Thesis (MScEng (Process Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mass transfer efficiency in distillation, absorption and stripping depends on both thermodynamic efficiency and hydrodynamic behaviour. Thermodynamic efficiency is dependent on the system kinetics while hydrodynamics is the study of fluid flow behaviour. The focus of this thesis is the hydrodynamic behaviour in tray columns, which affects entrainment. In order to isolate hydrodynamic behaviour from the thermodynamic behaviour that occurs inside sieve tray columns, investigations are conducted under conditions of zero mass transfer. When the gas velocity is sufficiently high to transport liquid droplets to the tray above, entrainment occurs. The onset of entrainment is one of the operating limits that determines the design of the column and thus impacts on the capital cost. By improving the understanding of the parameters that affect entrainment, the design of the tray and column can be improved which will ultimately increase the operability and capacity while reducing capital costs. Existing correlations predicting entrainment in sieve tray columns are based on data generated mainly from an air/water system. Previous publications recommend that more testing should be performed over larger ranges of gas and liquid physical properties. An experimental setup was therefore designed and constructed to test the influence of the following parameters on entrainment: 1. gas and liquid physical properties 2. gas and liquid flow rates 3. tray spacing The experimental setup can also measure weeping rates for a continuation of this project. The hydrodynamic performance of a sieve tray was tested with air and water over a wide range of gas and liquid flow rates and at different downcomer escape areas. It was found that the downcomer escape area should be sized so that the liquid escaping the downcomer always exceeds a velocity of approximately 0.23 m/s in order to create a sufficient liquid seal in the downcomer. For liquid velocities between 0.23 and 0.6 m/s the area of escape did not have an effect on the percentage of liquid entrained. It was also established that entrainment increases with increasing gas velocity. The rate at which entrainment increases as the gas velocity increase depends on the liquid flow rate. As soon as the liquid flow rate exceeded 74 m3/(h.m) a significant increase in entrainment was noted and the gas velocity had to be reduced to maintain a constant entrainment rate. This is because the increased liquid load requires a longer flow path length for the froth to fully develop. The undeveloped froth, caused by the short (455 mm) flow path, then creates a non-uniform froth that is pushed up against the column wall above the downcomer. Consequently, the froth layer is closer to the tray above resulting in most of the droplets ejected from the froth reaching the tray above and increasing entrainment. By reducing the gas velocity, the froth height and ejecting droplet velocity is reduced, resulting in a decrease in entrainment. The results from the experiments followed similar trends to most of the entrainment prediction correlations found in literature, except for the change noted in liquid flow rates above 74 m3/(h.m). There was, however, a significant difference between the experimental results and the correlations developed by Hunt et al. (1955) and Kister and Haas (1988). Although the gas velocities used during the air/water experiments were beyond the suggested range of application developed by Bennett et al. (1995) their air/water correlation followed the results very well. The entrainment prediction correlation developed by Bennett et al. (1995) for non-air/water systems was compared with the experimental air/water results to test for system uniformity. A significant difference was noted between their non-air/water prediction correlation and the air/water results, which motivates the need for a general entrainment prediction correlation over a wider range of gas and liquid physical properties. Based on the shortcomings found in the literature and the observations made during the experiments it is suggested that the influence of liquid flow path length should be investigated so that the effect on entrainment can be quantified. No single correlation was found in the literature, which accurately predicts entrainment for a large range of liquid loads (17 – 112 m3/(h.m)), high superficial gas velocities (3 – 4.6 m/s) and different gas and liquid physical properties. It is therefore recommended that more work be done, as an extension of this project, to investigate the influence of gas and liquid physical properties on entrainment (under zero mass transfer conditions) for a large range of liquid (5 – 74 m3/(h.m)) and gas (2 – 4.6 m/s) flow rates. In order to understand the effect of droplet drag on entrainment, tray spacing should be varied and increased to the extent where droplet ejection velocity is no longer the mechanism for entrainment and droplet drag is responsible for droplet transport to the tray above. Since it is difficult and in most cases impossible to measure exact gas and liquid loads in commercial columns, another method is required to measure or determine entrainment. Since liquid hold-up was found to be directly related to the entrainment rate (Hunt et al. (1955), Payne and Prince (1977) and Van Sinderen et al. (2003) to name but a few), it is suggested that a correlation should be developed between the dynamic pressure drop (liquid hold-up) and entrainment. This will contribute significantly to commercial column operation from a hydrodynamic point of view.