ABS/100 – Gas-Liquid Absorption Column Training Unit

The ABS/100 Gas-Liquid Absorption unit from Pignat is a bench-scale packed column system for teaching gas-liquid absorption and mass transfer in chemical engineering laboratories. Water is pumped from a storage tank to the column header while a gaseous mixture is injected at the base, bringing the two phases into intimate contact through the packing so that the solute migrates from the gas phase into the liquid phase. The solute-enriched liquid is drawn off at the column base by a withdrawal pump and collected in a receiver, while the depleted gas passes to an on-line CO2 analyser for continuous measurement. The unit is built around a glass column of nominal diameter 50 supplied in three sections, with a 600 mm packed section filled with glass Raschig rings and a stainless steel packing support. Feed and enriched-liquid handling use 20 L polyethylene vessels served by magnetic-drive pumps with sampling and drain valves. Instrumentation includes two U-tube manometers for column differential pressure, two water flowmeters rated 0 to 500 mL/min, a CO2 flowmeter rated 0 to 10 L/min and an air flowmeter rated 0 to 60 L/min, allowing students to study hydrodynamics, flooding conditions and packing factor as well as CO2 absorption and material balances. Mounted on a 40 x 40 mm stainless steel tubular frame and controlled from an electrical cabinet with general and emergency switching, the unit is delivered with an educational handbook and technical documentation and can be customised to suit specific teaching programmes. Bestech Australia supplies the ABS/100 Gas-Liquid Absorption Column Training Unit with on-site training and commissioning support available.