<p>The invention provides novel ceramic mass transfer packing elements with physical characteristics that maximize efficiency of mass transfer and minimize pressure drop when randomly dumped in a chemical reactor. In some embodiments, the elements may have: a ratio of surface area of the interaction zone to surface area of the flow through zone between 1:0.5 and 1:3; and the interaction zone surface area occupies between 45% and 70% of the open face surface area.</p>
