Issues with the material of the distillation column packing
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The original design called for copper packing to be used in the distillation tower; however, due to price considerations, it was changed to 304 packing during ordering. What impact does this change in packing material have on the distillation process?
There should be no problem. The main reason for using copper is that it rusts less, especially in devices that may be parked frequently. There was once a set of equipment that used copper material during its first industrialization in China in the 1980s; no one dared to replace it with another material after subsequent modifications and expansions. It was only later, as the scale of the equipment increased, that issues such as cost and strength led to discussions on alternative materials. Currently, 304 material is used in most cases, while C.S. material is used in some cases. From a technical perspective, it is sufficient as long as the material does not corrode the substance and no metal ions enter it.
The thermal conductivity of different materials varies greatly; could this affect the mass transfer efficiency in the tower, thereby impacting the separation capacity of the distillation column or reducing the number of theoretical plates?
What if the copper mesh is replaced with galvanized wire mesh? Will there be any problems?