Wetted Wall Column

Content:

Introduction
Experimental Description/Apparatus
Theory
Safety
Experimental Procedure
Wetted Wall Column Proforma
Calculated Results
Graphs
Physical Data of Acetone/Air
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction:
Convective mass transfer is an energy transfer between a surface and fluid moving
over the surface. In this analysis of convection, the soluble vapour is absorbed by
means of a liquid in which the solute gas is more or less soluble from its mixture.
Therefore, a suitable data can be used to distinguish the calculations of vapour phase
mass transfer coefficients and this useful method can also predict the influence of
vapour flowrate on the vapour phase mass transfer coefficients and also compare
the experimental results with suggested correlations of model mass transfer. In
terms of absorption processes, however the feed is a gas introduced at the bottom
of the column and the solvent is fed to the top, as a liquid. The absorbed gas and
solvent leave at the bottom and the unabsorbed components leave as gas from the
top. The essential difference between distillation and absorption is that the vapour
has to be produced in each stage by partial vaporisation of the liquid which is
therefore at its boiling point, whereas in absorption the liquid is well below its boiling
point. In general, the ratio of the liquid to the gas flowrate is considerably greater in
absorption than in distillation.

Experimental Description:
The diagram of the wetted wall column is shown below;

Diagram 1:

AIR
IN

 Diagram 2:

It consists of a liquid film running down the inside of a long glass tube with gas
flowing counter-current, up through the middle of the tube. Mass transfer occurs at
the interface between the flowing vapour and the liquid phases.
In contrast to a packed column, the interfacial area between the vapour and liquid
phases is easily measured. However, the contracting area per unit volume of column
is much lower in the wetted wall column. This makes the wetted wall column
suitable for mass transfer experiments but unsuitable for practical applications.
In this experiment, the wetted wall column is used to evaporate liquid acetone. In
which the solute (acetone) is transferred from the solvent liquid to the gas phase and
this operation is called stripping. The air is used as the stripping gas to lower the
partial pressure of the acetone in the gas phase.

Theory:
At any point, the force driving mass transfer is the difference in gas phase mole
fraction between the evaporating acetone at the liquid surface and that in the bulk
of the airstream. The direction of transfer of material across the interface is not
dependent solely on the concentration difference, but also on the equilibrium
relationship.

The mass transfer rate over the whole column can be calculated by integrating the
rate equation over its length. This leads to an average driving force difference given
by the log mean of the mole fraction differences at column entry and exit.

Mass transfer takes place by diffusion of acetone through a stagnant layer of air. The
flux, using gas phase mole fraction terms, will be equal to the evaporation rate of
acetone given by;

The rate of evaporation, for a dilute solution, will be given by the difference in
acetone concentration of the bulk airstream and its flowrate, or by the rate at which
acetone liquid is lost.

As the liquid phase is pure acetone, the interface compositions can be calculated
from the pure component vapour pressure. As shown below;
vapour pressure for acetone(mmHg)
1
5
10
20
40
60
100
200
400
760

temperature(C)
-59.4
-49.5
-31.1
-20.8
-9.4
-2
7.7
22.7
39.5
56.5

The vapour pressure of acetone in mmHg can be plotted against the mole fraction of
acetone and this gives a straight line which indicates that as the mole fraction of
acetone increases the vapour pressure of acetone also increases.

vapour pressure of acetone(mmHg)

800
750
700
650
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0

0.2
y = 669.53x - 5.923

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

mole fraction of acetone

Convective mass transfer can be affected by both fluid flow and the permeability of
the medium, a correlation should include the relevant Reynolds and Schmidt groups.
The Gilliland and Sherwood correlation as shown below is one of the useful
parameters in wetted wall columns only if the Reynolds number exceeds 2100 and
Schmidt number lies between 0.5 and 3.0:

The Sherwood number is dimensionless group that includes convective mass transfer
term
as well as a critical length and the diffusivity of acetone in air. As the
coefficient used here has been
the appropriate conversion must be used.

The log mean mole fraction of the stagnant component, air can be deduced using
Daltons law as shown below;

Safety:
Care should be taken when handling small quantities of acetone used since it is a
flammable material. Acetone can be disposed when its used with the appropriate
waste solvent bottle.

Hazards:
Its highly flammable and irritating to eyes. Repeated exposure may cause skin
dryness or cracking. Vapours may cause drowsiness and dizziness.

Fire fighting measures:

The container should be removed in case of fire.
Accurate measurements are needed to retain water used for extinguishing.
Dispose of contaminated water.
Acetone forms explosive mixtures with air and extremely flammable. It may explode
in a fire. Vapour may travel considerable distance to source of ignition and flash
back.

Handling and storage:

Wear safety glasses at all times.
Wear lab coat that is fastened.

Experimental Procedure:
In the first run, syringe was used to fill the pump inlet hose with acetone. A
measuring cylinder was used also to collect 150ml/min of acetone before the pump
was switched on and this was repeated for every minute for each run. Then, the
pump was switched on with speed adjusted to 2. While, the acetone was draining
into collection vessel steadily a beaker and a stopwatch was used to collect exactly
one minutes worth of liquid.
The measuring vessel, however was used to measure the volume pumped and this
information was obtained accurately. The flowrate outlet was between 100ml and
145ml and these figures were noted for every minute.
The air pressure was set roughly to 0.8 bar and the flowmeter was adjusted to one of
the following values: 10.8, 19.3, 30, 39.8 and 35 litres/min.

After 4 minutes period, the temperatures of both the feed and the collection vessel
were measured substantially and the pump was switched off when all the runs were
calculated.

Wetted wall column proforma:

Time/min
Inlet.Flow(ml/min)
outlet.Flow(ml/min)

1.04
150
144.23

Experimental data
collected
Inlet air litres/min
Inlet liq.flow ml/min
Outlet liq.flow ml/min
Inlet liq.temp
)
Outlet liq.temp )
Ambient pressure air
(mbar)
Ambient temp. T(air)
( )

Interpreted Data
Acetone evaporation
Rate(kg/s)
Mass flowrate of air(kg/s)
Average vapour temp. in
column

1.05
150
142.9

1.05
150
142.9

1.07
150
140.2

Run1

Run2

Run3

Run4

Run5

10.8
150
144.23
18.4
16.8
1026

19.3
150
142.9
16.0
14.0
1026

30.0
150
142.9
17
10.8
1026

39.8
150
140.2
14.4
11.14
1026

35
150
137.61
14.1
10.5
1026

23

23

23

23

23

Run1
Run2
Run3
Run4
0.0000762 0.0000937 0.0000937 0.00013
0.000215
290.75

0.000384
288.15

0.000597
287.05

dimensions
Internal Diameter of column, d(m)

0.025

Length of column, L (m)

1.5

Interfacial area between liquid/vapour A

0.118

Cross-sectional area of column, S

0.00049

1.09
150
137.61

Run5
0.000164

0.000792 0.000697
286.05
285.45

Calculations of interpreted data (Run 1):

Acetone evaporation rate =

(Run1)

=
= 9.6167

The actual rate of acetone = 9.6167

792 = 7.62

Mass flow rate of air =

kg/s.

(Run1)

=
= 1.8
Ambient air pressure at 23

is 1.194 kg/

The actual mass flow rate = 1.194

1.8

Average temperature =

= 2.149

kg/s.

(Run1)

=
= 290.15 K.

Calculated Results (run 1):

Molar mass of air = 29kg/kmol
Experimental molar flow of air (Run 1) = 2.149

Antoine parameters
of acetone

kg/s

= 7.41103

7.31414

1315.67

240.479

Run1:
(Bottom)

=
(Top)

Mole fraction of acetone inlet = 0

Mole fraction of acetone outlet =
=

= 1.312

kmol/s

Interfacial mole fraction

= 0.15034
= 0.206

Interfacial mole fraction

Driving force at the top of the column (
Driving force at the bottom of the column (

Logarithmic mean driving force, (

=

Bulk log mean pressure of air in column

= 605.4 mmHg.
Correction factor for unimolecular diffusion:

Rate of loss liquid acetone (kmol/s) =

= 7.41103

0.15034

=
Predicted acetone evaporation =

.
(

= 7.41103
=
Mean evaporation rate =

=
=

Vapour phase superficial velocity:

Vapour phase Reynolds number:

Sherwood number for Re>2100:

Heat removed by evaporation of acetone:

2.149
= 0.0209 Watts
Cooling effect estimate by evaporation of acetone:

Theoretical estimate of outlet liquid temperature;

Graphs:
Figure1:
0.00025

ky experimental

0.0002

0.00015

0.0001

0.00005

y = 6E-08x + 4E-05
R = 0.4502

0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Reynolds number

Figure2:
16
14

Sh correlation

12
10
8
6
4

y = 0.0062x + 1.5181
R = 0.9992

2
0
0

500

1000

1500

Reynolds number

2000

2500

Physical data of Acetone/Air:

Physical properties of air and acetone
Universal gas constant (J/kmol.K)
Molar mass of air, (kg/kmol)
Inlet air density to column (kg/m3)
Molar mass of acetone (kg/kmol)
Density of acetone at ambient T (kg/m3)
Air viscosity at column temperature(Ns/m2)
Diffusivity of acetone in column air (m2/s)
Latent heat of vaporisation of acetone DHv(J/kmol)
Heat capacity of liquid acetone @ 283K, Cp(J/kg.K)
Antoine parameter A of acetone
Antoine parameter B of acetone
Antoine parameter C of acetone
Acetone Schmidtz number (dimensionless)
Ambient air pressure mbar
Ambient air pressure(mmHg)
Boiling point of acetone @56.1(deg.C) in mmHg

8314.5
29
1.194
58.08
792
0.00001827
0.0000115
121.3
7.31414
1315.67
240.479
1.33030369
1026
770
755.07

Discussion:
The vapour phase mass transfer coefficient (ky) versus the vapour phase Reynolds
number as shown above in figure 1 doesnt show a straight line graph due the fact
that there is not a significant resistance to mass transfer at its interface. In order to
obtain proper results it is essential to operate with a system of more simple
geometry. The rate of diffusion in liquids is much slower than in gases, and mixtures
of liquids may take a long time to reach equilibrium unless agitated.
In engineering, the mass transfer coefficient is a diffusion rate constant that relates
the mass transfer rate, mass transfer area, and concentration gradient as driving
force.
This process involves simultaneous, mass and heat transfer, however there are other
processes which also involve simultaneous mass and heat transfer there are named
as follows: Distillation, evaporation and drying process.

During the experiment, the liquid and hence the apparatus at the base of the column
becomes cooled due to the evaporation of acetone into the air-stream which mainly
takes place in this section of the column.
The cooling effect of air at the highest (50ml/min)
Air flow rate=50 ml/min= 0.0008333 m3/s

= 1.194 kg/m3

1.1940.0008333=0.000995 kg/s
0.000995121.3 (17.6-16.8) =0.09655 W

Air flow rate=10 ml/min= 0.0001667 m3/s

= 1.194 kg/m3

1.1940.0001667 = 0.00019904 kg/s

0.00019904121.3 (17.6-16.8) = 0.0193 W
To calculate the cooling effect, the air flowrate was converted to the mass flowrate of
air from ml/min to m3/s then this was multiplied with density of air at 1.194 kg/m3
and then to get the cooling effect from mass flowrate of air this variable was also
multiplied with the heat capacity of acetone (121.3 J/kg.K) and finally multiplied with
cooling temperature as shown above:
The cooled liquid's temperature is given by:

The steady state temperature at the base of the column can be determined by the
pumps working conditions such as in the outlet and inlet flowrate of air. This is useful
method because it estimates the efficiency and the amount of power supplied on the
pump.
The experiment could be improved if more advanced equipment was used such as
using turbulent jet will give a higher absorption rate than the predicted values
because of the increased velocity. Therefore, an increase in fluid velocity gives higher
mass transfer coefficient. The wetting area could also be improved only if the
flowrate of the column is increased so this will give more accurate data of acetone.
Increasing the surface area will also give more reliable figures.

Conclusion:
The experiment had low Reynolds number this is due to the influence of axial mixing.
For some cases in laminar flow the absorption rate is greater than that in the
turbulent flow, while the mass transfer rates in turbulent case are significantly larger
than in laminar flow. According to this theory, a low Reynolds number can indicate
that the flow measurements were not accurate in terms of the wetted wall
conditions. Therefore, to get more systematic data a low viscosity with high
superficial velocity is needed so this will give higher Reynolds number.

Reference:
Mass Transfer by Sherwood Pigford and Wilke, McGraw Hill Publication.
http://www.mycheme.com/calculation-methods/bubble-a-dew-point.html.
http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/tutorialnotefiles/percentcomp.htm.
http://edibon.com/products/catalogues/ru/units/chemicalengineering/chemicalengi
neeringgeneral/CAPC.pdf.
http://www.nt.ntnu.no/users/skoge/prost/proceedings/distillation02/dokument/612.pdf.
Coulson and Richardson's Chemical Engineering Volume 2.
Yaws' Handbook of Antoine Coefficients for Vapor Pressure (2nd Electronic Edition).