Patent ID: 7695696

Claim:
An apparatus for supporting a granular solid in a cross-flow system comprising: an inlet partition having apertures defined therein, where each aperture has a lower edge and an upper edge; an outlet partition having apertures defined therein, where each aperture has a lower edge and an upper edge, and wherein the inlet partition and the outlet partition are spaced to define a particle retention volume for holding a granular solid; at least one inlet louver, where each louver has an upper edge and a lower edge, and the louver upper edge is attached to the inlet partition at a position above an inlet aperture and extends into the particle retention volume space at an angle, θ, between about 1 degrees and about 85 degrees and the louver lower edge extends to at least the lower edge of the inlet aperture; and inlet vanes, where the inlet partition has a particle side and a gas side, and where the inlet vanes have an upper edge and a lower edge, and where the inlet vane lower edges are affixed to the inlet partition on the gas side at the inlet partition aperture lower edges; wherein the inlet partition and outlet partition are cylindrical structures, and the inlet louvers extend around the circumference of the inlet partition, and at least one inlet louver comprises a helical shaped louver that winds around the inlet partition and having a declination angle between about 0.5 degrees and about 10 degrees.