Absorber for dehydrating gas

Abstract

An improved absorber for extracting water or other liquid contaminants contained in gas including an upright vessel having a gas and a desiccant inlet, a gas outlet adjacent the top and a liquid desiccant outlet adjacent the bottom, a horizontal plate separating the interior of the vessel into an upper and lower chamber, a vertical mixing conduit within the vessel connected at its upper end with the vessel gas and desiccant inlets and passing downwardly through an opening in the plate, the vertical mixing conduit having a mixer element therein which intimately co-mingles the gas and liquid desiccant as they pass into the vessel and downwardly through the mixing conduit into the vessel lower chamber, a plurality of vertical cylindrical members supported in openings in the horizontal plate, the lower end extending below the plate and the upper end extending above the plate, a cap covering the upper portion of each of the cylindrical members, each cap having passageways in the lower edges thereof so that gas and liquid can flow upwardly through the vertical cylindrical members and under the caps and into the vessel upper chamber, packing within the vessel upper chamber, the lower chamber and the lower portion of the upper chamber having the packing therein being filled with liquid desiccant and means of maintaining the level of liquid desiccant and withdrawing the desiccant from the vessel so as to maintain the preselected level, the gas passing out the gas outlet in the upper portion of the vessel and the water in the gas being absorbed by the liquid desiccant and carried out of the vessel with the desiccant.