Liquid distribution model based on a volume cell for a column with structured packing under permanent tilt and roll motions

Abstract

An improved liquid distribution model based on a volume cell (LDMvc) was proposed to predict the liquid load distribution in a packed column under offshore conditions. The LDMvc contained four tuning parameters. The LDMvc is an improvement of the existing intersection-based LDM since the number of model tuning parameters is reduced to four through a sophisticated flow split algorithm, and a gas flow distribution model can be associated with the LDMvc. Two experimental columns with inner diameters of 0.133 m and 0.4 m were packed with Mellapak 500X-like elements for a 1.4 m bed height and Mellapak 250X-like elements for a 4 m bed height, respectively. The 4 m bed height column was built on a sloshing machine to simulate ship movement. The liquid distribution inside the columns was measured using an electrical resistance tomography (ERT) system. The offshore conditions were a permanent tilt ranging from 2 to 6° and a roll motion with three amplitude-period pairs. The LDMvc, after tuning with the experimental data, reliably predicted the liquid load distribution in the packed columns under different tilts and roll motions.