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.

A continuous production system for alcohol ester C-12 is provided, comprising: a feedstock tank, a reaction tower, an atmospheric distillation tower, a vacuum distillation tower, a condenser, a water washing tower, a dehydration tower, an evaporator, a light component removal tower, and a rectifying tower that are all connected with each other through pipelines. The continuous production system for alcohol ester C-12 replaces the traditional intermittent production process with the advantages of good batch stability, less by-products, and high yield.