US 12,115,513 B2
Structured packing element with reduced material requirement
Marc Wehrli, Brütten (CH); Ilja Ausner, Oehningen (DE); Florian Kehrer, Illnau-Effretikon (CH); and Markus Duss, Winterthur (CH)
Assigned to SULZER MANAGEMENT AG, Winterthur (CH)
Appl. No. 17/768,432
Filed by Sulzer Management AG, Winterthur (CH)
PCT Filed Sep. 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/077148
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 12, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/073860, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 22, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 19202985 (EP), filed on Oct. 14, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2024/0116022 A1, Apr. 11, 2024
Int. Cl. B01J 19/32 (2006.01)
CPC B01J 19/32 (2013.01) [B01J 2219/32213 (2013.01); B01J 2219/32227 (2013.01); B01J 2219/32262 (2013.01); B01J 2219/32286 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A structured packing element for a column for at least one of mass transfer and heat exchange between a heavy fluid phase and a light fluid phase, the structured packing element comprising:
at least two layers of a grid comprising openings that are surrounded and separated from each other by separating elements,
wherein at least two of the at least two layers are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the packing element parallel and in touching contact with each other such that an open space extending from one end to an opposite end of the at least two layers is provided between the at least two layers such that at least one of the heavy fluid phase and the light fluid phase may flow therethrough [,
wherein an average width of at least 50% of the separating elements between adjacent ones of the openings is at least 15 times a layer material thickness and is between 70% and 125% of an average hydraulic diameter of the adjacent ones of the openings,
wherein a maximum distance between at least two of the at least two layers measured in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is at least 4 times larger than the average width of the separating elements, and
wherein the average width of one of the separating elements is determined by dividing up the one of the separating elements into individual sections each having a section length di, for each of the individual sections a shortest distance bi between adjacent edges within the individual sections is measured and a sum of products di·bi is divided by a sum of di to yield the average width of the one of the separating elements, and the layer material thickness is a thickness of a material of one of the at least two layers and is measured at an outer edge of the at least two layers with a micrometer screw.