Appeal No. 2003-2033
Application No. 09/154,130
OPINION
We reverse the aforementioned rejection.
Muldowney discloses (col. 4, lines 25-44):
In accordance with the present invention there is
provided a distributor system for uniformly directing
vapor and liquid across the surface of a fixed bed of
solids in a downflow reactor comprising a distributor
tray, and a plurality of vertical, open-ended downpipes
extending through the tray. A first array of the
downpipes has a plurality of vertically spaced
elevations of holes above the level of the tray. A
second array of the downpipes has at least one
elevation of holes at substantially the same height
above the level of the tray as one of the upper
elevations of holes in the first array of pipes. But,
the second array has no elevation of holes
corresponding to the lowermost elevation of holes, and
possibly other lower elevations of holes, in the first
array of pipes. The absence of the lowermost holes in
the second array of pipes causes the liquid flow rate
through the distributor tray at a given liquid height
to be reduced when that liquid height falls below the
elevation of the holes second from the bottom in the
first array. This maximizes the liquid height above
the lowermost holes, preserving good distribution even
when the distributor is subject to variations in level
from one point to another.
Muldowney teaches that there can be “a general rise in the liquid
level on the tray due to plugging of most of the downpipe holes”
(col. 8, lines 43-44), but does not disclose a downpipe cleaning
mechanism.
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