Point A shows the highest point before the column, assumed as 6 feet above the top of the column. Point F represents the recycle blend tank before the pump. Point G shows the high point before the product hold tank. Point H depicts the product hold tank. The design orients the long axis of the IX column along the vertical.
Liquid enters the top of the column.
Based on experimental data, we calculated system pressure profiles for all six cases studied in this paper. Table 2 shows the system pressure profile for Case 6. In Cases 1-4, the model predicted no bubble formation in Column 1. With increasing time more gases form and a lower system pressure would favor bubble formation as displayed in Figures 2 and 3. Figure 4 shows that at about 4000 hours bubbles begin to form in the middle of Column 1.