Packing unit and method of making
AssigneeMerix Corporation
InventorThomas W. Mix
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A packing unit having a set of deflectors within a cage for deflecting each of two fluids moving through the unit, the deflectors being arranged so that in any image of the unit formed by parallel rays projected onto a plane, regardless of how the unit is oriented with respect to the plane, at least half of the area enclosed by the perimeter of the image will be a shaded area, no more than 35% of the shaded area being produced by surfaces of said deflectors oriented at more than 60.degree. to said rays.
Claims18
A packing unit for enhancing contact between two fluids moving through said unit, comprising
- a cage, and
- a set of deflectors within said cage for deflecting at least one of the fluids, said deflectors being arranged so that in any image of said unit formed by parallel rays projected onto a plane, regardless of how said unit is oriented with respect to said plane, at least half of the area enclosed by the perimeter of said image will be a shaded area, no more than 35% of said shaded area being produced by surfaces of said deflectors and of said cage which are oriented at more than 60.degree. to said rays.
Apparatus for enhancing contact between two fluids moving through a reaction chamber, comprising a plurality of packing units randomly oriented in the chamber, each packing unit comprising two sets of deflectors, said sets respectively being arranged to cause fluid whirling in a first direction and in the opposite direction from said first direction, for fluids approaching the packing unit along at least some paths, the sets of deflectors being further arranged to deflect at least some fluid approaching the packing unit along any path, and further comprising a cylindrical cage centered on said axis and containing said deflectors, said cage having two parallel cylindrical rims coaxial with and spaced apart along said axis, the combined heights of said rims being less than 35% of the height of said cage, and wherein each said deflector has a radial extent of between about 1/8 and about 1/4 of the diameter of said cage.
A method of making a packing unit having a plurality of fluid deflectors comprising the steps of
- cutting a bendable sheet to define a row of rectilinear formable areas arranged along one direction of the sheet and each connected to a supporting region comprising a strip along said row, said strip having a supporting segment attached to at least one said formable area and a spanning segment attached to said supporting segment, and
- wrapping said supporting region in said direction to define a space with said formable areas projecting into said space and wherein said wrapping step comprises folding said strip so that said supporting segment is oriented radially to a reference axis of said unit and said spanning segment is oriented tangentially with respect to said reference axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.