# US 5,700,403 A · Distillation column employing structured packing which reduces wall flow > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 5,700,403 A - Document ID: US5700403A - Status: Granted - Kind: A - Application number: 08/590,663 - Filed: 1996-01-24 - Granted: 1997-12-23 - Earliest claimed: 1996-01-24 - Assignees: Praxair Technology, Inc. - Inventors: John Fredric Billingham; Michael James Lockett - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5700403A ## CPC - B01J 19/32: Packing elements in the form of grids or built-up elements for forming a unit or module inside the apparatus for mass or heat transfer - B01D 3/008: {Liquid distribution} - B01D 3/141: {where at least one distillation column contains at least one dividing wall} - B01D 3/146: {Multiple effect distillation} - B01D 3/16: Fractionating columns in which vapour bubbles through liquid (packing elements B01J19/30, B01J19/32) - C07C 17/38: Separation; Purification; Stabilisation; Use of additives - C07D 311/72: 3,4-Dihydro derivatives having in position 2 at least one methyl radical and in position 6 one oxygen atom, e.g. tocopherols - B01J 2219/3221: Corrugated sheets - B01J 2219/32213: Plurality of essentially parallel sheets - B01J 2219/3222: with sheets having corrugations which intersect at an angle different from 90 degrees - B01J 2219/32227: Vertical orientation - B01J 2219/32255: Other details of the sheets - B01J 2219/32258: Details relating to the extremities of the sheets, such as a change in corrugation geometry or sawtooth edges - B01J 2219/32272: relating to blocks in superimposed layers - B01J 2219/32408: Metal - B01J 2219/32416: fibrous - B01J 2219/326: Mathematical modelling - B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS - B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28) - C07C: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS - C07D: HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS (macromolecular compounds C08) ## Abstract A heat and/or mass exchange structure which includes a shell having an outer vertical wall with an interior surface, a plurality of first corrugated packing sheets having an outer edge that is spaced away from the interior surface of the shell, and a plurality of second corrugated packing sheets positioned within the shell and sandwiched between a pair of the first corrugated packing sheets. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A heat and/or mass exchange structure comprising: a shell including an outer vertical wall having an interior surface said shell containing a packing arrangement comprising: a plurality of first corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheets having corrugations angled to as to carry downward flowing liquid towards an interior region of said packing arrangement and away from an external periphery thereof, said external periphery being spaced away from said interior surface; and a second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet sandwiched between each pair of said first corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheets and having corrugations angled so as to carry downward flowing fluid towards said external periphery, said second heat and/or mass transfer sheet having an outer edge which is spaced further away from said external periphery than co-located outer edges of said pair of said first corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheets which sandwich said second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet so as to be recessed from both said co-located outer edges. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The heat and/or mass exchange structure as recited in claim 1 wherein each said second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet has a corrugation height h and said outer edge thereof is spaced further away from said external periphery than said outer edges of either of said pair of first corrugated sheets which sandwich said second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet, by a distance r where 0.ltoreq.r.ltoreq.h. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The heat and/or mass exchange structure as recited in claim 2, wherein r is approximately h/2. ### Claim 4 A packing arrangement for a distillation column, comprising: a plurality of first corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheets having corrugations angled so as to carry downward flowing liquid towards an interior region of said packing arrangement and away from an external periphery thereof and further having an outer edge; and a second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet sandwiched between each pair of said first corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheets and having corrugations angled so as to carry downward flowing fluid towards said external periphery, said second heat and/or mass transfer sheet having an outer edge which is spaced further away from said external periphery than co-located outer edges of either of said pair of said first corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheets which sandwich said second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet so as to be recessed from both said co-located outer edges. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The packing arrangement as recited in claim 4, wherein each said second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet has a corrugation height h and said outer edge thereof is spaced further away from said external periphery than outer edges of either of said pair of first corrugated sheets which sandwich said second corrugated heat and/or mass transfer sheet, by a distance r where 0.ltoreq.r.ltoreq.h. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The packing arrangement as recited in claim 5, wherein r is approximately h/2.