TRAYS AND PACKINGS USED IN DISTILLATION AND GAS ADSORPTION

The typical gas-liquid contacting operations include distillation, absorption, stripping,

leaching and humidification. Distillation and absorption are two most widely used mass
transfer processes in chemical industries. The most common types of contactors by far used for
these are tray and packed towers.

Tray columns are widely used in various types of mass transfer operations. Tray towers are
designed to provide liquid holdup in order to achieve the proper vapor-liquid mass transfer that
the process requires for separation. Holdup is accomplished by a weir on each tray and having
stacks of horizontal trays that allow liquid to run across a tray before flowing over to a down
comer and moving across to the next stage of the process.

Whereas trayed towers provide stepwise contact between the vapor and liquid phase,
packed towers provide continuous contact without full disengagement of the vapor and liquid
between the top and bottom of the packed bed. Because of their inherently large open area,
packed towers can operate with lower overall pressure drops than trayed towers and are often
specified for vacuum service where reboiler pressures and temperatures are low.

Different Types of Trays

1. Sieve Tray

Sieve trays are flat perforated plate in which vapour rises through small holes in tray floor,
and bubbles through liquid in fairly uniform manner (Figure 1). They have comparable capacity
as valve trays. The velocity of the up flowing gas keeps the liquid from descending through the
perforations (weeping). At low gas velocities, liquid weeps through the perforations, bypassing
part of the tray and reducing tray efficiency. Because of this, sieve trays have relatively poor
turndown.

Figure 1: Sieve trays have round holes punched or drilled into the tray.
 Sieve trays begin to experience entrainment at lower vapor flowrates than fixed-valve or
moving-valve trays. Unlike on a valve tray, where vapor is deflected horizontally as it exits a fixed
or moving valve, vapor exiting the holes of a sieve tray moves vertically. The vertically directed
vapor creates higher froth heights, increasing the potential for entrainment.
This vapor deflection increases the vapor velocity on the tray deck around fixed or moving
valves, which helps prevent zones of stagnation where solids can deposit, polymerization can
begin, or corrosion can occur. Thus, valve trays offer more fouling resistance than small-hole sieve
trays.
The practical applications of sieve trays is for the distillation of viscous materials, i.e., the
separation of vinyl acetate from a polyvinyl acetate polymer solution, the separation of highly
unsaturated C5 mixtures by extractive distillation, and the distillation of thick, condensed and highly
viscous fermentation mixtures made from fermented mash. It is also excellent for distillation of
mixtures with suspended solids, or concentrated/self-polymerized polymer solution.

2. Fixed Valve Tray

The simplest fixed valves (Figure 2) are formed from the same piece of metal as the tray
deck. Large metal-punching (or stamping) machines impart a tremendous amount of force on
a relatively small area of metal sheet to extrude the valve from the tray deck. During this
process, the metal is actually stretched from its initial state.
Fixed-valve trays made in this way have no moving parts and are rugged and durable. Thus,
they do not suffer from the sticking, popping, and erosion and corrosion associated with moving
valves. And, the relatively large opening between the valve and the deck makes extruded fixed
valves resistant to fouling. Fixed valves can be manufactured with different heights, and, if
necessary, can be made with a higher net rise to provide more resistance to fouling.
In addition, the hydraulic capacity in inversely proportional to the size of the valve opening-
the smaller the opening, the higher the capacity. And, the lower the net rise, the less entrainment
that can be expected. Smaller opening and lower net rise extruded fixed valve trays are often used
in heavily loaded tower sections, such as direct contact heat-transfer pump around zones.
Fixed valve trays have been successfully applied in a variety of fouling services such as
Acrylonitrile, Amine Contactors, Atmospheric and Vacuum Columns, Beer Towers,
Butadiene, Caustic Towers, Cumene Units, Depropanizers, Debutanizers, HF Alkylation
Units, Latex Strippers, PVC Slurry Strippers, Primary Fractionators and Waste Water Towers.
 Figure 2: The simplest fixed valve is an extruded hole and cover with small-diameter (left) or large-
diameter (right) orifices.

3. Moving Valve Tray

The modern moving-valve tray (Figure 3) became a standard distillation in chemical

industry after its introduction in the early 1950s. It main advantage is that variable vertical
movement accommodates a wide operating range in which this range can be determined by
either the length of the valve legs that protrude through the tray deck orifice or by a cage
assembly that restricts vertical movement.

An operator can change the vapor flowrate either turn up or turn down within a certain
operating window. The turndown ration of the moving valve is 4:1 in which this ratio is a
function of available pressure drop. The vapor flowrate is directly proportional to pressure drop
across the tray. On a moving valve, some of the valves begin to close when the vapor flowrate
decreases, reducing the effective open area of the tray and limiting the tendency to weep. The
tray activity can also affect the turndown of the valve. As the vapor flowrate decreases, so does
the number of the valves on the tray actively bubbling vapor.

Moving valves have also limitations, moving valves are more prone to fouling than fixed
valves because of its large surface area available for the deposition of contaminants. As moving
valves open and close, the valve legs can contact the edges of the orifice, which can cause
erosion and increase corrosion. Fouling or polymer deposition can cause moving valves to stick
to the tray deck. If subjected to an unexpected process upset, moving valves can pop free from
their orifices, leaving behind de facto sieve holes, which have lower capacity and efficiency
than valves. Moving valve are 10-15% more expensive than conventional fixed valves. If trays
with moving valves are operated at excessively low vapor flowrates (very high turndown), like
fixed valves, they will also experience tray efficiency.
 Moving valve trays can be applied when T/D is more critical compared to sieve trays and
in case of regular process adjustments.

Figure 3: A moving-valve tray has valves that move up and down.

4. Bubble-Cap Trays

As early as 1800s, bubble cap trays have been used. This tray contains hole with a riser on
each hole covered by a cap. Vapor passes through the riser as it moves upward and is forced
downward by the cap, and then it moves back up as it bubbles through the liquid on the tray.

Bubble cap trays are appropriate for some low-liquid rate niche applications, as well as
applications with widely varying vapor loads. The bubble cap do not weep if it is designed and
installed properly. Infinite number of vapor turndown (ignoring tray activity) can be observed
in a well-sealed bubble cap. On the other hand, bubble cap trays require extensive labor and
more materials to produce than extruded fixed valves, and therefore are significantly more
expensive as one of its limitations.

Rise

Figure 4: A bubble-cap tray has risers on each hole with caps covering the risers.

5. Dual-Flow Trays

Dual flow tray is a sieve tray without a down comer. Vapors move up to the tray above
through the hole, while the liquid travels down in the same hole that can result in mal-
distribution and low efficiency.
 Dual flow trays are designed with enough open area on the tray deck to eliminate stagnation
and promote back missing that makes it suited to handle highly fouling services, slurries, and
corrosive services. Dual flow trays are well suited also for the fractionation of polymerizable
compounds and give more bubbling area, therefore have a greater capacity than other tray
types. Dual flow tray is also the least expensive to make and easiest to install and maintain and
they are used in fouling applications and other a limited operating range.

Dual flow tray performs best in the operating region of 60 to 85 % of flood and increases
the efficiency with vapor rate. The challenge of dual flow tray is mal-distribution in larger
diameter towers.

The top of a column will move in a typical storm as much as six inches. This movement
will cause the hydraulic load to migrate in the column. If hydraulic flow instability is developed
it propagates down the column.

Improper feed, reflux or vapor distribution can also create mal-distribution problems, Dual
flow tray have poor turndown ratio resulting from the rapid fall off in efficiency as the vapor
loading decreases. Therefore the operating vapor and liquid rate ranges must be kept small.
Two types of dual flow trays are available; standard deck and rippled deck.

Figure 5: A Dual-Flow Tray

6. Baffle Trays

For a baffle tray column the gas flows upwards through the baffle openings and in doing
so contacts the liquid showering down from one baffle to the next. Baffle tray columns have
almost same flooding capacity as cross flow trays. Types of baffles used are disc & donut and
segmental baffles for various column diameters. They are typically used in fouling and/or heat
transfer applications where efficiency is not a concern.

Baffle trays are solid half-circle plates, sloped slightly in the direction of outlet flow, with
weirs at the end. Gas contacts the liquid as it showers from the plate. This contact is inefficient,
typically giving 30 to 40 percent of the efficiency of conventional trays. This limits their
application mainly to heat-transfer and scrubbing services. The capacity is high and pressure
drop is low due to the high open area (typically 50 percent of the tower cross-sectional area).
Since there is not much that can plug up, the baffle trays are perhaps the most fouling-resistant
device in the industry, and their main application is in extremely fouling services. To be
effective in these services, their liquid rate needs to exceed 20 m3/hm (2 gpm/in) of outlet weir
and dead spots formed due to poor support design eliminated.

There are several geometric variations. The disk and doughnut trays replace the half-circle
segmental plates by alternate plates shaped as disks and doughnuts, each occupying about 50
percent of the tower cross-sectional area. In large towers, multi-pass baffle trays are common.
Another variation uses angle irons, with one layer oriented at 90° to the one below. Multi-pass
baffle trays, as well as angle irons, require good liquid (and to a lesser extent, also good gas)
distribution, as has been demonstrated from field heat-transfer measurements.

Figure 6: Baffle tray variations. (a) Segmental. (b) Disk and doughnut. (c) Multi-pass. (d)
Angle irons.
 Tray Operating Limits
The operating limits of a tray are set to prevent weeping at low throughputs and flooding at
high throughputs.
Weeping occurs when the vapor-side pressure drop across the tray deck is too low to support
the liquid pool on the top side, so the liquid weeps through the holes. When the predicted dry
tray pressure drop falls below 12 mm H2O, weeping may become a problem. A good rule of
thumb is that 20% weeping leads to a 10% loss in efficiency.
Flooding occurs at the other end of the operating range. The tray deck generally floods by a
mechanism called jet flooding, where excessive vapor velocities carry liquid droplets to the tray
above. Entrainment is more detrimental to tray performance than weeping because it causes back
mixing of the liquid. A good rule of thumb is that 10% entrainment causes a 10% loss in
efficiency.
The downcomers may also flood due to backup or inlet velocity flooding. The froth level in
the downcomer is set by the liquid head at the tray inlet (i.e., the downcomer outlet), the pressure
drop across the tray, and the frictional losses in the downcomer. As the tray pressure drop
increases and the liquid rate increases, the froth level in the downcomer will increase. When the
froth level, or down- comer backup, exceeds the downcomer height, the tray above will flood.
Downcomer backup can be mitigated or avoided by increasing the spacing between trays,
lowering the outlet weir height, decreasing the tray pressure drop, or increasing the downcomer
clearance. Usually, increasing the downcomer size is not effective, because the frictional losses
in the downcomer itself are negligible.

Different Types of Packings

1. Random Packings
Random, or dumped, packings (Figure 7) consist of many small pieces, in sizes ranging from
15 to 100 mm), that are loaded into a tower by emptying sacks or boxes of the packing into a
tower section so that they randomly arrange themselves into a packed bed. . Random packings
are often preferred over trays or structured packings in corrosive services, especially where
ceramics are required because of the presence of highly aggressive chemicals and extreme
temperatures.
Random packings come in a wide range of geometries: cylindrical rings, saddles, spheres,
and various other shapes. Traditional shapes such as Raschig Rings (cylinders) and Intalox
saddles have mostly been replaced by more modern designs such as Pall Rings, Nutter Rings,
IMTP packings, and proprietary designs. Suppliers continue to develop n o v e l shapes that
deliver improved performance.

Random packings are usually characterized by their nominal size or diameter, although
different packings of equivalent size may provide very different performance in terms of
capacity and separation efficiency (modern packings typically offer significant performance
advantages over the traditional designs). In small towers with any random packing design, a
minimum tower-to-packing diameter ratio of 8:1 to 10:1 is recommended to minimize loss of
separation efficiency due to voids in the packed bed and wall effects.
Random packings are made from material of various thicknesses, so the maximum allowable
bed depth for each packing needs to be considered carefully. This is especially true with plastic
packings, which may experience some degree of crushing at the bottom of the bed that worsens
at elevated temperatures due to plastic softening. Bed heights as tall as 12 m have been
successfully operated, although these tall towers use larger packing. Even if a packing’s
mechanical strength can withstand a high bed depth, in order to maintain effective liquid
distribution, a height of no more than 10–14 theoretical stages is recommended for a single bed
without liquid redistribution.
Random packing has been used for fractionation, absorption and stripping operations in
gas, refinery and chemical plants for many years and the benefits are well established.
Furthermore, ease of replacement and storage make random packing the ideal choice for
systems with heavy fouling or corrosion where packing is frequently replaced.

Figure 7: Random Packings

2. Structured Packings

Structured packings (Figure 8) are typically constructed as blocks of alternating layers of

thin corrugated sheet, gauze, or mesh, which can be fabricated from a wide range of metal alloys
or nonmetals such as plastics, ceramic and graphite. This structure spreads the vapor and liquids
evenly over the cross-section of the tower.
In general, structured packings create lower pressure drops and achieve better separation
efficiencies with shorter bed heights than random packings, but they are also generally more
expensive than random packings and are more time-consuming to install.

The base material for structured packing is generally a thin (0.1–0.2 mm) metal sheet. Lower
surface area packings have deeper crimping and therefore may require a thicker material for
structural purposes. Since structured packing materials are very thin and have a large amount of
surface area, there is essentially no corrosion allowance. Thus, material of construction is a very
important consideration. Wire gauze packings fabricated from woven metal cloth are used for
very-high-efficiency applications at low liquid loadings such as those at deep vacuum (although
high-surface-area sheet-metal packings with high-quality liquid distributors are also successfully
used in deep vacuum services).

Figure 8: Structured packings are very thin, with a large amount of surface area and no
corrosion allowance.

3. Grid Packings
Grid packings are primarily used for fouling systems, especially where heat transfer is the
main requirement. They were developed for the oil industry and used in crude column quench
sections, etc. Mass transfer efficiency is relatively poor. Grids are developed for severe
services that are susceptible to fouling, erosion, coking, and high solids content. Grids are
installed in rigid modules stacked in successive layers with a fixed orientation, thus minimizing
the overall pressure drop while simultaneously increasing tower efficiency.

Figure 9: Grid Packings