Chemical Engineering June 2023 - 41

Arkema
Row of caps
not bubbling
Back-trapping
FIGURE 3. In bubble cap trays, vapor rising through the column is turned downward to bubble
through the liquid surrounding the cap
The manufacturing process also
involved a high-degree of precision,
exactness, finish and working
within very close dimensional tolerances.
Distillation columns require
such precision to uniformly dissolve
fumes and liquids. Not only did
Arkema provide expertise in manufacturing
the Kynar PVDF bubble
cap, but they also met such stringent
requirements and gave extensive
reccommendations on the
fabrication processes to ensure the
caps met the high level of quality
requirements for the project. This
project was the first time that such
a product has been manufactured
and supplied by injection molding,
fabrication, and butt fusion to produce
a highly sophisticated product.
A large number of bubble caps were
supplied successfully under stringent
quality control conditions.
High-value polymers are lightweight
and can be easily fabricated
with cutting tools and heat welding.
This eases both the process and
costs of installation.
PVDF in the column
The Kynar PVDF bubble caps are
part of bubble-cap-tray assemblies
(Figure 3) used in a distillation
column for low-temperature and
low-pressure (P/T) applications. In
bubble cap trays, vapor flowing up
through the tower contacts the liquid
by passing through the bubble caps.
Each bubble-cap assembly consists
of a riser and a cap. The vapor rising
through the column passes up
through the riser in the tray floor and
then is turned downward to bubble
into the liquid surrounding the cap.
Due to their design, bubble cap trays
cannot weep or leak distilled liquid.
This design is suitable for yield in
lower-pressure and lower-temperaAuthors
Sachin
Upadhye is a business
manager in the High Performance
Polymers Unit at Arkema in India
(Email: sachin.upadhye@arkema.
com). He holds post-graduate degrees
in both chemistry and paint
technology. Upadhye has 29 years
of experience in industrial applications
and material selection.
Himanshu Mistry is the head of
business development and marketing
at Sangir Plastics in India
(Email:
himanshu.mistry@sangir.
com). He has over 20 years of engineering
experience working in
the industrial chemicals sector,
leading many Indian multi-national
engineering companies.
Normal
operation
Gas flowing
beneath cap skirt
ture conditions. However, the bubble
cap needs to be designed and
manufactured with extreme care to
ensure that each bubble cap operates
at the same efficiency factor.
Thus, bubble caps are required to
be exactly identical, with the same
dimensional tolerances.
Kynar PVDF bubble caps are used
distillation columns operating at
in
low pressures and temperatures,
as they are a good alternative to
stainless-steel or FRP bubble caps.
PVDF bubble caps offer extensive
operational life because the product
can withstand temperatures up to
130°C (266°F) and are inert to the
majority of the solvents and catalysts
found in distillation columns.
n
Edited by Scott Jenkins
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Chemical Engineering June 2023

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