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Abstract--The gas velocitiesfor flooding in a wetted wall column have been measured as a function of
liquid viscosity and flow rate. The flooding velocities were found to be somewhat higher than those
predicted by DAVIDSONand SrmA~R. Measurements have also been made of the liquid downflowafter
the column has flooded.
87
R. CLIFT, C. L. PRITCHARD and R. M. NEDDERMAN
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Consttanntkhead
The object of this work was to investigate the
effect of viscosity on the flooding in a wetted wall
column. Water and aqueous glycerol solutions
were therefore used as these always show New-
tonian behaviour and it is possible to change the
viscosity over a wide range without appreciably
affecting either the density or surface tension.
Details of the solutions used are given in Table 1. I
I I
Sintered[-~
sectionL_~ .
1
Table 1
Storage tank
In principle the apparatus required was simple,
consisting of a vertical column with means for F[o. 1
introducing air and liquid, and controlling and
measuring their flow rates. Steps were taken to end of the pipe. In this way the airflow was dis-
ensure that smooth entry conditions were main- tributed across the width of the entry compartment
tained in both fluids. The apparatus is shown and prevented from passing straight up the column
diagrammatically in Fig. 1. as a jet. A smooth bell-shaped section turned
The column consisted of two 6 ft lengths of from a block of wood served to accelerate the air
perspex tubing, the nominal i.d. being 1¼ in. stream to the velocity with which it would pass up
The sections were checked to ensure that their the column. It was anticipated that this device
internal dimensions were matched to within fairly would calm the air flow and reduce its turbulence
small tolerances. The perspex sections were in- at entry to the column. This calming section was
terspaced by an annular section of sintered bronze, similar to that used by BASHFORTHet al. [3] and
approximately 3 in. long and machined so that NICKLIN and DAVIDSON [4] before them. The air
its i.d. was the same as that of the perspex tube. pressure in the chamber was measured by either a
The whole column was set up with its axis ver- mercury manometer or an inclined water mano-
tical. meter to give a wide range of sensitivity.
Air could be introduced at the base of the column The sintered bronze section already referred to
from the low pressure laboratory supply via a was used to ensure that the liquid flow was com-
rotameter. The horizontal 1 in. pipe from the pletely smooth at entry. It was thought that the
rotameter turned through a right angle inside the standing disturbance set up at entry when a liquid
compartment at the lower end of the column, so is simply poured down a vertical surface (see
that the air stream passed vertically upwards to Fig. 2) would be largely eliminated by admitting
impinge on a horizontal circular disc fixed to the the liquid through a porous section. To ensure
88
The effectof viscosityon the floodingconditionsin wettedwallcolumns
solution by measuring the volume of liquid passed
in a given time. The air rotameter was calibrated
89
R. Cur-r, C. L. PRITCHARDand R. M. NEDDERMAN
~
o
QL=33-1 crn3/sec
F /f
<~
' I ~ ,~
I
0 I 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I0
Qg, L/sec
FIG. 3
liquid film was disturbed by waves which became length of liquid filled column. Therefore at the
visible some distance below the sinter and increased flooding point the pressure drop would increase
in amplitude as they travelled to the bottom of with time as the top half of the column filled with
the column. As the air flow was increased, these liquid.
waves grew in amplitude and the point of wave Once the column was flooded, the liquid below
inception crept up the column until they were the sinter appeared to be in a much less chaotic
visible right from the liquid entry. At the higher state than that immediately before flooding. Slugs
Reynolds numbers these waves were replaced by still formed across the column, but much less
the smaller more random ripples commonly found frequently.
on turbulent films. However as the gas flow was As the air flow was increased the pressure drop
increased waves were formed, but with the least across the column passed through a maximum
viscous solution these were only observed at gas (see Fig. 3). The subsequent fall off of pressure
velocities close to flooding. appeared to be due to considerable reduction in
When the flooding point was almost reached the the hold up in the lower part of the column. At
pressure drop across the column began to increase a higher value of the air flow Qc the downflow of
from its previous very small value (see Fig. 3) and liquid ceased altogether and the lower part of the
at the same time the waves on the film were seen column began to dry out. This point appears to
to have become so large as to form thin bridges or correspond roughly to an inflexion in the curve of
slugs across the air stream. These bridges were pressure drop against gas flow and was indepen-
quickly broken up by the air flow and the droplets dent of total liquid flow rate.
resulting from their collapse were carried up by Once co-current flow has been fully established
the gas stream. in the upper part of the column, the air supply
Further increase in either liquid or gas flow could be reduced below the value required to
increased the bridging and pressure drop across initiate flooding before the column returned to
the column until a critical point was reached at purely counter-current flow. The point at which
which the liquid slugs became larger and were no the air ceased to carry any liquid upwards was as
longer dispersed immediately by the air stream. definite as the point at which co-current flow started
The flow pattern in the tube was now chaotic and and was also characterised by a discontinuity in
the liquid slugs were carried above the sinter, the pressure drop curve. It will be referred to as
thereby resulting in a division of the liquid flow the flooding point with decreasing gas flow or the
into components passing co- and counter-current de-flooding point.
with the gas. The increase in pressure drop was For the higher viscosity solutions, the flooding
augmented at the flooding point by the increased and de-flooding points were not very different but
90
The effect of viscosity on the flooding conditions in wetted wall columns
I'O
_ .,
0.4
with the less viscous liquids the two points were HEWITT and WALLIScorrelations are in terms of
some way apart. That these two points are not the quantities Vg and Vt defined as
coincident has already been remarked by HEWITT
and WALLIS[5] in the course of some experiments V./ P' t ~/2
on flooding with the air-water system. In fact it V* = .[Dg(p t _ P.)] (2)
is hardly surprising that they are not the same
since they represent quite different conditions: the v: =
{'D.(fL Pg)//'/2
flooding point is the upper limit of counter-current
flow, the de-flooding point is the lower limit of where Vg and Vl are the superficial gas and liquid
co-current flow. velocities respectively. No theoretical basis is
given for the use of these groups. HEW[TT and
RESULTS WALUS correlated their results with the expressions
The flooding point was determined by the pro- for low liquid flows and
cedure outlined above. From the measured values
V(v, ) + x/(v~*) = 2.0 (5)
of the flow rates and fluid properties the results
were converted to a relation between Re, We and for high liquid flows.
Z, allowance being made for the fraction of the tube It will be seen from Fig. 5 that our results lie
occupied by the undisturbed film in calculating U. almost entirely in the transition region between
These values are shown in Fig. 4 along with the these two correlations. Since the results cover
predictions of SHEARERand DAVIDSON. It will be the range of liquid Reynolds number from 100 to
seen that though the predicted Weber Numbers 1100, the transition region is clearly extensive and
are roughly the same as those found experimentally, of major importance. If a correlation in the
there is not close agreement between theory and HEWITT and WALL[S tradition is required the
experiment. In particular the maxima in the following would be of more use.
theoretical curves occur at considerably lower
Reynolds numbers than those found by experi- x/(V*) + 0.34x/(V* ) = 0.79 (6)
ment. The correlation
The present results for water are consistent with
those of HEWITT and WALLIS (see Fig. 5). The ~/(V¢) + 0.55x/(V~) = 0.65 (7)
91
R. CLIFT, C. L. PRITCHARD and R. M. NEDDERMAN
I.(3
experimental results. KAPITZA'S equation is of
interest in that it predicts an infinite flooding
velocity at zero liquid flow. SHEARERand DAVIDSON'S
~Eq.5 theory and HEWITT and WALUS' correlation suggest
0,8 that the flooding velocity tends to a finite value at
zero liquid flow. The experimental evidence suggests
that the latter trend is correct. Furthermore,
KAPITZA predicts that the relationship between We
0.6 and Re should be independent of Z. This is n o t
in agreement with experiment.
In one respect the Re-We-Z plot is a little
misleading. The use of Re (~ #- 1) and We (a #~)
0,4
ensures that the maxima in the flooding curves
shall become higher and further to the left as # is
increased and Z thereby decreased. As a result,
0"2
Hewittand Wallis Ec~4~ the effect of viscosity on the flooding point is made
o Present work to appear much more critical than it really is.
The flooding point for three of the experimental
solutions are plotted on Fig. 6 as flooding velocity
I I t as against liquid flow rate with viscosity as a
02 0'4 0.6
parameter. The effect of viscosity on flooding
conditions is seen to be quite small: the change in
FIG. 5
the flooding velocity is of the order of 20 per cent
for a 70 fold change in viscosity. Figure 6 also shows
given by StoRES, PICKERING and BLACKER [6] is that the column floods more easily with increased
not in agreement with either the present results liquid viscosity, a fact not obvious from the
or those of HEWITr and WALUS. Presumably this Re-We-Z representation. VERSCHOOR [7] has
is because of different entry conditions. pointed out that the liquid surface tension affects
It will of course be realised that SHEARER and the flooding point critically; and this is consistent
DAVIDSON'S correlation involves the gas flow rate with SHEARER and DAVIDSON'S curves, although
squared, whereas the HEWITT and WALLIS' corre- again the method of plotting conceals it.
lations involve the square root of the gas flow rate. WhELm' results for the 9 cP solution are shown
It is therefore not surprising that there should in Fig. 6. The flooding velocities are much less
appear to be better agreement by the latter method. than those found in these experiments, indicating
KAPITZA [7] has predicted the flooding condi- that end effects were important in WALLIS' experi-
tions in a wetted wall column and gives the rela- ments.
tionship
U- k = 3"5[Tzopgl/2~ l/3 ( t7t l/2 (b) Conditions when the column is flooded
\ p,(2, ] (8)
Liquid downflow. In order to investigate the
where k is the velocity of a surface wave on the behaviour of the column under flooded conditions,
film." Since k ~ U it can be neglected and equation a series of runs was performed in which the airflow
(8) can therefore be rearranged to give was kept constant and the nett downflow of liquid
71 (Qd) was measured as a function of the total flow
We = - - . (9) of liquid (Qt) to the column. Figures 7 and 8 show
Re
the results as Qt was increased from zero to a value
This is plotted on Fig. 4 and it can be seen that it considerably in excess of the flooding value and
does not give an accurate prediction of the present then reduced again to zero.
92
The effect of viscosity on the flooding conditions in wetted wall columns
95C
90C
~- 85C
E
u
soc 0"°,2 , o . , o m
75C
Q__L cmZ/sec
lrD '
FIG. 6
When the column was not flooded, the liquid difference represents the upflow into the top
downflow was of course identical to the liquid input section of the column.
so the condition in the column moved along the If the total flow is increased the pressure drop
line Qd = Qt (marked OA on Fig. 7). As the flow increases slightly (B'C') but the liquid downflow
was increased there was a small increase in pressure remains constant. Under flooded conditions the
drop (marked O 'A' on Fig. 8). The flooding point liquid passed down the column in discrete slugs.
is characterised by the usual discontinuity in the This appears to account for the scatter of the
pressure drop curve (A'B'). The results show that experimental points about the line DBC. The
there is also a discontinuity in the Qa-Qt plot downflow was measured by collecting the liquid
(from A to B) as the downflow drops to a value over an interval of time, so the collection of one
which is sometimes as low as a fifth of the down- slug more or less made an appreciable difference
flow immediately before flooding. Clearly the to the measured value of Qa. Nevertheless, the
results show quite clearly that the liquid downflow
in a flooded column is independent of the total
× Flow increosing liquid input.
t21
0 Flow decreosing Once the column was flooded Qt could be re-
duced below the flooding value without altering
IO
× Flow increasing
0 Flow decreasing
m ,×C t
0
4 E
~J
xO C
(3.
<3
O' 0 LD" xi×J A"
I I I I I . T
4 8 12 16 20 4 8 t2 16
Or, cm3/sec QI , cm3/sec
Flo. 7 FIG. 8
93
R. CLIFT,C. L. PmTCHARDand R. M. NEDDERMAN
Qd. The column did not deflood until Qt had without causing any co-current flow. Thus to pass
been reduced to the value of Qa (point D, D'), from a point on D A to a point on BD or vice
that is to say until the upflow has been reduced versa, it is normally necessary to pass clockwise
to zero. At this point there was a sudden reduction round the triangle DAB.
in the pressure drop as the top part of the column Since the downflow in a f o o d e d column is inde-
emptied. pendent of total liquid input it must be a function
The triangle DAB on the Qt-Qd plot and the of gas velocity and liquid properties only. Also it
area D " A ' B ' D ' on the Q r A P plot represent regions must be equal to the de flooding flow rate. Figure 9
over which the liquid downflow is dependent on shows the gas velocities as a function of liquid
the history of the flow conditions. To investigate rate for the flooding, de-flooding and downflow of
whether there was any tendency to pass spon- the 10cP solution. It can be seen that the two
taneously from DB to DA, the column was held latter effects lie on the same line.
at the conditions represented by E and E' for over Figure 9 shows that there is a critical gas velocity
an hour. N o change in the conditions could be at which the downflow becomes zero. This presum-
observed. An attempt was also made to initiate ably represents the deflooding rate at zero liquid
flooding from a point near A by shaking the flow but there is no fundamental reason why it
column. A very hard blow would sometimes cause should also represent the flooding rate. However,
a slug to form but this was quickly dispersed it will be seen that the de-flooding and flooding
rates approach each other closely as the flow rate
is decreased, and it is therefore reasonable to
suppose that the flooding and de-flooding points
I,OOC
are the same for zero liquid flow.
Values of the critical gas flow for zero liquid
downflow, Qc, were determined for various solu-
o Flooding
tions and the results shown in Table 2. While there
:~ Deflooding
90C
~ Nett liquid downflow Table 2
\
60C
ponds to a gas velocity of 10.1 m/see which is in
good agreement with the value of 9.5 m/sec given
by BASHFORTH et aL [3]. This then represents the
gas flow rate at which no counter-current flow can
f I I I i r . exist, i.e. the socalled " d r y o u t " point.
0 I 2 3 4 5 6
OL The values for the de-flooding conditions for
crnZ/sec
TrD ' the 10cP solution are presented on the We-Re-Z
FxG. 9 plot (Fig. 10) for comparison with the predictions
94
The effect of viscosity on the flooding conditions in wetted wall columns
95