Patent ID: 7357378

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: an exchange column having a primary longitudinal axis, an inner wall spaced apart from and surrounding the primary longitudinal axis, thereby being an interior space between the inner wall and the primary longitudinal axis; a dividing wall disposed in the interior space, the dividing wall having a first side and a second side and dividing the interior space into at least a first longitudinal space adjacent the first side of the dividing wall and a second longitudinal space adjacent the second side of the dividing wall; a first layer of structured packing disposed in the first longitudinal space, the first layer of structured packing having a first longitudinal axis at a first angle relative to the dividing wall; a second layer of structured packing disposed in the first longitudinal space adjacent and below the first layer of structured packing, the second layer of structured packing having a second longitudinal axis at a second angle relative to the dividing wall, the second longitudinal axis being at a rotated angle relative to the first longitudinal axis; and at least one elongated stiffening member having a first end connected to the inner wall of the exchange column and a second end opposite the first end, the second end being connected to the first side of the dividing wall, at least a portion of the at least one elongated stiffening member being disposed in the second layer of structured packing and being substantially parallel to the second longitudinal axis.