MASS-TRANSFER IN STRUCTURED CORRUGATED PACKING

The performance of structured corrugated packing has been simulated by establishing mechanistic models for liquid distribution, liquid flow on the packing surface and mass transfer. The models were used to investigate the effect of packing height, liquid load, initial maldistribution as well as differing initial distribution and solid-liquid contact angle on the packed column performance. Wetted surface area is the primary value of interest and the simulated results compare very well with those predicted by Onda (1968). The results clearly demonstrate that the wetted surface area is a strong function of the solid-liquid contact angle. Other predicted values such as mass transfer coefficients and overall height of a transfer unit show reasonable agreement with published data.