4928 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

1999, 38, 4928-4932

Mass Transfer in a Short Wetted-Wall Column. 1. Pure Components

James C. Crause and Izak Nieuwoudt*
Institute for Thermal Separation Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch,
Stellenbosch, South Africa

It is believed that mass transfer in modern structured packing is not analogous to mass transfer
in long wetted-wall columns used previously in mass-transfer studies. To model mass transfer
in structured packing, gas-phase mass-transfer coefficients were measured by evaporation in a
short wetted-wall column with a length of 110 mm and a diameter of 25.4 mm. The results
were correlated as Shg ) 0.00283RegScg0.5Rel0.08. This correlation is based on the evaporation
data of six low-viscosity pure liquids covering a wide range of surface tensions. In the case of a
high-viscosity liquid such as ethylene glycol, systematic deviation from this correlation was
observed.

Introduction Table 1. Previous Wetted-Wall Correlations

correlation ref
The geometry of structured packing enables one to
approximate the mass transfer in these packings as Shg ) 0.023Reg0.83Scg0.44 1
mass transfer from a wetted-wall. To develop an ac- Shg ) 0.02Reg0.83Scg0.44 10
curate mass-transfer model for structured packing, one
would require an accurate wetted-wall mass-transfer
model. Previous investigators used long wetted-wall
Shg ( )
PBM
P
0.83
) 0.021Reg0.83Scg0.44 11

columns (>0.5 m) to obtain mass-transfer correlations.
Since the structured packing segments are approxi-
mately 200 mm long and the corrugations are on the
order of 20 mm wide, the need for a mass-transfer model
suitable for use in these relatively short channels is
obvious.
In several studies the evaporation of pure liquids into
air streams has been investigated. These experiments,
as opposed to distillation in a wetted-wall column, are
suited to measuring the gas-phase resistance, since
there is no liquid side resistance to mass transfer.
Gilliland and Sherwood1 pioneered the use of wetted-
wall columns for gas-phase mass-transfer studies in
1934. They evaporated several organic liquids and water
into air. Their mass-transfer correlation, as well as the
correlations of subsequent investigators, is listed in
Table 1.
The length of the wetted-wall columns used in the
various experiments varied between 0.5 and 1.8 m. The
diameter of the wetted-wall section varied between 2.5
and 3.7 cm. The height of a section of the structured
packing used is about 200 mm. The height of the
corrugations is approximately 20 mm. This is consider-
ably shorter than the columns used by other researchers
in obtaining mass-transfer correlations. It is possible
that with such a relatively short contact length entrance
effects could significantly influence mass transfer. It is
also clear that the influence of liquid flow rate on mass
transfer is ill understood and needs further investiga-
tion. All the above-mentioned researchers used an
adiabatic setup to measure mass transfer. Most of them
then used the logarithmic mean partial pressure to
calculate the driving force for mass transfer. Reker et
al.2 showed that the use of logarithmic partial pressures
for the calculation of the mass-transfer coefficient in
adiabatic systems can, under certain circumstances,
* Corresponding author. Telephone: +27 21 808-4421.
Fax: +27 21 808-2059. E-mail: INieuw@maties.sun.ac.za.
10.1021/ie990029f CCC: $18.00 © 1999 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 10/23/1999
Shg ) 0.024Re′g0.8Scg0.4 12
nonrippling films: Shg ) 0.013Re′g0.83 9
rippling films: Shg ) 0.0065Reg0.83Rel0.15
Shg ) 0.093Reg0.68Rel0.34 13
Shg ) 0.16Reg0.83Scg0.5Se
( )
gµl 2, 14
1/3µ
l
with S ) 0.721Rel5/3
Fl σ
Shg ) 0.02Re′g0.83Scg0.44 15
Shg ) 0.0318Reg0.79Scg0.5 7
Shg ) 0.00031Reg1.05Rel0.207Scg0.5 16
lead to errors of up to 10% when compared to numerical
integration of the differential mass-transfer equations
for evaporation.
In this study pure liquids were evaporated in an
isothermal wetted-wall column to determine gas-phase
mass-transfer coefficients. These experiments were
designed to investigate the influence of parameters such
as the liquid and gas Reynolds numbers and the gas-
phase Schmidt number on the gas-phase Sherwood
number.
Experimental Setup
Since the aim is to model mass-transfer in packing
where the changes in liquid flow occur every few
centimeters (see Shetty and Cerro20), it was decided to
use a short wetted-wall column and to use an isothermal
configuration to simplify the mass transfer analysis. A
drawing of the column assembly is shown in Figure 1.
The wetted-wall section is a precision bore glass tube
with an inside diameter of 25.4 mm and a length of 111
mm. The upper end of the wetted-wall tube is ground
at a 45° angle. The bottom of the wetted-wall tube is
flared at an angle of approximately 45° and fused to a
110 mm diameter glass tube that forms a mantle around
the wetted-wall tube. The wetted-wall tube protrudes
about 5 mm above the mantle. The gas inlet piece,
length 145 mm, has a 45° bevel and when assembled
forms an approximately 3 mm drainage slot with the

Figure 1. Sketch of wetted-wall column.
Figure 2. Experimental setup of wetted-wall column.
bottom of the wetted-wall tube. The gas outlet piece,
length 75 mm, has an inner 45° bevel and when
assembled forms an approximately 2 mm inlet slot with
the upper end of the wetted-wall tube.
A gas inlet calming section of 475 mm and a gas outlet
section of 205 mm are used. Both these sections and
the inlet and outlet pieces have inside diameters of 25.0
mm. This compensates somewhat for the thickness of
the liquid film flowing down the 25.4 mm wetted-wall
tube. The gas outlet section is made from Teflon while
the gas inlet section and the calming sections are made
from phosphor bronze.
The glass section is supported by two stainless steel
flanges. During assembly all the sections are carefully
aligned, and when clamped together, the distance
between the top and bottom flanges along the circum-
ference is measured with a vernier calliper to ensure
that the two flanges are parallel.
When in operation, liquid flows into the mantle, rises,
and flows over onto the inside of the wetted-wall tube.
The liquid then flows down the wetted-wall tube and
through the drainage slot. The liquid is drained at the
lower flange.
A sketch of the experimental setup is given in Figure
2. The wetted-wall column is placed in a clear Perspex
water bath. The water in the Perspex bath is heated
and circulated with a MGW Lauda constant-tempera-
ture bath and circulating pump.
The liquid feed to the column is pumped with a small
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 12, 1999 4929
centrifugal pump from a calibrated glass reservoir
through a rotameter and a heating coil submerged in
the constant-temperature bath. The flow rate is con-
trolled with a needle valve at the centrifugal pump
outlet. The liquid drains from the wetted-wall column
and is returned to the calibrated reservoir via a needle
valve that serves as a level control valve. The volume
of the reservoir can be read with an accuracy of
approximately 2 mL. The liquid flow rotameter was
calibrated for each of the liquids and temperatures used.
Compressed air is dried in a dryer filled with silica
gel. The air flows through a valve and a rotameter to
an electrical resistance heater. The temperature of the
air supplied to the column is controlled by varying the
electric power to the heater with a variable transformer.
The exit of the electrical heater is connected to the lower
calming section of the column. The air flow rotameter
was calibrated for high flow rates by timing and
measuring the mass loss from a bottle of compressed
air and for low flow rates by measuring the volume of
compressed air flowing through the rotameter with a
Parkinson Cowan turbine gas totalizer. An estimated
error of about 2% of the flow rate can be expected.
The liquid and gas inlet and exit temperatures at the
column are measured with thermocouples (TC1-TC4).
The temperature in the liquid reservoir (TC5) and the
air temperature (TC6) and pressure (PI) at the inlet of
the air rotameter are also measured. All the thermo-
couples are of type K, and the temperature readings are
registered on a Yokogawa HR1300 hybrid recorder.
Comparison of the thermocouples with a glass ther-
mometer accurate to 0.1 °C indicates that the thermo-
couples are accurate to within (0.2 °C.
Experimental Procedure
Before a series of experiments is started, the wetted-
wall column is removed from the Perspex bath and
thoroughly rinsed with acetone and dried.
The wetted-wall column and reservoir are filled with
liquid, and the constant-temperature bath and air
temperatures are adjusted to the desired values. Before
a run is started, the liquid is circulated through the
column to heat up the liquid in the reservoir.
At the start of a run the level and temperature of the
liquid reservoir are noted. The liquid pump is then
started, and the liquid flow rate is adjusted to the
desired rate. The liquid level below the wetted-wall tube
is controlled to a height of approximately 5 mm below
the upper part of the gas inlet piece. This ensures that
there is minimal additional gas-liquid contact outside
the wetted-wall tube. At the end of a run the level and
temperature of the liquid reservoir are noted. To
minimize the effect of the initial unsteady state at the
start of a run, the duration of a run was usually 5 min
or longer.
Results
The pure liquids used in this study were acetone,
acetonitrile, carbon tertrachloride, ethylene glycol, metha-
nol, toluene, and water. The purities of the chemicals
are shown in Table 2. All chemicals were used without
further purification. The results are presented as a plot
4930 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 12, 1999

Table 3. RMS Errors for Various Correlations

correlation RMS error
Shg ) 0.00526Reg0.978Scg0.532 2.47
Shg ) 0.00317Reg0.983Scg0.566Rel0.081 2.29
Shg ) 0.000797Re′g1.18Scg0.558 2.36
Shg ) 0.000809Re′g1.18Scg0.557Rel-0.003 2.36

with Ai the interfacial area of the liquid film. The

interfacial area used in the calculations was corrected
for the film thickness:

Ai ) π(d - 2δ)h (4)

No area correction for rippling was made. The calcula-

Figure 3. Gas-phase mass-transfer results.
tion of the liquid film thickness and interfacial velocity
Table 2. Chemicals Used in Experiments is done as described in Appendix A.
Equation 3 is used to obtain mass-transfer coefficients
chemical supplier purity
from evaporation experiments. Due to the fact that
acetone UniVAR 99.5% isothermal conditions were used, numerical integration
acetonitrile UniLAB 98%
aniline UniLAB 99%
of eq 1 yielded mass-transfer coefficients that are
CCl4 Merck 99.8% virtually the same as those of eq 3.
EG NT Labs CP grade The parameters of the correlations reported in this
methanol UniVAR 99.5% article were determined by the method of nonlinear
n-octanol UniVAR 99% least-squares regression. Table 3 shows various types
toluene UniLAB 99.5% of correlations with the associated errors.
water N/A glass distilled
The following ranges of dimensionless numbers were
of Shg versus Reg in Figure 3. The experimental data covered in this work: Shg, 11-65; Re′g, 3000-10000;
are available from the corresponding author. Reg, 2400-9100; Rel, 110-480; Scg, 0.62-1.93.

Calculations Discussion

Starting with a differential height element in a Comparing the root-mean-square errors reported in
wetted-wall, the rate of mass transfer can be described Table 3, it can be seen that a simple Gilliland-
as3 Sherwood type correlation using Reg (Re number of gas
relative to tube wall) adequately describes the mass
transfer in this work. The use of the relative Reynolds
n ) AikgPt ∫h)0
h)L 1
(P - PAb) dh
RTPB,M Ai
(1) number (relative to the liquid interface) Re′g did not
reduce the error by much. A combination of Reg and Rel
decreased the error somewhat, while a combination of
The partial pressure driving force (PAi - PAb) varies with
Rel and Re′g offered no improvement. A combination of
h because of the evaporation of A into the gas stream
Reg and Rel yielded the smallest root-mean-square error,
(influencing PAb) and also because of temperature
and further discussion of the results will be at the hand
gradients (influencing PAi) caused by evaporative cool-
of this correlation.
ing. Likewise, PB,M (mean partial pressure of nondif-
Sh ∝ Reg0.983. Possibly the most important result of
fusing component B) will also vary because of evapora-
this wetted-wall study is the fact that, for the configu-
tion. If one assumes low mass-transfer rates and
ration used, the exponent of the gas Reynolds number
isothermal conditions, PB,M will vary little between the
was found to be significantly larger than the accepted
top and bottom of the wetted-wall column. This small
value of 0.8-0.83. Even though air calming sections are
variation of PB,M implies that an arithmetic mean of the
used to allow the air profile to develop before entering
inlet and exit values will be adequate for use in eq 1.
the wetted-wall tube, the presence of ripples on the
For an isothermal setup the numerical integration of
liquid surface might promote a different flow profile to
eq 1 is not necessary because the vapor pressure at the
develop. Schwarz and Hoelscher4 indicated that en-
interface does not change due to evaporative cooling.
trance effects are exhibited for about 6 pipe diameters.
Since PAi - PAb will vary more than PB,M between the
Since the wetted-wall tube used in this study is only 4
inlet and exit (PAb < PAi , Pt for evaporation in a
diameters long, entrance effects can be expected to
wetted-wall column), a logarithmic average of the inlet
dominate.
and exit partial pressure driving forces will be used:
Importantly, this exponent compares favorably with
(PAi - PAb)inlet - (PAi - PAb)exit the value of 1.0 reported by Spiegel and Meier5 for

( )
∆PA ) (2) distillation in structured packing (Sulzer Mellapak
(PAi - PAb)inlet 125Y-500Y). A value of 1.02 was reported by Weiland
ln et al.6 for absorption in structured packing (Montz A2).
(PAi - PAb)exit
Sh ∝ Sc0.566. The Schmidt number exponent found
in this work compares favorably with the results of
Substituting these simplifications into eq 1 and inte-
Gilliland and Sherwood,1 who reported an exponent of
grating gives the molar transfer rate
0.44, the results of Reker et al.,2 who reported a value
kgPt∆PA of 0.5, and the value of 0.5 for the hydrodynamic theory
n ) Ai (3) for two-phase flow with a nonstationary interface as
RTPB,M discussed by Dudukovic et al.7 and Hirata et al.8 Since

Figure 4. Proposed correlation compared with experimental
mass-transfer results.
the range of Sc in this work varied between 0.62 and
1.93, and the exact value of the exponent depends
somewhat on the other dimensionless numbers used in
developing the correlation (see Table 3), the exponent
can be set equal to the theoretical value of 0.5 without
increasing the error by much.
The widely used Sc exponent of 1/3 corresponds to
mass transfer from a stationary interface, such as the
dissolution of benzoic acid into water, and is not
applicable to mass transfer from a falling film into a
gas stream, as pointed out by Dudukovic et al.7 In fact,
fixing the Schmidt exponent as 1/3 and regressing the
other constants in the proposed correlation increase the
RMS error from 2.29 to 3.05.
Sh ∝ Rel0.081. The exponent of the liquid Reynolds
number agrees very well with the value of 0.08 quoted
by Kafesjian.9 Since the liquid surface velocity, surface
area enhancement, and interfacial turbulence enhance-
ment, all caused by surface waves, are all dependent
on Rel, it is very difficult to separate these effects. Since
all these effects tend to increase mass transfer, one
would expect a larger dependence of the mass-transfer
coefficient on Rel (a larger exponent for Rel). However,
it was observed that the distance of wave inception
below the top of the wetted-wall column increases and
the total wavy surface area decreases as the liquid flow
rate increases. The observed small net dependency of
Shg on Rel is thus the result of the sum of two opposing
phenomena.
Because of the scatter in the data, rounding of the
exponential constants in the proposed correlation does
not increase the RMS error by much. It was therefore
decided to round the exponential constants and recal-
culate the pre-exponential constant:
Shg ) 0.00283RegScg0.5Rel0.08 (RMS error ) 2.37)
(5)
The experimental data are plotted in Figure 4, together
with correlation 5. The vertical axis is defined as
Shg
MTG ) (6)
Scg Rel0.08
0.5
From Figure 4 it can be seen that the evaporation data
of EG do not follow correlation 5. It is evident that the
difference between the experimental and predicted Shg
numbers increases significantly as the Reg values
increase. The higher viscosity of EG may have caused
changes in liquid waviness, which may have influenced
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 12, 1999 4931
the effective interfacial area and the mass-transfer
coefficient. This phenomenon is being researched fur-
ther. Inclusion of a viscosity factor in the correlation
could not reconcile the difference between the predicted
and experimentally observed mass transfer of EG.
Conclusions
Gas side mass-transfer coefficients in an isothermal
short wetted-wall column were studied. The mass-
transfer coefficients for a range of low-viscosity organic
liquids, and water, were correlated with eq 5. The main
difference between the Shg correlation of this work and
previous correlations is the value of the Reg exponent.
This study yielded an exponent of ≈1 whereas most
previous researchers used an exponent of about 0.8. The
mass transfer of a highly viscous liquid, ethylene glycol,
could not be correlated with the same equation.
Acknowledgment
The financial and in-kind support of Sastech R&D and
Sulzer Chemtech is gratefully acknowledged.
Nomenclature
A ) area, m
d ) diameter, m
DAB ) diffusion coefficient of A in B, m2/s
e ) characteristic roughness, m
e ) exponent used by Reker et al.
f ) friction factor
g ) gravitational acceleration, 9.8 m/s2
h ) height of wetted-wall column, m
k ) mass-transfer coefficient, m/s
n ) molar transfer rate, mol/s
NA ) molar flux of component A, mol/(m2 s)
P ) pressure, Pa
PBM ) mean pressure of component B, Pa
Q ) volumetric flow rate, m3/s
R ) universal gas constant, 8.314 J/(mol K)
Reg ) gas-phase Reynolds number, Reg ) Fgug(d - 2δ)/µg
Re′g ) relative gas-phase Reynolds number, Re′g ) Fg(ug +
ui)(d - 2δ)/µg
Rel ) liquid Reynolds number, Rel ) FlQl/[πµl(d - 2δ)]
S ) fractional area increase used by Portalski
Scg ) gas-phase Schmidt number, Scg ) µg/FgDAB
Shg ) gas-phase Sherwood number, Shg ) kg(d - 2δ)/DAB
T ) temperature, °C
u ) velocity, m/s
z ) effective diffusion sublayer thickness, m
Greek Symbols
δ ) liquid film thickness, m
µ ) viscosity, Pa‚s
F ) density, kg/m3
τ ) interfacial shear force, N
Subscripts
A ) component A
avg ) average
B ) component B
b ) bulk
g ) gas phase
i ) interface
l ) liquid phase
t ) total
Appendix
Nieuwoudt17 took into account the effect of the
buoyancy and interfacial friction forces on the flow
4932 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 12, 1999

profile. His resulting equation (simplified for a vertical (5) Spiegel, L.; Meier, W. Correlations of the Performance
flat plate) for the film thickness is Characteristics of the Various Mellapak Types. In IChemE Sym-
posium Series No. 104; Hemisphere Publishing Corporation: New
York, 1988; p A203.
g(Fl - Fg) 3 τi 2
δ - δ - uavgδ ) 0 (A1) (6) Weiland, R. H.; Ahlgren, K. R.; Evans, M. Mass Transfer
3µl 2µl Characteristics of some Structured Packings. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.
1993, 32, 1411.
and the expression for the interfacial velocity is (7) Dudukovic, A.; Milosevic, V.; Pjanovic, R. Gas-Solid and
Gas-Liquid Mass Transfer Coefficients. AIChE J. 1996, 42, 269.
(8) Hirata, A.; Kawakami, M.; Okana, Y. Effect of Interfacial
gδ2(Fl - Fg) τi Velocity and Interfacial Tension Gradient on Momentum, Heat
ui ) - δ (A2) and Mass Transfer. Can. J. Chem. Eng. 1989, 67, 777.
2µl µl
(9) Kafesjian, R.; Plank, C. A.; Gerhard, E. R. Liquid Flow and
Gas-Phase Mass Transfer in Wetted-Wall Towers. AIChE J. 1961,
Equations A1 and A2 require the interfacial shear stress 7, 463.
to calculate the film thickness and interfacial velocity. (10) Barnet, W. I.; Kobe, K. A. Heat and Vapor Transfer in a
The interfacial shear stress is defined as follows: Wetted-Wall Tower. Ind. Eng. Chem. 1941, 33, 436.
(11) Cairns, R. C.; Roper, G. H. Heat and Mass Transfer at High
fi Humidities in a Wetted-Wall Column. Chem. Eng. Sci. 1954, 3,
τi ) Fgu2 (A3) 97.
2
(12) McCarter, R. J.; Stutzman, L. F. Transfer Resistance and
The friction factor fi is analogous to the Moody friction Fluid Mechanics. AIChE. J. 1959, 5, 502.
factor18 for fluid flow in pipes, with the appropriate (13) Strumillo, C.; Porter, K. E. The Evaporation of Carbon
Tetrachloride in a Wetted-Wall Column. AIChE J. 1965, 11, 1139.
velocity the air velocity relative to the liquid interface: (14) Portalski, S. Eddy Formation in Film Flow Down a Vertical

[( ]
1 e 1.25
xfi
) -4 log10
3.7d
+)Regxfi
(A4)
The roughness of the interface e must however be
estimated. Richter19 quoted values for the ratio of wave
height to film thickness of between 4 and 6. Wasden
and Duckler21 noted that the wave height varied be-
tween 2 and 5 times the film thickness. For calculations
the roughness of the interface in this work is taken to
be equal to 4 times the film thickness.
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Received for review January 11, 1999
Revised manuscript received August 17, 1999
Accepted August 22, 1999
IE990029F