Structured packing refers to a range of specially designed materials and it is usually used in absorption and distillation columns and chemical reactors. It has been established for several decades. Structured packings typically consist of arranged thin corrugated plates or gauzes and the angle of the adjacent sheets is reversed with respect to the vertical column axis, forming mixing cells at every point where the corrugations intersect. Structured packing, especially older structured packing, is often made of metal, but it can also be made of plastic, ceramic, wire gauze and other materials. Plastic is particularly useful in applications involving corrosive liquids.
Fig. 1 Examples of the vertical crimped sheet style of structured packing
A bed of structured packing consists of a bed support upon which elements of structured packing are placed[1].
As the characteristic structure, the fluids can take complicated paths through the column, thereby creating a large surface area for contact between different phases. These characteristics tend to show significant performance benefits in low pressure and low irrigation rate applications.
Beds of structured packing typically have lower pressure drops than beds of random packing of comparable mass transfer efficiency and can handle a larger flow volume, so it is beneficial in situations involving extremely low pressure or extremely high flow rates.
Common types of structured packings are wire gauze packing and perforated plate corrugated packing.
Wire gauze packing can be made of plastic and metal.
Plastic wire gauze packing can be made of PE, PP, PA, PVDF, CPVC and other plastic materials, which has excellent high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance.
Metal wire gauze packing is made of corrugated woven wire mesh panels. The stainless steel wire, copper wires, carbon steel wires and other metallic wires are plain woven into panels.
Perforated plate corrugated packing can be made of ceramic, metal and plastic. And it has the advantages of high flux, low resistance and high efficiency, excellent anti-block ability, strong resistance to fouling, high efficiency, large flow rate and unremarkable magnifying effects. It's applied to negative pressure, normal pressure and pressurization operation.
Typical applications include vacuum and atmospheric crude oil fractionators, chemical product refining, Solvent recovery and it is particularly useful in offshore applications, such as offshore drilling, because the increased liquid spreading helps counterbalance the effects of the constant motion of the offshore plant. Structured packing can be used in the equipment/processes below:
Alfa Chemistry can offer structured packings in a wide range of specifications and sizes which have excellent chemical resistance, high temperature resistance, large flux, high capacity, low pressure drop, high separation efficiency, etc. The types of structured packings what we can offer are as follows:
Alfa Chemistry is a leading manufacturer of ceramic random packings. To place an order or request a quote, please don't hesitate to contact us.
