Gas-liquid contact tower

Claim 1

GAS-LIQUID CONTACT TOWER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SUPER-IMPOSED HORIZONTAL PLATES VERTICALLY SPACED APART FROM ONE ANOTHER AND ADAPTED TO ACCOMMODATE A FLOW OF LIQUID THEREOVER IN A RELATIVELY THIN LAYER, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING LIQUID AT THE TOP OF SAID TOWER, MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING SAID LIQUID FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID TOWER, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING GAS AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID TOWER, MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING SAID GAS FROM THE TOP OF SAID TOWER, A PLURALITY OF APERTURES IN SAID PLATES, THE APERTURES IN ADJACENT PLATES BEING HORIZONTALLY OFFSET FROM ONE ANOTHER, SAID APERTURES PERMITTING LIQUID FLOWING OVER THE SURFACE OF SAID PLATES TO FLOW DOWNWARDLY THROUGH SAID TOWER FROM PLATE TO PLATE AND PERMITTING GAS TO FLOW UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID TOWER COUNTERCURRENT TO SAID LIQUID, OPEN CHIMNEYS FREE FROM RESTRICTIONS TO GAS FLOW EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID APERTURES, THE UPPER PORTIONS OF SAID CHIMNEYS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH THE UPPER SURFACES OF SAID PLATES AND THE UPPER SURFACES OF SAID PLATES BEING FLAT AND UNINTERRUPTED EXCEPT AT SAID APERTURES WHEREBY LIQUID FLOWS OVER SAID PLATES IN A THIN, CONTINUOUS FILM UNINTERRUPTED EXCEPT AT SAID APERTURES, SAID APERTURES OCCUPYING NOT MORE THAN 15% OF THE TOTAL AREA OF SAID PLATES AND BEING RELATIVELY FEW IN NUMBER RELATIVE TO THE TOTAL AREA OF SAID PLATE, WHEREBY SAID APERTURES AND ASSOCIATED CHIMNEYS ARE SEPARATED FROM ONE ANOTHER BY SUBSTANTIAL HORIZONTAL DISTANCES THEREBY PROMOTING SUBSTANTIAL HORIZONTAL FLOW OF GAS BETWEEN SAID PLATES, SAID CHIMNEYS TERMINATING AT THEIR LOWER PORTIONS ABOVE THE LIQUID LEVEL ON THE PLATE BENEATH SUCH THAT GAS FLOWING HORIZONTALLY BETWEEN SAID PLATES FLOWS INTO SAID CHIMNEYS WHILE PASSING OVER, RATHER THAN THROUGH, SAID LIQUID FILM, SAID CHIMNEYS SERVING TO DEFLECT SAID HORIZONTALLY FLOWING GAS DOWNWARDLY TOWARD THE UNINTERRUPTED LIQUID FILM BENEATH SAID CHIMNEYS BEFORE PASSING UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID CHIMNEYS TO THE NEXT PLATE.