Study in Gas Stripping in a Packed Column

Background
Absorption of gases into a liquid (to remove contaminants, such as Volatile Organic
Compounds, from vent gases for example) and stripping of dissolved gases from a liquid (to remove
contaminants from a liquid stream) are usually carried out in
V, y2
packed columns (or plate columns for large gas volume
operations). The packing provides a large surface area per unit
volume so that, when contacted, it can provide a large area for
L, x2 mass transfer. In this experiment we will study the stripping of
dissolved ammonia in water using air as the carrier gas.

z The key design variables that an engineer must specify are the
L, x V, y height of packing required and diameter of the column. The
z+dz
diameter is determined by the gas velocity which must be
small enough to prevent entrainment and flooding of the
column. Flooding occurs when the gas velocities are high
L, x1 enough to prevent the liquid from flowing down freely through
the packing causing liquid buildup in the column and hence
V, y1 loss of contact
efficiency which in turn y2*

leads to poor separation. In this exercise you will review the

design equations for packed columns that were covered in the
Mole fraction of NH3 in Gas à
e
Lin
m
Mass Transfer Course. y2 Eq
u ilib
riu

ine
gL
Fist we assume that the NH3 concentration is low enough so y1* Op
era
tin

that the flow of gas and liquid through the column can be y1

considered constant. (ie. liquid flow, L moles/hr and the Gas

flow, G moles/hr are constant throughout the column.) This x1 Mole fraction of NH3 in liquid à x2

assumption is generally good for dilute solutions with

concentrations below 10% throughout. A mass balance on the NH3 in the system enclosed by the
dotted line gives L Vy  Lx2
Lx2  Vy  Lx  Vy2 . Simplifying this we get y  x  2 .
V V
This equation generates the operating line for the column and it relates y and x values throughout
the column. The operating line's slope is L/V and it passes through the point (x2,y2) and (x1,y1).

Another equation of interest to us is the equilibrium line. This curve gives the mole fraction of NH3
in a gas phase that is in equilibrium with a liquid of concentration, x. The attached table gives this
data. Let us denote the equilibrium concentration of NH3 using y*. The mass transfer in a small
differential volume in the column as shown is proportional to the distance (y*-y), which forms the
driving force for the mass transfer. This mass transfer rate can be written as: Vdy  K y a( y*  y )Sdz
where; Sdz is the volume of the differential element,
S is the cross section area of the column
and a is the surface area per unit volume of packing.

Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department USF page 1 of 2

 This equation indicates that the NH3 transferred to the gas phase is proportional to the driving force
and the area available for mass transfer. The constant of proportionality Ky is called the overall
mass transfer coefficient. The mass transfer rate equation can be integrated to provide the
connection to the Height of a Transfer Unit: K aS y2
dy
 dz   *
y

V y1
y y
y2
V dy
or ZT  ( )(  * )
K y aS y1 y  y
 H OG N OG
Where
HOG = Height of a Transfer Unit (HTU), based on Gas film
NOG = Number of Transfer Units (NTU), based on Gas film.

Thus Number of Transfer Units, NTU, can be computed if we know the inlet and exit gas
concentrations and the equilibrium data. The exit concentration of NH3 in the air can be obtained
from a balance written around the column and from measured inlet and exit liquid NH3
concentrations. The integration can be carried out graphically. However if the equilibrium curve is
nearly straight (which should be the case for this column operation), then further simplification is
possible and the NTU and HTU can be computed directly;

1  1 ( y  mx2 ) 1 
N OG  ln (1  ) 1  ; A  L /( mV )
(1  1/ A)  A ( y2  mx2 ) A 
mV
H OG  H G  HL (see your Mass Transfer text for the derivation).
L
The variable m is the slope of the equilibrium line. Good correlations for estimating HG and HL are
available in the literature such as your textbook on Mass Transfer. See for example the Geankoplis
text. Use one of these correlations for predicting HG and HL hence zT. Compare with the actual
height of the bed.

The key operating variables are liquid flow rate and gas flow rate. As gas flow rate increases, it
pushes up on the liquid flowing down counter currently eventually leading to a situation when the
liquid can no longer flow down and accumulates in the column. This is called flooding. The
pressure drop through the column increases rapidly as flooding is approached. Once flooding is
reached, the column efficiency drops dramatically as the surface area available for mass transfer
decreases significantly. Typically packed columns are run at about 70% of flooding gas velocity.
Empirical correlations are available for predicting the onset of flooding.

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