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BOC Gases
Murray Hill, NJ
Homogeneous - single phase, gas or liquid Air - N2, Ar, O2 Dry syngas: CO/H2/CH4/CO2 Heterogeneous - multiple, immiscible phases Liquid + liquid, e.g. oil + water solid + liquid solid + gas liquid + gas
Separation:
Mixture p Products that differ in composition
Classification:
Force field (mechanical) Gravity, pressure, electrical field, centrifugal force Heterogeneous mixtures Physical - exploit differences in physical properties vapor pressure, solubility, molecular geometry, surface activity, freezing point Chemical - based on differences in reactivity
Distillation: differences in boiling points Absorption/Stripping/Liquid Extraction: solubility Solvent for absorption, e.g. H2O for NH3/air Reflux, reboiling by adding/removing heat in distillation Proposal/Budgetary stage Letter of intent Construction
Prepare P&IDs
Extent of separation
# of equilibrium stages, predicted with high confidence Hand calculation - McCabe-Thiele method Approximate methods - Kremser equation, FUG method Rigorous methods - computer simulation Rate = (Driving force)/Resistance Driving force = departure from equilibrium Resistance (difficult to predict)
operating conditions: T, P, composition physical properties of both phases velocity, flow regime
Energy requirements
Heat producing temperature changes creating a new phase overcoming heat of solution effects Mechanical/Electrical moving fluids from one location to another dispersing liquids and gases operate moving parts of machinery
Efficiency
Actual Trays or Height= Theoretical Stages/Efficiency (Murphree) efficiency for tray columns
Apply efficiency factor for actual trays Apply safety factor for final number of trays
Multiply by HETP to get total height of packed section Depends on contacting device, system, hydraulics Experimental data and correlations Vendor information (see brochure)
Predictable hydraulic and mass transfer behavior Moderate to high pressure drop per tray Can be scaled to large diameters Low cost Suitable for fouling service Feed point flexibility is easy
Low pressure drop / smaller diameter Random packing scale-up for HETP is difficult; structured packing scale-up is predictable HETP prediction less well developed than for trays Low to moderate cost for random packing; high cost for structured packing Not suitable for fouling service Feed point flexibility is difficult
Number of actual stages Feed tray location Type of trays Tray spacing Tray layout Column diameter Column height Feed / Offtake arrangements / Nozzle sizes Reboiler / Condenser details
Type of packing
Random packing Structured packing Trade-off pressure drop vs. HETP vs. cost
HETP is difficult to generalize and is a function of the type of packing, the system being separated and the hydraulics of the column. Experimental or vendorsupplied values are used.
Column Diameter
Column diameter is chosen to provide a comfortable range of operating between flooding and weeping. A typical operating range is about 70% of the flooding velocity. The flooding velocity is determined by correlations An approach to flooding is used to get the actual superficial velocity (based on column diameter). Downcomers take up about 5-20% of column area Diameters should be rounded to standard dimensions
Process Control - Steady state vs. Unsteady state P&ID development Synthesis of separation sequences Separation of difficult mixtures