The contacting device for countercurrent contacting of fluid streams and having a first pair of intersecting grids of spaced-apart and parallel deflector blades and a second pair of intersecting grids of spaced-apart and parallel deflector blades. The deflector blades in each one of the grids are interleaved with the deflector blades in the paired intersecting grid and may have uncut side portions that join them together along a transverse strip where the deflector blades cross each other or adjacent opposed ends of the deflector blades and cut side portions that extend from the uncut side portions to the ends of the deflector blades. At least some of the deflector blades have directional tabs and associated openings to allow portions of the fluid streams to pass through the deflector blades to facilitate mixing of the fluid streams.

A method of manufacturing packing includes: determining types of a gas and a liquid which are brought into gas-liquid contact and a main plate to be used; calculating a relationship between a contact angle and a liquid film length ratio; determining the arrangement (intervals) of a rib; determining rib conditions; calculating the minimum value of the flow direction length of the rib satisfying the contact angle and a strength requirement; confirming whether or not a liquid film length is greater than the minimum value; and determining the flow direction length of the rib within a range from the minimum value to the liquid film length.

A structured packing bed for a column is provided. The structured packing bed comprises at least two layers stacked vertically above each other, and at least two of the layers each comprise at least one structured cross-channel packing element having a specific surface area of 60 to 500 m.sup.2/m.sup.3 and a height of 50 to less than 150 mm. At least 50% of the structured cross-channel packing elements are a block comprising a plurality of sheets with periodic deformations. The sheets are arranged in a longitudinal direction parallel and in touching contact with each other such that an open space is provided between them. Adjacent sheets are oriented such that their deformations intersect in crisscross fashion with each other, and a structured cross-channel packing element of a layer is rotated with regard to a structured cross-channel packing element of an adjacent layer by 70 to 110.

A corrugated structured packing sheet has the combination of corrugations that include a curve formed in the geometry of the corrugations in the lower edge region of the structured packing sheet and a surface texturing on opposite faces of the structured packing sheet that are 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. The surface texturing caused an unexpected performance improvement when used with the curved geometry of the corrugations in the lower edge region.