Absorption Tower: The Ultimate FAQ Guide - Filson Filter (2024)

If you have any questions about absorption towers, your answer is right here.

This guide covers everything including functions, components, maintenance, features, and working principle of absorption tower, just to mention a few.

Keep reading if you want to be an expert in absorption

What is an Absorption Tower?

An absorption tower is an elongated vertical column that you will use for the absorption of gases in different industries.

You can also identify the absorption towers as scrubbers.

Absorption tower process flow diagram

What are the Functions of the Absorption Towers?

You will use the absorption towers for a number of different functions apart from the absorption of gas.

Basically, the main function of the absorption towers is to absorb different types of impurities in gas streams.

You will use it scrub the gas stream and absorb all the impurities within the gas stream hence the name scrubbers.

It will trap all the impurities and components of the gas with the aid of a falling liquid.

You can use it in different industries including the processing industry as well as the purification industry.

In addition to that, you will also use the absorption towers for:

• Distillation Purposes
• Stripping Purposes
• Absorption Purposes
• Adsorption Purposes
• Extraction Purposes

Do You Supply Customized Absorption Towers?

Absorption tower

Absolutely, we supply customized absorption towers by looking at the different capacities you intend to handle.

In other words, you will give us the design as well as the product specifications that you would like to have.

You can also call in and request for assistance with your custom design and we will gladly help you out.

What are the Main Components of the Absorption Towers?

Absorption towers consist of different parts that they use to perform different functions.

Here are the main parts of the absorption tower that you need to pay close attention to.

· Mesh Pads

The absorption towers have different types of mesh pads which they use to filter out impurities from different sources.

Some of the mesh pads that you will find in absorption towers include the mist elimination and cleaning water mesh pads.

· Packed Bed

The packed bed is responsible for holding all the components that facilitate the absorption of impurities from the flowing fluids.

· Packing Support Grate

This is a support system that will give extra support to the materials on the packed bed.

· Integral Reagent

The integral reagent is responsible for facilitating the process of absorption of impurities from different gas streams.

· Trays

It also has trays that are divided into two major categories including counter-flow and cross-flow trays.

They perform different functions depending on the type of trays among them sieving of different types of impurities.

· Packings

The packings will assist in bringing the vapor or gas streams and liquid streams into intimate contact.

It performs more or less the same functions as the trays bit in different capacities and applications.

How Does the Absorption Tower Work?

Absorption process

The working principles of the absorption towers involve the absorption of impurities from a rising gas.

Here, you will introduce the gas that you would like to clean through the absorption tower gas inlet at the bottom.

As that happens, you will also introduce aerosolized liquids into the system from the top of the absorption tower.

The gas, along with the impurities will begin to float upwards as the aerosolized fluid flows downwards.

Also, the droplets of the aerosolized fluid along with other absorption tower components facilitate absorption of impurities.

The aerosolized fluids will carry the impurities towards the bottom of the absorption tower and through the outlet.

The clean air will the flow upwards and out of the absorption towers through the clean air outlets.

You must control the flow of the gas and the liquid very carefully to allow the whole process to take place accordingly.

Apart from that, you must also control the conditions within the tower such as temperature and humidity conditions.

How Do You Clean and Maintain the Absorption Tower?

It is also very important to clean and maintain the absorption towers on a regular basis.

Cleaning and maintaining the absorption towers on a regular basis will ensure that the absorption towers work efficiently.

Apart from that, it will ensure that the absorption towers have longer service lives.

You will begin the whole cleaning and maintenance process by shutting down the absorption towers.

It will give your workers the ample environment to access all the parts of the absorption towers safely.

Apart from that, your workers must wear protective gear as the absorption towers handle potentially dangerous fluids.

After that, they will clean all the components of the absorption towers and leave them in the right condition.

In addition to that, you will ensure that you replace the broken or worn out parts of the absorption tower.

What’s more, you will proceed with the lubrication of the moving parts of the absorption towers on a regular basis.

It is best to have a schedule where you will conduct routine inspection, cleaning and replacement of parts.

Which is the Most Common Application of the Absorption Towers?

You can use the absorption towers in different applications since they can fit according to application specifications.

The most common applications of the absorption towers include:

· Petroleum Industry

You will use the absorption towers in the petroleum industry to absorb different types of impurities from different petroleum products.

· Oil and Gas Industry Lines

You will also use the absorption towers to eliminate impurities from oils and gases thus purifying them for distribution.

Which Solvent Do You Use in Absorption Towers to Absorb Different Fluids?

The main solvent that you will use in the absorption tower is a glycol solution.

Glycol solution is the best solvent to use in the absorption tower because of its ability to absorb the different substances.

Since it does not mix with gas, it will absorb all the components from the gas and allow gas to flow uninterrupted.

Which Types of Packaging Do the Absorption Towers Have?

You will depend on the packaging of the industrial absorption towers to aid the absorption f different impurities.

Here are the main packages that you should employ to aid in the overall absorption process.

• Structured Packaging
• Random Packaging

These types of packaging assist in making the absorption towers smaller and even lighter in weight.

They do so by reducing the overall diameters of the absorption towers thus making the circumference smaller.

The smaller the circumference, the lighter in weight the absorption towers are.

What are the Benefits of Using the Absorption Towers?

You will experience quite a number of advantages from using the absorption towers.

Here are the main benefits that you should enjoy with the absorption towers.

· Low Cost of Equipment

In comparison to the cost of other equipment, you will not spend a lot of money to purchase the absorption towers.

The cost is often quite affordable in relation to the benefits that you will derive from using the absorption towers.

· Low-Pressure Drop

You will also experience low-pressure drops across the entire absorption towers.

· Continuous Operation

If you maintain the absorption towers well, you will experience very minimal downtime thus continuous operations.

· Readily Available Make-Up Requirements

You will also enjoy the presence of readily available make-up requirements that will be added to the equipment.

· Absorbs Solid Impurities

You can also readily employ the absorption towers in the absorption of different impurities including solid substances.

What are the Disadvantages of Using the Absorption Towers?

Despite the numerous merits, you will also experience a few limitations of using the absorption towers.

Here are the main limitations of using the absorption towers.

· Solvent Contamination

There is a very high possibility of contaminating the glycol solvents that is responsible for absorbing the impurities.

· Overheating Problems

There are cases where you may overheat the solutions that may lead to high and low decomposition.

· Crowding of Sludge

The impurities may form sludge which might collect on the heating surfaces and affect the efficiency of the absorption process.

· Corrosion Problems

You may also experience corrosion problems in the presence of hydrogen sulfide and oxygen in the solution.

What is Single Component Absorption in Absorption Towers?

Absorption tower system

Single component absorption is the situation where the absorption towers absorb impurities in a single flow.

Implying that, you will only pass the gas through the glycol solvents one and it will absorb all the impurities.

Here, you will introduce the gas at the bottom of the absorption tower and allow it to flow upwards.

As it flows upwards, it will get in contact with the glycol solvent on its way down.

At the moment of collision, the glycol solvent will absorb all the impurities from the gas and allow clean gas to exit.

What is the Difference Between Absorption and Stripping in Absorption Towers?

Absorption vs stripping system

Absorption is the process by which a liquid solvent absorbs different species from the flowing gas.

It does not change the chemical composition of the species that it absorbs from the gases.

It is the best method that you can use to separate gas mixtures and remove impurities thus recovering valuable chemicals.

On the other hand, stripping is the process of eliminating absorbed solutes from a solvent.

It differs from absorption in terms of the type of fluid it cleans since it is responsible for cleaning solvents.

You will perform stripping of different types of solvents on stripping towers other than absorption towers.

For instance, you can strip ammonia from a solution of ammonia and water in a stripping tower.

What are the Features of the Absorption Towers?

When purchasing your absorption towers, there are specific features that you need to look at.

Your absorption tower must have the following specialized features to assist in proper operations.

• Allowance for integration with the other parts of the other machines in different industrial applications.
• Low cost of maintenance with very low maintenance requirements.
• Use of very cheap but durable and efficient types of materials as well as components.
• Compact design that allows it to easily stand strong and operate efficiently with minimal hitches
• Proper cleaning function that kicks in on a particular schedule or cleaning time
• Sensitivity to any form of contamination such as dirt

Which Materials Do You Use to Construction the Absorption Towers?

You will use different types of materials in making different parts of the absorption towers.

Low alloy steel plates and carbon are the best materials that you will use for making tower heads and shells.

In case you are working with highly corrosive gases, you will have to use high alloy steel to make the main parts.

The high alloy steel that you can use includes stainless-steel, Monel, or titanium.

You can also use fiber reinforced polyester to make the highly corrosive parts of the absorption towers.

The most common materials that you will use in making the absorption towers is the clad plate.

The clad plate is nor-corrosive and has very high tensile strength materials that is also very cheap to acquire.

How Do the Double Diameter Towers (DDT) Compare to the Single Diameter Towers (SDT)?

Double diameter towers (DDT) and single diameter towers (SDT) have structural differences.

The double diameter towers (DDT) have two different diameter measurements on a single absorption tower.

On the other hand, single diameter absorption towers have one diameter measurement on the absorption tower structure.

Apart from that, the absorption towers have different components that dictate the different functional competencies.

How do you Test the Quality of Absorption Towers?

Apart from checking the quality standards, you can also check on the quality of the absorption towers by performing tests.

Testing the machine will ensure that the machine is safe for use and will work according to your specifications.

There are three main tests that you should perform on the absorption towers including:

Factory Acceptance Test

You will perform the factory acceptance test at the factory level before you transport the absorption towers.

You will receive a factory acceptance test (FAT) certificate after completing and certifying the whole process.

Installation Qualification Test

As soon as the installation of the absorption towers is complete, you will proceed to test the machine.

After that, you will also receive an installation qualification certificate after a successful test.

Operational Qualification Test

This is the final test that you will perform on the absorption tower to ensure that it operates according to the specific requirements.

At the end of this test, you will also get a certificate as proof that the machine reaches all the test requirements.

How do you Increase the Efficiency of Absorption Tower?

You can increase the efficiency of the absorption towers by improving every aspect of the absorption tower.

Implying that you must ensure that all the components are in optimum working conditions.

Here are some of the factors that you should consider when you intend to increase the efficiency of absorption towers.

Clean all the Components Regularly

You must clean all the components of the absorption tower on a regular basis to ensure that the pathways are clean.

This will ensure that there are no blockages on the fluid passage routes thus efficient fluid flow.

Maintain Proper Operational Records

You will also record the performance of the absorption towers on a regular basis.

Proper maintenance of the records will help you identify situations where the performance might reduce.

In that case, you will be able to identify the presence of a problem that you should rectify.

Maintain a Proper Maintenance Schedule

You should have a proper cleaning and maintenance schedule that you should stick to entirely.

A proper maintenance schedule will help you maintain the machine well and increase efficiency.

You must also have a proper monitoring device that should remain at the right time for performing routine maintenance.

Treat the Solvents

You should also treat the solvents on a regular basis to eliminate the possibilities of contaminating them.

Cleans solvents such as glycol solutions often absorb impurities better thus increasing efficiency.

What is the Gas Absorption Column?

Gas absorption and regeneration unit

Gas absorption columns are units that you will use in the separation of gases by scrubbing and washing gas mixture.

In this case, you will use a suitable liquid to help in scrubbing and washing impurities from the absorption column.

What Determines the Absorption Tower Cost?

You can tell that the absorption towers vary in terms of cost.

The main variation in cost is a result of different types of absorption towers in the market.

The high-quality absorption towers often cost more than the low-quality absorption towers.

Apart from that, you will also pay higher prices for absorption towers of very high capacities.

Implying that the greater the capacity of absorption towers, the more money you are likely to pay for them.

Generally, the cost of absorption towers usually varies between 1500 to 250,000 US dollars.

You will use the most expensive absorption towers in greater industrial applications.

Depending on your specific needs, FilSon Filters offers a range of absorption towers.

Contact us today for all your high-performance absorption towers.