Development of the Krypton Absorption in Liquid CO₂ (KALC) Process: Mass Transfer Efficiencies of Packed Columns

Experiments to determine the mass transfer efficiencies of the packed columns making up the Krypton Absorption in Liquid CO₂ (KALC) process were performed at a nominal pressure of 2 MPa over a wide range of flow rates and flow ratios for the CO₂-O₂-Kr system. The height of the transfer unit values, which were relatively independent of gas or liquid flow rates, were 0.13 m for krypton in the absorber, 0.16 m for O₂ in the fractionator, and 0.21 m for krypton in the stripper.