Abstract
 In this study to improve hydraulic performance of sieve tray, push valves have been utilized on the sieve tray deck. The hydraulic effects have been investigated using computational fluid dynamics simulation and experimentation. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model used 1.213 m diameter Solari and Bell [1] sieve tray. In the CFD model it is found that the ratio of the push valves' open area to the total
hole area is approximately 14.31% which is considered as a design parameter. The experimentally investigated sieve tray had 7.039 % hole area and 32 push valves. The ratio of push valves' open area to the total hole area was 14.59%. The dry pressure drop, total pressure drop and weeping were measured. The experimental results of this modified sieve tray and the sieve tray without push valves were compared with each other. Results show that better hydrodynamic behavior of the modified push valve sieve tray than conventional sieve tray.
 
Key words: sieve tray, push valves, pressure drop, weeping, CFD