing. Comparison of SCC and structured packing mass-transfer characteristics show that the gas and liquid-side height of transfer units (HTUs) of the SCC are on the average 20% and 50% lower than the corresponding values for structured packing respectively. This in turn results in lower HETPs of the SCC for practical applications. Predicted HETPs in ethanol distillation using SCC are 30% lower than those of structured packing. Predicted HETPs for fusel oil and orange oil distillations are also 45% and 35% lower respectively than the experimental values obtained for structured packing. From these results, it is concluded that SCCs are more efficient with respect to mass-transfer than this particular structured packing, but to draw a general conclusion, more specific data on pressure drop per NTS, and liquid hold-up and residence time of the two columns should be available.