Location of oriented ring packing elements in column heat and mass exchange apparatus (Review)

The subject of the research is the construction of ring nozzles (ring packing elements) of heat and mass exchange equipment and methods of their oriented placement. The purpose of the research is a critical analysis of technical means of increasing the efficiency of an oriented (regular, structured) ring nozzle and, first of all, Raschig ring, which have been successfully used in various industries for more than a century. One of the most common, constructively simple and universal contact elements of column heat exchangers is a ring nozzle, in particular the "Raschig ring" patented in 1914 in Germany and Great Britain, the advantages of which are their high manufacturability and versatility in terms of the nomenclature of the processed phases, and the disadvantages are a relatively low specific surface area and different hydrodynamic conditions of the processed phases from the inner and outer surfaces of the nozzle elements, which is especially noticeable when the annular nozzle is loaded into the column apparatus in bulk, and oriented in a vertical position. An oriented (regular, structured) nozzle has a lower hydraulic resistance and a higher allowable velocity of the light phase. At the same time, various methods of stacking the ring nozzle are possible both within a separate layer and in adjacent layers: the formation of an ordered dense or loose stacking along the vertices of regular triangles (in checkerboard order), an ordered dense-loose stacking along concentric circles, chaotic stacking, ordered free uneven laying, laying with the formation of straight or stepped channels, ordered dense-free uneven laying, as well as placing elements of the ring nozzle according to the nesting doll principle. Modern advances in materials science and technology, as well as artificial intelligence, can provide significant help in the development of innovative designs of ring nozzles, which allows ring nozzles to successfully compete with other types of contact devices of heat and mass exchange equipment designed for the separation of various liquid and gaseous systems. The above Review can be useful to designers and inventors in the search for innovative technical solutions in the field of contact elements of heat and mass exchange equipment.