Arnold J Carrico

41337093, Jan 9, 1979

Nov 16, 1977

5/851977

Arnold J. Carrico - Walnut Creek CA

B32B 714

156197

For fluid interchange treatment, such as for heat exchanging or chemical interaction between a descending liquid and a rising gas, a flexible structure is provided which consists of stacked horizontal partition walls formed from pairs of sheets of non-woven fabric material, such as felt, heat-joined by plastic coatings on their inner surfaces and disposed in vertically-spaced parallel arrangement and sealed at their sides by accordion-folded sheets of flexible material. The paired sheets forming the spaced parallel partition walls of the structure contain ports which are arranged offset relatively to one another in successive sheets so that any fluid passing from top to bottom or vice-versa of the thus-formed cellular structure will pursue a zigzag path. The paired fabric sheets thus joined by their plastic-coated inner surfaces to form the laminated walls are provided with openings which also cut away the plastic coatings on predetermined portions of the felt sheets to form cells with which the ports communicate, these openings being so arranged that when the pairs of sheets are stacked and heat-sealed between the plastic-to-plastic surfaces which extend around and isolate the openings in the same partition walls from one another, a multi-columned structure of parallel cellular formation results, with the treated and treating fluids pursuing independent zigzag paths between top and the bottom of each cellular column. Thus, for example, the cold air entering at the bottom of each column of the structure is brought into contact with hot water entering at the top of each column and flowing downward in a cascade manner so that the hot water is cooled by the rising air streams.

41170490, Sep 26, 1978

Mar 14, 1977

5/777567

Arnold J. Carrico - Walnut Creek CA

B01F 304

261111

For fluid interchange treatment, a flexible collapsible structure is provided which consists of stacked horizontal partition walls formed from pairs of sheets of non-woven fabric material such as felt heat-joined by plastic coatings on their inner surfaces and disposed in vertically-spaced parallel arrangement and sealed at their sides by accordion-folded sheets of flexible collapsible material. The paired sheets contain ports which are offset relatively to one another in successive sheets. The paired fabric sheets and their plastic-coated inner surfaces are provided with openings to form cells with which the ports communicate, these openings being so arranged that, a multi-columned collapsible structure of parallel cellular formation results, with independent zigzag paths between top and the bottom of each cellular column. Thus, heat transfer is greatly enhanced by the retarded flow of the hot water horizontally across the liquid-absorbing fibrous surfaces of the felt on the exposed outer sides of the partition walls. The structure is preferably suspended from an external framework, the suspension causing the laminated partition walls to separate into parallel columns of laterally-interfitting vertically staggered cells.