Patent ID: 7448602

Claim:
A separation system for de-entraining liquid particles from an upwardly flowing gaseous stream comprising: a de-entrainment zone having a plurality of vertically spaced, parallel tiers of elongated, U-shaped, liquid collector channels arrayed in rows parallel to one another and transversely to the flow of the gaseous stream with a gap between adjacent rows defining a flow path for gas flow, wherein each of the elongated, U-shaped, liquid collector channels in a tier comprises a bottom portion, a pair of sidewalls extending upwardly therefrom, and at least one horizontally-elongated flow deflector, wherein the parallel rows of collector channels of one tier are vertically staggered from the parallel rows of collector channels of each adjacent tier to deflect the flow of the gaseous stream from a lower tier through the gaps between adjacent rows in an upper tier, to separate entrained liquid from the gaseous stream and permit the separated liquid to descend into channels of a lower tier for collection, wherein each deflector on an upper tier extends from one of the pair of sidewalls of the channel in a direction parallel to the sidewall and downwards in the region between the upper tier and an adjacent lower tier towards a channel of the lower tier, between the pair of sidewalls of a corresponding channel in an adjacent lower tier, such that each of the plurality of horizontally-elongated flow deflectors of an upper tier deflects at least a portion of the gaseous flow stream from a lower tier through the gaps between the channels of an upper tier and deposit collected liquid into the channel below the deflector.