Abstract—A Turbulent contact absorber (TCA) column has been installed and operated at Petroleum University of Technology (PUT) to absorb CO2 using caustic solution. In order to survey column efficiency, calculation of mass transfer coefficients (kl, kg) and interfacial area (a) is necessary. Generally because of measurement problems, these parameters are expressed as overall mass transfer coefficient (Koga). CO2 absorption by aqueous solutions (such as caustic) is considered as chemical absorption which takes place in liquid boundary layer and the rate of absorption is a severe function of gas-liquid interfacial area. Through variation of system specifications such as caustic concentration, gas rate, liquid rate and liquid to gas ratio (L/G), which resulted from 70 practical experiments with various operating conditions, subordination of effective interfacial area was investigated; a direct predictive method based on chemical absorption was presented to calculate effective interfacial area; and best operating conditions for TCA column was concluded. The final results from practical experiments illustrated that, at low L/G ratios in absorption processes, using a TCA column whose cross sectional area and packing height is about 0.1 of same parameters in a packed column which operates at the same conditions, five times efficiency can be yielded.
Index Terms—CO2 absorption, Effective interfacial area, TCA, Three phase fluidized bed
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Cite: Amir Shabani, Siamak Tavoosi Asl and Bahram Hashemi Shahraki, "Calculation of Effective Interfacial Area in a Turbulent Contact Absorber," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 117-122, 2010.
