College of Engineering

Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering

CHME 519: Chemical Engineering Lab II
Fall 2015

Memo Report:
Wetted Wall Gas Absorption

Group No. 1
Hamda Juma Al Zary 201200376
Hajer Ahmed Alabdouli 201200356
Sidra Ahmed 201150428
Sumiyya Rabbani 201150426
Eiman Mohamed Abdulla 201000197
Shaikha Rashed Hasan 201006621

Section 51
Instructor Md Abdur Rauf
Submission Date 15/November/2015
 Table of Contents

List of Figures ........................................................................................ ii

List of Tables ........................................................................................ iii

Objectives ............................................................................................ 1

Introduction .......................................................................................... 2

Setup & Experimental Procedure .................................................................. 3

Labeled Apparatus Setup ................................................................... 3

Operating Procedure ......................................................................... 4

Results & Discussion .................................................................................. 5

Experimental & Theoretical Data ......................................................... 5

Objective 1 ......................................................................... 5

Objective 2 ......................................................................... 7

Discussion ...................................................................................... 8

References ............................................................................................. 9

Appendix ............................................................................................. 11

i
 List of Figures
Figure No. Title Page No.
Figure 1 The labeled experimental setup 3
Figure 2 The logarithm of Sherwood number versus the 12
logarithm of Reynolds number

List of Tables
Table No. Title Page No.
Table 1 The %-volume and %-saturation for dissolved oxygen 11
at various volumetric flow rate of water
Table 2 The rate of absorption and kL at different volumetric 11
flow rates of water
Table 3 The oxygen and water parameters 11
Table 4 The logarithm of Reynolds number and Sherwood 12
number

ii
 Objectives
The first objective was to estimate the liquid film mass transfer coefficient. The
second objective was determining the power-law relationship between the liquid film
mass transfer coefficient and the mass flow rate of water and finally to compare the
results with the theoretical predictions [1].

1
 Introduction
Wetted wall columns are used to determine mass transfer coefficients. The process
is based on absorption where one or more components are removed from a mixture of
[2]
gases using a liquid solvent . It consists of two columns for which one is for
deoxygenating water by nitrogen and the other column for absorbing by means of
convective mass transfer between air and the deoxygenated water. The liquid film
controlled absorption where the liquid film mass transfer coefficient can be determined
[3]
at various mass flow rates of water .

For the first objective, the liquid film mass transfer coefficient (kL) would be found
at various flow rate of water. The rate of absorption would be found as follows:

= ! !! !"#$ !! !"#$% = ! !" 1

Where V! is the volumetric flow rate of deoxygenated water, C!! is concentration of

dissolved oxygen, kL is liquid film mass transfer coefficient, A is the Interphase of mass
transfer area and CLM is the average driving force (concentration) difference.

For the second objective, the power law relationship between the liquid film mass
transfer coefficient and mass flow rate of water would be found. Then the results
would be compared to the theoretical predictions.

This experiment is important for providing mass transfer coefficients, which explains
the characteristics of diffusion for a material and used everywhere such as in
developing correlations on packed towers and designing absorption towers. The data
obtained from the experiment are used for sizing such towers since they serve as a
basis from which correlation are developed. In addition, knowing the relationship
between the liquid film mass transfer coefficient and the mass flow rate helps in
designing and selection a suitable flow rate [4].

2
 Setup & Experimental Procedure

Labeled Apparatus Setup:

Weir
Deoxygenator Column

Wetted Wall Column

Volume % Display Meter

Air Flow Meter

Nitrogen Cylinder

Water Flow Meter

Control Panel
Sensors

Compressor

Tank Pumps

[5]
Figure 1: The labeled experimental setup

3
Operating Procedure:

Initially water is stored in a tank below the apparatus. A pump is used to transfer
the water to deoxygenator column. Nitrogen is sent in to this column through the
bottom and there is a knob that is used to alter the flow rate of nitrogen as
needed. The flow rate of nitrogen is kept appropriate to deoxygenate the water;
it should not be very high or very low.
Deoxygenated water from this column goes to a second pump, which sends it to
wetted wall column. This is an absorption column.
Dissolved oxygen concentration in this water is measured by two sensors that it is
connected to the wetted wall column at the entrance and exit respectively.
Deoxygenated water enters the wetted wall column from the top. It passes
through a weir that distributes the water smoothly along the inner surface of the
wall. The flow rate of water though the wetted wall column can be adjusted
using the flow meter.
Air from the surrounding is introduced from the bottom of the wetted wall
column using a compressor. A flow meter is used to control the flow rate of the
air.
The internal surface of the wetted wall column should be cleaned well prior to
the experiment using a brush so that water can flow down the column smoothly.
Once the trial is completed, deoxygenated water from the wetted wall column is
drained out.
The flow rate of the water was varied in four different trials keeping the air flow
rate constant to see the effect on volume percentage of dissolved oxygen in
water which was noted down from the sensors once the value became steady.

4
 Results & Discussion

Experimental & Theoretical Data:

Objective 1:
In order to find the liquid film mass transfer coefficient (kL), rate of absorption
would be calculated using the following correlations:

= ! !! !"#$ !! !"#$% = ! !" 1

(!"#$%&'($ !"#$ )!"#$% (!"#$%&'($ !"#$ )!"#$

!" = 2
(!"#$%&'($ !"#$ )!"#$%

(!"#$%&'($ !"#$ )!"#$

Where Cinterface is concentration of the dissolved oxygen at the interface and Cbulk:
concentration of the dissolved oxygen in bulk.

From the inlet and the outlet data, which were collected from the experiment, the
saturation volume for the inlet and the outlet were found from the conversion chart in
the Appendix (Figure 1) using interpolation. Table 1 in the Appendix also shows the
entire inlet and outlet saturation volume % for the four trials at constant temperature
equal to 22 C.

For Trial 3; percent saturation for outlet volume % was obtained using linear
interpolation as shown below:

19.8 19.7 94.51 %

= % = 94.035 %
19.8 19.6 94.51 93.56

To find the concentration of dissolved oxygen in water at the inlet and outlet of the
wetter wall column:

!! !"#$ = % 3

!! !"#$% = % 4

5
 !" !! [!]
Solubility at 22C and at atmospheric pressure = 8.7 !"#$% !"#$%

Sample Calculations for Trial 1

Where; Satinlet (%)= 0 % and Satoutlet (%)=98.33 %

- Concentration of dissolved oxygen in water form Equations 3 & 4

mg 98.33 mg O! mg mg O!
!! !"#$ = 8.7 = 8.55 ; !! !"#$% = 8.7 0=0
L 100 liter water L liter water

- Rate of bsorption from Equation 1

mg O! mg O!
= 0.05 8.55 0 = 0.4277 mg O! /min
liter water liter water

- Interphase mass-transfer area

The radius of wetted wall column (r) is 0.016 m and the height is 0.9 m

= 2 = 2 0.016 0.9 = 0.09048 !

- Average driving force (concentration) difference from Equation 2

!
!"#$%&'(# = 100 % = 8.7 ( )

!
!"#$,!"#$% = !! !"#$% = 0

!
!"#$,!"#$ = !! !"#$ = 8.55

!
!" = 2.0904

- Liquid film mass transfer coefficient from Equation 1

mg O! mg O!
0.4277 = ! 0.09048 ! 2.0904
min liter water

liter water
! = 2.2614 = 3.769110!! /
min. m!

6
Objective 2:

Correlation for convective mass transfer of a gaseous solute into a falling liquid film
evenly wetting the inner surface of the tube:

!
! ! ! ! ! !
!.! [!]
= 0.433 ! ! 5
!" ! !

! 1 1 ! ! !
log = (0.433) + log + log + 0.4 log (! )
!" 2 6 ! !

log = . +0.4 log (! ) 6

Where,
4 [!]
! = 7
!
Where z is the height of wetter column, DAB is the diffusivity of oxygen into water,
w is mass flow rate of water (kg/s), D is the column inner diameter (m), L is the
viscosity of the water at 22 C.

Sample Calculations for Trial 1

[9 & 10]
- Diffusion coefficient of oxygen into water from Fuller correlation (see table 3 in
the Appendix):
! !
!! !.!" 1 1 ! 1 1 !
10 + !!
10 (295) !.!"
!" =
! !
= 32 + 18 = 0.259358
!
! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! !
! + ! 1 16.6 ! + 12.7 !

- Water viscosity at 22C:

[!!]
21.11 22 9.8 10!! !
= !! !!
! = 9.6079 10!!
21.11 26.67 9.8 10 8.6 10 .
- Water mass flow rate:
[!"]
!!
! 1
= 510 997.7735 ! = 0.00083148
60

7
- Logarithm of Reynolds number from Equation 7:
4 0.00083148
! = = 34.4336
0.032 9.6079 10!!
- Logarithm of Sherwood number:
! 3.76911 10!! 0.9
log = log = 0.11658
!" 2.59358 10!!
Table 4 shows all of the calculated values and Figure 2 shows the plot of Equation 6
in, both are in the Appendix.
- Percentage error:
0.1097 0.4
% = 100 = 72.575 %
0.4

Discussion:

In this experiment, four different trials have been performed to achieve both
objective 1 and 2. The air flow rate was kept constant throughout the trials at 2000
cm3/min while the water flow rate varied from 50 to 17- cm3/min (see Table 1). The
experiment was performed at 22C and 1 atm conditions.

In the first objective, the liquid film mass transfer (kL) was calculated by the rate of
absorption equation. It has been notice from Table 2 that the kL increase as the water
flow rate increases.

In the second objective, as the volumetric flow rate of water increase, Reynolds
number increases. The kL from the first objective were used to calculate Sherwood
number, and therefore it was found as kL increase Sh increases due to the proportional
relationship between these two parameter (see Table 4). The logarithmic of Reynolds
and Sherwood numbers been calculated then plotted to estimate the power law
relationship which is was the slope of graph 0.1097 and the percentage error between
the theoretical and experiment was 72.575 %. This error resulted form the apparatus
itself, where th flow meter of water was fluctuating during the trial which make it
impossible to have constant volumetric flow rate of water.

8
 References

1. Basim Abu-Jadyil & Md Abdur Rauf (2015), Chemical Engineering Laboratory II:
Student Lab Manual, UAEU, Alain, 32.
2. CES Wetted Wall Gas Absorption Column. Available at:
http://discoverarmfield.com/en/products/view/ces/wetted-wall-gas-
absorption-column (Accessed: 9th Nov 2015).
3. Wetted Wall Gas Absorption Column. Available at:
http://didacta.it/allegati/main_catalogs/CE_IC134D_E.PDF (Accessed: 9th Nov
2015), page 1-2.
4. Wetted Wall Column Absorption Column. Available at:
http://www.edibon.com/products/catalogues/en/units/chemicalengineering/ch
emicalengineeringgeneral/CAPC.pdf (Accessed: 9th Nov 2015), page 2.
5. Basim Abu-Jadyil & Md Abdur Rauf (2015), Chemical Engineering Laboratory II:
Student Lab Manual, UAEU, Alain, 34.
6. Oxygen Solubility in water. Available at:
http://water.usgs.gov/owq/FieldManual/Chapter6/Archive/Section6.2.pdf
(Accessed: 9th Nov 2015), page 1.
7. Welty, J. R., C. E. Wicks, R. E. Wilson and G. L. Rorrer (2007), Fundamentals of
Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer, fifth ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York,
581.
8. Welty, J. R., C. E. Wicks, R. E. Wilson and G. L. Rorrer (2007), Fundamentals of
Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer, fifth ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York,
582.
9. Welty, J. R., C. E. Wicks, R. E. Wilson and G. L. Rorrer (2007), Fundamentals of
Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer, fifth ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York,
412.
10. Welty, J. R., C. E. Wicks, R. E. Wilson and G. L. Rorrer (2007), Fundamentals of
Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer, fifth ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York,
410.

9
11. J.P. Holman (2010), Heat Trasfer, tenth ed., McGraw Hill, New York,662.
12. Water density. Available at:
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/javascript/water-density.html
(Accessed: 10 Nov 2015).

10
 Appendix

Table 1: The %-volume and %-saturation for dissolved oxygen at various volumetric
flow rate of water
No. Trial Volumetric Volumetric Volumetric Inlet % Outlet Outlet %
flow rate flow rate flow rate saturation volume % saturation
of air of water of water
(cm /min) (cm /min) (cm3/min)
3 3

Trial 1 2000 50 0 0 20.6 98.33

Trial 2 2000 90 0 0 20.2 96.42
Trial 3 2000 130 0 0 19.7 94.035
Trial 4 2000 170 0 0 18.8 89.74

Table 2: The rate of absorption and kL at different volumetric flow rates of water
Trial No. Volumetric flow j (mg O2/min) CLM (mg O2/liter water) kL (m/s)
rate of water
(cm3/min)
Trial 1 50 0.4277 2.0904 3.7691 10-5
Trial 2 90 0.7549 2.5192 5.520 10-5
Trial 3 130 1.0635 2.9018 6.7511 10-5
Trial 4 170 1.3272 3.4289 7.130 10-5

Table 3: The oxygen and water parameters

Parameter Oxygen (O2) Water (H2O)
Molecular weight (M, g/mol) 32 18
[10] [10]
Diffusion volume (v) 16.6 12.7

11
 Table 4: The logarithm of Reynolds number and Sherwood number
Trial No. kL (m/s) kL z DAB-1 w (kg/s) ReL Log (ReL) Log (Sh)
Trial 1 3.7691 10-5 1.3079 0.000831478 34.4336 1.5369 0.1165
Trial 2 5.520 10-5 1.9156 0.089799615 3718.8315 3.5704 0.2823
Trial 3 6.7511 10-5 2.3427 0.129710555 5371.6455 3.7301 0.3697
Trial 4 7.130 10-5 2.4742 0.169621495 7024.4596 3.8466 0.3934

Logarithmic graph of power law

0.45
0.4
log (Sh)= 0.1097log(ReL) - 0.0573
0.35 R = 0.91768
0.3
Log (Sh)

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Log (ReL)

Figure 2: The logarithm of Sherwood number versus the logarithm of Reynolds number

12
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