Dynamic behavior of vapor liquid interphase mass transfer trays

This investigation is concerned, with a fundamental analysis of the dynamic behavior of vapor-liquid interphase mass transfer trays. A theoretical model is first developed to describe the transient behavior of a single mass transfer tray in response to either a single or multiple disturbance in composition of the entering vapor or liquid stream. The proposed model takes into account the fact of incomplete liquid mixing on the tray by using the eddy diffusion mechanism to describe such liquid mixing behavior. The dynamic interphase mass transfer of a bubbling tray is characterized by two dimensionless parameters, the Peclet number (PL) and the mass transfer parameter k. The influence of the parameters are determined and discussed. The concept of partial position transfer function is proposed to provide a concise and general tool for relating the dynamic response of a system of multiple disturbances to those of the same system subjected to single and independent disturbances. The concept provides the means of breaking the complicated response system into a series of the partial responses which can be obtained from the system with less difficulty. The concept was applied successfully in obtaining the dynamic response of a tray which is subjected to simultaneous composition disturbances in either pulse or a step or a frequency form. [...]