Design of complex wire-mesh mist eliminators

Knitted wire-mesh mist eliminators have widespread application in many indu strial plants. Despite their extensive use, the open literature regarding t hem:is really limited. Some experimental data and mechanistic models have b een published for common knitted wire-mesh mist eliminators formed from a s ingle metal pad. This type of mist eliminator can be used in most distillat ion and absorption columns, but because of the poor removal efficiency, can not be used in operations involving acid mist, fine fog resulting from liqu id condensation from a saturated vapor, oil mist from compressed gases, and natural-gas dehydration applications. Moreover, other possible problems ma y arise when the separator is fed with high liquid and gas flow rates, beca use these conditions can induce flooding in the mist eliminator: In both of these cases, common wire-mesh mist eliminators do not perform satisfactori ly, and therefore complex wire-mesh mist eliminators have to be installed t o improve separation efficiency or to increase allowable liquid loadings wh ile avoiding flooding phenomena. This article presents a mechanistic model based on a set of new experimental data obtained by investigating performan ce of commercial complex eliminators.