Claims
- 1. A method of substantially removing contaminants from a process stream comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a plurality of reticulated elements in a vessel, the vessel being located upstream of a process unit in which a substantially decontaminated process stream can be processed; (b) randomly packing the plurality of reticulated elements within the vessel, whereby the plurality of reticulated elements provides enhanced filtration of contaminants within a process stream on a surface of at least a portion of the plurality of reticulated elements; and (c) contacting the contaminated process stream with the plurality of reticulated elements to substantially remove contaminants from the contaminated process stream while allowing the contaminated process stream to pass unimpeded through the plurality of reticulated elements, thereby producing a substantially decontaminated process stream; and (d) sending the substantially decontaminated process stream to a downstream process unit for further processing.
- 2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the step of sending the substantially decontaminated process stream to a downstream process unit includes sending the substantially decontaminated process stream to a downstream process unit selected from the group consisting of a chemical reactor, a distillation column, a tail gas treater, an incinerator, a tank, a vessel, a heat exchanger, a furnace, a packaging facility, a pipeline, a catalytic process unit, an extractor, a scrubber, a boiler, a reboiler, a separator, a cooling tower, and a condenser.
- 3. The process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of reticulated elements includes providing a plurality of reticulated elements that comprise a material selected from the group consisting of a ceramic material, a metallic material, a plasma deposition material, a polymeric material, a carbonaceous material, and a chemical vapor deposition material.
- 4. The process according to claim 1, wherein the reticulated elements are formed from a material selected from the group consisting of a foam material and a monolithic material.
- 5. The process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of reticulated elements includes providing a filter media within the same vessel as the plurality of reticulated elements.
- 6. The process according to claim 5, wherein the step of providing the filter media includes providing the filter media in a layer downstream of the plurality of reticulated elements.
- 7. The process of claim 5, wherein the step of providing the conventional filter media in a layer includes utilizing the conventional filter media as an indicator to signal a pressure drop increase across the conventional filter media, the pressure drop increase being indicative of exhaustion of the filtering capacity of both the plurality of reticulated elements and the conventional filter media.
- 8. The process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of reticulated elements includes providing reticulated elements that have a shape selected from the group consisting of substantially spherical shaped balls, raschig rings, saddle shaped pieces, cubes, rectangular shaped pieces, trapezoidal shaped pieces, dodecahedral shaped pieces, conical shaped pieces, rhomboidal shaped pieces, briquette shaped pieces, cylinders, hollow cylinders, and disks.
- 9. A method of removing contaminants from a process stream comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a plurality of reticulated elements in a vessel, the vessel being located upstream of a process unit in which a substantially decontaminated process stream can be processed; (b) randomly packing the plurality of reticulated elements within the vessel whereby the plurality of reticulated elements provides enhanced filtration of contaminants within a process stream on a surface of the plurality of reticulated elements; (c) providing filter media in a layer downstream of the plurality of reticulated elements, the filter media acting as an indicator to signal a pressure drop increase across the conventional filter media, the pressure drop increase being indicative of exhaustion of the filtering capacity of both the plurality of reticulated elements and the filter media; (d) contacting the contaminated process stream with the plurality of reticulated elements and the filter media to remove contaminants from the contaminated process stream while allowing the contaminated process stream to pass unimpeded through the plurality of reticulated elements thereby producing a substantially decontaminated process stream; and (e) sending the substantially decontaminated process stream to a downstream process unit for further processing.
- 10. The process according to claim 9, wherein the step of providing a plurality of reticulated elements includes providing a plurality of reticulated elements that comprise a material selected from the group consisting of a ceramic material, a metallic material, a plasma deposition material, a polymeric material, a carbonaceous material, and a chemical vapor deposition material.
- 11. The process according to claim 9, wherein the filter media are selected from the group consisting of graded rings, support, catalyst, and combinations thereof.
- 12. A process unit assembly comprising:
(a) a vessel located upstream of a process unit in which a contaminated process stream can be processed, the vessel having a plurality of reticulated elements randomly packed and contained therein thereby providing a void space between a substantial number of the reticulated elements to enhance filtration of contaminants within the contaminated process stream on a surface of the plurality of reticulated elements so that when the contaminated process stream contacts a substantial number of the plurality of reticulated elements contaminants within the contaminated process stream are substantially removed, thereby producing a substantially decontaminated process stream; and (b) a process unit located downstream of the vessel for processing the substantially decontaminated process stream.
- 13. The process unit assembly of claim 12, wherein the step of providing a plurality of reticulated elements includes providing a plurality of reticulated elements that comprise a material selected from the group consisting of a ceramic material, a metallic material, a plasma deposition material, a carbonaceous material, and a chemical vapor deposition material.
- 14. The process unit assembly of claim 12, wherein the reticulated elements are formed from a material selected from the group consisting of a foam material and a monolithic material.
- 15. The process unit assembly of claim 12, wherein the process unit is selected from the group consisting of a chemical reactor, a distillation column, a tail gas treater, an incinerator, a tank, a vessel, a heat exchanger, a furnace, a packaging facility, a pipeline, a catalytic process unit, an extractor, a scrubber, a boiler, a reboiler, a separator, a cooling tower, and a condenser.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/396,851, filed on Mar. 25, 2003.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10396851 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
Child |
10867015 |
Jun 2004 |
US |