MODELS DESCRIBING THE BEHAVIOR OF NEW CARBON-FIBER PACKINGS IN RECTIFICATION PROCESSES

Many rectification processes are used to separate corrosive substances with high boiling points. This report deals with a new type of struct ured column packing made of corrosion-resistant carbon fiber material. These column internals allow for low pressure drop at high throughput rates with reasonable column efficiency. Experiments in columns of 50 and 100 mm diameter have been carried out to investigate separation e fficiency, pressure drop and liquid holdup of the packings even at low operation pressures. In the respective columns two geometrical differ ent types of packings have been tested using binary mixtures of chloro benzene/ethylbenzene and trans/cis-decahydronaphthalene. The 50 mm dia meter column was operated with a packing geometry similar to the Sulze r EX packing, the 100 mm diameter column was filled with elements of r ougher structure and smaller specific surface. Basing on the experimen tal results, model equations are presented, which allow the calculatio n of the investigated performance characteristics.