A New Method for Designing an Energy-Saving Tray and Its Hydrodynamic Aspects: Hydrodynamic Aspects of 95 Trays. A Brief Research Note on the Previous Study

A new tray, the 95 tray, was designed on the basis of numerical calculations. A pilot-scale setup was established to evaluate the hydrodynamic properties of the 95 tray. Experimental data on the flow patterns, pressure drop, weeping, and downcomer liquid backup were obtained and analyzed, and the equations for calculating the tray pressure drop and downcomer backup were thus derived. The flow pattern for the 95 tray is nearly in an ideal mode if suitable deflectors are set. The per tray pressure drop for the 95 tray is approximately one-half of that for a conventional sieve tray in the range of medium to high vapor flow rates, and the divergence of the per tray pressure drop between the two kinds of trays is increased with increasing vapor flow rate. It is demonstrated that the 95 tray can offer the advantages of a lower pressure drop and a larger capacity. The weeping curve for the 95 tray is found to be a little lower than that for the conventional tray.