Patent ID: 6880263

Claim:
Apparatus for passing a fluid through a solid material including: an enclosure having an upper part adapted for the receipt of a solid material and a lower part adapted to receive said solid material from said upper part; and a plurality of passages extending between a pair of end walls of said enclosure and connecting said upper and lower parts, wherein sides of said passages are defined by side walls of a plurality of inlet fluid ducts and outlet fluid ducts extending between said end walls, said side walls having first openings into said passages whereby internal spaces of said ducts are in fluid communication with said passages, wherein each said inlet or outlet duct has respectively an inlet or outlet port for said fluid external to said enclosure, wherein each said passage has on its opposing sides an inlet fluid duct and an outlet fluid duct so that in use of the apparatus fluid flows substantially transversely from an inlet duct to an outlet duct through said solid material in each said passage, and wherein the or each said fluid duct that lies between adjacent said passages has a second opening in at least one of said enclosure end walls for fluid communication between said internal space of said fluid duct and said inlet or outlet port of said fluid duct.