Patent ID: 7104530

Claim:
A device for contacting a liquid with a gas, said device comprising: at least one gas inlet for introducing the gas into the liquid, a fibre housing having at least one liquid inlet arranged in an inlet end of the fibre housing and at least one liquid outlet, wherein said fibre housing surrounds and defines an outer bound for a plurality of fibres extending longitudinally in the fibre housing, longitudinally extending interspaces being provided between the fibres thereby defining a plurality of flow passages for the liquid and gas, and wherein at least part of the gas inlet(s) are arranged so that at least part of the gas can be introduced into the liquid at the inlet end of the fibre housing or before the liquid enters the inlet end of the fibre housing via said liquid inlet(s), whereby a flow of gas and liquid can be obtained from the inlet end to the outlet end via the flow passages provided by said interspaces, said interspaces thereby providing a contact between the liquid and the gas wherein the diameter of the fibres and the dimension of the flow passages are selected so as to generate micro-bubbles containing the introduced gas within the liquid, the dimension of said micro-bubbles being a function of the diameter or cross-sectional dimensions of the fibres and/or the cross-sectional dimensions of the flow passages provided by the interspaces.