Liquid Flow on Structured Packing: CFD Simulation and Experimental Study

Szulczewska, Beata; Zbiciński, Ireneusz; Górak, Andrzej

doi:10.1002/ceat.200390089

Cited by 80 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Using analytical solutions the liquid film thickness, velocity profile, mean velocity and liquid flow rate can be calculated. Using the FLUENT software package, Beata et al [8] simulated two-phase counter-current flow in a plate-type structured packing. The effect of the liquid flow rates on the interfacial area formed on the surface of the structured packing was investigated, but the effective wetted areas estimated by the two dimension CFD model can be unreliable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CFD Simulation of Liquid Film Flow on Inclined Plates

et al. 2004

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A two-phase flow CFD model using the volume of fluid (VOF) method is presented for predicting the hydrodynamics of falling film flow on inclined plates, corresponding to the surface texture of structured packing. Using the proposed CFD model the influence of the solid surface microstructure, liquid properties and gas flow rate on the flow behavior was investigated. From the simulated results it was shown that under the condition of no gas flow the liquid flow patterns are dependent on the microstructure of the plates, and proper microstructuring of the solid surface will improve the formation of a continuous liquid film. It was also found that liquid properties, especially surface tension, play an important role in determining the thinfilm pattern. However, there are very different liquid film patterns under the action of gas flow. Thinner liquid films break easily, but thicker liquid films can remain continuous even at higher gas flow rates, which demonstrates that all factors affecting the liquid film thickness will affect the liquid film patterns under conditions of counter-current two-phase flow.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CFD Simulation of Liquid Film Flow on Inclined Plates

et al. 2004

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“…Another model was proposed by Szulczewska et al [8]. The model was used to determine the effects of gas and liquid flow rates and physicochemical properties of the liquid on the interfacial area formed in structured packing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CFD Simulation of Mass Transfer Efficiency and Pressure Drop in a Structured Packed Distillation Column

et al. 2007

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The pressure drop and mass transfer efficiency for two-phase flow in a structured packed column were simulated using a commercial CFD package, CFX version 10. The distillation of the methanol/isopropanol system was carried out in a 0.073 m diameter column, with an element composed of a ceramic structured packing and 0.053 m in height. The Height Equivalent to Theoretical Plate (HETP) value varied from 0.106-0.146 m. Pressure drop experiments were measured with an air/water system. The pressure drops at the flooding and loading points were ca. 173 and 580 Pa/m of packing, respectively. HETPs and pressure drops calculated from the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model were compared to their experimental counterparts. The average relative error between CFD predictions and the experimental data for the prediction of dry pressure drop, irrigated pressure drop and mass transfer efficiency are 20.3 %, 23 % and 9.15 %, respectively. In all cases, the CFD predictions show a good agreement with the experimental data, indicating that CFD is a reliable, cost saving and suitable technique for the design and optimization of separation processes.

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“…The influences of the surface tension and the viscosity as well as the contact angle on the wetted surface were analyzed experimentally by Nicolaiewsky et al [6], where it was pointed out that decreasing the surface tension or increasing the viscosity favored the spreading of the liquid phase. From a modeling viewpoint, most simulations have been performed by two-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to investigate the film thickness and the behavior of interfacial waves [7][8][9][10][11]. The use of three-dimensional simulations is not abundant in the literature [1,2,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Approach to Characterize the Mass Transfer between the Counter‐Current Gas‐Liquid Flow

Paschke

Repke

et al. 2009

Chem Eng & Technol

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Structured packed columns are widely used in the chemical industry for distillation and absorption. However, the understanding of the transfer mechanism behind the counter-current gas-liquid flow in structured packed columns is still limited. In this work, a three-dimensional CFD model that considers the local absorption and the local momentum transfer mechanism is developed for a film flow on a small plate with a counter-current gas flow. The model, based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method, is built up on the basis of a pressure drop model and the penetration theory to quantitatively investigate the instantaneous hydrodynamics and mass transfer characteristics of the liquid phase. Simulations and experiments are carried out for a system consisting of propane and toluene. A comparison of the simulation results with the experimental data for the outlet concentrations shows good agreement.

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Liquid Flow on Structured Packing: CFD Simulation and Experimental Study

Cited by 80 publications

References 9 publications

CFD Simulation of Liquid Film Flow on Inclined Plates

CFD Simulation of Liquid Film Flow on Inclined Plates

CFD Simulation of Mass Transfer Efficiency and Pressure Drop in a Structured Packed Distillation Column

Computational Approach to Characterize the Mass Transfer between the Counter‐Current Gas‐Liquid Flow

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