The present invention relates to a corrugated criss-cross packing and to a column incorporating such a packing.
The packings that are ordinarily used consist of corrugated bands comprising parallel alternating corrugations each placed in a general vertical flat surface and one against the other. The corrugations are oblique and descending in opposite directions from one band to the next. The perforation rate is approximately 10% for these packings called corrugated criss-cross packings.
GB-A-1004046 discloses packings of the corrugated criss-cross type.
CA-A-1095827 proposes an improvement to this type of packing by adding a dense, small-diameter perforation to allow the liquid to pass from one side to the other of the corrugated criss-cross bands.
This packing is usually manufactured from a flat product, namely metal sheets in the form of bands 1,2 as illustrated in
The sections of packing thus obtained are called “packs”.
In the case of simple corrugations, as illustrated in
These various patents describe the addition of perforations in the packing band for various reasons, mainly in order to promote the spreading of the liquid, the exchange of liquid between the two faces of the band and the turbulence of the vapor phase.
It is possible to classify these perforations in two broad categories:
The addition of these flat bands is above all for the purpose of reducing or even removing the gas/gas disruptions that occur in the packing. Specifically, since the channels of two bands of packing are oriented at 90°, the two gaseous streams are disrupted at the interface: the consequence is a helical movement of the two gaseous streams. These frictions are at the origin of a large proportion of the pressure losses and are not totally of value for the exchange of material. Adding the flat bands eliminates this rolls phenomenon and therefore reduces the dissipations of energy.
There are many drawbacks in adding flat bands:
As described above, it is difficult to reconcile the intensification of the turbulence of the vapor phase and a flowing of the liquid either by local deformation or by adding flat metal sheet between two corrugated criss-cross packing elements.
One object of the invention is to show a packing having a corrugated criss-cross base into which flat elements would be incorporated for the purpose of reducing the dissipations of energy. These elements would if necessary be made by cutouts the edges of which are in a direction close to the line with the greatest slope. These flat surfaces would have at least one link and at least one point of contact with the corrugated criss-cross structure thus promoting their wetting.
According to one subject of the invention, a regular packing element is provided intended for material exchange and/or heat exchange columns comprising in alternation a plurality of strips, each strip being corrugated, of generally rectangular shape, the strips being placed one against the other so that the corrugations crossing the strips are oriented at between 50° and 100° to the corrugations of the adjacent strip, thus forming a corrugated-criss-cross structure, at least one bandlet contacting simultaneously at least one first ridge of a strip and at least one second ridge of the strip, the second ridge being adjacent to the first ridge, and characterized in that the or each bandlet is cut out of the strip so as to leave a slot in the corrugation.
According to other optional aspects:
According to another aspect of the invention, a column for exchange of material and/or of heat is provided fitted with an element as described above, the strips being oriented vertically, for example a cryogenic distillation column, in particular for air.
The inserted flat portions link ridges or valleys of waves together. This locally prevents the turbulence of the packing wave stacked at 90°.
The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the figures.
It will be understood that
The drawing of
To prevent any phenomenon of accumulation and of appearance of droplets on the end CD that can generate a separation of the liquid, it can be envisaged that the edge CD is indistinguishable (aligned and in contact) from a successive ridge 3, as illustrated in
Alternatively, as illustrated in
The bandlet therefore consists of two flat surfaces 7,7A.
The requirement for promoting the passage of the liquid from one facet to the other is to have a superposition and contact of one portion of their surface with each other (in this instance shown by the parallelogram A′B″CD″).
For this configuration of
The packing modules according to the invention can of course include other devices.
Varied surface treatments, for example:
Devices for preventing flooding at the interface between packing bodies, such as those described in the following patents:
Experimental tests have proved that the flooding of a packing occurs first at the interface between the modules, in a location where the gas is forced to change direction at an angle of approximately 90° in order to pass from one module to the other. Therefore, the capacity of the column is limited while the central portion of the modules has not yet reached its flooding point.
This phenomenon is analyzed in terms of flooding of liquid in the bottom portion of the modules in the vicinity of the interface: the pressure loss sustained by the gas at the change of direction causes an accumulation of liquid in the adjacent zone. The accumulation of liquid causes premature flooding of the column.
The invention allows the cost-effective manufacture of corrugated criss-cross packing having better performance. It is therefore possible to reduce the volume of packing used for treating a given flow rate without loss of efficiency since the same quantity of metal used for a conventional corrugated-criss-cross packing (without slots) is used to create a more efficient packing. Used in the context of the cryogenic distillation of air, it therefore makes it possible to reduce the size of the columns and of the cold boxes.
The invention allows a reduction in investment in the distillation column.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0857962 | Nov 2008 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/FR2009/052187 | 11/16/2009 | WO | 00 | 5/24/2011 |