GAS ABSORPTION

ABSORPTION

 Mass transfer process in which a vapor solute A in a gas mixture is absorbed by means of a liquid in
which the solute is more or less soluble.
 Desorption or stripping is the reverse of absorption, in which one or more gaseous components in a
liquid stream is removed from the gas-liquid solution by being vaporized into an insoluble gas stream.

𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 + 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑎𝑠 ABSORBENT 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑡 +

𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑎𝑠
→

Where Absorption is Used:

 Nitric acid manufacturing

Absorption of nitrous gases in water or nitric acid
 Hydrogenation of edible oils
Hydrogen gas is bubbled in oil and absorbed
 Air pollution control
Absorption of flue gas by contacting with liquid
 Removal of CO2 from water gas

Common Gas Absorption Equipment:

1. Plate Tower
2. Packed Tower ( Continuous differential contact equipment )
 Other equipment are: spray column, agitated contactor, venture scrubber, etc

PACKED TOWER

Steps In The Design Of Packed Tower

1. Selection of solvent
2. Selection of packing
3. Calculation of minimum solvent flow rate as well as actual solvent flow rate
4. Column diameter
5. Height of column
6. Design of solvent distributors and redistributors (if needed)
7. Design of gas distributor, packing support, shell, nozzles, column support
 (a) Equilibrium data; (b) gas and liquid flow rates; (c) solute concentration in two terminals; (d)
individual and overall volumetric mass transfer coefficients should be known for the design of a packed
absorption tower.

Some Criteria for the Selection of an absorbent :

1. Gas solubility
 High solubility of a gas in the solvent is preferred, utilizing low quantity of solvent.
 Absorbent should not dissolve carrier gas. Similar chemical nature of solute and absorbent (solvent)
gives a good solubility.
 If chemical reaction takes place between solute and solvent, rate of absorption is extremely high. But
the reaction should be reversible to recover solvent during desorption.
2. Volatility
3. Viscosity
 For better absorption, a solvent of low viscosity is required.
  In mechanically agitated absorber, greater amount of power is required for high viscous solvent and
flooding is also caused at lower liquid and gas flow rates.
4. Corrosiveness
5. Cost
6. Toxicity and hazard

 Steam is generally used in desorption or stripping medium as

stripped solute can be recovered very easily by condensing steam leaving
desorption tower

Packing Materials
 Packing materials are utilized to provide large interfacial area of contact between two phases.
 These are made from either of ceramics, metals or plastics. A number of packing materials with various
size, shape and performance are available.
 These are classified into three types, namely, dumped or random,
structured and grid.
 The packing materials have following characteristics:
(a) Cost: The cost of the packing materials should be very low.
(b) Surface area: A large interfacial area of contact is always recommended. In that case, pressure
drop will be more.
(c) Void volume: A high void volume is needed to maintain low pressure drop.
(d) Fouling resistance: Packing materials should not trap suspended solids present in liquid. Bigger
packing materials generally give low fouling resistance.
(e) Mechanical strength: Good mechanical strength is desired for choosing packing materials as this
will not break or deform during filling or operation.
(f) Uniform flow of streams: Stack of packing materials should have uniform void spaces through which
both the streams (gas and liquid) can flow uniformly. Non-uniform flow of streams leads to stagnant
liquid pool which in turn gives low mass transfer.
 Dumped or random packing materials: Dumped or random packing materials are classified into three
categories as first generation (1907 to mid 1950); second generation (mid 1950 to mid 1970) and third
generation (mid 1970 to till date
 Structured packing materials: These materials are used widely as packing materials in packed tower
due to low gas pressure drop and improved efficiency. Corrugated metal sheet structured packing and
Wire mesh structured packing materials are widely used in the industries. These include Mellapak,
Flexipak, Gempak, Montz and MaxPak.
 Grid packing materials: This packing material is used for high gas or vapor capacities at low
pressure drop. Mellagrid series; Flexigrid series; Snap grid series are among these grids.
Figures 4.1-4.4 are taken from Google image.

Lean Gas
Weak Liquor/Solvent
V2 L2

V1 L1
Rich gas Strong Liquor

V = Total gas flow rate V’ = V (1 - y)

Y = mol solute/mol inert in gas
V’ = inert gas flow rate L’ = L (1 - x)
y= mol fraction of solute in gas
L = Total flow rate of solution X = x/ (1 - x)
X = mol solute/mol solvent in liquid
L’ = Flow rate of solvent Y = y/ (1 - y)
x = mol fraction of solute in liquid
Absorption Theory
Two –Film Theory:
1. Steady state : concentration at any position in the tower do not change with time
2. Interface between the gas phase and the liquid phase is a sharp boundary.
3. Laminar film exist at the interface on both sides of the interface
4. Equilibrium exist at the interface, thus resistance to mass transfer across the interface is negligible.
5. No chemical reaction: rate of diffusion across the gas-phase film must equal the rate of diffusion across the
liquid-phase film.
Material Balance Equations

OMB: V 1 + L2=V 2 + L1

Solute Balance:

Mass Transfer Equations

Based on Transfer based on Interfacial Concentrations

Gas Phase
1. But:
2.
3.

Liquid Phase
1.
2.
3.

In terms of the Overall Mass Transfer Coefficient K y a∧K x a

Or: N A =K y a ¿SdZ
N A =K G a ¿

Where:
y* = mole fraction in gas phase in equilibrium with the liquid phase
x* = mole fraction in liquid phase in equilibrium with the gas phase
kx, ky = mass transfer coefficient in the liquid and gas phase , kgmol/s m2 mol fraction
kG = mass transfer coefficient in the gas phase, kgmol/s m2 atm

Design Equation For Height of Packed Tower

 Z=HTU x NTU , Z=HOG x NOG , Z=HOL x NOL

For dilute solution

If equilibrium is linear.

If solution is concentrated and EC and OL are linear within limits

Sources of Equilibrium Data

1. Tabulated Data (Experimental Results)

2. X vs Y Diagrams
3. X vs P Diagrams
4. Raoult’s law ( for ideal solution)

5. Henry’s Law (for dilute solutions)

Overall Mass Transfer Coefficient: Kya and Kxa

PLATE COLUMN

Tiller Tour Equation :

y 1−¿ y ¿
1
¿
y 2− y 2
N=log ¿
y 1− y 2
log ¿ ¿
y 1− y 2
- ¿
Kremser –Brown Eq. for absorption factor

y 1− y 2 A−A
N +1
E= ¿= N +1 where: A = absorption factor= slope of operating line/ slope of equilibrium curve
y 1− y 2 1− A
E = % absorbed

Kremser –Brown Eq for Desorption

x 1−x 2 S−S
N+1
E= ¿= N +1 where : S = slope of EC/ slope of OL
x 1−x 2 1−S