(191a) Distillation Tray Operation

Distillation trays come in different types. Examples include sieve trays, valve trays, bubble cap trays, baffle trays, and dual flow trays. Of these, sieve and valve trays are the most common.

The understanding of the hydraulic and mass transfer characteristics of trays is important for successful design, operation, and troubleshooting of trayed distillation columns.

This paper provides an overview of distillation tray design and operation with particular emphasis on the hydraulic phenomena observed in trayed columns. The influence of tray geometry on the performance of trays will be discussed.

Photos and videos from various FRI tray tests will be shown.