Model prediction and optimization of dry pressure drop within Winpak

• Published in: Chemical engineering and processing Vol. 118; pp. 62 - 70
• Main Authors: Qi, Wenzhe, Guo, Kai, Ding, Huidian, Li, Dan, Liu, Chunjiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2017
• Subjects: CFD simulation; Dry pressure drop; Optimization; Representative elementary unit; Structured packing; CFD simulation; Representative elementary unit; Optimization; Structured packing; Dry pressure drop
• ISSN: 0255-2701; 1873-3204
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cep.2017.04.020

[Display omitted] •Mechanism of the dry pressure drop within a novel structured packing was studied.•A new REU for Winpak was proposed to simulate the dry pressure drop.•The windows of Winpak were optimized to reduce the dry pressure drop.•Correlations considering all factors were built to predict the dry pressure drop. The mechanism and optimization of the dry pressure drop within a novel structured packing, Winpak, was investigated by computational fluid dynamic simulations. The contribution of the dry pressure drop was decomposed into two components. The drag term was obtained according to an existing model. The frictional pressure drop was simulated in a new representative elementary unit. Several structures of Winpak were designed to study the effect of the packing dimensions. Results indicate the windows on the packing sheets have significant effect. Accordingly, the cutting angle of windows was optimized to reduce dry pressure drop. A set of correlations for predicting the dry pressure drop was established ultimately and validated by experimental data.