Column contact apparatus and method for operating the same

A column contact apparatus for contacting gas and liquid supplied from the bottom of the apparatus with each other in an upflow in a column container and then taking out the gas and the liquid via a top of the apparatus, comprising:

• two or more stages of honeycomb structural bodies, vertically provided in the column container, each of the honeycomb structural bodies having a plurality of parallel narrow tubular channels;
• a space portion having a length equal to or longer than 5 mm and equal to or less than twice as large as an inner diameter of the column container, formed between the respective stages of the two or more stages of the honeycomb structural bodies;
• a flow-aligning portion provided as a back-flow prevention means in each space portion between the respective stages such that the flow-aligning portion is not brought into contact with the honeycomb structural bodies, the flow-aligning portion having a plurality of holes with hole diameters of 0.5 mm to 8 mm;
• a container containing the honeycomb structural body therein in the column container;
• a clearance being continuous from the bottom to the top of the column container in the height direction between the column container and the container containing the honeycomb structural body;
• and
• a flow control means provided at a desired height position of the clearance to control such that a pressure loss (PL1) of the gas and the liquid passing through the clearance is equal to or more than a pressure loss (PL2) of the gas and the liquid passing through the honeycomb structural body.