Considerable work has been done on method standardization for experimental characterization of column packings used in absorption processes. A detailed framework for determination of packing hydraulics as well as gas- and liquid-side volumetric mass transfer coefficients (kGa and kLa) has been established.
Packing characterization experiments in large diameter columns result in high equipment and operating costs. Accurate extrapolation of packing properties from experiments in smaller diameter columns would therefore be highly desirable. However, diameter influence is currently not completely understood, making further work necessary.
In this work, experiments for the determination of kGa and kLa values were carried out and evaluated independently in two plants (inner diameters 422 and 150 mm). Results from measurements conducted with three metal packings RSP 250Y, RMP N 250X and RMP N 250Y are in good agreement with existing literature data.
kGa was found to be dependent on column diameter with larger diameters leading to increased kGa values. The overall effect (approx. 15 %) is consistent with previous works, suggesting the possibility of deriving appropriate scaling factors once the findings are validated by a larger sample size. No clear dependence of kLa values on diameter was found with deviations significantly smaller than for kGa measurements.