Apparatus: Wetted Wall Column

Wetted-wall column
Introduction:
Wetted wall column is used to study distillation, gas absorption and vaporization
operation of various chemical systems, to obtain data and correlation between
components present in different phases, which exist in equilibrium condition
during the operation. The experiments of wetted wall column provide data for the
design of separation operations.
Apparatus: wetted wall column
Objective: The rates of diffusion into gases flowing through pipes are studied in
wetted wall column.
Working principle:
In the most common case, the column contains one liquid stream and one gas
stream. The liquid forms a thin film that covers the inner surface of the vessel,
[1]
instead the gas stream is normally injected from the bottom of the column, so
the two fluids are subjected to a counter-current exchange of matter and heat, that
happens in correspondence of the gas-liquid interface.Sometimes, the same
equipment is used to achieve the co-current mass and heat transfer between
two immiscible liquids.
A thin film of liquid falling down the inside of a vertical pipe through which the gas
flows constitutes a wetted wall column. Wetted wall columns have been used as
absorbers of Hydrochloric acid, Ammonia, Acetone, Benzene and other volatile
liquids. They have also been studied for theoretical studies for mass transfer
because the interfacial surface between the phases is kept under control and is
measurable.
The height of wetted wall column required for mass transfer operations is
excessive and consequently this is not widely used, where large quantities of liquid
or gas have to be handled, it would be necessary to arrange many vertical pipes in
parallel and this leads to difficulties in the distribution of liquid into the inner
surface of the tubes. The gas pressure drop for this is confined to skin friction
effects, with few or no expansion or contraction losses
.
Mass transfer rates for fluids flowing through pipes have been studied more
completely than other cases.
The rates of diffusion into gases flowing through pipes have been studied in
wetted wall columns.
A volatile liquid is submitted to flow down the inside surface of a circular tube,
while a gas flows upward or downward through the centre of the pipe.
Measurement of the rate of evaporation of a liquid into the gas stream over known
surface permits calculation of mass transfer coefficient for the diffusion of vapor
into the gas stream. Since the liquid is pure, the concentration gradient for
diffusion exists entirely within the gas phase, the mass transfer coefficient Kg may
be calculated. Sherwood and Gillard conducted a series of experiments using a
variety of volatile liquids with air in turbulent flow.
Here the mass transfer coefficient in the form of the dimensionless group is

plotted against the Reynolds number of the gas for the system air-water (Sc = 60).
For gases, values of Re from 2000 to 35,000 were covered and from 0.6 to 2.5 with
gas pressures varying from 0.1 to 3 atm.
The equation that describes all the data for both liquid and gas flow is
(KG d/DW (PBM/P) (Kld/D) = 0.023 Re0.83 Sc1/3
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE:
1. Water is fed to the column at a rate at which complete wetting with a

minimum of ripples formation is visible.
2. The blower is started and the minimum flow of air is maintained.
3. After about 5 minutes, when steady state condition reaches, the humidity of air at
inlet and outlet are determined by the readings of the wet and dry bulb
thermometers and by the use of a psychometric chart.
4. Water flow rates and inlet and outlet temperatures are noted.
5. Vapor pressure of water at different water temperatures is calculated.
6. Calculations are made at different flow rates and values of Kg Vs N Re are plotted
on a log-log scale.
Application:
Because of its easiness of modelling, falling-film column is generally used
as laboratory equipment, for example to measure experimentally the values of
transport coefficients.[1] A significant experiment was carried out in 1934 by Edwin
R. Gilliland and Thomas Kilgore Sherwood that used a falling-film column to study
the mass transfer phenomenon between a liquid phase and a gas phase, obtaining
an experimental correlation between Sherwood number, Reynolds
number and Schmidt number.
It is not used at an industrial scale, because it has low surface area and liquid hold-
up compared to other gas-liquid contactors (e.g. a packed column or a plate
column).

Apparatus: Wetted Wall Column

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Wetted-wall column

Here the mass transfer coefficient in the form of the dimensionless group is

1. Water is fed to the column at a rate at which complete wetting with a

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