Premium
Fluid flow patterns and velocity distribution on commercial‐scale sieve trays
Author(s) -
Solari R. B.,
Bell R. L.
Publication year - 1986
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.690320414
Subject(s) - tray , sieve (category theory) , mechanics , residence time distribution , residence time (fluid dynamics) , flow (mathematics) , flow velocity , air velocity , volumetric flow rate , mixing (physics) , superficial velocity , chemistry , materials science , meteorology , mathematics , geology , physics , geotechnical engineering , engineering , mechanical engineering , quantum mechanics , combinatorics
A fluorimetric technique was used to determine detailed residence time and velocity distribution on commercial sieve trays installed in a five‐tray, 1.22 m dia. air/water simulator. Results show a strong effect of the gas rate on the residence time distribution. At low air rates, isochron lines of high residence time are found at the column wall, and the variance distributions suggest the existence of zones of different degrees of mixing. The velocity profiles at F s (vapor velocity load) factors less than 0.65 show severe flow nonuniformities characterized by a high velocity at the centerline and stagnant zone close to the wall. At higher F s factors the velocity maldistribution seems to be relatively mild. Correlations are presented to estimate the velocity distribution on the tray as a function of the gas rate.