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FLEXIPAC® and GEMPAK® structured packings provide high capacity, higher efficiency and lower pressure drop than any random packing and most trays available today. Revamping existing packed or trayed columns with structured packing from Koch-Glitsch will increase the operation capacity of the tower, lower the pressure drop, and lower the energy cost of the distillation or absorption operation. Our structured packing elements may be fabricated in a variety of metals and plastics, as well as in ceramic.

Koch-Glitsch gauze structured and GOODLOE® mesh structured packing are the most efficient commercial tower packing available today. Fabricated of a woven metal wire or plastic gauze, Koch-Glitsch gauze packing is well-suited for applications where low pressure drop is important and liquid rates are as low as 0.1 gpm/ft2. HETP is generally 5 - 8", regardless of column size. Pressure drop is as low as 0.2mm Hg per theoretical tray.

FLEXIPAC® Structured Packing Systems
For Heat and Mass Transfer Applications – Distillation, Absorption, Stripping, Heat Exchange, Gas Mixing, Extraction

Koch-Glitsch System Design

Matching internals with packing for best tower performance
Koch-Glitsch takes a customer solution approach to meeting heat and mass transfer requirements. We know that optimizing performance requires a unique blend and careful selection of packings and internals for virtually every application. To optimize each unique design, our engineers select the appropriate style of packing from more than 18 types currently available. Then we match that packing with the right internals – liquid collectors and distributors, vapor distributors and support grids or plates

Whatever the application, our goal in packing and internals design is to maximize the performance of the complete system. With the technical knowledge gained from more than 10,000 installations since 1964, Koch-Glitsch designs towers to deliver the right combination of efficiency, capacity, pressure drop and optimized energy requirements to meet our customers’ needs.

Performance Testing
Poor performance from packed towers can often be traced to inadequate distributor design and operation. To test performance prior to installation, Koch-Glitsch has developed a sophisticated distributor testing facility. Automatic data acquisition and computer analysis confirm and document distributor performance.

Koch-Glitsch professionals draw upon an accumulated body of knowledge that nobody else can offer: more installations…more years of experience…more technical expertise…than any other supplier.

Koch-Glitsch Structured Packing Systems
Koch-Glitsch offers two performance-improving structured packings: FLEXIPAC® structured packing, fabricated from sheet metal or engineered plastics; and wire gauze packing. A third packing, FLEXERAMIC® structured packing, made of ceramic to improve performance in corrosive environments, is also available.

FLEXIPAC® Structured Packing
FLEXIPAC® structured packing is constructed of sheets of corrugated metal or plastic. The angle of inclination of the corrugations of adjacent sheets is reversed with respect to the vertical column axis, forming mixing cells at every point where the corrugations intersect. Perforations and surface texturing, including waffled, grooved and smooth, promote intimate mixing and radial distribution over the entire tower cross-section. Each subsequent element is rotated 90° about the column axis so that the sheets of one element are perpendicular to the sheets of the elements above and below.

In passing through each element, gas and liquid are thoroughly mixed in the direction parallel to the plane of the sheets. By rotating subsequent elements, excellent mixing and spreading, both side-to-side and front-to-back, are obtained over the entire cross-section of the tower.

FLEXIPAC® structured packing operates over a wide range of liquid and gas rates. With more than 18 types of FLEXIPAC® packing available, Koch-Glitsch can provide the right products to meet your specific tower requirements.

FLEXIPAC® packing offers higher capacity and/or higher efficiency than random packing or conventional trays. A FLEXIPAC® packing revamp can increase separation efficiency, increase capacity, lower pressure drop, and often significantly lower the energy costs of distillation and absorption operations. That means retrofitting existing packed or trayed towers with FLEXIPAC® packing will improve profitability.

FLEXERAMIC® Structured Packing Systems
For Heat and Mass Transfer Applications - Distillation, Absorption, Stripping, Heat Exchange, Gas Mixing, Extraction

The high performance FLEXERAMIC® structured packing system, is a carefully engineered design comprising the proper size selection of FLEXERAMIC® structured packing and critical column internals. Our Koch-Glitsch engineers, working with customers unique requirements, optimize the system design by selecting or designing key components, to provide a total solution.

The key to system performance is the FLEXERAMIC® structured packing. The geometrical arrangement provides for maximum liquid-vapor mixing and improved hydraulics.

FLEXERAMIC® structured packing is constructed of corrugated sheets of ceramic. The angle of inclination of the corrugations of adjacent sheets is reversed with respect to the vertical column axis, forming mixing cells at every point where the corrugation intersect. This promotes intimate mixing and radial distribution of the liquid and gas streams. Each subsequent element is rotated about the column axis so that the sheets of one element are opposed to the sheets of the elements above and below. In passing through each element, gas and liquid are thoroughly mixed in the direction parallel to the plane of the sheets. By rotating subsequent elements, excellent mixing and spreading, both side to side and front to back are obtained over the entire cross section of the tower. The flow characteristics developed by the structured geometrical arrangement creates high effective surface area resulting in good efficiency as compared to other mass transfer devices.

Improved hydraulic performance of the FLEXERAMIC® structured packing result from the corrugated sheets being vertically oriented, eliminating any horizontal surfaces which create resistance to fluid flow. As a result, towers packed with FLEXERAMIC® structured packing have a very low pressure drop and a corresponding higher capacity.

A critical component to any packed tower system is the liquid distributor. Working with our customers, our application engineers select the optimal distributor design for the specific application to maximize tower performance. The high performance distributors used in the FLEXERAMIC® structured packing systems utilize the knowledge developed by Koch-Glitsch from decades of involvement in heat and mass transfer operations.

FLEXERAMIC® structured packing system stands up to the toughest operating environments. Manufactured in corrosion resistant ceramics, FLEXERAMIC® packing is an economical alternative to exotic metals and engineered plastics, and provides excellent service life in most corrosive applications.

Whether applying FLEXERAMIC® technology to retrofits, upgrades or new construction, Koch-Glitsch professionals draw on an accumulated body of knowledge that nobody else can offer: more installations…more years of experience…more technical expertise…than any other supplier.

High Performance Ceramic Structured Packings
Before the availability of FLEXERAMIC® Structured Tower Packing, if more capacity was desired, the choices were limited and costly – construct a new, larger diameter column, or retrofit with expensive exotic metal or engineered plastic packing and internals.

FLEXERAMIC® Structured Tower Packing offers a more economical alternative. An advanced development in ceramic materials, FLEXERAMIC® Tower Packing provides plant operators increased separation efficiency, increased capacity, lower pressure drop and often significantly lower energy costs of operation. This means retrofitting existing packed units with FLEXERAMIC® tower packing will improve profitability.

Gauze Structured Packing
Gauze structured packing from Koch-Glitsch is recognized worldwide as the leader in applications with low liquid-loading systems or temperature-sensitive compounds. Vacuum distillations, specialty chemicals, and many highly refined, value-added processing operations also benefit from gauze packing’s efficiency-improving capabilities.

Koch-Glitsch wire gauze packing is the most efficient commercial tower packing available on the market today. Koch-Glitsch wire gauze packing has a proven track record of providing superior performance in thousands of diverse applications around the world. Koch-Glitsch Mass Transfer Technology has more than 85 years of combined experience. Our process and design expertise, coupled with superior manufacturing and pilot plant test facilities, provide Koch-Glitsch customers with solutions to mass transfer problems.

The packing is fabricated from sheets of metal gauze. Type BX gauze structured packing, with 500 m2/m3 specific surface area, is manufactured using the same geometric configuration as FLEXIPAC® packing. For even higher requirements, Type CY gauze packing with 750 m2/m3 specific surface is available.

Matching this high-efficiency packing with our custom-designed internals offers our customers complete systems engineered to maximize tower performance.











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