CFD simulation of multicomponent mixture within a packed Deethanizer column

摘要

The aim of this study is to develop a model of a Deethanizer Column (DC). A fuel mixture of Methane CH4, Ethane C2H6, Propane C3H8, N-butane n-C4H10 and some hydrocarbons is used to get an insight on the DC operation. A multicomponent gas-liquid flow in DC is investigated using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. The droplet size change, the droplet surface temperature and the pressure drop are investigated with a Eulerian-Lagrangian model using ANSYS-Fluent R15. The computation results are compared with the experimental data of a binary and multicomponent mixture in a stationary droplet. A good agreement between them is established. Additionally, the predicted pressure drop obtained at varied porosity is compared with the data got from the Ergun formulation. The results show that the presence of CH4 and C2H6 has a big impact on the droplet surface temperature. This temperature initially reaches the lower value because of the fastest evaporation of light components (CH4 and C2H6) rather than the heavy ones (C5+). The current work provides a better understanding of the behavior of light components in DC.