Hydrodynamics of the tridimensional rotational flow sieve tray in a countercurrent gas-liquid column

The hydrodynamic performance of the TRST in a gas-liquid countercurrent flow column was investigated experimentally in this article. The results show that the operating field can be divided into low and high loading areas according to the increasing rate of the pressure drop. The space utilization of the tray is low, and the flow patterns are mainly droplet-column and continuous film flows. The pressure drops of the tray at each installed locations are different, indicating that the gas-liquid load of each tray is unbalanced. Compared with concurrent flow operation, the range of gas flux is at least 45% less, and the liquid flux range is at least 37.5% less. Compared with other new tray types under countercurrent flow operation, the pressure drop of the TRST is smaller, less than 300 Pa, but the range of gas-liquid flux is also narrow. The empirical models of the pressure drops, loading curve, and flooding curve agree well with the experimental data.