Experimental Investigation and Proposed Empirical Correlations for the Valve Tray in a Commercial Scale in the Lower and Upper Operational Limits

Zarei, Taleb; Farsiani, Masoud; Abedini, Ehsan

Experimental Investigation and Proposed Empirical Correlations for the Valve Tray in a Commercial Scale in the Lower and Upper Operational Limits

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, I.R. IRAN

² Young Researchers Club, Sirjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sirjan, I.R. IRAN

Abstract

The valve tray is one of the most used trays in distillation and absorption towers in the petroleum, petrochemical and other industries. In this study, the hydrodynamic behavior of the valve, the tray has been studied in a tower with 1.2m diameter with an air-water system. The test tower has two valve trays with a free surface area of 14%. The experimental results of clear liquid height, froth height, average liquid hold up, total pressure drop, dry pressure drop, weeping and entrainment have been presented. Empirical correlations for these parameters have been proposed. The upper and lower operating limits were analyzed and evaluated. The validation of the empirical correlation has been examined. The results show that the gas flow velocity on the hydrodynamic parameters has a greater effect than the liquid flow velocity on the tray and the valve tray has more flexibility than the variations in the liquid flow rate.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] Zarei T., Rahimi R., Zarei A., Zivdar M, Hydrodynamic Characteristic of Conical Cap Tray: Experimental Studies on Dry and Total Pressure Drop, Weeping and Entrainment, Chem. Eng. Proc: Proc. Intens, 64:17-23( 2013).

[2] Scheffe R.D.,Weiland R.H.,Mass-Transfer Characteristics of Valve Trays, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res, 26: 228-236 (1987).

[3] Mostafa H., Be´Ka´ Ssy-Molnar´ E., Elhamous A., Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer of Textile Vibrating-Valve Trays, Ins. Chem. Eng, 77:627-632(1999).

[4] Brahem R., Royon-Lebeaud A., Legendre D., Moreaud M., Duval L., Experimental Hydrodynamic Study of Valve Trays, Chem. Eng. Sci,100:23-32 (2013).

[5] Vennavelli A.N., Whiteley J.R., Resetarits M.R., Predicting Valve Tray Efficiency,Chem. Eng. Res. Des., 92:2148-2152 (2014).

[6] Alizadehdakhel A., Rahimi M., Abdulaziz Alsairafi A., CFD and Experimental Studies on the Effect of Valve Weight on Performance of a Valve Tray Column, Com. Chem. Eng, 34: 1-8 (2010).

[7] Brahem R., Royon-Lebeaud A., Legendre D., Effect of Path length on Valve Tray Columns: Experimental Study, Chem. Eng. Sci., 126:517–528 (2015).

[8] Zarei T., Abedini E., Rahimi R., Khorshidi J., Computational Fluid Dynamics on the Hydrodynamic Characteristics of the Conical Cap Tray, Korean J. Chem. Eng., 34: 969-976 (2017).

[9] Zarei T., Farsiani M., Khorshidi J., Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Valve Tray: Computational Fuid Dynamic Simulation and Experimental Studies, Korean J. Chem. Eng., 34: 150-159 (2017).

[10] Rahimi R., Zarei A., Zarei T., Naziri Firoozsalari H., Zivdar M., A Computational Fluid Dynamics and an Experimental Approach to the Effects of Push Valves on Sieve Trays, “50th. Dis. Abs. Conf. Neth”, 407-412 (2010).

][11] رحیمی، رهبر؛ رحیمی، محمودرضا؛ شهرکی، فرهاد؛ بررسی توانمندی دینامیک سیالات محاسباتی درطراحی سینی های غربالی برج تقطیر، نشریه شیمی و مهندسی شیمی ایران، (٢)19: 24 تا ٢٨ (١٣٨٤).

[12] رحیمی، محمود رضا، مطالعه اختلاف فازها در سینی غربالی با استفاده از دینامیک سیالات محاسباتی ، نشریه شیمی و مهندسی شیمی ایران، (۱)۳۱: ۱ تا ۱۳ (۱۳۹۱).

[13] Zarei T., Rahimi R., Zivdar M., Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulation of MVG Tray Hydraulics, Korean. J. Chem. Eng., 26(5): 1213-1219 (2009).

[14] Solari B. , Bell R. L., Fluid Flow Patterns and Velocity Distribution on Commercial Scale Siane Troys, AIChE J., 32: 640-649 (1986).

[15] Zarei A., Rahimi R., Zarei T., Firoozsalari H.N., A Study on Sieve Tray Lower Operating Limit, 50th. Dis. Abs. Conf., 3: 479-484(2010).

[16] Zarei T., Khorshidi J, Rahimi R., Zarei, A., Experimental Study on the Conical Cap Tray Performance, J. Chem. and Petrol. Eng., 50(2): 47-52 (2017).

[17] Zivdar M., Zarei T., Rahimi R., Ostadzehi, M.R., CFD Simulation of Concap Tray Hydrodynamics, J. Chem. and Petrol. Eng., 47(1): 39-50 (2013).

[18] زارعی، طالب، رحیمی، رهبر، کاربرد روش دینامیک سیالات محاسباتی برای بررسی استفاده از دریچه‌های هدایت بخار در عمل‏کرد سینی غربال ، پژوهش نفت، (5)48:95 تا 59 (1395).

[19] Asadi S. Multicomponent Distillation Modeling of An Essential Oil by the SRK and PSRK State Equations, Iranian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (IJCCE), 33(3): 77-82 (2014).