Experiment No.

4
LOADING AND FLOODING CHARACTERISTICS
OF A PACKED COLUMN

Introduction:

Packed towers are used for continuous contact of liquid and gas in vertical columns, filled with
packing. The liquid while trickling down through packed bed, exposes a large surface area for
contact with the gas. In a randomly packed column, the pressure drop encountered by the gas
depends on gas and liquid flow rates. Depending on the gas and liquid hold-up, there can be shift
from gas-liquid-dispersed to liquid-continuous-gas dispersed state.

Objectives:

1. To determine the loading and flooding velocities for air-water system in a packed tower
2. To plot log (∆P/L) vs log(G) where (∆P/L) is the pressure gradient and G is the mass
velocity of air
3. To compare the experimental values of the flooding velocity with those obtained from
Sherwood plot
Or, Plot L vs. G (gas velocity at flooding)

Theory:

Packed towers are used for continuous countercurrent and cocurrent contact of liquid and gas.
The towers are vertical columns filled with packings which provide large interfacial area.

The tower can be operated at a particular liquid flow are (can be maintained constant) while the
gas flow rate can be progressively increased. After sometime, it can be seen that a liquid hold-up
is built-up inside the column packing. Then if the gas flow rate be increased further, no liquid
would come out from the bottom of the tower and the tower would be flooded with liquid. At
flooding, the velocity of the gas with reference to the liquid rate maintained is the flooding
velocity. The gas velocity in an operating packed column must obviously be lower than the
flooding velocity. However, as flooding is approached most of the entire packing surface is
wetted, maximizing the contact area between gas and liquid. The flood velocity depends strongly
on the type and size of packing and the liquid mass velocity.

Since it is difficult to identify the flooding and loading velocity visually, a conventional
approach is to obtain the same from a log-log plot of (∆P/L) vs. G. Flooding is assumed to occur
at a pressure drop of 2.0/ft of packing. The pressure drop curves are vertical or nearly so at the
flooding point. Accordingly, it is determined as the onset of vertical lines in the (∆P/L) vs. G plot
while the termination of the linear portion of the curve gives the loading point. It is important to
estimate the loading point since the column operates most efficiently at or near this point. For
low liquid rates the flooding velocity varies with about the -2.0 to -0.3 power of the liquid rate
and the 0.6 to 0.7 power of the packing size. The effects of liquid rate and packing size become
more pronounced at high liquid mass velocities.

 ap 
G 2  3   L0.2
For random packings, Sherwood et al. made a plot of   vs.
L G
which can be
gc G  L G L
used for theoretical estimation of the flooding velocity.

Experimental Setup:

The set-up essentially consists of a perspex column filled with Rasching rings (ID 1.25 cm), a
compressor, centrifugal pump, an orifice meter for measuring gas flow rate, a rotameter for water
flow rate and a manometer for pressure drop across the column.

Figure 4.1: Experimental Set-up

Procedure:

1. Initially the column is operated under dry conditions with only gas flow and the pressure
drop is measured for each constant air flow rate.
2. The water flow rate in the packed tower is then started and maintained constant at a
particular value, with the air velocity being slowly increased till flooding occurs.
3. The same is repeated for four different water flow rates and flooding velocity as a
function of fluid flow rates is estimated.
4. The students should visually observe flooding in the tower.

Data Analysis:

From the plot of log(∆P/L) vs. log G, the loading and flooding points are to be
determined for each liquid flow. The curve under dry conditions should also be included
in the same figure.

Flooding velocities for different liquid flow rates are to be obtained from Sherwood plot
and compared with the experimentally determined values.

A description of the flooding phenomenon is to be included in the report.

Results

Sl. Water flow Δh Orifice Δh Bed G ΔP/L log(ΔP/L)

log G
No. rate (cm3/s) (mm) (cm) (kg/m2 s) (N m-2/m)
67 14.5 32.38 1.51 7791 3.89

73 15.0

1. 0 (dry run) 81 15.4

85 15.5

95 16.4

35 15.0 22.74 8067.88

38 15.5

2. 20 40 16.0

44 16.5

49 17.5

25 16.0 19.79 8605.74

28 16.6

3. 35 35 17.0

38 18.0

43 19.5

15 19.0 15.33 10219.3

20 19.2

3. 50 23 19.5

25 21.5

28 24.0

10 19.5 15.52 10488.2

14 20.7

4. 65 15 22.6

18 23.5

20 25.5
Sample Calculation:

Density of manometric liquid (ρl) = 1590 kg/m3

Density of gas (ρg) = 1.225 kg/m3

Length of packed bed = 0.29 m

For first reading in dry run:

Co
Gas mass flow rate, G = 2 P  air where ΔP = ρl g Δh (orifice)
1  4

Co = 0.62, β = 0.5

0.62
Hence, G = 2 X 1590 X 9.8 X 0.067 X 1.225 = 32.38 kg/m2 s
1  0.5 4

Pressure drop across the bed, ΔP = ρl g Δh (bed) = 1590 x 9.8 x 0.145 = 2259.4 N/m2

ΔP/L = 2259.4/0.29 = 7791 N/m3

 Experiment No. 5
Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide onto Molecular Sieve

Introduction:
The components of a gaseous (or liquid) solution when contacted to certain solids, preferentially
specific components get concentrated onto the solid surface. This method of separation is useful
in dehumidification of gases, removal of odor and impurities, and recovery of valuable solvent
vapors from gas streams. The rigidity and immobility of a bed of solid make possible the
operation under semi-continuous mode.

Objective:
 To study the flow circuit of the adsorption column
 To determine the performance of the adsorption column for adsorption of carbon dioxide
from a mixture of air and carbon dioxide

Theory:
In adsorption operation, a solute from a solution is preferentially adsorbed on the surface of a
solid (adsorbent). Molecular sieves are such solids which can entrap adsorbed matter in the
“cages” of the crystals and the diameter of the passageways (controlled by the crystal
composition) regulates the size of the molecules which can enter. These solids can separate the
components according to molecular size and hence the name molecular sieves. The pore
diameters of the molecular sieves range from 3 to 10 Ǻ (Angstrom).

Experimental set-up:
The experimental set-up consists of an adsorption column of diameter 8.0 cm and height 80 cm
packed with 5A molecular sieve pellets. A carbon dioxide cylinder, compressed air line, surge
tank and rotameter are connected in the circuit. A heater after the rotameter is also installed to
study the effect of temperature on adsorption.
 Figure 5.1: Experimental Set-up

Figure 5.2: Schematic of Experimental Set-up

Procedure:
 Measure the flow rate of air from compressor by the rotameter provided before the
surge tank where carbon dioxide also enters from the CO2 cylinder.
 Measure the total gas flow rate by the rotameter provided after the surge tank.
 Send the gas mixture to the top of the adsorption column.
 Collect gas samples from the bottom of the column in gas sampling bottles by liquid
displacement technique at a regular time interval.
 Collect one gas sample from the inlet to the column.
 Determine concentration of carbon dioxide in the collected gas samples by Orsat
Apparatus.
 Note the flow rates of carbon dioxide, air and gas mixture as well as the surge tank
pressure.
 The experiments are repeated for different compositions of the inlet gas mixture.

Results:
Report the results you obtained, including the raw data and any quantities that you calculate
using the raw data.
Plot the carbon dioxide concentration at the exit against time.
Following data are obtained from one such experiment. Please study the performance of
adsorption column for Carbon dioxide in the air and CO2 mixture for the following data. If you
need additional data, get the data from the handbook. You can assume any physical data related
to the experimental set up. See the manual for additional help/hints/theories.

Observation data
The experimental setup consists of an adsorption column of diameter 8 cm and height 80 cm,
packed with 5 Angstrom molecular sieve pellets

Air flow rate: 75 cm3/sec

CO2 flow rate: 25 cm3/sec
Time Initial Volume Final Volume % CO2 % CO2
(min) (cm3) (cm3) at exit adsorbed
10 48 48
20 45 40
30 46 37.5
40 55 42
50 50 38

Plot %CO2 at exit vs. time

 Experiment No. 6

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF A BENCH-TOP COOLING TOWER

Introduction:
A cooling tower is a special type of heat exchanger in which the warm water and the air are
brought in direct contact for evaporating cooling. It must provide a very good contact of air and
water in terms of the contact area and mass transfer coefficient of water vapor while keeping the
air pressure drop low.

Water warmed by the passage through heat exchangers/condensers is cooled by contact for reuse.
The latent heat of water is high, so that only a small amount of evaporation produces significant
cooling effect.

Aim:
(1) To determine the performance of the cooling tower
(2) To determine the number and height of the transfer units.
(3) To calculate the theoretical evaporation rate.

Theory:
Over all mass balance:
Input = output

L2  L1  G2  G1

Where L2 water inlet, L1 water outlet, G1 air inlet, G2 air outlet

Water mass balance:

L2  L1  Gs Y2  Gs Y1

,For very high air rate

G2  G1  Gs  G

L2  L1  G(Y2  Y1)

Where Y2' humidity of outlet air, Y1' humidity of inlet air

Energy balance:

H G  CS (TG T )  Y  

CS  1.005  1.884 Y 

Q  G ( H G 2  H G 1 )

Where,  is latent heat, H'G is enthalpy of air, Cs is heat capacity of air

Determination of number of transfer unit:

H G 2 dH G H G 2  H G 1
NtOG   
H G 1 H G*  H G H Gm*
Where NtOG is number of transfer unit (dimensionless)

To calculate mean driving force :

HG 2  HG 1
HG m 
*

ln[( HG*1  H G 1 ) ( HG*2  HG 2 )]

To calculate height of the tower:

Z = NtOG x HtOG
G
H tOG 
M B * P * KG a

Where HtOG is height of transfer unit (m), MB is molecular weight of air, P is the pressure, and
KGa is mass transfer coefficient.

To calculate theoretical evaporation rate:

Theoretical evaporation rate, TER = L2  L1  Gs (Y2  Y1)

Gs  V / v H

.Where, V is the volumetric flow rate of humid air and vH is the humid volume
vH  (0.00283  0.00456 Y )(tG  273 )

To calculate Cooling Tower Effectiveness:

Effectiveness (%)
= 100 x Range / (Range + Approach)
= 100 x (Water inlet temp – Water outlet temp) / (Water inlet temp – Inlet air wet-
bulb temp)
= 100 x (tL2 – tL1)/(tL2 – tW1)
Experimental Set-up

Figure 6.1: Schematic of Experimental Set-up

 Figure 6.2: Experimental Set-up

Experimental Procedure:
Step 1. After the conditions have stabilized, introduce water and record its flow
rate.
Step 2 Put the heaters on so that water is heated to the required temperature.
Step 3. Introduce air and record its flow rate.
Step 4. Record the dry and wet bulb temperature of the entering and exit air.
Step 5 At regular intervals over a measured period of time, say 5 minutes, all
temperatures and flow rates should be noted and the mean values entered on the
observation chart.
Step 6 While keeping the water and air flows constant, the cooling load should be
increased to 0.5 kW. When the conditions have stabilized the observations should
be repeated. Similar tests should be made with cooling loads of 1.0 and 1.5 kW.
Results and Discussion:
Following data are obtained from one such experiment. Please determine the performance of the
cooling tower, the number and height of the transfer units in the existing tower and the
theoretical evaporation rate.
Observation Table

(i) Load Power (0.5 KW)

Flow Hot Air Cold Air
Velocity Inlet Outlet
Rate water water
(m/s)
(g/s) DB(⁰C) WB(⁰C) DB(⁰C) WB(⁰C) temp. (⁰C) temp. (⁰C)

10 4.10 29 24.0 25 22 38.0 28.8

14 3.35 28 23.5 26 24 38.5 30.8

20 3.30 28 25.0 25 24 38.5 31.8

(ii) Load Power (1 KW)

Flow Velocity Hot Air Cold Air Inlet Outlet

Rate (g/s) (m/s) water water
DB(⁰C) WB(⁰C) DB(⁰C) WB(⁰C) temp. (⁰C) temp. (⁰C)

10 3.55 35.5 32 26 24 51.5 29.8

14 3.59 38.0 32 26 24 55.0 37.0

22 3.49 40.0 33 26 24 52.0 38.4

Equilibrium Data:
tL (oC) 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
H' G * 58 76 100 130 167 213 275
(kJ/kg dry air)

Z =72.5 cm