A countercurrent gas absorption tower packed with 1.5 in ceramic Intalox saddles is used to process 360 kgmole/h of an inlet gas stream containing 10 mole% sulfur dioxide (SO₂) in nitrogen (N₂) gas. The process is temperature is 32 C, and the total system pressure is 1.5 atm. Since SO₂ is not very soluble in water itself, 2.0Msodium hydroxide was added to the scrubbing solution. The mass flow rate of this solvent containing dissolved SO₂ species exiting the bottom of the tower is 18,000 kg/h. The mass density of this solution is 1090 kg/m³, and its viscosity is 1.2 c_P (0.0012 kg/m/s). The molecular weight of SO₂ is 64 g/gmole, and the molecular weight of N₂ is 28 g/gmole. The density of the inlet gas is 1.9 kg/m³.
a. What is the required tower diameter (D) if the process is to operate at 60% of the flooding velocity?
b. Based on your analysis in part (a) above, for the designed tower diameter, if the required liquid flowrate into the top of the tower is increased by a factor 3 to 54,000 kg/h, with all other parameters being unchanged, will the tower “flood”? Provide calculations to support your answer.