Patent ID: 8025718

Claim:
In a fluid inlet device suitable for introducing a mixture of liquid and gas into a vessel, which fluid inlet device comprises: an inlet flow channel having an inlet end for receiving the mixture of liquid and gas; and a plurality of curved guiding vanes placed one behind the other along the inlet flow channel, wherein each vane comprises an intercepting part extending towards the inlet end of the inlet flow channel, and an outwardly directed deflecting part defining a generally convex side and a generally concave side of the curved vane, wherein the deflecting parts of two consecutive vanes form an outlet channel of the inlet device and define a main direction of gas flow in the outlet channel, the improvement comprising: providing at least one of the vanes with a liquid catcher channel at least part of which extends along a rim of the vane and which additionally extends from an upstream position with respect to the vane to a downstream position, wherein the rim of the vane is slanted between the upstream position and the downstream position such that the slant deviates from the main direction of gas flow by and angle of at least 10 degrees but not larger than 75 degrees.