Mass or energy transfer process using fluidized bed
AssigneesEuro-Matic Ltd., VAW Aluminium AG
InventorsHoward P. Davis, Wolfram Ruff
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for the design and performance of a process such as scrubbing, stripping, heat transfer from one stream to another, and removal of particulate constituents from a gas stream. The method includes using given values for various system parameters and/or selecting values for them and determining an optimum unknown value according to the following Equation: ##EQU1##
Claims33
A method for performing a process selected from the group consisting of scrubbing, stripping, or heat transfer, wherein a gas stream is flowed through a column having a bed comprising fluidizable hollow packing elements, and a liquid stream is flowed through in a direction countercurrent to said gas stream into said column, said liquid stream having a liquid flow L and said gas stream having a gas flow G sufficient to maintain said bed in a fluidized state and a superficial gas velocity v;
- comprising
- (a) selecting an unknown value selected from the group consisting of L/G, v, .rho..sub.p, .psi., s, .rho..sub.g and .rho..sub.L so that the following equation is satisfied for a predetermined value of .DELTA.P/H.sub.0 greater than 1300 Pa/m.sup.3 :
- ##EQU11## wherein .DELTA.P is the pressure drop across the bed;
- H.sub.0 is the bed height in a state of rest;
- C.sub.1 is a numerical constant;
- C.sub.2 is a numerical system constant having units of seconds/meter or equivalent;
- C.sub.3 is a system constant having units of seconds/meter;
- s is an element slip function in units of meters/second or equivalent;
- .psi. is a shape factor calculated as follows:
- y/x, wherein x is the length of the short axis of the packing elements and y is the length of the long axis of the packing elements;
- .rho..sub.p is the density of the packing elements;
- .rho..sub.g is the density of the gas;
- .rho..sub.L is the density of the liquid;
- g is the gravitational constant;
- and
- (b) carrying out said process in accordance with said selection.
A method for improving a process selected from the group consisting of scrubbing, stripping, or heat transfer, wherein a gas stream is introduced into a tower having a bed comprising first fluidizable hollow first ellipsoidal packing elements, and a liquid stream is introduced countercurrently into said tower, said liquid stream having a liquid flow and said gas stream having a gas flow sufficient to maintain said bed in a fluidized state, comprising substituting second ellipsoidal packing elements having an altered shape factor, packing element density, or packing element size.
A method for causing a gas stream to remove one or more of heat or impurities from a liquid stream or to relinquish one or more of heat or impurities to said liquid stream, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a tower having a bed comprising fluidizable packing elements;
- introducing said liquid stream into said tower, said liquid stream having a liquid flow L;
- countercurrently introducing said gas stream into said tower, said gas stream having a superficial gas velocity v and a gas flow G, said G being sufficient to maintain said elements in a fluidized state;
- for given values of L, G, v, .rho..sub.g, .rho..sub.L, selecting a value for at least one of .rho..sub.p, .psi., s, to satisfy the conditions:
- ##EQU12## wherein .DELTA.P is the pressure drop across the bed;
- H.sub.o is the bed height in a state of rest;
- C.sub.1 is a dimensionless constant;
- C.sub.2 is a system constant having units of seconds/meter or equivalent;
- C.sub.3 is a system constant having units of seconds/meter or equivalent;
- s is an element slip function in units of length/unit time;
- .psi. is a shape factor calculated as follows:
- y/x, wherein x is the length of the shortest axis of the packing elements and y is the length of the longest axis of the packing elements at the center of symmetry;
- .rho..sub.p is the density of the packing elements;
- .rho..sub.g is the density of the gas;
- .rho..sub.L is the density of the liquid;
- and
- g is the gravitational constant.
A method for performing a process selected from the group consisting of scrubbing, stripping, or heat transfer, wherein a gas stream is flowed through a column having a bed comprising fluidizable hollow packing elements, and a liquid stream is flowed through in a direction countercurrent to said gas stream into said column, said liquid stream having a liquid flow L and said gas stream having a gas flow G sufficient to maintain said bed in a fluidized state and a superficial gas velocity v;
- comprising
- (a) selecting an unknown value selected from the group consisting of L/G, v, .rho..sub.p, .psi., s, .rho..sub.g, .rho..sub.L and .phi. so that the following equation is satisfied for a predetermined value of .DELTA.P/H.sub.0 greater than 1300 Pa/m.sup.3 :
- ##EQU13## wherein .DELTA.P is the pressure drop across the bed;
- H.sub.0 is the bed height in a state of rest;
- C.sub.1 is a numerical constant;
- C.sub.2 is a numerical system constant having units of seconds/meter or equivalent;
- C.sub.3 is a system constant having units of seconds/meter;
- s is an element slip function in units of meters/second or equivalent;
- .psi. is a shape factor calculated as follows:
- y/x, wherein x is the length of the short axis of the packing elements and y is the length of the long axis of the packing elements;
- .rho..sub.p is the density of the packing elements;
- .rho..sub.g is the density of the gas;
- .rho..sub.L is the density of the liquid;
- g is the gravitational constant;
- .phi. is an acentric factor calculated as follows:
- 2(y-r )/y where r is the distance along the long axis from the center of gravity of the packing elements to the end of the packing elements farthest away from the center of gravity;
- and
- (b) carrying out said process in accordance with said selection.
A method for causing a gas stream to remove one or more of heat or impurities from a liquid stream or to relinquish one or more of heat or impurities to said liquid stream, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a tower having a bed comprising fluidizable packing elements;
- introducing said liquid stream into said tower, said liquid stream having a liquid flow L;
- countercurrently introducing said gas stream into said tower, said gas stream having a superficial gas velocity v and a gas flow G, said G being sufficient to maintain said elements in a fluidized state;
- for given values of L, G, v, .rho..sub.g, .rho..sub.L, selecting a value for at least one of .rho..sub.p, .psi., s, and .phi. to satisfy the conditions:
- ##EQU14## wherein .DELTA.P is the pressure drop across the bed;
- H.sub.0 is the bed height in a state of rest;
- C.sub.1 is a dimensionless constant;
- C.sub.2 is a system constant having units of seconds/meter or equivalent;
- C.sub.3 is a system constant having units of seconds/meter or equivalent;
- s is an element slip function in units of length/unit time;
- .psi. is a shape factor calculated as follows:
- y/x, wherein x is the length of the shortest axis of the packing elements and y is the length of the longest axis of the packing elements at the center of symmetry;
- .rho..sub.p is the density of the packing elements;
- .rho..sub.g is the density of the gas;
- .rho..sub.L is the density of the liquid;
- g is the gravitational constant;
- and
- .phi. is an acentric factor calculated as follows:
- 2(y-r )/y where r is the distance along the long axis from the center of gravity of the packing elements to the end of the packing elements farthest away from the center of gravity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.