Prospectus

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DST-30 Impact of Movable and Fixed Mini-Valves on Tray Performance (Cont…) FRI HP Column Information (1-pass Valve Trays): Column ID 4.0 ft DC Area Top 13% of Column Cross-Sectional Area DC Area Bottom 13% of Column Cross-Sectional Area Tray Spacing 24 inches DC Clearance 1.5 inches Outlet Weir Height 2.0 inches Tray deck Thickness 14 ga. (304 SS) Traditional Research Idea

To measure tray performance over a wide range of operating pressures, the following systems are proposed. C 6 /C 7 @ 23.5 and 50 psia (1.62 and 3.45 bara), iC 4 /nC 4 @ 165 and 300 psia (11.4 and 20.7 bar) All tests are to be at Total Reflux conditions in the FRI high pressure column.

The valve slot (vertical curtain) area, needs to be set at 10.8% of the tray active area. This will fulfill the May 2017 TAC motion for a 4ft 1-pass valve tray test in which the data will serve as A reference for comparison against the 2-pass valve tray with the same 10.8% valve slot area in the DST-22 retest. Set-up to consist of seven (7) test trays and one entrainment collector tray are recommended. Estimated Unit Time: Three weeks for each packing or tray. Background and Discussion:

Over the past 30 years, several tray suppliers have developed Mini Movable and Fixed Valve trays to meet industry needs for improved capacity and efficiency performance. The current is situation is that design engineers frequently rely on equipment supplier provided data to help decide whether to employ a mini movable or fixed valve tray for a particular separation process. Equipment suppliers have often claimed that mini valves provide up to 20-25% higher capacity than the conventional round or rectangular valves. One vendor claimed up to 30% higher capacity for their mini-movable valve. Proprietary Category 1 testing of mini movable and fixed valves at FRI provides valuable data, but can be misleading when comparing to other fixed valve trays. This because the Category 1 rules permit a vendor to withhold certain information such as the inlet downcomer features and increased tray active area, thus making true like-for-like mini valve tray comparisons difficult. Only by retesting mini movable and fixed valves using the same tray geometry will yield unbiased data where the influence of inlet downcomer features and increased tray active are eliminated. This permits a true like-for-like comparison of the mini valve against a reference standard valve based on the same tray geometry.

PROSPECTUS

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