Abstract: A tower packing cartridge is formed of strips of fabric-like material placed in face-to-face contact such that the planes of the strips are parallel to the general flow direction through the cartridge. The fabric-like material is formed of generally straight, relatively stiff strands of mono-filament material, arranged in a repeating pattern which is preferably generally triangular in cross section in both directions. The construction provides a substantially non-nestable structure when strips are placed in face-to-face contact, such that the cartridge has an extremely high void fraction. The fabric-like material, in itself known, when assembled in this manner, achieves unique and surprising results in relation to exceptional uniformity of flow distribution across the entire face of the cartridge while at the same time maintaining extremely high void fraction to keep energy losses at a minimum during operation.

Abstract: A material is provided for use as a tower packing and/or as the separation medium in mist eliminators. Also provided are methods for producing the new material. The new material is comprised of woven strands, or at least two sets of strands interleaved together in directions perpendicular to each other, with the strands in either the warp or filling direction being essentially straight, while those in the other direction are geometrically reoriented or otherwise configured through the straight strands in a specific manner and, preferably, joined together at intersecting points, to produce a material having substantial thickness in cross section. All of the individual strands of the material, when placed for use, will be essentially perpendicular to the fluid flow being treated. As a result, the material of the invention provides a substantial increase in the void fraction for mist elimination and a substantial increase in impact contact surfaces for tower packing applications.