SUPPORT FOR A PACKING COLUMN

Abstract

A support for a packing column having a support profile with a web section running in the vertical direction and having lower end and an upper end, and having a larger vertical extension than a horizontal extension. The support also has a foot section connected to the upper end of the web section and a head section connected to the lower end of the web section. The head section has an upper face and a sub-section, the width of the upper face being smaller than width of the sub-section and also smaller than the width of the foot section. The support enables a reduced support height and less coverage.

Claims

1. A support for a packing column, having a supporting profile with: a web section running in the vertical direction which has a first, lower end and a second, upper end, the web section having in particular a greater vertical extent than horizontal extent, a foot section of a first width, the foot section adjoining the first end of the web section, a head section, which adjoins the second end of the web section, the head section having an upper side of a second width, and the head section having an underside of a third width, characterized in that the head section has a trapezoidal cross section, the second width being less than the third width.

2. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the second width of the upper side of the head section is less than the first width of the foot section.

3. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the trapezoidal cross section of the head section can be supplemented upwardly in the vertical direction by an imaginary supplementary triangle to form a triangular cross section, the supplementary triangle having a height that corresponds to 0.8 to 1.2 times, particularly preferably one times, the maximum vertical grid height of a grid to be placed on.

4. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the foot section has at least one depression, which in particular forms at least one drip nose on the foot section.

5. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the web section has at least one strut, in particular the at least one strut having a vertical web height that is greater than the horizontal web width of the at least one strut.

6. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the web section is formed by a plurality of struts, preferably by two struts, in particular the vertical web height of the struts being greater than their horizontal web width.

7. The support as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the struts lie opposite one another in the horizontal direction and are spaced apart from one another in the horizontal direction, in particular the struts coming closer to one another in the vertical direction toward the second, upper end of the web section.

8. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the foot section is subdivided into two separate legs, which lie opposite one another in the horizontal direction, are spaced apart from one another and are each connected to the head section by way of a strut of the web section, in particular the two webs coming closer to one another in the vertical direction toward the head section or running parallel to one another.

9. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the supporting profile forms a trapezoidal form comprising the web section, the bottom section and the head section.

10. The support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one, a number of or all of the external outer edges of the supporting profile is/are rounded off.

11. A packing column, having at least one treatment chamber, at least one grid, a plurality of supports and at least one packing through which a flow can pass vertically, the at least one packing resting on the at least one grid, and the at least one grid resting on the supports, wherein the supports have a supporting profile with: a web section running in the vertical direction which has a first, lower end and a second, upper end, the web section having in particular a greater vertical extent than horizontal extent, a foot section of a first width, the foot section adjoining the first end of the web section, a head section, which adjoins the second end of the web section, the head section having an upper side of a second width, and the head section having an underside of a third width, characterized in that the head section has a trapezoidal cross section, the second width being less than the third width.

Description

[0035] The invention described above is explained in detail below against the relevant technical background with reference to the associated drawings, which show preferred refinements. In the drawings:

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a support with a first single-strut supporting profile;

[0037] FIG. 2 shows a second single-strut supporting profile;

[0038] FIG. 3 shows a third single-strut supporting profile;

[0039] FIG. 4 shows a fourth single-strut supporting profile;

[0040] FIG. 5 shows a first two-strut supporting profile;

[0041] FIG. 6 shows a second two-strut supporting profile;

[0042] FIG. 7 shows a third two-strut supporting profile;

[0043] FIG. 8 shows a fourth two-strut supporting profile;

[0044] FIG. 9 shows a supporting profile in a trapezoidal form; and

[0045] FIG. 10 shows a packing column in section with supports according to the invention.

[0046] In FIG. 1, a support 1 with a first single-strut supporting profile 3 is represented. When used as intended, the support 1 preferably extends along a longitudinal axis L, which runs along the horizontal (this also applies to the supports represented in the other figures). The support 1 has furthermore a foot section 11, which is connected, in particular in one piece, to a head section 13 of the support 1 by way of a web section 4, which consists of a strut 7 that is made to extend in the vertical direction. The head section 13 has a second width 15 on the upper side 14 and a third width 16 on a sub-section 17 of the head section 13, which is preferably an underside 17 of the head section 13, the third width 16 being the same here as the second width 15. The upper side and the underside run parallel to one another along the longitudinal axis 42 and respectively lie in a horizontal plane. In the cross section shown, which is made to extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis 42, the head section 13 has a square or rectangular cross section. The foot section 11 preferably has a rectangular cross section, which likewise extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis. With a view to an optimum distribution of stress over the cross section, the cross-sectional area of the foot section 11 is preferably approximately the same size as the cross-sectional area of the head section 13. Since the maximum stress occurring depends greatly on the greatest distance from the neutral fiber, it is optimum in terms of stress to keep the neutral fiber, which runs through the overall centroid of the area, as far as possible in the middle of the profile cross section. With greater weighting of flow-related aspects, it may be appropriate that the cross-sectional area of the foot section 11 is up to more than twice the size of the cross-sectional area of the head section 13. In the case of rectangular cross sections, it is preferable for the horizontal width of the head or foot section 13, 11 to be greater than the vertical height.

[0047] With reference to a support 1 arranged as intended, the head section 13 lies perpendicularly above the foot section 11. The second width 15 and the third width 16 are significantly smaller than the first horizontal width 12 of the bottom section 11. Here, the width 12 is preferably more than 20% greater and, with greater weighting of the flow-related aspects than the stress-related aspects, more than twice as great as the widths 15, 16.

[0048] The web section 4 has a lower, first end 5, by way of which the web section 4 adjoins the middle of the foot section 11, and also an upper, second end 6, which lies opposite in the vertical direction z and by way of which the web section 4 adjoins the middle of the underside 17 of the head section 13.

[0049] The foot section 11 has furthermore on a downwardly facing underside 11d of the foot section 11 a concave first depression 24 and, parallel thereto and also concave, a second depression 25, which respectively form at least one drip nose. The loading direction for this support 1 runs from the top downward in the representation, which also applies to the supporting profiles 3 presented below. Furthermore, unless indicated otherwise, the cross sections described further below also respectively extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the respective support 1.

[0050] Furthermore, preferably the web height 9 of the web section 4 or the height of the strut 7 in the vertical direction is significantly greater than the web width 10 in the horizontal and thus creates a comparatively great distance between the head section 13 and the bottom section 11. The web height 9 is preferably at least four times as great as the web width 10.

[0051] The comparatively narrow (in the horizontal direction) head section 13 has the effect that the coverage for a resting outlet area of a packing is advantageously relatively small (cf. FIG. 10).

[0052] In FIG. 2, a supporting profile 3 with a foot section 11 that differs slightly from the supporting profile 3 represented in FIG. 1 is shown. The foot section 11 is designed here with a shallow upward incline to the web section 4. As a result, the stress profile improves, and moreover condensate is encouraged to flow away toward the outer edge of the foot section 1. The head section 13 may have a cross-sectional form according to FIG. 1. The same applies to the foot section 11, the upper side 11c of the foot section 11 falling away on both sides, resulting in corresponding differences from a purely rectangular cross section.

[0053] In FIG. 3, a further modification of the supporting profile 3 from FIG. 2 is shown, here the head section 13 assuming a maximum width 16 at half the height of the head section 13. Here, the sub-section 17 (in the form of a cross section of the head section 13 that is made to extend along the longitudinal axis of the support 1 and runs parallel to the upper side 14) is therefore located at half the height between the underside 17a of the head section 13 and the upper side 14 of the head section 13. The reason for this is that the head section 13 has two outer sides 40 facing away from one another, which connect the upper side 14 to the underside 17 and are respectively convexly curved (curved outward). The widths 15 of the underside 17a and the upper side 14 are the same. In other words, the head section has a rectangular cross section with rounded outer edges or corners 26 to 29, so that a semicircular cross-sectional contour of the head section 13 is obtained on the outer sides 40. As a result, a comparatively smooth deflection of the incident flow of the support 1 along the vertical z and also good characteristics for the flowing away of condensate are achieved. The fifth and sixth upper outer edges or corners 30 and 31 of the bottom section 11 are also slightly rounded off, in order to achieve good flowing away.

[0054] In FIG. 4, a further variant of the supporting profile 3 is shown, in which the head section 13 is formed with a trapezoidal cross section perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the support 1 (here the longitudinal axis of the support 1 runs perpendicularly to the plane of the sheet). The width of the head section 13 decreases continuously here from the underside 17 of the head section 13 (third width 16) toward the upper side 14 (second width 15), so that the said trapezoidal cross section of the head section 13 results. The third width 16 may in particular be twice or more than twice as great as the second width 15.

[0055] The head section 13 is formed here as a stump 18, which in the cross section shown can be supplemented by an imaginary supplementary triangle 20 to form a complete triangle 19. In this example, the height 21 of the supplementary triangle 20 in the vertical direction z corresponds to the vertical height of a grid 23 to be placed onto the upper side 14 of the head section 13.

[0056] Extending away from the middle of the underside 17 of the head section 13, which with the arrangement of the support 1 as intended lies in a horizontal plane, is the web section 4 or a single strut 7 forming the web section 4, which apart from a transitional region toward the foot section 11 and toward the head section 13 has a rectangular cross section, which is made to extend longitudinally in the vertical direction z. Furthermore, the strut 7 adjoins the middle of an upper side 11c of the foot section 11. On an underside 11d, facing away from the upper side 11c, the foot bottom section 11 has in turn running along the outer edges of the underside 11d concave depressions 24, 25, which each form a drip nose by way of which liquid can be discharged downward in a controlled manner. The depressions 24, 25 preferably extend parallel to one another over the entire length of the support 1.

[0057] FIG. 5 shows a support 1 similar to FIG. 1, as a difference from FIG. 1 the web section now being formed by two separate struts 7, 8, which are made to extend parallel to one another along the vertical direction z and respectively have a horizontal width 10 and a vertical height 9.

[0058] In FIG. 6, a variant of the supporting profile 3 according to FIG. 5 is represented, here the bottom section 11 being subdivided into two separate legs 11a, 11b, which run parallel to one another and lie opposite one another in the horizontal direction. Here, the one leg 11a is connected to the underside 17 of the head section 13 by way of the first strut 7 and the other leg 11b is connected to the underside 17 of the head section 13 by way of the second strut 8.

[0059] In FIG. 7, a further variant of the supporting profile 3 according to FIG. 6 is shown, there not being any undercut here between the struts 7 and 8 and the head section 13 at the second end 6 of the web section 4, so that favorable characteristics for the flowing away of condensate from the top downward are obtained here. Likewise, the outer sides 7a facing one another of the struts 7, 8 respectively go over flush into an adjoining outer side 11e of the respectively assigned leg 11a, 11b, which likewise improves the flowing away characteristics of the support 1.

[0060] In FIG. 8, a support 1 with a supporting profile 3 is shown, in which as a difference from FIG. 6 the two struts 7, 8 converge from the respective leg 11a, 11b toward the head section 13, so that a horizontal distance between the struts 7, 8 is reduced from the bottom upward.

[0061] In FIG. 9, furthermore, a support 1 according to the invention with a supporting profile 3 of a trapezoidal form is shown. Here, the head section 13 is formed trapezoidally in cross section, producing two outer sides 40 of the head section 13 that diverge from the top downward (and face away from one another), which go over flush into a respective strut 7, 8, which likewise diverge downward, so that a horizontal distance between the two struts 7, 8 increases from the top downward in the vertical direction. The outer sides facing away from one another of the two struts 7, 8 respectively go over flush into an outer side 41 of the foot section 11 (the outer sides 41 of the foot section 11 facing away from one another), so that this likewise forms a trapezoid in cross section (apart from existing depressions 24, 25, see below). This results overall in a trapezoidal cross-sectional contour of the supporting profile 3 as a whole. This brings about a comparatively high stiffness and also favorable characteristics for the flowing away of condensate.

[0062] Finally, in FIG. 10 a packing column 2 is shown in section, fluid 32, which is often in a two-phase or gaseous state, rising up therein and at least partially passing a first packing 36 and a second packing 37. The packings 36 and 37 form (respectively) a treatment chamber 33, in which part of the fluid 32 condenses on the surfaces and flows off. Here there can be seen in the case of the second packing 37 a collecting channel 38, which is designed for collecting a precipitated liquid. The first packing 36 rests on a first grid 23, which in turn is supported by a first support 1, generally a plurality of first supports, according to the invention with a first supporting profile 3, which in turn rests on a bearer 39. The second packing 37 rests on a second grid 34, which in turn rests on a further support 35. Such a packing column 2 can be used for example for separating air, the fluid being boiling air or a further fractionation stage.

[0063] With the support proposed here, a reduced supporting height can be realized with at the same time small coverage.

TABLE-US-00001 List of designations  1 Support  2 Packing column  3 Supporting profile  4 Web section  5 First end  6 Second end  7 First strut  7a Outer side  8 Second strut  9 Web height 10 Web width 11 Foot section 11a, 11b Leg 11c Underside 11d Upper side 11e Outer side 12 First width 13 Head section 14 Cover side 15 Second width 16 Third width 17 Underside or sub-section 17a Underside 18 Stump 19 Triangle 20 Supplementary triangle 21 Supplementary height 22 Grid height 23 First grid 24 First depression 25 Second depression 26-31 Corners or outer edges 32 Fluid 33 Treatment chamber 34 Second grid 35 Further support 36 First packing 37 Second packing 38 Collecting channel 39 Bearer 40, 41 Outer sides 42 Longitudinal axis