Patent ID: 8715398

Claim:
An apparatus for the purification of fluids, including a material exchange apparatus which contains a more volatile fluid and a less volatile fluid, which contains a structured packing, wherein the structured packing contains a first packing layer and a second packing layer, wherein the first packing layer and the second packing layer have corrugations, wherein open channels are formed by the corrugations, wherein the channels of the first packing layer cross the channels of the second packing layer, wherein the channels can be flowed through by the less volatile fluid so that the channel is wettable by the less volatile fluid, wherein a film of the less volatile fluid is formed on the surface of the channel, wherein a purification can be carried out either of the more volatile fluid or of the less volatile fluid by a material exchange between the more volatile fluid and the less volatile fluid, characterized in that the first packing layer is in touching contact with the second packing layer via spacer elements whereby the spacer elements are integral portions of said corrugations of the first or second packing layer.