Absorber

An absorber in which working fluid including at least two substances having different boiling points from each other is divided into liquid and gaseous phases to supply separately liquid working fluid and gaseous working fluid so as to bring the gaseous working fluid into contact with the liquid working fluid to absorb the gaseous working fluid, said absorber comprising:

• a shell having a box-shape, said shell having an inside that is divided into at least three zones by at least two parallel partition walls that extend across the entire cross-section of said shell, and said at least three zones locating vertically;
• a plurality of wet tubes, said wet tubes comprising tubular bodies each having opposite open ends and two surfaces being opposite in parallel to each other at a prescribed distance, said tubular bodies being disposed in parallel with each other in said shell so that a central axis of each said tubular bodies coincide with a vertical direction and said surfaces of said tubular bodies are opposite in parallel to each other, said tubular bodies passing through said at least two parallel partition walls so that the opposite open ends of each of said tubular bodies locate in an uppermost zone and a lowermost zone of said at least three zones of the shell, respectively, and wherein at least two of said partition walls do not touch said wet tubes passing therethrough;
• a cooling fluid supply portion communicating with the open end of each of said wet tubes to supply cooling fluid to each of said wet tubes;
• and
• a cooling fluid collection portion communicating with the other open end of each of said wet tubes to collect the cooling fluid in the wet tubes and discharge it outside;
• a gap having a prescribed distance being formed between each of upper and lower partition walls of said at least two parallel partition walls, which face an intermediate zone locating between other zones of said at least three zones, on the one hand, and an outer peripheral surface of each of said wet tubes passing through said at least two parallel partition walls, on the other hand;
• and
• (i) the cooling fluid continuously flowing in said wet tubes, while supplying the liquid working fluid from an outside to the zone locating above said intermediate zone so as to be adjacent thereto so that the liquid working fluid continuously flows down from the gap formed between said upper partition wall and said wet tubes along the outer peripheral surface of each of the wet tubes and the liquid working fluid flows through the gap formed between said lower partition wall and said wet tubes to the zone locating below said intermediate zone so as to be adjacent thereto and is discharged outside, and (ii) the gaseous working fluid is supplied from the outside to the intermediate zone of said shell so as to come into contact with the liquid working fluid flowing on the outer peripheral surfaces of the wet tubes;
• and
• wherein a supply port for the gaseous working fluid is formed in said intermediate one so as to communicate with a lower portion of said intermediate zone and a discharge port for the gaseous working fluid, which has not been absorbed, is formed in said intermediate zone so as to communicate with an upper portion of said intermediate zone.