LKMT

Industry Academia Workshop on Design of Refinery Distillation Columns

October23rd 24th 2013

Di till ti Equipment
Distillation
E i
t Design
D i
: Methodology
M th d l
and
d Practices
P
ti

S.K.
S
K Saxena
Saxena, AGM
EIL, New Delhi

Selection of contacting device for Columns

The selection process for tower internals can be

straightforward for some designs, but it could be
difficult for others as It depends on various
factors like whether its a Grass root design or a
revamp activity.

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Choices Available (Contacting Devices)

There are two broad categories of contacting devices:

Trays (Vales/Sieves/Bubble Caps etc.)

Packed Beds (Structured or Random Packing)

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Contacting Devices:

Trays

Packing

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Selection of contacting device depends upon

Operating pressure
Turndown Ratio
Foaming Tendency
Solids present, dirty or polymerized solution handling
Heat removal requirements
q

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A Typical Tray column :

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Types of Trays
Trays with Down comer
Valve
Sieve
Bubble Cap

Trays without Down comer

Shed Deck
ShedDual Flow
Baffle
Disc & Donut
Ri l
Ripple

High capacity Trays (Proprietary Design)

Multi down comer trays
Pro valve, Triton, Nye, SuperFrac, MVG

Collector/ Chimney Trays

Non Fractionation Trays
Non21 October 2013

Valve Trays:

Vapor and Liquid Contacting Mechanism in Valve Trays

A li ti
Applications:

Offer high capacity & good efficiency

Good turndown characteristics
Maximum application-widely used in almost all applications.
Cheaper and simple in fabrication.

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Sieve Trays:

Vapor and Liquid Contacting Mechanism in Sieves

Applications:

System where high capacity near design are to be maintained in

continuous service.
Poor turndown characteristics as compared to valve trays
Suitable for Liquid-liquid
q
q
extraction applications
pp

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Bubble Caps:

Vapor and Liquid Contacting Mechanism in Bubble

Caps

A li ti
Applications:

Suitable for all services, except extremely coking, polymer formation

or other high fouling conditions.
conditions
Used for extremely low flow conditions i.e. good turndown characteristics
& offer maximum flexibility in flow range.

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Advantages of Trays
Tray columns exhibit wider operating range than
packed columns i.e. having Potential to handle vapor &
liquid loadings

Very low liquid rates leads to incomplete wetting of

packing as compared to trays thus having higher
contacting efficiency

High residence time provided for liquid on trays

If solids are present in the fluid, tray columns can be
designed
g
to permit
p
easier cleaning.
g
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Comparison of Commonly Used Trays

Parameters

Bubble*

Sieve

Valve

Capacity %

100

120-150

120-150

Efficiency %

100

105 115
105-115

105 115
105-115

Flexibility or
turndown

10:1
20:1 (possible)

2:1
3:1 ( possible)

4:1
6:1 (possible)

Entrainment

300

100

Least

Cost %

100

70-85

70

Fouling service
suitability

Fair

Good (for large

holes)

Good

Tray spacing

24-36

20-30

18-30

*With bubble cap trays as base case

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OTHER TYPE OF TRAYS:

1. Baffle Trays / Shed deck

2. Ripple Tray

3 Disc and Donut tray

3.

4. Dual Flow tray

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Applications Other Types of Trays

Type

Applications

Dual flow /Ripple

trays

Same as for sieve trays.

trays
Higher capacity but low efficiency
Poor turndown characteristics

Baffle trays / shed

deck/ Disc & Donut

Good for heat transfer applications

Can handle coke & solids.

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CLASSIFICATION OF TRAYS
Based on Liquid Flow Paths:

Single Pass

Two Pass

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CLASSIFICATION OF TRAYS

Three Pass

Four Pass

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High Capacity Trays (HCT)

HCT

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Difference in Configuration:
Major difference in Conventional & High capacity
trays are due to modification in the type/
construction of the internals :

Modification in active area

Modification in down comer area
Reduction
R d ti
in
i Tray
T
Spacing
S
i

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Types of HCT :
By modifying Active Area

By Modifying Down Comer Area

Bifrac & Superfrac (M/s Koch)

Maxfrac (M/s Koch)

Provalve ((M/s Norton))

Triton ((M/s Norton))

MVG (M/s Nutter)

MD, ECMD & VGMD (M/s UOP)

Hi Fi (M/s
Hi-Fi
(M/ Sulzer)
S l )
Nye (M/s Glitch)

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Claims by HCT Vendors:

Vendor

Tray

Capacity increase
(Upto)

Koch-Glitsch
Norton

Nye
Bifrac
Maxfrac
Superfrac
Triton
Provalve

15-20%
25%
25%
30%
25%
20%

UOP

ECMD
VGMD

20%
30%

Sulzer

MVG

20%

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Various types of High Capacity Valves

MVG (MINI V
V-GRID)
GRID)

PROVALVE

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Continuation.

MD Trays by UOP
O

Hi Fi Trays
Hi-Fi
T
by
b Sulzer
S l

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Continuation.
ECMD Trays by UOP

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Comparison between various types of Trays

Tray Type

Capacity

Efficiency

Cost / unit
area

Flexibility Remarks

Bubble Cap
p

Med. to High except

low to med. @ high
liquid rates

Med. To High

High ( almost
twice the cost of
sieve trays)

3/1 to 4/1

Use for high flexibility

Sieves

Med. to High

High, Equal to or
better than others

Lowest of all trays

2/1 to 3/1

First choice for most

applications;

Valves

Med. to High

High, as good as
sieves

Medium (About
110% of sieve
trays)

High.
Possibly up to
5/1.

Not recommended for

fouling services.

UOP MD,
UOP-MD,
UOP-ECMD,
Sulzer Hi-Fi

Veryy High,
g , estimated
to be 30-40% than a
conventional sieve
trays for high liq.
rates

Low to Medium

Higher
g
than valve
trays

Low. ((< 2/1))

Consider for revamps

p
where no other device
is acceptable. Low
Tray Spacing, Nonfouling services

SuperFrac,
SuperFrac
MVG,
ProValve,
Triton

Very High
High, estimated
to be 10-15 % than a
conventional sieve
trays for high liq.
rates

Medium

More than 105%

of sieve trays

Medium.
Medium
Slightly higher
than sieve
trays.

Good alternative to
sieve
trays at low liquid rate
where higher capacity
is needed.

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Packed Column

Liquid Distributor
Packing
Support Plate
Liquid Collector/ Re-distributor
Bed Limiter

S
Support
t Pl
Plate
t

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Applicability of Packed Columns in a Refinery:

For column < 900 mm I.D: Packing are usually cheaper

than trays.

Acids & many other corrosive materials can be readily

handled in packed column. Because materials like
ceramic, carbon or other acid resistant material can be
used in packed beds.

Hold-up
p of liquid
q
can be quite
q
low in packed
p
column,, an
advantage when liquid is thermally sensitive.

Liquid tending to foam may be handled more readily in

packed column because of relatively low degree of liquid
agitation by gas.

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Contd.
Potential to handle high throughput at high efficiency.
Packing itself acts as a foam breaker.
Extensive use in revamp application. However. acceptable in
grass-root design also

Offer low P/ unit theoretical stage.

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Historical Generation of Packing in Industries

Packing
g
1st Generation

2nd Generation

Raschig Rings

Pall Rings

Lessing Rings

HyPak

Cross Partition Rings

Berl Saddles

IMTP
CMR
N tt Ri
Nutter
Rings

3rd Generation
FlexiPak
GemPak
MellaPak
ParlPak

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Types of Random Packing

IMTP

PALL RING

INTALOX SADDLE

RASCHIG RING
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Structured Packings

EILs Parlpak

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Comparison between various types of Packings

Packing
Type

Capacity

Efficiency

Random
Packing
(Pall ings, Metal
Intalox, etc.)

Medium

Medium

Structured
Packing
(FlexiPac
(FlexiPac,
GemPak,
MellaPak etc.)
Grid
(FLexiGrid,
Intalox Grid,
etc.)

Cost / unit
area
Medium to Low

Flexibility

> 3/1

Remarks

- Good efficiency per

unit of pressure drop.
- Mainly used in
Absorbers where liquid
loads are high

High to Very High

High

Very High

Good in
Entrainment
removal & Heat
Transfer
applications
only.

Medium
(Varies with
Metallurgy)
eta u gy)

>3/1

Best efficiency per unit

of pressure drop.

Medium to High

< 2/1

-Good
Good for high vapor &
low liquid service .
- Used in wash zones
of HC fractionators
where Coking formation
predominates

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Criteria for Internal selection:

Following criterions help the designer in selecting the best
internal for a given application
application, depends upon the various
factors but primarily on whether its a :
-

A Grass Root Design, or

A Revamp
p Activity
y

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Internal Selection for New tower (Table-1):

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Internal Selection for New tower (Table-2) :

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Internal Selection for a Revamp service (Table -3):

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Internal Selection for a Revamp service (Table-4):

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Comparison between Trays & Packing

Parameters

Trays

Packed column
Random

Service

Capacity

-Process

reactions
- Fouled service
- High no. of liquid withdrawals
- High turndown & low liquid
rates
rates.
1.0

Pressure Drop
(P)

1.0

Column size

1.0

Cost

Internals
Columns

with exothermic

1.0
1.0

Structured

HP Absorbers
- Pump
P
Around
A
d (HT)
- Vacuum services

-Vacuum

service
-Revamps
R
-High no. Of stages.
-H.P absorbers

1.0-1.15

1.2-1.3

1/3-1/5

1/5-1/10

0.9

0.8

1.2
0.9

1.5*
0.9

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Focus on Design of Trays

Before proceeding for the design of a tray tower, the Design
Specialist needs the following data from his process counterpart:
a. Vapor Loads entering the trays and its properties viz. temperature,
pressure, mol. wt. & compressibility factor.
b. Liquid
q
Loads leaving
g the tray
y and its p
properties
p
viz. density,
y,
viscosity, surface tension etc.
c. Allowable pressure drop per tray.
d. Turn down/ turn up requirement
e. Foaming tendency
f. Material of construction
g. Fouling
g
g Characteristics
h. Any special requirements like heat transfer etc.

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Tray Geometry: Major Components

Following are the major components of the tray :

No. of Passes
No
Active Area
Down comers
Number of valves
Pitch/Layout
Calming zone
Inlet & Outlet Weir
Tray Spacing
Under Down comer Flow Clearance (UDFC)
Column Diameter
Column Height
Other additional features like chimney tray, distributors etc.

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Typical Tray Layout

Plan View

Elevation View

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Tray design :
Following are the 3 broad categories that influence the
design of the tray:
a. Parameters affecting
g vapor
p capacity
p
y
b. Parameters affecting liquid capacity
c. Other Important parameters

The same can be shown clearly from this graph..

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Va
apor Rate

Typical Performance Diagram

Area of Normal Operation

Moderate Weeping
Heavy Weeping

Liquid Rate
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Tray design : Effect of Vapor Loadings

There are certain limitations on the vapor handling
capacity of the column about which the designer shall
be fully aware of before finalizing the configuration of
the Column:
The main controlling/limiting
/
factors
f
are :

Jet Flood
Flow Regimes
Entrainment

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Parameters affecting Vapor Loadings:

Jet flood

Jet Flood is the state of entrainment when the down comers can't
handle adequate liquid flow and liquid backs up and fills the trays
& the vapor-liquid
p
q
contacting
g mass of a tray
y reaches the one tray
y
above, resulting in massive entrainment and liquid recycling which
eventually affects the distillation and overloads the down comers.
Effect of Jet Flood on Column performance:

This can result in loss of bottoms level,

level low tray efficiency
efficiency, high tower pressure
drop, control problems, etc.

If the down comer is too small or tray pressure drop is too high,
high flooding can be
caused by down comer backup even if entrainment is small.

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Jet Flood Vs Column Efficiency

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Parameters affecting Vapor Loadings: Flow Regimes

Different flow regimes can occur on a tray in a column.
Following are the prominent flow regimes that can be encountered in a
column depending on Vapor-liquid flow rates:
E
Emulsion
l i
regime
i
operation
ti occurs primarily
i
il att llow vapor velocities
l iti and
d
high liquid rates i.e. the liquid phase is continuous
Froth regimes occurs primarily when vapor passes through the liquid
on the tray as discrete bubbles of irregular shape, formed at the tray
perforations and are swept away by the froth
Spray regime operation occurs primarily at high vapor velocities and
low liquid rates i.e. In the spray regime, the vapor phase is continuous.

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Flow Regime within Normal Operating Range

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Effect on Efficiency:
From the above graph it is clear that:
Froth regime is the most desirable operating regime for an efficient
performance of a column.
Operation in the Spray regime can be very detrimental to good tower
performance as tray efficiency dropping sharply
sharply.

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Parameters affecting Vapor Loadings: Entrainment

Entrainment occurs because of inadequate vapor space above the

vapor-liquid contacting zone on a tray. Liquid doesn't fully disengage
from the vapor, and is carried to the tray above.

Eff t off E
Effect
Entrainment
t i
t on a Column
C l
Performance:
P f

Entrainment becomes more pprevalent when tower vapor

p loads increase.
Massive entrainment leads to jet flooding.

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Entrainment in a Column:

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Tray design : Effect of Liquid Loadings

Similar to vapor loadings, there are certain limitations on
the liquid handling capacity of the column as well:
Liquid loading effect the following parameters :

Down comer Flood

Under Down Comer Velocity
Down Comer Back
Back-Up
Up limits

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Liquid Handling Limitations: Down Comer Flood

Down Comer Flood is the criterion that determines how close a

tower is to flooding as a result of excessive liquid height in the
down comer.

or,
Percent down comer flood represents the ratio of the actual
vapor
p and liquid
q
feed rates to the feed rates that would result in
100% down comer froth backup.

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Down Comer Filling in a Column

Down comer filling (Hd) is defined as the clear liquid height in the down comer.
Hd = Ht + Hud + Hi + Hdc

And, Dry Tray Pressure drop (Ht) is given by :

Ht = Hed + Hc
where;
Hd
Ht
Hud
Hi
Hdc
Hed
Hc

Down Comer Filling

Tray pressure drop,
Head loss under the down comer,
Inlet head on the tray,
Head loss due to flow through the down Comer
Dry tray pressure drop
Clear liquid height

Each head is expressed in inches (mm) of hot clear liquid.

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Typical in a down comer

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DC Back Up:
This is the measure of the aerated liquid in the down comer,
calculated in terms of clear liquid height.

Backup is a function of dry and wet tray pressure drop and head loss under the
down comer.

If the restrictions to flow are too large and/or a foamy system is involved, the
aerated liquid in the down comer can backup to the level of the outlet weir and
cause tower flooding.

Calculated backup should generally not exceed about half of the tray spacing
Lower
L
backups
b k
should
h ld be
b used
d ffor ffoamy systems
t

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Other Important Parameters:

There are many other important parameters which shall
be satisfied or shall be taken care of in the design viz.

Tray Area & Efficiency

Tray Spacing
Turn-down Ratio / weeping
Tray pressure Drop
Fouling
F li
Foaming
Others

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Tray Area:
Mainly 2 Components ascertain Tray Area:
1) Calming Area : This is an area preserved for vapor
disengagement prior to liquid entering a down comer. The unperforated narrow strip of active area next to the outlet weir is
considered to be calming area.
2) Active
Acti e Area : This is the tray deck area enclosed by the tower
wall, the outlet weirs, and the edges of the inlet areas. Valves or
sieve holes are located in the active area

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Tray capacity & Tray efficiency:

Tray capacity and tray efficiency are the two most important
criteria in tray design:

Diameter of a tower is mainly determined by capacity

considerations,
Tray efficiency determines the number of actual trays,
trays and
therefore the height, of the tower.

To achieve g
good efficiency,
y, the designer
g
must optimize
p
the weir height, open area, bubble area, liquid flow path
length, number of liquid passes, and other variables.

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Tray Spacing:
Tray spacing along with Column Diameter is an important
parameter that set the capacity of the tower.
As the distance between trays is increased, the tower capacity will
increase and the column diameter could be reduced.
Low tray spacing can also be used
used, but this increases the column
diameter as to handle a given set of vapor and liquid loadings. Also,
such low spacing may lead to difficult maintenance.
Typically
T i ll , a ttray spacing
i off 24 iinches
h iis preferred.
f
d
Therefore, Selection of optimum tray spacing is a function of
column diameter and service (clean or fouled) and most
importantly depends upon the experience of the equipment
designer/databank
designer/databank.
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Turndown Ratio :

Turndown Ratio is the term used to define the range of

loadings over which acceptable tray performance is achieved.
This usually means the range over which the tray efficiency
stays
y at or above the design
g value.
Note : While deciding the turndown ratio, a specialist must check
the weeping efficiency curve that how much design efficiency is
obtained at turn down.

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Effect of Weeping:
This is the passage of liquid through the tray deck seams,
and valve or sieve holes.

It occurs more when vapor rates are low, and is the primary
reason sieve trays lose efficiency at turndown operation.

When 25% of the liquid load weeps through the tray, one
should expect significant loss of tray efficiency

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Effect of weeping on Efficiency:

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Foaming Factor:

Foaming can occur in distillation towers via several different

mechanisms including:

Presence of surface active materials.

Presence of solids.
Entrainment of HCs liquids into aqueous systems.
Condensation of HCs vapors into aqueous systems.
To design for foaming, the tray is usually oversized by using a lower
percent of jet flooding and down comer flood, a low dry tray pressure
drop a low down comer entrance velocity,
drop,
velocity and a reduced allowable
down comer filling.

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Packed Column Design :

Following are the major parameters that influence the
design of the packed columns :
a.
b.
c.
d.

Vapor
p & Liquid
q
Capacity
p
y limitations
Efficiency & Turn down
Heat Transfer
Other considerations

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Packed Column Design: Effect of Vapor/Liq

Vapor/Liq Capacity

Phenomena of Flooding in Packed Beds

(In both Random Packing or Structured
Str ct red Packing)
Flooding occurs when liquid begins to accumulate in the
packing and the pressure drop begins to rise more sharply.
p rate, the p
pressure drop
p rises
With further increases in vapor
almost vertically and liquid begins to pile up on the top of
the packing.

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Packed Column Design: Efficiency & Turn Down

For most applications, random packing should be

considered first because they are lower cost.
cost
If a low pressure drop per theoretical stage and/or a short
column height
g is required,
q
, then structured p
packing
g should
be evaluated as an option.
To ensure optimum efficiency at all rates, a high quality
li id distributor
liquid
di t ib t mustt be
b used.
d
The selection of a liquid distributor is critical in the design of
a packed bed

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Packed Column Design: Other

Factors

There are various parameters that also influence the

Design of the packed columns, for instance:
a. Heat transfer Requirement
q
b. Vapor & Liquid distribution
c. Fouling , etc.

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Future Challenge & Trends

Challenges lying ahead for this industry:

Lower capital cost & optimized design

Energy efficient hardware
Higher continuous run length
Flexibility to handle wide variations in loads.

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