Apparatus for the Exchange of Material and/or Heat Between and/or for Mixing of Gaseous and/or Liquid Substances

In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail on the basis of the attached figures of the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an apparatus according to the invention comprising a packet of perpendicular permeable walls which are alternatingly interconnected by horizontally disposed, permeable spacing ribbons;

FIG. 2 is a representation of the detail of area II in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 to 7 show various forms of embodiments of the arrangement of the spacing ribbons in connection with wall areas of lesser permeability;

FIG. 8 is a different embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, wherein the permeable walls have a zigzag-shaped configuration in perpendicular direction and are held in connection with one another at a certain distance at places which always adjoin each other;

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment corresponding essentially to the embodiment according to FIG. 1 of the apparatus according to the invention, in an essentially concentric arrangement which has developed as a result of a spiral winding of a double layered web of the permeable wall material with corresponding spacing ribbons; and

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention corresponding essentially to the embodiment of FIG. 8, wherein a double layered web of the permeable wall material is wound up in a spiral form, whereby the spacings between the walls inherently occur as a result of the zigzag-shaped form of the web material.

Therefore, it is a feature of the invention to provide a process for contacting at least two fluids in cocurrent or countercurrent flow comprising conveying a first fluid in a main direction of flow, and conveying a second fluid in a parallel direction of flow, either cocurrent or countercurrent to said first fluid, and wherein the first and second fluids pass through a space subdivided into a multiplicity of flow paths in such a manner that the flowing fluids are guided repeatedly through permeable walls thereby enabling exchange of material and/or heat between and/or for mixing of gaseous and/or liquid substances.

A further feature of the invention resides in an apparatus for arrangement in a fluid exchanger or mixer comprising a plurality of wall surfaces essentially parallel with the direction of flow of said fluid or multiplicity of fluids and a plurality of surfaces disposed at an angle to said wall surfaces thereby forming a multiplicity of interconnected chambers or flow paths, wherein said surfaces are permeable walls running essentially in the direction of the main flow and disposed in several layers side by side, which walls are kept at a distance from one another by essentially continuous spacing means running essentially transversely to the main flow direction, which spacing means are disposed alternately at opposite sides of a wall and may be of less permeability than the walls.

Described in further detail, FIG. 1 is a section of a component apparatus according to the invention shown as a schematic perspective representation, as it is provided for insertion in an apparatus for material and/or heat exchange. As part of the component apparatus, a number of permeable walls 1, 2, 3 and 4 disposed perpendicularly are shown, which are kept at a certain distance from one another by the spacing ribbons 5.

It will be understood by the expert in this art that an arrangement of the type shown herein, in the form of a component package, is built into a container for an apparatus for material or heat exchange, in a manner to fill essentially the entire cross section thereof.

Exchanger apparatus of this general type are conventional in the chemical industry and are used, for example, for chemical reactions of a wide variety; e.g. for distillation of mixtures, for extraction and for corresponding basic operations of chemical process engineering. The substances to be subjected to the desired treatment are introduced in general into the exchanger apparatus at its upper end or lower end through which apparatus they are then guided in an essentially perpendicular main direction of flow in cocurrent flow or in countercurrent through the inside space of the exchanger container, which for example is filled by an insert corresponding to the component apparatus according to the invention. Generally, distributing arrangements for the substances introduced and known to the expert are provided at the charging ends of the exchanger which are to ensure that the substances initially will be evenly distributed to the greatest extent possible over the entire cross section of the exchanger apparatus.

It will be apparent to for the expert that the apparatus according to the invention shown according to the embodiment, for example in FIG. 1, does not merely consist of the number of permeable walls and spacing strips shown there, but that the number of the elements is selected in such a way that they essentially completely fill the cross section of the exchanger apparatus in which they are inserted. Depending on the shape or formation of the container, the package-like inserts may have concentrically disposed permeable walls, but also walls disposed in parallel in the shape of plates. It will furthermore be clear to the expert that depending on the material of which the permeable walls and distancing means are made, corresponding frames or supports may be provided on top and on the bottom in the exchanger container on which the walls are attached with their terminal edges. This is necessary especially, whenever dealing with the case of permeable walls made of flexible material, which must be attached and clamped down on both sides in order to fix their corresponding position in the container.

The permeable walls 1, 2, 3 and 4 shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 consist for example of a fabric made of synthetic fibers or wires with a loop width or mesh between 1 and 5 mm. The spacing ribbons 5 may also consist of a fabric, which for example is glued together or connected in some other way with the fabrics of the walls 1, 2, 3, and 4. In FIG. 2, by way of a sectional view, a connecting point between the spacing ribbon 5 and the wall 4 is shown. As may be seen from this figure, the spacing ribbon 5 is oriented upwards along its edge of contact and it forms a flange strip 6 which, with the permeable wall 4, is connected in a suitable way and manner, for example, by welding or gluing together. A corresponding connection with the other edge of the spacing ribbon 5 may also exist on the succeeding permeable wall.

In the case of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the permeable walls have areas of variable permeability. Correspondingly, as becomes clear from FIG. 2, the spacing ribbon 5 in the case of this embodiment and with it also the flange strip 6, has a lesser loop width than the basic fabric of the permeable wall 4. The flange strip 6 applied to the coarse mesh basic fabric of the permeable wall 4 thus forms such an area of lesser permeability of the permeable wall 4. The spacing ribbon 5 with the flange strip 6 may, for example, consist of a densely made fabric with warp and filling threads lying essentially side by side, but it may also have inside loop width up to about 2 mm. As will be explained in still more detail in the following passages, the areas of lesser permeability of the walls 1, 2, 3 and 4 are provided preferably in the area of the spacing ribbons 5.

In FIGS. 3-7, various embodiments of the essential structure of two permeable walls 1 and 2 with a spacing ribbon disposed therebetween are shown in schematic cross section. The form of embodiment of FIG. 3 corresponds essentially to the illustration according to FIG. 4, wherein however the flange strips 6 directed upwards are seen at both sides of the spacing ribbon 5. In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, the spacing ribbon 5 had been reversed in practice by its lateral flange strip 6 not extending upwards but downwards.

In FIG. 5, an embodiment is shown where a spacing ribbon 7 without flange strips is attached directly with its lateral edges to the adjoining walls 1 and 2. On the outside of walls 1 and 2, additional fabric strips 8 have been applied which, like the flange strips 6 in the case of the preceding embodiments, consist of a narrow-meshed fabric as compared to the coarse meshed basic fabric of the walls 1 and 2. The embodiment according to FIG. 5 in practice represents a combination of the embodiments according to FIGS. 3 and 4 by the areas of lesser permeability of the walls extending upwards as well as downwards from the spacing ribbon 7. The selection of the various embodiments depends on the field of use for the corresponding apparatus.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, two additional embodiments are shown wherein the spacing ribbon is not formed of a fabric but is formed of a massive, permeable strip of materials 9 or 10. Areas of lesser permeability of the walls 1 and 2 may also be provided in the case of these embodiments according to need. The spacing ribbon 10 in FIG. 7 at its upper side shows a funnel-shaped depression 11. Such a depression may be effective whenever, for example, a fluid accummulation is desired in the case of flow stream through the apparatus.

In further detail, FIG. 1 shows flow arrows by way of example in order to explain the permitted course of flow through the apparatus.

Assuming that a gas stream 12 is introduced into the apparatus from below, it is distributed by conventional means not shown, as evenly as possible over the individual flow channels 13 of the apparatus. Since the spacing ribbons of slight permeability which, for example, may be enlarged further by wall areas of lesser permeability, as shown in FIG. 5, represent a partially increased flow resistance for the rising gas, the middle stream portion 14 divides itself into two lateral partial streams 15 which divided streams pass through the permeable walls 2 and 3 and continue in the adjacent flow channels. A corresponding sequence is shown for the partial streams 16. Since this characteristic applies for every point of the apparatus, an overall cross mixing and equalization of the entire flow by the apparatus occurs. For this it is important that the spacing means or spacing ribbons 5 are always disposed in a displaced or staggered relationships to one another in adjacent flow channels. Correspondingly in the embodiment of FIG. 1 given by way of example, a stream portion 17 of fluid entering from above is shown for which the spacing ribbons 5 on the one hand causes a damming effect on the flow, which likewise causes the fluid to be distributed in the pertinent adjacent channels and on the other hand represent together with any possible wall areas of higher mesh density, an area which represents an increased wetting of the wall with liquid. In summary, the operation of the apparatus is explained in detail in the introductory portion hereof.

FIG. 8 shows another preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention wherein the permeable walls 18, 19 and 20 exhibit in a perpendicular direction a zigzag-shaped form. At their points of contact, of which one is emphasized especially by the circle 21, the permeable walls are interconnected. Special spacing means are omitted in this case, since in this embodiment, the bulging corners of the walls 18, 19 and 20 themselves serve as spacing elements. Since in this case, no special spacing parts are present which could be formed with a different permeability, in this case, if necessary, the permeable walls themselves would have to be made with a different permeability in the connecting areas 21. On the upper and lower ends of the walls 18, 19 and 20, strip-like edges 22 are shown by which the walls are supported or may be clamped in a corresponding frame.

As material for the walls, one may provide a fabric or a sieve material which on the one hand has a sufficient natural stiffness in order to retain the desired shape by itself, and on the other hand however will be so elastic that it will be put into certain oscillations through the flow passing through it. In contrast, whenever such an embodiment is produced using a soft non-self supporting fabric, then an additional clamping down at the outside edges 23 of the outermost walls is required, in order to maintain the system in a honeycomb-shaped state.

A technically different embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention which makes possible in a simple way an essentially concentric arrangement of the permeable walls is shown schematically in FIG. 9. The apparatus there is wound from a double layered web 26 for permeable walls, which consists of two individual walls 24 and 25 which are interconnected by spacing ribbons 27. Moreover, spacing ribbons 28 are additionally provided on the outside of the web 25 which are disposed in a displaced relation to the spacing ribbon 27. The formation of the apparatus from a double layered web of wall material is required, because in the case of a single layer with spacing ribbons, said spacing ribbons would always come to lie on the same height of the layer and would exclude a mutually displaced arrangement which is essential for the method of functioning.

In case that the permeable walls 24 and 25 of the winding body 29 consist of a soft, non-rigid material, the individual layers of the wound body would naturally also have to be clamped down correspondingly at their ends.

However, for the embodiment shown, a wall material which is sufficiently stiff in itself is preferred, for example, in the form of a metal fabric. The spacing ribbons 27 at the same time are produced effectively from sufficiently stiff material which is still elastic enough for the winding and which in the case of this type of embodiment does not absolutely have to be permeable.

FIG. 10 shows schematically a corresponding winding arrangement for a double layered web with zigzag course similar to the embodiment according to FIG. 8. In this case, too, it is necessary to make the web that is to be wound up in double layers with an opposite zigzag course of the individual layers, since otherwise, the chambers between the permeable walls 30 and 31 would not develop. The webs 30 and 31 are interconnected at the same time at their points of contact 32. The wall material should have sufficient natural stiffness in order to impart enough stability to the entire wound body, but it also should be sufficiently moldable in order to make the winding up possible despite the special shaping. Metal webs are suitable for this purpose, for example.

Further variations and embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing and are intended to be encompassed by the claims appended hereto.