US4604247A — Tower packing material and method

Claim 1

Independent Claim 185 words

An improved tower packing of the type comprising a plurality of corrugated unexpanded metal sheets in face-to-face contact with opposed corrugations inclined oppositely one to the other for receiving a descending liquid flow concomitantly with an ascending vapor flow to bring about vapor-liquid contact therebetween for mass and/or heat transfer, wherein the improvement comprises a plurality of apertures formed in said sheets for affecting the flow of vapor and liquid therealong and within the corrugations of adjacent sheets, a portion of said apertures being a plurality of relatively small spaced apart slits formed through solid surfaces of each sheet and another portion of said apertures being relatively large orifices spaced apart by said solid surfaces for enabling vapor and liquid to flow to opposite sides of said sheets, said slits being uniformly distributed, elongated, and their longitudinal axes extending transversely to the corrugations, the total area of all of said slits being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, each of said spaced apart slits being formed in said metal sheet with relatively small tab regions comprising twisted land areas bent outwardly therefrom.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 185 words

An improved tower packing of the type comprising a plurality of corrugated unexpanded metal sheets in face-to-face contact with opposed corrugations inclined oppositely one to the other for receiving a descending liquid flow concomitantly with an ascending vapor flow to bring about vapor-liquid contact therebetween for mass and/or heat transfer, wherein the improvement comprises a plurality of apertures formed in said sheets for affecting the flow of vapor and liquid therealong and within the corrugations of adjacent sheets, a portion of said apertures being a plurality of relatively small spaced apart slits formed through solid surfaces of each sheet and another portion of said apertures being relatively large orifices spaced apart by said solid surfaces for enabling vapor and liquid to flow to opposite sides of said sheets, said slits being uniformly distributed, elongated, and their longitudinal axes extending transversely to the corrugations, the total area of all of said slits being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, each of said spaced apart slits being formed in said metal sheet with relatively small tab regions comprising twisted land areas bent outwardly therefrom.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 29 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said small, elongated, transversely extending slits are formed in said sheets longitudinally spaced from one another in generally parallel rows.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 39 words

The improvement as set for in claim 2 wherein said slits are formed with the slits in adjacent rows being longitudinally offset from one another into alignment with the spaces between the adjacent slits in a staggered array configuration.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 32 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said opposed corrugations are inclined generally orthogonally one to the other and said elongated slits extend perpendicularly to the axis of the column.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 20 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said elongated slits extend perpendicularly to the axis of the column.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 40 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said elongated slits includes a coined portion protruding outwardly from the plane of said sheet and extending from said slit in the direction of liquid flow along said sheet.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 26 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 6 wherein said elongated slits are formed in said sheets longitudinally spaced from one another in generally parallel rows.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 29 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 7 wherein the coined portions of the slits in alternate rows protrude outwardly from the plane of said sheet in opposite directions.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 233 words

An improved method of improving vapor liquid contact within a process tower of the type comprising the steps of providing a generally vertical tower having means for ingressing the flow of vapor at the lower region thereof and means for ingressing a stream of liquid at the upper region thereof and a series of layers of grid sections comprising generally vertically oriented corrugated sheets of unexpanded material with the corrugations of adjacent sheets being inclined one to the other between said liquid and vapor ingressing means for receiving the descending flow of liquid and the ascending flow of vapor concomitantly therethrough, said improvement comprising the steps of providing said corrugated sheets with a plurality of parallel, elongate, spaced apart slits formed through solid surfaces of each sheet with the total area of all of said slits being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, providing said slitted sheets with a plurality of relatively larger apertures spaced apart by said solid surfaces for effecting the flow of vapor and liquid therealong and within the corrugations of said adjacent sheets for enhancing the vapor liquid interaction, and the further step of orienting the longitudinal axes of said elongate slits in said sheets to extend generally transversely to said vapor liquid flow and said corrugations for imparting turbulence thereto along with a transverse spreading effect to the liquid flowing down and through said sheets.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 233 words

An improved method of improving vapor liquid contact within a process tower of the type comprising the steps of providing a generally vertical tower having means for ingressing the flow of vapor at the lower region thereof and means for ingressing a stream of liquid at the upper region thereof and a series of layers of grid sections comprising generally vertically oriented corrugated sheets of unexpanded material with the corrugations of adjacent sheets being inclined one to the other between said liquid and vapor ingressing means for receiving the descending flow of liquid and the ascending flow of vapor concomitantly therethrough, said improvement comprising the steps of providing said corrugated sheets with a plurality of parallel, elongate, spaced apart slits formed through solid surfaces of each sheet with the total area of all of said slits being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, providing said slitted sheets with a plurality of relatively larger apertures spaced apart by said solid surfaces for effecting the flow of vapor and liquid therealong and within the corrugations of said adjacent sheets for enhancing the vapor liquid interaction, and the further step of orienting the longitudinal axes of said elongate slits in said sheets to extend generally transversely to said vapor liquid flow and said corrugations for imparting turbulence thereto along with a transverse spreading effect to the liquid flowing down and through said sheets.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 52 words

The method as set forth in claim 9 wherein said method further includes providing said elongate transversely extending spaced apart slits in adjacent parallel rows with each slit being in alignment with a space between slits in the adjacent row to enhance the spreading effect to the liquid flowing down said sheet.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 186 words

An improved tower packing of the type comprising a plurality of corrugated sheets of unexpanded material in face-to-face contact with corrugations of adjacent sheets being oppositely inclined one to the other for receiving a descending liquid flow concomitantly with an ascending vapor flow to bring about vapor-liquid contact therebetween for mass and/or heat transfer and wherein said corrugated sheets include a plurality of relatively large orifices spaced apart by solid surfaces of each sheet for vapor pressure equalization and liquid flow diversion between adjacent corrugation channels, wherein the improvement includes a plurality of apertures smaller than said orifices formed through said solid surfaces of said sheets, the total area of all of said apertures being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, said apertures comprising elongate slits spaced longitudinally from one another in parallel rows with the longitudinal axes of said apertures extending transversely across said corrugations to distribute liquid across both sides of said sheets and provide lateral diversion and entrainment of liquid descending over said sheets to spread the liquid across the surface area of said sheets and produce enhanced vapor-liquid contact.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 186 words

An improved tower packing of the type comprising a plurality of corrugated sheets of unexpanded material in face-to-face contact with corrugations of adjacent sheets being oppositely inclined one to the other for receiving a descending liquid flow concomitantly with an ascending vapor flow to bring about vapor-liquid contact therebetween for mass and/or heat transfer and wherein said corrugated sheets include a plurality of relatively large orifices spaced apart by solid surfaces of each sheet for vapor pressure equalization and liquid flow diversion between adjacent corrugation channels, wherein the improvement includes a plurality of apertures smaller than said orifices formed through said solid surfaces of said sheets, the total area of all of said apertures being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, said apertures comprising elongate slits spaced longitudinally from one another in parallel rows with the longitudinal axes of said apertures extending transversely across said corrugations to distribute liquid across both sides of said sheets and provide lateral diversion and entrainment of liquid descending over said sheets to spread the liquid across the surface area of said sheets and produce enhanced vapor-liquid contact.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 28 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 11 wherein the slits in adjacent rows are longitudinally offset from one another into alignment with the spaces between the slits.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 40 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 11 wherein each of said elongate slits includes a coined portion protruding outwardly from the plane of said sheet and extending from said slit in the direction of liquid flow along said sheet.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 29 words

The improvement as set forth in claim 13 wherein the coined portion of the slits in alternate rows protrude outwardly from the plane of said sheet in opposite directions.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 180 words

A tower packing comprising a plurality of sheets of unexpanded material, a plurality of corrugations formed on each sheet, said sheets being disposed in face-to-face contact with the corrugations of each sheet extending at an angle to the corrugations of its adjacent sheets to define flow paths for a descending liquid and an ascending vapor, a plurality of relatively large orifices formed through and spaced apart by solid surfaces of each sheet for permitting passage of said liquid and vapor therethrough to distribute the liquid over said sheets and equalize the pressure of said vapor, and a plurality of relatively small elongated slits formed through the solid surfaces of each of said sheets, the slits in each sheet being spaced longitudinally from each other in parallel rows with the longitudinal axes of said slits extending transversely across said corrugations, the total area of all of said slits being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, a portion of each sheet adjacent each slit being displaced from the plane of said sheet, to enhance vapor-liquid contact along said sheets.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 180 words

A tower packing comprising a plurality of sheets of unexpanded material, a plurality of corrugations formed on each sheet, said sheets being disposed in face-to-face contact with the corrugations of each sheet extending at an angle to the corrugations of its adjacent sheets to define flow paths for a descending liquid and an ascending vapor, a plurality of relatively large orifices formed through and spaced apart by solid surfaces of each sheet for permitting passage of said liquid and vapor therethrough to distribute the liquid over said sheets and equalize the pressure of said vapor, and a plurality of relatively small elongated slits formed through the solid surfaces of each of said sheets, the slits in each sheet being spaced longitudinally from each other in parallel rows with the longitudinal axes of said slits extending transversely across said corrugations, the total area of all of said slits being smaller than the total area of said solid surfaces, a portion of each sheet adjacent each slit being displaced from the plane of said sheet, to enhance vapor-liquid contact along said sheets.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 37 words

The packing as set forth in claim 15 wherein said slits include a coined portion protruding outwardly from the plane of said sheet and extending from said sheet in the direction of liquid flow along said sheet.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 29 words

The packing as set forth in claim 16 wherein the coined portion of the slits in alternate rows protrude outwardly from the plane of said sheet in opposite directions.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 41 words

The packing as set forth in claim 15 wherein said slits include a coined portion protruding outwardly from the plane of said sheet and extending from said sheet in a direction opposite to the direction of liquid flow along said sheet.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1989-08-04	1990-02-03	1990-08-05	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1993-08-04	1994-02-03	1994-08-05	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1997-08-04	1998-02-03	1998-08-05	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Tower packing material and method

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