The present invention also relates to a packing structure obtained by assembling packing elements having a spiral helix shape.

The present invention also relates to the use of a structured packing composed of packing structure for an operation for bringing a gas into contact with a catalyst, and a process for manufacturing such a structured packing.

In an apparatus for mass transfer between a liquid and a gas inside a rotor, the liquid is supplied to a center of the rotor and is driven outward by centrifugal force generated by rotation of the rotor, the gas surrounding the rotor is forced inward through the rotor by a pressure of the gas, counter to the liquid flow in the rotor, and the rotor has a plurality of passages lying in the plane of the rotor that begin at a center of the rotor and terminate at an outer circumference of the rotor. The passages are each filled with a packing that increases the area of contact between the liquid and the gas.

An annular divided wall column for the cryogenic rectification of air or constituents of air is provided. The annular divided wall column includes a first annular column wall and a second annular column wall disposed within the first annular column wall to define an annulus column region and an interior core column region. The present annular divided wall column further includes structured packing elements disposed within at least the annulus column region as well as a ring-shaped cantilevered collector; and a ring-shaped distributor disposed in the annulus column region above or below the plurality of structured packing elements. The thermal expansion and contraction of the second annular column wall in a radial direction and in an axial direction is independent of the thermal expansion and contraction of the first annular column wall in the radial and axial directions.

An annular divided wall column for the cryogenic rectification of air or constituents of air is provided. The annular divided wall column includes a first annular column wall and a second annular column wall disposed within the first annular column wall to define an annulus column region and an interior core column region. The present annular divided wall column further includes structured packing elements disposed within at least the annulus column region as well as a ring-shaped cantilevered collector; and a ring-shaped distributor disposed in the annulus column region above or below the plurality of structured packing elements. The thermal expansion and contraction of the second annular column wall in a radial direction and in an axial direction is independent of the thermal expansion and contraction of the first annular column wall in the radial and axial directions.

An annular divided wall column for the cryogenic rectification of air or constituents of air is provided. The annular divided wall column includes a first annular column wall and a second annular column wall disposed within the first annular column wall to define an annulus column region and an interior core column region. The present annular divided wall column further includes structured packing elements disposed within at least the annulus column region as well as a ring-shaped cantilevered collector; and a ring-shaped distributor disposed in the annulus column region above or below the plurality of structured packing elements. The thermal expansion and contraction of the second annular column wall in a radial direction and in an axial direction is independent of the thermal expansion and contraction of the first annular column wall in the radial and axial directions.

An annular divided wall column for the cryogenic rectification of air or constituents of air is provided. The annular divided wall column includes a first annular column wall and a second annular column wall disposed within the first annular column wall and radially spaced therefrom to define an annulus column region as the space between the first annular column wall and the second annular column wall. An interior core column region is also defined by the interior space of the second annular column wall. The present annular divided wall column further includes a plurality of packing elements, plurality of trays or a heat exchange device disposed within the interior core column region; and a plurality of packing elements disposed within the annulus column region.

An annular divided wall column for the cryogenic rectification of air or constituents of air is provided. The annular divided wall column includes a first annular column wall and a second annular column wall disposed within the first annular column wall and radially spaced therefrom to define an annulus column region as the space between the first annular column wall and the second annular column wall. An interior core column region is also defined by the interior space of the second annular column wall. The present annular divided wall column further includes a plurality of packing elements, plurality of trays or a heat exchange device disposed within the interior core column region; and a plurality of packing elements disposed within the annulus column region.

A cross-corrugated structured packing element is provided for use in mass transfer or heat exchange columns. The packing element has a plurality of packing layers positioned in an upright, parallel relationship to each other and including corrugations formed of alternating peaks and valleys and corrugation sidewalls extending between the peaks and valleys. The packing element also includes a plurality of apertures each presenting an open area. The apertures are distributed such that the corrugation sidewalls have a greater density of open areas than any density of the open areas that may be present in the peaks and valleys. Some of the apertures may be present in the peaks and the valleys to facilitate liquid distribution. The apertures may also be placed in rows or other patterns that are aligned in a direction along a longitudinal length of the corrugations. Regions with a larger apex radius may be formed in the peaks, such as by depressing spaced-apart segments of the peaks to form spacers in the undepressed portions of the peaks. Some of the apertures may be positioned in the transitions from the depressed portions of the peaks to the unmodified apex sections.

An internal reflector photoreactor system includes a stainless-steel cylindrical vessel having a window on a top face. The stainless-steel cylindrical vessel has a reflector inside the vessel on a bottom surface orientated towards the top face and the stainless-steel cylindrical vessel has a mesh bisecting the stainless-steel cylindrical vessel on a horizontal plane and the mesh is coated with a graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst. Further, the internal reflector photoreactor system includes a light source and the light source is located above the stainless-steel cylindrical vessel.

A contactor media includes continuous surface segments, wherein a first continuous surface segment has at least 50% of its surface area follow at least one of: (a) a contour of a first zero-thickness surface having a Gaussian curvature (G.sub.c) of 400 mm.sup.2G.sub.c<0.01 mm.sup.2; and (b) a contour of a second zero-thickness surface having at least one principal curvature (k.sub.i) of 20 mm.sup.1k.sub.i<0.1 mm.sup.1; and wherein the first continuous surface segment provides at least: (a) a total liquid hold-up of between about 1 kg/m.sup.3 to about 800 kg/m.sup.3 or (b) a static liquid hold-up of about 0.1 kg/m.sup.3 to about 800 kg/m.sup.3.