Patent ID: 6863121

Claim:
An alkylation reactor comprising a shell having a channel head, said channel head having an inlet nozzle and an outlet nozzle separated by a partition, a tube sheet mounted transversely of said shell for mounting thereon a plurality of u-shaped tubes wherein said tubes traverse the length of said reactor shell from the inlet side of said channel head and make a U-turn to the outlet side of said channel head, the improvement comprising: a flow distributor mounted within the inlet side of said channel head for uniformly distributing, over the inlet side of said tube sheet, any fluid entering said inlet side of said channel head, said flow distributor having an inlet side for sealingly surrounding said inlet nozzle of said inlet side of said channel head, said flow distributor being a diverging horn-shaped duct adapted to turn said fluid flow from said inlet direction toward the tube sheet and toward the input side of said tubes and further including a trip ring mounted on the inlet side of said flow distributor for dislodging any liquid flow on the inside of said inlet.