The patented multi-chordal downcomer SUPERFRAC® tray uses active area enhancements and advanced downcomer technologies and may include inlet area enhancements.
Capacity gains for these trays can be substantial particularly in cases where the existing conventional trays had large inlet areas below the downcomers. In these cases, the recovered area under the downcomer can create a drastic increase in capacity. At higher capacities, testing has shown that these trays still maintain high efficiencies. Under most conditions, the efficiency of these trays is higher than conventional trays.
The forward-lateral push provided by the optimized liquid push design promotes uniform liquid and vapor distribution across the entire tray deck.This suppresses jet flooding and permits operation at higher flow rates.
The multi-chordal shape of the side downcomer at the bottom provides additional benefits.
- Equalized liquid flow patterns across the tray
- Increased flow path length
- Increased vapor-liquid contact time
- Improved efficiency
- Increased bubbling area and tray capacity
In this design, most of the bottom downcomer area is located over the tray support ring, thereby using an area that cannot be used as an active area.
The shape of the multi-chordal downcomer allows a conversion from straight to sloped downcomers without the use of downcomer adapter bars. This saves the extra cost of the adapters and the field time needed to install them. It also eliminates the need to weld to the vessel shell.