A device is provided having a structure for conducting a first fluid, the structure having in addition an interface for conducting a second fluid. The first fluid can be brought into contact with the second fluid at the interface of the structure. A flow interrupter (120.0) for interrupting a flow of the second fluid is situated at the interface of the structure.

Disclosed is a packing made up of a stack of plates, having been shaped to form corrugations in the plate and assembled to form a cross-corrugated packing block for a mass and/or heat transfer application, wherein the material of the packing plates is an open-pore metal foam, and in that the specific surface area of the packing is greater than 500 m2/m3 and in that the thickness (e) of the plate is less than 2 mm before the shaping operation.

A packing for gas-liquid contact has at least one packing element of a thin layer shape, placed in a standing position. The packing element has a main body portion having a planar liquid film-forming surface extending along a liquid flow direction, and at least one wall portion provided to stand relative to the liquid film-forming surface and extending along the liquid flow direction. The wall portion has a side surface inclined at a predetermined angle to the liquid film-forming surface in a surface position of a liquid film to be formed by a liquid on the liquid film-forming surface.

A structured packing element has the shape of a rectangular flat plate, and is provided with slots and recesses. The slots are intended for assembly by interlocking the structured packing elements together in order to form the structured packing. The recesses are provided in order to form channels within the structured packing. A packing structure can be obtained by assembling such packing elements. Such a packing can be used for an operation of bringing a gas and a catalyst into contact. A manufacturing process of such a structured packing is also disclosed.

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.

A catalytic distillation structure that may include a rigid framework having at least two grids with a plurality of horizontal fluid permeable tubes mounted to said grids to form a plurality of fluid pathways among the plurality of horizontal fluid permeable tubes. Additionally, each horizontal fluid permeable tubes may have a profile of a six-sided polygon. Further, the catalytic distillation structure may include a plurality of vertically plates or wires connecting vertically aligned tubes of the plurality of horizontal fluid permeable tubes. Furthermore, the plurality of vertically plates or wires connects from a corner of one vertically aligned tubes to a corner of an adjacent vertically aligned tube.

A corrugated structured packing sheet has surface texturing that may be in the form of a grid of indented and raised structures. Each indented structure is separated from some or all of adjacent ones of the indented structures by the raised structures. The raised structures form rows of peaks and interconnecting saddles. Microchannels extend along adjacent ones of the indented structures and the interconnecting saddles and intersect the corrugation valleys at an angle in the range of 20 to 75 degrees. The surface texturing may be or include wavy parallel grooves in an upper edge region adjacent the upper edge and a lower edge region adjacent the lower edge and may be or include parallel groove segments in the bulk region that are oriented obliquely to upper and lower edges of the structured packing sheet.

A packing for gas-liquid contact has at least one packing element of a thin layer shape, placed in a standing position. The packing element has a main body portion having a planar liquid film-forming surface extending along a liquid flow direction, and at least one wall portion provided to stand relative to the liquid film-forming surface and extending along the liquid flow direction. The wall portion has a side surface inclined at a predetermined angle to the liquid film-forming surface in a surface position of a liquid film to be formed by a liquid on the liquid film-forming surface.

A wiper band assembly suitable for use in packed distillation columns used in an air separation unit is provided. The wiper band assembly includes specially designed metal or metal alloy wiper tabs that are longer and thinner than conventional wiper tabs. The longer and thinner wiper tabs preferably have a thickness between about 0.05 mm and 0.25 mm and a length greater than about 50.0 mm. The physical dimensions and characteristics of the wiper tabs are selected to avoid permanent deformation during the installation process and provides continuous engagement with the interior surface of the packed column wall when the wiper tabs are exposed to pressure differentials typically seen in such packed distillation columns.

A catalytic distillation structure that may include a rigid framework having at least two grids with a plurality of horizontal fluid permeable tubes mounted to said grids to form a plurality of fluid pathways among the plurality of horizontal fluid permeable tubes. Additionally, each horizontal fluid permeable tubes may have a profile of a six-sided polygon. Further, the catalytic distillation structure may include a plurality of vertically plates or wires connecting vertically aligned tubes of the plurality of horizontal fluid permeable tubes. Furthermore, the plurality of vertically plates or wires connects from a corner of one vertically aligned tubes to a corner of an adjacent vertically aligned tube.