Liquid-solids contacting chamber with spherical strainer means

Claim 1

In a pressure tight contacting chamber for accommodating the introduction and withdrawal of a liquid stream which effects contact with a bed of subdivided solid contact material retained therein and has a liquid distributing-withdrawal manifold section therein which can be subjected to crushing conditions from the superposed material and hydraulic pressure thereon, the improved design and arrangement, which comprises, in combination, a liquid manifold means traversing an interior lower end portion of said chamber, a fluid port means through said chamber communicating to the interior of said manifold means, and a plurality of hollow spherical-form strainer members spaced along and connective with said manifold means, with each spherical-form strainer member having a row of uniformly spaced vertically oriented slots in an upper hemispherical surface and a row of uniformly spaced vertically oriented slots in the lower hemispherical surface thereof, whereby there is an outward flow from the upper row of slots and an outward and downward flow of fluid from the lower row slots when such member is in operation as a nozzle, said vertically oriented slots in each spherical-form strainer member being of a wedge-form increasing in cross-sectional area from the exterior toward the interior thereof. each of said strainer members being spaced to have their discharge and withdrawal zones substantially traverse the cross-sectional area of said chamber and the superposed bed of particulates therein, each of said spherical-form strainer members having a non-perforated top portion opposing said fluid port means to the interior thereof, said spaced slot means in that portion of said spherical-form strainer members surrounding the non-perforated portion being of such dimension as to provide a total area less than the crosssectional area of said port means to the interior of said strainer members, whereby in the operation of each of said members as a nozzle there is a resulting greater portion of fluid outlet flow from the slot portions thereof encompassing the inlet-outlet port means as compared to the slot portions thereof surrounding the non-perforated top portion thereof.