Study on liquid distribution in corrugated packed towers

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Corrugated packing towers with excellent liquid distribution features advantages such as high efficiency, large throughput, low pressure drop, and minimal amplification effect; they have been widely used in various industrial separation processes, especially in vacuum and medium-pressure distillation. The liquid distribution performance of packing towers directly affects the mass transfer efficiency within the tower, and this aspect has received considerable attention over the years. Firstly, many research studies on liquid distribution in packing towers have been conducted abroad, and several mathematical models have been developed to describe the liquid distribution characteristics of corrugated packing towers. Based on references to foreign research, we have also carried out effective studies of our own. After systematically analyzing the liquid flow mechanism in metal wire mesh corrugated packing, we concluded that the liquid does not flow entirely along regular channels under the influence of gravity; the angle between its actual path of movement and the projection of that path on the horizontal plane is exactly the dihedral angle between the corrugated surface and the horizontal plane. A liquid distribution model for corrugated plate packed columns was developed based on two main assumptions: the flow of liquid along the corrugated channels and total reflection of the liquid at the column walls. It was suggested that the liquid in the corrugated packing channels does not flow strictly in the direction of the dihedral angle nor purely along the channel itself, but rather flows both along the channel direction and vertically downward along the surface of the packing; furthermore, the liquid does not undergo total reflection at the column walls. A revised liquid distribution model was proposed. However, there is a significant discrepancy between the calculated values from this model and the experimental values, especially regarding the wall flow. Reposted from: http://www.bowentianliao.com/zhishi/jishu/307.html