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Generalized correlation for loading in packed towers with countercurrent gas‐liquid flow
Author(s) -
Howkins J. E.,
Davidson J. F.
Publication year - 1958
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690040318
Subject(s) - countercurrent exchange , mechanics , separator (oil production) , ball (mathematics) , tube (container) , materials science , surface tension , equator , concentric , chemistry , composite material , thermodynamics , physics , geometry , mathematics , astronomy , latitude
Experiments in which a liquid film runs over a vertical string of spheres surrounded by a concentric tube through which air is blown upward have shown that loading in a packed tower is due to the formation of standing waves on the liquid film. In the ball‐and‐tube system a wave is formed just below the equator of each ball, owing to the pressure gradient within the air stream as it accelerates through the narrowing gap between the ball and the tube. Interfacial shear and surface tension are of secondary importance. The similarity between the characteristics of the ball‐and‐tube system and those of the randomly packed tower suggests that loading in the latter system is also due to wave formation. With this concept of loading, a correlation has been dérived.