Simulation procedure for multistage water/hydrogen exchange column for heavy water enrichment accounting for catalytic and scrubbing efficiencies.

Abstract

The present paper gives a simulation procedure for multistage water/hydrogen exchange columns for heavy water enrichment using hydrophobic catalysts. The Murphree-type efficiencies for H2O, HDO and D2O are used as the scrubbing efficiencies for sieve trays. The reaction rate of H2+D2↔HD is assumed to be very rapid and equilibrated at the outlet of the catalyst bed. The catalytic efficiencies defined for H2O(g) and D2O(g) are considered for the nonequilibrated exchange reactions: H2+HDO(g)↔HD+H2O(g) and H2+D2O(g)↔D2+H2O(g). Those efficiencies are treated as input variables for the simulation. The main calculational loop is based on the Newton-Raphson iteration, but the order of the Jacobian matrix is just equal to the number of sieve trays for vapor/hydrogen scrubbing. The procedure is applicable to solution of operating problems in a wide range of input and output specifications.