Process of promoting catalytic reactions in the vapor phase

Claim 1

THE PROCESS OF PROMOTING CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN A GASIFORM FLUID STREAM, IN CONTACT WITH SOLID SURFACES, COMPRISING PASSING SAID STREAM, INITIALLY CONTAINING AT LEAST ONE GASIFORM REACTANT ADAPTED TO REACT CHEMICALLY AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES, UPWARDLY THROUGH A DEEP, PERVIOUS MASS OF A PLURALITY OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SOLIDS IN A GRANULAR STATE IN PREDETERMINED PROPORTIONS HAVING CONSIDERABLY DIFFERENT BUOYANCIES A AND B IN SAID STREAM, WHILE THEY ARE SO CONFINED IN A REACTION CHAMBER THAT THE BOTTOM ZONE OF SAID MASS HAS A SMALL DIAMETER, THE TOP ZONE THEREOF HAS A RELATIVELY LARGE DIAMETER AND THE INTERMEDIATE ZONE TAPERS DOWNWARDLY AND WHILE THEY ARE AT A FAVORABLE REACTION TEMPERATURE AND UNDER FAVORABLE PRESSURE FOR SAID REACTANT TO REACT CHEMICALLY, AT SUCH A VELOCITY THAT SAID SOLIDS ARE FLUIDIZED AS A DEEP, DENSE, CONTINUOUS BED IN SAID CHAMBER IN SAID ZONES IN STRATIFIED DENSE LAYERS WHEREBY SAID BOTTOM ZONE IS COMPRISED LARGELY OF SOLIDS A OF LOW BUOYANCY, SAID TOP ZONE IS COMPRISED LARGELY OF SOLIDS B OF RELATIVELY HIGH BUOYANCY AND SAID INTERMEDIATE ZONE IS COMPRISED OF A MIXTURE OF SOLIDS A AND B, THEREBY PROMOTING CHEMICAL REACTION OF SAID REACTANT AS SAID STREAM PASSES SERIALLY THROUGH THE DIFFERENT ZONES WITH DECREASING STREAM-MASS VELOCITY, AND REMOVING THE GASIFORM REACTION PRODUCTS IN SAID STREAM FROM ABOVE SAID BED.