Design of a Vertical Flash Drum

Abstract

A separating vessel used to separate out the constituents of feed is termed as a flashing drum or

“flash drum”. The main working principle of the flashing vessel is that the pressurized vessel is

partialized into two phases when entering the big volume of flash drum. This report defines the

design of flash drum in which we study the properties of flashing process by fixing one

independent variable while varying the others and vice versa. The objective of this study is to

design the vertical flash drum which gives the less liquid load with estimated level control into the

vessel. The significant pressure drops in the feed stream making the feed vaporize and separate

into fluid and vapor stages. The equilibrium data of fluid and vapor (by and large called vapor-

fluid balance: VLE) can be acquired tentatively.

Introduction

Flashing can be viewed as one of the easiest partition forms. In this procedure, a pressurized feed

stream, which is in fluid stage, is gone through a throttling valve/spout or a development

valve/spout (some of the time, the feed stream might be gone through a warmer before being gone

through the valve/spout, so as to pre-warm the feed) associated with a tank or drum, which is

known as a "flash" tank or drum. Subsequent to being gone through the valve/spout, the feed enters

the tank/drum, whose weight is low; in this manner, there is a generous pressure drop in the feed

stream, making the feed somewhat vaporize. The division that moves toward becoming vapor goes

up to and is taken off at the highest point of the tank/drum. The staying fluid part goes down to

and is pulled back at the base of the tank/drum. The flash drums are classified into horizontal and

vertical type depending on their direction of installation.

Let’s denote the amount (in mole) of:

 feed as F

 liquid fraction as L

 vapor fraction as V

The overall material (or mole) balance for the system within the dashed boundary can be written

as follows:
 F=L+V

Species balance (for species i) can also be performed as follows:

𝑧𝑖 𝐹 = 𝑥𝑖 𝐿 + 𝑦𝑖 𝑉

The energy balance for this system is:

𝐹 ℎ𝑓 + 𝑄𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ = 𝐿 ℎ𝐿 + 𝑉 ℎ𝑉

Commonly, Flash Q = 0, or nearly 0, as the flash distillation is usually operated adiabatically &

the equation can be reduced to:

𝐹 ℎ𝑓 = 𝐿 ℎ𝐿 + 𝑉 ℎ𝑉

To determine the amount of QH (or to determine the size of the heater), an energy balance around

the heater is performed as follows:

𝐹 ℎ1 + 𝑄𝐻 = 𝐹 ℎ𝐹

It should be noted that, if the feed contains only 2 components (i.e. the feed is a binary mixture),

it results in the following factors:

1. Before being fed into the tank, the feed contains only one phase (i.e. liquid phase); thus the

degree of freedom is:

F=C–P+2

F=2–1+2

F=3
Where,

F = degree of freedom, C = number (#) of species, and P = number (#) of phases involved.

2. After being fed into the tank, the feed is divided into 2 phases (i.e. liquid and vapor phases),

which results in the degree of freedom:

F=C–P+2

F=2–2+2

F=2

This means that:

1. Before the feed is being fed into the tank, it requires 3 variables (e.g., z, T, and P) to identify

other properties of the system (e.g., h, s).

2. After the feed is passed into the tank, it requires only 2 variables (e.g., xi, Pdrum or yi and

Tdrum) to obtain exact values of other properties.

After the framework achieves the balance, every one of fluid

and vapor stages is tested and afterward examined for its

structure. Regularly, the drum is intended to work either at

steady pressure (where the framework's temperature is

changed) or at a consistent temperature (where the pressure

of the framework fluctuates) mode.

Let’s define:
 𝑉
=𝑓
𝐹

the fraction of the feed that vaporizes,

𝐿
=𝑞
𝐹

the fraction of the feed that remains liquid.

On re-arranging the equations, we get:

L=F–V

Thus, the term L/V can be re-written, by combining with above eq., as:

𝐿 𝐹−𝑉 1 − 𝑉⁄𝐹
= =
𝑉 𝑉 𝑉⁄
𝐹

𝐿 1−𝑓
=
𝑉 𝑓

Additionally, the term F/V in Eq. can be re-written as:

𝐹 𝐹 1
= =
𝑉 𝐹−𝐿 1 − 𝐿⁄𝐹

𝐹 1
=
𝑉 1−𝑞
Conclusion

The outcomes are good enough to operate flashing process thoroughly with the feed F =

3253.631287 lbmol/hr, upper product V = 1438.4988 lbmol/hr and the lower product L =

1815.1325 lbmol/hr depicts that the most part of the feed remains in the liquid phase and move

towards the bottom section of the flash drum. The diameter of drum is 9.3 feet while the height of

the drum is 37 feet.

Unfortunately, since the equations are nonlinear, they don't have great union properties.

Subsequently, if the main conjecture of V/F isn't adequate (for example excessively a long way

from the genuine answer), the right arrangement may not be gotten. The preliminary hit & trial

method is iterated until the speculated estimation of L is equivalent to the estimation of L figured.

We can utilize a numerical technique, for example, a "Newtonian convergence procedure" to settle

the solution.