Patent ID: 8070142

Claim:
A chemical process tower having walls with an inner surface to which more than one tray assembly for gas/liquid contact can be affixed, each tray assembly comprising a tray deck, and at least one inlet distribution area, wherein at least one tray assembly comprises at least one downcomer, and wherein: each downcomer is bounded on at least one side by a downcomer wall, and a downcomer of a first tray assembly is situated above a corresponding inlet distribution area of a second tray assembly immediately below the first tray assembly; the downcomer wall extends downward from an edge of the first tray deck toward the tray deck of the second tray assembly, the downcomer wall having a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion that is a distributor, wherein the first portion is attached across the length of the edge of the deck, the second portion extends below the first portion, and the third portion has architecture so as to serve as a distributor; the distributor has a plurality of discharge ports formed in an outer edge of the distributor, each discharge port having an inner edge toward the center of the distributor and an outer edge toward the outer edges of the distributor, the sizes of discharge ports being scaled so as to apportion the flow descending across the downcomer wall, and a flange extends downward from the inner edge of each discharge port so as to direct the flow of liquid flowing through the respective discharge port; there is a gap between the bottom edges of each discharge port and the inlet receiving area of the tray deck of the second tray assembly, the bottom edges of flanges being closely adjacent the deck of the second tray assembly, so that liquid flowing down the downcomer of the first tray assembly is apportioned through the discharge ports and directed by the flanges so as to evenly distribute liquid flow across the deck of the second tray assembly.