(121d) Characterization of Spray Nozzle Performance and De-Entrainment for Industrial Spray Applications

Spray nozzles are commonly implemented in refining, chemical, and process engineering applications, yet minimal fundamental knowledge exists for these systems. Specific applications for petroleum refining include crude and vacuum towers where predicting droplet size and entrainment is crucial for effective design and operation. Furthermore, the availability of experimental data is typically limited to air-water systems. For these applications, both spray performance and entrainment are key issues in the proper design of these systems, especially in the presence of countercurrent gas flow. This work utilizes Phase Doppler Interferometry (PDI) to characterize entrainment effects in a variety of systems including air-water and air-amine systems. The PDI system utilized in this work has the ability to interrogate concentrated dispersions and provide fundamental insight about entrainment. The PDI is coupled with an 8 in. glass column with the ability to process a variety of fluids at high gas rates (C-factors ~0.5 ft/s). A comprehensive analysis of entrainment is presented that focuses on nozzle selection, gas flow rate, and the effectiveness of de-entrainment devices. A variety of spray nozzle orientations/positions is evaluated with and without de-entrainment devices.