Patent ID: 6901941

Claim:
A method for continuous purging of contaminants from a vessel, the method comprising: providing the vessel comprising an internal surface, an internal volume, a plurality of dividers that apportions the internal volume into two end sections and an at least one center section wherein at least a portion of the dividers contacts the internal surface of the vessel thereby defining one or more apertures and wherein the one or more apertures within the dividers are substantially in alignment with respect to each other, an at least one fluid inlet that extends into the at least one center section, an at least one fluid outlet, and contaminants contained therein; introducing a stream of gas into the vessel through the at least one fluid inlet wherein the gas flows into the at least one center section and through the top apertures of the dividers into the two end sections to form a contaminant-laden stream; and removing the contaminant-laden stream from the vessel through the at least one fluid outlet.