Gas absorption in a wetted-wire column

Abstract

This study aims to examine the performance, as a gas absorber, of a "wetted-wire column," a novel gas-liquid contact device equipped with a bundle of built-in vertically oriented wires. This device allows a liquid absorbent to flow down each wire, being in contact with a gas mixture flowing countercurrently. A prototype column having 109 wires was constructed and then tested in experimental CO2-absorption operations, using aqueous monoethanolamine absorbents. In every operation, a monoethanolamine solution was supplied to the column at a constant rate such that its flow on each wire assumed a "string-of-beads" pattern consisting of annular thin liquid films sheathing the wire and teardrop-shaped liquid beads alternately aligned on the wire at regular intervals. It was confirmed that the wetted-wire column has an absorption performance quite comparable to conventional packed-bed columns, while it imposes, on the internal gas flow, only a pressure loss smaller than that in packed-bed columns of the same height by one to two orders. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.