Prospectus

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DST-24 Intertray Mist Elimination Expected Benefit toMembers:

Developmental Research Idea

Increase tray capacity with low cost increase. Present Situation and Proposed Research:

Although entrainment is known as a distillation barrier for nearly a century, mist elimination is still a developing science. New studies and modern computational tools offer new perspectives in the understanding of mist eliminators as new products and developments are established. New designs have employed mist eliminators below trays to reduce entrainment effects such as jet flood, therefore increasing capacity - but limited to pressure drop increase. The Proposed Research aims to increase tray capacity with mesh pad mist eliminators installed above trays, first by means of dispersing large bubbles into smaller ones and therefore enhance mass transfer similarly to valves, second by means of de-entrainment and collection of mechanically generated droplets at tray gas-liquid interfaces. Defoaming may also be achieved. The mesh pad thickness must be higher than weir height - conventional mesh pad mist eliminators have 4 to 6 inches of thickness and are sufficient. The use of mesh pad mist eliminators will have a low pressure drop increase as well as a low tray overall cost increase. Proposed Internals and Test System: Conventional FRI Sieve Tray Tests + Mesh

Mesh pad mist eliminators for each tray (we can provide conventional mesh pads for these tests. Background and Discussion: Background and Discussion can be seen in the paper “On the Role of Proper Mist Elimination System for Distillation Tower Performance” by Bruno B. Ferraro, Vitor A. Sturm, Michael D. Montani, João P. Torgal, Alexandre C. Bastida, Nelson P. Clark.

Pad Mist Eliminators. Estimated Unit Time: Unknown.

Estimated Additional Costs (Beyond Unit Time):

PROSPECTUS

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