Bubble caps for bubble columns

Claim 2

Bubble tray for bubble cap columns, comprising a weir and a downcomer at opposite sides of the tray, a plurality of openings in said tray between said weir and said downcomer, a plurality of closely spaced caps, each cap covering one of said openings and having a top and a skirt extending downwardly from the top, openings for discharge of gas through the bubble cap at spaced intervals along the skirt, dividing the skirt into gas discharge openings and closed areas intermediate with the gas discharge openings, the openings of each cap confronting closed areas of the adjacent caps, so that gas streams issuing from the cap openings are not directed against one another.

Claim 3

Bubble tray according to claim 1 having caps which in horizontal cross-section are in the form of a circle or in the form of a hexagon with alternately three sections having an opening or openings for the passage of gas and three imperforate sections.

Claim 4

Bubble cap tray according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal cross-section of the caps is rectangular and not of substantially different side lengths, skirt openings extending downwardly from two opposite sides and skirt closed areas extending downwardly from the other two sides.

Claim 5

Bubble tray according to claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal cross-section of the caps has the form of a rectangle, the length of which is considerably greater than the width and of which the longitudinal sides are open to a substantially uniform extent throughout their length, while the transverse sides are closed, and in which a number of such caps are so arranged at right angles to one another that several rows of such caps disposed one after the other in the longitudinal direction and at intervals equal to their length are so disposed at right angles to one another that caps alternating in each of these directions lie at right angles to one another and the streams of liquid discharging from the longitudinal sides of the caps in the same direction in adjacent rows are offset from one another.

Claim 6

Bubble tray according to claim 4, characterized in that the longitudinal openings of the tray beneath the caps are formed by stamping out two identical longitudinal flanges, which are so bent over downwardly that they converge upwardly.

Claim 7

Bubble tray for a bubble-type exchange column according to claim 1, said bubble tray having a number of openings for the passage of gas, a number of bubble caps over the openings, each cap having a periphery with openings therein leaving imperforate sections of the periphery, the caps being so arranged that each cap has at least one opening facing an imperforate section of an adjacent cap but no openings facing an opening of an adjacent cap.

Claim 8

Bubble tray according to claim 6, having caps which in horizontal cross-section have the form of a circle or a uniform even-numbered polygon and alternately have open sections for the passage of gas and imperforate sections, the said sections being of approximately the same size.

Claim 9

Bubble tray according to claim 6, having caps which in horizontal cross-section have the form of an elongated rectangle, and, on the long sides thereof, open and closed sections of substantially equal length alternating with one another.

Claim 10

Bubble tray according to claim 6, having caps which in horiZontal cross-section have the form of a rectangle with not substantially different side lengths, two opposite sides of the rectangle being open and the other two sides being closed.

Claim 11

Bubble tray according to claim 9, characterized in that the closed portion of the periphery of one cap which is facing an open peripheral portion of an adjacent cap rises obliquely upwards.

Claim 12

Bubble tray according to claim 6, characterized in that the caps are let into corresponding openings of the tray and thus close off the openings if they are not lifted by the pressure of an upwardly flowing gas.

Claim 13

Bubble tray according to claim 11, characterized in that the caps have projections or stops on their upper and lower rims, which limit their upward and downward movement relatively to the tray.