Patent ID: 8333940

Claim:
A mass-exchange contact device for mass-exchange of a steam (gas) phase and a liquid phase arranged in a column, said device comprising: an essentially flat ring-shaped upper tray outwardly attached to the walls of the column; a cylindrical sleeve attached to the inward edge of said upper tray, said sleeve including a top opening with an ascending limiter, and a bottom opening with a descending limiter; said sleeve including a plurality of windows made in its sidewalls so that the top edges of said windows are situated in the plane of said upper tray, the upper portion of said sleeve's sidewalls is attached to the inward edge of said upper tray; a barbotage unit disposed above the plane of said upper tray; said barbotage unit having a cylindrical shape with an open top and an open bottom connected with the top opening of said sleeve, said barbotage unit including a plurality of orifices on its sidewalls; an essentially flat ring-shaped lower tray outwardly attached to the column and inwardly attached to the lower portion of said sleeve's sidewalls, said lower tray is situated in the plane of the bottom edges of said windows; and a movable double-acting valve including a lower flat disc-shaped solid plate and an upper flat disc-shaped solid plate, said lower and upper plates are slidely fitted into said sleeve, said valve including a distance rod axially connecting the centers of said lower and upper plates; wherein the upward movement of said valve is restricted by said ascending limiter, and the downward movement of said valve is restricted by said descending limiter, and said upper plate functions as a contact element between the steam and the liquid phases.