Gas/liquid contacting apparatus

Claim 1

Gas/liquid contacting apparatus comprising an upright housing provided with a gas inlet, a liquid outlet, a liquid inlet and a gas outlet arranged above the gas inlet, and a horizontal tray arranged between the gas inlet and the liquid inlet and provided with a cyclonic separator extending from below the horizontal tray to above the horizontal tray, which cyclonic separator comprises a vertical swirl tube internally provided with swirl imparting means, a coaxial gas outlet tube disposed near the upper part of the vertical swirl tube, an outer tube disposed around the swirl tube so as to define an annular space between the swirl tube and the outer tube opening below the tray, a passage communicating between the interior of the swirl tube above the swirl imparting means and the annular space, and at least one conduit extending from the exterior of the cyclonic separator above the tray to the interior of the swirl tube below the swirl imparting means, wherein the coaxial gas outlet tube is provided externally with an annular deflector, and wherein the outer tube is provided at its upper end with a gas outlet debouching below the annular deflector and with an annular cover of which the inner edge is located around the gas outlet tube below the annular deflector.