Method for forming a system for treatment of a flowing material

Abstract

A system for treatment of one or more flowing materials includes a support bed ( 32 ) comprising a plurality of support elements ( 34 ). The support bed may have a void fraction of at least 45%. An active bed ( 36 ), such as a bed of catalytic elements, may be supported by the support bed. The void fraction of the support bed may be larger than that of an equivalent bed of conventional, spherical elements, enabling significant improvements in the flow rate of reactants through the bed and/or a reduced pressure drop across the support bed.

1 - 26 . (canceled) 
   
   
       27 . A method of forming a system for treatment of a flowing material comprising:
 placing a plurality of support elements in a column to form a support bed, the support bed having a void fraction of at least 50% including forming a layer of the support bed which defines a lowermost layer of elements in the column; and   supporting a bed of active elements on the support bed.   
   
   
       28 . A method treating one or more flowing materials using a system comprising: a shell; a support bed in the shell comprising a plurality of support elements, the support bed having a void fraction of at least 50%; an active bed in the shell supported by the support bed; and wherein the support bed has an activity towards the one or more flowing materials which is less than 20% of that of the active bed on a basis of weigh; said method comprising:
 flowing one or more materials through the active bed.   
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 maintaining an average support bed pressure drop ratio of less than 9:10 during the entire flowing step, wherein the support bed pressure drop ratio is the ratio of the pressure drop across the support bed using the support elements to the expected pressure drop across a support bed using equivalently-sized spherical support elements.   
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the pressure drop ratio is less than 8:10. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the pressure drop ratio is less than about 1:2. 
   
   
       32 . (canceled) 
   
   
       33 . (canceled)