To conquer the current FLNG challenge, experts have to answer the question “What effect does themovement of the ship have on the amine process?”. It is necessary to rely on accurate knowledge of theimpact of the floating support movement on the towers operation, to first secure then optimize the designof the process units. Indeed both flooding and internals efficiency will significantly impact the towerssizing (diameter and height) and thus the whole FLNG project.It is a complex problem to be able to take into account the multitude of factors such as liquid viscosity,height of packing, diameter of column, acceleration, liquid/gas flowrate, type of packing, and motionsimposed on the system. After first years of work when they completed an extensive review of bibliographicdata to build an early model of maldistribution based on a theoretical approach, Total, Prosernatand IFPEN have now performed more than one year research and development at Heriot-Watt Universityto model mass transfer and hydraulics of a tilting, moving tower. To assess the impact of experimentalcolumn diameter and to be in position to scale-up the results, two columns have been used and will bedescribed.The program has included both static and motion tests with varying periods and angles, at differentliquid loads to map the distortion of liquid distribution at adjustable heights of packing. The data nowacquired has shown, depending on operating conditions, a significant impact on liquid distribution in thepacking bed, leading to differentiated wetted zones, including dry and overloaded areas. Some exampleswill be given to illustrate the impact on tower efficiency and the corresponding tower oversizing based onthe results of test campaign.
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