Packing unit and method of making

Claim 2

A packing unit for enhancing contact between two fluids moving through said unit, comprising a cage, and a set of deflectors within said cage for deflecting at least one of the fluids, said deflectors being arranged so that in any image of said unit formed by parallel rays projected onto a plane, regardless of how said unit is oriented with respect to said plane, at least half of the area enclosed by the perimeter of said image will be a shaded area, no more than 35% of said shaded area being produced by surfaces of said deflectors and of said cage which are oriented at more than 60° to said rays.

Claim 3

The packing unit of claim 1 wherein said deflectors are oriented to cause each said fluid to whirl when its path is within a predetermined angle of a reference axis of said cage.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1 comprising two sets of said deflectors, said sets respectively being arranged to cause fluid whirling in a first direction and in the opposite direction from said first direction, for fluids approaching the packing unit along at least some paths, the sets of deflectors being further arranged to dflect at least some fluid approaching the packing unit along any path.

Claim 5

The packing unit of claim 3 wherein said two sets are located at different positions along a reference axis of said unit.

Claim 6

The packing unit of claim 4 further comprising two further sets of deflectors each said further set being located at a different radial position with respect to said axis than a corresponding one of said sets and arranged to cause fluid whirling in the opposite direction from the whirling caused by the corresponding set.

Claim 7

The packing unit of claim 5 further comprising additional sets of deflectors located at different axial or radial positions from any of said sets, each said additional set arranged to cause whirling either in said first direction or in said opposite direction.

Claim 8

The packing unit of claim 3 wherein said two sets are located at different radial positions with respect to a reference axis of said unit.

Claim 9

The packing unit of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 wherein said deflectors in each said set are arranged at regular angular intervals around said axis in positions corresponding to a set of reference planes containing said axis, and all of said deflectors in a given said set are oriented at the same angle with respect to their corresponding reference planes.

Claim 10

The packing unit of claim 8 wherein said same angle is between 30° and 60° (preferably 45°).

Claim 11

The packing unit of claim 3, 5 or 6 wherein said whirling in said opposite direction substantially cancels said whirling in said first direction.

Claim 12

The packing unit of claim 1 wherein said deflectors are arranged at equal intervals around a reference axis of the unit with the line of intersection of a plane normal to the axis with the plane of each deflector being perpendicular to a radius extended from the axis to the deflector.

Claim 13

The packing unit of claim 1 wherein said deflectors are arranged around a reference axis of the unit and the cage comprises a pair of parallel cylindrical rims coaxial with and spaced apart along a reference axis of said unit.

Claim 14

The packing unit of claim 3 wherein said deflectors are arranged around a reference axis of said unit, and further comprising a support member for supporting said deflectors, said support member comprising a sequence of segments including support segments each connected to at least one deflector and spanning segments connecting successive support segments.

Claim 15

The packing unit of claim 13 wherein said deflectors have edges oriented radially to said axis, and each said support segment is connected to the radially oriented edge of at least one deflector.

Claim 16

The packing unit of claim 13 wherein said spanning segments include shorter segments positioned relatively closer to said axis and longer segments positioned relatively farther from said axis.

Claim 17

Apparatus for enhancing contact between two fluids moving through a reaction chamber, comprising a plurality of packing units randomly oriented in the chamber, each packing unit comprising two sets of deflectors, said sets respectively being arranged to cause fluid whirling in a first direction and in the opposite direction from said first direction, for fluids approaching the packing unit along at least some paths, the sets of deflectors being further arranged to deflect at least some fluid approaching the packing unit along any path, and further comprising a cylindrical cage centered on said axis and containing said deflectors, said cage having two parallel cylindrical rims coaxial with and spaced apart along said axis, the combined heights of said rims being less than 35% of the height of said cage, and wherein each said deflector has a radial extent of between about 1/8 and about 1/4 of the diameter of said cage.

Claim 18

Apparatus for enhancing contact between two fluids moving through a reaction chamber, comprising a plurality of packing units randomly oriented in the chamber, each packing unit comprising two sets of deflectors, said sets respectively being arranged to cause fluid whirling in a first direction and in the opposite direction from said first direction, for fluids approaching the packing unit along at least some paths, the sets of deflectors being further arranged to deflect at least some fluid approaching the packing unit along any path, and further comprising a cylindrical cage centered on said axis and containing said deflectors, said cage having two parallel cylindrical rims coaxial with and spaced apart along said axis, the combined heights of said rims being less than 35% of the height of said cage, and wherein each said deflector has a radial extent of between about 1/8 and about 1/4 of the diameter of said cage.

Claim 19

The packing unit of claim 16 wherein said cage comprises a half-cylinder.