Hydraulics and mass transfer performance of an advanced wire gauze structured packing under deep vacuum distillation conditions

•Results of first ever FRI total reflux test carried out with a wire gauze packing.•Montz-pak A3-500M tested with p/o-xylene at pressures of 0.1 and 0.02 bara.•Very high packing efficiency achieved, somewhat larger at 0.02 bara.•Delft model used to evaluate and interpret measured efficiency and pressure drop. Results are presented of total reflux experiments carried out at Fractionation Research Inc. with Montz-Pak A3-500M, an advanced corrugated sheet wire gauze packing, using Paraxylene/Orthoxylene system at 0.1 bara and for the first time at 0.02 bara. In both cases an expectedly good performance was achieved, ranging from eight stages at low- to five stages per meter bed height at upper limit of the operating vapour load. Interestingly, within preloading region the packing exhibited a better efficiency at 0.02 bara, however this was at the expense of somewhat increased pressure drop, and, strikingly, no gain on capacity side. Delft model proved capable of capturing observed trends, but exhibits a pronounced discrepancy with respect to measured efficiency and pressure drop at 0.02 bara, and suggests a higher flooding limit than observed.