AIChE manual updates and consolidates procedures for testing
performance of distillation columns

From classic distillation operations to air stripping to other
separations processes, selecting the correct column for appropriate
efficient, safe, and environmentally-sound operations can be an
important step. The newest updated volume in AIChE's
long-running Equipment Testing Procedures series, Trayed and
Packed Columns: A Guide to Performance Evaluation, Third
Edition provides chemical engineers, plant managers, and other
professionals with helpful advice to assess and measure performance
of a variety of distillation columns, including those that utilize
bubble cap, sieve, valve trays, or packing material.

The new book combines and updates into one user-friendly volume
the best available field knowledge from previous publications on
both types of distillation columns. Designed not as a single set of
compulsory steps, but as a compilation of techniques, it will allow
the user to select the procedure that best applies to its operating
parameters. The testing steps presented can be used to assess
reliable performance data on mass transfer efficiency, capacity,
energy consumption, and pressure drop--information essential
to effective troubleshooting of performance problems, identifying
capacity bottlenecks, determining operating ranges, and a number of
other routine maintenance and optimization processes.

Opening with an extensive definition section, organized by
topical area, the book then goes on to address:

* Selection of instrumentation and identification of elements to
be measured

* Pre-test planning procedures

* Strategies for data collection and evaluation, including
sampling procedures

* Pre-test, in-test, and post-test considerations (equipment,
safety, process, environmental)

* Computation and interpretation of results, including individual
breakdowns for trayed and packed columns in terms of hydraulic and
efficiency performance

* Test troubleshooting analysis in twelve key areas

The book concludes with appendices for relevant symbols and
nomenclature, plus sample caculations generated from performance
tests.

With its engineer-tested procedures and thorough explanations,
Trayed and Packed Columns: A Guide to Performance Evaluation,
Third Edition is an essential text for anyone engaged in
implementing new technology in equipment design, identifying
process problems, and optimizing equipment performance.

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS (AIChE) is a
distinguished professional association that strives to provide
leadership in the advancing chemical engineering profession. The
Equipment Testing Procedures Committee is composed of engineers
with substantial experience in the design and operation of process
plants, as well as in solving problems that can arise with the
equipment used in these plants.

AIChE manual updates and consolidates procedures for testing performance of distillation columns

From classic distillation operations to air stripping to other separations processes, selecting the correct column for appropriate efficient, safe, and environmentally-sound operations can be an important step. The newest updated volume in AIChE's long-running Equipment Testing Procedures series, Trayed and Packed Columns: A Guide to Performance Evaluation, Third Edition provides chemical engineers, plant managers, and other professionals with helpful advice to assess and measure performance of a variety of distillation columns, including those that utilize bubble cap, sieve, valve trays, or packing material.

The new book combines and updates into one user-friendly volume the best available field knowledge from previous publications on both types of distillation columns. Designed not as a single set of compulsory steps, but as a compilation of techniques, it will allow the user to select the procedure that best applies to its operating parameters. The testing steps presented can be used to assess reliable performance data on mass transfer efficiency, capacity, energy consumption, and pressure dropinformation essential to effective troubleshooting of performance problems, identifying capacity bottlenecks, determining operating ranges, and a number of other routine maintenance and optimization processes.

Opening with an extensive definition section, organized by topical area, the book then goes on to address:

• Selection of instrumentation and identification of elements to be measured
• Pre-test planning procedures
• Strategies for data collection and evaluation, including sampling procedures
• Pre-test, in-test, and post-test considerations (equipment, safety, process, environmental)
• Computation and interpretation of results, including individual breakdowns for trayed and packed columns in terms of hydraulic and efficiency performance
• Test troubleshooting analysis in twelve key areas

The book concludes with appendices for relevant symbols and nomenclature, plus sample caculations generated from performance tests.

With its engineer-tested procedures and thorough explanations, Trayed and Packed Columns: A Guide to Performance Evaluation, Third Edition is an essential text for anyone engaged in implementing new technology in equipment design, identifying process problems, and optimizing equipment performance.

100.0 PURPOSE & SCOPE 1

101.0 Purpose 1

102.0 Scope 1

200.0 DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION OF TERMS 2

201.0 Flow Quantities 2

202.0 Key Components 3

203.0 Mass Transfer Efficiency 4

203.1 Theoretical Trays or Plates or Stages 4

203.2 Overall Column Efficiency 4

203.3 Apparent Murphree Tray Efficiency 4

203.4 Ideal Murphree Tray Efficiency 4

203.5 Murphree Point Efficiency 4

203.6 HETP 4

203.7 HTU 4

203.8 NTU 4

204.0 Operating Lines 5

205.0 Pinch 5

206.0 Maximum Throughput 5

206.1 Maximum Hydraulic Throughput 5

206.2 Maximum Operational Capacity 5

206.3 Maximum Efficient Capacity 5

207.0 Minimum Operating Rate 5

208.0 Operating Section 5

209.0 Hardware 6

209.1 Components of a Trayed Column 6

209.2 Components of a Packed Column 7

300.0 TEST PLANNING 9

301.0 Preliminary Preparation 9

301.1 Safety 10

301.2 Environmental Considerations 10

301.3 Test Objectives 10

301.4 Organizational Resources 10

301.5 Schedule 10

301.6 Review of Historic Operating Data 10

302.0 Column Control and Instrumentation 11

303.0 Peripheral Equipment 11

304.0 Pre-test Calculations 11

304.1 Process Simulation 11

304.2 Dry Run 11

305.0 Types of Tests 12

305.1 Performance Tests 12

305.2 Acceptance Tests 12

306.0 Specific Areas of Interest 12

306.1 Packing Efficiencies 12

306.2 Tray Efficiencies 12

306.3 Overall Column Efficiency 13

306.4 Capacity Limitations 13

307.0 Energy Consumption 14

308.0 Pressure Drop Restrictions 15

309.0 Data Collection Requirements 15

309.1 Process Operating Data 15

309.2 Gamma Scan Data 15

310.0 Conditions of External Streams 18

310.1 Overall and Component Material Balances 18

310.2 Overall Enthalpy Balances 18

311.0 Internal Temperatures 18

311.1 Heat Balances 18

311.2 Internal Profiles 18

312.0 Internal Samples 20

312.1 Internal Samples for Efficiency Checks 20

312.2 Internal Samples for Ov…