Experimental Investigation and Proposed Empirical Correlations for the Valve Tray in a Commercial Scale in the Lower and Upper Operational Limits

The valve tray is one of the most used trays in distillation and absorption towers in the petroleum, petrochemical and other industries. In this study, the hydrodynamic behavior of the valve, the tray has been studied in a tower with 1.2m diameter with an air-water system. The test tower has two valve trays with a free surface area of 14%. The experimental results of clear liquid height, froth height, average liquid hold up, total pressure drop, dry pressure drop, weeping and entrainment have been presented. Empirical correlations for these parameters have been proposed. The upper and lower operating limits were analyzed and evaluated. The validation of the empirical correlation has been examined. The results show that the gas flow velocity on the hydrodynamic parameters has a greater effect than the liquid flow velocity on the tray and the valve tray has more flexibility than the variations in the liquid flow rate.