MCEN 4131 Lecture 28

Absorption tower sizing example

In the previous lectures we derived the pertinent equations required for analyzing and
sizing a tower. The following is a point by point example of how a tower is sized.
Problem statement (Fundamentals of air pollution engineering, RC Flagen, JH Seinfeld,
pg 490, 1988): A packed tower is to be designed for absorption of SO2 from air by
contact with fresh water. The entering gas has a mole fraction of SO2 of 0.10 and the exit
gas must contain amole fraction of no greater then 0.005. The water flow rate used is to
be 1.5 times the minimum, and the inlet airflow rate (on an SO2 free basis) is 500 kg m-1
h-1. The column is to be operated at 1 atm and 303 K. Determine the height of the packed
bed section.
The following equilibrium data are available for SO2 absorption in water at this
temperature:
PSO2 (mm Hg)
0.6
1.7
4.7
11.8
19.7
36.0
52.0
79.0

Conc. (g SO2/100 g H2O)

0.02
0.05
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.50
0.70
1.00

There also exist mass transfer coefficient correlations for SO2 absorption in a column
packed with 1-inch rings (at this temperature):

~
k x a = 0.6634L0.82

~ ~
k y a = 0.09944L0.25 V 0.7

~
~
where L and V are the liquid and gas mass fluxes, respectively, in kg m-2 h-1 and the
units of kxa and kya are kg-mol m-3 h-1 (mol fraction)-1.

Step 1: Plot the equilibrium curve (xi and yi) on the x-y graph.
To do this, we need to get the equilibrium data into mol fraction format:

PSO 2
0.6 mmHg
= (e.g.)
= 7.89 x10 4
Patm
760mmHg
c / MWSO 2
0.02 / 64
x=
= (e.g.)
= 5.625x10 5
c / MWSO 2 + c / MWH 2O
0.02 / 64 + 100 / 18
y=

thus,
P
0.6
1.7
4.7
8.1
11.8
19.7
36
52
79

y
0.0008
0.0022
0.0062
0.0107
0.0155
0.0259
0.0474
0.0684
0.1039

c
0.02
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.3
0.5
0.7
1

x
5.6E-05
1.4E-04
2.8E-04
4.2E-04
5.6E-04
8.4E-04
1.4E-03
2.0E-03
2.8E-03

See Figure on the next page

Step 2: Determine the minimum liquid flowrate, (Lm)min:
Using the equation for the operating line of the absorption tower, we input the
appropriate values so that the bottom of the tower is at equilibrium conditions:

y
yt
= b
1 yt 1 yb

L'm
'

Vm

x *b
xt

1 x* 1 x
t
b
min

yt = 0.005 (given in problem statement)

xt = 0 (given)
yb = 0.1 (given)
V'm=500 kg m-2 h-1 = 17.2 kgmol m-2 h-1
xb* can be determined by either a) interpolating from table above, or b) taking the value
off the graph on the following page.
Interpolation:
(0.1 0.0684)

x *b =
2.8 103 2.0 103 + 2.0 103 = 2.71 103
0.1039 0.0684

-2 -1
Solving, we calculate (L'm )min= 667 kg-mol m h . Thus L'm = 1.5 _ 667 = 1000 kg-mol
m-2 h-1.

Step 3. Plot the operating line for the column

Before we do this, we need to determine the mole fraction of SO2 in the liquid phase at
the tower bottom with the given liquid/gas flowrates. We can use the same equation, just
inserting the right values again:

y L' x
yt
xt

= b m' b
1 y t 1 y b Vm 1 x b 1 x t
0.005
0
0.1 1000 x b

1 0.005 1 0.1 17.2 1 x b 1 0

thus, xb = 0.00183
Now returning to the more general form of the operating line equation, we can plot the
operating line in the x-y plane:
y b L'm x b
x
'

1 y
1

y
1

x
1

x
V
b m
b

y
x
0.1 1000 0.00183
=

1 y
1 0.1 17.2 1 0.00183 1 x
y

= (0.111) (58.1) 0.00183

1 y
1 x

Step 4. Calculate the value of

k x a
. For this problem, we can assume that = 1
k ya

throughout the column(we can check it later).

~
k x a = 0.6634L0.82

~ ~
k y a = 0.09944L0.25 V 0.7

~
~
Since mass is transferred between the gas and liquid phases, L and V change through
~
~
the column. We first need to calculate L and V at the bottom and the top. Let's do a
material balance on the SO2:
The SO2 enters at the bottom at a mass rate:
yb
0.1
(64 kg kgmol 1 ) = 122.6 kg m 2 h 1
Vm'
MWSO 2 = 17.2 kgmol m 2 h 1
1 0.1
1 yb
The SO2 leaves the top at a mass rate:

Vm'

yt
0.005
(64 kg kgmol 1 ) = 5.5 kg m 2 h 1
MWSO 2 = 17.2 kgmol m 2 h 1
1 0.005
1 yt

Since the water enters the top completely free of SO2, then the mass flowrate of SO2 in
the water stream at the tower bottom = 122.6-5.5 = 117.1 kgmol m-2 h-1.
Thus the total mass flowrate at the bottom and top of the column are:
~
L t = 18000 kg m 2 h 1
~
L b = 18000 + 117.1 = 18117 kg m 2 h 1
~
Vb = 500 + 122.6 = 622.6 kg m 2 h 1
~
Vt = 500 + 5.5 = 505.5 kg m 2 h 1

To determine the mass transfer coefficients, calculate the value at top and bottom and
take the average:
(k x a )top = 0.6634(18000)0.82 = 2047

(k x a )bottom = 0.6634(18117 )0.82 = 2058

(k x a )average = 2052.4 kg-mol m-3 h-1 (mol fraction)-1
Similarly,
k y a top = 0.09944(18000 )0.25 (505.5)0.7 = 89.95

( )
(k y a )bottom = 0.09944(18117)0.25 (622.6)0.7 = 104.2
(k y a )average = 97.1 kg-mol m-3 h-1 (mol fraction)-1

Thus,
k x a
=-21.1 which is the slope of a line connecting any point (x,y) on the operating
k ya

line with a corresponding point (xi,yi) on the equilibrium line.

I've drawn several lines on the plot that are at (about) a slope of -21. From these lines I
am able to pull off 8 operating line points and 8 corresponding equilibrium line points:
(y,x)
(0.1, 0.0018)
(0.088, 0.00157)
(0.076, 0.00135)
(0.066, 0.00114)
(0.053, 0.0009)
(0.043, 0.0007)
(0.033, 0.00047)
(0.019, 0.00025)

(yi,xi)_____
(0.067, 0.00192)
(0.0565, 0.00165)
(0.048, 0.00140)
(0.040, 0.00120)
(0.031, 0.00095)
(0.022, 0.00075)
(0.013, 0.00052)
(0.007, 0.00028)

0.12
equilibrium line

yt 0.1
operating line

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

yb
0
0

0.0005

0.001

0.0015

0.002

0.0025

x*b

0.003

Figure 1: Operating line, equilibrium line and correspondence lines for

graphical/numerical integration of absorption column height.
Step 5. Prepare a table with the following headings (well use this information to perform
a numerical integration to determine ZT)
y
0.1
0.088
0.076
0.066
0.053
0.043
0.033
0.019
0.005

1-y
0.9
0.912
0.924
0.934
0.947
0.957
0.967
0.981
0.995

yi
0.067
0.0565
0.048
0.040
0.031
0.022
0.013
0.007
0.0005

1-yi
0.933
0.9435
0.952
0.96
0.969
0.978
0.987
0.993
0.9995

0.916401
0.927661
0.93793
0.946941
0.957958
0.967462
0.976966
0.986988
0.997248

/(1-y)(y-yi)
30.85525
32.29117
36.25272
38.99442
45.98051
48.13962
50.5153
83.84198
222.7244

The problem states to assume = 1. We can check if this makes sense by recalling that

= (1 y) LM =

(1 y i ) (1 y )

1 yi

ln
1 y
~ 0.9 to 0.99 throughout the column (see table above for more precise values). Thus,
assuming that = 1 is a bit imprecise, but usually good enough for a first pass estimate of

the column height. If is calculated to be significantly less than 1, then it must be taken
into account.
Step 6: Integrate to find ZT
The reason we want the tabular values is because we want to integrate the following
expression:
G my
dy
yt
ZT =
y
k ya
b

avg (1 y )(y y i )
The book suggests plotting the function /(1-y)(y-yi) as a function of y and determining
the area under the curve from yb to yt. You can also perform a numerical integration over
the y scale using a differencing approach using the average value of /(1-y)(y-yi)
over a range of ys:

30.86 + 32.29
32.29 + 36.25
(
0.1 0.088)+

(0.088 0.076 )
b
2
2

83.84 + 222.7
1
+L+
(0.019 0.005) = 5.8 (mol fraction )
2

G
G
G

my = m,(top) + m,(bottom ) *1/2

k y a avg k y a(top) k y a(bottom )
G
17.3kgmolm2h1 19.1 kgmolm2h1

*1/2 = 0.188 m (molfraction) Th

my =
3 1
3 1
k y a avg 89.95kgmolm h 104.2 kgmolm h
us the height of the absorption column is,
yt

dy

y (1 y )(y y )

ZT = 0.188* 5.8 = 1.1 meters