Patent ID: 6994330

Claim:
An apparatus for providing a large interfacial contact area between one or more liquids and one or more gases, comprising: two cylindrical members, at least one of which is mounted for rotation relative to the other, said cylindrical members having opposing surfaces spaced to form an annular processing chamber therebetween providing a flow path for the liquid and gas; the annular, processing chamber having a gap distance defined by a distance between the opposing surfaces; the cylindrical members in a state of relative rotation at a relative rotation rate; the gap distance and relative rotation rate are such as to form a gas-in-liquid emulsion of the one or more gases in the one or more liquids; one of the two cylindrical members having a first central axis, and the second of the two cylindrical members having a second central axis, the second central axis located a distance away from the first central axis; the one or more liquid and the one or more gases, and any mixture and reaction product thereof form respective laminar boundary layers, and the gap distance being equal to or less than the back-to-back radial thicknesses of the laminar boundary layers; the two cylindrical members have opposing surfaces having smoothnesses such that formation of Taylor vortices in the processing chamber is inhibited and the one or more liquids and one or more gases forming the gas-in-liquid emulsion react in the processing chamber.