Gas sweetening
Systems which generate colloidal sulphur are
notoriously prone to fouling. Our new product,
V-tex™, is unique to industry and overcomes
problems such as these. The technology has the
potential to reduce capital and operating cost
and improve mass transfer efficiency. Because
the V-tex™ unit is very compact it is well
suited to applications where space and weight
are an issue. Two particular applications where
employing this technology will reap many benefits
are in the offshore oil and gas where high pressure
conditions are prevalent. Both gas sweetening
and the dehydration of natural gas employing glycol
will benefit from the many unique features of
the V-tex™ unit including its reduced size
and weight.
Within a compact, packing free fluidic device
it simultaneously provides the four conditions
necessary for exceptional mass transfer performance.
- It generates ten times the specific surface
area for mass transfer compared to a conventional
column. This is because it generates a very
large number of liquid droplets per unit volume
of contactor. This high interfacial area is
generated without the use of packing.
- It will also provide conditions for very
high relative velocity between the liquid and
the gas phase. This condition results in a very
thin boundary layer between the gas and the
liquid drop which enables the contaminant in
the gas to reach the liquid drop surface very
easily. In the V –tex™ unit the
boundary layer thickness is about one third
the thickness in a conventional scrubber
- In the V-tex™ unit the drops are relatively
small and this means that the gas contaminant
which dissolves at the drop surface does not
have to diffuse through a large liquid film
to react with the scrub liquor reagent. Technically
this is referred to as a diffusional path length.
A short diffusional path lenght, which is typical
in the V-tex™ scrubber enables more of
the scrub liquor to react with the gas in unit
time.
The intense gas vortex which exists in the V-tex™
unit serves two functions, it is instrumental
in achieving the high relative velocity environment
which enhances scrub efficiency. Secondly, it
generates cyclonic conditions in the device
which help to spin the droplets through the
gas in the same way that a centrifuge works.
This enables the unit to operate without a liquid
entrainment problem.
These four characteristics give the V-tex™
unit a significant technological edge. Duty
for duty the device is one quarter the size
of a conventional column.
Another application niche that will benefit from
the high efficiency operation and the lack of
packing is the treatment by air stripping of groundwater
contaminated with hydrocarbon wastes.
A problem with conventional groundwater strip
columns is the biofouling of the packing which
can gererate operational difficulties. With the
V-tex™ unit this problem is eliminated.
Contaminants like Benzene and Toluene can be reduced
from 200ppm to less than 1ppm in a three stage
V-tex™ unit.
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