Improved Bodies for Use in Apparatus for Facilitating Contact Between Liquids and Gases for the Purpose of Obtaining Reactions.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd July, 1896-Accepted, 22nd Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Bodies for Use in Apparatus for Facilitating Contact
Between Liquids and Gases for the Purpose of Obtaining
Reactions.
I, OSCAR GUTTMANN, Civil Engineer, of 12 Mark Lane, in the City of London,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
Reaction between gases and liquids has hitherto been effected mostly by means
of pipes or towers, in which the gases pass upwards and the liquids downwards, the
said pipes or towers being filled with a material such as coke, broken pumice-stone,
flint, broken-glass, moulded bricks or the like, or with a number of plates, each
having perforations, or openings, made in such a manner, as to allow a certain
quantity of liquid to accumulate before any can run through them. Coke and
similar filling material has the disadvantage of acting only by its surface, and of
easily blocking up the passage for the ascending current of gases whilst the plate
towers present but small surface to the liquid and are very costly.
The object of my invention is to provide bodies for filling such pipes or towers,
which bodies will not only present a larger surface than is presented by the afore-
said materials but will also afford a water seal equivalent to that given by the
plate towers and effect a constant and very fine division of the liquid, whilst the
passage for the current of gases is not obstructed, and the gases are constantly
brought into contact with the descending liquid.
According to my invention I make hollow bodies from glass, earthenware,
artificial stone, metal, or other suitable substance such as will not be injured by
or injure the gases and liquid used. The walls of these bodies are perforated in a
number of places in such a manner, that at the point of perforation the said walls
are deeply indented inwardly so as to form short tubes. The bodies may have
corrugations, ribs or grooves or any other similar means for increasing their
surfaces either inside or outside and they may be globular, or cubical or of any
other convenient form. I place these hollow bodies in the pipes or towers thereby
obtaining in the reaction apparatus so formed, a state of constant motion in, and
intermingling of, the liquid and gases with a large surface and a great quantity of
constantly renewed liquid.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing shews a body such as I have described
in section, the direction taken by the gases being indicated by feathered arrows,
whilst that taken by the liquid is shewn by unfeathered arrows, and
Figure 2 shews a body tilted or in a different position from that shewn in
Figure 1.
a are the hollow globular walls of the body having deeply indented perforations a²
as already described, to retain layers of liquid as at a³. In "packing" the pipes
or towers with these bodies, they can be filled in at random, and in whatever
position they may be, they will only touch each other in a few places, and there
will always be a layer of liquid in them. The liquid trickling down on to the
bodies will run both on the outside and inside walls and again run inside to meet
the gases, thus presenting a very large surface of liquid to the said gases, whilst
the gases will be caused by the perforations and indentations on the bodies to whirl
round inside and outside and thus on their way up through the apparatus become
thoroughly mixed with the liquid.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
For use in apparatus for mixing, or obtaining reactions between liquids and
gases, hollow bodies with perforated indentations substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by the example shewn in the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 3rd day of July 1896.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
Agents.