Radial-crossflow distillation trays for divided wall column applications

1. An assembly of a plurality of vertically spaced apart trays for fractional distillation in a divided wall exchange column having an inner column wall, a dividing wall, a cross sectional area, and an interior space between the inner column wall and the dividing wall, the assembly comprising:

a first tray disposed in the interior space, the first tray having

at least one radial downcomer adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a first substantial distance across the cross sectional area, and

a first liquid receiving area having a radial axis at a first angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a second substantial distance across the cross sectional area,

wherein at least a portion of a flow of liquid received from above on the first liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the first tray from the first liquid receiving area to the at least one radial downcomer, the at least one radial downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid; and

a second tray disposed in the interior space below the first tray, the second tray having

at least one other downcomer having a radial axis at a second angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a third substantial distance across the cross sectional area, and

at least one second liquid receiving area adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a fourth substantial distance across the cross sectional area, the at least one second liquid receiving area being adapted to receive at least a portion of said flow of liquid transmitted downward from the at least one radial downcomer,

wherein at least part of a flow of liquid received on the second liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the second tray from the second receiving area to the at least one other downcomer, the at least one other downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid.

2. An assembly as in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first angle and the second angle is about 90°.

3. An assembly as in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first angle and the second angle is greater than 90°.

4. An assembly as in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first angle and the second angle is less than 90°.

5. An assembly as in claim 1, wherein a first portion of the flow of liquid received from above on the first liquid receiving area flows in a clockwise direction from the first liquid receiving area and a second portion of said flow of liquid flows in a counterclockwise direction from the first liquid receiving area.

6. An assembly as in claim 1, wherein a first part of the flow of liquid received on the second liquid receiving area flows in a counterclockwise direction toward the at least one other downcomer and a second part of said flow of liquid flows in a clockwise direction toward the at least one other downcomer.

7. An assembly as in claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the flow of liquid flows across the portion of the first tray in a first direction and the at least part of the flow of liquid flows across the portion of the second tray in a second direction opposite the first direction.

8. An assembly as in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of apertures or other vapor passing means in or on at least a portion of at least one of the first tray and the second tray.

9. An assembly as in claim 1, further comprising at least one liquid mixer in fluid communication with at least one of the at least one radial downcomer and the at least one other downcomer, the at least one liquid mixer adapted to mix a plurality of liquid compositions.

10. An assembly as in claim 1, further comprising a divider pan adjacent the dividing wall, wherein the at least one radial downcomer and the at least one other downcomer extend radially from the divider pan toward the inner column wall.

11. An assembly as in claim 1, further comprising at least one outlet weir on the first tray adjacent the at least one radial downcomer.

12. An assembly as in claim 1, further comprising at least one outlet weir on the second tray adjacent the at least one other downcomer.

13. An assembly of a plurality of vertically spaced apart trays for fractional distillation in a divided wall exchange column having an inner column wall, a dividing wall, a cross sectional area, and an interior space between the inner column wall and the dividing wall, the assembly comprising:

a first tray disposed in the interior space, the first tray having

at least one radial downcomer adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a first substantial distance across the cross sectional area, and

a first liquid receiving area having a radial axis at a first angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a second substantial distance across the cross sectional area, and

a plurality of apertures or other vapor passing means in or on at least a portion of the first tray,

wherein at least a portion of a flow of liquid received from above on the first liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the first tray from the first liquid receiving area to the at least one radial downcomer, the at least one radial downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid, and

wherein a first portion of the flow of liquid received from above on the first liquid receiving area flows in a clockwise direction from the first liquid receiving area and a second portion of said flow of liquid flows in a counterclockwise direction from the first liquid receiving area; and

a second tray disposed in the interior space below the first tray, the second tray having

at least one central downcomer having a radial axis at a second angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a third substantial distance across the cross sectional area,

at least one second liquid receiving area adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a fourth substantial distance across the cross sectional area, the at least one second liquid receiving area being adapted to receive at least a portion of said flow of liquid transmitted downward from the at least one radial downcomer, and

a plurality of apertures or other vapor passing means in or on at least a portion of the second tray,

wherein at least part of a flow of liquid received on the second liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the second tray from the second receiving area to the at least one central downcomer, the at least one central downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid, and

wherein a first part of the flow of liquid received on the second liquid receiving area flows in a counterclockwise direction toward the at least one central downcomer and a second part of said flow of liquid flows in a clockwise direction toward the at least one central downcomer.

14. An assembly of a plurality of vertically spaced apart trays for fractional distillation in a divided wall exchange column having an inner column wall, a dividing wall, a cross sectional area, and an interior space between the inner column wall and the dividing wall, the assembly comprising:

a first tray disposed in the interior space, the first tray having

at least one radial downcomer adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a first substantial distance across the cross sectional area in a first direction,

a first liquid receiving area having a first radial axis adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a second substantial distance across the cross sectional area in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction, and

a plurality of apertures or other vapor passing means in or on at least a portion of the first tray,

wherein at least a portion of a flow of liquid received from above on the first liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the first tray from the first liquid receiving area to the at least one radial downcomer, the at least one radial downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid; and

a second tray disposed in the interior space below the first tray, the second tray having

at least one other downcomer having a second radial axis adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a third substantial distance across the cross sectional area in a third direction,

at least one second liquid receiving area adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a fourth substantial distance across the cross sectional area in a fourth direction substantially opposite the third direction, the at least one second liquid receiving area being adapted to receive at least a portion of said flow of liquid transmitted downward from the at least one radial downcomer, and

a plurality of apertures or other vapor passing means in or on at least a portion of the second tray,

wherein at least part of a flow of liquid received on the second liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the second tray from the second receiving area to the at least one other downcomer, the at least one other downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid, and

wherein the at least a portion of the flow of liquid flows across the portion of the first tray in a first direction and the at least part of the flow of liquid flows across the portion of the second tray in a second direction opposite the first direction.

15. An assembly of a plurality of vertically spaced apart trays for fractional distillation in a divided wall exchange column having an inner column wall, a dividing wall, a cross sectional area, and an interior space between the inner column wall and the dividing wall, the assembly comprising:

a first tray disposed in the interior space, the first tray having

a plurality of spaced apart radial downcomers, each radial downcomer extending radially toward the inner column wall a first substantial distance or another substantial distance across the cross sectional area, and

a plurality of first liquid receiving areas, each first liquid receiving area being positioned between and adjacent to two of the radial downcomers and extending radially toward the inner column wall a second substantial distance or an other substantial distance across the cross sectional area, and

a plurality of apertures or other vapor passing means in or on at least a portion of the first tray,

wherein at least a portion of a flow of liquid received from above on each of the first liquid receiving areas flows across a portion of the first tray from said first liquid receiving area to one of the two adjacent radial downcomers, said radial downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid, and

wherein a first portion of the flow of liquid received from above on at least one of the first liquid receiving areas flows in a clockwise direction from said first liquid receiving area and a second portion of said flow of liquid flows in a counterclockwise direction from said first liquid receiving area; and

a second tray disposed in the interior space below the first tray, the second tray having

a plurality of spaced apart other downcomers, each of the other downcomers extending radially toward the inner column wall a third substantial distance or another distance across the cross sectional area, and

a plurality of second liquid receiving areas, each second liquid receiving area being positioned between and adjacent to two of the other downcomers and extending radially toward the inner column wall a fourth substantial distance or an other distance across the cross sectional area, each of said second liquid receiving areas being adapted to receive at least a portion of said flow of liquid transmitted downward from one of the radial downcomers, and

a plurality of apertures or other vapor passing means in or on at least a portion of the second tray,

wherein at least part of a flow of liquid received on each of the second liquid receiving areas flows across a portion of the second tray from said second receiving area to one of the two adjacent other downcomers, said other downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid, and

wherein a first part of the flow of liquid received on said second liquid receiving area flows in a counterclockwise direction toward said at least one other downcomer and a second part of said flow of liquid flows in a clockwise direction toward said at least one other downcomer.

16. 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 having a first cross sectional area adjacent the first side of the dividing wall and a second longitudinal space having a second cross sectional area adjacent the second side of the dividing wall;

a first tray disposed in the first longitudinal space, the first tray having

at least one radial downcomer adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a first substantial distance across the first cross sectional area, and

a first liquid receiving area having a radial axis at a first angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a second substantial distance across the first cross sectional area,

wherein at least a portion of a flow of liquid received from above on the first liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the first tray from the first liquid receiving area to the at least one radial downcomer, the at least one radial downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid; and

a second tray disposed in the first longitudinal space below the first tray, the second tray having

at least one other downcomer having a radial axis at a second angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a third substantial distance across the first cross sectional area, and

at least one second liquid receiving area adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a fourth substantial distance across the first cross sectional area, the at least one second liquid receiving area being adapted to receive at least a portion of said flow of liquid transmitted downward from the at least one radial downcomer,

wherein at least part of a flow of liquid received on the second liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the second tray from the second receiving area to the at least one other downcomer, the at least one other downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid.

17. An apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the first cross sectional area is greater than or substantially equal to the second cross sectional area.

18. An apparatus as in claim 16, wherein the second cross sectional area is greater than the first cross sectional area.

19. A method for assembling an assembly of a plurality of vertically spaced apart trays for factional distillation in a divided wall exchange column, comprising the steps of:

providing 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;

installing a dividing wall 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 having a first cross sectional area adjacent the first side of the dividing wall and a second longitudinal space having a second cross sectional area adjacent the second side of the dividing wall;

installing a first tray in the first longitudinal space, the first tray having

at least one radial downcomer adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a first substantial distance across the first cross sectional area, and

a first liquid receiving area having a radial axis at a first angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a second substantial distance across the first cross sectional area,

wherein at least a portion of a flow of liquid received from above on the first liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the first tray from the first liquid receiving area to the at least one radial downcomer, the at least one radial downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid; and

installing a second tray in the first longitudinal space below the first tray, the second tray having

at least one other downcomer having a radial axis at a second angle to the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a third substantial distance across the first cross sectional area, and

at least one second liquid receiving area adjacent the dividing wall and extending radially toward the inner column wall a fourth substantial distance across the first cross sectional area, the at least one second liquid receiving area being adapted to receive at least a portion of said flow of liquid transmitted downward from the at least one radial downcomer,

wherein at least part of a flow of liquid received on the second liquid receiving area flows across a portion of the second tray from the second receiving area to the at least one other downcomer, the at least one other downcomer being adapted to receive and transmit downward at least part of said flow of liquid.

20. A process for cryogenic air separation, comprising contacting vapor and liquid counter-currently in a divided wall exchange column containing at least one mass transfer zone wherein a liquid-vapor contact is established by an assembly of a plurality of vertically spaced apart trays as in claim 1.

21. A process for exchanging mass and/or heat between two fluids, comprising contacting said fluids in a divided wall exchange column wherein a fluid-fluid contact is established by an assembly of a plurality of vertically spaced apart trays as in claim 1.