The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 26, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 07, 1999
Mark W. Pilling, Jenks, OK (US);
Dale E. Nutter, Tulsa, OK (US);
Sulzer Chemtech USA, Inc., Tulsa, OK (US);
Abstract
Vapor-liquid contact apparatus for chemical processing includes a vessel containing a plurality of spaced horizontal trays which support a vapor-liquid mixture, and downcomers which carry liquid down from one tray to another. Each tray has an infeed area, a bubbling area which has apertures for introducing vapor into the vapor-liquid mixture on the tray, and a liquid exit opening at the downstream end of the bubbling area. The downcomer receives the vapor-liquid mixture from the bubbling area, and it has a floor which increases the residence time of the vapor-liquid mixture in the downcomer. The floor forms an outlet which feeds liquid to the infeed area of a subsequent tray. The downcomer outlet is an elongated slot formed between a convex outer edge of the floor and a convex outer edge of the downcomer cross-section. To provide more uniform flow across the width of a bubbling area, the outlet slot which feeds the bubbling area is not wider, and is preferably narrower, at its centerline than at locations which are laterally spaced from the centerline.