Random Packing Support 1

[curvyrace]

Let me start by saying I am an ME, not ChemE, so please bear with me. My company builds mass transfer vacuum dehydrators for machine lube oil. We use random packing in vacuum towers in all of our designs. Over the years we have always designed round vacuum towers using Sch 10 pipe. The packing support trays we designed have always done an adequate job of holding up the random packing with no pieces getting through. But now, we want to do an oval shaped vacuum tower which will most likely introduce a wider tolerance range for the tower internal dimensions. I fear that if I design our packing support tray as in the past we will have either interference issues or packing pieces getting through. Has anyone run into this issue and, if so, how did you solve it? Is there a product out there that is meant to take up the gap between a packing support tray and the tower wall to keep packing from getting through? Our towers are pretty small so I'd rather not put a big lip on the inside if I can avoid it.

Thanks so much for any advice.

 

[MJCronin]

All Pressure Vessel Design codes assume a circular cross section. A circular cross section ensures established design and an economical installation. Your oval tower would be outside of all of these rules.


MJCronin
Sr. Process Engineer

 

[EdStainless]

non-round shapes would work at very low pressures, but anything not round will have to very overbuilt in order to prevent it from changing shape when pressurized. If you need something more slender then consider two smaller round ones side by side. Sch 10 pipe is easy and inexpensive, I can't see what advantage an odd shape would get you.

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube